Twilight, Soldier of War

by DR-Fluffy

Rating: mature
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Human, Narcotics, Sad, Main 6, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character
Length: 72727

After a failed experiment everyone thought Twilight was dead but three years later she returns as a human

During an experiment to open a portal from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire Twilight gets lost, thrown into a war-torn land. Everyone thought Twilight was dead but three years later she returns as a human. Twilight is forced to face the demons of her past while trying to settle back into her peaceful live when all she knows is war.
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This story was inspired by I Have Returned

Published 2015-08-01 23:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2019-01-09 18:40:04 UTC

Chapter 2: Home at Last

In the remains of a library, Twilight pressed the torn pages into the man’s chest, trying desperately to stop the blood that flowed forth. With one hand keeping pressure on the wound, Twilight reached out and grabbed a nearby book and flipped it open before ripping a few pages out. Never before did she think she would tear a page from a book; years before the idea would be absurd, but now she just hope it was enough to stop the bleeding. She place the new sheets over the already redden pages.

She could feel the man’s unblinking eyes on her, eyes that had all but given up and were just waiting for her to do the same. She couldn’t bring herself to look into them as she continued to work.

“There’s nothing more we can do for him,” a voice from the shadows called out. “Put him out of his misery.”

“We can still save him! We just need to stop the bleeding!” Twilight’s voice cracked as she yelled.

“Twil…ight…” The man whispered faintly as a bead of blood ran from his mouth.

Reluctantly Twilight turned her gaze to his face. His mouth open and closed, as rasps of air escaped when he tried to speak. Slowly Twilight lowered her ear over his mouth, “It’s time to go home.”

***

Twilight sat up in bed breathing heavily. She shivered slightly as the memory of the nightmare still clung to her. A small movement caught her eye, so she rolled from the bed landing on the opposite side; her feet spaced out and her arms raised to her chest. She could feel the flow of magic already pouring into her right arm. Twilight stared across the room at a small yellow and pink creature, it looked at her with a face straight from the uncanny valley. It shrank back, somehow making itself look smaller, but it was so familiar. Twilight tilted her head to one side and then the other, doing her best impression of a confused dog; it was on the tip of her tongue.

“Twi-Twilight,” a gentle voice stammered out.

The voice was quiet and soft but it was enough to break through the fog that clouded Twilight's mind, “Fluttershy?” Twilight lowered her stance, and stepped around the bed.

“Um…how do you feel?” Fluttershy asked. Her voice held more confidence, but her rustling wings still showed her nervousness.

“I feel fine, my legs are a little sore, but I suspect that has to do more with the bed being too short. Speaking of,” Twilight said. As her mind began down a new line of thought. “Why am I still a human? I was sure that once I returned to Equestria I’d be a pony again, but I guess I should be happy I got back at all.” Twilight stretched her arms over her head until a satisfying pop could be heard. She took a half step to Fluttershy only to stop when the small Pegasus winced away. “Fluttershy are you ok?”

It was quiet for a moment before Fluttershy spoke up “Well, you see…I, um, heard from Rainbow Dash that you attacked her and Applejack, and a few guards.”

Twilight spoke with a deadpan expression “Funny, I don’t remember.” she shrugged. “Guess it was uneventful.”

“Uneventful! How could you say that those are your friends you’re speaking about.”

Twilight let out a long sigh. “Look most of yesterday is a blur, so I don’t really remember what I did, but judging by the fact you said I ‘attack them’ and not ‘killed them’ I’m guessing they’re ok. Are they ok?”

“Oh yes, just a few scratches.”

“See, Uneventful.”

Fluttershy’s mouth hung open, but she quickly replaced it with an awkward smile, as she tried to give Twilight her best comforting presence.

Twilight was glad to know her friends were ok. Her friends. Could she really call them her friends after all this time? She shook her head brushing away that train of thought she knew was ridiculous, but she had lost many nights of sleep over it.

Fluttershy was unsure what to say next. Several times she would try to speak but stopped has her courage waned at the last minute.

Twilight, quickly growing tired of the awkward moment, spotted her belongings near the writing desk at the far wall. She side stepped past Fluttershy and walked over to the desk. As she examined her gear she ran over her mental checklist of everything she had on her.

Armor, all pieces accounted for.
Pistol with full Magazine, check.
Plasma Rifle, only 50 charges left in the power cell, check.
One box of Nutrient Bars, check.
One Sealed metal box, check.

Twilight opened the sealed white box to reveal four tubs of bluish liquid and an injection gun. If she only took half dose from now on she would likely stretch it out for the next month, but after that. She closed the box and placed it within one of her inner jumpsuit pockets.

“Spike made sure to gather all your things for you,” Fluttershy said.

“What do you mean ‘gathered my things’?” Twilight asked, looking over her shoulder.

“Well you kind of... left your things lying everywhere.”

Twilight haft laugh to herself. “Of course I did, was there anything else I did I should know about?”

“Not that I know of, but you would need to ask the others about that.”

Twilight nodded stepping back over to the bed and set down “You mentioned Spike, I take it he still living here in Ponyville?” Fluttershy nodded. “I half expected him to have run off with some dragoness by now.”

“Oh no” Fluttershy giggled “Spike has been so very helpful in the court, managing many of the appointments and seeing to the guests.”

“Wait, Spike is living in Ponyville and working in Canterlot; the daily commute has got to be a pain in the ass.”

“No, Spike doesn’t work in the Canterlot court he works in the Friendship Court.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean Friendship Court?”

“Um…Well you see,” Fluttershy began before being cut off by the low growling of Twilight’s stomach drawing their attention.

“Oh my, I guess you must be hungry.”

“Maybe a little.”

“Why don’t we go get some food with the others and we can explain what the court is about,” Twilight nodded she rose and walked over to the desk and grabbed her armor.

Fluttershy watched for a moment as Twilight put each piece on, each new piece interlocking with the one before it with a ‘click.’

“Why are you wearing that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Twilight left her helmet sitting on the desk as she looked over to Fluttershy. “I don’t go anywhere without my armor. I’ve seen too many killed from just ‘getting air.”

Fluttershy eyes grew wide until she realized she was staring. “I-If that’s what you think is best.”

***

“Darling, it’s not that I don’t think we should celebrate Twilight’s return, but why must the banner read that?" Rarity said, waving a hoof at an overhead banner that read: ‘Welcome Back Twilight Sparkle; Sorry We Thought You Were Dead!’

The audience hall one of the larger rooms in the castle and was remodeled after the throne room at Canterlot, while only being half the size. A blue carpet with a white border ran from the entrance to the small double thrones that set atop a small flight of steps. For the past hour Pinky Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike had set up rolls of tables with different kinds of treats. From triple chocolate cake, a tower of donuts, and a rainbow of cupcakes; there was even a table with three different kinds of punch.

“Because silly,” Pinkie Pie said, placing a tray of chocolate covered cupcakes on a nearby table. “There wasn’t enough room to add ‘Super Party Extravaganza of the Month’

“That’s not quite what I meant.”

“Oh relax, Rarity, and just enjoy the party, besides,” Rainbow Dash said. As she leisurely flitted around the room on her back, a feat she did to both relax as well as show off her flying skills. “Twilight is back and that’s all that matters.”

“So, Pinkie, don't ya think this is a lot of food for just the seven of us,” asked Applejack.

“Well you see,” Pinkie Pie said as she took in a large breath of air. “There are just so many parties that Twilight has missed out on, so at first I thought we could have a party every day, but then that wouldn’t leave time to throw parties for other ponies. Then I was thinking we could just have an extra-large party for Twilight’s next few birthdays, but that’s so far away, so I thought why not just have one super party!”

“I guess that makes sense”

The door to the hall open with a loud groan, drawing the attention of everypony. A yellow pegasus entered with Twilight following behind. Twilight’s eyes waved over the sea of food, making her remember just how hungry she was, before falling to the group that gathered in front of her. All of them wore an uneasy smile, except for Pinkie Pie who smiled from ear to ear.

They all seemed the same as Twilight remembered, like they had been taken straight from the image in her mind. It was strange that after all this time so little had changed. Rainbow Dash stood out from the others in her wonderbolts outfit. Twilight assumed that meant she had finely made it into the Wonderbolts, that or she was just playing dress up.

Rarity looked as fabulous as she remembered, and could still make the simple purple scarf she wore look good.

Applejack still wore that old stetson, or was this a new one? Twilight gave a shrug and moved on.

Pinkie Pie was still Pinkie Pie, Twilight doubted much would change that mare. And Fluttershy, obviously, still had her shy moments, but despite that she still gave off an aura of confidence, at least more than she ever had.

Twilight looked at the last member of the group gathered and simply stared as she tried to puzzle out who this young dragon was; the gears clicked in place a moment later. “Spike!” At the sound of his name Spike ran up and wrapped his arms around Twilight’s waist.

“Twilight!” The dragon cried. Twilight padded the top of his head giving him a warm smile.

“I’ve missed you, Spike.” Twilight looked up at the others. “I’ve missed all of you. The thought of seeing everyone again is one of the things that helped me get through the last ten years.”

The silence in the room was deafening as everypony’s expression when from one of joy to one of concern. “What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

"Did you say ten years?" Rarity asked, hoping Twilight had just misspoke, but those hopes were quickly dashed when Twilight slowly nodded.

There was a pause before Applejack stepped forwards “Sugarcube there’s somethin’ you should know.”

“Only three years.” After Twilight managed to peel Spike off, she joined the others at a nearby table. “I suppose I should be happy. It could have been a lot worse; Rolland did say this could happen.”

“Who’s Rolland?” Fluttershy asked.

“He’s was the one who helped me get back home.”

“Twilight where have you been!” Rainbow cried, throwing her hooves in the air.

Twilight ran a hand through her hair, trying to decide on the best way to answer that question. Judging by Rainbows reaction she was going to want immediate answers, and Twilight knew that the others, while they may not have spoken up, wanted answers just as badly. So that only left the short version.

“After I went through the Crystal Mirror I found myself in a land called Osana, and I was how you see me now; I’m what they call a human. For two years prior to my arrival Osana was at war with a neighboring country: the Ryssdal Commonwealth. Shortly after my arrival, I stumbled into a battle between the two sides, and almost got myself killed. I was saved by the Osanen forces, unfortunately, my only way back was destroyed in the resulting battle. Not long after that I chose to join the Osanen military to save as many lives as I could.”

Twilight brought her eyes up from her hands, Rainbow Dash’s mouth left ajar in an unsaid question.

“You were a soldier?” Rainbow asked, Twilight just nodded “But why, you hate fighting?”

“Ten million.”

Twilight’s stern tone through Rainbow off guard “I don’t understand?”

“Before I joined that was the number of civilian casualties. The Commonwealth forces were deliberately targeting civilians, as a way to force Osana to surrender and every day that number rose.”

Fluttershy’s ears were laid back her hooves covered her mouth; Twilight could faintly hear her whispering “Horrible.”

Twilight let out a sigh, “Perhaps I should tell you the long version.”

“There’s no need for you to press yourself,” Rarity said.

Twilight waved her off. “I may as well tell you, besides it’s not like it matters much anymore.” Twilight leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes as her mind organized the events of the last ten years.

***

Three Months After Arrival

The warehouse was a bustle with activity, the capital had finally sent the next batch of supplies: food, medicine, and the reason Twilight was currently sneaking around behind metallic crates, the newest plasma rifles. Twilight looked around the crates; the workers all seem preoccupied with moving gravity lifts full of supplies stacked several meters high. She moved back into her tucked away corner and over to a container she had painstakingly dug out and popped the latch to open the container. A roll of black metallic rifles greeted her eyes; she ran a hand over them letting a finger glide along the length of the rifle before moving on to the next, smiling as she did.

She pulled out the first one and was amazed at how light it was; it was half the weight and size of the model she was issued. It was a rounded design with no extended barrel, and a built in scope. There was an empty slot for the power cell just forward of the trigger, she placed the butt of the rifle to her shoulder and looked threw the scope.

“You know, you can get court-martialed for that.”

Twilight jumped nearly dropping the gun. She turn to the familiar voice to be greeted by Davis’s soft smile and clear green eyes. Davis was her squad’s medic. Like her he wore the MK-2 Recon Exoskeleton Armor, unlike the more heavily armored MK-9 Battle Exoskeleton Armor the other members of the squad wore. The Recon Armor was lighter and design for speed over protection.

“I was just having a quick look,” Twilight defended.

Davis crossed his arms, “We’re still using three generation old Exo armor, so I really doubt we will be getting the latest guns anytime soon.”

Twilight thrust the gun out in front of her. “But look at it! We need this, I need this!”

“Twilight.”

Twilight let out a defeated sigh. She did an about-face and placed the rifle back with the others before latching the container closed.

“Come on, the Commander sent me to find you. We’re departing in an hour and he wants to go over our next mission.”

Twilight nodded and followed after. She maneuvered around the workers who carried the fresh supplies to the holding areas, doing her best not to trip on the numerous power cords that lay strewn about on the ground. “What’s going on over there?” She asked, motioning to a crowd that had gathered around a large monitor.

“Monthly casualty report,” Davis said. “A rather depressing read. We should hurry, I’m sure their already waiting for us.”

They head down a corridor leaving the warehouse behind. “Any idea what our assignment’s going to be?” Twilight asked.

“From what I hear, search and rescue.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“In a ghost filled city.”

Twilight’s head snapped to Davis. “Are you talking about the City of Sorrows?”

Davis laughed, “Not scared of ghosts are you?”

“Of course not, I’m not scared of some foa—I mean kid stories,” Twilight said, trying to correct herself.

“Then this should be easy,” Davis said sweeping his arms wide. “After all, what could possibly go wrong!”

Chapter 4: Small Talk

Twilight stepped out of the changing room wearing her new gray long sleeve shirt and matching pants. She was happy Rarity had included pockets giving her a place to store her metal case; she stepped in front of the three way mirror. The Anizon still flowed through her veins, focusing her eyes so that every detail of the shirt stood out, as if magnified. Her ears were sharper; she could faintly hear the pattering of hooves from upstairs. Her sense of awareness encapsulated the room. Without looking she could tell the location of each manikin and the direction they were facing.

“Not my best work I admit, but it’s what you requested,” Rarity said.

“This is perfect,” Twilight said turning to Rarity. “I forgot to ask at the party but Fluttershy mentioned you girls were keeping the Friendship Court going. I would have thought it would be dissolved after I disappeared.”

“It nearly was. Tell you what why don’t I make a bit of tea and I’ll tell you all about it,” Rarity said, leading the way to her kitchen. Twilight took a seat at the table, while Rarity set a kettle of water to boil before joining her. “It was a few months after your ‘disappearance.’ Like the rest of Equestria, we were still in mourning, but the girls and I didn’t want everything we accomplished with you to just disappear. So we asked the princesses to allow us to…continue your work in a way.”

“I don’t imagine Princess Celestia would have a problem with that.”

“No she didn’t, she was quite pleased with the idea. The nobility on the other hand.” The kettle whistled sending out streams of water vapor. Rarity grabbed a hold of it from across the room with her magic and two cups, bringing them over to the table.

“You’ve gotten better with your magic,” Twilight said.

Rarity poured a cup of tea and set it in front of Twilight. “Oh, I’m nowhere near as good as you are dear, but yes I have gotten better.”

Twilight blew gently on her steaming drink, before taking a slow sip. “You were saying?”

“Yes, the nobles. Well the nobles were not thrilled at the idea of so called ‘commoner ponies’ running one of the courts of Equestria. Naturally they suggested one of them take over,” Rarity said, a grin coming over her face. “Princess Celestia gave them what they wanted and placed nobles on the court, that is to say she made us all nobles.”

Twilight’s tea froze halfway to her mouth, her eyes unblinking. “You’re all nobles?”

Rarity giggled “Believe it or not, yes we are. Princess Celestia said we were long over do for it; though in truth the nobility holds very little meaning in this day and age. I’m the only one who seems to get any use out of it. Pinkie tried throwing a party for some nobles once and it went as well as our first trip to the Gala.”

They both sheared a laugh as the memory played out in their minds. “That seems like a lifetime ago,” Twilight said, her voice going quiet.

“Indeed it does.” Silence filled the room as the tea fragrance permeated the air. Rarity cleared her throat before speaking, “Twilight would it be ok for me to ask about your…time away?”

“Of course, I’m sure you and the girls still have questions.”

“During your time over there was it always like you described, always fighting.”

Twilight smiled and set her cup down. “No actually it wasn’t all fighting. During my first shore leave Nadia dragged me to this bar she liked and had me sample every drink on the menu with her. I was so sick after that I spent the rest of the night hugged up to a bucket. And then there was Davis…”

***

One year after arrival
Port city of Huron

Twilight ran down the cobblestone streets. Pedestrians jumped out of the way yelling slurs, as Twilight turned down the alleyway. She leaped over piles of trash and ducked under low hanging stairwells, as she ran down the zig-zag path of the shadow covered alley. Finally, she emerged back into the light of the main street. And quickly headed across the street toward the colorful building that stood out from the ones around it; it was one of Huron’s orphanages. Twilight made her way around the building. The back yard was filled with brightly colored toys and playground equipment and sitting on a bench near the building was Davis, right were he said he’d be. He had a young boy sitting in his lap and was holding a book out for him.

“Sound it out,” Davis said, pointing to the book.

The boy pressed his lips together blowing out air as he sounded out the letters. “Bu…ir…da, bird! It says bird.”

Davis padded the boy on the head. He looked over to see Twilight waving from the corner of the building. “Very good, now why don’t you go show everyone how good you’ve gotten.”

“Ok.” The boy said, jumping down and running inside the building.

“You’re really good with kids,” Twilight said, stepping over.

“Did I never mention it before,” Davis asked. “I used to be an elementary teacher before the war. Orphanages, like these here, have trouble getting enough food, let alone schooling. So those like me stop by when we can and have our own private class.”

“What kind of teacher were you?”

He held up a book, “An english teacher.”

“TWILIGHT!” A voice sung on the air, “Where are you!”

Twilight pressed herself against the side of the building. “I completely forgot why I came here, you have to hide me.”

Davis looked thoughtfully at her before speaking. “I’m guessing Nadia is looking for you?” Twilight nodded. “And she wants to go out for drinks again?”

“I just got over my headache and I don’t want to spend my last few days of leave puking my guts out.”

“I could help but there is just this slight problem.” Before Twilight could respond Davis took in a deep breath and yelled. “Twilight’s over here!”

Twilight gasped and her mouth fell open. “You traitor!”

Davis held a cocky grin as he spoke. “The slight problem I mentioned is that I would have to go drinking with her if you skipped out, and I’m a light weight.”

Nadia popped from around the corner and latched on to Twilight’s arm. “Found you, man you are fast. Come on the Table Flippers is having half priced drinks for all soldiers.”

Twilight looked back to Davis and an evil grin spread across her face. “Why don’t we bring Davis along, after all the more the merrier.”

Nadia waved a hand at him. “Nah, he’s doing his teaching thing, besides your way more fun.

Twilight’s grin quickly fell. “But, but.” She stammered as Nadia pulled her along.

Davis waved at them, “Have fun you two.”

***

Rarity refilled their cups. “I’m glad to know you had friends looking after you.”

“Yes, they were good people.”

“Rarity.” A whine from down the hall called out, followed by hooves trotting down the stairs.

Rarity leaned around the table and yelled out the door. “We’re in the kitchen Sweetie Belle.”

Moments later Sweetie Belle rounded the corner. Like Applebloom, Sweetie Belle looked more mature. Her pink and purple mane was curlier than Twilight remembered, and she wore light purple eyeliner, similar to that of Rarity’s. “Somepony’s hungry.” Sweetie Belle said. On her back was a small brownish yellow unicorn foal, with a short golden mane. The foal grabbed a chunk of Sweetie's mane in her mouth and pulled. “Ow, Citrine, you can’t eat my mane. Rarity, a little help please.” Sweetie begged, struggling with her mane.

Rarity stepped over and picked the struggling foal. Citrine immediately latched on to Rarity in a fit of giggles. “Who is that?” Twilight asked.

“This is Citrine,” Rarity said, using her magic to set Citrine on her back. “My daughter.”

“She’s adorable. I’m guessing her father would be the stallion you told me about?” asked Twilight.

Rarity nodded. “Charming Presence, I met him at a party after I gained my noble title.”

“Rarity I need to go now,” Sweetie Belle said. “Applebloom and Scootaloo are probably waiting for me. Oh and good to see you again Twilight.”

“It’s good to see you as well.”

“Ok dear,” Rarity said. “Remember to get home before it gets too late.” Sweetie Belle turned and headed down the hall. Rarity wrapped Citrine in a vial of magic and lifted her over to Twilight. “Here hold her for me, while I make her bottle.”

Twilight took the doe eyed foal setting her gently in her lap. Twilight gave her a warm smile and patted her head softly, as if she may break at the slightest touch. Citrine wrapped her hooves around Twilight's arm and gave her a toothless smile, before chomping down on her hand. “Hey!” Twilight cried as the little one gummed her hand.

“Oh don’t mind her, she does that when she’s hungry, I really hope it’s just a phase,” Rarity said, pulling a bottle from the cupboard.

“So what happen between you and this Charming?”

Rarity set the bottle on the counter and let out a quiet sigh. “Charming Presence was one of the greatest and worst things that ever happen to me. As I said, I met him at a party shortly after I gained my nobility, and he was quite charismatic. He said all the right things to me and I was rather fallen for him. We went on a few dates and he helped me move on from your loss, after nearly a year he proposed to me.”

Rarity took her seat back at the table, then with her magic she levitated Citrine over to her hooves. The moment Citrine saw the bottle she grabbed and plopped it in her mouth. “I found out the truth from one of his cousins. She had come over to help me plan out the wedding when she let it slip. Apparently, Charming’s house was at risk of losing their nobility status, but with me by his side it helped him climb the social ladder once more. When I confronted Charming about this he didn’t deny it, in fact he suggested we go through with the wedding. He said love was just a word and that with our combined status we could have anything we wanted. He even offered to help me open stores all across Equestria, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t marry for money and so I broke it off. Not long after that I found out I was pregnant with Citrine.”

“Does he ever see Citrine?” Twilight asked.

“Don’t get the wrong impression, Twilight, Charming Presence may be a poor special somepony but he’s an excellent father, just have a look at Citrine’s room. Every time he visits he insist she need some toy he found. I have no doubt this is going to be one spoiled little filly.”

“So does anyone else have foals I should know about,” Twilight asked.

“Just Shining Armor and Cadence, they had a pegasus filly who’s just a little older then my Citrine.”

“I can’t say I didn’t expect that one.” Twilight said, as she watched Citrine greedily suck down her bottle.

The front door bell rang and Spikes voice called out. “Rarity are you here?”

“In the kitchen, Spike,” Rarity called out. “Be a dear and turn the door sign to closed.” Within moments Spike stormed into the doorway, a purple backpack slung around his back. Relief flooded his face when he looked at Twilight. He placed his claws on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

“Thank… Celestia…you’re here,” Spike said, between breaths.

“Spike what’s wrong?” Twilight asked worriedly. She stood from her chair and kneeled down next to Spike.

“You disappeared and I couldn’t find you; then I got this letter, and I was looking all over the place but Applebloom said you came this way.”

“Hold on!” Twilight cut him off. “What letter?”

“Oh!” Spike searched through his bag and handed over the letter.

Dear Twilight Sparkle

It feels strange to be writing to you again after all this time, but a good kind of strange. Spike as informed me about what happen when you crossed the Crystal Mirror and I am so sorry you were forced to endure so much. The Archmage has been looking into why you are not a pony but he claims he requires your presence to make any further progress. If you are willing I would also like you to come stay at the palace for a time. I can only imagine how overwhelming it must be coming home after, I still can’t believe it, ten years.
As well, Cadence and Shining Armor will be arriving here sometime tomorrow, and I believe they are eager to see you again.

Princess Celestia

“Spike,” Twilight Called. “Take a letter.”

Those words, those four simple words, filled Spike with more joy in that moment then the entirety of the past three years. He wiped the mist from his eyes before pulling a fresh quill and parchment from his bag.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” Twilight began. “It is good to hear from you again. I don’t know what help I can be to the Archmage but I will leave on the next train. As for staying at the palace I...would very much like that, thank you for the invitation. Signed…” Twilight paused, unsure how to end it. She looked to Spike, “Would I say Princess Twilight or just plain Twilight Sparkle?”

Spike shared an uneasy look with Rarity before speaking “Perhaps for now, just Twilight Sparkle will be fine.” Twilight nodded. Spike rolled up the letter and with a burst of green fire it disintegrated.

“Sorry Rarity, looks like we need to be going,” Twilight said, finishing off her tea in one gulp.

“I check the train schedule and the next one departing for Canterlot leaves in two hours,” said Spike.

A small smirk spread on Twilight’s face. “Spike, you’re clearly on top of things.”

Spike shrugged, “I have to be, the Friendship Court would have fallen apart without me.”

They said their goodbyes to Rarity and made their way out. Rarity waved goodbye with Citrine’s hoof.

The train sped down the tracks as its rhythmic sound filled the cabin. Spike, who had insisted on accompanying her, set next to Twilight quietly flipping through a comic book. Twilight stared out the window watching the land blur past and try to wrap her mind around her thoughts. Her friends had been so supportive, even after learning about where she had been. It’s not that she didn’t expect them to be, but there was a lot less panicking than predicted.

And now she was going to meet Princess Celestia, a ruler so old that only Princess Luna knew her true age. She was a ruler who had seen every war in Equestria’s history, and likely some before it. Then there was Princess Luna who not only saw her fair share of war, but even started one. Twilight let that thought die. The rhythmic sound of the train weighed down her eyes, slowly she closed them letting the simple sound envelop her.

***

Twilight set with Rarity at a table outside of Sugarcube Corner, each eating there lunch under the afternoon sun. Rarity lightly dabbed her mouth with a napkin before speaking. “I’m so glad you found the time to have lunch with me. I know how much work it must be taking over the friendship court again.”

“It’s not so bad, I still have you girls to help and Spike has become quite versed in court politics. I’m just glad reinstating my title didn’t take as long as it did for Princes Luna; although that may have been due to Luna having gone through it once already.” The faint smell of ash on the air drew her attention. It was only then she noticed the fire that raged all over ponyville, engulfing everything in its path. And yet, the ponies seemed oblivious to it. They continued to go about their daily lives even as their fur was burnt away and their skin boiled. Twilight stood up knocking her chair to the ground. “Fire!”

“My heavens, Twilight, what has you so upset?” Rarity asked.

“Look!” Twilight pointed out around her as the flames, which acted with a mind of their own, pounced an unsuspecting stallion consuming him until only ashes remained. “There’s fire everywhere! Ponies are dying!” She looked back to Rarity to see the same fire slowly consuming her fur.

“Oh darling, I’m sure you’re just overreacting; besides, it’s time to go home.”

***

The sudden deceleration of the train roused Twilight from her sleep, groggily she rubbed her face. Spike finished putting the last of his things back into his bag. “Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yes.” Twilight said, stretching out her limbs.

They stepped onto the train platform to be greeted by a group of golden armored guards. A pegasus clad in purple and gold lined armor stepped forward. “Chamberlain Spike, it is good to see you again.” he said, extending a hoof.

Spike took the outstretched hoof. “You too, Hot Iron.” He turned to Twilight, “Twilight, this is Captain of the Guard, Hot Iron.”

“I see they finally found someone to take over my brothers old spot.”

“Yes well, those were big hooves to fill, but never mind that for now, forgive me for not greeting you properly princess. Princess Celestia informed me that you would look different but I was not expecting this. ” He bowed his head to her and those under his command mimicked his actions.

Twilight shrugged it off and said, “Technically right now I’m not a princess. My title and power became null and void the moment they concluded I was dead, and under the circumstances you can’t really be blamed for not recognising me.”

“Perhaps,” Hot Iron said, raising his head. “But I’m sure that this misunderstanding will be cleared up shortly. Come, we don’t want to keep Princess Celestia waiting longer than necessary.” The guards turned doing their own version of an about-face only not as smooth as the human version. They parted the crowd as they moved through them with Twilight and Spike following behind.

Twilight leaned down and whispered to Spike, “So Chamberlain, hmm.”

Spike grinned, “What jealous? Well too bad I’m not trading.”

The doors of the throne room opened with Twilight and Spike following Hot Iron in, as the rest of the guards had been dismissed to return to their other duties. Celestia set upon her throne her eyes growing wide at the sight of the armored Twilight. Within a moment her horn flared and she vanished, reappearing in front of Twilight in a white burst of magic, and wrapped her wings around her, “Oh my dear Twilight.” Celestia whispered, just loud enough for Twilight to hear.

Twilight return the embrace by wrapping her arms around Celestia’s neck, “You know,” Twilight said. “I was hoping I would be taller than you.” This caused Celestia to laugh, a small chuckle at first and then a full on welling.

When Celestia had calmed down she turned to Hot Iron “Please inform my sister of Twilight’s arrival, and tell her we will be in my study.”

“Yes your majesty,” Hot Iron said. He gave a small bow to Celestia and Twilight before turning to leave.

“Come you two walk with me.” Celestia said. She led them out a smaller side door. Servants and staff parted the hall bowing their heads until Celestia past. “Spike how did the meeting with the deer ambassador go? I was surprised the trade agreement came through so quickly.”

“Quite well, as it turns out deer’s are quite fond of nature and their animals. Fluttershy spent most of the time talking about that, until the ambassador mentioned he was the fastest in his clan. So of course, Rainbow had to challenge him to a race, and she even tied her wings to her side. They raced around the castle with Rainbow winning by a nose, but the ambassador seem to take the loss pretty well.”

Celestia entered the room of her study. The study itself was more of a small library, with shelves filled with books lining the walls. On a small upper balcony set a desk with neatly stacked piles of paperwork, each waiting for Celestia’s approval. In the center of the room was a round table large enough for a dozen ponies to set at with an awaiting pot steaming tea, prepared by her capable staff. They took a seat at the table. Celestia used her magic and poured them both a drink.

“So Celestia how have you been?” Twilight asked desperately trying to think of something to say.

Celestia gave her classic warm smile, “Much better now that you are back.” She could see the tension in Twilight’s body, as her hand played with a control panel on her forearm. Celestia sighed, “Spike’s letter may not have been that detailed on your time away, but it was enough. I know you likely saw things and maybe even did things that are not easy to speak of. So I will not ask about it, but know that anytime you want to talk I will be here to listen.”

The tension in Twilight eased a bit. “I appreciate that.” She returning Celestia’s smile. Decideing to move on to a better topic she said. “In your letter you mentioned the Archmage needing to see me. I’ll help anyway I can but I’m not sure what he could need of me?”

"Archmage Hearing Colors studied the Mirrors extensively the first year of your disappearance, but even with Cadence's help it was slow going. And as much as it pains me to admit, when it became clear you were not coming back I ordered the Archmage to stop research on the Mirrors and focus on more pressing concerns,” Celestia said.

“It’s been a long time so I’m not sure if I remember everything, but I’m sure I can fill in some gaps. But why were the Crystal Mirrors never studied more after my disappearance?”

“The Crystal Mirrors are artifacts from an age long past and not even Luna and I know all the secrets behind them. And I did not wish to risk somepony else being hurt by them,” Celestia said, becoming fixated on her tea. “In truth I think I was still hoping you would come through the mirror, so I had them moved to the Canterlot Vault.”

The door to the study open and the Princess of the Night trotted in. “Forgive my absence,” Luna said taking a seat at the table. “I hope I have not missed anything.”

“Nothing much, just a bit about the Archmage” Celestia informed her.

Luna turned to Twilight, “I am very pleased to see you again, but I must ask why are you wearing armor and so much of it?”

Twilight was starting to get a little annoyed that this question kept coming up. Was she really so different from a guards that wore their armor all day, or the nobles with layers of clothing. “I just prefer wearing my armor, that’s all.”

Luna shared a glance with Celestia her eyes filled with a thousand words but Celestia’s eyes told her “Now was not the time.”

“The Archmage,” Celestia began. “Is in a lecture at the moment and it will be sometime before he is done. I have arranged a room for you in the east wing, next to the room you normally get Spike. Why don’t you get some rest and I will have somepony summon you once the Archmage is ready. Spike if you would be so kind as to show Twilight the way.”

Spike stood from his seat, “Of course, right this way Twilight.”

Twilight couldn’t help but to crack a smile as the drake placed one arm behind his back and the other out for Twilight to take. “I guess a little rest wouldn’t hurt. I’ll speak with you both later then. Celestia, Luna,” Twilight said, before following Spike out of the room.

The royal sisters set in silent for nearly five minutes as they waited for Twilight to be out of earshot. “Tia,” Luna said.

Celestia quickly cut her off. “I know Luna, I know. But she has just returned to us so we need to give her time to settle in. We have to take this slowly.”

“For her sake let us hope we do not act too slowly.”

***

Rainbow Dash tossed and turned in her hotel bedroom as she tried to get comfortable. She laid on her right side before deciding her left side would be better, and flipped over bouncing on the bed as she did so. Her pillow was too flat for her liking, sitting up she punched and fluffed the pillow until it was nice and fluffy again. Soarin let out a groan; he reached over and turned on the nightstand light.

“Rainbow, is there something wrong?” Soarin asked sitting up.

Rainbow rolled over to look at him. “What makes you think something is wrong?”

“Because normally you’re asleep the moment your head hits the pillow. What’s on your mind?”

“You have a sister in the Guard, don’t you?” He nodded, unsure of where this sudden interest came from. “Has she ever told you about what it’s like?”

Soarin thought for a moment before answering. “She doesn’t tell me much just that she stands around all day and it's boring. Why?”

“It’s nothing, sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep,” Rainbow said, rolling back over and closing her eyes.”

Chapter 5: Testing, Testing, Explosion!

3487, that was the number of tiles that made up the ceiling in Twilight’s room. Twilight knew this because she had spent the last four hours lying in bed, failing to sleep, and had resorted to counting tiles. She had counted them eight times now. It was likely due to the drug still in her system; no one ever said taking a combat drug before a nap was a good idea. Then again, she did manage to fall asleep on the train, so this could just be nerves but she couldn’t be sure. She considered going for a walk thinking it may tire her out, but unless that walk involved a ten mile run down the mountain the only thing a walk would do was distract her. Regardless, she had chosen to remain in her room not wanting to miss the pony that was supposed to come get her, and that was four hours ago.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5,” Twilight counted off the tiles once more. Figuring, if no one shows up by the time she was done counting she would just go find them, surely the Archmage’s lecture were over by now. “6, 7, 8,”

A subtle tapping on the door broke her concentration. In a hurry, she rolled from the bed, nearly tripping on her armor that lay in the floor. She yanked the door open surprising the purple drake at the door. “Oh, it’s just you Spike,” Twilight said unable to hide her disappointment.

“Yeah, they haven’t shown up for me either.”

Twilight stepped away from the door, “Come on in, it’s a real party in here.” Twilight took her spot back on the bed with Spike sitting in a chair across from her. “I guess we haven’t had a lot of time to talk, have we?”

“There was the party but then you kind of disappeared,” Spike said.

“Sorry about that, I wasn’t really in the party mood,” Spike nodded in understanding. “Tell me what you’ve been up to Spike, other than working in the court I mean.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head, “Let’s see, after your funeral I went to stay with mom and dad for a few months.” Twilight wasn’t sure when it started, but some time after Spike started speaking he began treating her parents as his own. Twilight’s parents found it quite adorable seeing as they were already taken with Spike.

“How are they?” Twilight asked.

“Dad threw himself into his work with the guard, so he never made it home most nights. And mom, well let’s just say she doesn’t write a lot of happy books anymore. I think when Celestia asked me to help with the Friendship Court I accepted more because I was tired of waiting,” Spike said. His eyes almost looked happy as he spoke next. “I never believed them you know. When they said you were dead I knew it couldn’t be true, so I made sure to keep your things just as you left them I—”

“Spike, what the fuck!” Twilight interrupted. Spike jumped from her outburst, his eyes a mix of shock and confusion. Twilight rubbed her eyes before padding an empty spot on the bed, signaling for Spike to join her. Happily he did so. “What if I was dead?”

Spike locked eyes with her, “But you weren’t dead.”

“You’re not answering the question Spike. What if I never came back or, heaven forbid, I dropped dead tomorrow?”

“I-I…That wouldn’t happen I knew you would come back!”

Oh how Twilight hated when people beat around the bush. It was times like this when she just wanted to take something sharp and cut out the bush from its roots. That left Twilight with two options: A, she could be more direct with Spike and force an answer out, but this would likely involve a lot of yelling on her part and crying on Spikes. Or B, let him beat around the bush until he spits out whatever the core issue was.

Twilight placed an arm around him pulling him in close. “I know dragons live a long time but you can’t tell me you were going to spend the rest of your life waiting for me to return.”

“Twilight—” Spike tried to speak but the knocking on the door stopped him.

“Miss Twilight, Princess Celestia has asked me to escort you to her once you’re ready.” A voice from the door called out.

Twilight let out a tired sigh, “We’ll be right out,” She looked to Spike. “We’ll talk about this later.”

***

Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, it was a place Twilight had many fond memories of during her childhood. ‘No that’s not right it’s fillyhood. I’ve got to stop using human terms.’ Twilight thought. She and Spike followed the guard down the long hallway; the guard would occasionally look back and shot Twilight a strange looks, like he wasn’t sure what to make of her, but stopped when Spike cleared his throat loudly.

Most of the students were gone for the day, but occasionally Twilight would peek into a passing door to see a group of students working on some project. Apart of her could still see herself arguing with Moondancer over how much chlorine needed to be added to their science experiment. As Twilight remembered the recipe, in fact, didn’t require any chlorine which would explain why it later exploded, filling the room with a foul smelling gas.

She stepped away from the door pushing those memories out of her mind, there was no point dwelling on the past. Before long Twilight and Spike found themselves in one of the schools warded off laboratories. It was a large rounded room with equipment set up at the edge of the room with white robed unicorns operating them. In the center of the room was one of the two Crystal Mirrors, and cords were attached along the edge of the mirror running to many of the lab stations.

Celestia stood close by and watched an aging unicorn stallion slowly trot around the mirror. He had a coat of gray with a mane of blue streaked with gray, although Twilight had a feeling the streaks were not a natural color. And he wore dark blue robes lined with a golden cloth embroidered with a runic design. As he made his way around the mirror his horn would glow with a blue aura only for it to quickly dissipate, as he cast his unseen spell. Some of the Scientist stopped what they were doing and looked as Twilight entered, while the more clever of the lot looked from the corner of their eyes.

Celestia turned and smiled, greeting the newest arrivals to the room, “Twilight,” Celestia said, as the pair made their way to Celestia’s side. “I would like to introduce you to Hearing Colors.” The stallion turned to face them and for the first time Twilight got a clear view of his white coated eyes.

“It’s good to meet you,” Hearing colors said. “But before you ask, yes I am blind, yes I can still see you, and no I will not explain the interworking of the magic that allows me to see.”

“Get asked that question a lot I take it?” Twilight asked.

“I could set my watch by it, I don’t see what’s so fascinating about seeing through magic,” Hearing Colors said with a small sigh. He looked to address Celestia, “I believe I have isolated the transformation spell within the mirror. Are you familiar with a spell known as Sage Mimicry?”

“Why that brings back memories?” Celestia said a look of fondness in her eyes. “Luna used that spell before she developed her Dream Shifting spell.”

Twilight placed a hand under her chin as she thought, “If I remember correctly, I used that spell to turn my friends and me into Breezies, But that spell was only temporary, it wears off after a few hours.”

“Yes, this spell works under the same principles as Sage Mimicry; therefore I have decided to dub the spell Crystal Mimicry. Unlike Sage Mimicry, Crystal Mimicry is a far more advanced version with its transformations being, as far as I can tell, permanent.” Hearing Colors explained.

“That can’t be,” Twilight said crossing her arms. She pictured each piece of information in her mind like a puzzle piece, moving them around until a pattern started to form. “If the Crystal Mirrors has this Mimicry spell like you say then that would imply their original purpose wasn’t communication but travel…Only there would be no need for a spell like that to travel anywhere I can think of in Equus,” Twilight gasped as realization flashed across her face. “It’s a dimensional door!”

Hearing Colors chuckled to himself, “Very good, you figured that out much faster than me.”

“You already knew?” Twilight asked.

“Quite, I wanted to see if you were as clever as I’ve heard, and I’m glad to say you are even more so.”

“Wait, I’m confused,” Spike said, scratching his head. “What does a dimensional door have to do with that spell?”

“It simple Spike, If you were to step through the portal and end up in a world with no oxygen you would die, but the spell changes you to something that can survive.” Twilight explained, and Hearing Colors nodded in agreement.

“Now on to the reason I asked for you here Princess,” Hearing said.

“Just Twilight will be fine,” Twilight interrupted.

With a nod He continued, “You see Twilight, reversing the spell is surprisingly simple, but we need to know more about what you have turned into so we can properly calibrate the spell. Otherwise, you may end up with a few extra parts.”

“Twilight, you should get them to give you dragon scales!” Spike exclaimed with a wide grin.

“What? Spike, no,” Twilight quickly shot him down.

Spike rubbed a claw along an arm as he said “You don’t know what you’re missing, these babies are awesome.”

“Anyway,” Hearing Colors said. As he steered the conversation back on track. “If you have no objections I would like to start the test.”

