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Written by Andrew-64

Illustrated/Edited by ForeverGoneAndy

Chapter 1 >

For a time, the ponies of Equestria knew peace. Ruled over by the magical alicorns, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, the peace was likely to never end. The only enemy the ponies had ever truly known, their natural predators such as cougars, and wolves, were no longer allowed in the sacred kingdom. They were feral beasts, the predators, bent only on killing and devouring any herbivore in sight.

In days of old, the monsters would hunt in packs, taking out any stray ponies that dared roam just outside their towns. Though their hooves were fast, and their kicks were strong, the ponies were still no match for the beasts. The beasts might have been feral, but they weren’t stupid. If they ever dared to attack a town or city, the local military would immediately scare off the beasts, clad in armor and carrying weapons. With their weapons always at the ready, the monsters dared not attack. They were cowards. They lost all hope. Until she arrived…

=================

Prologue

=================

Ponyville Library

1018 C.R. (Celestia’s Rule)

Twilight Sparkle had always been a bookworm. Every book in that library of hers had been read at least three or four times each. If anypony had a question, they were most likely to come to her, even about the most trivial of things.

Because of this though, when Twilight didn’t know something, she would make it her personal mission to discover everything about the matter. This had only happened twice before, thankfully, because both times, she locked herself in her library for months, sending her baby dragon assistant, Spike, out to get food. She would also use him to receive new books, especially from Princess Celestia’s personal library.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, Twilight was asked a question she just could not answer…

---

A few days earlier...

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and like every Tuesday, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were at the library. Not to read, of course. No, they were too busy for that. The trio was still looking for their cutie marks, and was still trying everything they could think of to get them. Twilight thought they were crazy, but loved their enthusiasm, so she promised them they could come in every Tuesday (normally a dead day at the library) and look up new ideas for their ‘crusading’.

“Hey, Twilight, can ah ask you something?” Applebloom asked, reading through a book titled ‘Astronomy for Fillies’. Twilight didn’t even look up from her book, but let out a sigh.

“Applebloom, I’m sorry, but I told you little ponies before, I don’t think your sister would appreciate me turning you fillies into frogs to get a transforming cutie mark.” Twilight gave Applebloom a look, who giggled at the idea.

“No, now I think ah’m gonna try and get my Equestrian history cutie mark!” She said happily. Her orange pegasus friend laughed.

“Who would want an Equestrian history cutie mark?” Scootaloo snickered, trying to grab a book on the top most shelf as she did so. “What would it even look like, a boring old history text book?”

It was cute, watching the Crusaders talk amongst themselves. Much like her own group of friends, the Crusaders didn’t have much in common. Sweetie Belle loved to sing, and practice sewing, Scootaloo loved her scooter, action and watching Rainbow Dash fly around, and Applebloom seemed to enjoy creating things out of wood, and just having a good time. They were so different, but they always got along. Twilight wondered if she would have been like that as a filly, had she not spent so much time on her studies.

“Now girls, there is nothing wrong with the quest for knowledge.” Twilight said proudly. She closed her book, and walked over to Applebloom, taking a seat next to the bow-wearing filly. “Now tell me, Applebloom, what about Equestria do you need to know? Celestia’s first rules and regulations? Maybe the great iron age of ancient Pony Times?”

“Naw, I wanna learn somethin’ they don’t teach us in school” It was cute, how much Applebloom spoke like her sister. That southern drawl that always gave out a feeling of friendship. Twilight smiled.

“Oh, going outside the classroom, I see. That’s great Applebloom. Maybe something like the great Pegasus Prejudice Age? Are they still not allowed to teach that? I think it’s very important, personally. It’s just as bad as the Unicorn Prejudice Age, just because they could use magic. I mean, we’re Unicorns-“

“Uh, Miss Sparkle? You’re going on a rant again.” Sweetie Belle said softly. Twilight smiled sheepishly. Though she hadn’t taught Sweetie Belle everything about sewing, Rarity sure taught her sister everything there was about being polite. She was the only filly in Ponyville that ever called Twilight ‘Miss Sparkle’, no matter how much Twilight insisted they be on a first name basis.

“Actually, Twi, I wanna know if you can teach me about why Princess Luna was banished?”

“Oh?” Twilight said, a little uneasy. It’s no wonder the filly didn’t know. Ever since Princess Luna’s return, the story of the Mare in the Moon was taboo to most ponies. They thought the story of her past would hurt her already sensitive feelings. But, Applebloom had asked for help. It was for education after all, not to torment her teacher’s sister. “Well, she went against Princess Celestia because of the unknown force that possessed her, of course. She wouldn’t lower the moon, so unfortunately, Princess Celestia had to banish her for a thousand years.”

“Oh, I know that ol’ ponytale, Twilight. I wanna know the real reason why. Princess Celestia could have lowered the moon herself, couldn’t she have?”

“Well you see, Appl-“ Twilight’s eyes snapped open. She was right. Celestia was older, wiser, and ultimately more powerful. Had Nightmare Moon’s only offense had been not lowering the moon, Princess Celestia could have easily lowered the moon herself. Not lowering the moon was no reason to banish.  “I… I don’t know…” Twilight’s brain hurt. Could she be over thinking it? Maybe she sent Luna to the moon to prevent her from controlling it? No, that made no sense, she probably had more power when she was on top of the rock she had control over.

“Uh… Miss Sparkle… your eyes are starting to look like Miss Ditzy Doo…”

Seeing Twilight’s eyes like that forced Applebloom to withdraw her question. She didn’t mean to break the smartest pony in all of Ponyville. She was just curious. Sending one’s sister to the moon for a thousand years seemed awful mean. Applebloom decided she’d only banish Applejack there for two or three years. Five if she was really mad.

Sweetie Belle informed the group that she’d rather take fashion away from Rarity for a little while. That was more than enough.

