Twilight and Starlight were in the middle of the library in the Castle of Friendship where they were working on the mirror portal.
"Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea? I don't think we should be messing with something so old," Starlight said out of worry.
"Don't worry, Starlight. I've been studying this portal since I first went through a year ago," Twilight dismissed. "We'll be fine I promise, okay? Now, is everything ready on your side?"
Starlight nodded. "Yeah, it's all set over here."
"Okay, good." Twilight went over her checklist. "Okay, that's the last thing. All we have to do is turn it on. We should be coming out of the pond in the school's garden instead of the statue." Twilight trotted over to the power source and ignited her horn, turning the machine on, missing the slight flicker in the mirror.
Twilight turned to Starlight. "Ready to go? " she asked with a smile and getting one in return.
"You first, your highness," Starlight replied while in a mock bow.
"Ha ha, very funny." Twilight walked through the mirror with Starlight following close behind. The moment they made it through there was a flash from the portal before it exploded, vaporizing everything in the room.
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The skies were a sullen grey as a procession marched through the streets of Ponyville. Headed to a large field for the unveiling of a new statue, it was headed by the remaining Elements of Harmony, Discord, Trixie, Shining Armor, and even the princesses themselves. It had been two years since the disappearance of their friends, and finally the statue that had been commissioned for their deaths was finished. Standing at just over 12 feet tall, the covered sculptured towered over everything in its vicinity.
Princess Celestia approached the platform which was set up next to the creation. "Today we commemorate the deaths of two great ponies, my faithful student and fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle, as well as one of her closest friends, Starlight Glimmer. We owe our lives to both of them, as if it were not for them, Equestria would have fallen countless times by now." Celestia sighed as she closed her eyes and lit up her horn. The next thing t5he ponies saw was the cover of the statue falling away, revealing the large cast of the two lost ponies. Forever frozen in time, the statue portrayed the two friends in a hug, never being able to leave each other's side.
Lost amongst the crowd of ponies, a certain pink pony's tail started to shake. "Ahhhhhh twitcha-twitch! Twitcha-twitch!" Pinkie shouted.
Rainbow quickly turned to her. "Pinkie what are you doing? Quiet!"
"I can't help it! My tail's a-twitchin'!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Everyone in the crowd who knew what that meant quickly turned their heads skyward, looking for whatever could be causing the party pony's tail to be going crazy.
Suddenly a random voice called out and pointed a hoof skywards. "There it is!"
Following the voice, the crowd gasped. A large fireball barreled through the cloud layer. However, almost as soon as it broke through, the fire died out, giving way to a strange machine larger than any sky carriage. Its unique form looked like an almost solid brick of metal that glinted from what little sunlight peeked through the clouds. Supported on either side by a set of giant wings were two thinner blocks, which seemed to howl as the machine got closer. Towards the rear of the contraption was a set of two smaller wings that then dropped down to sharp points.
As the ship got closer and closer, ponies among the crowd panicked, calling out warnings to run, to escape the falling device. All of a sudden the rear of the machine swung out and the entire thing began to hover, before slowly dropping to the ground, far beyond the statue. Kicking up massive clouds of dust as it neared, ponies had to shield their eyes as it lowered, before finally slamming into the ground after legs appeared from the bottom. Before any pony could react, the entire thing shut off and a door on the side of the ship opened up.
A large bipedal creature stepped out of the side and was quickly joined by several others. Covered from head to toe in odd-looking armor, the creatures stood on average at least 6 feet. Two of the creatures broke from the group, one of which sprouted a familiar pair of bright purple wings. As the two creatures neared, they took off their helmets, letting familiar colored hair fall away down their backs and revealing them to be wearing large smiles.
One of the creatures let out a sigh before finally speaking. "We're home."
The voice from the creature struck the crowd before a pink blur shot out and latched to the front of the one with wings.
"Twilight! You're finally back!" Pinkie yelled out before the rest of the ponies screamed out all at once. "TWILIGHT?!"
The smile on the creature revealed to be Twilight widened as her closest friends and family rushed over, several of whom joined Pinkie in the crushing hug before letting her go and taking a step back.
"Where were you?!" yelled Rainbow.
"We thought ya died, Twlight!" said Applejack.
"Twilight, what is with that dreadful clothing you're wearing?" asked Rarity.
"My faithful student, what have you been doing these past years?" inquired Celestia.
"Well, for one thing, Starlight and I have been fighting for our fuckin lives," Twilight replied, before gesturing for Starlight to join her.
"Oh, Twilight, language!" scolded Rarity.
"Huh? Oh right, I forgot how much foul language was taboo here. When you eat, breathe, and live alongside those in the military, cursing becomes a skill in its own right," Twilight replied with a chuckle that Starlight joined her in.