With no objections from Twilight, other than refusing to remove her armor, but after learning that it could affect the test results she reluctantly relented. They spent the next few hours running Twilight through a gauntlet of test. From simple stuff: taking blood and hair samples. To having Twilight do push-ups and set-ups inside a gravity bubble; set to twice that of normal.

“I believe we only have one more test for you to perform,” Hearing Colors said. As he helped remove the wires from Twilight’s head they were using to read her brainwaves. “We just need to get a reading on your magic capabilities.” He wheeled over a stand with a clear crystal orb on it.

“I’m not sure if this test is a good idea,” Twilight said. “I can already tell you humans don’t have magic.”

“Nonsense,” Hearing color countered. “Every race has some form of magic even if they don’t realise it, and don’t worry this orb will detect even the most unusual magical energy.”

‘This is definitely going to blow up in his face,’ Twilight thought and smiled to herself. ‘May as well make it one hell of an explosion.’ She stepped up to the orb and placed both hands on either side of it. Immediately, she felt the orb pulling on her magic, as it try to gauge her strength. Twilight’s smile reached her eyes as she opened the floodgates to her magic and poured it into the orb. Almost instantly the clear orb began to glow white.

“Just as I said, every race as some form of magic,” Hearing colors said. But Twilight was far too focused to notice.

The more magic Twilight poured into the orb the brighter the orb glowed, but the orb seemed to have no limits to how much magic it could take, and it was starting to piss Twilight off.

“Twilight, I believe that will be enough,” Celestia said, her voice growing concerned.

Twilight ignored her; she was not going to let a rock beat her. Oh, she knew it was really a apophyllite crystal purified and reformed into an orb, but it didn’t deserve that recognition; right now it was just a rock.

“Twilight that’s enough!” Celestia’s voice boomed. Twilight broke her concentration, but for a moment, and looked to Celestia, but that was all it took.

The magic began to go wild within the orb, now free of restraint. Twilight’s hands felt glued to the sides of the orb as it drew out more of her magic and added it to the brewing storm circling within, trying to break free. Cracks formed along the surface and more light poured out. Twilight muttered every curse word she knew under her breath, as she struggled to free her hands. She flowed magic into her palms and held it there by sheer force of will. It took most of her concentration to keep this leech from sucking it away. Yes, the orb had been demoted from a rock to a leech.

With just a thought two spherical shields ripped her hands free, tearing skin along with it. Twilight barely had time to enjoy the feeling of having her hands back when Celestia let out another booming cry “Everypony get down!”

Twilight acted on instinct and threw up a shield in front of her just as the orb exploded outward, sending debris flying. Despite the shield, being that close to the epicenter was enough to knock Twilight on her back. Twilight’s ears rung with a familiar ringing, as she set up with a groan. All around her others were picking themselves off the ground.

“Is any pony hurt?” Hearing Colors called. And was met with variations of ‘I’m fine.’

“That didn’t go as expected,” Twilight said ignoring the looks she was getting. She saw Celestia’s wing coming even without looking, but seeing as it was just her wing she felt no need to dodge it, and let Celestia’s feathers smack against her face. Twilight knew that was the equivalent of a slap in the face, so she played along. She held a hand to her offended cheek and asked “What was that for?”

“What were you thinking? You could have gotten somepony seriously hurt!” Celestia scolded.

“Hearing Colors did want to test my magic,” Twilight defended.

But Celestia was having none of her excuses and retorted, “You could have mentioned you still had your alicorn magic; that would have invalidated this entire test. And were you deliberately trying to break the orb?”

Twilight placed a finger on her chin; more to play up the situation then actually in thought. “I wouldn’t say deliberately, more that losing wasn’t an option.”

“What does that even—” Celestia cut off her rant when she spotted the blood dripping from Twilight’s hands. “You’re hurt.”

Twilight raised and examined her hands. The layers of skin that had been touching the orb were gone and replaced by reddish bloody patches. The smaller spots had already stopped bleeding but the part on her palms looked the worst. “It’s not too bad; it’ll heal on its own.”

Celestia took Twilight’s hands in her magic and Twilight didn’t resist. “The wounds are minor, so a healing spell should work.”

Twilight felt the magic flow into her sores, retracting the blood and growing a new layer of skin. Twilight smirked at her freshly healed hands and said, “Oh, alicorn magic how I miss thee.”

“Miss it? Where you not just using alicorn magic?” Celestia asked. Her anger was gone replaced with genuine curiosity.

Not quite,” said Twilight. “Back there all I did was pour unfocused magic into that…thing.”—She still refused to address it as anything but a leech—“But I can do magic, or at least I can do a simple shield spell.”

“And you say humans can’t use magic?” Celestia asked, continuing her questioning.

Twilight nodded, “I’ve found no evidence to the contrary, and I believe that is part of the reason I can use magic. My working theory is that because humans lack magic there was nothing to stop my dormant magic from seeping out, although I don’t know why I can only use one spells.”

Hearing colors trotted up next to Celestia and said, “In light of this new information I think it’s best to disregard this test.”

“What are the results of all my hard work?” Twilight asked.

“Well, from the early results I can tell you that humans have a near unbelievable level of endurance. I think it’s safe to say you would put any of our athletes to shame. Your brainwaves were higher than anticipated, but now that we know to account for your magic it should fall within reason.”

And the spell, how long until it's ready?”

“If there are no delays, a few days.”

It was about that moment when Twilight realised something important she had left out: the Anizon was still in her system. It was already fading from her system, but she worried a it may have affected the results, and the last thing she wanted was to turn into a hulking version of her pony self. “Hearing, will the spell be affected if the test results are too high?”

“As long as the margin of error is within ten percent it should be fine, unless you have something you would like to add?” Hearing Colors asked.

“No, I was just curious,” Twilight said. Deciding that bringing up the Anizon may do more harm than good.

A puff of smoke formed next to Celestia’s head before a letter popped into existence. She caught the letter mid fall and quickly read it over. A smile hung on her face as she rolled it back up and addressed Twilight. “Cadence and Shining armor were able to catch an earlier train, so they will be arriving in a few hours, and asked if you and Spike could meet them at your parent’s house.”

Twilight’s face went pale, “My parents.” She whispered to herself. How had she forgotten about them? It wasn’t like she was avoiding them, certainly, the fact that even as an alicorn princess they still treated her like a little…filly didn’t help.

“Twilight,” Spike said coming up to her side. “Are you ok?”

“What? Oh…I’m fine. Come on Spike we better get going.” Twilight gathered up her gear and headed to the exit with Spike.

“Have a pleasant time.” Celestia called as they left the lab.

They had just made it outside when they ran into Luna, waiting near the entrance. “Twilight, do you have a moment? I have something I wish to discuss with you.” Luna said, as Twilight approached. At Twilight’s hesitated look she added, “This will take only a moment of your time.”

Twilight gave a nod and turned to Spike “Go on ahead I’ll catch up to you.” Spike gave a shrug before continuing on.

When Spike was out of sight Luna began, “I would like your permission to monitor your dreams.” Twilight shot her an incredulous look but Luna continued, “But as I’m still unfamiliar with humans, I will need to forcibly enter your dreams. You shouldn’t notice anything different while you sleep, and the only real side effect is that I would be able to see more than just your dreams: your memory, your inner-thoughts all of it would be lay bare to me. For that reason it is not something I do lightly.”

“Luna, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I don’t need someone…pony…whatever, poking around in my head. I’m fine.” Twilight assured her.

“I understand why you may feel that way,” Luna argued. “But think of it as a physical for your mind. You would be putting many minds at ease by allowing this.”

“I’m sorry Luna, but the answer’s no. Excuse me but I need to catch up with Spike.” Twilight said and walked passed Luna.

As Luna stood alone she hung her head and said, “Perhaps Celestia was right; I should have given her more time.”

Chapter 6: Happy Moments and Waking Dreams

Evening light had set in washing the sky in the warm light of the fading sun. Twilight’s parents lived in the noble quarter, despite not being nobles themselves, but with two children becoming royalty they had more influence than most of the nobles combined. Twilight and Spike stood in front of their parents’ home. It was a simple two story blue house set into a slot next to countless others. It wasn’t overly decorative, as to feel it was competing for status, nor was it forgettable either.

After a few minutes of stearing at the door Spike looked up to Twilight and asked, “As much as I love what moms done with the place don’t you think we should go in?”

Twilight gave him a smile that failed to reach her eyes. “Sorry, I kind of spaced out there. Yes, we should definitely go inside. It would be kind of awkward to be standing out here when Shining Armor and Cadence arrived, although I guess then we could go in together and—”

“Twilight,” Spike interrupted. “Would you like me to knock?”

“Well...yes,” She admitted after a moment.

With a shake of the head Spike stepped up and knocked on the door. Before Spike could give a third knock the door flew open. “Spike.” Twilight Velvet said from the doorway, meeting Spike’s eyes. She slowly looked up to the being behind him. Her eyes moistened and she gave a smile only a mother could give, “Welcome home, Sweetie.” An awkward moment seem to stretch on between the two of them as Twilight forgot how to speak. “Let's not stand out here all night, come inside.”

Velvet led them into the living room, there was a couch and a few chairs all centered around the corner fireplace. Spike plopped on the couch and asked, “Where's Dad?”

“We weren’t expecting everypony so soon so he ran out to pick up a few things,” Velvet answered, before turning to Twilight. She looked over Twilight’s armor and her smile faltered; she took in a breath as if steeling herself then spoke. “Twilight, you can place your armor upstairs in your old room.”

The annoyance that flashed across Twilight’s face was apparent to all. For a moment all Twilight could do was think about the statistical probability of this subject coming up so many times in one day. When her moment ended and rough calculations done she answered, “If it’s alright, I’ll keep my armor on.”

“No, it is not alright,” Velvet said sternly. “I do not allow armor to be worn in my house.”

Twilight didn’t want to argue with her mother, but her tone told Twilight she was prepared for one. Frankly everyone’s obsession with her wardrobe was getting on her last nerve. No, more accurately it was cutting it out with surgical precision. “It’s not that big of a deal, just let it go.” She said between clenched teeth.

But Velvet just stood her ground and shot back, “Yes it is a big deal, Twilight. I understand you’ve been...away for a long time, but that doesn’t mean you can disregard the rules of my house!”

The small part of Twilight’s mind that fought against arguing with her mother was suddenly hushed out. “For fuck’s sake Mom!” Twilight snapped. “It’s just armor I’m not going to ruin your damn house by wearing it. I know Equestria is a nudist country, but ponies act like they’ve never seen armor before. Being in the Royal Guard must be a pain in the ass with ponies demanding they strip down constantly; it must be because I haven't been back a day and already everyone's obsessing over my wardrobe and trying to break into my dreams! Fuck!” Twilight stood there breathing heavily and watched her mother.

Velvet’s face was the same sheet of ice as before her daughter's rant. She turned to Spike, who had watch the exchange with wide eyed shock, and spoke in a voice that was almost too chipper. “Spike, I left you some gems on the kitchen counter go help yourself, just don’t ruin your appetite.”

Spike glanced between the two for a moment before hopping down, deciding to put as much distance from those two as he could, and suddenly grateful they weren’t dragons.

When Spike was out of sight Velvet looked Twilight in the eyes and spoke to her in a voice no louder than normal, “I don’t give a buck if the rest of the Royal Guard wears armor or a frilly tutu; If they wear it when they go off to fight it’s not welcome in my house. Princess Celestia came and told us the basics of what happened to you, and I know enough to see your armor isn’t what Rarity would consider a fashion statement. And another thing young lady, I know you have been through a lot but I will not have you speaking to me or anypony else like that again. I am not one of your ‘battle buddies,’ so you will treat me with the respect I deserve, Is that clear!”

“Y-yes ma’am,” Twilight cried on instinct. Without another word she did an about-face and headed for the stairs, all the while trying to figure out what just happened.

Twilight’s old room was bare bones with only a bed, nightstand, and a closet. It took her a moment to remember that her belongings had all been moved to her castle. After depositing her things on the bed she made her way back down stairs to find her mother’s welcoming smile and holding a cup of steaming tea. Velvet held the cup of for her and said. “I’m sure after that tirade of yours you must be thirsty.”

Twilight took the offered drink, suddenly regretting her earlier words. “Umm...mom, about what I said—”

“You're forgiven,” Velvet interrupted.

“Just like that?”

“Always just like that. Now come on, let's not leave Spike all alone.”

Velvet led Twilight back into the living room where Spike was tossing gems into the air and catching them in his mouth. They set on the couch and just talked. They talked about how Velvet’s publisher asked her to help co-write a Daring Do book when A.K. Yearling broke her writing hoof. They talked about how Spike got to visit the Dragon Lands when the Friendship Court went to meet the new Dragon Lord. And they talked about the little things that made up their days; they spoke of everything except for That, and Twilight was more than happy about that. Before she knew it an hour had flew by and it was marked by the arrival of Night Light.

“I’m home,” He announced. He soon entered the living room carrying paper bags in his magic. “And guess who I ran into.” His words caught in this throat and his bags fell from his magic, as his eyes fell on Twilight. Twilight stood and stepped around the chairs as another voice called out.

“Dad, What’s wrong?” Shining armor asked, coming up next to him. When Shining saw her he wasn’t frozen like his father. He let out a cry and charged, “Twily!”

Without her armor she had nothing to absorb the impact of Shining’s flying hug, and fell back on the ground. He pressed his head into her chest and cried as his said, “Please tell me this is real. Please, please don’t let this be a dream. No, if this is a dream don’t tell me just let me pretend this is real.”

“Shiny,” Twilight called, trying to shove him off of her. “Yes, I’m real.” Cadence stood next to Night Light as they both shook from laughter at the scene. “Can one of you get him off of me.”

Once everypony had settled down they took a seat around the fireplace. Twilight was wrong. When she met her mother at the door steps that had not been awkward. No, that was a vacation she hoped to one day return to. Due to the lack of seating Twilight had volunteered to sit on the floor, despite the protest to the contrary. She set with her back to the wall next to the fireplace with everypony else facing her. And by Murphy's balls was it awkward. It wasn’t the fact they were staring with uncomfortable smiles plastered on their faces. She was a princess, so she was use to a certain level of attention.

No, what made it awkward was the fact that there was only one question hanging in the air and nopony wanted to be the one to ask. A few times a forced conversation would start up, but as everypony’s mind was elsewhere it quickly faded out. Finally having all she could take she let out a groan and cried, “Ok let's just get this over with! Yes, I was gone for ten years while only three past for everypony else. Yes, I fought in a war. Yes, I’ve killed people and seen others die. But believe me when I tell you I’m perfectly fine; I don’t need to be coddled.” As if to be proven wrong a small boom went off in her head, reverberating off her skall and forming a very unpleasant headache.

“We weren’t trying to coddle you. It’s just…” Cadence said, stopping as if thinking of the right words, after a moment Night Light finish for her.

“Twilight, Princess Celestia said we should take things slowly with you.”

Twilight rubbed her temple trying to quell her growing headache. She really hoped it wasn’t the onset of a migraine. “Peo...er...ponies have been taking things slowly with me all day and it's been exhausting. So if you don’t mind can we stop playing coddle the delicate flower. Look let's just talk about something else. Cadence, I heard you and Shiny had a filly; tell me about her.”

Cadence seemed to brighten up at this and with her the room. “Her name is Flurry Heart, she’s just over a year old and she’s quite the strong flyer. We would have brought her but…” Cadence said, and Shining Armor picked up from her pause.

“We didn’t think it was a good idea to have her out so late, besides as much as we don’t want to we have to head back home in the morning.”

“That’s ok,” Twilight said. “There’s no need to bring her all the way out here on my account. I’ll see her eventually.” Apart of her couldn’t help but wonder if the reason Flurry Heart was left behind was to keep her away from a half crazed Human. She then realized she was calling herself crazy and let that thought go. “What does she look like?”

“I have just the thing,” Velvet called. She quickly got up from her seat and trotted out of the room. She returned with a photo album floating behind her, and after flipping part ways in she handed it to her daughter. Twilight reached out and took it, but try as she might she couldn’t stop the slight tremor in her hand. The Photo Album was open to a page of a foal sleeping peacefully. She had a white coat, her mane was purple with a blue streak, and had the biggest pair of wings she had ever seen on a foal. “You weren’t kidding about a strong flyer,” she said, glancing up at Cadence.

“She’s really not.” Shining Armor chimed in.

Twilight turned to the next page. It was a group photo of her parents, Shining, and...herself. At her confused look her mother asked, “What's wrong dear,” she came around the side to get a look at the photo. “Oh, that was right before you moved to Ponyville.”

Twilight ran a finger over her pony self as she said, “I look so alien.”

“No, you're beautiful, then and now.” Velvet said, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

So you’re an alien then?

“What was that?” Twilight asked, looking to her mother.

“I said you're beautiful.”

“No, not...never mind.” Twilight closed the photo album and handed back to Velvet.

Oh god, You’re really a Pink Pony Princess

Twilight shot up from her seat and franticly looked around. “Twilight,” Night Light called, standing up from his chair. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight held her head as her headache grew worse, but she did her best to shrug it off. “Did you hear that?”

Night Light looked to the others and could see the same confusion on their faces. “No we didn't hear anything.”

Not all of us are going to have a glorious death.

Twilight grabbed her chest as her breathing increased and the room seemed to shrink. “Twilight tell us what’s going on!” Her mother cried.

“I...I need…” Twilight stammered. “I need air.” With that she stormed from the room.

“Wait, Twilight!” Spike called, running after her as the others set in bewilderment. “I’ll come with you.” Spike reached the front door to find it hanging open, and Twilight nowhere to be seen.

The darkness had set in but the street lamps provided just enough light for Twilight as she ran. She didn’t pay much attention to where she was going or who she ran into. There weren’t many ponies out but the few she came across either gave her a look of disgust, like the very notion of non ponies in Canterlot offended them, or just screamed and ran. She wasn’t even sure why she had run off, it was like something had hit her flight response hard.

She stopped and leaned against a tree, taking in deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. “Late as usual I see.” Twilight jerked her head at the sound of the familiar voice. Across the street standing next to a dimly lit street lamp was Cotreau.

Twilight stared unbelievably, “Commander?” She whispered, as she took a step closer. Cotreau turned and walked down a side alley. “Commander, wait!” she followed as fast as her legs would carry, but as she passed into the shadow of the alley she froze. It wasn’t just Cotreau but all of them: Nadia, Davis, Teagan, and even Skyler. They stood at the end of the alley each wearing their armor that she was so used to seeing, and they smiled at her.

Skyler waved and called out, “Hey, Spotlight, better hurry we’re heading out.” They turned as one and walked deeper into the shadows of the alley.

Twilight’s legs felt like jelly but she forced herself to run anyway, yet no matter how fast she ran they seem to get farther away. “Wait!” she called, reaching out as if the catch them. “Don’t leave me behind!” But they were gone and Twilight's world went dark.

It could have been five minutes or five hours she couldn’t be sure, but when she awoke she was lying face down in the alleyway. She felt weak but managed to push herself into a sitting position. She leaned against the alley wall as a bout of dizziness overtook her; with trembling hands she fished out her Anizon case and simply stared at it. As she set there glaring at the white case that had taken up so much of her life. She realized just how much she hated it, but needed it at the same time.

It made things so much simpler. Just a single shot and your mind become so clear and you stop worrying, obsessing, and just focus on what it is you need to focus on, side effects be damned. She popped open the case and retrieved the gun. With a precision that only came with practice she loaded the gun, yet it took her a moment to still her arm so she could find a vain. It seemed like an eternity before she felt it wash through her. She leaned her head back and looked out at the night sky; the stars were beautiful, just like then.

Chapter 7: Convoy

Two Years, six months after arrival

Twilight stared down the other members of her squad, her eyes focused and her face deadpanned. Once more she rearranged the cards in her hands. It had only been a few games but she was getting better at this ‘Poker’ and she was determined to win back her losses.

They were still technically on duty, so no matter how much Twilight may have wanted to she couldn’t take off her armor. They were part of a company that had been assigned to escort the convoy of Balrog-class transporters to the frontlines, each carrying a few metric tons of supplies. The Company was spread among the dozen Balrogs and the numerous armored vehicles that followed close by.

The Balrog were the largest land vehicle in the world, nearing two stories tall and nearly just as long. The Balrogs were covered by multiple layers of titanium armor, making it more of a tank then actual tanks. The downside to all of this extra protection was having a maximum speed of forty miles-per-hour.

Skyler peeked over his cards that hid most of his face. “Your chips are looking pretty low over there Twilight; sure you don’t want to just fold?”

“And what, miss your look of defeat when I beat you?” Twilight shot back.

Nadia tossed a few chips into the ever growing pile “You’re certainly a confident one?”

“That’s the third time she’s shuffled her cards I’m guessing a three-of-a-kind.” Davis said, leaning close to Nadia.

“Hey no cheating!” Twilight called. She looked over her cards again, trying to decide if it was worth the risk to shuffle them.

“Lay off her you two,” Teagan said. Twilight gave him an appreciative grin. “Besides, she clearly has two-of-a-kind.” Twilight’s grin fell and she shot him a dirty look.

Skyler took a card from the pile and said, “So did you hear that the Commander turned down a promotion again.”

Davis let out a laugh, “I swear he’s determined to stay the same rank until the war ends. I’m guessing he gave the same reason as last time?”

“Pretty much, he says he can do more in the field then being some poster boy for the army.” Skyler explained.

“Poster boy?” Twilight asked. “For what?”

“I am surprised no one told you,” Nadia chimed in. “Back at the beginning of the war the Commonwealth launched a blitzkrieg right after the orbital strike. All of the other high ranking officers got killed in the first attack leaving the Commander the one in charge. But instead of trying to fight the overwhelming force the Commander ordered a fighting retreat, leading the Rats on a zig-zagging chase throughout the eastern countryside. The Rats were in such chaos trying to find them that the Commander was able to slip the army pass their lines. Those reinforcements were one of the reasons we were able to halt the Commonwealth advance.”

“That’s impressive.” Twilight admitted.

“Yeah,” Davis said. “And since then HQ has been trying to make him the ‘face of the war’ or so they call it.”

“Ok I’m calling, let see those cards,” Skyler said, smirking at Twilight.

“I’m out.”

“Same here,” Davis and Nadia called throwing their cards down.

Skyler's grin grew wider as she addressed Twilight, “So what’s it going to be, in or out?”

Twilight shot back with a grin of her own, “Oh I’m in.” she laid out her cards in a straight lined. “Straight.”

“Not bad, it would have been good if it wasn’t for this,” Skyler teased as he laid out his own hand. “Flush.”

Twilight’s head hit the table as she groaned, “Now I’ll be stuck eating nutrient bars for another month.”

Skyler reached out to collect his winning, but stopped as Teagan cleared his throat. Without saying a word he set his cards down revealing to the room a straight flush. “How do you always win?”

Teagan shrugged and said, “Probably because I spend more time playing than talking.” He collected his winnings, but just as easily as he stacked them into neat piles they were knocked to the side as the cabin was rocked and the wall exploded inward.

Twilight’s world was a blur. Her ears rang with a high pitch ringing as her mind tried to piece together what just happened. She set up from where she fell to the ground. Dust floated in the air, blown in from the now gaping hole in the port side wall. She waved a hand through it as she called out, “Is everyone alright?” Groans of “yes” called out as everyone picked themselves up.

“What the Hell was that?” Skyler called.

Twilight didn’t give an answer as she stepped over to the hole and gazed through. In the horizon over the rolling hills she could see them— tanks, rolls of them. “Commonwealth Armor!” She yelled. “At least a full company maybe more.”

Skyler stepped over and looked for himself, and he gave a small shake of his head as he sighed. “So much for winning my money back.”

The Balrog shook as plasma rounds impacted the side. “Everyone out!” Skyler yelled. They moved as one, grabbing their helmets from where they laid on the ground, and raced out the cabin. Skyler sealed the door shut just as a plasma round found the recently made hole and set the room a blaze in blue fire. “And here I thought the Balrogs were supposed to be tough?” Davis said as he snapped his helmet on.

“They are,” Skyler replied. “They must have hit a weak point.”

“Why doesn’t this thing have a shield generator?” Twilight asked, generally curious.

Nadia laughed, “Have you seen the size of this thing it would take five generators at least to cover it, and Balrogs are not exactly high priority.”

The Balrog’s intercom blared static, drawing everyone's attention as Commander Cotreau’s voice came through. “For those of you without ears, the convoy is currently under attack by a Commonwealth ambush that means a lot of tanks, wolverines, and Juggernauts. Our escorts will hold them off the best they can, but there are a lot more of them than us. Skyler get up here to the bridge. Everyone else get to your stations and get those guns firing.”

Skyler turned to face everyone and quickly barked out orders. “Nadia and Davis get to the east side turret. Twilight, you and Teagan take the west.”

“I call gunner seat!” Nadia called as she ran off down the corridor with Davis giving chace.

Twilight and Teagan headed down the opposite corridor. Groups of the Balrog’s crew raced past as they neared the gun room; the loose plate floor sang out as each boot fell on it. Twilight stood in front of a door marked “Gun room 4” and turned back to Teagan. “Shooting or loading?”

“I’ll load, you shoot.”

Twilight hit a switch and slid the door a side. The Gun room was a small cramped room divided into two sections. The control station with the multi panel screen, giving the operator a clear vision of the battlefield from the inside. And the loading racks: two short rolling racks that led into pockets in the wall. Most of the loading was automatic, but it still required someone to load and unload the prepacked crates of ammo.

With a nod Twilight climbed into the gunner seat. She flipped a few switches and brought the turret to life. The screen flicked on, giving Twilight a clear view of the Commonwealth forces as they attacked the fleeing convoy. “Gun room 4,” the intercom blared. “This is the bridge; we detected you powering up. What’s your status?”

Twilight glanced over her screen before hitting a button to answer, “This is Private Sparkle in Gun room 4. We are green, ready to engage.”

“Understood. South-west, Balrog 807 is under heavy fire see if you can help them out.”

“Affirmative.” Twilight grasped the joystick, turning the turret to the specified location. Eight tanks were driving along side Balrog 807 each doing their best to take out the reinforced treads of the Balrog. Smaller armored vehicles, the wolverines, maneuvered around the explosions as they fired from their mounted guns on the last remaining port side turret. Twilight targeted the gunner on the lead wolverines. It took mere moments for the targeting reticule to lock on and with a short squeeze of the trigger armor piercing rounds reduced him to a red missed. She quickly followed it up with a barrage of high grade artillery plasma rounds. The lead wolverine was sent rolling as fire consumed it. More wolverines swerved past their fallen comrade and turned straight for Twilight’s Balrog.

“Looks like we got their attention,” Teagan commented. Twilight fired off another barrage of artillery rounds, but the wolverines easily dodged the slow falling rounds. She switched back to the ballistic rounds and aimed the reticule at where she believed the driver seat would be and squeeze the trigger. The wolverine swerved into another one causing the second to spin out of control and go into a death roll.

The remaining wolverines moved into a zigzag formation as they opened fire. “Short steady burst,” Twilight told herself. She could hear Teagan working as he hefted one crate after another, struggling to keep up with her.

Twilight picked the next target; one that was just a bit slower than the others, and a bit more predictable. She aimed where she predicted it would be and fired in a five second burst. She was rewarded by a surge of joy as her shots met their mark, but her rush was quickly replaced by annoyance when the wolverine veered back into formation.

“This is Gun Room One. We're running low on ammo here.” Nadia called over the radio.

Moments later Skyler’s voice came in answer, “We are transporting ammunition. That is not a possibility!”

Twilight did her best to ignore their bantering as she lined up the next shot. This time she was determined to finish off that wolverine. “Gun Room Four! Gun Room Four!” The intercom blaired causing Twilight to pull the trigger too soon, missing the target. “3 o’clock high, enemy hovercraft inbound take them out!”

All thoughts of the wolverines were gone from Twilight’s mind as she wheeled the turret up high to face five commonwealth hovercraft, dead set on a bombing run. She didn’t bother with burst fire and held down the trigger, draining a full ammo crate in less than a minute. A thin layer of blue reverberated across the lead hovercraft as Twilight’s rounds made impact. But the sheer amount of constant fire quickly overwhelmed the shield. By the next volley of fire the lead hovercraft was sent careening into a group of allied strykers.

Despite taking one out it wasn’t enough to stop the remaining hovercraft from dropping their payloads over another balrog. The explosion impacted over the bridge, ripping apart its protective covering. The balrog began lagging behind, as whoever was in there was unlikely to have survived. Twilight hit the button from the intercom and said, “This is Gun Room Four, Balrog 38 has been taken out.”

“Roger that, we see it,” Came the reply.

Twilight barely had time to refocus on the wolverines before Cotreau came over her radio. “Twilight, Teagan. I’m sending someone to take over for you, so get to the bridge.”

Twilight looked over to Teagan and asked, “I wonder what’s going on now?” Teagan just gave a nonchalant shrug.

They race through corridors as they made their way to the bridge, doing their best not to break out into a dead run; a battlefield wasn’t the best time for a leisurely stroll. They ran into Davis and Nadia as they neared the bridge. “What are you two doing here?” Twilight asked. She didn't bother stopping, but the others kept pace with her.

“We heard the Commander on the radio and thought we’d come and join you.” Davis explained.

“There’s also the fact that our turret got taken out,” Nadia informed.

The bridge door slid open and the four of them walked in. The bridge was made of several control stations set up in a semicircle with Cotreau and Skyler standing in the center. Cotreau turned to face the new arrivals, and didn’t seem surprised that Davis and Nadia had joined. “I’ll keep this brief, because we sure as hell don’t have a lot of time. Colonel Wyatt has ordered me to take a team over to Balrog 38 and get it moving. The remains of the escort forces will concentrate their efforts around there and by us as much time as they can.”

“Commander,” Twilight interrupted. “I saw the bombs drop on the balrog even if the cargo is still intact there’s no guarantee we can get it running.”

“I’m going to have to disagree with that.” One of the worker said standing up from their seat. She was about the same height as Twilight but had a much deeper tan to her skin. Her dark hair was kept in a ponytail and her green eyes were like steel as she looked Twilight down. “As long as the engine is still intact we can get it moving.”

“This is Catherine, we will be escorting her over and keeping her alive while she gets the Balrog working. Any questions?” Cotreau said. when no one spoke up he continued. “Head to the cargo bay there’s a stryker we can use.”

It took them five minutes to go from the bridge to the cargo bay. The back of the stryker lowered and they piled inside. “Someone get on that gun.” Cotreau called as he took the driver seat.

“On it.” Twilight said, as she climbed on to a pedestal to stand through a hole in the ceiling. She gripped the heavy powered machine gun in both hands. It wasn’t as advanced as the guns on the balrog but it had a simplistic yet incredibly effective design. The cargo bay doors parted letting in the rushing wind. Twilight was jolted back as the stryker sped forward through the partially opened doors. They hit the three foot drop with a thud, and raced off in the direction of the awaiting balrog.

Twilight scanned the area. All around her the battle raged on, as the escort forces struggled to keep the commonwealth at bay. From what she could see there were less than one hundred strykers left. She spotted an allied squad taking cover behind their overturned stryker, as they worked to take out an approaching Juggernaut. Twilight wheeled around and fired three consecutive burst at the Juggernaut. The shots connected but did little more than drop its shield. The Juggernaut turned its attention on her, and with the spinning barrel of it’s gun it fired back.

Twilight heard the rounds bounce off the side of the stryker, and felt a burning pain shoot through her shoulder. But the distraction was enough for the pinned squad to launch a counterattack. The juggernaut fell under a hell of plasma fire. Their victory was short lived as artillery rained from the sky turning the area into an inferno. Twilight shut her eyes unable to look and drop down from her perch. She hit the ground with a groan. Davis was at her side at once, “Shit, she’s been hit.” he called.

“Get her patched up!” Skyler ordered as he took Twilight’s place on the gun.

Davis helped her up and took a seat next to Teagan. He quickly got to work examining the now visible hole in Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight pulled the clasp on her helmet with her good arm before removing it. “So how bad is it?” She asked, as she gritted her teeth.

“Well, the good news,” Davis began. “The bullet went all the way through, and you're lucky it was a bullet and not a plasma round. The bad news, you’re not going to be lifting a lot with that arm for a while.” He pulled a can from his bag, after attaching a small nozzle he inserted it into her wound. He paused before adding, “This is going to sting.” A foamy substance poured out of Twilight’s wound, causing her to gasp at the sudden sharp pain.

“Dammit!” She cried. “I thought you said it would only sting. What is that stuff?”

“Medical foam, keeps you from bleeding out.” Davis explained, taking an injector gun out next and popping a vile in the back. “And this is my little friend. It will make all your pain fade away, or more accurately it will make you stop thinking about it.” He inserted the gun into a port on her right arm, and almost immediately she felt something flow through her as her mind became clearer and more focused. She could still feel the pain but it was in the back of her mind, easy to ignore.

“Wow, what is this stuff?”

“Anizon.”

“Also known as the superhuman drug.” Nadia chimed in, from across the aisle.

Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion and Davis explained. “About thirty years back before the war there was an attempt to create so called ‘Superhumans,’ unfortunately for those involved it was a complete failure, but not a total loss. While they couldn’t turn people into super soldiers they made the next best thing: a drug that would enhance the human’s natural gifts, so to speak. The first drug they made is now what is commonly known as Berserker Stems, and if you’ve ever seen a berserker then you know just how dangerous that stuff can be. The next drug they made is the Anizon you just took, but don’t worry it’s diluted by about a thousand times compared to Berserker Stems.”

Twilight flexed her right hand a few times before asking, “Any side effects I should know about?”

“Oh, you know just the normal stuff: headaches, dizziness, hallucinations.”

“Hallucinations, hmm. Will I see anything good?”

“Yeah, a whole magical kingdom.” Davis said with a laughed. “But seriously, if you start hallucinating let me know, I’ll need to adjust your dosage.”

“Five minutes!” Skyler called from above. “Get ready.”

“Looks like story time is over,” Nadia quipped. She pull the magazine from her rifle and gave it a look over, before slamming it back in.

Twilight used her one good arm to put her helmet back on, while the pain wasn’t a problem anymore she still only had limited movement with her right arm. Catherine, who had kept quiet up to this point, spoke up. “You know when I joined up they told me that balrogs were the safest place to be.” She gave out a sad laugh as she stared at her hands.

Nadia snorted as she said, “They got you good.”

Teagan looked over to Twilight as she said, “If there’s no one on the other Balrog to open the cargo bay doors how are we going to get in?”

As if in answer Skyler jumped down from the gun and called out, “Brace yourself!”

Twilight was jolted forward from an unseen impact. Her stomach felt like it was doing flips as she felt the stryker spinning rapidly before violently slamming against something. The ramp of the Stryker lowered and light poured in. “Are we alive?” Nadia asked, stumbling out.

“Just barely,” Skyler replied.

Twilight found herself in the familiar setting of a cargo bay. She glanced from the bay doors, with a hole barely large enough for the stryker to fit through, to where the stryker had crashed into a shipping crate. “Why did we let him drive?” She asked herself.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” Cotreau said as he walked passed Twilight. He peered into the stryker. “Catherine, are you ok?”

“Yes, I’m ok. Just a little shaken.” She said, stepping up to the commander.

“You’re the expert here, where do you start?”

Catherine looked around the bay before she spoke up, “The power is still working so the engine is still good. We should head to the bridge and see how bad it is.”

Cotreau gave a nod and gestured to everyone, with the wave of a hand, to move out. The balrog similarly built design made it easy to find the bridge. The corridors took on a blackened look, like fire had swept through them. This was soon proven true when they passed the charred remains of a crewman.

The Bridge was in shambles, most of the control panels looked melted and beyond repair. Bearly any of the ceiling was left, having been blown away in the explosion. It was only thanks to their helmets that the smell of burnt flesh didn’t suffocate them, Catherine wasn’t so lucky.

Catherine went from one control station to another muttering to herself about poorly maintained junk, as she looked for a working station. “This one has power,” she called, flipping the switches from a station at the far end. She gave a sigh of frustration and crouched down to pull off a panel from the base of the station. “I’m going to bypass some of the burnt out systems.”

“How long?” Cotreau asked.

“Five minutes.”

“Hurry.”

The hum in the air was distinct, easily recognized by anyone. It drew everyone's attention to the gaping hole in the ceiling as a hovercraft descended into view. Time seemed to move in slow motion for Twilight. Cotreau was shouting to take cover. Skyler and Teagan fired from behind a control station, but the plasma seem to do little against it’s shield. Twilight eyes were fixed on the forward gun of the hovercraft as its barrel spun to life. They were all going to die, Twilight knew it. Her mind was racing, and her heart was pounding. How could it just end here? After everything they sacrificed to just end here.

She felt a fire spread over her, starting in her stomach and spread out as if to consume her very being. She closed her eyes and let the fire take over. Time resumed and she could hear the hovercraft firing its gun and even feel it, like pin pricks on the back of her mind. Twilight opened her eyes to see her good arm outstretched and a transparent blue shield was extending from it, encompassing the whole room. All eyes were on her and the same look of shock was held by all, even Twilight.

Skyler was the first one to snap out of it, “Spotlight, I don’t know what you're doing BUT DO NOT STOP!”

“Twilight, how long can you hold that?” Cotreau called next.

“I don’t know I’ve never done this before.” Twilight said as she strained.

“Teagan, get to the armory and get one of the heavy weapons.” Cotreau ordered. With a nod Teagan bolted from the room. “Catherine, how much longer?”

“Just another minute.”

“Everyone else focus fire, bring down its shields!”

The pin pricks in the back of Twilight’s mind slowly turned into a beating drum. Her vision began to blur and she shook her head as she fought to stay focused. “I can’t hold it for much longer!” She cried.

“Don’t give out on us yet, Twilight,” Cotreau ordered.

Twilight gritted her teeth as she fought to keep the shield up. Magic flowed into her arm centering on the palm of her hand, setting her arm a blaze from the inside out. She couldn’t understand how she was casting magic without a horn. She felt like a foal casting magic for the first time.

The sounds of the battle was drowned out by the beautiful sound of Teagan’s boots slamming on the ground as he made his return. He dropped to one knee when he entered the room and through a long circular rocket launcher over his shoulder. “Get down!” He yelled, firing his weapon. The missal shot forth and impacted on the bow, knocking the hovercraft back. Smoke spewed out from the plane and began spinning out of control, careening off to the side.

The moment the hovercraft was out of sight Twilight let the shield drop. Her body felt ragged and her legs gave out from under her as she lost consciousness.

The subtle beeping of a monitor was the first thing Twilight heard when she woke up. The white walls of her square room and the electric bed she found herself lying in were enough to tell her she was in a hospital, let alone the IV drip and blue gown she wore. She set up groggily and reached over to her right arm to pull out the IV before swinging her legs over the bed. She touched her shoulder and hissed at the slight pain. The door opened and drew her attention as a nurse walked in.

The nurse looked up from her clipboard and her eyes went wide, “You're awake,” she said more to herself then Twilight. Without giving Twilight a chance to speak she turned and left the room. Twilight just hung her head, she didn’t know what time it was but she could tell it was going to be a long day.

It wasn’t long before Two white coated doctors came into the room. One was a middle age man with a receding hairline. The other she recognised, “Dr. Carafe?”

“Just Rolland please, and it’s good to see you again Miss Sparkle”

“Just call me Twilight.”

The doctor stepped forward and pulled a pin light from his coat pocket. He shined it into twilight’s eyes as he asked. “How do you feel?”

Twilight winced away from the light and said, “A little sore, but otherwise I’m fine. How did I get here?”

“From what I’ve been told,” Rolland begin. “After you passed out the convoy was able to make it to the frontlines. From there Central Command ordered you and the rest of your squad flown back here to Eastelf, and that was a week ago.”

Twilight waved the doctor off as he tried to perform more test. “I said I’m fine.” She snapped. The doctor huffed in clear annoyance but stepped away.

“How is she?” Rolland asked the doctor.

“You heard her, she’s fine. I’ll leave her to you.” said the doctor as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Why am I in the capital?” Twilight asked as she turned her eyes on Rolland.

“Well, it’s not every day we have someone turn into a human shield generator.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes that. Command asked me to look into how you’re able to do that and see if there was any way to replicate that ability.”

“So what? I’m just a genny pig now?” Twilight accused. She understood the need to get answers as well as anyone, but Rolland made it sound like she wasn’t going to be given a lot of choice in the matter.

Rolland rolled his eyes and shot back, “Don’t blow it out of proportion, you’re free to refuse any testing your uncomfortable with, and you will be receiving double your normal pay while testing is ongoing. Of course, you're also free to refuse testing altogether, but before you do let me just say the test we perform could save a lot of lives.”

Twilight could only guess that the shield was a result of a magical surge brought about from her magical abilities being dormant for so long, and if that was the case no amount of testing would allow Humans to do the same, although she couldn’t be sure. But she had a feeling if she didn’t agree she wouldn’t hear the end of it. With a sigh she relented, “Alright, I’m willing to work with you, but nothing invasive. You can draw blood if needed but that’s where I draw the line. Also, I’m only agreeing to this until my shoulder heals up.”

“Six months.” Rolland countered. “Please, at least give me that much time.”

Twilight bit her lip as she looked at Rolland’s pathetic pleading face. “Fine, but that’s it.”

“Excellent! Now let me begin by asking you a few questions—”

The door burst open and Davis stumbled in panting. “Twilight, you're awake.”

“That I am,” Twilight confirmed with a grin.

“Oh, that reminds me” Said Rolland, cupping one hand over a fist. “I let your team know you were awake. I guess there here.”