Scootaloo told her friends she’d never ban Rainbow Dash from anything.

“But Rainbow Dash isn’t your sister Scootaloo”

“S-shut up!”

As the fillies argued, Twilight thought to herself. Why am I so bent on figuring this out… what’s done is done. It’s history now… But still, the idea that Celestia would only banish her sister because of one incident, and for a thousand years, too. It bothered her. It seemed unlikely of her more than merciful teacher. Maybe I’ll send her a letter. She would never lie to me about something like this.

The rest of the day went on as normal. The Crusaders found something new to try out (this time it was Cutie Mark Crusaders Lawyers, inspired from what Twilight assumed was the main characters father in the novel ‘To Kill A Parasprite’), and Twilight waved them away, before slamming the door shut, and locking it.

“SPIKE!” The lavender pony bellowed. She walked over to her open copy of Mare in the Moon, and looked at it closely, before yelling again. “Spiiiiiike!”

This time, she was answered by a groan, which meant he was up. Spike was just a baby dragon, and he needed a lot of rest, but Twilight knew he would just fall back to sleep after she was done anyways. The purple-scaled dragon walked down the stairs, stretching and scratching his sides as he did. “What’s all the commotion about?” He asked. “You know Tuesday is my day off.”

“No time Spike. We have a crisis on our hands.” Twilight said, closing the Mare in the Moon book.  Spike looked more than displeased.

”Unless it’s zombies, I think you can wait until my nap is over.” Spike yawned, beginning to make his way up the stairs. Twilight was getting annoyed.

“Spiiiike.”

“All right, all right. What do you need?”

“Take a note, please.” Twilight picked up a quill and paper with her magic, and levitated the two objects over to Spike, who grabbed them. He pressed the quill to the paper, and instinctively wrote Dear Princess Celestia

---

Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m sorry to bother you, but whilst studying with my friends little sisters, one of them brought up a good point. Would you really banish your sister to the moon, simply because she wouldn’t lower the moon? Couldn’t you have lowered it yourself?

This is not supposed to be an acusati indictme charge on your Majesty; this is only a question I ask in the pursuit of knowledge. If I am wrong, please at least inform me of my misjudgment.

Your Faithful Student

Twilight Sparkle

And a very cranky Spike.

---

“Spike, was that really necessary?”

“Sorry.” Spike walked over to the window, and opened it. Holding the paper in front of his mouth, the baby dragon let out a small breath of fire, turning the letter into nothing but embers, blowing in the direction to Canterlot, more specifically, Princess Celestia’s castle. “Okay, I’m going back to bed.”

“No, Spike, you have to wait until Princess Celestia sends another letter back.” Twilight pleaded. “I know it’s your day off, but it’s going to bug me until I know for sure. Plleeeaaasseee?”

Spike groaned, but gave nod of agreement. “All right, but it better not take l-“ Spike belched mid sentence, and Twilights ears shot up. The Princess had already written back. A letter appeared from the flames that Spike had produced. Spike grabbed it, and began reading

---

My Faithful Student Twilight,

I was hoping you’d eventually catch on to that old ponytale’s glaring hole. This story was actually never approved by the Celestian Court, but I let it pass as it was a much more family friendly version of an otherwise dark tale.

If you are interested in the real history of the Mare in the Moon, I would be more than happy to lend you the only book in my personal Library that carries the story. But I must warn you, Twilight Sparkle. The story is not for the faint of heart, and after reaching a certain point, there is almost no going back. I am not proud of what I did, or who I was, my student, but I’m sure you will be able to see past my evil, for the sake of knowledge.

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia

P.S. Twilight, you should let Spike go back to sleep. He is only a baby dragon.

---

“Now I’m going back to bed.” Spike yawned, handing the letter to Twilight to look over again. Good thing she did, there was a P.S.S. that Spike didn’t read.

I know it’s his day off, but he could at least read the last part… She thought to herself. “Let’s see… ’P.S.S. I would also recommend bringing some friends with you on the last few pages of the first chapter.’ Now what in Equestria could that mean?”

As she wondered about that, she heard another belch, and then muffled screams from Spike. “Help! Twilight! A book showed up and landed on top of me!”

Twilight sighed, knowing it was her fault the book fell on her little assistant, and quickly trotted up the stairs to help him out.

---

Present Day…

Twilight didn’t get very far in the book. Not as far as she normally would have. In a few days, she was only about halfway through. To be honest, she was a little nervous about starting. She was about to crack open an ancient secret that might tarnish the images of both her lifelong idle and teacher, and her teachers sister. Both of these beings were her rulers, the Princesses she has grown to love and respect. What if she found out something she didn’t want to know? And what was the last thing that letter said? “I would recommend bringing some friends with you with you on the last few pages of the last chapter.” Twilight reminded herself. It still didn’t make much sense. But the Princess had never led her astray before, right? Maybe it was a good idea to bring the girls together.

Little did she know how badly she needed to.

---

Sweet Apple Acres

Later that afternoon

“No.”

“But you don’t understand, we could-“

“No.”

“If you could just give me-“

“Twilight Sparkle, for the last time, no! Ah don’t have time!” Applejack said sternly. She only realized afterwards how loud it was. “Ah’m sorry, Twilight, ah really am, but ah don’t know if Big Mac can handle picking these apples himself today. You know how over worked that pony is.”

This had been happening all day to poor Twilight. Not a single pony was interested in the book, or figuring out what exactly happened to Luna. Rainbow Dash told her she was far to busy practicing for the next time the Wonderbolts were in town, again. Rarity’s boutique was busier than usual, as some of her dresses for Hoity Toity needed to be finished by the end of the week. Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be found, and Fluttershy didn’t like the tone of the letter. She was afraid that what she found out would be scary, which was more than enough reason to stay home.

Twilight sighed. “Okay, Applejack, I understand.”