"I still remember that time you yelled 'Suck Celestias right teat, you cunt monkeys!' while in training," Starlight put in, getting a laugh out of Twilight and causing Celestia to blush and the rest of their friends to gasp.
"Twilight, dear, what happened to you out there?" Rarity questioned.
Twilight and Starlight both looked to Rarity with a flat look on their faces. "War, Rarity. War happened," Twilight replied before looking away as her stomach grumbled. "Now, can we get something to eat? I'm fucking starving. I haven't had anything to eat for the past two months besides some cheap-ass MREs."
At this exclamation, the crowd gasps again. "Twilight, must you curse so much?" Celestia asked.
"Sorry, Princess, we're just used to it at this point," Twilight replied sheepishly.
"All right, but please refrain from cursing when it isn't needed," Celestia said.
"I understand, Princess," Twilight nods before turning to Pinkie.
"So, Pinkie, you got anything for us?"
"Of course, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaims. "Follow me and we'll get that tummy of yours filled no problem." Pinkie trotted off through the crowd, who parted to get out of their way, quickly followed by Twilight and Starlight.
"Pinkie, how has everything been around here?" inquired Starlight.
"Oh, it's been great! While ponies were sad when you disappeared, they've gotten over it by now and they're all happy again! Mostly." Pinkie's hair straightened with that last word before quickly poofing back up. "But that hasn't kept a smile from my face! I've been keeping your castle clean while you've been gone so you have a place for you and your friends to sleep!"
Twilight's face broke into a smile before contorting in confusion. "But how did you know we were coming back?"
"Oh, that's easy, I knew you would never disappear and NOT find a way to get back home!" Pinkie exclaims as she finally reaches the door of Sugar Cube Corner, the Gingerbread-styled house not having changed in the two years Twilight and Starlight were gone.
Pinkie opens the door letting Twilight and Starlight in. "Go take a seat and I'll grab you some cake!" Pinkie says before disappearing behind the counter.
Twilight, Starlight, and all of their old friends squeeze into a booth. "So, Twilight, what have you been up to all this time?" Shining asks as Pinkie returns with the cake and giving out a serving to everyone at the table.
"Oh, you wouldn't believe what we've been through. It all started we exited that damned portal...."
Starlight groaned as she lay on the ground, her body throbbing in pain and her mind racing after what just happened. Suddenly there was a whimper off to her left, in her surprise looked to be a species of human though far different than what she was used to. However despite not looking like her form from the other equestria Starlight recognized Twilights wings and hair style immediately.
Reaching over Starlight nudged Twilights prone form, "Twilight?" Starlight questioned.
Rolling on to her back and sitting up Twilight opened her eyes and looked around, quickly coming to rest on Starlight's form lying next to her.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Twilight screamed, startled by the unknown creature lying alongside her.
"Twilight! Twilight! It's me! It's Starlight!" Starlight quickly got to her knees while putting her hands up trying to calm Twilight down.
Twilight rapidly came to realize that the burnt almond colored human resting in front of her was Starlight.
"Starlight? What happened to you?" Twilight inquired.
"I don't know. The last thing I remember was entering the portal before something rushed across my fur. Next thing I know I'm waking up here," Starlight answered Twilight while look around the area they were in. It seems as though they were in what used to be a park judging by the large, yet dead, field they were resting in. Surrounding the park looked to be dozens of apartment complexes one might find in Manehatten or Fillydelphia, most of which however had long since collapsed of an unknown reason.
"Where are we?" Starlight asked.
"I don't know, but we should find a place to get clothing and food. Maybe even find a place to sleep if need be," Twilight replied. Quickly standing up the two girls set off for the closest and most intact of buildings.
"what are we gonna do Twilight?" Starlight wondered.
Twilight, sighing, answered in a worried tone, "I'm wondering that too, I know I still have my wings and I can still feel my magic, but it's not as strong as it is back home. Wherever we are we need to find help fast, if we find an advanced enough race I might be able to recreate that portal. Not to mention I don't want to be caught out here by any wild animal."
Slowly but surely the two young women trudged through the park and into the rubble covered streets of the city keeping an eye out for any place to find food. Rounding a corner the two humans came across a group of beings of unknown origins wielding weapons unlike anything the Royal Guard used. Quickly, the two girls ducked behind cover luckily not being spotted by the creatures.
"Twilight what were those things!?" Starlight harshly whispered to her companion.