“Davis you didn’t need to sprint.” Nadia’s voice called from the hallway as she and the others made their way into the room. “It’s not like she was going to run off.”

“So, sleeping princess how do you feel,” Skyler asked coming to stand near the bed.

“I’ve been better, but what has everyone been doing for the past week?”

“I would love to say we’ve been on a vacation, but for the last week we’ve been in debriefing hell. I’ve told the story of how you pulled a shield out of nowhere so many times I think I have it memorized.”

“Seriously Twilight,” Nadia groaned out. “I’m glad you saved our ass and all, but the next time do you think you could do it in a way that won't make me hate every second of the day.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Twilight said halfheartedly.

“We’re glad to see you’re ok. It will be good to see you up and around again,” said Cotreau, surprising Twilight with the crack of a smile.

Davis let out a gasp as he looked at Cotreau, “A smile, so the rumors are true.”

“Shut it.”

“Can we talk about the elephant in the room now?” Nadia asked. “Twilight, what was that?” Her question hung in the air as everyone looked to Twilight for answers, even Rolland, who had been quietly observing.

Twilight’s mind immediately began to cook up a believable story, likely something about the Anizon causing an unknown reaction. But as her mind was piecing together the story she stopped. Everyone in the room, with the exception of Rolland, she trusted with her life and she knew they felt the same. She hadn’t known Rolland long but she could tell he wasn’t a bad person, just a bit fixated at times. And she was going to be working with him, leading him on as he tried to get the proverbial golden apple. Was she ok with that? Could she keep lying to them all? As she looked into the eyes of everyone around her she knew the answer.

She took in a deep breath and stealed herself, quietly deciding the best way to this was just to say it. And in a single breath she said, “Everyone there’s something I have to tell you. I’m not Human, I’m a pony from the planet Equus which lies within another dimension. I’m one of the four princesses of the nation of Equestria.” Twilight finished and took in a breath, noticing how dead quiet it had become.

Everyone glanced among themselves not knowing what to say. Skyler turned to Rolland and asked. “Dr. Carafe, is she on any medication?”

Twilight was a bit insulted at that but she supposed she couldn’t blame them for being skeptical.

Rolland picked up a chart from the wall and flipped through it. “Apart from antibiotics, everything should have been out of her system days ago.”

“Now that we’ve determined that I’m not on drugs,” Twilight said, drawing everyone's attention again. “I can’t say exactly how I cast the shield, I’m still trying to figure it out myself. But back in my world I could cast shield spells like that as easily as breathing.”

Teagan placed a hand under his chin, before he asked, “I had a dream I was a bird once, is it anything like that?”

“No Teagan, that’s not quite what I’m talking about.”

“So you're an alien then?” Davis asked slowly as he tried to wrap his mind around this.

“Because of a spell I am physically human, but technically speaking, yes I’m an alien. My species is called pony, and before you ask no we are not the same as the horses you have on this world, although we do share some similarities.”

Nadia placed her hands over her mouth but couldn’t stop her crackling laughter as she burst out, “Oh god, you’re really a pink pony princess!” Her resistance fell to pieces and a well of laughter poured out of her.

“For your information, I’m purple not pink.” Twilight informed. But this only seemed to make Nadia’s laughter all the worse.

“Alright, everyone calm down,” Cotreau said, while looking at Nadia. “Assuming this is true Twilight, how did you get here and why are you fighting in a war?”

Twilight brushed her bangs out of her eyes and gave the room a half smile. “That’s a long story.” As she finished the tail of the crystal mirror and her first trip through the room had become quiet, everyone looking almost somber.

“So you joined the war to help save lives,” Skyler repeated with a shake of his head. “And to think I joined for the paycheck. Can’t believe I’m getting out done by an alien,”

“I believe her,” Rolland said, from his tucked away corner.

Twilight looked almost shocked as she said, “Honestly, you were the last person I expected to believe me.”

Rolland deadpanned, “You performed a feat that should have only been possible within a comic book. At this point I’ll believe anything.”

“Point taken, but you still want to work with me even though I’m not human?”

“On the contrary, I’m even more excited.”

“Oh, that’s...great.” Twilight said with a fake smile clear on her face.

***

Three years after arrival

Twilight felt her magic surging through her body and into the palms of her hands, waiting for her to cast the only spell she could. It had become almost second nature to her after six months. She and Rolland were in a warehouse, one normally used for testing experimental weapons. A human shaped dummy was set up at the end of the firing range. Twilight positioned herself behind a wall of safety glass twenty feet away. Twilight pushed her arms out in front of her and allowed her magic to wrap around the dummy, encasing it in a tightly sealed bubble.

“Railgun firing test five,” Rolland called from behind a control panel, adorning a pair of earmuffs. “Commencing test in 3...2...1.”

Twilight only saw the flash from the railgun, it’s high density round moved far too fast for her to track. But she could still feel it at the back of her mind, as the round impacted and reverberating, like a wave off the shield. Six months ago a blast like that would have caused Twilight to collapse with a head splitting pain, now it was easily ignored. Volley after volley was fired each one bouncing off and each one weakening the shield just a bit more. Until the fifth volley broke through rendering the dummy into shrapnel.

Twilight placed her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. “Let’s take a break,” Rolland called, taking off the earmuffs. Twilight gave an appreciative nod and leisurely walked over to a small cubed room.

Twilight grabbed a bottle of water out of a mini fridge and gulped down half of it before coming up for air. She glanced over to Rolland, who was at his desk typing away at his computer. “Any improvement?” Twilight asked, screwing the cap back on her drink.

“Much,” Rolland said with a smile. “Your shield strength has increased by 13% since our last live fire test.”

“That’s fantastic,” Twilight said peering over his shoulder. “I was hoping for 8% at least.”

“With this level of improvement I’m sure your endurance has increased as well, we should test that next.”

Twilight gave him a critical look. She crossed her arms and said, “You said the firing range would be the last test.”

Rolland swirled around in his chair and gave Twilight his best puppy dog face. “Come on Twilight, today is your last day of testing one more test isn’t going to hurt.”

Twilight rubbed her brow with a sigh, “Fine, but only because I’m curious as well.”

Rolland turned back to his computer and energetically typed away, making ready for the next test. Twilight stepped over to a supply cabinet standing next to the fridge. She opened the door and pulled out an injector gun and one of the dozen vials of Anizon she kept there. It had become so easy for Twilight to gain access to Anizon, with a simple requisition form she received dozens of vials a week.

Rolland never looked away from his computer but commented, “You’ve been using that stuff a lot lately.”

Twilight pulled the needle from her arm as she turned to face him. “Well, do you want more test,” She asked rhetorically. “Casting spells without this is too taxing on my body. Hands were not meant to cast magic, now horns on the other hand.”

“Just be careful, I would hate to see you end up like the berserkers.”

“Don’t worry, I know my limits.”

A knocking on the office door draw their attention. “That’s strange?’ Said Rolland. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.” He rose from his chair and opened the door and gasped at the formally dressed man in front of him. He had a face like leather and a full head of perfectly trimmed black hair. He wore an officer's uniform that was rather plain except for the five stars on his shoulder. “General Jeroen!” Rolland exclaimed. “What brings you here?”

Twilight stood at attention with an arm raised in salute. She became painfully aware of just how underdressed she was in a simple brown tank top and pants.

“At ease,” General Jeroen said, stepping around Rolland. “This is an informal visit. I was nearby and thought I’d stop by to see this ‘Witch of the West’ before she returns to active duty.”

Twilight inwardly groaned at her nickname that had cropped up over the last few months.

“Dr. Carafe, in your report you’ve stated the unlikelihood of being able to adapt Private Sparkles abilities for widespread use,” General Jeroen said, flipping open a file in his hands.

“Unlikelihood is a drastic understatement. Even the brain scans we’ve conducted say that what she’s doing shouldn’t be possible. I’ve had two assistants quit because they claim she’s breaking logic.”

“Unfortunate. Private Sparkle, if these reports are accurate you can produce a shield equivalent to a Mark 8 Shield Generator.”

“Mark 10 sir,” Twilight corrected as she stared at a fixed point on the wall.

“I see, your file claims you're from the Islands, specifically the island of Bizohr. Although, we don’t have a specific address for you.”

“Sir, I had no formal address prior to enlisting, sir,” Twilight informed. But he didn’t seem to hear as he continued.

“And your commanding officer, Commander Cotreau, has given you quite the endorsement. And I quote, ‘Despite her lack of experience and her annoying habit of overanalyzing everything. She has consistently proven herself to be a valuable asset in the field, and on several occasions placing herself in harm's way to aid her fellow comrades. Her new abilities may cause concerns for some at HQ, but I believe her past actions are more than enough to show she is a loyal patriot.’” —General Jeroen closed his folder and locked eyes with Twilight—“I’ve known Cotreau for many years now, and I can tell you he doesn’t give out endorsements at the drop of a hat. But from everything I’ve seen so far I have to agree with him.”

“Sir, thank you, sir.”

“It will be good to have you back out in the field, god knows we need the edge. Dr. Carafe, I’ll leave you to your work, good day to both of you.” With a salute from Twilight General Jeroen turned and left. When he had vanished from sight Twilight’s posture fell and she let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding.

“That was unexpected.” Twilight said.

“To say the least,” Rolland concerned. He slapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Now let's get to those tests.”

Twilight gathered her belongings and placed them in a bag as she made ready to leave. She pulled a yellow folder from her bag and tossed it on Rolland's desk. Rolland turned his attention away from his computer and asked, “What’s this?” he flipped the folder open to a stack of bound pages and read the title ‘Teleportation Theory.’

“I found it in your things a while back,” Twilight explained. “Dr. Bevan’s theory on teleportation are shockingly similar to its magical counterpart. But Dr. Bevan was off in a few key points, so I’ve made a few corrections. When you get time can you look over it for me?”

“Certainly,” Rolland said, gently picking up the folder like it was the most fragile thing in the world.

Twilight through her bag over a shoulder as she stepped to the door. “I’m leaving, take care of yourself Rolland.”

Rolland didn’t take his eyes off the folder as he flipped through the pages, reading over Twilight’s corrections. “Yes you too.”

Twilight stepped out into the cool night air, as she left the warehouse heading back to the apartment she had called home for the last six months. “Hey princess!” A voice called as Twilight rounded the corner. She quickly spotted Nadia jogging up and carrying a paper grocery bag with the rest of her team not far behind, each wearing their own version of dull colored civilian clothing.

“Nadia? What are all of you doing here?” Twilight asked, as the group came to a stop in front of her.

“You're finally free,” Davis said. “Did you really think we wouldn’t come to see you once you got out?”

“You do realise I wasn’t in prison right?”

Cotreau stepped out in front of the others. He reached into a pocket and retrieved a metal badge, as he said. “This came in for you a few weeks ago, but I thought it would make a nice gift on your return.

Twilight took the badge in hand. It was a single black chevron with a diamond right below it.

“Congratulations, Lance Corporal.” Skyler said, beaming at her. But all Twilight could do was smile back.

Alright, it’s time to celebrate!” Nadia called. She uncrinkled her bag and pulled out a six pack of beer. She tossed everyone a can and held hers in the air. “To getting Twilight back, and promotions...and...oh screw it just drink.” With a roar of laughter everyone popped their tops and enjoyed their warm drinks.

Twilight’s head tilted backward as she swallowed a mouth full of the bitter liquid. The shimmering stars caught her eye as her drink lowered from her lips. She couldn't remember the last time she had just looked at the stars, they were truly beautiful. Her gaze brought her back to the others and a smile creeped across her lips, and they were even more beautiful with friends.

Chapter 8: Early Riser

The sun had risen into the sky painting Applejack’s orchard in a warm shade of red. The farm pony rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she headed to her barn to start her morning chores. As she approached the barn door she noticed the door was left ajar, the lock laid broken on the ground. “What in tarnation?” She muttered to herself. The barn’s lock wasn’t the most complicated it was mainly used to keep animals out. If it had been another barn it may not have been a problem, but this was the barn where they were keeping the cider. With cider season so close they couldn’t afford to have some pony braking into the storage.

“Rainbow dash, if that’s you Ah’m gonna kick your flank!” Applejack called as she stormed into the barn. She stopped short past the entrance when she spotted a figure lying in a pile of hay. “Twilight?” She murmured, stepping closer.

Twilight was wearing a gray outfit instead of that intimidating looking armor from the day before. Laying around her were empty bottles of cider, each with a large red apple logo on the side. With a shake of the head Applejack trotted to her side and gave the sleeping human a hard nug. Twilight’s eyes blinked open and she brought a hand up to shield from the incoming light. “Hey, Applejack, what time is it.”

“It’s mornin’,’” Applejack said, as she stared down at her friend. “You look like you had a rough night. Ah take it the visit with your folks didn't go well?”

“That’s one way to look at it,” Twilight said. Bottles rolled off of her as she set up. “Sorry about the mess, but I didn’t want to go back to my castle, and you were asleep.”

“It’s fine, sugarcube,” Applejack said. In her mind she was already calculating the amount of bits she was out, not that she was planning to voice it. “Come on, you look like you could use some coffee.”

Twilight stumbled to her feet and gave a thankful smile as she said, “That sounds good.” The sound of metal hitting the ground drew Applejack’s attention, as a metal box slipped from Twilight’s pocket. With wide eyes Twilight quickly snatched up the box and shoved it back in her pocket.

“What’s that?”

“It’s nothing,” Twilight said. “Just some medicine.”

“Medicine, for what? Are ya sick or somthin’” Applejack asked, her brow raised in concern.

Twilight crossed her arms in an almost defensive manor. Applejack could see the clear discomfort on Twilight’s face. “No I’m not sick. It’s nothing important.”

Applejack let it go, figuring if it was important enough for her to know then Twilight would tell her. With a shrug of her shoulders she said, If you say so.” Turning she motioned for Twilight to follow and the two walked out of the barn.

They walked in silence through the fields of apple trees. Applejack led the way, but with Twilight’s stride she had to slow her pace to not pass her. “Rarity said you were going to be staying in canterlot.” Applejack said to break the ice.

Twilight could hear a thousand questions in those words, but she knew Applejack wasn’t going to ask them. She somehow found Applejack’s silent demeanor far more annoying than Rarity's subtle questioning. It was almost like she was expected to answer. She toyed with her hands, digging out bits of dirt from her nails. “I freaked out,” she muttered.

Applejack glanced over to her but said nothing, only silently waited for Twilight to continue.

“I don’t know what happened. Everything was going great, sure their was a few rough spots but everypony seemed happy.”

“Ah’m sensing a ‘but’ comin’.”

Twilight paused as she tried to figure out how to phrase the next part. It wasn’t the sudden bout of claustrophobia, or even seeing things that shouldn't have been there, that was likely just a side effect of the Anizon. “I remembered something, I suppose… Applejack, do you mind if I ask you something personal?”

Applejack smiled as she answered, “Twi, you can ask me anything.”

Twilight opened her mouth to reply when something caught her eye. “Is that Big Mac?” She pointed to the edge of the orchard. Big Mac was nearly blocked from view by the trees, but his bright red coat made him hard to miss.

“Looks like it. That’s odd, He should’ve had this area done by now.”

As they drew closer they could see Big Mac toying with what looked like a small train car on wheels. The back half looked like a small laboratory was built into it, with glass tubes and tesla cords connecting everything. Big Mac was grumbling to himself as he flipped various switches on the side of the machine, clearly not happy.

“Is that… oh what was it called,” Twilight said, as she racked her brain. “Speedy Squeezy cider… something or other.”

“Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, yeah that’s it alright.” Applejack answered. “Although, we just call it the Squeezer for short. Bought it off the Flim Flam brothers about a year back.”

“I guess more changed then I thought.”

“Oh come on now, it’s not that strange is it? Well, I guess maybe from your point of view.” said Applejack. She turned her attention back to Big Mac and trotted up behind him. “Havin’ problems Big Mac?”

Big Mac didn’t turn around as he said, “Nope.” He continued to flip switches, but whatever they did it was having very little effect on the machine itself.

Applejack face went deadpan. “Big Mac,” Said said more sternly. “What’s the problem?”

“I got this under control.” Big Mac said with an irritated look. “Dang things been given me trouble for days now, and today it won’t start at all.”

“Well doggone it,” Applejack said. “And those brothers won't be back in town for another month, at least.”

From what Twilight could see the Squeezer didn’t look that complicated in design, although she was sure there were magic components she couldn’t see. But even considering that she doubted it was as complex as the machines on earth. “I’m not an expert, but I had a friend who was a little obsessed with...well everything. I could take a look at it if you want.” Said Twilight.

Big Mac gave out an annoyed sigh, but relented with a simple “Yup.”

Twilight claimed onto the Squeezer. “Last I remember, this machine required a unicorn to power it. How are you powering it now?” Twilight asked, as she looked around the Squeezer.

“When we bought it off those brothers they installed a mana stone engine for us. Mana stones aren’t cheap, but it still beats hiring a unicorn to do this,” said Applejack.

Twilight stepped near the back end. In the wall separating the two sections was a metallic screen. She pulled it to the side and revealed a glowing white stone, held in place by steel coils. “It’s not a lack of power.” She thought. Twilight pulled the screen back into place and dropped to one knee. She grabbed a piece of paneling, trying to pry it loose. The panel popped off without much of a fight, giving Twilight a clear view into the guts of the machine. There were dozens of gears all interlocked, with each one a different size. “Big Mac, could you try the ignition again.” Twilight called. After a short pause the gears twitched but stayed as they were.

“Still nothing,” Big Mac called.

Twilight let her eyes dance over the gears as she tried to spot the problem. She reached in and tried to turn a gear by hand, but the gear stubbornly refused to move. However, she was greeted to a soft “tinking” sound with each attempt. She let her ears guide her eyes to the far back, and could faintly see a small gear wedged in between two larger ones. She reached inside; her elbow pressed up against the wall with just enough room to grip the gear with three fingers.

After retrieving the gear Twilight held it in her palm. It wasn’t difficult to spot the problem: one of the gear’s points were bent outward. Considering what Applejack said about Flim and Flam being out of town Twilight doubted she had any spare parts, so it would need to be hammered out. Deciding to test the metal herself she held the gear firmly in one hand and, to her surprise, the bent point moved back into shape. ‘That may explain why it broke so easily. Leave it to Flim and Flam to use cheap parts.’ She thought.

It only took Twilight a moment to replace the gear and reseal the opening. She stood up and called over the side, “Try it now.” Within moments the Squeezer began to rumble as the pumps started cranking and steam shot out. Twilight Jumped down over the side and took her place by Applejack.

“Ah’m not sure what you did but you have my thanks.” Said Applejack.

Twilight smiled back at her, “Just consider it payment for the cider, but you should probably have somepony look it over when you can, as I said I’m no expert.”

Big Mac raised an eyebrow and asked, “What cider?”

“Don’t worry about it Big Mac,” Said Applejack. “Now Twilight, I believe I promised you some coffee.” They turned and trotted off leaving Big Mac to work the Squeezer.

Twilight waited until they were out of earshot before asking, “What’s the story behind the Squeezer? Last I remembered your family always did things traditionally, and I wouldn’t think the Squeezer is very traditional.”

Applejack just shook her head as she trotted. “You're telling me. Took me ages to get granny to calmed down over it, kept saying we were breaking with tradition. But we need the Squeezer, because my work with the court takes up too much of my time. Big Mac and Apple Bloom can’t handle all this work on their own.”

Applejack’s two story home had the same rustic feel that Twilight remembered, albeit with what looked like a fresh coat of white paint. They approached just as the front door swung open to reveal Apple Bloom trotting out. She took one look at Twilight and smiled wide. “Hey Twilight, Ah didn’t know you would be coming over.” Apple Bloom said.

“I hadn’t planned on it.”

“Applebloom, don’t you need to be gettin’ to school.” Applejack said with a look that showed there was little room to negotiate.

“But Twilight just got here. Can’t we visit for a bit first?”

“You can visit all you want after school. Twilight’s not going anywhere.”

Apple Bloom kicked the dirt with a hoof while mumbling under her breath, but trotted off down the road.

Applejack’s hooves clopped on the hardwood floor as she led Twilight into the kitchen. Twilight leaned against the kitchen doorway and watched as Applejack retrieved two cups from the cupboard. “What were you going to ask?” Applejack said as she filled the two cups with steaming black liquid.

“What?”

“Before we ran into Big Mac you were going to ask me somethin’. If you still want to talk Ah’m all ears.” Applejack brought the cups over to the table and set one in front of the closest seat to Twilight.

Twilight took a seat. She raised the cup to her lips and could feel the heat brush against her face. Twilight knew she could ask anything and it would satisfy Applejack’s curiosity, but it would do little for her own. “What was it like after your parents died? How did you move on?”

Applejack held a look of surprise, clearly not expecting that question. But after a moment she answered. “It had been a little over three days since ma and pa left to visit family up north. When we got the message about the train crash, well, there wasn’t really much to say. We didn’t have time to break down and cry. Applebloom was still little, there were so many chores on the farm to do, and to top it off we had a funeral to plan. I don’t think it really hit me that they were gone until the funeral, because I remember during the reception just starin’ at the coffins. Big Mac and Granny were mingling with our cousins, but all I could think about was how it wasn’t a dream, they were really gone. And then, probably for the first time in Ah don’t know how long, I cried.

We went back to the closest thing to a normal routine we could manage, but we never really moved on. With time things got easier, and I think that's the key part in all of this. It just takes time.”

Time. Twilight couldn’t help but think. She had time, far more than others did, yet she still...She shook her head and rose to her feet. “Thank you for the coffee but I think I should get going.” She said.

“Are ya sure? You’re more than welcome to stay.”

“I’m sure, besides, I bet Spike is already looking for me.” Twilight said with a smirk.

Applejack walked her to the door. “Just remember Ah’m here if you need me.” Applejack said as Twilight pulled the door open.

Standing on the doorstep with one claw razed to knock was Spike, and was flanked by two royal guards. Spike's eyes grew misty as he looked at Twilight. He leaped forward and wrapped his arms around Twilight. “I was so worried,” He cried. “We ran into Applebloom and when she said you were here we came as fast as we could.”

Twilight patted the drake's head. “Sorry, I guess I should’ve let everypony know I was heading back to ponyville.”

Spike looked up to her and asked through blurry eyes, “Why did you run off? Was it something we did?”

“No Spike,” Twilight assured him. “No pony did anything wrong...I just needed air. Come on, I’ll need to write Celestia a letter and call off the search party.”

As Twilight and Spike walked down the road to town Twilight noticed the way the guards were keeping a constant distance between them. “Celestia ordered those guards to watch me didn’t she.” It wasn’t a question and Spike knew it.

“It’s only for a little while, just until the Archmage can turn you back to normal.” Spike quickly spat out. “She’s just worried about you. We all are.”

“Spike, I’m perfectly fine. Tell you what, why don’t we stop by Sugarcube Corner and have breakfast, my treat.” Twilight said, only then did she realize she didn’t have a bit on her. “On second thought your treat, Chamberlain.”

Spike let out a laugh and said, “Sure thing.”

Chapter 9: Huron

Five years after arrival

Twilight set comfortably in the breakroom; it was the closest one could get to R&R on the army base. It wasn’t Equestria but it had air-conditioning, a TV, and at least one book Twilight hadn’t read for the fifth time. She was off duty so for once she didn’t need to ware her combat gear, and her muscles were quite thankful for that. You can get use to how uncomfortable the gear is, but even after five years, wearing armor for a full twelve hour shift still left her exhausted and just wanting to sink into a hot bath.

She inwardly groaned to herself. Why did she have to think about that? Now she really wanted a nice hot bath. Damn water rations. She tried to forget about it and just focus on the T.V. program playing in front of her. Being stationed in a town that barely qualified as an over guarded supply depot— oh let’s send one of our most valuable soldiers to guard a supply depot, because, for some reason, the locals think that Rats are going to attack a town in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere— she had all of three channels to choose from: The twenty four hour propaganda channel, the old black and white reruns, and of course, the weather channel.

Twilight chose the weather channel. There was something she found fascinating about predicting the weather. Perhaps it was due to Equestria controlling its weather and never letting it form on its own, or perhaps—

A small crumpled up piece of paper bounced along the floor, landing a foot from Twilight’s feet. She gritted her teeth and tried to focus on the TV, but from the corner of her eye she could see both Nadia and Davis peeking from around a corner, Nadia’s head was just above Davis’.

“You missed,” came a hush whisper from Nadia.

“These things are not exactly aerodynamic.”

“They’re paper balls, and she’s like five feet away!”

“Yes, and that’s why you need to be quiet before she hears us.”

Twilight could only give a sigh as another paper ball flew past her vision and missed her completely. She knew what they were after. This wasn’t the first time they had come up with some kind of trick to get her to use her magic, but right now she really didn’t want to. Part of it was a little out of spite for how childish they were acting, but the other was the simple fact that she was tired. For some reason those two still hadn’t figured out that using magic makes one more tired.

“That’s it, move,” Nadia demanded, almost forgetting to whisper.

Twilight did her best to ignore the sounds of shuffling while those two played their little ‘game.’ Not much to Twilight’s surprise, the first ball Nadia threw landed in her hair. With a single hand she pinched the ball out of her hair, and with just the smallest amount of magic she tightly wrapped the ball in a shield. Without looking she flicked the ball back, and smiled when Davis gave a cry of pain.

“Right in the forehead.”

“Our cover’s blown, retreat!” Nadia cried and dragged the squirming Davis away.

Twilight lend her head back and thought, ‘Finally, I can relax.’

“All personnel, report outside the barracks immediately,” The intercom echoed throughout the room. “I repeat, all personnel report outside the barracks immediately.”

“Damn you Murphy.” Twilight cursed under her breath.

The more than fifty soldiers that guarded this town stood in front of the barracks, waiting. Twilight spotted Teagan and Skyler near the back and took a spot between them. Commander Cotreau stood on a raised platform at the front of the group, along with several more officers as they talked among themselves.

“Any Ideas what this is about?” Twilight asked.

Skyler gave a shrug and said, “If we are lucky, it’s simply redeployment orders to another base.” He hung his head before adding, “We’re never lucky.”

“Its bad news whatever it is.” Teagan said. “Look at the way Cotreau moves his hands as he speaks; he only does that when it’s bad.”

Twilight never paid much attention to human body language. There were far too many slight subtlety compare to that of ponies, making it difficult to grasp the language for someone not born into it. But when Twilight thought back on the times when Cotreau moved his hands when he spoke, she came to a simple conclusion. Fuck.

The other officers with Cotreau stepped aside and allowed him to address everyone. He let his eyes sweep over the crowd and waited for the last bits of conversation to die down. “At approximately 17:28 yesterday the Commonwealth launched a surprise naval assault on the city of Huron. At 20:00 the city officially fell. For those of you who don’t understand the severity of this, allow me to spell it out for you. Now that the commonwealth controls Huron they are within strike rang of every major cities—including the capital. However, we believe there goal will be to assist their forces in breaking the southern line. This cannot be allowed to happen! I don’t need to tell you just how bad things will get if that happens. H.Q. is pulling everyone not on the lines to help retake the city.” Jackson and Kennedy squad will be remaining here on guard duty; everyone else is to ship out to Brightwall immediately. Dismissed.”

Twilight set on the roof of a half ruin building, her plasma rifle laid lazily in her lap. It had taken four hours to break through the wall —an ancient stone structure that had wrapped the city since Osana still used swords and spears, and now it was mere rubble. Her eyes drifted up to a tattered Commonwealth flag that had, for a time, marked the conquest of the city. It showed the slowest of a lion rearing back on Its hind legs, but the way the front two legs were positioned gave the impression of a rat—or so she had been told. She didn’t see it. She always found it funny how humans could see shapes in things that were never there.

She could hear the ongoing fighting farther into the city, but for the moment Twilight’s part was done. She had shielded legions inside her barrier even as the enemy seemed to make it their life’s purpose to destroy it, but for many of them their purpose came to an abrupt end. Yet all Twilight could focus on was the scores that fell outside the protection of her shield. She took a swing of water to soothe the dryness of her throat as she continued to watch the burning fires in the distance. With her thirst sated she rose to her feet. She needed to regroup with her Commander Cotreau; she was sure they were looking for her.

“Commander, you have to let me go.” Davis said, his voice sounding desperate.

Twilight stepped around a corner and draws five pairs of eyes on herself. They stood in the rubble filled streets far from the front line, but close enough to be on guard. “What did I miss?” She asked stepping forward.

Nadia was the first to answer. “Davis wants to go to the east side orphanage, because apeartly he got word that some kids never made it out of the city,”

Davis looked directly at Twilight as he pleaded his case. “Whenever a disaster happens the kids know to take shelter in the orphanage’s basement. There’s enough food and water to last them a week. If they are anywhere in the city it will there.”

Commander Cotreau held his helmet under his arm and rubbed his eyes with the other. For once he looked his age. “The east side is still crawling with rats,”

“I understand, but if they find them first… you know they don’t take prisoners,”

Silence dragged on, the only sound was the ongoing battle, but finally Cotreau nodded. “Take Twilight with you. The rest of us still need to help clear buildings. We will meet up with once we are done here, but, Davis, if the kids are not there.”

“I understand, sir.”

Davis took off at a sprint toward the east side with Twilight in tow.

The fires eased the farther into the east they ventured. The path was long and the slow. Each shadow seemed to hold unseen dangers as the two stuck to back alleyways to avoid enemy squads rushing to fortify their new defensive line. It had taken nearly an hour of tediously slow travel before the colorful building of the orphanage came into view. Small pops still sounded in the distance, sounding more like fireworks then a gunfight.

“The basement door is in the storage room,” Davis said over his helm’s privet ratio. Twilight nodded. They raced across the road from the ally they hid in; Davis took point followed closely by Twilight, their weapons pointed down and ready to respond if needed.

The orphanage was trashed. Chairs and cabinets were tossed over, and doors were kicked in when the rats had cleared this place. “Do you think they are still here?” asked Twilight.

“Possible, stay alert.”

They moved away from the large open area of the entrants and down a hall way to the storage room. They moved slowly as not to draw unwanted attention. Davis held up a fist and halted their movement. “What is it?” whispered Twilight.

“Listen,” was the only replay.

Twilight did so, turning out the quite hum of an old building.

Thud, thud. Twilight could hear it now. It was soft but growing loader. Footsteps. Davis opened the closet door and motioned for Twilight to follow. They waited as the footsteps grow closer and another voice could be heard in the distance.

“This is Alpha Three, still no sighting’s here. Are we sure these reports of activity are accurate? There’s nothing out here…Understood. I’ll keep looking.” Twilight looked through the crack in the door. The solider was standing with his back to the hallway and his rifle hung lazily in one hand. Davis set his rifle against the wall and pulled a knife from a side strap.

Twilight gave a nod and moved to cover him. Davis opened the door just enough to squeeze his body through. He stepped lightly with each step precise as to avoid the sound. The solider moved away from the hallway and out of Twilight’s line of sight, but Davis was already on him. With one burst of speed he drove his knife home, straight into the back of the soldier’s neck. As if on reflex the soldier’s gun fired into the ground as his body spammed were he stood.

Twilight rushed to Davis’ side and tossed him his rifle. “Shit! They are going to be on us any minute now. We have to get out of here for now,” Twilight said.

“NO! We have to find the children.”

“Davis, we can’t help them if we are dead.” Twilight was quick to counter.

“We don’t have time to argue about this! I’ll draw them away and you find the kids.” Without giving Twilight a chance to argue he turned on his heels and raced down another hallway.

“Davis!” Twilight gave a cry in frustration. Apart of her said to run after him, but she knew that would make his distraction meaningless. She sent you last massage over her ratio and headed for the basement. “You damn idiot. You better not die.”

The sign on the walls led her to the storage room door in little time. She took the stone steps down into a large open room. Shelves stood in rolls and fill with the various supplies that she assumed an orphanage needed for its day to day operation. She walked in deeper and called out, “Is there anyone here?” unsurprisingly she got no response. She didn’t see another door, so she wasn’t sure where the basement entrance was.

If wasn’t until she hears the small pattering of feet and whisper of voices that she could follow. Behind a stack of wooden barrels was a metal plate door set into the floor. Twilight set her gun on the ground and with one arm pulled open the door. Six pairs of looked back at her. With slow moments she removed her helmet and smiled down to the children. Her hire was in a bun and bits of it stuck out like a case of bed head, but the sight managed to get a giggle from some of the younger children. “I’m here to get you guys out of here.”

The gunshots were loud and each one brought a whimper to the children, but from what Twilight could tell they were on the other side the building. She kept a quick pace down the hallway with a roll of kids following close behind her. “Stick close,” She called over her shoulder. She stopped at a cross hallway and quickly checked the left and right path before waving to kids to run past her. The exit was dead in front of them.

“He’s on the Westside! They have him cornered let’s get over there, move it!” voices called from the left path and stomping feet where fast approaching. They were on them in moments.

Without hesitation Twilight summoned a shield with one hand, surrounding her and the fleeing kids. “Run!” she called. “Don’t stop.” With her other hand she fired at the three solders that stood in the hallway. One feel to a lucky shot, but with only one hand her accuracy was poor.

Plasma rounds impacted on here shield but she barely felt it. “It’s the witch! Fall back!” one of them yelled. Then remaining to soldiers took shelter behind the hall doors. She held her fire to save what little ammo she had left.

Static blurred over her ratio, but she heard a distance coughing sound. “T-Twilight,” Davis spoke. “Tell Nadia I won’t be able to finish that game with her.”

“Davis, Where are you? The kids are safe. Tell me your location I’m coming to help.”

“Don’t worry she’ll know what I mean.” The ratio went dead. Twilight cursed under her breath. Her attention was quickly draw else were as a grenade rolled toward her.

Standard frag grenades had fallen out of favor within modern warfare. They could still injure or even mama someone, but with the increased layers of protection solders wore they not an instant killer that they once were. Their replacement, however, had solved that problem. Known has the chaos grenade, Twilight watched the thing bounce into the air and hovered there. In moments a small covering in the center popped off while it spun rapidly in place. Thousands of tiny balls shot out in every direction each strong enough to punch through metal.

To Twilight it was the equivalent of killing her shield with bug bits, but she knew that even bugs could bring down an animal. She dropped her gun to the ground and put both hands into her shield, pouring as much magic into it as she could. Bug bites or not she could feel her shield creaking in spots. It lasted only ten seconds but to Twilight it feel far longer. The spent grenade fell to the ground, giving Twilight a moment to catch her breath, but only a moment.

The two soldiers from before emerged from the hallway and fired into Twilight’s drained shield. She looked to her gun where it lay on the ground. If she tried to reach for it she would need to take power away from her shield. It would only be for a few moments, but she doubted her shield would last that long, though as it was she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep it up all ready her arms were starting to burn from overuse.

Pow. Pow.

Two loud shots came through the window and one of the solders dropped to the ground. The other one barely had time to realize what was going on when two more shots sent him flaying back against a wall. The entrance burst open and Osanen troops poured through. She let her shield go and fell on to her hands, gasping for breath.

“Primary target identified, secure the area. Lance Corporal Sparkle, We’re here to extract you back behind friendly lines.” The lead solider said.

“So, how did you find me?” Twilight asked as she rose to her feet.

“Commander Cotreau informed Command that you can gone ahead to help extract civilian. Command disagreed with that.”

‘I see,’ she thought. ‘Using me as bait to force Command to clear this area. They can’t have their star solider dying on them.’ Behind her helmet she could only smile. “There should have been a group of children running to the direction you came from.”

“Don’t worry, they are safe. We sent someone to escort them back.”

Shots in the distance brought Twilight back to focus. “Damnit! Davis is still in danger.”

“Understood. I’ll dispatch a squad to find him.”

“Fuck that!” Twilight countered. She grabbed her gun from the ground and took off running.

“Lance Corporal, stop!”

Twilight didn’t listen, nor did she stop for the Osanen soldiers that followed after her. “Davis,” Twilight called over her ratio. “Talk to me!” no answer. She rounded the last corner, nearly running into the wall from her speed. At the end of the hall two rats were trying to break down a door. One was trying to kick it in were the other just watch.

Twilight didn’t slow her speed. She focused her magic into her left hand, and while she didn’t have much magic left for what she planed she didn’t need much. She thrust her arm out and the rat trying to kick the door in froze, like his body was paralyzed. She jerked her arm to the side and his body exploded outward as a shield rapidly expanded. The other rat hit the ground moments later as her escort provided covering fire.

Twilight burst through the damaged door with ease. “Davis!” What had once been a class room was just as trashed as the rest of the building. The makeshift barricade of table was pushed aside and Twilight was able to jump over it with little trouble. Davis set against the wall to the right of the door. His helm was off and one hand was held to his stomach over the reddish patch of medical foam, trying to keep his blood from pouring through.

Twilight knelt in front of him and took off her helmet. “You idiot! You god damn idiot!” She screamed.

Davis just smiled. “Yeah, that’s me idiot to the last.” Twilight grabbed at the medical bag that lay next to Davis. “Don’t bother, I’ve taken everything I can in there, but based on the pain I’m guessing something vital got hit.” He coughed in to his free hand and looked at the blood that was left behind. “Oh yeah, definitely something vital got hit.”

Twilight took out bandages and did her best to stop the bleeding. Other Osanen soldiers had arrived but no one moved to help. If was as if she was the only one who hadn’t reached the conclusion that Davis couldn’t be saved. “Twilight,” Davis spoke up after a minute of fruitlessly trying to stop the bleeding. “When you get back home pet one of the ponies for me.”

A small smile broke on Twilight’s face. “Come on don’t be ridicules.”

His voice grew weaker but he kept talking. “I’ve never seen a pony in person before, but if I had one I would name him Hopscotch.” His eyes slowly closed and his hand went limp.

“Davis?” Twilight slowly shook him; her voice weak. “Davis…came on…open your eyes.” She shook him harder. Nothing.

Twilight leaned her head back and screamed.

In one of the few buildings that were not either burned down or looted to the frame was a small bar that went by the name Table Flippers. Twilight, Skyler, Teagan, and Nadia set at a table with a bottle of whisky that Nadia had managed to fish out in the center. Cotreau was off filling out the after battle reports.

There was little in the way of small talk with everyone more content to just drink. “Did he say anything before the end?” Nadia asked.

Twilight swirled her glass and watch to liquid. “Just to tell you that he wouldn’t be able to finish that game with you.”

Nadia placed a hand over her face and took in a deep breath. She held it for several moments before release. “Like that maters anymore.”

“What game?”

“Chess. He was one of the few people I found who were any good at it.”

Teagan reached out and took the bottle to refill to own glass. “I kind of evea him.” He draw everyone’s eyes at that. He took a sip of his drink and elaborated. “He died protecting the children. He got to choose how he died, and I don’t think he regretted it.”

“No,” Nadia agreed. “I don’t think he regretted it at all.”

“Not all of us are going to have a glorious death, but at least some of us get to choose how we go.”

Skyler rose his glass into air. “To Davis!” it wasn’t much as a toast, but it was more than enough for everyone.

Another solider stepped up to table. “Excuse me, but there is a call for Lance Corporal Sparkle.” Twilight didn’t move just sipped her drink and stared at the poor private. “It’s mark urgent.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and rose from the table. She followed the private to a phone that had been set up farther into the bar. “This is Twilight.”

“Twilight can you hear me?” a familiar yet cheerful voice asked.

“Rolland.”

“Twilight, it’s good to hear your voice again.”

“Rolland, this call was marked urgent. What’s going on?”

“Oh sorry about that, I had to do that to get in contact with you.”

Twilight took in a breath and let it out slowly, making sure it was heard over the phone. “Rolland, this is not the best time for a social call.”

“Sorry, I’ll get to the point of my call. To make thing quick, I think I know how to send you home.”

***

The warm spring air Blew through Twilight’s hair and brought warmth to her in spite of the cold graveyard around her. A week had passed since her return home, and despite her rough first day, it had been peaceful. Her friends had taken turns spending time with her, as if they thought taking their eyes off of her would make her disappear. Rarity had even made Twilight a whole wardrobe that she claimed was fashionable yet simple. The black button up shirt and matching pants she was currently wearing was testament to that, while it’s wasn’t her jumpsuit it definitely would do.

Her recon armor she had left at her parents had been sent to Celestia to hold on to. She still had to go retrieve it, but it surprised her how easily she could come up with an excuse not to do something.

Rainbow Dash had been gone on a weeklong tour with the other Wonderbolts, but she had sent letters—along with most of Equestria. Celestia and Luna had finally made her return public and ponies were sending their support in abundance.

She was more surprised not to be hounded by paparazzi, but she suspected that was more due to an unseen army of guards that circled Ponyville like a net. Of course that was only a guess. The only guards she had seen were Tweetle-dumb and Tweetle-de, the unicorn and pegasus guard that watch her from the edge of the graveyard. Not their real names of course, but she found that funnier than their real names, and it’s not like they spoke. They just watched her like some special need children…it was creepy at times.

She brought her attention back to the reason she had come. She had known for some time about her gravestone, but today was the first day she had built up the courage to come take a look. Before her a statue of her ponyself stood with outstretched wings. On the base from where it stood was a plaque that read.

“In memory of Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.

May her example inspire friendship for generationd to come.”

“An example of friendship, don’t make me laugh.” Twilight muttered to herself. A burst of air hit her from above. She glanced up to see the all too familiar streak of blue pass over head. She waved to Rainbow Dash as she circled around for a landing. Tweetle-dumb and Tweetle-de barely gave Rainbow a second glace, though Twilight wasn’t too surprise about that.