“Listen.” Applejack started, feeling bad that she couldn’t join one of her good friends. She put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Ah’ll work extra hard for the next 3 hours or so, and ah’ll come hang with you later, okay?”

Twilight smiled a little. “It’s okay, Applejack, you have work to do. I know you’d come if you had time.” She chuckled a little. “It’s a little hard not to believe the element of honesty.”

Applejack nodded her head and the two said their goodbyes. Twilight admitted she was a little upset no one could join her, but if it really was dark, maybe it was best that she read it by herself.

---

Back at the library...

The beasts might have been feral, but they weren’t stupid. If they ever dared to attack a town or city, the local military would immediately scared off the beasts, clad in armor and carrying weapons. With their weapons always at the ready, the monsters dared not attack. They were cowards. They lost all hope. Until she arrived…

This was the fifth time Twilight read through that part of the second paragraph. What weapons could they be talking about? As far as she knew, Equestria never had a use for weapons. The fact that they existed in the past just seemed unlikely. But she couldn’t dwell on it; she had to keep reading. She heard Spike walk down the stairs, and walk across the room to the door.

“Hey, Twilight, I’m going to the store. You seem to be too caught up in… whatever it is you’re doing.” He said, opening the door. He looked back, expecting a response.

“Okay.”

Spike stood there for a minute. When he realized that was all he was getting out of her, he sighed, and left, shutting the door behind him.

“Sorry, Spike.” Twilight muttered under her breath. “I have to find out what happens. No more goofing around.” After reading about her return for the sixth time, Twilight finally turned the page. “What?”

Though she was only halfway through the book, the pages that followed were almost completely empty. There was only one paragraph, written by someone that was all too familiar. It was Princess Celestia’s!

I’m sorry I have to do this to you, Twilight, but you did ask me for this. I am about to send you to a world completely different from your own. You will be able to learn everything you want to know, and more. First hand. I wish you the best of luck, my magic will protect you to the best of my ability.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked herself. As she did she suddenly felt queasy and dizzy. She tried to stand up in her confusion, and only felt worse. “Oh, no, that doesn’t… Spike… Spike…” She cried. As she did, her voice felt hoarser and hoarser. Each time she closed her eyes, she found them to be harder to open, darkness beginning to take control. Twilight felt as if she was blacking out, and no one was there to help her out if something went wrong. She tried to walk for the door, to tell someone of her misfortune, but before she could, Twilight passed out.

---

Unknown Place

Unknown Time

Twilight finally came through; the uneasiness she felt minutes ago was slowly subsiding, but was still there. She slowly stood up, and opened her eyes. She decided immediately this was the greatest mistake she had ever made in her life.

“What is this…?”

As Twilight’s other senses came through, she didn’t quite know what to expect. Explosions, gunshots, all sounds Twilight has never heard before. Ponies and beasts yelling as they charged each other. Twilight looked away. She couldn’t watch this.

She decided this was her new greatest mistake of her life.

They were ponies.

They were young male ponies.

They were dead young male ponies.

Twilight did the only thing a reasonable a pony like her would do.

She ran.

Twilight ran as quickly as her legs would carry her. Away from the battle that she knew was taking place. Away from the bodies of young colts she just witnessed. Away from the screaming and pain of whatever was howling. Running away from what sounded like a threat.

“Rogue soldier! Tranquilize her! Grab that mare! Grab that mare!”

That was the last thing Twilight heard. She felt a sharp pain on her flank, before she fell to the dirt, and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 1 >

==============

Any questions comments and concerns can be posted on Fanfiction.net, the Equestria Daily page, or directy to me at

Andrew-64@derpymail.org

I do not own any characters/settings/weapons used in this fic.

All properties are © Hasbro, Epic Games, Microsoft, or their respected owners

==============

I’m sorry I have to do this to you, Twilight, but you did ask me for this. I am about to send you to a world completely different from your own. You will be able to learn everything you want to know, and more. First hand. I wish you the best of luck, my magic will protect you to the best of my ability.

< Prologue                Chapter 2 >

=================

Act 1

Chapter 1

Welcome to Alpha

=================

Unknown Place

Unknown Time

Waking up from a tranquilizer is a terrible thing. Twilight’s veins were pumped with kentamine and she was immediately knocked out, landing face first in the rock and dirt. The fact that it was a horse tranquilizer and not a pony one didn’t help at all. Twilight didn’t want to experience it again.

But she had to admit, she’d take one hundred tranquilizers if it meant never seeing dead bodies again. The entire time she was knocked out, the only thing Twilight could see was the mangled mess of what used to be innocent colts. What did Twilight witness, exactly? She thought there were never any wars when Celestia ruled Equestria.

What made matters worse, was Twilight had accidentally caught herself up in this one, and now she was being court martialed for cowardice. She didn’t sign up for this war. She was in her library, reading the note left in the book, and suddenly, she was here.

Wait… Could that be why I’m here? Was this the warning Princess Celestia gave me? I didn’t want this to happen! Oh, I won’t last in the military, or prison! I don’t even know where I am!

As Twilight thought this, she stood up to get a look at her surroundings. She was in a small holding cell, from the looks of it. The only source of light she had was a small window on the door, barred with three metal rods. The window couldn’t have been more than a half foot tall and ¾ foot wide. The room also had a toilet that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years, and a bed that was worse than the toilet. Suddenly, the metal door opened, letting out a huge creak. Twilight slowly turned around.

A black, muscular stallion stood in the doorway. He said nothing, but walked over to Twilight, and hooked a collar onto her neck. She gagged at the feeling of metal narrowing her neck, and looked at the pony in confusion. “Your trial is starting.” The stallion had a deep, strong voice. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be back in your nice cell in under an hour.”