"I don't know! I need a better look," Slowly and quietly Twilight, with some reservations from Starlight, peeked over their cover. Looking at the creatures she came to realize that they were insectoid in origin. Looking like something out of one of Spikes comic books the beings stood over seven feet in height with a digitigrade leg structure. On their back seems to be rigid wing like structures with holes in them however she was unable to tell if they were able to move, as well as being covered in a type of chitin their faces all seems to have the same facial structure with a single mouth covered by what looks to be a pair of mandibles. their arms reached over 3 feet in length with an elbow reaching about two feet down, each arm was tipped with a set of three claws with the middle being more than twice the length of the ones on either side of it. All in all, the creatures were terrifying amalgamations of insectoid and human. Ducking back down Twilight quickly motioned for Starlight to follow her as she now wanted to get away from those horrifying beings.
"We need to leave, whatever those things are they aren't friendly," Twilight whispers to Starlight.
"How do you know? They might be able to help us?" Starlight asked. Peering over their cover to get a look at these creatures, Starlight watched as they communicated with each other. Just before she took a step out to greet them there was a crack and a flash of light just before the head of one of the creatures exploded in a shower of gore. Less than a second later the rest of the creatures were slaughtered where they stood as more flashes of light impacted their bodies riddling them with holes before dropping to the ground dead. As this happened Starlight ducked back behind cover as Twilight peered over getting a look at the corpses. In doing so she knocked some ruble free, the moment the stones hit the ground their position was hailed with the same flashes of light that had annihilated the creatures.
After several moments the flashes of light ceased before the voice of her possible assailants called out, "Come out with you're hands where I can see them! If you do not comply you will be fired upon!"
Twilight quickly raised her hands above her head and over their cover with twilight following closely after, "Please don't hurt us we're friendly!"
Peeking over Twilight sees several new bipedal figures but this look far more human than the previous aliens she saw. Covered in armor from head to toe they had a fully enclosed helmet making it impossible to see their faces, with large bulky chest, knee, shoulder, and leg plates they looked as though they could shrug off even the strongest of spells. The armor itself was painted in grays, blacks, and whites in a unique camo style she had never seen before.
Turning to Twilight, Starlight put a hand out, "Let me go first, you're still Equestria's ruler so you need to stay unharmed."
Nodding, Twilight kept still while Starlight put her hands in the air before slowly rising over their cover, shrinking slightly when the soldiers kept their weapons pointed at her, "My name is Starlight Glimmer. My friend is Twilight Sparkle, princess and ruler over the nation of Equestria. We mean no harm as we were transported here on accident."
The soldiers looked at each other, almost as if they were communicating with each other through an unknown means before lowering their weapons. One of them, the leader of the group Starlight guessed, spoke up, "Get Miss Sparkle our here, we need to talk to her."
Upon hearing this Twilight rose as well, the lighter skinned woman standing a full head taller than her studio haired companion. Her wings coming into full view as she stands, the soldiers weapons snapping back up as they notice them.
"What the hell are you?!" Shouted one of the soldiers.
Shrieking, Twilight snaps her hands out, creating a lavender bubble around her and Starlight, "Please don't hurt us! We mean you no harm!"
"What are you?!" Shouted the same soldier from earlier.
"I'm an alicorn!" Replied Twilight, "I'm a combination of all three pony races on our planet, Unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth pony!"
"The fuck does that mean?!" Yelled different soldier.
"She's the ruler of our nation!" Replied Starlight.
At this exclamation the soldiers lowered their weapons before looking at each other for several minutes before turning back to the two women. Despite the lowering of weapons Twilight kept her shield up, tensing when one of the soldiers neared the bubble. "I'm Staff Sergeant Jasper Mueller, the men and ladies behind me are Joel Walton, Guy Bright, Hector O'Neill, Maisy ware, and Maddie Swanson. We're Forgotten Squad, what the fuck are you two doin' out here in this shithole?"
Twilight spoke up, "We were working on a portal back home, trying to modify it to see if it would eject us in a more discrete location rather than the statue it dumped us out of. Instead it dropped us here, I don't know why or how but it happened."
Jasper sighed, "Shit so you girls are really out of your depth. Alright, stick with us and we'll get you somewhere safe."
Twilight and Starlight relaxed a little, "Thank you for the help."
Twilight lowers her arms and as she lets the shield fall the next thing she knows, is pain and darkness.
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"And.....I don't remember what happened after that, not until I woke up at least. Starlight would certainly know." Twilight sighs and gestures to Starlight.
Starlight nods, "Yeah, I ....... it's not a memory I like to remember." Starlight shudders as she hugs herself.
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Starlight screamed as blood sprayed from the front of Twilights head.
"Shit, sniper!" yelled out one of the troopers in front of her and Twilight.
As the troopers rush for cover one of them rushes to Twilights side, Starlight is next to him before she even realizes. "Keep your fuckin head down or you'll end up just like her." The trooper gestures to Twilights prone form. Pulling out a package with a red cross on it the man starts to wrap Twilights head with a odd goo filled package and then presses two small cylindrical rods into two ports on either side of the wrapping. "This'll protect her brain until we can get her to a hospital or sick bay. There we'll be able to repair any tissue damage."