“Welcome back, Rainbow, I didn’t think I would see you until tomorrow.”

Rainbow trotted up. Her Wonderbolt outfit was gone, but still kept the goggles on top of her head. “Today was basically rap up, nothing the others couldn’t handle without me. So why are you hanging out in this gloomy place?”

Twilight nodded toward the statue. “Just having a look at the legacy I left behind, but it seems that friendship is all I was remembered for.”

“Hey come on,” Rainbow was quick to argue. “You can’t judge your whole legacy by just one plaque.”

Twilight placed her hand on Rainbow’s head and patted her, rubbing her hand into Rainbow’s mane. Rainbow giggled at the touch and pushed her hand away after a moment. “What was that for?”

Twilight shook her head. “Nothing,” She answered. “Just remembering something. Your right, this place is too gloomy. Let’s head back into town.”

Chapter 10: Shooting Range

Five years, three months after arrival

Twilight looked over the blue print Rolland had drawn up. It looked a lot like the original sketch drawing by Dr. Bevan a platform with three arcing beams all connecting at the top by a conductor. For a Teleportation device, it was crud by pony standers, then again only one third of the population could teleport. “So when the energy from teleporter A hits the object in the center it should appear in teleporeor B. Provided, of course, it doesn’t just fry the object.” said Twilight.

“That is true,” Rolland said next to her. “It took me months to go over the correction you made to the original documents and years more to secure funding for this.”

Twilight looked up from the blue print to the half built teleporter. It was twenty feet wide and another thirty seven feet tall. “All of this to send me home?”

“Technically, it’s to help the war effort. Being able to teleport people across the country at a moment’s notice has its advantages, but yes all of this was to send you home.”

Twilight looked at the pudgy cheeked man and asked. “Why?”

“Did I ever tell you why I became a scientist?” Twilight shook her head. “In short, it was because I believed in magic, not the pulling a rabbit out of your hat crap, but real magic the stuff you can do. In a way I wanted to prove that was real, because without magic I always thought the world would be a little bit duller. I believed the stories you told me about your home, every last one. I understand why you stayed, but, Twilight, this isn’t your mess to clean up. You should go to your peaceful land.”

Twilight turned her eyes back. ”I’m not ready to return, not until I see this through.”

“Well in any case, it will be years before we even start human trials. You know you could always come back and work here. I could use an assistant, and if I’m being honest I miss having someone who can keep up with me.”

“I appreciate the offer, but my place is at the frontline.”

***

Twilight could remember spending days sorting books by the dewey decimal system. It was both relaxing and fun, but now, as Twilight set in the middle of her library floor surrounded by books stacked up to her chest she felt nothing. Neither relaxing or joyful, just the same nothing she always felt. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt much of anything, even in the last few years of the war it was as if she was on autopilot. Breach in the line, go and repel. Counterattack, go and attack. There was the final battle in the war—for reasons she couldn’t explain, Twilight was looking at the books with renewed interest. She gathered up a hand full of books and began sorting through them.

The door open and Spike raced in with a smile on his face. “Twilight, I just had word from Archmage Hearing Colors he’s finish the spell to turn you back into a pony.” Spike said, as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “It’s ready for you in Canterlot. I’ll get our bags packed.”

“Spike, stop!” The firmness in her voice stopped Spike cold. He turned back to face her as Twilight set her books to the side. “I want to stay a human…at least for now.”

Upon hearing those words it looked as if Spike’s brain shut down. He stared blankly with his mouth open. After the few moments it took for him to reboot his brain he answered. “Ooook, that is…perfectly fine. I’ll just send a letter to Canterlot right away.”

Twilight gave him a smirk. “Thanks, Spike.”

“No problem, I’ll just, um, go send that letter.” Like a fish out of water, he floundered out of the room.

Twilight turned her attention back to the books before her. “Ok, let’s try this again.”

***

Celestia set the newest letter from Spike down on the table and sighed. She and Luna were in the royal dining room. She was having breakfast while Luna readied herself for sleep, by drinking coffee no less. “I need more tea.” Celestia said.

“That much tea isn’t good for you this early in the morning,” Luna pointed out, while sipping at her steaming cup.

“It’s still better then coffee. How many cups have you had by now?”

Luna held her cup close to her chest. “You can have my coffee when you pry it from my cold dead hooves,” She got a snort from Celestia. “So when will Twilight be arriving?”

“She won’t be coming. According to Spike, she wishes to remain human for the time being.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “I guess giving her time isn’t quite working.”

“It would have, if someone here had not tried to break into her mind mere hours after we agree to give her time,” Celestia quipped.

“You heard about that.”

“Yes, yes I did. Seriously, Luna, to hear Spike tell it you practically ask to have access to her every secret.”

“Technically, I did.”

“Luna!”

Luna set her drink on the table and readied herself. Tired as she may be she would never pass up a chance to correct the error of sister’s ways. “I will admit that I am not the most subtle of ponies—“

“Your idea of subtlety is a hammer,” Celestia interrupted.

“Be that as it may, I am fully aware that all injuries need time to heal, Twilight’s more than most. However, dear sister, you rely upon time and subtlety far too much. I understand that we are near immortal, but ponies, and I’m still not sure about Twilight on this, but ponies are not. Giving a pony time and few subtle hints in the right direction is not always the right method. Sometimes a more direct method is best. It may not always be pretty or nice, but it will cut to the heart of the matter, and once that is done true healing can begin.”

“Yes, I am going to need more tea.” with a bit of magic Celestia took ahold of the tea pot in front of her and refilled her cup.

“Then what will our next move be, Queen of Subtlety?”

With a single sip of a fresh cup of tea Luna’s words washed off of her. She looked to her sister in answer. “For now we must leave it to her friends. I fear that at this point our interference would cause more harm than good.”

Luna gave a nod. “In that case I will be off to bed.”

“Pleasant dreams, sister.”

***

Twilight and Spike set at the castles dining table having an early lunch. She still had to be careful about what she ate, as many of the common foods ponies ate would make her sick as a human. Spike, however, was more than happy to accommodate her, especially when he learned that her dietary requirement were quite close to that of griffons.

They had spoken a bit about Spikes new growth spurt and how, according to Dragon Lord Ember, Spike was undergoing what they called the Right of Greed. From what Twilight had gathered it was basically dragon puberty where Spike was no longer considered a hatchling but that of adolescents, much like the new Dragon Lord herself. In a few years Spike would grow wings, and about five hundred years after that he would be eligible to take a mate for himself, but when Spike had ask for more details on this the Dragon Lord has said, “idiot! Don’t talk to me about that for at least another five hundred years, also you are forbidden from talking about this with other females, it is dragon law!”

Twilight picked up the newspaper from the table. She wasn’t positive but she had a theory that the longer a country was at peace the thicker their gossip section was. She flipped through the newspaper until she came across something she wouldn’t have expected to see in Equestria. “Hey Spike listen to this. ‘After three days of intense standoff with authorities, the cult leader of the village Our Town has finally surrendered. All hostages were freed and the brainwashed townsfolk have had their cutie marks restored. The cult leader, whose name is being withheld, has blamed cutie marks for the downfall of society as she sees it. She is facing a long list of charges such as kidnapping, brainwashing, inciting rebellion against the crown, and a host of other charges. It is unlikely that this mare will be causing trouble for a very long time.’”

“What could cause somepony to hate cutie marks so much?” asked Spike as he finished off the last of his meal.

Twilight folded up the paper and tossed it on the table. “I bet it was something dumb, like she was the last in her class to get a cutie mark.”

Spike gave a laugh. “No way, that’s too dumb.”

“Or better yet, her friend got a cutie mark first and then immediately moved away,” Spike was in a fit of laughter and that was more than enough for her to continue. “I can see it now, her best friend gets a cutie mark and moves away, but our poor cult leader loses the mailing address. Swearing vengeance on the world, she takes over a village of fifty ponies on her first steps to world conquest. Of course!”

“What are you guys laughing about?”

Twilight spun in her chair with a scream. “Rainbow where did you come from!”

Rainbow didn’t bat an eye at the outburst. “From the front door,” She answered.

“You know you’re supposed to knock before entering someone’s house.”

“Yeah, but your house is also the headquarters for the Friendship council.”

“Fair point,” Twilight reluctantly said. “Then what can we do for you, Miss Council Mare?”

Rainbow gave a sheepish smile. “Not much really, say are you free today?”

Twilight looked from Spike back to Rainbow and said, “I don’t believe I have anything planned for the day, why do you ask?”

“What a coincidence, I also have nothing planned for today.”

“It’s almost as if it was fated,” the slight sarcasm lingered on Twilight’s words.

“Considering neither of us has anything to do, why don’t we hang out today.”

“You sound like you already have an activity in mind,” said Spike.

Rainbow waved him off. “No of course not, but on a completely unrelated topic, Twilight, you remember how you told us some of the battles you were in with the killing, and fires, and…explosives,”—she raised her eyebrows suggestively.

“Don’t worry Rainbow I think I know where you are going with this and I’m way ahead of you.”

Twilight rolled the dice across the board game. She wasn’t sure the game’s name or even if they were playing right, but Spike had managed to find it within a few minutes and set it up on the dining room table. Rainbow set at the table looking like someone had just stolen her heartwarming presents.

Twilight past the dice to Rainbow, “It’s your turn, Dash.”

Rainbow didn’t bother looking at the dice. She grabbed them in a hoof and dropped them in the same instance. “Oh look I guess I lose, too bad.”

“Is something wrong Rainbow? Are you not enjoying all of this…explosive fun?” Rainbow shot her the best stink eye she could manage, but Twilight just grinned devilishly. “Could it possibly be that you weren’t alluding to this most thrilling of board games. No, that can’t be. Clearly you have longed to play this game since my return, but do not fear we are going to play this game all… day… long.”

“OK, YOU WIN!” with a cry Rainbow threw up her hooves. “I want to see your guns. Are you happy now?”

“Doesn’t it feel good to tell the truth?”

Rainbow slouched in her chair with her hooves crossed over her chest. “I hate you.” she muttered.

“Now about my weapons, I had planned to dismantle them before somepony got hurt, but I guess it would be a shame to let all of that ammo go to waste.”

“Yes, a complete waste.” Rainbow agreed.

Twilight rose from the table. “Tell you what, if you go set up a shooting range behind the castle, I’ll bring my weapon.”

Rainbow shot from her set and flitted in the air. “Deal!” was all she said before becoming a blue blur.

Twilight lean out the dining room door and shouted. “Don’t face them towards the castle!”

“I think I’ll go give her a hand,” said Spike.

It took Twilight only a minute to get back to her room. Her rifle lean against the wall near her deck with both her pistol and her anizon case setting on top. She took a moment and opened the white case. The first of the four vial was nearly empty, and she doubted the little that was left would be enough for a single dose. She had been trying to cut back on her usage, and had even gone three days without using it before the shakes got too bad. Despite that, she was running out of time. If she couldn’t find a way to get more and soon shakes could be the least of her problems. As Twilight could see it, there was only two ways to get more of the drug; the first, and least likely to work, was going back to the humans, but that had the obvious problems and, even without the problems of getting there and back, the war over so anizon use was likely going to be on lock down.

The second way, and just as likely to fail as the first, she could give a sample to the ponies and hope they could revise engineer it, but the ponies had been fretting over her since her return and she didn’t want to give them more reason to do so. The other reason was that it had taken humans decades to make anizon and it was by large considered a failure.

Twilight closed the anizon case and placed it in the top drawer of the desk. She had time to think about that later. She grabbed the rifle from the wall and went to meet with rainbow.

Much to Twilight surprise, by the time it took her to retrieve her rifle Rainbow had set up four targets. They were more like signs hammered into the ground with a bullseye painted on them, and when Twilight took a closer look she saw that they were just that, with one reading ‘Welcome to quills and suffuses.’

Rainbow eyed the gun in Twilight’s hands like a foal eyeing a new toy. “Can I try it!” she asked excitedly.

Twilight held up a hand. “Not so fast. First we need to go over a few rules,” Rainbow gowned and took a seat at a picnic table. “First, never point it at something you don’t intend to shoot—“

“—Obviously.”

“Second, when you’re not about to shoot the gun be sure the safety is on,” she motioned to a small red button on the side.

“Sounds good,”

“And last, when the aliens attack be sure to shoot them in the head; the explosions are much cooler that way.”

“Got it,” Rainbow said, her head resting on a hoof and her eyes on her make shift range.

“Rainbow, are you listening?”

She straightened up with a jolt. “What, um, yeah…don’t point it at what I’m shooting, and all that good stuff.”

Twilight face palmed. “Yeah, Dash, that’s it on the nose.” Try as she may, she couldn’t really be upset with Rainbow; she vaguely remembered her own excitement when she first received a plasma rifle, however she had been more excited at trying to dismantle it, something that had gotten her yelled at quiet harshly by her NCO. “I’ll get you a demonstrate and then you give it a try, ok.” Rainbow gave a quick nod.

Twilight stood twenty feet from the first target and placed the rifle to her shoulder and fired. There was no recoil just a slight flash and the hole through the sign a split second later. She stood still for a moment and watched the hole, and could swear she smelled gunpowder. Turning the safety on, she stepped over and handed it to Rainbow. “Now considering its designed more for human anatomy you are going to need to use the table for balance while you aim.”

“Got it,” With a smile she held the gun with both hooves and aimed for the next target in the line. “Um, Twilight.”

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, stepping over to see the problem.

“How do I fire it?”

“What? You just pull…the…trigger...” Twilight looked to Rainbow’s hooves and then to her hands. “Ok, I may have forgotten about that,” She wiggles her fingers in explanation. All ponies, and most four hooved races, had a form of telekinesis in their hooves that helped them left and manipulate objects, however their dexterity was far below that of what a hand could do. Rainbows head hit the table.

It took her only a moment to think of a solution. It was far from what she considered a safe solution, but then again giving a gun to a pony wasn’t her idea of safe either. She grabbed a stick from the ground and slid it through the trigger hold. Rainbow seemed to follow her logic and grinned. “Hey that will work,” she said.

Rainbow held the rifle upright while it balanced on the table and pulled the trigger with the other. It fired but missed her target by a mile. She fired again, and again, all misses. Spike was covering his mouth but still laughing loud enough to be heard. “Um, Twilight…a little help.”

“More to the left,” Rainbow fired again. “No, my left…Ok too far left.”

“Twilight this isn’t helping.”

Twilight gave a sigh. She pointed at the aiming reticle. “Try and aim this were you want to shoot.”

Once more Rainbow aimed at the target and fired; this time managing to hit the outer ring. “YES!” she called.

“Nice work, see if you can hit the center,” Rainbow went to work firing shot after shot, and getting better with each one. When one target was little more than a stick in the ground she would move on the next.

Twilight watched and listened to the familiar sound of plasma rounds being fired in a steady whistle. She could smell gunpowder in the air. Faintly, she could hear someone calling out enemy positions. She reached for a sidearm that wasn’t there. She padded her pockets to find her case, but it was gone. She took slow deep breaths. ‘It’s all in your mind’ she told herself. Her eyes closed and she counted as she breathed.

Click, click, click. “Twilight, something’s wrong again.” Rainbow said as she kept pulling the trigger.

Twilight opened her eyes and only smelled the fresh air. “You’re out of ammo, Dash,”

“Oh…you got any more?”

“Sorry, that was the last of it,”

Spike stepped up next to Twilight. “Hey are you feeling ok? You look kind of out of it.”

Twilight turned to face him. “What…oh yeah. I’m ok, but I left something in my room. I’ll be back in a minute.” She didn’t give the others a second glance and hurried away.

Twilight crashed down into the seat of her desk. She nearly ripped the top drawer off its hinges and grabbed her anizon case. She didn’t open it and just stared down at it. ‘I don’t need it. I don’t need it.’ She repeated it over to herself, but she didn’t move the case. Slowly, her hands opened the case. ‘I don’t need it.’ She tried to tell herself, but her hand was already reaching for it; her resolve was already waning. “Hey Twilight!” Rainbow burst through the bedroom door.

Twilight slammed the case lid down and tossed the case back into the drawer, all in less than a few seconds. Rainbow raised an eye brow and asked, “What was that?”

“Nothing!” she said it too fast and it came off as more of a shout then intended. “Sorry…just…what do you need, Rainbow?”

“I’m, um, well I know you are out of ammo and that kind of sucks, but do you think we can still hang out? I haven’t been able to see you much all week.”

Twilight gave her a grin. “Of course, just give me a minute and I’ll be right down.” Rainbow nodded and trotted back out of the door, closing it behind her.

Twilight looked to the white case in the drew. She reached for it and in one quick movement she slammed the drawer shut. “I don’t need it.” She said.

Chapter 11: Double Trouble

Twilight watched as her comrades scavenged supplies from dead rat soldiers. It was a common sight along the frontline as the commonwealth probed their defense. The Osanens were too deeply entranced; she had even heard some soldiers joke that it would take another orbital cannon to break the line, and those had been destroyed in the first days of the war.

The town they were in was little more than rubble now, the asphalt was cracked, and the few cars that remained were now burnt out wrecks. Twilight walked along the premotor. Their recent battle had been only a few hours prior, a few more hundred dead on both sides. She stepped into another ruined building and spotted a rat soldier pinned against a wall by a rebar pipe that pierced his abdomen. The rat was very much alive.

His helmet was off so Twilight could see him glare at her as she approached. She tugged at the med kit that rested on her hip and unzipped it. She had received the medical kit and a full afternoon of training with it, shortly after Davis had died. It was a quick and simple “Sorry for your loss. Take this, you’re now the medic,” she may have been insulted if it wasn’t said with the same cold indifference as someone passing out the mail.

Twilight took out a tab of morphine and stepped closer to the rat. When she reached out to administer the morphine the rat slapped her hand away, knocking the morphine to the ground. “I don’t…need your…pity,” the rat gasped out. Blood dripped from his mouth as he tried to take in more air. He looked off into the distance and seemed to be speaking more to himself than Twilight. “They said our families would be taken care of if we joined up. I should have known they were lying, they can barely feed us. I went to see them on my last leave, I saw them being taken away…they were so thin.”

Twilight picked up the morphine tab from the ground and dusted it off. The rat jerked and swung his arm at the morphine once more, but Twilight caught his arm mid swing and jabbed the tab into the side of the man’s neck. Relieve flooded his face almost immediately. He looked at Twilight with glazed covered eyes and spoke in a voice that was no longer his own; it was strangely familiar but she couldn’t place it, “You shouldn’t be worrying about me. Don’t you remember? It’s time to go home.”

Twilight set up in bed; sweat drenched sheets clinging to her body, a scream stuck in her throat. She took a few slow breaths as she got a grip of her surroundings. Laying back down she threw the sheets over her head. The dreams weren’t real and so long as she stayed in bed that would continue to be true. Yes, nothing would be getting her out of bed today.

***

With the rhythmic bopping of a hoof on a nose, Fluttershy gradual opened her eyes. She half grumbled as she spoke, “Pinkie Pie, why are you bopping my nose?”

The Pink pony smiled wide at the sleepy Fluttershy, and answered in a sing song cheerful tone, “It’s time to get up.”

Fluttershy rolled away from her. “Too early, need more sleep.”

Pinkie jumped to the other side of the bed and put herself nose to nose with Fluttershy. “You can’t sleep! There’s no time to sleep!” Pinkie insisted. “Don’t you understand it’s finally our chapter! I’ve been waiting two years for this…I need this!”

Fluttershy had no idea what Pinkie was talking about, which wasn’t that much of a surprise; Pinkie would often go on about things that made sense only to her. Regardless, Fluttershy was certain of one thing: one way or another she was not going back to sleep. She leaned forward and kissed Pinkie, who eagerly returned the kiss.

Pinkie backed off as Fluttershy raised form the bed and made her way to a mirror and began to comb out her mane. “What is this about?” she finally asked.

“We are spending time with Twilight today, just the three of us and hours of emotional bonding.”

“And does Twilight know about this?”

Pinkie waved the question off. “Of course she knows, silly, I sent her an invitation with our schedule on it. I’m sure she’s just waiting for us to race over…I know I am.”

***

Spike looked through the mail. Most of it was junk and a few official looking documents which he set aside. The last piece of mail was a postcard sized invitation with oversized font on the front that smelled faintly of cupcakes. The card read:

Finally!

Twilight Sparkle

You are cordially invited to a party two years in the making!

Just you, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and as much emotional baggage as you can carry.

There will be streamers

There will be games

There will be crying

Look on back for an event schedule

Spike flipped the card over and gave it a quick read.

8:00 am: Meet up with hugged and laughter.

8:10 am: Head to Fluttershy’s cottage.

8:15-10:30 am: fun.

11:00 am: First emotional confession and/or bonding.

11:30 am: fun.

Spike tossed the card into the junk piled and carry the rested to his office. He was sure that Twilight wasn’t in the mood for Pinkies game today. After dropping off the mail, Spike entered the kitchen and began on Twilight’s breakfast or lunch, depending when she got up. He got out onions and green peppers and diced them up, and was about to oil a pan to fry them when a glance at the window made him jump back in fright.

Pinkie Pie was clinging to the window like an overgrown tree frog. “Pinkie what are you doing? We’re two stories up how did you even get up—” Spike stopped himself when he realized that he was asking a logical question to an illogical pony.

“Spike, did you know the front door is locked?” Pinkie asked, her voice sounding distorted with her mouth pressed against the glass.

“Yes, I locked it. There is no counsel business today, and Twilight needs her rest.”

“Spike, the door…open the door!” Pinkie Pie slowly slid down the window as she continued to cry, “The door!”

Spike set his knife down and walked for the front door, thinking it may be better to deal with her before she pops out of the oven or something.

When Spike opened the front door he saw Pinkie talking to one of the two guards standing outside the door. She was rambling on about something that Spike couldn’t follow, and when the guard spotted him he shot Spike a pleading look. Fluttershy was also standing close by but like the others was watching the scene unfold.

“Pinkie, Fluttershy, how can I help you?”

Pinkie jumped over to Spike. “We’re here to see Twilight.”

“Twilight’s sleeping right now, come back later.”

Pinkie grabbed ahold of Spikes shoulders and declared, “Spike, You don’t understand!” Pinkie began a long rant about bonding, her destined time, two years of planning, and how if Twilight wasn’t able to meet with them today all of time could just stop, like some kind of temporal hiatus. Spike didn’t follow nor was he trying to. He told them to come back later and shut the door. He had brunch to prepare.

Pinkie stare incredulously at the door that was slammed in her face. She looked back to Fluttershy. “Can you believe this, his tone, slamming the door, not a single ‘thanks for dropping by cupcake’,”

“Pinkie,” Fluttershy winced. “Let’s just wait a few hours for Twilight to wake up. The world isn’t going to end before then.”

“Are you willing to take that chance, I’m not! Come on, Pinkamena Diane Pie, doesn’t give up that easily.”

Fluttershy gave a long sigh as she followed along. “Truer words have never been said.”

They walked around the building with Pinkie scanning the surface for anything from an open window to a secret door. She glanced up and spotted the third story balcony and smiled. Pinkie looked over to Fluttershy, a devious smile on her face. “Fluttershy, did I ever tell you how beautiful your wings are?”

Fluttershy tucked her wings in close to her side. “I’ve told you already, I’m not into wing play,”

Pinkie let out a snort and laughed. “Oh you are funny, but hypothetically speaking how strong of a flyer are you?”

Fluttershy lowered her head, her mind already connecting the dots. “The things I do for love,”

“WEEEE,” Pinkie called, sitting square on Fluttershy’s back as they ascended up the castle. “Faster, Faster,”

“Pinkie, if you don’t settle down I’m going to drop you. I haven’t decided if that will be on purpose or not.”

Fluttershy landed on the third floor balcony and collapsed, her wings laying out flat at her sides. Pinkie Pie hopped off and trotted to the balcony door. It opened without a sound. “Alright, we’re in. Operation ‘Sneak into Twilight’s Room’ is a go,”

Pinkie rolled to the nearest wall, her head darting around the first corner. She waved Fluttershy over as she advanced forward with another roll. “Dun dun dun da, dun dun da,” Pinkie sang in a hush whisper. Fluttershy rolled her eyes but followed.

Pinkie’s head darted between a set of doors as she said, “Such a large castle, so many rooms, who knows which one could hold Twilight.”

“Second floor, eighth door from the stairway.”

“No way to know,”

After another thirty minutes of coaxing, clever maneuvering, and at times dragging, Fluttershy was able to get them to Twilight’s doorway. “Should we knock?”

“Knocking, ain't nopony got time for that!” Pinkie Pie opened the door and tumbled end over end inside. She jumped up and landed on her back hooves with a hushed “Dun da!”

“Pinkie, quiet,” Flutterhy said. She pointed to the bed in the room where Twilight was still sleeping with the blanket covering her head.

“Well this is no good; did she even read my event schedule?” Pinkie’s eyes darted around the room until she spotted a small box sitting on the desk adjacent from the bed. With her mind now fully occupied with what was in the box, Pinkie hopped over to the desk. She picked up the plain looking box with the title that read: Nutrition bars. “OOW, some of Twilight special human food, me want to try,”

“Umm, Pinkie, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Twilight did say that humans and ponies had different dietary needs,”

Pinkie waved her off. “Dietary, Smietary. I’ll just try one.” She pulled one of the bars from the box and pulled back the white wrapping in one go before biting the bar in half. Pinkie give three long chews before swallow the food. She turned to Fluttershy and gave her a wide smile. “Fluttershy, bury me on a rock farm.” With her legs straight as a board, she killed over.

“Pinkie!” Fluttershy trotted to her side and took Pinkie’s head in her hooves.

Pinkie’s face was a sickly green; she looked up to Flutterhy and spoke in a weak voice, “Don’t forget about me,”

“Pinkie, no!”

“What is going on here?” an irritated and very awake Twilight called.

Twilight set up in her bed, letting her blanket fall to her side, and looked at the two ponies making a scene in her floor. Pinkie Pie jumped up first and bounced over to her. “Hi, Twilight, we’re here to pick you up,”

Twilight rubbed sleep from her eyes. Her hair was a mess but she was too tired to care. “Pick me up for what?”

“Didn’t you get my invitation?”

By invitation she knew that Pinkie had to be talking about a party, seeing as in the last week alone she had been to three of Pinkie’s parties. “Sorry, Pinkie, but I’m not in the mood for a party today. Maybe next time.”

“Here we go,” Fluttershy said.

Pinkie’s eyes looked bloodshot, one eye involuntary twitching. “Twilight, this isn’t just another party; this is about the three of us as friends,”

“I don’t know, Pinkie. It sounds like we could do this anytime,”

Pinkie grasped Fluttershy by the hoof and drug her over. With both hooves she puffed up Fluttershy’s cheeks, “Look at this face! Could you say no to this cuteness?”

“Pinkie!”

“Look at her!” Pinkie moved Fluttershy closer. “Give in to the cuteness,” Fluttershy was blushing heavily and looked ready to bolt, but was holding firm. Twilight wasn’t sure if that was due to the awkward position she was in or the complements she was receiving.

Twilight threw her head back and groaned, “Fine! Just let me shower first.” Pinkie cheered and Fluttershy rubbed her face. Twilight rose from the bed and walked to the shower across the hall.

She took her time and enjoyed the hot water before reluctantly emerging. When she made it back to her room Pinkie Pie was holding her anizon case. Not only that, but she had opened it and was looking at one of the vials in a hoof.

“OOOh, pretty,”

Twilight practically vaulted across the room snatched the vial and case from Pinkie, tucking them back into her desk drew. “Pinkie, you shouldn’t go through other people’s things without asking.”

“Sorry, but my twitchy ear said it may be fun. Say, was that some kind of candy?”

“No, Pinkie, that was not candy,”

Twilight looked over to Fluttershy who was holding a nutrient bar in a hoof. “It can’t be that bad,” she was muttering. She pulled the wrapper off and took a bit.

“Fluttershy, don’t eat that!” it was too late; Fluttershy killed over.

Pinkie galloped to her side and held Fluttershy’s head in her hooves. Fluttershy looked up with weak eyes and whispered, “Take care of my animal for me,” her eyes closed and her head drooped to the side.

“Fluttershy, no!”

Twilight pointed to the door. “That’s it, everypony out!”

Twilight walked a slow pace behind her two friends as they lead her back to Fluttershy’s cottage. Behind her Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum kept their normal distance, not to close to be a bother but not too far away that they couldn’t respond if needed.

The cottage set on top of a hill and rounded by a small stream just like she remembered. She wasn’t sure if it was her memory or her imagination, but the area was overflowing with animals. If she had to guess, a lot of them were probably here for the free food. How Fluttershy was able to afford it she may never know.

They crossed the wooden bridge and walked up the hill to the front door. The animals gathered around Fluttershy, like baby birds expecting food. “Yes, yes, I’m back,” Fluttershy spoke to her animals. “No, I’ve already given you today’s food…then I suggest you go foraged more. There is plenty of food to be found in the Everfree,”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile. It was good to see that Fluttershy didn’t let her animals boss her around. The two guards waited outside while everypony else went inside.

To Twilight’s surprise there weren’t streamers hanging from to walls, or balloons everywhere, not even a table full of more sweets then the town of Ponyville could eat. Just a plain a living room with a birdhouse and other animal dens build into the walls. “Not quite what I was expecting,” Twilight said.

Fluttershy guided them to the coach as she said, “Since it’s only going to be the three of us, I talked Pinkie out of decoration,”

“They should change your name to Party-Poopershy,” Pinkie grumbled, taking a seat next to the pegasus. With a wing Fluttershy pulled Pinkie closer.

“So you two are dating,” Twilight said, as she watch to closeness between them. “Rarity motioned this the other day, but it was hard to believe. I never quite imagined you two like that,”

“Nor did we,” said Fluttershy.

“It was my Suspire Cakes of Love that won her over,”

“I would say it was your pie that won me over,”

“Pie? I never made you a pie,” Fluttershy gave her a raised eyebrow. Pinkie took in a breath and her face reddened.

Twilight made a facepalm. “I can’t believe you just make that joke,” she looked up to Pinkie. “Pinkie, tell me literally anything about your day,”

Fluttershy rose from her seat. “Let me go get us some drinks,”

“She’s certainly bolder then I remember,”

“I know, just the other day she bumped into somepony and didn’t even stop to say she was sorry, I was like ‘we’re going to start calling you Flutterbold’,”

“That’s not quite what I meant,”

As Fluttershy came back into the room Pinkie jumped up and ran out of the room. A minute later she returned with a board game in her hooves. She set in on the coffee table, “How about a game of Candyland?”

Twilight gave a shrug, “Why not,” They played for what felt like hours, each of them forgetting their worries. Twilight had to admit, it may have been a childish game but it was quite fun.

When the wall clock struck 11:00 a bird popped out of its hole and started clucking— a real bird not a fake one. “It’s that time already,” said Pinkie. She raised form her spot on the couch and jumped on Twilight’s lap with her hooves wrapped around her neck. Twilight looked down at the pink pony in confusion.

“Pinkie, what are you doing?”

“Shhh, it’s ok. Just let it all out, momma pie is here for you,” Pinkie cooed as she slowly stocked Twilight hair. Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, trying to get answers, only for the pegasus to shrug at the scene. “Tell me all of your secrets there’s no need to hid them with me,”

“So you want to hear my secrets do you?” Twilight asked more to herself. A dark smile crossed her lips, but she managed to fix it with a distraught look, “Your right, Pinkie Pie, I can’t hold back the dark secrets inside for a moment longer!” Twilight’s tone was one too fake to be believable, but Pinkie seemed to buy it hook, line, and sinker.

Fluttershy watch like somepony waiting for a punchline.

“It’s ok, Twilight, I’m here for you,”

“Every day I would go to the cafeteria and ask for the same thing, but no matter how many times I asked or where I asked they never had it. Don’t you understand, Pinkie Pie, they didn’t have frosting! They never had frosting!”

“The horror! The Horror!” Pinkie cried. Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry I know how to fix this,” Pinkie jumped down and disappeared into the next room a minute later she returned with three cans of frosting and three spoons.

They spent the rest of the day eating frosting and playing childish games. Twilight was suddenly glad she didn’t spend all day in bed.

Chapter 12: Deep End

One maybe two days, Twilight couldn’t be sure how many days it had been since she left her room. Spike brought her meals, but she could hardly eat anything. Her last attempt still lay on her nightstand, barely touched. She wasn’t sure if she was burning up or freezing, and she didn’t think her body knew either. She sweet socked her body and she shook uncontrollable, almost painfully so.

Her blankets laid over her like shackles, it were the only thing that held her to the bed and not flying off to get her only source of relief— Anzion. Even as she laid there and gripped the side of the bad like a life raft, her eyes never left that drawer. If she got up now she wouldn’t have the strength to resist its call, so she laid there and waited.

She just needed to go a few more days. Just a few more days without using that sweet nectar of life then she would be able to stretch out her supply for the near future. To what end? She didn’t know and that was too far into the future to think about.

***

Rarity let herself into Applejacks house; the screen door opened with a groan and slammed shut behind her. “We’re in the kitchen, Rarits!” she followed Applejack’s voice to where the other girls and Spike were sitting around the kitchen table, with the notable exception of Twilight.

“Sorry I’m late,” Rarity explained as she took the last open chair. “My mother came by this morning and declared it Granny Day, so I needed to pack Citrine an overnight bag, plus her favorite toys, and her formula … you get the picture, I believe,”

Everypony looked a bit on the grim side, Rarity noted. She wondered if she had missed something in her prompt invitation to this secret gathering. Pinkie Pie, in her usual way, had jumped out of her closet and told her that everypony was meeting at Applejacks for a ‘super-secret spy meeting’, and said we should all ware black. Rarity was going to tell her that black was not an acceptable fashion option in the certain season, but a few smoke bombs on the ground and she was gone.

“No worries, ah didn’t think you could just drop everything and head over here,” Applejack took one of the many bottles of cider in the centre of the table and offered it to Rarity.

Rarity shook her head and turned down the offer. “Oh no thank you, darling, a lady never drinks before noon,”

Rainbow Dash looked at the open bottle of cider in her hooves for a moment, before shrugging and taking another gulp.

Applejack looked to Spike next to her and asked, “So how’s Twilight,”

Spike rubbed his forehead with a tiered sigh, “Not great. She won’t leave her room and she’s barely eating. I think she’s sick,”

Oh Twilight was the topic behind this meeting. Rarity wasn’t surprised. It was hard to go more than a day without bringing her up in one way or the other. Not helped by the matter that Twilight barely interacted with anypony but them, and that included the princesses. When she did speak to other ponies it was like she was just going through the motion so they would leave. Now rumors about how Twilight hasn’t left her castle in days was starting to spread.

“Have you told a doctor or Celestia perhaps?” asked Fluttershy.

“I don’t think Twilight is going to let a doctor anywhere near her right now. When I suggested getting a doctor she nearly yelled me out of the room. I did send a message to Celestia, however…”

“However?”

Spike opened his mouth a few times like he was searching for the right words. “I don’t think she knows what to do. She just told me to message her if Twilight gets any worse,”

Rainbow Dash slammed her drink on the table drawing everyone’s attention. She wiped her mouth with a hoof as she spoke, “As much as I’m worried about Twilight, can we talk about that pink dragon in the room?”

Everypony gave her a questioning look. Spike couldn’t resist looking at his purple scales.

“The case!” Rainbow explained. “The one that she always keeps near her, and refuses to answer any questions about, no matter how many times I ask,”

‘So I wasn’t the only one who saw it’, Rarity realized. A quick glance around the room showed that everyone was now on the same page. Clearing her throat Rarity spoke up, “Yes, Rainbow, I’ve seen it as well. It was on her first day back and I had just finished making Twilight that dreadful outfit— that she requested, mind you— I was making my way back into the showroom when I…well that is to say, I think I saw her put a needle into her arm. I couldn’t be certain because of the angle, but I did see the case that she slipped into her pocket,”

Pinkie Pie shot a hoof into the air. Her head was uncovered but the rest of her was covered in a skin tight black outfit. “I saw it too!” she through a hoof around Fluttershy. “I mean we saw it, and I’m pretty sure it was candy,”

“It wasn’t candy,” Fluttershy said with a tired voice. “Twilight said as much,”

Pinkie turned until she was nose to nose with Fluttershy. “But what if due to the lack of frosting in the other world Twilight has become a sugar addict, and needs to inject sugar straight into her vain just to get her fix!”

“I really don’t thing that’s what happened,”

“She told me it was medicine,” Applejack added. “Course she wouldn’t tell me more than that. Ah don’t think she was lying, but ah got the feeling ah wasn’t being told everything either,”

Rarity remembered something Coco Pommel warned her about when she opened her store in Manehattan. One of the things that made Manehattan different from her home was how there were always shady ponies willing that sell you drugs, but very few of them were to treat the sick. “What if it was a medicine just not something to treat an illness,” Rarity spoke aloud.

Applejack’s hoof hit the table. “Are ya trying the say that Twilight is on drugs? Twilight would never do something like that,”

“Three years ago I would have said that she would never fight in a war. I’m not saying it is drugs. I’m just putting it out there as a possibility, and it is currently plausible that Twilight could have a sickness that she hasn’t told us about. She hasn’t be the most forthcoming as of late,”

“How would we know if it was drugs or just medicine she needs?” asked Spike.

“We could ask Celestia or Luna,” Rainbow suggested. “Surely they have to know some way to tell. All we need to do is take a little bit of this ‘medicine’, Twilight will be none the wiser,”

“Ah don’t like it. We shouldn’t be plotting behind our friends back,” said Applejack.

Spike kept his eyes on his hands as he spoke, “I think we should do it,”

“Come again?”

“Twilight hasn’t been the same since she got back—“

“Now you can’t expect her to be right as rain after what she’s been through,”

“That’s not what I mean!” Spike yelled and quickly regained control of the conversation. “She doesn’t talk to me anymore, not really. She always so distant, and when I ask her what’s wrong all she will say is ‘she’s fine’, but I know she’s not. I don’t know if it’s drugs or if she’s sick, but something is wrong with Twilight!”

Applejack’s head hit the table, her hoof on her hat to keep it from falling off. She groaned in frustration. “Ah can’t believe Ah’m considering this,”

“Twilight is normally asleep when I take her food. She was still asleep before I left,”

Rarity grinned and rose from her chair. “Well then, who’s up for a trip to see Twilight?”

Pinkie Pie pulled a matching black mask from her mane and pulled it over her head. Her mane seemed to disappear underneath it. “Just follow my led everypony, Master Spy Pinkie Pie will teach you the act of the spy,”

***

Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike had been elected to retrieve the case from Twilight’s room while the others would wait downstairs. Pinkie had volunteered to keep a lookout for Twilight’s minions, and last Rarity saw she was leaping from darkened corners while swiping the air with her hooves.

Spike put a finger to his mouth as they neared the door. He had that cute little expression he gets when he thought he was in charge. Rarity didn’t care how old Spike got, that look always made her want to squeeze his cheeks. Spike pulled the door open without a sound and stepped back for them to enter. Rainbow halfway through the room by the time Rarity got a good look inside. Twilight was on the bed, only her hair could be seen from under the sheets.

Rarity almost let out a gasp, but managed to cover her mouth with a hoof in time, when she saw the custom, and one of a kind, outfits she had made for Twilight strewn about on the floor. This was more seairue then than she thought. Seeing the fashion emergency at hoof, Rarity gathered up the discarded clothing’s and began to neatly fold them before placing them at the foot of her bed. She was interrupted from this by Rainbow tapping her on the shoulder.

Rainbow threw her hooves into the air in a ‘what are you doing’ gesture. She gave a sheepish smile and dropped the clothing. She could always come back and help with that later, but now may not be the best time. Rainbow rolled her eyes. She flitted over to the desk and reached for the top drawer.

In the stillness of the room every groan of wood on wood was like a bundle of fireworks going off. Rarity kept her eyes on Twilight who remained motionless. A moment later and Rainbow was waving a metallic case around with a victorious smile on her face. Rarity pointed to the door and Rainbow nodded. They had both just reached the doorway when they were stopped dead in their tracks.

“Where do you think you are taking that?”

All three of them swung around. Twilight was sitting up on the side of her bed, her eyes locked on Rainbow Dash. Twilight face was pale and clammy. She rose from her spot on two legs and in three long steps looked inside the now open drawer, as if she was confirming the crime for herself. Her eyes went back to Rainbow with a sharpness Rarity had never seen before. She stretched out a single trembling arm, palm face up.

“Give it to me now!” There was not a single ounce of gentleness in her words.

Rarity swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped to Rainbows side. “Twilight, darling, I know this looks bad, but you need to understand that we are trying to help you,” Rarity spoke each word calmly and slowly. The last thing she wanted was to say the wrong thing in this rather volatile situation.

Twilight didn’t take her eyes off Rainbow. “You can help me by returning my medicine and getting the fuck out!”

“Twilight, look at yourself! You’re sick and you look like you are going to collapse at any moment,” Rainbow yelled, moving her hooves adamantly as she spoke. Twilight’s eyes followed the case like a predator following its prey. She lashed out with an arm and grabbed for the case, but Rainbow managed to evade with the quick flap of her wings.

Twilight grabbed her hair like she was going to pull it out, gritting her teeth in frustration. This was bad, Twilight was on the verge of losing it, and if they couldn’t calm her down Rarity feared the worse. “Twilight, listen to me,” once again Rarity made sure her voice was calm and to speak each word clearly. “You need to calm down and talk to us. What is this medicine?”