“You don’t understand. I’m not supposed to be here.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Twilight’s eyes perked up for a second. She knew there was no way for the colt to truly understand her, but at this point, she grabbed what little hope she had. “But the Sergeant only asked his men to tranquilize you. He must have been in a good mood. Normally we kill any runners.” Twilight swallowed. “Don’t worry, I think the Princess is in a bad mood. Maybe she’ll go easy on you, kill you swiftly.”

“The… Princess?”

---

“Order, order! I will have order in my court! The trial of this unnamed pony will begin immediately!”

What little hope Twilight had left, had doubled when she saw the Princess’s face. If anyone could get her out of this, it was Celestia. Not only was Twilight her star student, but Celestia must have been the one who sent her here in the first place.

“If the pony could please take the stand.”

Happy to finally be released from her collar, Twilight trotted over to the defendant’s side of the lobby. No bigger than her library at home, the courtroom housed only a select few. To her right was what she assumed was the prosecutors side. Behind her, there were only a few guards, and military personal, probably waiting for her to try and run; but what she kept her eyes on was right in front of her.

The panel of officers and the Princess that she knew would be on her side. Celestia, as was customary for her, took a seat that was much higher than the rest of the ponies. However, something seemed off. Where Twilight normally saw a friendly smile and inviting eyes, all she could see was a nasty scowl and a look of pure hate.

“State your name, soldier.” She bellowed. Twilight jumped at the sudden noise.

“Uh, I-I’m not a solider, your highness. Don’t you recognize me?” She asked, leaning on the podium. Celestia’s scowl grew. “Twilight Sparkle?”

“I’m afraid I have never heard of you. Do you understand the charges against you, Sparkle?”

“Um… Cowardice?”

“Running away from a battle when we, C.O.L.T. are in the middle of war? It’s down right spineless. But, more importantly you snuck into a battle zone, when you were not truly a soldier of C.O.L.T. How do you plead?”

“Umm… Confused, your highness.” Twilight said, sinking behind the podium for cover.

Clearly annoyed, Celestia stepped down from her podium. “I highly doubt that you do not know, Sparkle.” She said, taking a few steps closer to the cowering unicorn. “We, Celestia’s Organization of Legionary Territories, are at war with Nightmare Moons Horde.”

”Nightmare Moon? As in, your sister? Princess Luna?”

The crowd gasped. Twilight turned around quickly. Maybe the fact that Nightmare Moon was actually Princess Luna was on a need to know basis. She looked back at Celestia, whose look of hate now turned into a look of kill. “You are going to spend the rest of your life rotting in that prison, Sparkle. Starting now. This court is dismissed!” She shouted, walking away from Twilight. She never looked back. Twilight’s heart nearly sank.

The black stallion from before walked back up to Twilight, and placed the choke collar around her neck. “I thought she was going to kill you quickly. I’ll be honest, I feel bad for you.”

---

Unknown Place

One Year After Imprisonment

Get a good look at the sun. The black stallion said, laughing. It’ll be the last time you’ll ever see it!

The sad thing was, the stallion wasn’t just trying to scare Twilight. He was truly giving her a fair chance to see the sun one last time. She was sentenced to a single metal room for however long she lived. She was fed two small meals a day, and was never allowed to converse with anyone. It was just her, and the toilet that smelled of manure, and the bed that smelled of manure and blood. Magic was impossible to use, too. Celestia saw through all the unicorn’s power a long time ago, and invented a hoofband that prevented them from properly using magic. Every time they tried, the band would give them an electric shock. Twilight had one on her front right hoof, and it was impossible to break off.

Twilight knew she couldn’t take it, so she gave up a long time ago.

About a year had passed since she was sent to this place. And she knew it’d be plenty more before she was released. She missed Spike. She missed her hometown. She missed her friends.

“Yep. That’s the one. Let’er out.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. That voice? No, it couldn’t be. Twilight had decided a long time ago that she had gone insane. Being alone by herself made her do crazy things. She had named both her right and left hoof (Dominic Stalionago and Marcus Foalix) and had conversations with them. Hearing one of her old friends’ voice must just be a way of defending herself from the imminent doom that she was to suffer from.

“Ah don’t care if she ain’t even a soldier, we need all the help we can get… Yeah, you can go now.”

As Twilight thought, the metal door to her cell was opened, letting out a slight creak, a noise she hasn’t heard in a year. As it opened, an orange pony with a light brown Stetson hat entered, holding a bag. She dropped the bag, and looked directly at Twilight. “Put this on, solider. We’re bringing you back in. No excuses, hup too.” The earthy pony commanded, beginning to walk away. Not only did she sound like Applejack, she looked like her too.

She was clad in heavy armor and boots that had a used feel to it. It was dented and rusty, and made it obvious this pony had seen battle before. She also wore shoulder pads, and was carrying a sheathed knife on her chest. The pony looked exactly like Applejack, if she did nothing but work out. Twilight decided this was only a coincidence.

After what happened with Celestia, Twilight didn’t trust anything anymore. It’s possible this pony was only one of Applejack’s relatives, or maybe an alternate personality, not the Applejack she knew and loved. She couldn’t risk getting hurt again.

Twilight looked at the bag, and even kicked it with her hoof. This was real. There was no way her mind had created a bag out of thin air. “Wait, what’s going on?” She asked, beginning to take the contents of the bag out.

“Celestia’s commanded we release all the prisoners. Everypony told me to leave you behind, but I decided we need all the help we can get.” The orange pony looked back. “You sound familiar… have ah met you?”

“I… I don’t know…”

Twilight took a step outside. The bag contained armor, the same type as the orange pony in front of her. The armor was simple, yet had a futuristic feel to it. On her chest was basic chest armor, held together by two belts that went across her neck and back. She also had a basic utility belt on her stomach, containing what Twilight could only assume was a weapon, and a saddle bag filled with something. On her legs were combat boots, the front legs going up above her forearm, and the back boots only going as high as her hock. Unfortunately, she could not get her right foot in the armor, because of the hoofband. She also wore a helmet that covered her entire face, but allowed her horn to stick out.