Starlight looked to the man in shock, "What? How?! She should be dead!"
"Yeah, she would be if it wasn't for the gel." Relied the medic.
Off to their left a voice cried out, "WE GOT AIR SUPPORT! ETA THIRTY SECONDS!"
The Medic looked to Starlight, "Shit, keep that colorful head of yours down, when that support comes in this place is going to be turned to dust."
"What does that mean?!" Starlight screamed at the medic.
"TEN SECONDS!" The voice called out again.
Shoving Starlights head down the medic quickly covered Twilights body with his own. "Brace yourself girlie!"
There was a loud whistling noise until large fireballs engulfed the surrounding buildings obliterating the several top floors of the towers and vaporizing any enemy force that got caught in the blasts. less than a second later several large arrow shaped objects came darting over the rubble and a much larger box like object touched down in the square in front of where starlight and the troopers were hiding. Several more troopers come pouring out the back and start scanning the area for what Starlight could only guess was for any surviving hostiles.
"Hey miss, help me out over here." The medic had climbed off of Twilight as he motioned Starlight over.
"What do you need me to do?" Starlight asked.
"Help me carry your friend." The medic motioned to Twilight, "Our ride's here." The medic takes a roll out of his pack and sets it on the ground, with the pull of a cord the roll opens up onto a large flexible mat, with two rods jutting out either end, just large enough to fit Twilight.
"W-what do you need me to do?" Starlight asks.
As the medic gets Twilights body on to the mat he points to the rods by Twilights feet, "Grab those and lift when I say."
"O-okay." Nervously Starlight goes to the end and grabs the two rods.
"Alright, on one, two, THREE!" As the Medic calls out three he and starlight lift Twilight off the ground. Starlight, not used to doing work in this body, groans.
"Come on lady, I thought you helped your princess, you never had to deal with heavy lifting?" Asked the medic as they start walking to the large box like object.
"Not in this body no!" Starlight exclaimed.
Chuckling the medic and Starlight finally reach the object and once they enter set twilight on the ground, "Stay here, I'll get something to finally cover the two of you up."
"Thank you." Starlight replies as the medic walks off.
It takes several minutes before the medic finally returns, blankets in arm, "Here you go miss."
Starlight take the blanket and wraps herself in it as the medic covers Twilights body with the other, "Thank you sir. W-what's your name?"
The medic turns to Starlight, "The name's Joel Walton miss. You're Starbright, right?"
Giggling, Starlight replies, "It's Starlight, Mister Walton." Taking a seat next to Twilight, Starlight closes her eyes, "Thank you for your help Mister Walton."
"Anytime Miss Starlight." Joel replies, just as Starlight dozes off.
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As Starlight finishes her story she realizes that the ponies around her are crying and she sighs. Seeing that Starlight is having trouble Twilight takes over, "I understand how shocked you all must be."
"How.....how are you even alive?" Asked Shining.
"Nanobots, they're microscopic devices that repaired the tissue on the cellular level. They couldn't save my eye so they built me a cybernetic one." Twilight responds.
"Cybernetic?" Rainbow asks.
In response Twilight reaches up and pulls out her left eye revealing that it's completely fake.
Seeing this happen the ponies surrounding her pale. Fluttershy and mrs Cake faint on the spot with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie vomiting while the princesses and Shining Armor gasp in shock.
"Twily, how." Shining asked.
Rolling her eye between two fingers Twilight replies, "Their technology is incredible Shining. They're able to cross millions of miles of open space in the blink of an eye, able to set up colonies in months, grow food for thousands in days. Something like making a prosthetic eye or limb is nothing to them."
"Prosthetic limb, Twilight?" Wonders Princess Celestia.
In response, Twilight looks over to Starlight who reaches down and takes off her combat boot and rolls up her pant leg revealing a metal leg underneath. "Don't worry your highness, it doesn't hurt." Starlight says as she looks to Celestia.
Sighing Celestia speaks up, "I believe that shall be all for tonight. Twilight, Starlight, if you want we can get some rooms made up for you and your friends."
"I will have to refuse your offer Celestia." Twilight responds. We are able to sleep in our ship and I do not believe any beds will be able to accommodate our current size.
Nodding, Celestia stands, "It is good to have the two of you home, my faithful student."
With tears in her eyes Twilight stands and hugs her old teacher round the neck, "It is good to be back, Princess." Twilight raises to her full height before she and her fellow soldiers leave the building and make their way back to their ship.
Author's Note
Sorry for the delay, I had rewritten the story in several places. Not to mention I had writers block (first time for that on my end) for over a week, twice. Please, as always, leave a review. Let me know where I went wrong and if anything in particular needs fixing. I am currently looking for a proofreader and editors, DM me if you are interested.