Rarity wasn’t even sure if Twilight had heard her. She was muttering incoherently to herself. “I can’t…I can’t do this. I was so stupid. I tried to go without it but I can’t…I can’t! I need it! I need it!”

Twilight stumbled back to her desk and pulled open the bottom drawer. Rarity knew to be worried when she heard Rainbow whisper, “Oh buck me,” Rarity had heard enough stories from other world to recognize that the object Twilight now held was a pistol. And it was now pointed at Rainbow.

She tried to step in front of her friend to block the path, but Rainbow stopped her with a raised wing. Rainbow narrowed her eyes in challenge. “So that’s your answer. You’re going to shoot me! Your Friend!”

“Friends don’t steel from each other! Friends don’t let each other suffer like this. I’m only going to ask this one more time,” Twilight pulled a lever back on the gun. “Give me my medicine back now!”

Rarity wouldn’t call herself anything resembling the word knowledgeable when it came to guns, but she did understand two very important things. The first was that they fired a piece of metal, in the same vein as crossbows without the need to reload between shots. Second, it would kill whatever it was pointing at, but only what it was pointing at.

Rarity grabbed the barrel of the weapon with a blue aura of magic and jerked it to the right. A shot fired and an impact hit the wall. “Rainbow, run!” Rainbow didn’t question her chance and was out of the room in a blur.

Twilight abandoned the gun rather than fight Rarity’s hold for it. She rushed out the door and knocked both Rarity and Spike out of her way. For once Rarity wasn’t concerned with how that fall may have damaged her mane and was quick to help Spike to his feet. “Spike, listen to me. I’m going after them. Get a massage to Celestia, do you understand,” Spike looked a bit shaken but gave a confident nod.

Rarity raced up the stairs to the third floor. It wasn’t hard to follow them all she needed to do was listen for Twilight’s cry of ‘give it back’. She rounded the first corner just in time to see Rainbow throw a chair through a hall window with Twilight barreling down on her. Rainbow leaped through and spread her wings for flight.

She thought Twilight would give up the chase with Rainbow now out of reach. She thought wrong. Twilight didn’t hesitate as she leaped through the window, her arms covering her head to protect herself from the glass. “NO!” Rarity cried. She galloped to the window. Twilight reached out with a hand and grabbed one of Rainbow’s back hooves. Rainbow gave a cry of alarm at the unexpected weight. They both tumbled end over end toward the ground.

“Oh Celestia no!” Rarity turned on her hooves and galloped as fast as she could go back down the stairs. Spike was with the others by the time she reached the main floor, and by the looks their faces Spike had told them what happened.

“What in tarnation is going on?” asked Applejack.

Rarity didn’t stop she just called out as she past them, “Outside!” everypony followed her led. They ran to the back of the castle where the two door guards where trying to get Rainbow to lie still. Applejack and the others raced to her side.

“Oh buck me this hurts,” Rainbow whined. She tried to reach for her back hoof but was stopped by one of the guards.

“Miss, please, you need to lay still so not to aggravate your injuries,” one guard said.

“You try lying still with a broken hoof,”

Twilight was on her hands and knees. If she had any injuries they were either not as severe or she was simply good at hiding it. Before her the case, she was so desperate to get, laid open, its contents broken. Twilight was lifting one broken glass vile after the other out of the case and shaking her head in disbelieve. Apart of Rarity wanted to go comfort her, but by the way the others were giving her a wide berth she decided against it.

A white flash momentarily blinded everypony, and as if she was there form the start, Princess Celestia stood before them. She spared only a quick glance for everypony before turning her attention solely on Twilight. Twilight held up one of the broken vile for Celestia to see. Tears were running down her face and her voice cracked as she spoke, “It’s gone, Celestia, it’s all gone. What am I going to do?”

In that moment Rarity could almost swear that Celestia aged another thousand years. “I am so sorry, Twilight Sparkle,” With a single spell Twilight collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Chapter 13: Withdrawal

On the first light of a new morning, Celestia stepped into the Ponyville General Hospital. She was not there to cheer up sick foals, or the innumerable other official task that she normally attended to when arriving at a hospital. No, she was there to see her former student, fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle.

It was at her word that Twilight was given her own floor. Guards had been place both at the floor entrance and at Twilight’s door, to keep nosy ponies from prying where they don’t belong. As she stepped through the reception area she was approached by a white earth pony with a red mane. Nurse Red Heart, the head nurse and the one currently over seeing Twilight’s care.

Red Heart gave a tired bow of somepony who had worked too many shifts. “Good morning, your Majesty, you’re here to see Twilight Sparkle, I presume?”

“That I am, please lead the way,” Celestia gave a smile that she hid all of her nerves behind. Red Heart walked quickly, leading the way to the private floor. “What is her condition?”

“She has been asleep since she was brought in. She has a few bruised ribs, but, considering how far she fell, it’s a miracle that was the only injury she suffered,” they exited the stairway onto the floor. The guards at both ends of the hall stood at attention upon spotting Celestia. “The doctor is still hesitant about giving her any medication. We know too little about her biology or the drugs in her system,”

“I have somepony looking into the drugs for me. With any luck they will have answers—“

A scream cut her off. Twilight was a wake.

Red Heart galloped ahead with Celestia right behind her. Twilight was struggling against two earth ponies at her sides. She reached out with her arms trying to claw at them.

“Hold her down!” one attendant said.

They grabbed ahold of her arms and forced them to her side. She howled like a banshee. One leather strap broke loose and a leg came free, but Red Heart was quick to grasp on and hold it down. “The velcro isn’t strong enough, where are the cuffs?” Red Heart called over the screaming.

“On the other side of the room,”

A golden mist wrapped around Twilight’s body and held her firmly, yet gently, to the bed. “I have her,” said Celestia. “Restrain her now,” with their hooves free it took them only moments to get Twilight properly restrained. “Twilight, can you understand me?” Twilight’s eyes darted around the room, more akin to a feral animal trapped in a cage then the person she knew.

Red Heart waited with a syringe in hoof for her signal. With a deep sigh Celestia nodded to the nurse, and with just a plunge of the syringe Twilight’s cries died down and she drifted off to sleep. Celestia brush the tangled mess of knots and split ends, which would fail even the strongest of brushes, away from her face. Twilight had always taken care to make herself presentable to other ponies, yet most ponies wouldn’t realize that with how plain she kept her looks.

“Princess,” Red Heart said. “Somepony will be staying on this floor to monitor her, for now I need to complete my rounds,”

Celestia gave a gentle smile. A hospital couldn’t come to a stop just for a single patient. “Of course, please keep me informed,”

Celestia stood in the hall for a long moment, the door to Twilight’s room shut behind her. She had her own duties to attaint to, she knew, but a part of her wanted to forget about them and stay by Twilight’s side, no matter how long it took. It was a nice idea but she couldn’t do it. Luna would have to take over too many of her duties in her absence, and try as she might; she was still too blunt for the art of diplomacy.

A gruff old, yet familiar, voice broke her away from her thoughts. “Is this a bad time Princess?”

Celestia greeted Hearing Colors with a shake of her head. “No, it’s fine. Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Hearing Colors had visible bags under his glassy eyes. “What did you learn from the sample I sent you?”

He took a quick look around the hall, taking note of the guard’s up raised ears. “We should speak in private, Princess,” Celestia nodded and led the way to one of the empty adjacent rooms. Hearing Colors pulled a folder from his saddle bags and flipped through it. “I’ve learned as much about this drug as I could with what little there was to work with. I wish I could do more test, but alas we have exhausted our supply. I don’t suppose there was any more?”

“No, there was very little to collect as it was,”

“I see, I feared as much. No matter, I’ve learned what we need. To start, the drug works much in the same vein as the physical enhancement spells the army uses,” Celestia nodded as she followed along. She was familiar enough with those spells; they could increase everything about a pony from their strength and agility to memory and reflex, though only in small margins. “But of cause that is a vast oversimplification. The way this drug targets specific parts of the body is more akin to a scalpel, where our spell takes a more sledgehammer approach. However, because it is so tailor fit to the human body it is poisonous to anything else,”

“Poisonous! Archmage, tell me, what would have happened if Twilight had taken your offer and returned to her pony self?”

The Archmage was quiet for a long moment, his dead eyes giving nothing away. “There is not a doubt in my mind that Twilight Sparkle would have died then and there. If I knew what I do now, I wouldn’t let her near that spell with even a drop of that stuff still in her system. Forgive me, but I take full responsibility for this. We have nothing like humans on record, so, like an impatient foal, I decided to use Twilight’s data as a baseline. I’ve gone back and check the blood test and the drug was in her system even then. My handling of this has been nothing but amateurish,”

Celestia placed a hoof on his shoulder. “No, Archmage, you did the best you could with what you had. No one will blame you for that. For now we need to turn our focus on helping Twilight recover. Have you learned anything in that regard?”

Hearing Colors nodded yet somehow looked more downtrodden. “Yes, Princess I have. The drugs addictive characteristics are the same as any street drugs you could find. From what I understand, the standard method for recovery would be to slowly wing her off the drug, however that isn’t an option. We are left with the only alternative—“

“Complete withdrawal,”

“Yes, exactly. Right now her body is going through withdraws and it will only get worse as time passes,”

Celestia’s mask gave nothing away, her voice not even a hint of worry. “How bad could this get?”

“I will be blunt with you, Princess, there is a very real chance that Twilight may die. The doctors can help ease some of the pain with medication, but ultimately only time will tell if she recovers. If she survives the next seventy two hours than she may have a chance,”

Celestia felt a numbness in her chest that she hadn’t felt for nearly three years. She remembered the joy when Twilight returned, but now she may lose her again. Her alicorn magic be damned for all the good it did her. “Thank you, Hearing Colors, that… that will be all,” The Archmage gave a bow and left Celestia alone with her thoughts.

***

Twilight drifted through a sea of nothingness; blurry images and washed out voices appeared all around her, but she had no understanding of them. A dull yet constant pain thrummed through her body, and time was even more of a haze than anything else. Hours or days she couldn’t tell how long had passed, because all she could focus on was the pain that thrummed in time with her heart.

She wanted to reach out and rip this pain from her body but her arms wouldn’t move. She could only drift—lost.

In the darkness of the sea, a window opened, and Twilight could see Celestia looking down on her. “Stay strong. I know you will pull through this,” Celestia’s voice was muddled, barely recognizable.

‘What?’ Twilight tried to speak, but her voice never left her mind. ‘Stay strong for what? Where are you?’ the window closed and Twilight returned to drifting.

Why did she bother returning? Twilight’s mind asked of her. She had only made a nuisance of herself, a burden; perhaps it would have been better if she had just stayed in the human world. Everyone finished their grieving and was moving on with their lives, but she had to return and dig it all back up, all the pain and hardships, and for what. Was destroying the lives of everyone around her all she was good for?

‘I don’t know,’ was all Twilight could say.

Other windows began to open up—six of them—each one showed one of her friends. Rainbow talked about her flying routine for an upcoming show she had. Applejack spoke about the farm and of the troubles they’ve had, but said that they were going to get by just like they always did. Pinkie Pie spent her time tying balloons everywhere. Rarity brought a blanket she had made for Twilight, and set it on the edge of a railing. Fluttershy said nothing, just silently sat in a chair and watched.

Her friends were trying to be supportive for her, each in their own way. But would they still be so supportive if they knew what kind of person Twilight really was? Would Davis?

Why was she thinking of Davis now? He wasn’t even there at the end. Nor was Commander Cotreau

‘Commander Cotreau’ the moment Twilight remembered that name a new pain emerged in her chest. ‘That’s right, he was so close to the end and didn’t even know it,’

***

Nine years, seven months after arrival

It was meant to be the decisive move in the war. After years of skirmishes on the border, raids, and failed invasions on both sides Osana was going on an all-out offensive to end the war once and for all. Twilight stared up at the sky as plasma mortars hammered into the shielding around the forward base camp. It was going to end the war, but no one said it was going to end it for their side.

With an army of one hundred twenty thousand strong, the Osanan forces pushed into the occupied territory and quickly forced the enemy to rout. That should have been the first clue that something was wrong. The Commonwealth held onto the occupied zone as fiercely as those that held The Line. The army marched into the border region of the Commonwealth with little resistance.

That regen was at one time the largest producer of food for the otherwise mountainous nation, but after La Sierra was destroyed Osana retaliated by bombing that regen into barren waste. For the Osana Empire the aim of the war had always been to starve the Commonwealth out, rather than clash with their army, if possible. But as the war neared its twelfth year the people were growing sick of it, and all hails for negotiation with the Ryssdal leaders had as of yet been unanswered, so a new plan was needed.

It was on the fifth day that everything seemed to go wrong. The army was thirty miles from the border when they came to the first major city. The general ordered it taken. Twilight’s squad remained with the rear guard, but it didn’t matter much as there were few in the way of defenders within the city. The general was going to use the city as a command center while they pushed deeper into the nation. And that’s when the ambush was struck. Two rat armies had circled around the Osanan army in the days it took to both get to and take the city, while another army attacked them head on. From reports Twilight learned that, while the three army were roughly equal in man power to their own, they were heavily centered around their artillery. The bombardment started almost as soon as the trap was sprung.

It took them too long to get all of the shield generators online and hundreds died. Hundreds more were saved when Twilight filled in the holes of the growing web of shields. But that was two days ago. The shield generators were running hot, and no one knew when they were going to give out. Morale was in the dirt. The infantry and berserker legion were doing their best to keep the city from being overrun, but this was a numbers game and they had more of it: more bullets, more artillery, and more men.

Twilight was blocking a hole with her own shield while an engineer tried to get the down generator back online. The mortar shots where sporadic but the occasional few found its mark and impacted on her shield, causing her to wince at the force. “How much longer?” she asked the engineer.

The engineer wiped the sweat from his brow. “This thing is melted to high hell. I’m not sure I can fix it,”

“Damnit, then let’s get everyone out of this section of the city. Move fast, I can’t hold this forever,”

“Understood,” the engineer called out to the people all around them to fall back. Entrenched positions had to be abandoned, tanks needed to be move, and a lot of supplies relocated. It was time consuming work, more so for Twilight who tracked the time by each successful hit on her shield.

When the all clear was given Twilight released her shield and made a run for it. Plasma mortars had been sporadic and fired without a clear aim, but a hole in the shield grid was like a glowing beacon to them. Twilight wrapped herself in a shield as she ran just as several mortar shots passed through the hole and blanketed the area in blue fire. The fire lashed out at her like an arm trying to pull her back; her shield flickered but held.

She jumped over rubble and into the next section of the city. She took a seat on the ground and hid herself behind the rubble to catch her breath, but as another soldier approached her she knew she wouldn’t be getting much of that. The soldier took a knee in front of her and shared in the cover. “Lance Corporal Sparkle, is your com broken?”

“My com?” Twilight asked. She tested her radio but got only static. “It seems to be offline. What’s going on?”

“You’ve been ordered to the command center. General Jeroen wishes to speak with you,”

“Never a boring day,” Twilight muttered.

The command center was located at the former city hall. Twilight rode a passing transport part of the way and ran the rest. When she passed through the blown out double doors of city hall, she was directed to the mayor’s office. The first thing Twilight noticed when she entered the rather spacious room was the rest of her squad mates sitting in chairs in the corner. They were supposed to be fighting along the perimeter, and the only reason Twilight wasn’t with them was that her powers were of more useful maintaining the shield grid. General Jeroen stood next to a table with a map of the ongoing battle. He was as leather face as she remembered him in her one meeting with him years ago. Standing next to him was Cotreau. He was speaking with someone who looked like a communication officer, but turned his attention to Twilight when she entered the room.

“Good of you to finally join us,” said General Jeroen. “Here I thought you were trying to win the war on your own,”

Twilight gave a quick salute as she answered, “Just doing my part, sir,”

“Yes, I saw the explosion from here. It seems we lost another generator then,”

“If we only had a way to vent off the excess heat, but these generators were never designed to run endlessly like this,”

General Jeroen rubbed his forehead, his fingers tracing his receding hairline. “Unfortunately, that’s the least of our problems,” he looked to Commander Cotreau and gave a nod.

“Twilight, we just received word that The Line has fallen,” spoke Cotreau.

Twilight’s eyes snapped open from shock. Fallen. She couldn’t believe that. She had spent the last four years on The Line, and had fought with them to fend off overwhelming attacks. To think they would have fallen when Osana was making their counter attack of all times. Twilight looked back at her squad mates who stared at the ground with deadpan looks.

“How did this happen?” she asked.

“We’re still not sure on that. Best we can tell is that we overextended ourselves, or the rats have been preparing this for some time now, likely both if you ask me. Right now none of that matters. Our orders are to send you back to the capital, Skyler, Nadia, and Teagan will be escorting you there,”

“Commander!” Twilight shouted, caring little for protocol at the moment. “What the hell is this? Why the hell am I getting this special treatment bullshit?! And escort, are you serious?”

Cotreau’s hand hit the table. “You know very well why, Lance Corporal. This is not up for negotiation. A helicopter is standing by to take you and the rest of you back. The rest of us still have a battle to win here,”

“With all due respect, I can’t obey that order. With my skills I should be helping to win this battle, and not be off hiding in the capital,”

Cotreau and the General shared a look, as if they were expecting such a reaction. “Is that your final decision, Twilight?” Twilight was quick to confirm. Cotreau looked over Twilight shoulder and nodded. A moment later Twilight felt a sharp stinging in her neck.

Reaching out with a hand, Twilight felt the short shaft of a dart. She pulled it out just as her eyes began to fight her to stay open. “Comm… ander…” was all Twilight could say before she collapsed.

Skyler and Teagan both took one of Twilight’s arms around their necks and lifted her sleeping form up. “Sorry, Twilight,” said Cotreau. “But H.Q. says we can’t risk you being captured by the enemy, and I can’t bring myself to kill you. Take care of her you three.”

“We will,” said Skyler. “Fight well, Commander”

Cotreau gave a smirk. “Oh don’t you worry about that. We’ll show these rats how a real fight looks,”

Nadia took her place next to the two men, and together they saluted. “It’s been an honor to work with you, Commander,”

Cotreau returned the salute. “You three are dismissed,”

Dragging Twilight with them, the three of them left for the helicopter.

General Jeroen addressed Cotreau when they had left. “You know, now that Twilight is gone the shield grid will start popping like bubbles,”

Cotreau gave a chuckle. “Who needs shields anyway; they were making the men soft,”

“Well no more sitting on are asses then. How long do you think we can keep these armies busy here?”

Cotreau rubbed his chin in thought. “A week, maybe two if we’re lucky,”

“If we want to last that long we can’t do it while trying to turtle up here,” said the General. On the map below him was a picture of the city and the positions of each attacking army. He touched the army to the right of the city and called out, “Contact the Berserker Legion, and tell them I want those guns!”

It was a week before news of the battle reached the capital. General Jeroen and his forces managed to break through the line set by the Commonwealth’s 3th army and take control of their artillery guns, inflicting severe casualties on the enemies’ 1th army. However, as of receiving the news no one from the 2nd Osanan army is known to have survived.

***

‘I wasn’t allowed to die there,’ Twilight remembered. ‘Never me, never the special one,’ there always seemed to be someone to decide her destiny for her. If it was not Celestia, it was Osana choosing how she would fight.

Shapes and colors were slowly becoming a part of the world Twilight found herself in, but still too blurry for her to make out much. Two more windows opened and two more ponies stood over her, her parents.

Her father took his time and read a newspaper. She could remember when she was younger how she would sit at her father’s side and listen to him read the morning paper. It was always one of her fondest memories of him. When he was done he kissed her on the forehead.

Her mother held a book up for her to see, it read: The Lost little Star. “This is the first book I wrote after you disappeared. I wrote it for you, Sweetie, so I thought it was time you hear it,” she took a seat in an adjacent chair and began to read. Twilight couldn’t follow the story, but the melody of the words helped to keep her mind off the pain in her body. Like a beautiful song, Twilight followed the melody until her mind drifted into darkness.

Did she sleep? She wasn’t sure. Time was still so hazy to keep track of. The only thing she knew for sure, in this ocean of blurry shapes and strange noises, was the pain. It screamed in her veins and stole her breath, but she could do little but bear it.

Another window opened, and this time it was Spike. He sat in the chair and fiddled with his claws. He looked to Twilight a few times but kept his eyes on his hand while he talked, “We never got to finish that talk we had the other week, did we? Do you remember? You asked why I never moved on after everypony thought you were dead. I’ve wanted to finish that talk for a while, but I never knew how to bring it up again. The truth is that… I was one of the first to think you had died. I was there when all that came out of the mirror was your burnt crown. I held the crown in my hands… I-I felt the heat from it. How could I think you were alive after that, but it wasn’t long until other ponies began to hope you were alive.

“I was… ashamed at myself. I was one of the closes people to you, but I was the first to give you up for dead. I changed my way of thinking after that and preserved your room just how you left it. But deep down I still thought you were dead. When you returned for real, when I saw you stumbling through the castle and I realized it was you, and how wrong I had been, I was overcome by my shame. All I could do was stand there and cry like a hatchling. I was the last to say you were still alive, but the first to give you up for dead,” tears marked the drakes face, but he was quick to wipe them away. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m sorry I gave up on you,”

‘Oh Spike,’ darkness bled into Twilight’s world. She could feel herself losing consciousness. “My foolish little assistant,’ and Twilight succumbed to the darkness once more.

***

Luna entered Twilight’s private room. It was nearing midnight but there was still a nurse in the room monitoring Twilight. By the white coat and red mane held in a bun, Luna could only assume this was Red Heart she had been informed about. “How is she doing?” Luna asked.

Red Heart made a few more notes on a clipboard more before turning to address the princess. Luna didn’t mind, she was more than willing to wait a moment longer so a pony could see that their job was done correctly. “After four days, she seems to be through the worst of it. But she still hasn’t regained consciousness,”

Luna nodded. “If you are finish with your work, leave me with her. I wish to speak to her in private,”

“Of course, Princess,” with clipboard in hoof, Red Heart left the room.

Luna locked the door behind her before stepping over to Twilight’s bed. Looking down on the sleeping human she spoke with a solemn expression, “Now let us see what you are hiding in your dreams,”

Chapter 14: A Story to Tell

Twilight sat in a heavily cushioned chair. The fireplace in front of her was the only source of light in the dimly lit room. With focused eyes, she flipped through a book of blank pages, taking care to examine each page before turning to the next. When she reached the end of the book, Twilight closed the cover shut and tossed it into the awaiting fireplace. The shadows receded as the light from the fire grew with its new meal, and for a brief moment allowed the rest of the room to be seen. Bookshelves lined two of the walls in the red carpeted room, a couch stood against the wall to Twilight’s left next to the sole window, and a single door mark the entrance into the small room. However, it quickly faded from view once Twilight picked up the next book in the stack and began the process anew.

Twilight was only partially aware of the dark alicorn that stretched out on her couch, watching her from the shadows silently. She had gone through another two books before Luna spoke up, “Is there a purpose to that? Do those books represent something?

Twilight glanced at Luna through the corner of her eye before returning to examining the books. “Perhaps they do, perhaps they represent memories I wish to forget or have already forgotten,” Twilight slammed her book closed with one hand and gave Luna her full attention. “Is that what you want to hear, or do you need more while you psychoanalyze me? I believe I declined your request to enter my sleep,”

“No, you decline my request to forcibly enter your sleep, and I did not,” Luna clarified. “I may have been too hasty in my petitioning of you. I had forgotten how sensitive ponies have become about their privacy in these times, but in the two week since then I have been studying your mind. I now have a firm understanding of it, and can now enter your dreamscape normally, your privacy intact,”

“Small miracles,”

Luna ignored the comment and let her eyes venture away from Twilight and take in the room. “Where are we? Does this room hold any meaning for you?”

Twilight opened her book once more and returned to her task. “This is the apartment I had when I lived in Eastelf for six months as a… let’s call it a research assistant, shell we,”

Luna rose from the couch and in two steps stood in front of the window. A night sky shined down on a city of steel and concrete. It reminded Luna much of Manehattan. She could remember how she marveled when she first laid eyes on the city and how it managed to fuse both the modern world and nature into one without sacrificing the other. But this city, there was no nature to be seen, just the cold hard efficiency of progress. It was not something ponies would build, familiar yet so alien.

“I suppose it’s my turn for a question,” said Twilight. “I get the feeling you are here for more then to uncover my secrets. So why are you here?

From the reflection in the window Luna could see Twilight perfectly, her head angled down and her arm tossing yet another book into the fire. “Before I can answer that I must ask you a question first: What is the last thing you remember?”

Once more Twilight stopped her task. She thought back but the haziness of the dreamscape made it difficult. “I wasn’t feeling well so I spent most of the day in bed, drifting in and out of sleep. I guess I finally fell asleep,”

“So that is all you remember?”

“Is there more I should be remembering? Did something happen?”

Luna took a breath and turned away from the window. With a stoic expression she told Twilight of how she pointed a weapon at her friends and the resulting hospital stay. Twilight’s mouth hung open. Her book fell to the ground forgotten as she sprang to her feet. “You’re lying!”

“Lying am I now? Than pray tell what is this?” Luna waved a hoof over the window and the view twisted and changed from a cityscape to the memory of Twilight on the night she pulled a gun on her friends. Twilight watched the memory play out from start to finish in disbelieving silence.

“How did you…”

“You are forgetting, Twilight, that this is the dreamscape, were the mind rules over the physical,”

Twilight began to pace back and forth, her hand on her forehead. “Ok let me try and remember, I was trying to stretch out my medicine. If I only needed to take it once a week I could get through the year,”

Luna carefully watched Twilight with her eyes. “Yes, the medicine. Why did you need it?”

“That’s not important,”

Luna looked back to the window. The image was frozen on an injured Rainbow Dash after she took a fall out of the castle. “You told your friends you were fine, endlessly. Never letting them help you, and this is where it led. How much longer will you continue to lie, continue to carry a burden that you can no longer bare?”

For a long moment Twilight stared at the image of Rainbow. Tears weld in her eyes before she looked to Luna once more. “They still see me as the same pony that disappeared all those years ago, but if they knew… I don’t what them to look at me differently,”

“You don’t see yourself the same anymore, do you?”

Twilight shook her head. “I haven’t been that pony in a very long time,”

Luna stretched out a hoof for Twilight. “Then show me what has changed you into the person you are, show me why you must drown yourself in a drug in order to function, and if it is as bad as you say than your friend need never know of it, but you must share because this burden is killing you,”

Slowly, hesitantly, Twilight took the out stretched hoof and stepped to the window. “You don’t need to see everything,” she whispered. “But I will show you how it all came to an end,” Twilight placed a hand on the window, and like water, it rippled at the touch and the view changed.

***

Two weeks before return

From atop the inner walls of Eastelf Twilight watch the scenery of roof tops, alleyways, and roads that stretched all the way to the outer walls. Twilight’s legs dangled over the edge of a twenty meter drop as her mind recalled trivia of what she saw. Like how Eastelf started out as a fort with a single wall before becoming a trading past, and eventually the capital of a nation that spans half a continent. The outer walls, in the centuries since it’s construction, had never been breach, but that was back when the greatest singe weapon was the trebuchet. Still, over the centuries the outer walls had been reinforced, rebuilt, and expanded countless times. It wouldn’t stop the Commonwealth army that even now marched on the capital, not by its self, but it would slow them. And that would have to be enough.

Twilight could barely see the blurred distance beyond the outer wall, yet it wasn’t hard for her to imagine what it would look like when the only thing out there was enemy soldiers. “Nice view,” Twilight didn’t need to look to know it was Nadia who stood behind her. “Shame you have to watch it sober,”

“I’m still on duty, technically,” Twilight informed. “And the view here is better than in the barracks, not to mention the mood,”

Nadia stepped over and took a seat next to Twilight. “The mood? I can’t imagen why that would be bad considering we’ve lost more territory in the last few months then in the entirety of the war, the rats suddenly changed their MO from killing everyone they can find to bulldozing everything between them and the capital, and the third army may as well be pissing in the wind for all the good they are doing at slowing them down, and we will likely all be dead by the end of the month,”

“You certainly have a way of putting it into perspective,”

Nadia gave Twilight a playful nudge on the shoulder. “So tell me, why the scenic viewing? Or do you have a thing for contemplating your deep dark secrets from atop high places?”

Twilight gave her an eye roll. “The rats will be here in, what, a weeks’ time?” Nadia nodded. Twilight pointed down below to the buildings. “Do you see that building with the red roof? That’s a bread store that’s been there for one hundred and twenty years. It’s had over a dozen owners but it’s always been a bread store. The building next to it sells fresh produce. The owner always gives me a free apple and never lets me pay for it, he would say ‘if he can’t fight he can at least feed those who can.’ And he always checked out my ass when I wasn’t looking, creepy old man,”

“Twilight, I’m not following you here?”

“How much do you think will survive, the buildings, the people? Will Eastelf be just another Huron?”

“Damn, Twilight, that’s like… everything I tried to avoid thinking about. I don’t know, and honestly I don’t want to know. But I can tell you that this will not be another Huron, because we’re here and we will stop them. The buildings on the other hand… we can always rebuild those,”

“Yes, I suppose we can,” Twilight said, half-heartedly.

Nadia rose up from her spot. “Come on,” With a hand, she grabbed ahold of Twilight’s arm and helped her to her feet. “We are way too sober for this conversation. Let’s go drinking,”

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she said, “You know we are still on duty, right?”

Nadia gave a snort in reply. “Yeah, so. What are they going to do, kick us out?”

A grin spread on Twilight’s face. “You know what, drinking sounds great right now,”

Chapter 15: Battle for Eastelf, Part One

Seven days until return

Field Marshal Konrad was the leader of the 38th Commonwealth Combined Army. He sat in his office aboard a commandeered balrog, that he used as his mobile command center. The balrogs were a fascinating piece of engineering that Konrad had to respect. The Commonwealth didn’t use such machine of war. They were too slow and bulky, and unfit for his rocky homeland. His people’s military doctrine was one of speed and flexibility, and even Osana only used them as transports. But when Konrad had first laid eyes on a balrog, he couldn’t help but to compare them to war elephants of old, and like war elephants, his balrog would send the accursed Osanens running.

From the window in the room, Konrad could see the Eastelf only a few miles away, and the high concrete walls that surrounded it. The wall itself was practical but imperfect. It stretched along with the city for miles in a zig-zag that showed the cities expansion throughout the ages with its sudden sharp turns and dead stops. Perhaps at one point in time this city was a true fortress, but that was a long time ago. Now that wall would be more of a hindrance to Osana then they believed.

Eastelf could be divided up into four sections, the inner city, hidden behind its own wall; the Industrial District, the Commerce District, and the Waterfront District that blocked access to the Inner city. Konrad had divided his forces in three and would attack all the outlines districts at once. The primary targets were the Industrial District, to cut off Osanen supply of new weapons, and the inner city, to capture the emperor and force him to surrender and finally put an end to this war.

Konrad glanced to a folder sitting at the edge of his desk. It was a dossier on key personal to be kill or captured: Generals and high ranking military officers, the Royal family and other politicians, but what stood out the most to him was the page on a seemingly ordinary soldier, a one Lance Corporal Twilight Sparkle. Family: unknown. Place of birth: unknown. Anything before the start of the war: unknown. It was as if this woman just fell out of the sky one day. That alone wouldn’t be enough to draw so many eyes to her, Konrad knew, but he had seen the footage of what she could do. Everyone in the Commonwealth knew of Osana’s failed attempts to make super soldiers, but it would seem that it wasn’t a complete failure after all.

As impressive as she was, in the end she was only just one soldier.

Konrad’s internal clock told him it was time to get moving. He rose and stepped out into the hallway. A large hulking juggernaut standing ten heads tall guarded the hallway, and fell in line with large, yet graceful, steps. Modeled after the silver knights of old, juggernauts were the ultimate soldiers in ground warfare, and more than a match for the Osanen berserks. Konrad’s escort took up most of the hallway but had little trouble traversing the stairs to the roof. As the cap of Konrad’s hat broke into the air he heard the voice of his men greeting him, “Field Marshal!”

Konrad returned the salute and waved the few officers present to return their duties. He stepped closer to the front and to the man waiting expectantly. “Brigadier, how goes the preparations?” Asked Konrad.

Konrad looked out at his surrounding army: a full legion of five thousand juggernauts stood in formation, supported by another forty thousand troops, tanks, wolverine, and artillery. “Preparations are complete. The air assault will begin momentarily,” said the Brigadier.

From the distance above the city’s horizon, dots could be seen, dozens upon dozens of them. All of them growing larger and all of them heading for Konrad’s encampment. “Just in time, it would seem. The Osanens have sent out a welcome party,” looking behind his line he spotted his own aircraft coming to join the fray by the hundreds. Since the beginning of this war the Commonwealth had maintained the advantaged in military technology, and their aircraft were no different. By night fall, the air would be theirs. “Send word,” Konrad spoke to his Brigadier, “Begin the attack!”

***

Twilight fired her weapon over the thirty meter wall that she and her platoon were stationed on. After Cotreau had died, H.Q. decided to use her squad to bolster the ranks of a more depleted platoon. Twilight was simply glad that in the end they were kept together. The platoon was assigned to the Waterfront District and was tasked with keeping the rats from breaching the Waterfront Gates. Though the gates were made of reinforced steel and barricaded from the other side, Twilight knew that enough firepower would turn it into a heap of scrap metal. Aside from her platoon, others were stationed atop the wall with them, spaced out every few hundred meters. While other still were stationed within the honeycomb-like walls itself, firing their weapons from gun ports in the walls.

Below them dozens of the fast moving wolverine were charging. Unlike others she had seen, these were not equipped with machine guns but plasma cannons. She had expected them to fire at the gate, but as an explosion reached her ears from the far east of the wall, she heard Skyler exclaim, “There targeting the turrets!”

The heavy weapon platforms were stationed along the wall much like the platoons, and they were the only thing keeping the rats from bringing up their heavy armor. Once that happened the gate wouldn’t last for very long. Teagan rose up next to Twilight, a triple barrel rocket launcher on his shoulder. “Target locked!” He cried. “Clear!” With a pull of the trigger three rockets fired out, each one staggered a few seconds after the last. The first missed the wolverine by a large margin, but the staggered launch of the other rockets allowed them to redirect their flight path. The second one impacted the ground mere feet from its target, forcing the wolverine to swerve away, right into the path of the last rocket. The wolverine soared into the air as it was consumed by fire.

Near the edge of her platoons kill zone, and well outside of her firing range, was an over turned troop transport. It had been taken out during one of the first assaults the rats launched, and normally Twilight wouldn’t pay it any mind, not with other threats about, but the glare of the light drew Twilight’s eye and her curiosity. She looked through her scope at the wreck to see the edge of a head peeking over. As if sensing her platoon’s ire was drawn elsewhere, a dozen soldiers burst from around the wreck and charged for the wall.

“They’re advancing on the left!” Twilight called.

The platoon Sargent turned around and looked past Twilight. “Because we don’t have enough to deal with as it is,” He pointed to Twilight and Skyler as he called out, “You two get over there and reinforce our flank!”

Skyler rose from his spot and began to sprint off with Twilight close on his heels. The infantry was in a dead run for one of the blind zones on the wall, where anything short of a ground team wouldn’t hit them. The foundation shook with the constant sounds of battle. Twilight glanced a look into the battle as she ran. Tanks burned in the field, from both their side and hers, and the evidence of the failed assault, just hours prior, could be seen everywhere. It was too early to know if the lifes sacrificed there ultimately helped the war effort, or if it was just a wrong call, an order misinterpreted, an attack too haphazard.

The sounds of a heavy turret firing grew louder the closer to their targets there drew. A gunner team was aiming the dual barrel gun in the air and strafing the enemy aircraft, as the constant dogfighting played out over their heads. A rat fighter broke off from the melee and aim the bow of its craft for the turret. The gun team was quick on prioritizing the new targets and unleashed a hell of bullets. Round after round bounced off the fighter’s shield, and shimmered in the air with each impact. Until at last the shield popped like a bubble and reduced the fighter into little more than a flying hunk of metal. But it was a hunk of metal careening straight for them.

“Double Time!” Skyler yelled.

Twilight clung tightly to her rifle as she pulled every ounce of speed from her exo armor as it would give her. She barely noticed when one of the gunners jumped ship and raced along with them, leaving his copilot to his fate. The fighter impacted a moment later, taking the turret and a sizeable chunk of the wall with it. The shockwave that followed knocked the group off their feet. The fighter bounced off from were it hit, but instead of falling to the city below it impacted a shimmering blue shield of thousands upon thousands of small hexagons interlocked together. The shield covered the top of the city like an umbrella, though it didn’t drop passed the walls. The Zechiel Shield Grid was the most powerful shielding system to date, and from what Rolland had told Twilight, she was the inspiration behind it’s design.

As Twilight picked herself up she couldn’t help but feel in awe at the sight of a fire burning in midair.

“That was a close one,” said the surviving gunner. Instead of the exo armor she was so used to seeing, the man wore a bulky suit that wrapped him like a turtle’s shell, but by the way the man had sprinted with them, it didn’t seem to impair his movement. The aptly named ‘turtle armor,’ was a cheap and effective piece of equipment for the soldiers who didn’t need the more advanced equipment that came with the exo armor, but from what Twilight had seen it was mostly only used by conscript soldiers.

Not forgetting their purpose for coming there, Twilight turned on the man. “Your name?”

“Umm, just call me Red,” he answered too slowly for Twilight’s liking.

Skyler was already moving ahead to the edge of the wall. “You’re with us now,” Twilight said as she followed along. Red had nothing but a sidearm on him so Twilight past him her rifle. “Take point with Skyler. I’ll support,” Red didn’t argue and took the gun.

With a bare eye, Twilight could see the rats sprinting across the field. The two that led the charge were each holding what resembled tower shields with its flat surface shimmering with a blue light. Sentinels, they had first appeared a few years ago but had grown rather popular among the rats, and they were a pain to deal with. Plasma shots fired from Twilight’s team hammered into the shield, but the blue energy just soaked it up. Returning fire came back almost immediately, but with their pace they were anything but accurate. Still with ten rats firing at them, Twilight had to put up her shield as the occasional shot found them.

“Dammit, we don’t have the firepower to get through their shield before they reach the blind zone. Twilight, do you have any more tricks up your sleeve?” asked Skyler.

With a calm expression, hidden behind her helmet, Twilight watched the charging group. Calculations were running through her mind, their trajectory, their speed, the amount of power she would need to do this. “Yes,” she answered only a moment later, “But I won’t be able to shield you,”

“I can live with that,”

Twilight nodded. She unzipped the medical bag on her hip and took out her supply of Anzion Her new platoon had its own dedicated medic, yet no one blinked at Twilight keeping her supply of drugs on hand. She loaded the injector gun and pushed the needle into the port on her arm. She already had the drug in her system, but for this she was going to need the edge it would give her.

Twilight took in a breath and let the drug run its course. She could almost feel the cold sensation running threw her veins, and for a brief moment she savored it. She raised one arm out stretched towards the rats, with her other hand grasping her wrist. In her minds eyes, she could see her target, feel his muscles pushing him harder, and heard the pounding of his heart. Twilight closed her open palm and trust her arm to the side.

Her target exploded as a shield rapidly expanded outward from the center of his chest. The shield was visible for only a few seconds before Twilight’s power was used up, but the blast was large enough to knock the other sentinel off his feet. The other rats behind them didn’t stop for a moment.

Twilight dropped to her knees, panting heavily. “Please tell me I don’t have to do that again?”

Twilight’s team didn’t waste a moment and poured plasma on the charging group. As each rat fell the others only seemed to run faster, harder. Using the wall to brace herself, Twilight got back to her feet. Just in time to see Red fly back with a gurgling cry, clutching at his throat. He struggled for a few moments but was silent before Twilight could even to move to him.

Skyler checked the fallen soldier, but with a shake of his head she knew she had been right, not that she felt good about that. Skyler stripped off ammo and other supplies, and Twilight retrieved her borrowed gun.

“What are we going to do about the rats that got past us?” Twilight asked.

Skyler peeked over the wall, his head barely moving past the pillar. “There’s nothing we can do from here. We’ll have to hope the battalion on the ground can deal with them, for now let’s get back, and hope we don’t lose anymore turrets on the way,”

With the ruin of the path behind them they set off at a jog back to where the platoon had set up their firing line. The constant fire of plasma rounds heated up the air, even as the sun hammered down on top of them. Twilight’s exo armor, and that of her platoon, didn’t have cooling units like power armor did, making heat exhaustion just as big of a threat as being shot.

“Did you take care of our little rat problem?” Asked the Sargent just as Twilight and Skyler can into sight.

“Yes sir,” said Skyler as he took a place next to the Sargent. “But one of turrets and the gun team was lost,”

The Sargent stopped firing his weapon over the wall and looked at the man from a crouched position. “Shit, if that turrets down that means we have a big ass hole in the defense grid. We won’t be able to hold off their armor with just a few rockets,” even as the two talked Twilight took her position with the others, and added her own weapon to the downpour of fire on the advancing troops.

“Sargent, we need to get some portable artillery cannons up here, if we want to have any hope of stopping their armor.”

“Son, you know what I would like right now,” Sargent began, leaving no hint wither he was being serous or jovial. “For my momma to hug me and tell me everything’s going to be alright. But Son, my momma’s dead. We don’t have any more APCs!”

“Umm, Sargent,” Nadia spoke up next to Twilight, as she looked through her scope at the battlefield.

“And even if we did have some...”

“Sargent!”

“What!” The Sargent snapped and turned to her.