“That there helmet ain’t a good idea, private.” The orange pony said, turning around, looking more alert than she had a second ago. “Restricts your vision to just straight ahead.”

Though Twilight didn’t understand how that would affect her in any way, she decided, whoever this pony was, she could trust her. Maybe that’s just because she looks like the element of honesty… if she started drinking nothing but protein shakes. Twilight used her hooves to pull the helmet off of her head, and placed it neatly back in the bag. She’d forgotten how badly her mane had looked from a year in prison, but she decided now was not the time to worry. She tried patting down her hair with her hoof, when she heard her new companion gasp.

“No way! T-This can’t be real… Twilight?” The orange pony said, dropping her gruff exterior. Twilight looked up. “Twi. Twi, it’s me. It’s your ol’ girl Applejack.” She said, suddenly getting teary eyed. She walked over to Twilight, who looked a little more than confused.

“Oh no, this is all a dream isn’t it? This is just my mind’s way of protecting me from the insanity I’m going through, isn’t it?” Twilight asked no one in particular, taking a step back.

“No, Twilight, I swear to Celestia it’s me.” Applejack reassured, grabbing Twilight’s shoulders. “Twi, ah haven’t seen you in a year. It’s been far too long.” She said, hugging Twilight, almost squeezing the life out of her.

“Appl… Applejack… breath… can’t” Twilight strained, her face turning blue. Applejack let go, and tried to hold in her laughter.

“Sorry, Twilight it’s just… It’s just, well… Ah thought you were dead! We all thought you died in the war!”

“War?”

As Twilight questioned her newly refound friend, the ground started to shake, and a small explosion could be heard just outside of the building. “No time to explain Twi.” Applejack said, grabbing the small pistol from her belt. “That a Magic-Desyncer?”

“A what?”

“Yeah, it is.” Applejack said kicking Twilight’s right hoof. The pain shot up through Twilight’s leg faster than any other pain she had ever endured. Having a piano dropped on her head felt better than this. Twilight knew Applejack was strong, but she got stronger over the last year.

“What was that for? So happy to see me you have to try and take my leg off?”

”Haven’t you learned ta trust me yet, Twilight?” Applejack asked, slightly annoyed. She pointed at Twilight’s hoof, which, to Twilight’s surprise, no longer had the hoof band on. Applejack was just freeing her. “Now, use your magic to grab your gun. I’ll help you strap it on in a second.”

“My what?”

“Your gun, Twi. That thing on your belt.”

What Applejack said, obviously, confused her. What was a gun? Twilight looked down to her belt, and noticed the weapon, and picked it up with her magic. The gun was small in frame, looking like a one handed weapon. It had a trigger, which, out of her natural curiosity, she pulled with her magic.

BANG!

“What in sam hill!?” Applejack shouted, jumping. She looked behind her. “Twi, that’s a gun. Don’t go shooting me up, I’m all you got right now. Shoot it at the horde.”

“I don’t understand what a gun is. And shoot it at the what?”

“It’s a gun. It’s a magic device that the C.O.L.T. invented to kill the beasts. Unfortunately, it kind of backfired, cause the beasts got ‘em now too…”

“Wait… kill?” Twilight’s heart sank slightly. She had never killed anything before. She was a herbivore. She never had a rhyme or reason to do harm to anything. Applejack sighed.

“I had trouble pulling the trigger my first time, too, sugarcube. But when it came down to it, it was either me and Big Mac, or them.”

“Wait, Macintosh is here, too?”

“Big Mac, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy… Twi, most of Ponyville’s here.”

“Why?”

“Wish ah could tell ya. All ah know is that for now, we gotta get out of here… hold on, there’s one more thing in the bag.” Applejack walked over to the duffle bag she had originally brought, and pulled out two belts that looked similar to the one she was wearing around her waist. Applejack then proceeded to lift Twilight’s right leg, and tie the belts. “Didn’t know if you were an earth pony or a unicorn originally, but this’ll make your life a lot easier. Lemme see the gun.” A little uneasy after the misfire, Twilight slowly lowered the weapon towards Applejacks mouth. With great ease, Applejack shoved the pistol in between the outside of her leg and the belts, locking it up to hold it in place.

“What’s this for? Isn’t it easier to just hold it up with my magic?” Twilight asked, examining the new belts.

“It’s hard to shoot when you have to think about holding the gun and pull the trigger, ain’t it?” Applejack snickered. “Besides, now there’s no chance of you losin’ your new best friend.”

Twilight looked concerned for a minute. “Not Dominic Stalionago” She said quietly to herself. Luckily for her, Applejack didn’t hear her.

“Ah’ll call control, you try and reload the gun.”

“…Reload?”

“Yeah, magazines are in your saddle bag.” As Twilight tried to figure out what she meant by reload, Applejack placed a hoof to her ear. “Control, this is Apple 1, ah’ve just picked up the final soldier at Eponya High Security Prison.” She stopped as if she was listening to someone. “Fluttershy, ah don’t care if it’s Apple or Alpha. Ya know it’s me, but ya won’t believe who ah got.” She stopped again. “Okay, one sec.” Applejack went over to Twilight, who had successfully taken the magazine out of her gun, but was having a hard time getting a new one back in. Applejack held out an earpiece, ignoring Twilight’s failure. “Put this in your ear, sugarcube. Ah think Fluttershy wants to talk to ya.”

Twilight did as she was told, and attached the earpiece to her ear, she could hear a lot of traffic go through the radio, but it was muffled. “Um… hello?” Three voices on the other end gasped

“Twilight! Yay! She’s come to join the party too!”

“Oh my goodness! Twilight, I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Twilight, you filly, is that you?”

Twilight stood there, stunned. “Pinkie? Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash?” She asked, the three cheered in response.

“We’ve all missed ya Twilight.” Applejack said softly, placing a hoof on her shoulder. She put away her gun and grabbed Twilight’s, placing the new magazine into the gun and giving Twilight back the old one. “That’s how you reload, sugarcube.”

As Twilight smiled, realizing she was in fact in the company of her best friends, another explosion was set off in the distance. Applejack’s kindhearted smile quickly turned into a wicked scowl. Twilight’s earpiece started to fill with voices. She tried to focus on Fluttershy “Alpha Squad, we have another explosion, position grid 3-Beta, just north of your position. Those shells are getting closer.”

“Fluttershy, requesting immediate evac.” Applejack said, shoving her hoof in her ear. “We need another bird down here, asap.”

“Copy that, Alpha.” Fluttershy said, calmer than Twilight would have liked. “You have hostiles closing in on your position. Umm… I’ll try and get in contact with a nearby flight squad. Wait one. If that’s okay...”

Applejack turned to Twilight. “Well, ya ready to finally get outta your home sweet hole?” Twilight just nodded. She was still confused about this entire thing, and wasn’t sure if it was safer in the cell, or outside. “Oh yeah, one more thing Twilight.”

“And what’s that?”

“Welcome to Alpha.”

< Prologue                Chapter 2 >

==============

Any questions comments and concerns can be posted on Fanfiction.net, the Equestria Daily page, or directly to me at

Andrew-64@derpymail.org

I do not own any characters/settings/weapons used in this fic.

All properties are © Hasbro, Epic Games, Microsoft, or their respected owners

==============

“Oh yeah, one more thing, Twilight.”

“And what’s that?”

“Welcome to Alpha.”

<Chapter 1                Chapter 3>

=================

Act 1

Chapter 2

Teamwork is Magic

=================

“Eponya” High Security

Prison Unknown Time

When Twilight first went into her prison a year ago, she never thought she’d get out. She thought her life was over, her friends gone and her will to live slowly diminishing. She had given up all hope when her savior had arrived.

“Ah’m glad ah found ya, Twi.” Applejack said again, interrupting Twilight’s thought process. It was as if she still didn’t believe it. “Ah’ve never seen the girls so upset… Especially Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight’s heart sank a little when Applejack said her name. “I wonder why that was.” She gave a nervous laugh. Applejack giggled a little.

“You can’t hide anythin’ from me, sugarcube.” Twilight gave a weak smile.

The two continued down the abandoned prison hallway. It was full of the same doors as Twilight’s prison.  With every step they took, their hooves echoed off the walls. It seemed dark and endless, with the exception of the small glimmer of light at the end. “Where is everypony?”

“Gone. Once they got everyone else out, they turned tail and ran… they were gonna leave you here.”

Twilight simply ignored that statement. She knew the guards hated her from day one. “What were they running from?”

“The beasts looked like they wanted this prison as a base. Princess Celestia decided she would grant pardons to everypony and reenlist them.”

“Everyone but me…” Twilight said. Applejack looked behind to her friend, a sad expression on her face. “You said the beasts might be attacking here… Why’d you stay behind?”

“Ah don’t leave a pony behind, Twilight. If someone needs help, ah come back for ‘em.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile. At least somepony in this crazy world cared for her.

The two approached the door at the end of the hall, and pushed it open. Twilight’s jaw dropped. She was standing in the same room where she was judged a year ago. Only this time, things were different. All of the stands, including Celestia’s large, seemingly unmovable seat, had fallen. Now that the room was lighter, Twilight also noticed cracking pillars that held up the structure. She could only assume the shaking she’d been feeling was the cause of this.

While Twilight admired the beautiful design of the room, Applejack looked to the right of the door they had just entered, and grabbed what Twilight assumed was her gun. It was much longer than Twilight’s own, covering most of Applejacks forearm, and had small teeth coming out from the underside. Its barrel was much longer than Twilight’s pistol, and the magazine appeared larger. What worried Twilight the most was there was no trigger to pull like on hers.

“That doesn’t look safe…” Twilight said uneasily.

“Ya think that ain’t safe.” With a smirk that would scare the bravest of stallions, Applejack swung her armed hoof to the side of her, allowing the teeth on the underside of the gun to shoot out as far as the barrel, revealing a chainsaw like device. Twilight jumped. “That ain’t even the best part.” Reaching into her saddlebag, Applejack brought out a small remote looking object that had a red and blue button. She bit down on the blue button, and suddenly the chainsaw began to rev, the teeth of the gun going in a cycle faster than Twilight’s eyes could see. “Cuts right through them beasts.”

“That’s… That’s horrible!”

Applejack let go of the button, and let the chainsaw die down. She placed the remote safely in her boot pocket. ”Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, sugarcube. Once ya see what those savages do, ah know you’ll understand.” Applejack gently pushed he chainsaw to the floor, forcing the blade back into the gun.

“What was that remote, anyways?”

“Celestia calls it a remote firearm. Since Earth and pegasus ponies can’t fire weapons with magic, Celestia thought it’d be easier to just make a remote that connected to our weapons that we could fire with our mouths. Pretty cool, huh?”

“I had no idea Celestia had that much magic to make weapons like this.”

“Sometimes ponies are forced to do desperate things I guess.” Applejack began to walk to the other side of the room. “Come on, let’s get outta here.”

---

Making it through the prison was easy. There were only a few rooms they had to go through until they reached the outside. The sky seemed darker than it did a year ago, Twilight thought. The exhaust and pollution from the war was probably to blame. The explosions were probably kicking up dust into the air as well.