Nadia wasn’t fazed by the outburst and continued like normal as she replied. “Why the hell are the rats bringing up a balrog?”

Everyone within ear shot turned their gaze to the lumbering balrog. The enemy line was dividing down the center, making a path for the balrog. Twilight had seen those machine countless times before, yet she had never seen one quite like that. Running the length of the balrog was a cannon. The tip was slowly spinning to life and even as Twilight watch she could see red energy gathering at the mouth. A knot formed in her stomach when she realized the cannon was pointed right at them.

“Everyone move!” The Sargent called. And for the second time that day, Twilight was running for her life.

When the balrog fired it cut through the distance with a red lance of light that could have swallowed a tank whole. It hit the wall and cut through it like paper, piercing through to the other side and whatever poor fool that stands before it. The rampart collapsed down into the now vacant hole, as fast as everyone could run. Twilight glanced behind her to see the falling rampart gaining on them, and the unlucky soldier about to be caught in its path. He was hefting a heavy weapon on his shoulder as he ran that looked heavy even with exo armor.

Twilight shouted back to the man even as she turned on her heals, “Drop the gun you idiot!” Twilight’s shields had little in the way of utility, but when you are used to being able to cast dozens of spells at a whim, being reduced to a single one can make you rather creative, if only by necessity. She placed a shield directly behind the man, with a flash explosion the shield popped with a snap. The resulting air pressure sent the man flying forward, out of harm’s way.

The same could not be said for Twilight.

She tried to turned and propel herself toward the others, but the rampart was already giving out. As others called out her name, Twilight lost her footing and descended down into the dark.

It was only the quick thought of wrapping herself in a shield that saved Twilight’s life, still the impact had knocked her out. It had been an hour, maybe less, by Twilight’s calculation. She was lying in a heap of broken rubble and stones, the light from above shinning down on her. She set up and gave her armor a quick once over, nothing looked broken, but she sure felt like it. She got to her feet and looked around the room she was in. It was an old maintenance tunnel used to make repairs on the wall, and by the looks of it she hadn’t fallen that far, maybe a few stories, certainly she wasn’t on the ground floor. After a few moment of searching she found her rifle, or what was left of it, buried in the rubble, useless.

She still had her sidearm, but felt naked without a rifle on her. She tried the radio, but unsurprisingly it didn’t work. It was always difficult it get a signal through thick walls, and as fall down as she was the only way to get a message out was through a hardline. Unholstering her pistol, she began a slow job.

Red swirling lights past by her every few feet, and time seemed to blend together as she ran. She wasn’t sure how long it had been when she reached the first access door, and the sound of fighting. Peeking through, the floor for the that part of the tunnel had fallen in, giving Twilight a perfect view of the firefight below. A squad of five was exchanging fire with a group of over twenty rat infantry and two juggernaut. The only reason the squad was still alive was due to a shield generator that was barely holding together, as every round on the shield gave the impression that it could fail at any moment.

“Chaos grenade out!” one of the soldiers called. The grenade flew through the air, it’s sides broke off and ready to unleash it’s deadly cargo. The rats fell back behind cover just as five sentinels moved to the front of the line. They angled their tower shields upward just as the hell of balls began. The chaos grenade hammered down on rats and comrades alike, showing no favoritism in its wrath. One sentinel fell as the energy failed on its shield and he was cut to ribbons, but when the dust settled few rats had been hurt for so few lost. Twilight could almost admire them, the way they so selflessly stepped forward into harm’s way, if not for the fact they were doing that in order to kill her comrades.

Twilight tried to think if there was anything she could do to help them. She only had a pistol and a few drugs on her, and even at the best of times she never carried that much gear on her. It was her job to shield her team, Teagan was always the pack mule of the squad. She considered trying to support them with a shield, but after summoning one, the size of a soap bubble, she could tell by the shaking of her arm that it was out of the question. There was nothing she could do, she realized with a sickening feeling. If she tried to help she would only end up sharing their fate.

“Stand aside!” A loud, deep voice, lased with a strange robotic undertone, called from the back of the rat line. A line formed and the path cleared for a new juggernaut. Unlike the two juggernaut already in formation, this one didn’t wield their standard gatling gun. Dread for the soldiers below filled Twilight as she realized what that weapon was: a flamethrower. The soldiers directed their fire at the new enemy, but his shields practically laughed off their attacks. They would never be able to drop the shields before the juggernaut unleashed it’s weapon.

As if to prove her point, the juggernaut lowered the nozzle of his flamethrower and fired. Hellfire blanketed the room, forcing Twilight to pull back from the heat. The battled energy shield protecting the soldiers lasted all of ten seconds before it gave way.

Twilight turned away and quicken her pace down the tunnel, there was nothing she could do there.

As she walked bits of radio chatter broke through the static, leaving her with little more than garble messages, “General… fallback to… lost… … … Berserk in route,” if even that much of the signal was getting through than she couldn’t be that far from the surface. It was nearly another twenty meters of wondering the winding tunnels before Twilight came across a set of stairs leading up, and she could see cracks of light from the top. Twilight took the stairs two at a time with a feeling of relief for finally getting back into the sunlight.

That feeling died the moment Twilight opened the door and set eyes on three rats passing by. They stopped in their march down the street at the loud grown of a rusted door, and as one turned to face Twilight, rifles raised. Time seemed to slow as her mind went into overdrive. She had only a pistol with 9mm rounds, even if she had pinpoint aim and fired at their heads, their helmets could withstand one to two shots at pointblank range. And there were three of them. She was still too tired, so her shields were useless. There was no room to run.

The radio buzzed in her ear, “This is Guardian Angel, I’ve got eyes on the Wicked Witch. Engaging hostiles,” even through the static of the radio Twilight could never mistake Nadia’s voice.

Three loud pops echoed through the air in rapid succession, and the rats fell to the ground like their strings had been cut. Twilight looked out to one of a dozen tall building in the distance and for the life of her she couldn’t see where Nadia was. She waved her arm over her head as she spoke over the radio, “Thanks for the assist,”

“Anytime. In case you didn’t hear the orders during your dirt nap, our section has been ordered back to the secondary line. The rats control this wall now and are pushing in hard, so don’t waste time. Get your ass in gear and get over here,”

Despite all that had happened that day, Twilight couldn’t keep the smirk off her lips. “Understood. Moving out now,”

It had only been one day, but this battle was far from over.

Chapter 16: Battle for Eastelf, Part Two

Five days until return

Light from a broken window awoke Twilight from her slumber. Her eyes flicked open from a measly five hours of rest; apart of her wanted more sleep, to turn over on her bedroll and go back to sleep, but the fighting was still ongoing and every hour sleeping was one she wasn’t helping. Still after nearly two days on her feet she had taken the first lull in the battle to rest.

Twilight rose and quietly stepped past the other sleeping soldiers in the cramped and dingy room. What was once a rather luxurious home was now their acting barracks. She stepped out of the room and followed the hallway down until she came to a large open room with a staircase, leading to the second floor. There she found a group sitting around a cooking station with a boiling pot on top. Twilight could smell the strange mix of spices as she grew closer, and her stomach growled for something other than nutrient bars. They had those bars in abundance, but Twilight had discovered first hand that you could only eat artificial flavored strawberries for so long before your body all but demanded something with more substance.

Teagan gave a nod from the group has Twilight approached. He took one of the bow and filled it with the soup before offering it to her, as she took a seat next to him. Soup in hand, Twilight had to pace herself not to burn her tongue. “Don’t worry,” Teagan spoke up, “There’s no meat in it. I guess the owner of this place wasn’t too worried about their food spoiling when they evacuated to the Inner City. Plenty of can food though,”

“Small miracles. Any news while I was down?” After the Waterfront wall had fallen and the line reformed, reinforcements from the adjacent districts helped stem the tide of Rats. But in doing so it put the other districts dangerously undermanned, so Twilight and her platoon, along with the company they were attached to, were assigned with guarding the entrance to the Industrial District. If the enemy hit them from behind while they tried to fend off attacks from the front the wall would fall, and the already precarious situation would become even more dire.

“A few scouts this morning. Command estimates they will attack sometime before midday, so eat while you can,”

“Hey Teagan,” one of the nearby soldiers asked, “I hear you worked with our new guest before, what are they like?”

Twilight gave an inquisitive raise of her eyebrow as she asked, “What guest?”

“Oh, I forgot to mention them,” said Teagan. “We got reinforced by a squad a berserkers last night. And to answer your question, they are not call berserkers for no reason. That said, so long as you give them space you have nothing to worry about,”

Considering how stretched thin the legion was, Twilight was surprised they had been dispatched here, but that just spoke of how important this location was to hold. “When did you work with berserkers? Unless you are referring to those few times we fought along side them,”

Teagan shook his head at Twilight question. “It was before I joined Cotreau’s team, when I was a part of the berserker training program,”

Twilight nearly choked on her food. “You were a berserker?! How is this the first time I’m hearing about this?”

“Training program,” Teagan answered by drawling out the words. “I only went through the training. Me and a few thousand others were dropped from the program, due to not being compatible with the stims that berserkers take during battle. Beside, you’re not considered a berserker until you have the nerve interface installed,” Teagan finished by touching the back of his neck.

Another man entered the room from the sleeping area, and clicked on small box radio as he past. Though they all had radios in there helmets, there was something special about listening to one from a staticky old box. “Good morning boys and girls,” the radio spoke. “This is Guardians Angels, atop Angels Nest, giving you the morning report,” a few laugh at Nadia’s enthusiasm and Twilight listened as she finish off her meal. “Today’s weather is a cool ninety degrees with no wind in sight. In other news, last night the Zechiel Shield was moved to surround the Inner City, because it’s not like we could use a big ass shield or anything. I guess they’re hoping that the shield can stop the Rats from blasting through the wall, and speaking of bullshit. That Rat balrog has yet to advance. I don’t know if it’s because they blow their load on that first attack, but I for one hope everyone on board died of radiation poisoning,”

Finishing off the last of the food, Twilight set her bow to the side and rose to go gather her equipment. In an adjacent room set the same recon armor Twilight had worn since she joined the military. Though normal only given to scouts, Twilight had received the armor due to a lack of available battle armor, but it had grown on her. Twilight picked up the chest piece and ran a hand over a few of the dents and marks that had accumulated over years and more battles than she wanted to think about. But this was her armor and she wouldn’t have anything else.

***

The air was quiet but tense. Hidden in the abandon buildings that flanked a desolate road, nearly two hundred man and women waited for sightings of the enemy. Twilight stood with a team on the ground, behind concrete blocks and sandbags. From there Twilight had a clear new of the tower that watch over this little town, the one that Nadia now class Angle’s Nest.

It was those quiet moments, the one where the only song was the buzzing in your ear, right before a battle, that Twilight hated. But that was war in a nutshell, short intense fights, followed by endless waiting.

“We’ve got a sighting,” Nadia’s voice come over the radio. With slow deep breaths to ready herself, Twilight waited for details. “Two groups, one coming down the main road and another one flanking through the side alleys,”

Twilight checked the charges in her rifle and patted her waist were her extra ammo was, it had become an almost secondary habitat. Over the radio orders were being given out, many were being redeployed to counter the flanking soldiers, but Twilight already knew her orders: to help hold the main road. That is until a metal giant came to a stop behind her.

“You are Lance Corporal Sparkal, correct?” The robotic voice of a towering berserker asked. At ten feet tall the gray-steeled berserker was everything it’s designers had wanted. Not only were they some of best soldiers in the Empire, they were meant to be a living embodiment of fear. The eyes glowed a near constant red and the helmet was sunken into the torso, letting the shoulders come up around it.

“Yes, that would be me,”

“Is it true you are some kind of witch?” Twilight wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but seeing as the marks on his shoulder made him a colonel, the best thing she could do was play twenty questions with the behemoth. Twilight rose a hand up and summoned a shield into her palm to answer his question. “Good, the stories of you are not just the mad ravings of children. Lance Corporal Sparkle, I am Colonel Calvo and I am reassigning you to my squad.”

“Colonel Calvo, I’m not in your unit, nor under your command. Under whose authority are you reassigning me?” While it was true that officers from other units could request specific personnel, they normally were required to go through the commanding officer of said unit. Simply reassigning personnel like Calvo was doing was considered a big no no, but Twilight had the feeling he wasn’t concerned with protocol at the moment.

“Under my authority, Witch! As the commanding berserker I am free to requisition any personnel or supply that I deem necessary to complete my mission,” Colonel Calvo lowered himself to looked Twilight in the eyes. “The enemy is almost upon us, so you have two choices: obey your orders, or be shot for dereliction of duty,”

Given her options she had little choice in the matter, still she didn’t like how this Calvo was going about it. “Very well sir, allow me a moment to inform my commanding officer,”

“Good, I didn’t want to waste the bullet. You have five minutes,”

Teagan and Skyler stood several feet away, watching the exchange. Under the gaze of her new commanding officer, Twilight approached the men. “I guess I didn’t stay out of their way,” she said to Teagan, who nodded in reply.

“We’ll inform the others,” said Skyler. “the Sargent won’t be happy about this, but there’s not much he can do about it. Be careful out there,”

“So long as neither of you do anything stupid. We’ll drink once this is over,” with enough time wasted, she turned to follow after the berserker. Calvo moved into a run that few would think possible for the bulky armor, forcing Twilight to run to keep pace. “Colonel Calvo, why did you request me personally?”

The two of them ran down the main road until they came upon a repurposed store, hidden behind an apartment building. Inside was a mix of an armory and barracks for the berserkers. As they stepped in five more berserkers turned to face them. Calvo stepped forward and addressed his men and Twilight at once, “Liston well, we are going to be engaging the enemy flanking force. There is a high possibility that juggernauts will be among them. In the tight corridors of the alleyway we will be unable to use our heavy weapons against them,” He pointed to Twilight. “That is why the Witch will be providing support,”

The berserkers looked among themself before one spoke up, “Colonel, is it a good idea to rely on such an unknown weapon?”

“We have little room to be picky. We will use any weapon, any tool, if it means destroying the enemy. Gather your weapons we leave immediately,” With a cry of “Yes sir” the soldiers grabbed their rifles from supply crates.

It was in that moment that Calvo’s voice spoke through Twilight’s radio. “Twilight Sparkle, you have but one job on this battlefield: keep my men alive. Nothing else matters, not even your life,” Twilight didn’t respond, there was no need.

The berserkers marched down the alley two at a time, with only a few feet separating them from the wall. They moved at a quick pace, each seemed to know the movements of their brother enough that they never worried about bumping into each other. Twilight followed close behind at the rear, and was ready to deploy her shield at a moment’s notice. The sound of booms in the distance mark the start of battle with the main force, and the flanking force wouldn’t be far off. As they moved deeper in their squad linked up with another thirty infantryman, that was sent ahead of the berserkers, all of them wearing the snugly fit turtle armor and the chin strap helmets.

“Any sighting of them?” Calvo asked as they neared the infantry.

“Last sighting was about ten blocks away,” said the infantryman. “I recommend we set up an ambush—” His hopes for an ambush was dashed, when the rats launched their own. The brick wall he stood next to gave out under the firepower and turned the young man into a glorified sandbag before he hit the ground.

“Take cover!”

Twilight snapped her shield open and covered as much of the alley as she could, prioritizing the berserkers’ protection. Devastating boom landed a moment later and blast apart groups of unshielded men. Following the line of attack, Twilight could see the Rat infantry in a building across the street, flanking their right side. From the new hole in the wall, four juggernauts were exchanging fire with her side, supported by dozens of their own infantry. Unlike the berserkers, a few of the juggernauts still carried heavy weapons. She could see two of them trying to find an angle to fire their gatling guns.

The infantry were in disarray, those who had escaped the explosion were ducking down behind the fragmented wall and firing blind. Calvo grabbed one of the men and rose him to his feet. “Who is your commanding officer?

The man looked a bit dazed from having a metal giant yelling at him, but he pointed to the first infantryman to die. “That would be him,”

“Then congratulation, you are now promoted,” Calvo said, without a hint of hesitation. “Take your men and get them into the surrounding building and give us covering fire!”

For reasons that were beyond Twilight at the moment, the man felt it was in this best interest to argue with the berserker standing over him, “But we can’t, we have to fall back. We’ve lost too many.”

Calvo let him go and withdrew his side arm, a handcanon that was both unusually large and oddly small in Calvo’s hand. He aimed for the man’s forehead. “You will follow orders or I will find someone else who will,” somehow seeing that Calvo uses that on every one, made her feel a bit better about being in her current situation.

Without addressing Calvo the man called out to the infantry, “Alright men, let get into those building and provide some covering fire!”

Twilight gritted her teeth has she felt another explosion fired from the flankers. “Colonel, at this rate I’ll only be able to hold the shield for another five minutes, at most,”

Calvo was already looking at the flankers. “Mason, Aiden, do you see the flankers on the right?”

“Sir, yes sir,”

“I don’t want to! You are hereby given leave for twenty percent stem usage,”

“Sir, understood,” the berserkers stomped the ground with anticipation, their voices lined with bloodlust. As one the two bolted across the street. The flankers targeted the new enemy, their plasma rifles leaving pot marks in the berserker’s armor, but their armor was designed to withstand such attacks and their charge didn’t falter. The berserkers broke into the building’s lobby and only screams followed.

“The rest of you,” Calvo called. “Move forward!” With Twilight shielding them and the first of the infantry laying down covering fire, the berserker charged into the building from the destroyed wall and into any cover they could find. Twilight stayed only close enough to keep everyone protected. The berserkers only carried standard plasma rifles, yet the combination of their training the armor they ware punched their reflexes to a super human degree. Within moments two Rat infantry were cut down with pin point shots.

The Rat infantry was hunkered down and firing off at a target somewhere unseen, Twilight knew that their infantry was keeping them pin. Together with the infantry the berserkers could easily deal with the Rat infantry, but the juggernauts had other ideas. The two of them, wielding heavy weapons, move forward, their guns already spinning up and firing molten led into the building. With the constant stream of fire pouring in, Twilight was left with no choice but to change her shield. By wrapping each individual in a shield of their own, she didn’t have to worry about her strength being used up by stray rounds, although with just five shield she was pushing her luck with the technique.

“Prepare for melee!” Calvo called. “fifteen percent stem limit is authorized,”

“Melee!” Twilight cried over the roaring gunfire.

“At this rate they will rip through your shields long before we rip though theirs. We are out gunned and out manned,”

“So you want to just charge into the lot of them?”

Twilight could almost see him smiling beneath the helmet. “Yes!” Calvo, along with the other berserkers, set their rifles aside and took out their handcanons and a modified plasma cutter. Roughly the shape of a blade, the plasma cutter released a gas that was ignited along the edge.

“Static grenade going out,” static grenades where to power armor what flash grenades were to infantry. The moment the white flash went off the two heavy weapon juggernauts stopped firing as their visual data was filled with junk.

As Calvo rose and lead the charge, he let out a cry, “When they beg for mercy give them death!”

Calvo bulled over the closet juggernaut and ended his struggling by plunging the cutter through his helmet. The rats were firing desperately at the charging foes before them, until with a great leap the distance between the two groups was no more.

Twilight moved forward, taking cover were she could, and taking any clear shots she could find in the chaotic melee. One Rat infantryman tried to stab a berserker with his bayonet, but the berserker turned his body and let the blade harmlessly slide off. For such bravery the berserker backhanded the Rat and sent his body flying, his head bent into an unnatural angle.

It was hard for Twilight to focus on taking shots when she could feel the pin prick of every impact in the back her mind. Already there was at least two shields down, but a part of the reason she so rarely used this technique was how long it took to recover from it. She wasn’t sure when she would be able to recast them.

One of the juggernauts had given up all pretense of firing his rifle and was now swinging it like a bat to fend off the plasma cutter his opponent wielded. Both behemoths shields were down and the berserker had lost his sidearm somewhere along the way. The two swung their weapons, and danced to avoid the blow of the other. The juggernaut rushed in and slammed his rifle against his opponents head, shattering it’s stock. But the berserk was barely shaken, his stems alone would never allow him to fall to such a blow. The Berserker grabbed ahold of his foes arm and used that moment to thrust his cutter true into the neck of the juggernaut.

The Rat infantry was being cut down like wheat, their morale broken, they were in full rout. Some held their formation as they retreated, while others simply choice to run for it. The remaining juggernauts had taken the role of rearguard and were slowly falling back, firing at the concealed berserkers as they moved.

Twilight let out a sigh as she lowered her weapon and recalled her shields. It may only be a small lull in the battle but she would take any chance she could for a breather. “Nicely done, Witch,”

Twilight decided to take the complement at face value. “How are your men?”

“Injured, but they will live,”

Before the present talk could continue any longer, Nadia spoke over the radio, “Twilight, do you read,”

“Nadia, I hear you. What’s going on?”

“The main road is getting hit hard. They used some kind of EMP bullshit to fry half the shield generators. They could really use your help over there,” Twilight looked up to Calvo, knowing he was already listening in.

With an exaggerated hand wave he said, “Go, we can hold here,”

“Understood. I’m on my way, Nadia,”

Twilight turned away from the ally, putting Calvo and the berserkers out of her mind. As the sounds of battle drew closer, she stopped in her tracks. That trick with the shield had drained most of her reserves, but luckily she had barely scratched her daily limit on anizon. She pulled the case from her bag and quickly injected a fresh supply. Twilight rose a hand to her face and let a shield dance in her palm. Satisfied her strength had returned, she quickened her pace out of the alley.

Twilight was greeted to the sight of a burning hell as she emerged back onto the main road. The surrounding buildings, were many had camped to engage the enemy were now in flames, a few looked to be on the fringe of collapse. Those still on the ground were slowly being pushed back. It was clear to see why, a T9-Viper, the Rat’s heavy tank, was slowly rolling its way down the street, It’s blue shield pinging every time a round hit it. Flanking the armor was another twenty juggernauts and a few dozen infantry. Though they started the day with near two hundred, she had to wonder how many were left.

Among those falling back, Twilight spotted Skyler running past the protection of the barricade, and aimed for a down soldier, while Teagan and other infantryman gave him covering fire. Having seen enough, she kept her body low as she bolted to the barricade, the flickering of a dying shield generator was the only thing that kept the oasis alive. Jumping over a concrete block, she snapped out her shield until it extended well past Skyler. With the added protection, the fire from their side become concentrated and the Rats began to falter in their advance.

The tank, however, didn’t slow. It continue to target the surrounding buildings and blow yet more holds into them, but with each attack another squad was lost.

Skyler wasted little time and hoisting the down man over his shoulder. As he made it back across the barricade he passed off the injured man to the medic and turned to smile at Twilight. “Would it be inappropriate to say that you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen?”

“If it is, I won’t complain,” Twilight answered jokingly. It seemed odd to joke when even then she could feel the impact of the enemy returning fire, but so long as her shield held they would have a moment to breathe. “Why is a single tank giving you so much trouble, we have anti-armor weapons,”

“Yes we do,” Skyler agreed. “But they won’t be much use if we can’t get past the shield, and that damn tank is a freak of nature. It’s shield recharges faster than we can hurt it,” Skyler and Twilight both took their spot on the barricade wall and took aim, their targets were plenty. The Rats were taking cover behind down debris and the tank as they worked to weaken Twilights barrier.

“What happened to the turrets,” while the possibility that the rats would divert their armor to attack this section of the city was considered low, they still had countermeasures in place.

“The EMPs took out the shields covering them, after that they were fish in a bowl. We’re scattered over a few blocks, I have no idea where the Sargent is, and with all the jamming we can barely use the radios,”

The juggernauts were moving up to cover their infantry as they pulled their fallen comrades back. Unlike the juggernauts from the ally, all the ones she could see wielded the weapons they were known for. A pair hoisting railguns aimed for Twilight’s group and, as static charged at the tip of their weapons, they opened fired.

Twilight had to stop firing as she gripped the side of her helmet. “Ok that hurt. If someone has a plan I would love to hear it, because I can’t hold this forever,”

“We were just talking about that actually,” said Skyler. “Teagan, care to fill her in,”

“Just one moment,” Teagan swung a long barrel rocket launcher over his shoulder and lined up a shot through the extended eye piece. With a pull of the trigger and the gust of air the missile soared to its target. No matter how fast the juggernauts were, their reaction time was no were near good enough. One juggernaut was blown off his feet, but relatively intact. What was left of the other one was blasted into the adjacent building, it’s railgun, along with the arm the held it, still lay there it once stood.

“At this rate we are going to be over run. Once that tank finishes decimating the squads in the building it’s going to turn on us, and no matter how strong your shield is, Twilight, we won’t last long after that,” Teagan set his weapon down and looked over to Twilight. “We need an air strike, ASAP, if we want any hope of holding this area,”

“But our radios are being jammed,”

“And there lays the problem,” Skyler added. “luckily we have a way around that. There was a hardline set up at the command center,”

“I’m sensing a but coming,” the solution sounded simple enough, but if it was that simple why had they not done it yet.

“But,” Skyler pointed off to the side. “You have to run that way to get to it,” Twilight looked in the direction Skyler was pointing and could see the building just a few blocks off, however from where they sat to the building in question was open ground— a killing field. She could already see a few bodies laid out in the zone, from others who had tried to make the run. Not only would you be out in the open for nearly five blocks, the building was still within range of the tank. It was suicide, that is if you didn’t have a shield.

“Five blocks, I can make that run,” Twilight said, but it wasn’t until Skyler spoke up that she realized she had said that aloud.

“I was hoping you would say that. Here’s the plan, you and Teagan will make the run, the rest of us will draw their fire while we continue to fall back. Any questions,” Only the sounds of weapon fire answered. “Good, now I hate to rush you but do you think you can get a move on and save our asses,”

Teagan stepped next to Twilight and stripped off his bag before passing his rifle off to another. Twilight understood immediately, this would be a test of speed so the extra gear wouldn’t help them any. She remove all of her gear, save for her sidearm and medicine bag. Teagan lowed his body and prepared to run. “On your mark,” he said.

The moment they left Skyler, along the rest of them, would have only a failing generator for support, but she couldn’t worry about that right now. She let her shield drop and allowed the exoskeleton of her armor to push her even faster then she had any right to move. Teagan stuck to her side, managing to keep pace with his slightly bulker variant armor. The moment they were a few feet away Twilight wrapped them in a barrier. She expected the shield to be like a beacon to the Rats, but Skyler and his men were doing a good job at drawling firing.

‘Just move,’ Twilight told herself. They had reached the half-way point before the Rats seem to catch on to the plan. A group of infantryman broke away from the tank and raced for the cover under a blazing building. Only for the Rat in lead to stop as the one behind him got a clear look at the color of his brain matter. “This is… … Angel…” a barely audio radio transition came in. “…covering… … …Move!”

With each impact on her shields the sound of a Guardian-class sniper rifle followed. They ran, their fatigue ignored, the battle out of their mind. As they reached the door Teagan bulled it over without stopping, ripping the door right off it’s hinges. Supply crates were stacked around the room, some were in the center acting as a makeshift table. Dust and discarded paper covered the floor, but they barely noticed any of that as they raced for the phone on the far wall.

Twilight quickly removed her helmet so she could place the phone to her ear. There were no buttons on the phone, as the line connected to only one place. Twilight didn’t wait for the other side to speak first, “This is the Lvywood garrison, requesting an airstrike!”

“Who is this,” came the voice on the other end. “Are you even authorized to use this line?”

“Listen, the Lvywood garrison is about to be overrun if we don’t get some help here, now!”

The line went quiet. She could hear the faint whisper of people talking, but couldn’t making anything out. “Ok, I’ve been informed that they are prepping a fighter as we speak, E.T.A five minutes. We need you to pop red smoke at hostile location. The skies are heavily contested right now, so we can only make one pass at this,”

“Understood, red smoke,” Twilight looked to Teagan as she spoke, and he nodded in understanding. He opened one crate after another until he rose back up with a smoke grenade in each hand. Twilight hung up the phone. Stepping over to the door she pointed. “We have less than five minutes, but if we take the alley we should be able to flank to the right of the rats. With how fast they are advancing we could come out right along side them,”

“Then let’s get going,” with their mission there done they ran for the cover of the alley, and hoped the fire didn’t bring the building down on top of them.

It had taken them only three minutes to reach the alley’s exit. Twilight could see Skyler and the others falling farther and farther back down the block, many of them had fallen. Twilight and Teagan pressed themselves against the alley wall as the Rats moved dangerously close to the alley entrance, the rumble of the tank was enough to raddle the buildings. But neither the tank nor to discharge of weapons was enough to drowned out the whistle of an approaching aircraft. Twilight and Teagan nodded to one another and pulled the pins on their grenades. Together they through them into the midst of the Rats, but they didn’t stick around to see the end results. They ran back to way they came as the whistling of coming death drew closer. At just under thirty seconds left, they felt the shock wave from the safety of Twilight’s shield. The fighter’s payload turned the area into an inferno and blew apart the surrounding buildings like dominos.

Smoke and dust filled the air. Twilight and Teagan emerged back onto the main road, an eerily silence replaced the havoc just moments before. “Holy shit guys, that was awesome!” Nadias voice came in loud and clear.

“Nadia, I can’t see a thing down here,” said Twilight. “Can you give me a visual,”

“Don’t worry I’ve got a birds eyes view up here, all Rats are K.I.A,”

“Twilight, this is Skyler, everyone is regrouping at the barracks on eight street. Thanks for saving our asses back there,”

“What are friends for,” Twilight replied to Skyler with the hint of a smile. “We are on our way,”

Twilight let her head fall back. She felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Another day, another battle won— the rubble of an engine cut through the silence.

Twilight snapped her head to the side, disbelievingly. It took only one shot from the main cannon to blow away dust and send Twilight’s adrenalin pumping once more. The command center was blasted apart in a blaze of orange. “Twilight, we have to move!” Teagan yelled and snapped Twilight to attention. They took cover next to the fallen rubble of a building. With the air clear she could see what they were up against. The tank was very much still alive, but it was far from in one piece. It’s treads were melted and the hull was a scorched mess, yet the cannon was still in working order.

The cannon twitched and jerked but slowly rose into the air and off to the side, far higher than any target should be. Twilight’s gaze followed the cannon’s aim to the one thing it could shoot: Angel’s Nest. “Nadia!” Twilight cried over the radio. “Get out of there!”

Nadia answered back, far too calmly. “You did good today, Twilight, never let anyone tell you different,” the tank fired and Angel’s Nest was no more.

“NADIA!”

“Twilight,” Teagan spoke with barely contained rage beneath his helmet. “Can you shield me?”

Fatigue? Twilight no longer understood the meaning of the word. “Yes I can,” she didn’t know what his plan was, but she trusted him. She wrapped Teagan in layer after layer of shields, like a seamstress clothing a client. Teagan ran at the tank headlong, hoping to get within the blind zone, just under the tank, before it could adjust its aim. But three blocks is much farther to run then it is to aim. The barrel of the cannon lowered, locked its next target and fired.

Twilight gave a cry of pain as she grabbed her head. By the rusted taste in her mouth she knew her nose was bleeding, she had never felt anything like that before. Though protected from the blast, Teagan was knocked off his feet by the explosion. She very much doubted she could withstand another attack like that. “Teagan, don’t just lay there! Move your ass!” Teagan rolled to the side and picked himself up. He disregarded all other concerns and continued to run forward.
He came to a sliding stop at the body of a juggernaut and grabbed his fallen railgun. The Anti-Tank Electrothermal Accelerator Cannon. It can obliterate a man with a single hit, or punch a hole right through an unshielded tank. And at his range Teagan had no need to worry about the poor accuracy. There was no words said as he stared down the foe that killed his friend, just the cold pull of the trigger and the tank blasted apart.

As Twilight let her shield dropped she felt the energy drain from her body. She took her helmet off and just let the air fill her lungs. They had lost many this day, but they had held. Most days that was enough for her, but now… now she only felt cold.

Chapter 18: It’s Time to go Home

“What are you talking about!” Twilight demanded. “Everything I told you was the truth,”

Luna looked back out the window. The night time view of the city was slowly being consumed by a fog. Was this a reflection of Twilight’s mental state or something else? She couldn’t be sure. Every dreamer interpreted things differently, and she was so unfamiliar with the human mind. “Perhaps I miss spoke. It is not that you lied intentionally – you may not even be aware of it—but, Twilight, I have walked among the dream realm long enough to know a fantasy when I see one,”

“A Fantasy!” Twilight spit the work back. “You think everything I’ve been through, everything I’ve fought for was just a fragment of my imagination?”

Luna seemed to pay little attention to Twilight’s rant, as she walked over to the chair in front of the fireplace, and picked up one of the books stacked next to it. “If that is truly the case, than what could be so horrible that you would prefer such a world?”

Twilight looked to her hands, her voice spoke more to convince herself than Luna, “It was real. I remember the weight of my rifle and the recoil of its shots. I remember the smell of blood and the feeling of pain every time I failed to save someone. I remember—“

“It’s time to go home,”

Twilight froze. The very temperature fell around her, until each breath was visible as a puff of air. “What did you say,” Twilight asked slowly.

In answer Luna flipped the book she was holding around to show off the pages. Each page was filled with the same words, repeated endlessly: It’s time to go home.

Twilight’s body shook like a vibration was running up her spine, but whether it was from the cold that warped her or the strange fear gripping her, she didn’t know. “There is nothing written in that book, and those words mean nothing,”

“Is that so,” Luna’s head tilted to the side, her face emotionless. “Can you truly not see the words before your very eyes? Then how about these?” With the back of her hoof, Luna knocked the pile of books to the floor, there pages spilled opened and their secrets laid reveal. Though the cover of the books differed, each one of them bore the same five words as the one Luna still held.

“N-no!” Twilight shut her eyes tight as she stumbled back, but tripped over her own feet and fell on her butt. The fall forced Twilight’s eyes open and that is when she saw it. Carved into every surface, written on every wall, were the same words: It’s time to go home.

“What does it mean?” Luna stepped forward, demanding to know.

“Nothing, it just meaningless words!” Cried Twilight, her hand clapped over her ears.

“You can lie to me, Twilight, you can lie to your friends, but you cannot lie to yourself,” Luna looked to the window, it’s image slowly morphing into something else.

As Twilight followed her gaze she felt a scream caught in her throat, rendering her speechless. It was already too late.

***

Rather than trying to brave the Arrowhead once more to find an exit, Twilight and Skyler elected to climb down its side though the bridge window. They touched the ground once more just as the light of the new morning reached them. The escorting forces of Rats were nowhere to be seem, having already retreated farther back. The chaos that the retreat order had caused was evident everywhere, vehicles crashed into one another while others were simply left abandoned. Twilight had a feeling that a similar scene was playing out all across the Rat line.

But that didn’t matter anymore, as far as she was concerned her part in the war was over. “Do you think it’s really over?” asked Skyler. He took off his helmt and looked with his own eyes at the broken buildings and scorched marked road, yet for once Twilight saw a hint of hope in his eyes.

“It will take time for the fighting to die down and for treaties to be signed, likely months, but yes it’s over,”

They began the long walk back to the Inner City, one step at a time. “What will you do now?” asked Skyler.

“I think it’s time I go home,” It was strange for her to think that by this time tomorrow she may be home. What in the world would she tell everyone. She would think of something later.

“Ponyland, right?” said Skyler. He was quiet for a long moment, and Twilight didn’t have the energy to correct him. “I don’t think being a pony would be too bad— I mean, I would prefer to stay human if that was an option— but a pony isn’t too bad either,”

Twilight stopped in her tracks and turn to stare at him. “What are you talking about?”

He shrugged. “War’s over, Twilight, and I don’t know what I’m going to do anymore. I don’t have much of a family left, and Osana will get by just find without me. So what do you say, care for a traveling partner?”

To say Twilight was speechless would be to underestimate how far her jaw fell. She considered for a moment how to possibly approach the topic. She considered saying that it may not be possible for him to come along, though she had no way of knowing for sure, and she thought to say that she couldn’t guarantee he could stay human, and that life as a pony would be a difficult transition. Yet the only thing that came out of her mouth was, “I would love one,”

With a smile from ear to ear, Skyler through his arm around her shoulder. “Come on, Spotlight, it’s time to go home,”

Bang!

Skyler’s body felt heavy, too heavy. His arm slipped off her shoulder and he hit the ground with a thud. Twilight didn’t look to him. She pushed that small voice that cried out to the back of her mind as her instincts took over. Turning fast she fell to one knee and brought her rifle to bare. Before her stood a half dead Rat soldier pointing a pistol right at her, the clicking of its empty magazine echoed in the silence.

With two quick pulls of the rifle, the Rat fell to the ground, this time fully dead. Twilight around, seeing that there were no more dead about to rise, like an unholy zombie plague. Only then did she turn to check on Skyler.

“Skyler?” she spoke softly. Kneeling down next to him, Twilight shook him with her hands, her eyes not wanting to see where the bullet had gone through his head. “Skyler, please,” she begged, but no one was there to listen. She didn’t remember when she took out the Anizon, but she remembered the relief she felt when it flowed through her, having taken double her daily limit.

What followed was little more than a series of blurry memories of Twilight as she made her way back to the Inner City and took the teleporter home.

***

Luna looked down on Twilight with eyes of sympathy, and spoke as a mother would to a child, “Why hide this?”

Twilight slammed a fist into the ground and yelled out, “It was over! The war was over! I should have been able to save him, but I wasn’t paying attention. I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t save any of them,” Tears flowed freely down Twilight’s face. “I-I just wanted for one of my friends to have survived the war, but I was too weak. I have this damned power to protect others, yet I couldn’t save any of them,”

Slowly Luna trotted to the couch and sat down. She felt exhausted for having to push Twilight to this point, but they were not quite at the end just yet. “You of all ponies know just how powerful my sister and I are, you have been in our place and held our power, yet even with all of that power there have been so many times that we have been powerless to save those close to us,”

“I should have been better—“ Twilight tried to say but Luna would not let her wallow in self-pity.

“How could you have been better? From what I have seen and what you have told me, you were at the peak of your training, unfortunately people still died. That is the nature of war, it is a cruel mistress that cares little for the feelings of others or how hard they try. You are no god, Twilight Sparkle, you cannot expect to save everyone yourself,”

Twilight rose her hand and looked at Luna through tear stained eyes. “If I’m not the one to blame for this then who is?”

“You know the answer to that. They did their duty and died for what they believed in, honor them, morn them, but do not waste away from grief. You only dishonor their memory in doing so,”

“I don’t know where to go from here? What am I supposed to do?”

“I can only point you to the path, I cannot walk it for you,” said Luna as a hint of a smile touched her lips. “However, I know of five mares who would gladly walk this path with you, if only you let them,”

Twilight reached out with one hand and picked up one of the fallen books that littered the ground. She ran her fingers over the words, her eyes finally able to see what was in front of her. “I think I’m ready,”

***
Epilogue

The cool autumn wind blew over the Ponyville graveyard. In front of a alicorn statue Twilight, the pony, stood vigil. It had been six long months since her return to Equestria and this event was long overdue. Rarity and Applejack held the new plaque in place as Rainbow flittered in the air calling out directions, “A little to the left… no my left… oh wait, the other way is my left,”

Applejack blew out a puff of air. “Ok that’s good enough. Rarity seal’r up,”

Rarity cast a blue light from her horn that bound the plague to the statue base. She stepped back to admire her work and gawked at the crooked frame. “Applejack, you call that straight?”

“It’s only off by a smidge,”

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy approached the grave, each holding a bundle of flowers. “Sorry it took so long for us to find some flowers,” said Fluttershy.

“And they’re scrum-diddly-umptious,” added Pinkie.

“That’s kind of why it took so long,” they place the flowers in a vase next to the grave.

“It’s beautiful, girls, thank you for doing this with me,” Twilight said. Stepping closer to the statue, she ran a hoof over the plaque. It was simple and a bit straight to the point, but they had never been ones for poetic words.

In memory of

Skyler Lessi

Teagan Lenden

Nadia Sandler

Davis Vinion

Len Cotreau

Though they do not rest here we honor the sacrifice they made. They were not perfect beings, yet their friendship and camaraderie was freely given. May they forever drink in the halls of their gods.

“Considering how long it took to get you out here, of course we would come,” said Rainbow. “So now that we’ve put up the new plaque and set out the flowers, what do we do now? I don’t really do a lot of funeral stuff so I wouldn’t know. Do we sing now?”

Twilight held back a chuckle as she addressed her friends, “For right now, do you think I could have a moment alone,” her friends shared a look, but the nods came quickly,”

“Of course, dearly, we’ll be at the edge of the graveyard when you are finished,” said Rarity

As they walked away she heard Rainbow ask, “What would we even sing?”

“Oh I know!” Pinkie quickly chimed in.

Twilight let their voices fade from her mind as she turned her attention back to the grave. “I’m going to be ok,” her voice was just above a whisper. She stared at each name individual, letting the better memories flood her mind before moving on. “It will not always be easy, I know this. There are days that the very thought of getting out of bed is the most terrifying thing in the world, and I cling to my sheets thinking that if I dare step hoof out of my bed I would lose everything. At other times I can almost taste the Anizon, and I crave it all the more strongly, even though I know it would kill me, so I’m thankful that I can’t get to it in this world,” Twilight looked up into the sky and for a moment felt the breeze on her face. “But those are the bad days and there are far more good days then bad. So please rest easy knowing that I will be ok, and that no matter what bad days lay ahead of me I will have friends who will help me through it,”

Twilight turned away from the statue and trotted back to her friends, and together they returned to Ponyville and to their happy lives.

The End.