The courtyard they were in had a very ‘official government building’ feel to them. The stone way leading to the building was nice and even, and the pillars (or what was left of them) were perfectly crafted and all had a bust of Princess Celestia on it, in a way that made it look like she was always watching. Twilight could tell the prison used to be very presentable on the outside, but between the dead grass, fallen pillars and broken busts, it was clear that either the groundskeeper didn’t care anymore, or the battle for the prison had already begun.

“Alpha ta control, we made it outside, no baddies yet. Can we get those birds now?”

“Um, negative alpha, um I’m sorry, but uh… There are hostiles all around the prison. It’s too hot for FG6 to pick you up.”

“Are ya kidding me?” Applejack swore under her breath. “Ah’m sorry Fluttershy, just tell them to get their flanks over here, me and Twi will take care of the hostiles.”

“We will?”

“Roget that, control out.” Fluttershy cut communications, leaving Twilight with only static. A second later, she came back. “Just… please be careful…”

Applejack smiled, and took her hoof off her earpiece. “Ah’m sorry, Twi, but if you wanna get outta here, you need to fight your way.” She opened her boot pocket, and grabbed her gun’s remote. “Ya ready?”

Twilight nodded her head. She was scared. She didn’t know what to expect. And the pistol on her hoof was her only line of defense. The armor looked strong, but her face and flank were completely unprotected. Who designed these things anyways? She asked herself, now more annoyed than frightened.

Applejack nodded her head, and stood up on a nearby fallen pillar, and began to pound her chest with her gun. “Who wants some o’ this! Come on ya fillies! Y’all scared of Applejack?! Bring on the horde!” She said, before pointing her gun in the air, and shooting off a few rounds. The gun fired rapidly, Twilight noticed. She pulled her own trigger and kept it down. It only fired once. She was beginning to be worried. “Yeeeehaaaw! Y’all scared of my Lancer huh? Well you should be! I’d end ya!” Applejack continued to taunt, now revving the chainsaw.

When she finally lowered the gun, and put the chainsaw back into place, a wicked howling was heard. Twilight’s hair stood up on the back of her head. Chills began running down her spine. Applejack laughed, and jumped down from the pillar, now hiding behind it. Confused, Twilight did the same. “Why couldn’t we have just waited for them to pass? Or just run for it?”

“The wolves have a high sense of smell, Twi, they already knew we were here somewhere. And the cougars are faster than we are. Even if they couldn’t run us down, they still have more firepower.”

“They still have more power, now we’re just trapped!” Twilight yelled under her breath. Applejack laughed.

“Just remember the golden rule of the C.O.L.T. Twilight. Take cover, or die.”

Twilight swallowed. The rule was simple, but the unknown still scared her. How quickly would her pistol put her enemies out of their misery? Will she know when to duck and when not to? How many enemies were her and Applejack facing? If she got shot, how long would she feel it before she…?

“We got contact! Open fire!” Applejack yelled, peaking over the pillar and firing her lancer. As returned shots were fired, she ducked back behind cover. She did it so naturally, like it was second nature.

How long has she been fighting? Twilight thought. Applejack stood back up and began firing the other half of her clip.

“Ah can’t do this without you, Twi! C’mon!” Applejack sounded worried. Twilight looked at her gun and then back towards Applejack. Taking a finally breath, she peaked over the pillar, and pointed her gun at the nearest figure.

Unprotected by anything but its skin, Twilight found herself staring at what could only be described as a beast. It was a wolf to be exact, if Twilight’s intelligence didn’t fail her. Its gray fur was matted and filthy, parts were stained red with what Twilight assumed was blood. It showed it’s large teeth, also stained with blood, causing it to drool along its fur and the ground as it charged Twilight. She was so scared. She knew it would eat her if given the chance. She couldn’t think. She thought she was going to die. She pulled the trigger.

A gunshot rang out, and smoke began to rise from her gun. The wolf charging her had fallen. Twilight stood there in shock. She had just killed it. A living creature. Not only did Twilight unbalance the food chain she had read about, but, more importantly, she had taken a life. She ducked back behind the pillar.

“Good shootin’!” She could hear Applejack yell. Twilight shook her head. She couldn’t believe it. This was real. She had pulled the trigger; she had felt the recoil and heat from the gun as she pulled it. Twilight didn’t know what was worse… The fact that she had just taken a life…

Or the fact that she knew she had to do it again.

She peeked out from behind the pillar again, and noticed that the wolf was not the only one that had fallen. Three others were laying in the courtyard, covered in their own blood. They were as motionless as the colts Twilight found her first day there. Applejack had probably taken out a small group herself, and continued to take out the remaining stragglers, who were beginning to run away. As her eyes began to focus, she could see more beasts, hiding behind the wall near the gate exit, occasionally sticking their own guns out to return fire.

Twilight boggled in her mind what these beasts could have been, before coming to the realization that they were a breed of big cat. Cougars, if Twilight remembered correctly, were another pony predator, but they seemed smarter, and stayed behind cover like she and Applejack were doing. She couldn’t get a good look, but she knew that the cats were more heavily protected than the bare wolves. The cats had armor that protected their entire body. Though it looked weak compared to her own, Twilight had to admit, she was a little jealous. The guns they had seemed to fire in small bursts of three, which again put Twilight at a small disadvantage.

“They’re too far. We’re gonna have to charge ‘em.”

“Charge them!? Are you crazy?”

“Just trust me!” Applejack shouted, backing herself up a little. With a small running start, Applejack jumped the pillar they had used for cover. She kicked her right foot out, revealing her chainsaw for the third time that day, revving it up as she ran. The cougars seemed to jump at this, and Applejack just ran faster. “Yeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!” She shouted. As she approached one of the cougars, she stuck the chainsaw into his gut, and Twilight had to look away. She heard the motor rev and could hear the blood being pulled out of the cougar’s body. Twilight thought for a second, she only hit one of the cougars. There was still more.