Bonus Chapter: Alternate Ending

Author's Note

This was one idea I had for the ending to the story, but ultimately decided against it as it was too dark for my taste.

Bonus Chapter: Alternate Ending

Twilight opened her eyes and stared at the tiled ceiling of her hospital room. She was alone, just the constant beeping of a heart monitor to accompany her. She still remembered the words Luna spoke to her, and what she had said in return. She was ready, because for once she knew exactly what to do.

She set up in her bed and groaned at the soreness in her body. Her left arm was constrained by an IV line hooked into her vain, so with her other hand she reached out and took the blue bag off its holder. She uncorked the bag and dumped its contents onto the floor, and with her lungs full of air she filled it back up. She hesitated for a moment, holding the bag in both hands. She questioned whether or not to go through with it, but she was exhausted, a kind of exhaustion that runs deeper than the physical, and she just wanted to rest.

With both hands she squeezed the bag empty and let the air flow through the tub in her arm.

She felt the fire in her arm almost immediately. The fire traveled down her vain like a highway until it held firm on her chest. Twilight gripped her chest and fell back on the bed. She gasp for breath that wouldn’t come as her whole body burned from the inside, but as the beeping became a solid dull tone, Twilight felt no more pain.

***

“Hey wake up,” Skyler said as he rocked Twilight back and forth in her seat. Gradually, she picked her head off the table to see where she was. Nadia, Teagan, and Davis all watched her with grinning faces.

“Geez, Twilight, I know you worked the late shift but you could at least stay awake for our first time out in weeks,” said Nadia

Cotreau walked up to the table holding six beers between his fingers. “I see the sleeping princess is awake,” he said as he passed out the drinks.

“Sorry,” Twilight gave a sheepish smile and brushed back her hair with her fingers. “But I had the strangest dream, I was back home and ... and … damn, what was it about?”

“I hate when that happens,” Davis said. “And it’s always the good dreams too,”

“Does anyone mind if I ask a rather morbid question?” asked Nadia.

“Would it stop you if we said no?”

“No,” Nadia laughed. She took a long swing of her drink and asked her question, “What do you think the afterlife is like?”

“I suppose that would depend on your religion,” said Teagan. “Personally, I preferred the tale of the eternal drinking hall,”

“Oh yeah, honored warriors who fall in battle spend their afterlife drinking and telling the tales of their battles,”

Cotreau rose his beer and pointed at everyone. “You guys want tales, I’ve got a few for you. Did I ever tell you about the time I had commonwealth running all over the country looking for me and my men?”

The group burst into laughter. “You mean besides every time you get drunk,” Skyler explained.

“Well too bad, you’re going to hear it again,”

So they past the time, each telling a story in turn, with rivers of liquor that seemed endless. Apart of Twilight’s mind lingered on that dream, but she felt content sitting there, listening. Until thoughts of the dream faded from her mind entirely and it was her turn once more to regale the group with one of her own tales.

Chapter 1: Letter to the Princess

Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m pleased to report that we have finished furnishing the new castle, the girls have been a big help making this place feel like home. After the Golden Oak Library was destroyed I lost everything I owned, most of which can be replaced, but there was a few books I’m sad to say were one of a kind.

The reason for my letter is that Pinkie Pie somehow found a stairway in the library, I didn't notice on my earlier inspections, by “trying to find a good place to hide the party cannons.” The stairway leads to a small basement that holds what closely resembles the Crystal Mirror from the Crystal Empire. The little I remember about them is that they were used as aways to communicate across large distances, but due to the difficulty manufacturing them as well as the maintenance requirements they were quickly abandoned. I'm very interested in what it is doing under my library and was trying to find out more information on crystal mirrors. Would you mind sending me any information you might have to help me on my research?

Your ~~faithful student~~ fellow princess,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Thank you for sending me, “Starswirl the Bearded Study and Exploration of the Crystal Mirrors.” I have to say, this book is amazing and I have already read it three times. I thought Starswirl's book, “Study of Teleport Based Magic,” was my favorite before this one. The way he describes how the inner workings of magic needed to power it and link the mirror together is fascinating in its simplicity. It does make me wonder why this book isn’t more well-known…

Sorry, Spike said I’m getting off track…Yes, write that too. Anyway, while researching ways to reactivate the Crystal Mirrors I stumbled upon some new theories that if they are proven correct could lead us to a way to open a portal between the mirrors. I still need to speak with Princess Cadence about this, but if I’m right we could have instant travel, just think of the possibilities. I still have some experiments I want to run, so I will let you know when we have any major updates.

Your fellow princess,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Dear Princess Celestia,

After a week of testing, mostly Cadence and I throwing small objects back and forth, we believe the Mirror to be safe for pony travel, and I have volunteered myself to be the first one to step through. I will not have anypony other than myself take this risk. I don’t know what I would do if somepony got hurt because of my experiment, not that I think anything bad is going to happen.

I was planning to try the portal today, but Cadence insists we wait for the day after tomorrow so she could set up a welcome ceremony. So I guess until then I will just be running a few more tests. I must admit this is getting pretty nerve racking, but I have my friends with me so I know I will be fine.

Your fellow princess,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Thank you for keeping me informed of your progress. Reading your letter these last few weeks, I can’t help but to be reminded of Starswirl, for he would often tell me of his many discoveries. I can’t help but feel a certain amount of pride at being your mentor, and I‘m pleased to say I will be attending Cadence’s welcome ceremony. Sadly Luna will not able to attend as some foreign delegates will be arriving in Canterlot the same day, nothing serious mind you it’s just they tend to feel they are being looked down upon if a princess is not there to meet them.

I know that after the Tirek incident we have not had much time to speak with you settling into your new role as the princess of friendship, but when the ceremony is over hopefully we can find a quiet place to have some tea together.

Princess Celestia

Twilight held her pocket watch in a hoof, carefully watching the second hand tick by. She would occasionally glance up into the mirror as its reflective surfaces twisted into a bright blue pool, and enjoyed its magical hum. But, much to Twilight’s annoyance, the pleasing sound was drowned out by the increasing rhythmic tapping of a hoof. Twilight glanced over to Rainbow Dash, who was standing on her back hoofs with her front hooves crossed. “Is there something wrong, Rainbow?”

Rainbow huffed and flitted as high as she could without hitting the low ceiling of the basement. “Well, for starters I hate being underground,” She said, swiping a hoof around to the blueish crystal walls of the cramped basement. “And shouldn’t we have left already? I’m starting to think it would have been faster to have left with Fluttershy and Spike on the train.”

“Just a few more minutes, be patient!” Twilight answered, stressing the last word.

“Oh, simmer down there, Rainbow,” Applejack said, pushing her brown stetson back to get a better look. “A few more minutes aren’t going to hurt ya.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “If you say so. But what’s with the picnic basket? We’re going to a party so you don’t need to bring food.”

Applejack flipped open the basket lid and let the smell of a fresh apple pie waft out, before saying. “It’s not a proper party without one of Granny Apple’s pies.”

“It’s true!” Pinkie Pie called, hopping over. “I never have a party without at least one apple pie.”

Rarity trotted next to Twilight. She was wearing a dress she had made specifically for this event: a light purple dress with matching shoes and a small hat. It went along well with Twilight’s dark blue dress with a star edging. “Twilight, I know you said it was safer for Spike to take the train to the Crystal Empire, but couldn’t you have cast some spell on him so he could cross the mirror?”

Twilight didn’t look up from her watch as she answered, “It took us weeks to verify that the portal was safe for pony travel, and its likely going to take months to do the same for dragons. Until then I can’t risk sending Spike through.”

Rarity gave a contented sigh, and looked over at the other three. All of whom lacked her sense of high society, and had turned down her offer to make them a dress. ‘At least I manage to get Fluttershy to wear one.’ she thought.

“How much longer do we have to wait.” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“Just…a little…” Twilight began saying as the seconds ticked down on the clock. “Bit…NOW!” Twilight turned to face her friends. “Cadences should have activated her mirror five minutes ago.”

“Five minutes ago!” Rainbow cried

“Well, I wanted to make sure they had plenty of time to set up.” Rainbow Dash just faced hoofed.

“All right!” Pinkie cried, as she pulled out her signature canon from seemingly nowhere and fired off a blast of confetti. “This is going to be the best 'Congratulations Twilight on the Greatest Invention Ever’ party.”

Twilight stepped to the portal as her friends looked on. She took a deep breath and raised one hoof to enter. “WAIT!” Rarity shouted. Twilight froze in place, slowly she turned her head to face Rarity.

“Yes, Rarity, what is it?”

“I almost forgot to give you this,” Rarity said. She used her magic to pull a crown from her bag; it was golden with five jagged points, each with a red ruby. “Now I know you don’t like wearing this, but you need to look your part sweetie. You are a Princess after all.” Rarity levitated the crown over and slid it on her head. Reluctantly, Twilight allowed it.

“Fine, is there anything else?”

“No, that’s all. Good luck.”

With another deep breath Twilight stepped through the portal.

***

Nobles mingled in the normally sparsely-filled throne room of the Crystal Empire, as they waited for Twilight’s grand entrance. Guards stood silently next to the Crystal Mirror, which had been moved from its storage area for the ceremony. Tables of food had been set out for this event and Fluttershy was helping herself to a plate. She made sure nothing spilled on Rarity’s designer dress: a yellow form fitting dress with a blue ruffled lining. When her plate was full she looked up to the ice sculpture of Twilight with her wings stretched out. “How do you think they got this sculpture made so quickly?” She asked, as Spike stepped to her side, holding a bowl of gems.

“From what Shining Armor told me, they keep extra in storage.” Spike said between bites.

“Really?”

“Yeah, apparently they have them of all the princesses, in case of a last minute party.”

“May I have your attention,” Princess Cadence called out, in her yet unrefined Royal Canderlot Voice. She stood from her throne as she addressed the crowd, while Prince Shining Armor and Princess Celestia set on either side of her. “Thank you all for coming to this wonderful event. If you would all gather at the Mirror I’m sure Princess Twilight will be arriving any moment now.” Cadence set back down as the nobles began shuffling into place.

“She certainly taking her time.” said Shining Armor.

Cadence sighed in response, “You should have seen her during testing. I had to send three letters to Spike just to get her to throw one object through.” Celestia gave a small chuckle to this. “But the thought that we could see Twilight every day if we wanted. We get to see her so little as it is.”

The portal rippled as something flew out, impacting the ground and sending a loud ‘ding’ singing through the halls. It slid to a stop a few feet from the throne. “Is Twilight doing more testing?” Celestia asked. Until her eyes fell upon the object: a golden crown with five jagged points. The murmurs of the crowd started almost immediately. Slowly, Shining Armor rose from his seat and stepped toward the object, as he grew closer he could see the steam rise from the charred black crown. He gripped it with his magic, and brought it closer. A wide-eyed look of dread crossed his face as he turn to the princesses.

“It's Twilight's crown.”

***

Three Years later

Night had fallen and Luna had taken up her duties. She entered the throne room to open night court as she does most nights, and was greeted to the sight of Celestia, sitting at the throne and reading over a scroll. “Greetings, sister, what keeps you up this late?” Luna asked stepping closer.

“I received a letter from Rarity. She and the others will be visiting Twilight’s grave and would like to know if I will be joining them.”

“I see, so that time has come once again,” Luna said, taking in a breath before continuing. “I think you should go, Tia, it will do us both some good to be there.”

Celestia set the scroll down. “I keep thinking I’m going to get another one of her reports anytime now. I’ve been reading some of her old friendship reports, especially the last ones she sent. I should have never sent her that book.”

“Tia, we have been over this!”

Celestia raise a hoof to cut her off and spoke softly, “I know, Lulu, no one is to blame for what happened. I think I will go. It will be nice to see Ponyville again.”

***

The light had just broken through the sky and the early rising ponies were getting shops set up for business. Applejack slowly walked down the path to Fluttershy’s cottage were Pinkie Pie had been spending most of her time. Much to her displeasure, she wasn’t setting up her apple cart, instead she and Pinkie Pie had court duty today. She and the other four element bearers had taken over the duties at the Friendship Court, doing their best to solve any friendship related problems brought to them. They had established a simple system: two of them served on the court at a time, allowing the burden to be shared among themselves.

Applejack knocked on the door and waited as the sound of bangs and clatter echoed from within. “Hey, Applejack,” Pinkie Pie said behind Applejack, a smile beaming on her face.

The startled pony gave a small yelp as she turned, “Pinkie, where’d you come from, and who’s makin’ all that racket in there?”

“Oh that’s just Gummy. He’s cleaning the house for me.”

“Why would ya—”Applejack stopped herself as she thought. 'That's one jar of worms I don’t want anywhere near.’ She readjusted her stetson before asking, “So ya ready to go?”

“Sure thing,” Pinkie said, trotting after Applejack as they made their way to the castle. “You seem down, Applejack.”

“I guess I’m not looking forward to this afternoon. I’m little surprised you’re so energetic today.”

It was quiet between them as they walked for a few minutes, “I’m not as energetic as I look, but I don’t think Twilight would want us to be sad.”

“Yeah, I know you’re probably right, but it’s just hard to go there, ya know?”

“But that’s why we’re going as a group, and Spike got a letter last night saying that princess Luna and Celestia would be coming.”

“Speaking of Spike. Is he going this time?”

Pinkie Pie hung her head at that. “Spike is more stubborn about this subject than you are on apples.” To that, Applejack just gave her a questioning look. “You know what I mean, he still thinks Twilight is alive somewhere. Fluttershy said he’s obsessed with keeping Twilight's old room exactly how it was before… before the accident.”

A scream bellowed through the streets as the two mares turned the corner just in time to see a cream colored mare with a purple and pink mane racing up. “What in tarnation is goin’ on, Bon Bon?”

“A creature from the Everfree is in the town!”

“What kind of monster is it and where did it go?” Applejack asked quickly.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before! It was tall, walked on two legs, white all over with a few black spots. A-And last I saw it was walking in the direction of the castle.” Bon Bon pointed to the towering Castle in the distance.

“OK, Bon Bon, I need you to make sure everypony is indoors. Can you do that?” Bon Bon gave a quick nod. Applejack turned her attention over to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, get to the guard barracks and get them over here.”

Pinkie raised her hoof in salute, “Yes sir!” and hopped off in the directions of the barracks. Applejack broke into a dead run heading straight for the castle.

As she ran Applejack racked her brain as she tried to figure out what this creature could be. As far as she knew there were no two legged creatures in the Everfree, but Fluttershy would know more about that then she would. She really hoped this wasn’t another case of jumping to conclusions. Zecora had been understanding about it, but she didn’t know how somepony else may react.

Applejack raced down the road. She had yet to see the creature and was quickly approaching the castle. “APPLEJACK!” a voice from above called to her. Applejack looked to see Rainbow Dash flying in close, sporting her wonderbolts outfit. “I ran into Pinkie Pie with the guards behind her and she filled me in. So where is this monster at?”

“Ah haven’t seen it yet, it’s got to be close to the—” Applejack was cut off by what she saw. Standing right in front of the castle entrance was the creature. It looked exactly like how Bon Bon described it. It was bipedal and standing taller than the two guards in front of it, at least five and a half feet tall. It had hands like that of a minotaur and was covered from head to toe in what looks like white armor, while the joints were colored black. It carried a bag on its back as well as a long metal-looking object slung over its shoulder.

The two guards were yelling at the creature with their spears pointed at its chest. As if not hearing the guards the creature took a step forward. One guard took charge and lunged his spear at it. At that moment a shield rapidly expanded around the creature, knocking the guard back and a moment later the shield was gone.

“What was that!?” Applejack yelled still running at the creature.

“Enough of this, Applejack, cover me!”

Rainbow curved around before angling her body to dive straight into the creature's side as Applejack ran straight for its back. As Rainbow ripped through the air the creature raised a palm to face her as a small shield rapidly expanded from it. Rainbow couldn't react in time and slammed into the shield full force and was bounced back several feet. Applejack and the remaining guard attacked at once. The guard thrust his spear while Applejack turned to buck it. The shield expanded again, but this time it spun in place. The guard's spear was ripped from his hooves and Applejack was sent rolling.

“The cavalry has arrived!” Yelled Pinkie Pie, as she pushed a cannon with ten guards flanking her on either side. The creature payed her no mind, instead taking another step. Without another word pinkie took aim and fired her party cannon, but like before its shield expanded knocking the confetti away. The creature turn to look in Pinkie Pie's direction. Applejack got to her feet and was about to make another attack when she heard the creature speak.

“Pinkie Pie?”

At first Applejack thought she misheard it, but soon the creature turn to look at Rainbow still laying on the ground. “Rainbow Dash?” It asked before facing Applejack. “Applejack, is that really you?”

A look of confusion was on the three mare's faces as a silence fell. No one knew quite what to say until Applejack spoke up “W-who are ya?”

In response the creature brought its hands to each side of its helmet and removed it, letting the helmet fall to the ground. Her skin was pale with purple eyes. Her long dark blue hair was matted in spots and she had two strips of pink and purple running through her hair.

Applejack would swear up and down that she had never seen this creature before, yet something about her was so familiar. Maybe it was her eyes or the way she smiled down at her, but Applejack knew she had seen this creature before, yet this was the first time she had ever seen...whatever this creature was, that at least she did know.

“Miss Pinkie, stop it’s dangerous,” One of the guards called out, drawing everypony’s attention.

Pinkie Pie’s ever present smile had been replaced with a cold hard look, that looked so wrong on the party mare. She slowly trotted past the guards growing more determined with each step, as she approached the creature.

Rainbow Dash seem to have recovered her senses when she spotted Pinkie Pie’s charge. “Pinkie, What are you doing? Stay back!”

But Pinkie pressed on only stopping when she was mere feet from the creature. Pinkie looked into her eyes and the creature stared back. And time seemed to stop. No pony so much as dared to breathe, only the sound of wind rustling through the trees filled the empty silence. Finally, when Applejack wasn’t sure how much more she could stand, Pinkie spoke up. “Twilight, it’s you, isn’t it?”

“Yes it’s me, I’m back,” Twilight spoke in a lifeless tone.

“Where have you been?”

“It’s a long story and I'm really tired. I’m going to go get some rest.” She walked to the castle door stripping off her bag, letting it fall to the grounds.

“Twilight!” Rainbow managed to choke out, but if Twilight heard it she didn’t show any signs. The three mares sat in shock as a mixture of joy, confusion, and sadness overtook them. They glanced at each other and, as if sharing the same thought, shot up from there spot and rushed for the door. “Stay out here!” Rainbow yelled at the guard.

It wasn’t hard for them to follow Twilight, the trail of her armor pieces led the way. They followed upstairs and just as they turned down another corridor they spotted Twilight as Spike was approaching her. “Excuse me,” Spike called out, unaware of the onlookers. “Guest are not allowed on the upper floors. If you have an appointment then please wait in the audience hall.”

Twilight tilted her head to the side as she looked at the drake and said, “You’ve gotten big Spike.” In the three years since Twilight’s accident Spike had nearly doubled in height, now being as tall as the other ponies. He was lengthier than before, and his spines were a bit longer as well.

Spike looked at her dumbfounded, “Do I know you?” He asked, as she spotted the mares coming around the corner. “Applejack, who is this?”

Before Applejack could collect her thoughts Pinkie answered. “IT’S TWILIGHT!”

“Pinkie, we don’t know that for sure.” Rainbow argued.

“It is though. I got a itchy ear and twitchy hoof, and that means I was going to meet an old friend.”

Spike looked at Twilight with wide eyes, as he asked, “Is it true? Are you Twilight?”

Twilight let out a sigh that was more a mixture of annoyance and fatigue, “Yes it’s me,” she answered as she stepped past him. “My room is still in the same place isn’t it? It doesn’t matter, I’ll find it. I think I remember where it was.”

Spike could only watch her walk away, tears streaming down his face. “She’s finally back,” he murmured from behind his hands. “She’s finally back.”

“Spike,” Applejack said, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “I need ya to send a letter to Princess Celestia, can ya do that?”

This snapped Spike to attention. He gave a few frantic nods before heading down the hall. The three mares made their way down the hall stopping in front of a now ajar door. Small cries could be heard coming from it. Pinkie Pie slowly stepped to the door and looked through, and her puffy hair quickly deflated. Twilight laid in a bed far too small for her; her armor was gone and now only a dark blue jumpsuit covered her. Twilight’s face buried into the pillow, as the sound of muffled cries of pain filled the room. Pinkie Pie closed the door and turned to the others, “I think we should just leave her be for now.”

Applejack and Rainbow shared a look before nodding. “I’m going to go let Fluttershy and Rarity know what’s going on,” said Rainbow Dash before taking off.

***

Celestia stood over the sleeping form of Twilight. The light was out and only the sunlight from the window kept the shadows at bay. Celestia brushed a strand of hair from her face, as she examined her more closely. She shared many similarities with the Twilight she remembered, but Celestia needed something more concrete than superficial details. Celestia flowed her magic into her horn, making sure to keep the glow at a bare minimum as she cast her spell. A soft smile came to her lips as the spell finished; she leaned down and whispered into her former student’s ear, “Welcome home, my dearest Twilight.”

Celestia made her way down the stairs to the castle's throne room where the element bearers were waiting. As she approached the door she leaned in close, but if there was any conversation it was far too quiet for her to hear. She pushed the double doors open and trotted inside. All eyes were on her but no pony said a word. “I can confirm that it is, in fact, Twilight,” Celestia said, breaking the tension in the room.

“But how?” Rarity spoke up. “We all saw the remains of her crown how could she have survived?”

Fluttershy’s meek voice picked up after Rarity, “And what is she? I’ve never seen a creature like that before.”

“I don’t know,” Celestia answered honestly. “Neither how she survived or what she has become, but I promise you we will find out. The Archmage has been studying the Crystal Mirrors for sometime now, so I will see that this becomes his top priority.”

Rainbow Dash looked between her friends looking far more confused then the rest of them, “So what now?”

“For now all we can do is wait. Spike, once Twilight is awake please inform me.” Spike gave a quick nod, as Celestia continued. “I must return to Canterlot. I left in quite the hurry and now it seems I have much that needs to be done.” With a blinding flash of light Celestia was gone.

The others set there for a moment not quite knowing what to do that is except for Pinkie Pie who was busy writing down a list. When Spike’s curiosity became too much for him to bare he asked, “What are you writing Pinkie?”

“A list of supplies for the party,” she answered quickly as she wrote.

“What party?”

Pinkie looked up and shot Spike a look of surprise, “Why Twilight’s party of course. Do you have any idea how many parties she’s missed?”

Chapter 3: City of Sorrows

Twilight stared down at a map of the old city of La Sierra, or as people have come to call it the City of Sorrows. Surrounding her where the other five members of her squad, all eyes were on Commander Cotreau as he shuffled pages around in a folder. Finding the one he wanted he laid a photo down on the table; the photo was a headshot of a man with slightly puffy cheeks. Twilight noticed that his brown hair was longer than most males she had seen, although she couldn’t see quite how long in the photo.

“This is Dr. Rolland Carafe,” said Commander Cotreau. His aged face gave him natural deadpan look. His exo battle armor, like the other members of her squad, was heavily plated with overlapping heat resisting armor. It was a dark brown with the sharp edges colored red; his shoulder bore an emblem of twin stocks of wheat. “In approximately sixteen hours Central Command will be pulling the front lines back twenty miles from La Sierra.”

Nadia through her arms up, her face contorted with frustration. “Commander Sir, with all due respect, does Central have their heads up their ass? This makes the third time we’ve pulled the front line back; what’s the excuse this time?!” Nadia was the only other woman on the team, unlike Twilight she kept her blond hair short just past her ears.

Twilight hadn’t been on the team long but was already growing use to Nadia’s outburst and Commander Cotreau didn’t even seem to bat an eye at it. “With the mountains to the north Command plans to dig in on the southern line; they already constructed a few miles of trenches. Anyway, as I was saying.” Cotreau pointed to the photo “This is Dr. Rolland Carafe; three days ago he was denied permission to scavenge the ruins of La Sierra, for some old documents. After which he manage to convince an entire platoon to escort him there. Since then we have had no contact with him or the platoon.”

“How did he manage to convince someone?” asked Nadia.

“Probably with some spill about how they would be helping Osana win the war. And how their names would go down in history, he’s rather charismatic,” Davis said a sense of amusement in his tone.

Commander Cotreau cleared his throat regaining their attention. “In his report he claimed documents of Dr. Bevan, also known as the godfather of power armor, could be located at the National Library, seeing as it's one of the few places that could have survived the orbital blast.” He circled the location on the map in red. “Any questions?”

“Do we have any information about the documents he’s after?” Twilight asked her hands resting behind her back.

“Not a lot, Dr. Carafe believed it to be research notes and prototype blueprints things of that nature.

“Do you think we will encounter much enemy resistance?” Teagan asked in a clear deep voice. Teagan was a good head taller than Twilight, and it reminded her of how she always had to look up to Princess Celestia when speaking with her. His short black hair was starting to look a bit shaggy and would likely need a cut soon.

“The Commonwealth is bound to notice the retreating forces, so prepare for some resistance. But with any luck we will be gone before they get too curious.”

“Here’s a question,” Said Skyler. The second in command, who was currently sporting what he told Twilight was called a ‘Crew cut.’ “Dr. Carafe took an entire platoon so why is Command sending a single squad?”

“Short answer,” Said Cotreau. “We drew the short straw.”

“Well it’s good to see Command is as affectionate as ever.” Nadia quipped.

“I like to believe,” said Davis. “That sending us to near death situations is Commands way of showing love.”

Cotreau continued ignoring their banter. “Twilight, I know this will be your first real engagement just remember: don’t play the hero, don’t stick your ass out for the enemy to shoot, and follow orders. If you can do that you should be fine.”

“Yes Sir, I will remember that,” Twilight said.

Skyler walked over by Twilight “Tell me Twilight, are you the religious type?” Cotreau let out a sigh and shook his head before heading out the door; the others just seem to be giggling under their breath.

Twilight had read about many of the religions humans practiced. Osana alone had five different ones, they were ‘colorful’ to say the least. Equestria didn’t have any official religion but Twilight knew that someponies worshiped Celestia, much to Celestia’s annoyance. She had always seen Celestia as more of a motherly figure than that of a goddess. “No I’m not the religious type, why do you ask?”

Skyler smiled, “Because on the battlefield there is only one god and that god is Murphy. You give him the chance and he will make your life a living hell.”

Twilight had heard that name in passing usually associated with some law. She had assumed he was a lawmaker in Osana. “Who’s Murphy?” The rest began filing out of the room. “I would really like to know who that is…anyone…oh come on!”

***

Twilight pressed herself against a dilapidated stone wall as plasma fire pinned her and the rest of her squad down. She peeked over the wall; she could see several heavily armored figures running between the ruined buildings, while more laid down fire from behind fallen pillars. Her helmet’s HUD outlining them all with a red tent. She felt a force fling her back on the gravel as an explosion of green energy impacted where her head once was.

“If you’re not returning fire do not make yourself a target!” Said Cotreau. He walked alone the wall almost oblivious to the green streaks of energy that shot over his head.

“Yes sir, sorry sir,” Twilight said crawling back over to the wall, she could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She took slow deep breaths and gripped her rifle tighter.

“Sub-Lieutenant, how many are we dealing with?” Said Cotreau.

Skyler stopped returning fire and ducked down next to Twilight. “At least a dozen heavy infantry.

Cotreau took a spot next to Skyler and said, “This is what we are going to do—” A piece of the wall exploded; Teagan let out a scream and fell onto his side. “Damit!” Cotreau rose placing his plasma rifle to his shoulder and fire round after round. Twilight glanced over the wall to see one of the armored figures hit the ground.

Davis slid next to Teagan sending rocks sliding across the ground. “Where are you hit!?”

“My shoulder, but I feel fine,” Teagan said sitting up.

“How is he!” Cotreau called out before returning fire.

Davis examined his shoulder and the cracked piece of armor, “The wall took most of the impact, his shoulder plate is cracked but he’ll be fine.”

“Teagan can you still fire your gun!” Cotreau yelled.

“Yes Sir!”

“Good,” Cotreau raised a hand to the side of his helmet, indicating he was using his radio. “Nadia how much farther!”

A distorted voice came over his radio “thirty seconds!”

“Teagan grab your gun, you and I will be making a dash too that building.” He pointed to a building thirty feet away. It was a box looking building that may have once been a store, it looked unstable as the stones were worn and cracked, and the wall that faced them had already fallen away. “The rest of you I want suppressing fire until we’re in position”

Twilight, Davis and Skyler pressed themselves to the wall, waiting for the signal. “Hey Spotlight,” Skyler said. “Try not to think of them as people.”

“It's Twilight, and what do you mean?”

“Think of them as moving targets, only targets that shoot back. It should help.”

Twilight knew she would be required to kill once she became a soldier, and she accepted that, but the thought of seeing living creatures as nothing more than a target made her uneasy.

“On three!” Cotreau called. Twilight held her rifle close as she focused on keeping her breathing even. Plasma impacted the debris around them filling the air with dust. “THREE!” They jumped up, like tightly wound springs, Davis and Skyler fired relentlessly. Twilight looked down the sights of her rifle and aimed for the one making a dead run at their line.

You know what’s most fascinating about humans? It’s how simple they make war. A pegasus has to learn how to fight with multiple weapons both on land and the air. But humans, they made this simple device called a gun and once you pull the trigger whatever it points at dies.

Twilight pulled the trigger hitting the charging soldier in the chest; he hit the ground clenching his smoking chest plate. She fired another round at the soldier and then another, until he stopped moving.

“Down!” Skyler cried. They dropped behind the wall as a new wave of enemy fire hit them. Skyler brought his hand to his radio “I could use a guardian angel right about now!”

The radio came to life, “One guardian angel coming up.” A blast rang through the sky; Twilight came out of cover just as one of the enemy soldiers flew back from an unseen impact.

Twilight fired at a group in cover as two more blast rang out. Plasma rounds fired out from the crumbling store, straight into the group in cover. The pinned soldiers returned fire into the building but were quickly cut down as they came out of cover. The return fire all but stopped as the enemy forces retreated.

“That’s right run!” Skyler yelled, firing another round in their direction. “Nadia, come rejoin the rest of us.”

“But I just got over here.” Nadia’s distorted voice spoke.

“Then you know the way back, double time.”

The squad regrouped in the remains of the store. They sat near the walls drinking from canteens to help fight the heat. Nadia stood by the wall with a rifle as long as she was leaned against her. “Well at least we got the hard part out of the way first,” said Nadia.

“You wish,” Cotreau quipped.

***

“Maybe that’s enough for now,” Twilight said. Looking at the group around the table each of whom seem to have lost a bit of color, they stared at her with a look of unreal disbelief. Twilight wasn’t even sure if Pinkie Pie was listening anymore. Her mane was flat and coat color seemed to have dulled; she slowly peeled the wrapper from a cupcake before setting it with a group of others. Twilight wanted to slap herself for not telling them the water down version like she had planned, but when she started talking it just spilled out. A pair of hooves wrapped around Twilight, she glanced down to see Fluttershy her face pressed against the cold steel of Twilight’s breast plate.

“It's ok,” Fluttershy whispered. “We couldn’t be there for you then, but we’re here for you now.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak but she had no words. More hooves wrapped around her as everyone joined in. Rainbow Dash flittered above the others settling with just resting her hoof on a shoulder.

“Thank you…everyone.”

“Come on everypony! I thought this was supposed to be a party!” Pinkie Pie yelled, from the center of the room on her custom made party cannon. With the pull of a string she rained confetti down on the room.

The next hour flew by in a blur as the group ate food, danced to the music of one of Pinkie’s DJ friends, and played pin the cutie mark on the pony. Twilight set out for most of it choosing to simply watch and enjoy one of the sweetest cupcake she had ever tasted.

“Tell me how have your lives been over the last ten—no, I mean three years?” Twilight ask Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who had joined her at the table. The others took turns dancing with Spike.

“Well isn’t it obvious,” Rainbow said waving a hoof over her outfit.

Twilight placed a hand under her chin and gazed intensely at Rainbow. “I see, you’ve taken up stage acting.”

“Very funny,” Rainbow deadpanned. “I joined the Wonderbolts and not just as one of the reserves but an official member.”

“That’s great, Dash, I know you earned it. With all your training did you ever find time for a special somepony?”

A blush flashed across Rainbows face “I’m, well…that Is…”

“Oh, Rainbow, darling,” Rarity interrupted. “There’s no point in being shy about it, everypony already knows.”

Rainbow grimaced, “Well if you put it like that. I’ve been dating Soarin for almost a year now.” Rainbow could see the gears in Twilight’s mind trying to place the name. “He’s one of the Wonderbolts .” Twilight smiled and nodded.

“Sadly my love life has not been as fulfilling as Rainbows,” said Rarity. “I did meet one stallion a while back, I thought he loved me but it turned out he was only interested in my name.”

“Sorry to hear that, Rarity.”

“It's ok dear, I did get something good out of it…” The audience hall doors open in a burst as, speak of Discord, Soarin flew in.

“Soarin!” Pinkie Pie cried, trotting over. “You came for the party.”

Soarin landed next to Rainbow Dash. “Sorry, Pinkie, I’ll have to get a rain check.”

“What’s going on?” Rainbow asked.

“Spitfire sent me when you didn’t show up to meet with the rest of us.”

“Oh pony feathers, I completely lost track of time.”

Soarin let out a laugh, “Yeah Spitfire thought as much, especially with everything going on. She said it was fine to sit out this time, we can just use one of the reserves.”

“No I can make it…I mean.” Rainbow looked over to Twilight with pleading eyes.

Twilight sighed. “Go on Dash, I’ll be just fine.”

Rainbow smiled “Are you sure?” Twilight nodded.

Wait!” Pinkie called, stopping Rainbow and Soarin before they could take off. She handed them each a chocolate frosted cupcake. “Have fun on your trip.” They plopped the cupcakes in their mouths and flew out the door.

“I suppose I should be getting back home; I told Sweetie Belle I would be back before it got late,” said Rarity. “But Twilight once the party is done come by the boutique and I can make you something better to ware then…that.”

“What’s wrong with my armor?” Twilight asked looking herself over.

“Well for starters it’s not clothing, and for another it’s rather intimidating. Is there a reason you have to wear that?”

Twilight considered telling Rarity about the statistic she had gathered on the death to life ratio for those who were armor during recreational activity. But Twilight had the feeling that a logical arguments was fruitless when it came to Rarity and fashion. Twilight toyed with the control pad on her left forearm switching through the different visual modes, it was pointless without a helmet but it bought her a few moments while she thought of a more simple reason.

“I would just rather keep it on for the time being.”

“I guess if that makes you more comfortable,” said Rarity. “But you still must come by, you can’t wear that all the time now can you.”

Twilight thought about arguing at she could, in fact, where her armor all the time and that she has been doing so for some time now but thought better of it. “I’ll be sure to stop by.”

***

It was strange seeing Ponyville again. It was the place Twilight saw every time she closed her eyes, but somehow it felt less real than in her dreams. Perhaps it was the fact that Ponyville had changed, not by much, but enough that the differences stood out: new houses here, a new coffee shop there. Many of the older building seemed just a bit newer, more than just a fresh coat of paint, but the first steps away from its small village roots and in line with those of manehattan. It made Ponyville feel a little off.

Twilight wasn’t surprised that everyone in the market district recognized her, from what she had been told her first day was rather memorable. She was just glad no one ran at the sight of her, instead the worst she had to deal with were ponies suddenly deciding to walk on the other side of the street, or the hush whispers from ponies as she walked by. She ignored it, far too focused on the sun the shined brightly down without the scorching heat she was so use to, and the subtle breeze the carried the scent of fresh produce.

“Twilight, is that you?” Twilight swiveled around to a young orange filly, going on mare, sitting behind an apple stand. Applebloom was looking much like her sister, her red mane hung loose underneath her own stetson.

“Hello Applebloom,” Twilight said, walking over.

“Can’t believe the rumors are true, you got turned into a hairless diamond dog.”

“Human,” Twilight corrected. “Not a diamond dog.”

“So are you stuck like that?”

“I’m not sure, I’ll need to talk to the princesses about it. But how have you been?”

Applebloom’s face lite up “Well for starters Ah got my cutie mark.” She turned to the side and showed off the mark, it was a heart within an apple within a multi colored shield. “Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got their marks the same time as me, for helping other ponies understand their cutie marks. Now when Ah’m not in school or helping out on the farm we’re off crusading helping others with their marks.”

“Somethings never change.”

“What brings you out here? Applejack said they were havin’ a party for you at the castle?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “I slipped out to get some air; I was actually taking the long way to Rarity’s boutique when I got turned around, so much for seeing the sights.”

“Oh well Ah can point you the rest of the way, just head down the north road here aways and you can’t miss it,” Applebloom said, pointing a hoof past Twilight.

“Thanks, Applebloom, I should get going.”

“Here, catch.” Applebloom called out tossing an apple to Twilight. “That one's on me. Welcome back, Twilight.”

Twilight’s teeth dug into the shiny red apple, savoring the sweet juices. Sweet Apple Acres apples were as she remembered, the best apples in all of Equestria.

Twilight stepped through the door of Rarity’s boutique; a soft chime of a bell announced her entrants. “I’ll be right there,” Rarity called out from the other room.

Twilight looked over a rack of dresses each one more elaborate than the next. “Oh Twilight, I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” said Rarity, trotting into the room.

Twilight shrugged. “I was out so I thought I’d go ahead and stop by.”

“Marvelous, I was just thinking of different designs I could make for you. Now just give me a moment and I’ll get your measurements.” Rarity used her magic to bring out a measuring tape. “Um Twilight, if you don’t mind I’m going to need you to remove your armor, unless you want your clothing to be rather large.”

Twilight gave a quick glance at the door before nodding and removing each individual piece, placing them on a small round table. Rarity bought the measuring tape around her waist, up her thigh, down an arm, and over her chest.

“Rarity, I would prefer just some pants and a shirt, I don’t really need a dress,” said Twilight.

“But darling,” Rarity grimaced, rolling up the tape measure. “That’s just so plane.” Twilight gave a halfhearted smile. “Very well then, give me fifteen minutes. I’m sure you want to get out of that dirty outfit of yours.”

Twilight looked at the many stains that littered her jumpsuit, she couldn’t remember the last time she washed them. Rarity trotted off to her back room and within moments she could hear the sewing machine working.

She stepped up to the three way mirror, looking at the different angles of her reflection. She stepped closer to the center mirror when she noticed a red dot near the bridge of her nose and moved to wipe it away, only to smear a dark red mark down her cheek. The smell of blood wafted from her dark red hand and her breath increased as she tried wiping it off with her other hand but only succeeding in spreading it further. And spread it did. The blood seem to take on a life of its own as it consumed both her arms before overflowing and dripped to the floor.

Twilight covered her face with her hands; the smell was suffocating. “Not real, not real, not real!”

***

“Hey Twilight,” Skyler called. “You still with us.”

“What…oh yes, I just wasn’t expecting all of this,” Twilight said. She looked out at the ruin fill plaza in front of the National Library; dozens of commonwealth soldiers laid dead among the blackened rubble. Several armored cars and even what was left of a tank lay burning, made more ominous by the backdrop of the setting sun.

The National Library had seen better days, like most everything it had a burnt black look, most of the left wing seemed to have collapsed in on itself. Two four foot tall window panes stood on either side of the front entrance and out of the four pillars that once stood at the front only one was now standing.

“Looks like we have a welcoming party,” Nadia said, pointing at the library roof to see a small figure waving.

The library’s large double doors stood open with a plasma turret fixed at the threshold. Its operator waved Twilight and her squad in as they approached. Rolls of ceiling high shelves lined the walls of the two floors, shelves that once stood in the center of the lobby now laid fallen, their burnt books littering the floor. A trio of battle armor soldiers greeted them; the one in the center removed his helmet and saluted. He had black rings under his eyes, and brown hair just past his ears. “Lieutenant Delsin Healy, glad to see someone not trying to kill us.”

Cotreau returned the salute “Commander Len Cotreau, who’s in charge here?”

“That be me,” said Delsin. “Colonel Levitt died in the last attack.” He motioned toward the far wall to a massive armored body sitting next to the wall with a hole the size of a bowling ball in its chest. If it was standing it would easily be ten feet tall, completely encasing the pilot in armor that makes the exo battle armor look like paper.

Skyler held a look of shocked delight “Your Colonel was a Berserker, I thought they were all stim addicted, uncontrollably psychotic killing machines?”

“Oh they are, Colonel Levitt was just good at keeping himself under control.”

“What’s your situation here?” Cotreau asked.

“I’m sure you saw it outside, the Rats have been hitting us nonstop. Out of the forty in our platoon only eight are left, and to top it off our portable artillery cannon on the roof gave out on us and that was the only thing that saved us in the last wave. That and the Colonel taking out the tank.”

“Is Dr. Rolland Carafe still alive?”

“He’s alive, he’s been down in the basement archives since we got here; looking for something. We’ve been debating on whether or not we should tie him up and make a run for it,” Delsin laughed.

“Teagan,” said Contreau, turning to him. “Head up to the roof and give them a hand with the artillery. I will be heading to the basement to have a chat with our runaway doctor. The rest of you get comfortable, I have a feeling we are going to be here for a while.”

“And I would stay out of the faculty lounge if I were you, it's where we’re keeping the dead,” Delsin warned.

Twilight made her way to a pile of crates that seem to hold what supplies Delsin and his men had left. She took off her helmet and set it down, picking up one of the few nutrient bars that lay about and bit it in half. Her face scrunched up at the taste, or lack thereof, as she forced herself to swallow. “Wow, that’s awful.”

“That’s nutrient bars in a nutshell, all the vitamins and minerals the body needs with the good ol' taste of ass,” said one of the soldiers walking over. His hair was thin and as dark as his skin, and his face had a rough complexion. “The name’s Sam.” He extended a hand.

Twilight took it. “Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight? Is that one of those Islander names?”

“That it is.”

“So I guess it’s true you Islanders all name yourself after plants and stuff. Is it also true you guys shun technology?”

“More or less,” said Twilight. The Islands, from what Twilight had read, where a group of islands a few hundred miles from the Osana mainland. Its inhabitants were famed for their insistent on living with nature; it had made the perfect cover for Twilight.

“Hey Sam,” the turret operator called out. “It’s your turn on the gun, move your ass.”

“I’m coming!” Sam shouted back. “Can’t be nice for five damn seconds before…” his words trailed off into mumbling as he walked away.

Night had fallen. Twilight and the rest of her squad took over guard duty for the fatigued soldiers. Twilight stood at the second floor window looking out over the plaza, her eyes watched the fire from the tank dance as it fought to stay alive. A soft moaning filled the night air that snapped Twilight to attention. She peering down the sight of her rifle but saw nothing. Another moan whispered on the wind.

“At ease Spotlight,” said Skyler walking up from behind.

“Sir, I heard something out there.”

Skyler chuckled “That’s just the ghost. And drop the Sir crap, Skyler is just fine.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, lowering her rifle. “Ghost?”

“Some say it’s the cries of those that died here, hints the name City of Sorrows.”

“And the truth?”

“Winds blowing through underground pipes that got knocked loose in the orbital strike.”

Twilight turned back to the window. “Why? What could justify this much killing? What started this?” her arm waved out to the street.

Skyler let out a long sigh, “I don’t know about justifying it, but as for what started it, well do you remember hearing about the Colonization Effort?” Twilight stared with a blank look. “Right, Islander my mistake. The Colonization Effort was humanity's first attempt at colonizing another planet, they had a nice planet all picked out a few systems away, and thousands of people volunteering to go. But then Osana and the Commonwealth started bickering over who would get the mining rights on the better parts of the planet. Those two had a lot of bad blood even before then and the mining rights just sent them over the edge. And then the Commonwealth destroyed La Sierra and started this war.”

Twilight’s voice was quiet as she spoke “Does that make any of this right?”

“Right and wrong are for the victors to decide.”

Commander Contreau stormed back from the basement his helmet under his arm. He looked to the upper floor locking eyes with Twilight “Twilight front and center.” Twilight raced over taking the winding stairs two at a time.

Delsin walked over. “So how’s Dr. Carafe?” he asked humor clear in his voice.

Contreau scowled. “He’s lucky we have orders to bring him back. Do you have any explosives?”

Delsin deadpanned. “Commander, our colonel was a Berserker, they practically shit explosives.”

“Good, I want the entire archives rigged to blow within the hour, better to burn than fall into the hands of Commonwealth. Twilight head to the archives and help Dr. Carafe fine the documents, whether you fine them or not, in one hour we are getting the hell out of here. Delsin, any progress on the artillery?”

“From what I understand the power cell burnt out so their trying to convert the cell from the Colonel’s power armor, no luck as of yet.”

Twilight entered the last door to the basement archives her rifle slung over her back. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped. The archive was filled with eight feet tall square cabinets and they were lined up by the hundreds, spaced just far enough apart to walk between them. Twilight examined the first one she came to; it had locked doors with engraved names that ran along the length of each side. Twilight walked between the cabinets, the sound of her metallic sole clinked with each step on the linoleum floor. “Dr. Carafe, are you here?”

“Yes, yes I’m here, now go away I’m busy,” A voice echoed. Twilight followed the sound to the far side of the room. A round man in a simple bullet proof vest set on his knees; he fiddled with a set of keys before finding the one he wanted. He unlocked the bottom door and pulled out a long container, and quickly opened it and shuffled through the documents inside. With a frustrated huff he pushed the container aside. “Not this one either.” He glanced up to Twilight. “Are you going to help me look or what? I assume that’s why you’re here.”

“Oh, Um, of course where do I start?”

Dr. Carafe rolled his eyes, “you’re looking for documents containing Dr. Bevan’s research.” He removed a key from a ring and handed it over. “This is a master key don’t lose it. You’re looking for a door labeled as Dr. Bevan or one of his many pin names.”

“I don’t know any of his pin names.”

“Nor do I, he was a very paranoid man. I’ve already searched most of this room but there are still six more rooms just like this one, start with one of them.”

It had been nearly thirty minutes, she wasn’t sure as it was hard to keep track of time there, but she had seen a few others setting up explosives and heard Dr. Carafe’s rather loud protest. She manage to get through one cabinet but she had no idea what she was looking for, most of what she found was random history trivia. From the look of it the floor in a section of the room had fallen in, taking a few of the cabinets down with it; she really hope what she needed had not fallen down there.

If she just had her magic she could cast a simple locator spell. She ran a hand through her hair. ‘How I miss my magic,’ she thought. ‘Locator spells are not even complex you just need a few details about the object in question, or at worst information about the one who hid it. The only thing I know about this Dr. Bevan is that he was famed for his work with power armor…Now that I think about it he was really only famous for that, out of everything I read about him, his name always went hand in hand with one power armor in particular, but what was it?’

Twilight raced passed the cabinets and out the room. Dr. Carafe had moved onto another roll of cabinets and was in the middle of shifting through the contents of a container. “Dr. Carafe.” Twilight said. He stopped and glared at Twilight not trying to hide a bit of his annoyance. “What was that armor Dr. Bevan was so famous for?”

“The Mako Frame why do you ask…” Dr. Carafe face lit up as realization hit him. Without another word he bolted up and raced out the room, Twilight followed close behind him. “Of course, why didn’t I see it earlier!” He looked from one cabinet to the next as he move down the line, until finding the one he was after. His hands shook has he inserted the key into the door marked Mako, he pulled the container free and set it on the ground. Slowly he opened it and took out the first folder inside, Twilight could see what looked like power armor blueprints and underneath that was a stack of pages bound together titled Teleportation Theory.

“What is this?” Twilight asked pulling out the bound pages. She flipped through it, a few pages had crude drawings of a platform with an overarching beam shooting lighting down.

Dr. Carafe took one look at the title. “Dr. Bevan was known to tamper in other fields, but there is a reason he’s only known for his work on power armor.”

Twilight activated the radio in her helmet “Commander, this is Private Twilight come in.” Static. “Commander Contreau, do you read me?” static was her only answer. “I can’t get a signal we should head up.”

“You go ahead I just want to read over this for a moment.”

Not wanting to argue Twilight headed out the room and up the three floors of stairs. She had nearly reached the door when she heard the gunfire and felt the shaking of the building. Skyler was standing in the lobby as she entered, reloading his plasma rifle. “Good of you to join us, Twilight.”

Twilight took her rifle off her shoulder strap, gripping it with both hands “How many?”

“Enough, get to the front entrance and help take some heat off the turret.”

Along the upper floors soldiers fired from every window, but the return fire was relentless. A few had resorted to sticking their rifles out the window and firing blind. Twilight did her best to focus as she ran past but she still saw one of Delsin’s men fly back as a plasma round impacted his helmet. TShe through herself next to the window on the right side of the turret. Davis was at the window across from her with Sam at the turret, only a thin energy shield separating him from the oncoming fire. The turret glowed red from the endless fire; Twilight fired out doing her best to mimic the turret. Even with night vision enabled and targeting assist pinging enemy soldiers with a red outline, she wasn’t sure if she was hitting anything.

“Dammit, there’s too many of them!” Nadia called out from the upper floors, her rifle perched on a table for support as she fired her ballistic rounds, pushing Twilight's noise dampeners to their limit. “They’re going to overrun us at this rate!”

Skyler took a spot near Nadia. “Just hold them off a little longer, the Commander went to check on the artillery.”

Sam cried out in pain and hit the floor with a loud thud, gripping his side. Without thinking Twilight dropped her rifle and raced over to him. She grabbed his shoulders and drug him away from the entrance and behind a fallen bookshelf for cover. “Twilight get his helmet off,” Davis said, dropping down next to them. Twilight wordlessly complied unlocking the seals on his helmet and pulling it over his head. Davis used an emergency release and broke off the front of Sam’s chest plate, and with a knife he cut away his red undershirt. Sam’s left side was bleeding profusely, the parts not covered in blood were burnt black. The sight alone made Twilight want to gag. Davis gripped Twilight’s hand and placed it on the wound. “Keep pressure on it,” He instructed. Twilight nodded; she pressed both hands into the wound but it was too big, blood kept seeping through her gloves and running over. Davis maneuvered a white cloth over the wound careful not to have Twilight fully remove her hands. He pulled an injector gun from his bag and pushed a vile into its back, “Talk to him, keep him distracted.”

Sam was grinding his teeth; Twilight gave him her best reassuring smile. It took her a moment to realise that she was still wearing a helmet, with one hand she awkwardly unclasped the helmet and removed it. “Y-you’re going to be just fine.”

Sam let out a laughing cough “Now I know I’m fucked.” He winced in pain as Davis inserted the injector into his chest. “You know I had planned to go to the Islands when the war was over, get away from the technology and all. Never been there myself, what’s it like.” He looked at her with half closed eyes.

Twilight recalled everything she had read about the Islands, “It’s beautiful, filled with tropical rainforest and the settlements were built to be in harmony with nature. Some homes have trees growing straight through them.”

“Twilight,” Davis spoke softly.

“And the ocean is so clear some mornings you could see all the way to the bottom.”

“Twilight!” Davis said more firmly. “He’s gone, Twilight.” Twilight could only stare, a protest stuck in her throat. Davis reached over and closed Sam’s eyes, “Come on, the battle's not over yet.” Davis rose, picked up his rifle and headed back to the window he once stood at.

Twilight picked up her helmet twisting it around in her hands, she noticed a bit of blood on the visor and tried to wipe it off, but only managing to smear it more. ‘Oh that’s right,’ Twilight thought. ‘My gloves are covered in blood. I guess I should clean them with something.’ she picked up one of the ruined books and ripped out a wad of pages, and wiped off her gloves. The paper quickly became a nasty mess. She tossed it away grabbing another wad of pages until she could see the black underneath. She repeated the process with her helmet until she had a clear circle in the center. ‘I wonder what my friends would think of me destroying a book? I bet they be shocked.’ she slipped the helmet over her had; much of the vision was smudged and tinted dark.

Twilight heard Delsin’s voice call out, “Rat armor incoming!”

Skyler leaned over the rail looking down at Twilight. “Twilight, our radios are being jammed. Get to the roof and tell them we need that artillery!”

“Understood!” Twilight rose from her spot and raced down the hall. A collapsed section of the ceiling made a natural ramp up to the roof. Teagan and one of Delsin’s men were kneeling next to the cannon while Contreau looked out over the edge.

“Let me guess,” Contreau said, without looking back. “They want to know the status on the artillery, well, Teagan?”

“One minute!” Came Teagan’s reply.

“That may have been possible before the tank and the six Commonwealth Juggernauts showed up.”

Between the crumbling buildings rolled a tank with three Juggernauts flanking it on each side. The Juggernauts were like the Berserker Power armor, only the Juggernauts were larger and each one carried its own cannon. The building around them exploded, sending chunks of the building falling as the Juggernauts took notice of their location. Twilight ducked behind a wall, but Contreau just watched even as a round detonated mere feet from his head. “Sir, you should take cover,” Twilight cried.

“That is the Anti-Tank Electrothermal Accelerator Cannon, also called the Anti-Tank Railgun,” Contreau began. “It can obliterate a man with a single hit or punch a hole right through an unshielded tank, but it’s got shit for accuracy.”

“Commander,” Teagan said standing up. “We’re ready.”

“Fire at will.”

The artillery cannon spun to life as it charged with energy; it jerked back each time it fired. Twilight couldn’t see what it fired until it impacted on the plaza consuming two of the Juggernauts in a blue plume of plasma, but one of the Juggernauts stumbled back to its feet. “Looks like they upgraded the shields on those things,” Contreau said. The artillery cannon managed to get off another round before the power cell began shooting out sparks and caught fire. Contreau pulled the other man away from the flames, “Well we’re not holding this place, you said there was another exit in the basement?” He asked looking over at the man.

“Yeah, one of the rooms has a breach in the floor, if the old maps are right it leads into the city’s subway system.”

They made their way into the lobby and the fighting was still raging. Contreau took a breath, “Everyone fallback to the archives! I repeat, fallback to the archives!” No one needed to be told twice and they raced to the basement door, staying down to avoid plasma fire. “Delsin,” Contreau said stopping him as he passed. “Are the explosive set?”

“Set and waiting.” He handed Contreau the detonator “Figured you wanted to do the honor.”

“Good, this should cover our retreat.”

Contreau waited by the door as everyone piled through; Twilight couldn’t help but glance back at Sam still lying there unmoving. She shook her head trying to focus herself then step through the door.

***

Twilight hands were shaking, her breath rabid, she couldn’t see the blood anymore but she could still smell it. Her knees gave out on her and she collapsed down. She fiddled with her jumpsuit’s zipper pulling it down, and retrieving the metallic box. Her hands were shaking so bad she nearly dropped the injector gun, she turn the dial down to the lowest setting and inserted the blue vile. She didn’t even feel the needle has she plunged it into a vein, but in moments she felt the release of the Anizon as it coursed through her system. Twilight took slow deep breaths; her hands stilled, her breathing and heart rate slowed. She placed the injector and vile back into its case and tucked them away into her inner pocket.

“Twilight are you ok!?” Rarity cried. As she entered the room two garments suspended in her magic.

Twilight held a look of complacency as she turned to meat Rarity’s look of worry. “Don’t worry Rarity, I’m fine.”

Chapter 17: Battle for Eastelf, Part Three

Two days until return

Before Twilight stood the door to the meeting room were dozens of the top military leaders planed the next stage in the war. She stood there because she and her team had been summoned for reasons unknown to her, but she didn’t need to be a genius to know that Skylar and Teagan were only there because they wanted her. She took a few deep breaths as she readied herself to open the door. No matter how much time past she still found it hard to shake off her nerves when meeting an authority figure. Gripping the golden handle, she opened the door and stepped in.

Few took notice of Twilight, as most were busy watching a series of screens on the far wall. Some of the screens showed camera footage of the ongoing battle, while others were a satellite map of the city. In the center of the room was a long oval table with two men talking in whispers. The first man she had seen only from photos, General Bartley, who, with the exception of the Emperor himself, was to most powerful man in the city. Twilight did not envy the responsibility that lay upon his shoulders. The other man was none other than Rolland Carafe. Both heads looked up as Twilight stepped to the table.

Twilight snapped a salute, but was just as quickly given the at ease order, as General explained, “Lance Corporal, I am far too busy to worry about formalities, so what say we just skip them, shall we?”

Twilight answered as her body remained stiff, “Yes sir!”

Like a switch being flipped, at the sound of the Generals voice everyone turned from the monitor and gathered around the table. With the exception of Rolland and Twilight, there were only eight people gathered around, each with enough chevrons to tell Twilight she was the lowest ranked person. The feeling of being out of place was a growing one. General Bartley looked to each person as he spoke, “I know all of you are busy, so I will endeavor to keep this short and concise. Approximately six hours ago the enemy balrog, hereby referred to as Arrowhead, was confirmed to have moved into the now occupied section of the waterfront. At last report, it was making its way towards the Inner City gate, under heavy guard. We are delaying them as best we can, but the issues that stand before us is the unknown weapon the commonwealth used to breach the outer wall. Doctor Rolland, care to enlighten everyone with exactly what we are dealing with,”

“Of course, what I can tell you is that the commonwealth are using a theoretical energy source to power the weapon, an energy source that is supposed to be just that: theoretical. The Commonwealth have some very talented people,”

“Quite,” one man said as he broke in. “And as fascinating as learning about the science behind the Arrowhead is, our best move would be to order an armored assault,”

“And risk losing them to the Arrowhead’s main cannon!” said another man. “We send in a small group under cover of dark and put it out of action,”

“They would never make it within thirty yards!”

More ideas were thrown out, some were rather timid while others were the equivalent of ordering troops to fix bayonets and charge. Regardless of who had the better idea, it was ultimately the General’s call, and when he finally raised a hand to silence everyone he spoke, “We have a plan, one that Doctor Rolland has been working on,” with a wave of his hand he allowed Rolland to continued from where he left off.

“I’m not sure how many of you are aware of my research, but for the last few years I’ve been working on the development of a teleportation system,” by the look on everyone’s face Twilight could see they were all thinking the same thing. Last she heard the teleporter was just entering test trials with animals, and the results were mixed if one was being generous. “We’ve had to make some short cuts, due to the war, but I believe it is now safe enough to use,”

“This is great, we can just send a bomb over and—“

“NO!” Rolland’s cry silenced the man. “That is the last thing we must do. I don’t know how the commonwealth stabilized that energy source, but I can tell you if you don’t deal with it properly the resulting explosion will take most of the city with it,”

The room feel into a silence as the words sunk in. The General didn’t seemed phased, but likely already knew about this, and was the one to break the silence, “It is for this reason we will be sending over a small team to both disable the Arrowhead and eliminate the enemy leader. However, things are never that simple. As Rolland has informed me, there is a mass limit on how many things can be teleported per day. If you are interested in the specific science behind it I’m sure the Doctor will be happy to explain it later, but the important part is that, calculating in the gear we can only send over five individuals,” General Bartley gestured to Twilight. “Due to Lance Corporal Sparkle’s unique ability, we have chosen her and the other three members of her team for the mission, assuming you are up to the task soldier?”

“Sir, yes sir. However, Private Nadia died three days ago,” said Twilight, her face perfectly hiding the emotions behind it.

“That’s unfortunate, I’ll assign a four once we are done here, but for the fifth member we need someone who can disable that energy source. Rolland, how long will it take for you to teach someone what they need that know?”

“That won’t be necessary, I’m going myself,” for the first time since the meeting began, the General looked genuinely surprised to hear something.

“Come again?”

“General, we have one chance to get this right— one. So you will have to forgive me if I don’t wish to relive on the memory of some random grunt,”

“You are not an engineer, Rolland,” the General pointed out. But was quickly countered by an officer.

“We don’t need him to build an engine, just hit the off switch, so to say. I’m in agreement with Doctor Rolland, we can’t risk something going wrong here. If he’s volunteering, I say let him,”

General Bartley looked at everyone present, waiting for someone to offer a counter argument, but as none came he could only sigh. “Very well, Rolland, you get your wish. How long until the teleporter is ready to use?”

“I’ll need a few hours to get everything ready,”

“Very well, Lance Corporal, gather your team, the gear you will need and wait on standby in the teleporter warehouse,” Twilight gave a salute, and with a quick about-faced ,left the room.

Twilight walked quickly down the hallway. She had a vague idea were Teagan and Skyler were they had come together when they were ordered to the Inner City. At the time all they had known was that they were being requested for a meeting, but now that Twilight knew the specifics she didn’t know what to think. She would of course go, she had not spent years fighting only to back down at a dangerous mission. But this wasn’t just any dangerous mission. The fact was that there was a good possibility that no one was going to make it back. Twilight stopped in the hallway as she looked down the path before her. When had she become so willing to die for a land that wasn’t her own. It was a strange crisis of faith that plagued her, at an even stranger time. She took a deep breath and placed one foot in front of the other. Her path was set and overthinking it would change nothing.

Twilight found Teagan sitting alone in the building cafeteria, pushing a plate of unrecognizable food around with a fork. Teagan kept toying with his food even as he spoke up, “I don’t know if she ever told you, but I first met Nadia in this city,” Teagan said. Twilight could feel the weight on his shoulders, and without saying a word took a seat across from him. “It was in a bar, on the ass end of the city. I had just gotten dropped from the berserker program and was rather down about it, so I go into this bar and there Nadia was bartending. I had barely taken a seat when she set down the biggest pint in front of me. She said she had brothers who served and knew the look of rejection well. We talked. I told her what happened, said I was considering dropping out and returning home. She called me a wuss. That I should just join the regulars and not be moping that I didn’t get the spot I wanted. She even offered to join with me, but I just chalked it up to the friendly bartender act. A few days go by and I still hadn’t made up my mind about dropping out or not, but on a whim I dropped by the bar once more. The moment Nadia saw me she hopped the bar and raced over to show me her enlistment certificate, dated the day after she saw me. When I asked why she would join, she barely even knew me, I’ll never forget what she said: ‘fuck it, I was tired of bartending anyway,’” Teagan let his fork drop and pushed his plate away.

With the hint of a smile Twilight answered, “That sounds like her,” Though Twilight would love nothing more than to reflect on the memories of her friend, they didn’t have much time to get ready. “We have new orders,”

Without a word, Teagan nodded and raised from his seat.

They walked in silence out of the building, to the warehouse housing the teleporter. Set almost into the back of the building, the teleporters twin arches rose up over the hexagon platform that made up its core. At the tip of the arches a large disk hovered above. All of this manpower and technology for the simple act of teleporting, and Twilight wasn’t even sure if it would work or not. It made her realized just how convenient magic was in comparison. Rolland was at a control panel on the platform, making final preparations. Skyler stood close by, letting his eyes dance over the machine.

“Quite a sight,” said Twilight as she and Teagan took a place at his side.

“Do you think it works,” asked Skyler.

“Well, we are going to find out first hand,” when Skyler gave her his full attention she elaborated. “New orders, we will be teleporting inside the enemy balrog,” before she could go on much farther Rolland’s head popped up over the control panel.

“Twilight, before you start with your briefing, could you give me a hand here?” Twilight was a bit surprised by the request, she didn’t have much experience with the teleporter’s system herself.

“Go on,” said Skyler. “You can brief us after, and we’ll gather what gear we need. If we are sneaking onto a balrog we’ll need close quarters weapons,” with a back hand wave the two of them wondered off.

Twilight stepped onto the platform and looked over the dozens of buttons on the control panel, as if attached to the side there was a metallic sphere built into the panel itself. She ran her hand over its smooth surface and felt a tingle of energy up her arm. “What is this for?”

“For you,” Rolland answered. “I haven’t really had time to show you yet, but it’s how you will get home,” Twilight looked at the orb closer. “For years I’ve been trying to figure out how to send you home, but it was like a creature with no eyes trying to understand color. There was a link I was missing, something that was so obvious that I couldn’t see it: you,”

“I don’t understand?”

“Your magic itself is the key. The magic is from your dimension, so by pouring it into the control orb the teleporter will lock onto the origin point,”

“This… is incredible!” Twilight smiled and placed a hand on Rolland’s shoulder.

“There is one more thing. I lied to the general. There is enough power to teleport six individuals, five for the mission, and one for you to go home now if you wish,”

Twilight tightened her hand on his shoulder. “Rolland,” she said, a single word with a thousand meanings.

Rolland lower his head, a sigh escaping his lips. “I knew that would be your answer, but I had to try. Now I still have some work to do here unless the only thing we want to teleport to the Arrowhead are burnt bodies,”

Twilight left him and stepped down from the platform. She headed for the armory, where she knew Skyler and Teagan had gone, but before she could exit the warehouse a woman ran up to her, panting. Her skin was a deep tan, far more than you would get sunbathing, and her dark hair dangled behind her in a ponytail. There was a strange since of familiarity that Twilight couldn’t place. “I’m glad I cought up to you, Twilight Sparkle, or is it just Twilight? I’ve never been very good with Islander names. Anyway, I’m Privet Catherine Rose, I was just assigned to this mission,” at odd look she was getting from Twilight, she added, “You don’t remember me do you?”

“Sorry can’t say I do,”

“I’m not surprised, I wasn’t exactly the most memorable thing at the time, but you… who wouldn’t remember you. It was a few years back, I was serving as a balrog engineer at the time, and had the pleasure of accompanying you and your team to a disabled balrog… in the middle of a battlefield… while trying not to get blown up,”

Twilight gave the woman a smile. “Yes, I remember. But why are you a soldier now?”

“Well, if I’m still going to get shot at while onboard the biggest tanks in the world, then I want the option of shooting back, so I transferred,”

“Have you been briefed?”

“Don’t worry, Twilight, I know what I’m getting myself into,” Twilight nodded and with a motion led Catherine away.

It was several hours later that Twilight, Skyler, Teagan, and now Catherine gathered before the teleporter. Twilight had gone over the mission with everyone in detail and they had prepared accordingly. Instead of the standard plasma rifle, each of them wielded a SMG with an attached silencer. While the outside of the Arrowhead was guarded heavily armored solders, they didn’t expect to run into the same level of resistance. Rolland stood before everyone, as he worked to secure the helmet of his bulky turtle armor. “I hate this armor. I look ridiculous,”

“We’ll have the next version designed for looks rather than stopping bullets. Until then you’re stuck with it,” said Skyler.

“Everything is ready over here, Doctor,” a man in a white coat said, from behind the control panel.

“Then let us get this over with,” answered Rolland. At his lead everyone followed him onto the platform and stood in a line at the center.

“Beginning charging sequence,”

The air hummed with energy. Twilight could feel the path of the energy flowing up the arches and into the disk above them. It gathered there, waiting for the switch that would release it down upon them. “Focus on your breathing,” ordered Rolland. Twilight took in a breath and slowly let it out.

“Ninety percent charged, teleporting in 10…9…8…7,” Twilight drew in air and tried to unbind the knot in her stomach. “3…2…1,”

The world was blanket in a blue light, and for a moment Twilight was overcome by the sensation of falling. She thought to grab something but there was nothing around her to grab, nor did she have arms to use. There was only the nothingness. She remembered the feeling of teleporting back home, but it was nothing like this. There the out of body feeling lasted mere moments, barely long enough for her mind to register it, but this. It was like an emptiness without end. Until with a thrust she was back into the world once more.

Twilight collapsed to her knees. The others, though shaky, held their weapons high as they searched their surroundings. They stood next to stacks of metal crates in a large storage area. A few wolverines were lined a against one wall, their wheels locked into place. Apart from them, there was no one in sight. “How are you doing, Twilight,” asked Skyler, not letting his guard down.

“I’m ok. That wasn’t what I was expecting,” Twilight rose to her feet and took up her weapon.

“Good, from this point on keep all communication to an absolute minimum. No matter what happens we complete this mission,” no words were said in acknowledgement, no words were needed.

Skyler took lead and together they moved like a coiled snake through the storage area, towards the staircase to the upper floors. Skrler placed himself next to the door. He pointed to the closed door then to Teagan. Teagan nodded and stepped forward to open it, while Twilight and Catherine aimed center mass at the door. Rolland for his part was smart enough to stay out of the way, in case the worst were to happen. Teagan pulled the door open with the grown of a unoiled hinge, to the pale face man in a brown jump suit. The look of surprise on his face had barely left his eyes by the time he felt the impact of a burst fire from Catherine’s SMG. He slumped forward and slid down the stairs.

Skyler and Teagan moved as one and quickly grab ahold of the body to hide it away. They placed him behind some boxes were he wouldn’t be discovered immediately. The group moved up the stairs one at a times, Rolland kept to the middle while Teagan brought up the rear. Through barren halls they moved quietly, keeping one pace, their feet barely hit the ground before they moved to the next. It wasn’t until they came to the first cross roads that the group stopped. “Here,” Rolland said. “This way leads to the engine room,”

Skyler gave a nod. “Teagan and Catherine will be escorting you, me and Twilight will carry out the second objection and look for the commanding officer,”

Teagan gave his simple nod. “Be careful you two,”

“Be careful yourselves,”

Catherine placed a hand on Teagan shoulder as she said, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after the big guy,” They lingered a moment, more than they should have, less then they wanted. But the two groups departed, each one having their own mission to complete.

Teagan led his team deeper into the depth of the Arrowhead. They moved cautiously as the hallway opened up into a wide corridor. Sounds of voices came from behind closed doors. A few doors were to the controls for the Arrowhead’s side mounted guns, while others were just filled with technician sitting behind computer screens working. None of the rooms were their target, their destination laid further still. They took a stairway farther down. The rattling of the steps was like an alarm in the quiet surrounding. Catherine watched the surrounding rooms as the other two took the path first, it was only when Rolland had cleared the last step that she descended herself.

They approached the sliding doors to engineering, and quickly made ready to move through. Teagan stood next to one door with Catherine by the other. At a nod from Teagan, Catherine moved to the control panel, and the door slid open with the touch of a button. Teagan moved in first with Catherine shadowing him.

Engineering was a mix of floor to ceiling computer banks, stubby control stations with worn out chairs, and the massive rotary motors that drowned out the noise of their entrance. The room was filled with eight unarmed and unarmored engineers in brown jumpsuits. Teagan looked to Catherine and she nodded in understanding. They had to be quick and not let them get off a warning.

They sprinted into the open room, their guns moving with their line of sight. The first man to spot them was silenced with the tack-tack of Teagan’s weapon. Screams and cries of, “the enemy is here!” and “Call for help,” but with each tack-tack the cries were hushed.

One man tried to escape deeper into engineering, through a door at the far end. Teagan let the man swipe his keycard and open the door before he sent two rounds down range and put the man down.

Catherine searched the room with the eyes of a fox. She found one engineer huddled under a computer desk. “Please don’t kill me!,” the man cried at Catherine’s unfeeling eyes staring down on him. “I’m just an engineer—“ He was shown neither pity nor mercy as Catherine fired her weapon. No quarter was show nor did they expect it to be shown.

“I count seven dead,” said Catherine.

“I saw eight earlier, stay alert,”

“They moved closer together as their eyes scanned the room, but it was Rolland her spotted him with a call of “There,” he pointed to one of the motors, where the last engineer was ducking low behind.

As three pairs of eyes locked onto the man he bolted from cover, his eyes locked onto the control station directly in his path. “Put him down!” ordered Teagan. Shots hit the man’s side but he did not slow. A round to the shoulder twisted his body but he persevered. He leaped through the air, with an out stretched hand, as another founds found there mark. His body landed on the control station, unmoving, yet no one needed to check to know they had failed when an alarm blared through the intercom.

“Engineering, what’s going on?” a voice asked from the same station that man now laid upon.

“Shit!” No longer bothering with subtlety, Teagan took lead as he yelled, “Double time!”

They passed through the far door, deeper into engineering. The room was only a fraction of the size of the former, and seem designed solely for the sphere that was held suspended by floor and ceiling rods. The sphere was filled with a red swirling mist. The reactor was ringed with a metal cage that held it together.

“Is this it?” Asked Catherine.

“Yes, yes it is,” Rolland” eyes were as wide as a child in a toy store. “The things we could learn from this,”

“Stay focused, doctor, can you do this?” Asked Teagan.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No,”

“I didn’t think so,” Rolland took off his duffel bag and began unpacking the tools he would need, and the explosives for when the job was done.

Teagan scooped up the keycard from a fallen engineer as they exited the room, sealing the door behind them. “How long do you think we have until they come pouring through that door?” Catherine asked as she popped in a new magazine.

“If we’re lucky, five minutes,”

“Here’s what I’m thinking, you hold here and I’ll draw as many of them away as I can,”

Teagan shock his head. “No, we have a better chance if we stick together,”

“Not with the numbers they will be throwing at us,” Catherine unzipped a waist pouch and took out a disk with a beveled center. An anti-personnel mine. While ones that small wouldn’t be enough to kill someone under normal circumstances, the mere threat of them alone would slow any advance. “Come on big guy, everyone knew this would be a one way trip,”

There was no time to argue and so they didn’t. Catherine gripped her gun tightly and ran from the room. With a heavy sigh of someone consigned to their fate, Teagan closed the engineering door and sealed them from his side.

***

When the alarm sounded Twilight knew that things had not gone to plan, but as she and Skyler stood over the bleeding mess of a rat worker, their eyes met and Twilight saw the same desire to return to the others, yet they both knew that the mission came first. “I’m telling you he’s on the bridge, I saw the Field Marshal not ten minutes ago,”

“And how do we know you’re not just leading us into a trap,” asked Skyler, leaning menacingly over the beaten man.

The man spit out a bloody tooth on the floor. “Cause you idiots are going after the Field Marshal, you’ll be dead before you get within a hundred feet of him,”

Twilight wasn’t thrilled that the only reason he was telling them anything was the vain hope that they would be walking to their own death. However, it did lend credence to his words, and with the alarm blaring they didn’t have time to search everywhere. With a nod from Skyler, Twilight sent the man into unconscious with the butt of her weapon.

With the lightest of touchs, Skylar cracked open the door and stole a look out into the hall. “We’re clear for the moment,”

“How far from the bridge do you think we are?”

“It should be on the floor above us, so about thirty feet, I’d say,”

“If we are doing this it has to be fast. If we get bogged down in a firefight it’s over,”

Smiling, as he followed her train of thought, Skyler nodded, “One speed,”

Skyler flung the door to their small room open and the two rushed out. They followed the corridor with Skyler leading the way. Twilight counted down distance as her feet banged against the grate floor. Technicians and workers jumped out of their path as the two raced past, not bothering to waste the ammo on them. Rounding the stairs they took them two at a time, never slowing in their breathing.

As they exited the stairway they were met by two passing soldiers in full gear. With an action that barely required thought, Twilight snapped out a grenade as her helmet dimmed for the coming flair. At the flash of light the Rats gave shouts of surprise and fired off their weapons blindly. Twilight ducked and weaved forward, grabbing onto the arm of the closest Rat and flipping him over her shoulder. In the same fluid motion she brought her SMG to bear and emptied the clip into his helmet. She quickly turned for the next Rat only to see Skyler pulling his knife free from his throat.

“We’re not far,” said Skyler. He tossed his spent weapon to the side and gripped one of the plasma rifle from the ground, gesturing for Twilight to do the same. They quickly traveled down the hall for the last five feet and turned the corner to the large double doors of the bridge, only to come face to face with a very large juggernaut wielding an equally large weapon. They were barely in the Juggernaut’s sight for more than a moment before his multi-barrel weapon began to spin.

“Back!”

They threw themselves against the corner wall, as a hail of bullets chased them away. “Ok, ideas?” Twilight asked. Even with the plasma weapons they had picked up, the two of them alone would be hard pressed to get their a juggernaut’s shield in those claustrophobic passages.

“I’ve got one,” Skyler reached into his pouch and pulled out a single chaos grenade. “Always have a backup plan, right,”

“Come out, little pigs!” Cried the Juggernaut. The sound of heavy footsteps marked his slow advance.

Twilight looked around the hallway, an idea flashing across her mind. “If I distract him, can you roll it close to him?”

“I’ll shove it up his ass,” Skylar quipped. “On your mark,”

With a shield wrapping herself, Twilight slid around the corner, bringing the wrath of the minigun with her as the Juggernaut swerved to follow his target. Round after round bounced off of her shield, but Twilight held firm to give Skyler the opening he needed. She smiled as she saw the grenade rolling towards its target, yet to make it’s leap into the air, and mere moments before the Juggernaut saw it and stopped his firing. That was the opening Twilight was waiting for.

Twilight shot out her arms and entrapped the Juggernaut together with the grenade. As the chaos grenade unleashed its payload, Twilight felt her strength pushed to its limit, but the sound of the Juggernaut crying out gave her the strength she needed. When the shield dropped and the grenade was spent, the Juggernaut fell to the side, it’s body riddled with holes.

Skylar helped Twilight back to her feet and together they walked to the door of the bridge, where their target awaited.

***

The explosions had ended five minutes ago, the gunfire two minutes ago. Now Teagan waited. He piled as many tables as he could in front of the engineering doors, but he knew that would buy him moments at best. Though going back the way they came was no longer passable he had found another way out. If they cut off the power to the motor they would be able to exit through there and escape underneath the Arrowhead, but until Rolland’s work was done and the explosive set, he would hold.

“Rolland, how much longer,” Teagan asked over the radio. At the sound of cracklings from the door, Teagan’s eyes were drawn to the red spark, slowly cutting its way down the door center.

“I need another five minutes,”

Teagan took and a breath and slowly let it out. “Understood,” he said simply. If he remembered correctly, it was Nadia who bought the drinks last time. He would have to buy the drinks this time around.

Five minutes, he could do that.

***

As the doors moved apart, Twilight and Skyler stepped onto the bridge. Neat rolls of control stations sat empty in the desolate room. A lone man stood at the far end of the room, staring out the window at the night sky over a burning city, his hand’s resting in the small of his back. “What the hell is this?” Twilight asked as she stepped forward, one hand waving around the room.

“It is exactly as you see,” said the Field Marshal. “I reasoned if you had the skill and fire power to dispatch my guard, than the pitiful resistance of the bridge personnel would be of little trouble,” Twilight stepped forward once more, but as the Field Marshal turned to stare at her helmet and she stopped. “Oh, is that not what you meant, Twilight Sparkle? Yes, I know who you are, and I know what your little friends in engineering are up to. For all of our sakes, let’s hope you didn’t just send some fool down there,”

“Don’t worry, he’s going to disarm that weapon,” said Skyler.

“I suppose given the fact that we are still alive lends some credence to your words, although I have to wonder for how long. But yes, the question at hand, why do I stand before you alone?” Though they could kill Field Marshal there and be done with it, the strangeness of the situation made them hesitate, if only for the question that hung in the air. “Let me ask you this: What do you fight for?”

“Is this a joke?” asked Skyler. “We fight because you bastards would rather use weapons then talk out your problems. We fight—“

At the raised hand of the Field Marshal Skylar stopped. “Save your whining for one who cares. That is not what I asked. I believe you savages fight for much the same reasons that we do: For your country, and it’s people, for your ideals, and so on. Of course that is why we fought … until we received this message,” He stepped back to the window and to the control station that stood below it.

At the flick of a button a prerecorded message began to play. “Attention soldiers of the 38th Commonwealth Combined Army. The Ryssdal government has fallen, it’s people have taken back our country. As acting civilian representative, I am ordering all offensive operation against the Osana Empire to end at once, so we may begin peace negotiations. Return home, brothers, the war is over,”

Twilight felt a slow heat rising up her chest. Her teeth gritted together as she all but spat out the question, “How old is that message?”

“I received it the day before I ordered the attack on Eastelf,”

Twilight didn’t even hear the sound of her weapon firing, the pulsing in her ears was too loud. A single round impacted the Field Marshal’s chest. He staggered back into the wall and rested his back against it as he slid down. “Why! Why did all of these people have to die?”

“What a young and ignorant child you are,” the Field Marshal wheezed, his breath becoming more difficult with each word. “We fought so long and hard, yet in the end we are betrayed by those we would protect. With only my brothers in arms to trust, what was I supposed to do?”

“You do what you were trained to do,” spoke Skyler. In a train of thought that Twilight didn’t understand, nor did she ever want to. The Field Marshal nodded at his words.

“Rückzug, 81146, gamma,”

“What?” Twilight asked in confusion,

“It’s the activation code for the automated retreat signal. Only I and my most trusted officers know it,”

Twilight exchanged a glance with Skyler as he stepped over to the forward station and entered in the command. There was little to lose from trying the code, even if it was a lie. Moments after activation an automated voice sounded through the Arrowhead, “General retreat has been declared. All forces are to fall back at once,” the message repeated.

Once more Twilight had to ask the man why, and with blood stained teeth he answered, “There is nothing for me left in Ryssdal, but my men still have a place there. Allow me one last question before I go to meet my gods,” Twilight nodded. “What are you, if not a rejection of the gods, a daemon to ruin all that is right in this world?”

“I’m a fucking pony,” before the confusion could even register on his face, Twilight fired her weapon and the Field Marshal slumped to the side.

“Twilight come take a look at this,” Twilight stepped to Skyler’s side. He was watching a black and white video footage, the feed was skipping from one room to the next every few seconds. After a few keystrokes the footage held on the engineering level. It took Twilight a moment to understand what she was seeing, due to the high angle of the camera, but when she did she had no words.

Teagan laid on the ground, unmoving. The dozens of soldiers didn’t even acknowledge his body as they moved deeper into engineering. Skyler switched the camera to follow them. The view changed to a smaller room where they stared at the above angle of Rollands head. His voice was weak, yet the camera still picked it up. “I did it. Just in time,” the door opened and the Rats poured in, their guns aimed for Rolland, but he didn’t move. When the lead Rat looked at the packed explosives that covered the now disabled reactor he turned on his heels and yelled to those behind him, “BACK! NOW!”

The first Rat had barely crossed the threshold before the explosive detonated and the camera went offline. Twilight felt the explosion as the vibration rattled the Arrowhead and the power was cut. The bridge was bath in darkness and the two of them basked in it. Finally the silence that dragged on for minutes was broken by Skyler, “They completed their mission,”

“Let’s get out of here,”

Dawn of the seventh day broke in the sky, and painted the city in a tapestry of reds and yellows. The Rats were in retreat, and it seemed as though the Arrowhead was being abandoned. There would likely still be holdouts for some time that the Osanen would need to root out. But the battle was over.

The war was over.

***

Twilight removed her hand from the window, it’s image swirled back into a cityscape, as she stepped away to look at Luna. “After that we made our way back to HQ. Skyler went to help push the remaining Rats out of the city, but I decided that it was a good time for me to return home, so I traveled here through the teleporter. Now you know everything,”

Luna continued to stare out the window, a sad look on her face. “Twilight, do you not trust me?”

“Of course I do, why would you ask that?”

Luna held her head high and stared down at Twilight. “Then why, pray tell, are you lying to me?”