She stuck her head out to get another look, and saw Applejack had been knocked to the floor. Though she successfully killed one of the targets, two more had their guns pointed at her. Twilight’s heart stopped. A sudden sense of anger came over her, and she pointed her gun at one of her enemies, releasing half of her clip, before turning to the other beast, and letting loose the rest of the clip.

Covered in new bullet holes, the cougars fell to the rocky ground, dead before impact. Twilight ignored their pain, and immediately hurdled the pillar to aid her best friend. As she reached the fallen orange pony, Applejack began to stir, opening her eyes. “What in tarnation…?” She asked weakly.

“Applejack, don’t worry, I’m here now.” Twilight said quietly, helping Applejack up onto her feet. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Oh, one of them got a lucky shot on me. Clawed me right in the cheek. Ah’m all right, ah’ll cry later.” She joked. Twilight didn’t notice before, but Applejack was now bleeding from two separate scratch wounds on her cheek. Either Applejack didn’t feel it, or she ignored the pain, putting her hoof in her ear. “Control, it’s Apple… Alpha, whatever. We took care of our little horde problem. Now can you get me out of here? Ah got a little scratch ah need to put a band-aid on… Yeah, yeah, roger that.”

“Applejack, that needs more than just a band-aid.”

“Don’t you worry none about me, Twi. Ah told ya, ah’ll be all right.”

---

Later that afternoon

Jastallion – Capital of

The C.O.L.T. – Barracks

Time Unknown

Twilight honestly couldn’t remember much after the fight she had had just hours before. Even after she knew she was safe in this C.O.L.T base with an impenetrable wall, in a comfy room on the third floor, she was still on an adrenaline rush. When the two Pegasi and their battle chariot had arrived, Twilight couldn’t sit still. Though the bottom of the chariot was made of steel, and the outsides were higher up than the royal chariot she was used to, she still felt unsafe. She still felt like she was going to be shot today. Applejack’s injury didn’t make her feel any better.

Suddenly, her communications link began to buzz in her ear, snapping her back to the world around her now. She would have been worried if it weren’t for the voice on the other end. “Umm, hi, Twilight, uh, sorry if I’m, uh, interrupting but I was asked to deliver a message, if that’s all right…”

Twilight smiled. “It’s okay Fluttershy, go ahead. I could use something to get my mind off this… this war.” She said, surprised at what had just come out of her own mouth.

“The girls haven’t seen you in forever, you know. I mean, uh, obviously you know… They want to see you again, if, if it’s all right with you… I’d like to see you too, actually…”

“Everyone’s here?”

“Everyone is in the base but Rarity. She’s in the city, Jastallion, looking over the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I’ll be sure to send a message to her, so, uh, don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy… So, where are you anyway?”

---

Walking into a communications office, Twilight learned, was like walking into a large store where everyone goes normally. No pony turns to look at whoever just walked in; they just continue their jobs with the utmost of urgency. She tried to listen to the conversations the comms-officers were having with the soldiers they were in charge of, but all of the military jargon they used made it hard to understand. Eventually, through the crowd of unfamiliar stone-faced ponies, she found a familiar looking Pegasus. Brightly colored with yellow fur and a pink mane, she seemed to stick out from the neutral colored ponies. Twilight also made note she was the only Pegasus, compared to the abundance of Unicorns and some earth ponies.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked when she finally reached the pink manned pony. Fluttershy turned around, and let out a small gasp.

“Oh, Twilight! It really is you! Not that I doubted Applejack or anything…” Fluttershy stood there, awkwardly, pawing her foot at the ground. It was like the first day Twilight met her again. Suddenly, Fluttershy tackled Twilight with a hug, almost choking the violet pony with her front legs. “I never thought I’d see you again. We were so worried!” She cried. Twilight noticed some of the other officers around Fluttershy had turned to look at what was happening. Twilight let out a weak smile.

Fluttershy didn’t look much different then from the day she left. She had a refined, natural beauty to her, with her mane a beautiful length and a wonderful shade of pink. She was like a fairy tale princess. However, she looked over tired, bags beginning to form under her eyes. Her comms-officer jacket was a small tan button up, that went down to her stomach, still showing off her cutie mark, three pink butterflies. Her over sized head phones made her look like Vinyl Scratch.

“O-okay, Fluttershy, I missed you too.” She said, giving her friend a one hoofed hug. Eventually, the two let go, and Fluttershy took off her headset, letting it fall on her neck. “What is this place?”

“This is the communications office, as you could probably tell. Um, it’s where we talk to all of the soldiers and tell them their missions… I’m in charge of a few squads. I’m not very good at organizing them yet.” Fluttershy admitted.

“I’m just glad to see you’re not part of the fighting.”

“I don’t think I could handle it. I could never hurt such creatures, no matter how scary they are.”

“To be honest though, I meant where are we specifically. This can’t be Equestria.”

Fluttershy looked down, and pawed the ground again. “Actually… uh, we are…” Twilight gave a look of confusion. “This is Equestria Twilight.”

“What. Fluttershy, that doesn’t make any sense.” Twilight said, laughing nervously at her friend’s remark. Fluttershy shook her head.

“Well, if you don’t believe me, you can ask Applejack, or Rarity, or Spike, or-“

“Spike’s here too?” Twilight asked her eyes shooting open. Without warning, she gave Fluttershy a final goodbye, and ran out of the communications room.

“Well, um, I guess we’ll just talk later?”

---

“Spike’s a what?”

“Eeyup. Spike’s a colonel now. He and his squad almost single handedly chased out the horde from Eponya the day we all came here. With no armor even. He also planned an attack with Applejack to take control Colten. He was promoted for his brilliance and bravery.”

Big Macintosh was a lot more talkative than usual, Twilight noticed. A large red Clydesdale pony with an orange mane, Applejack’s brother was always bigger than anypony Twilight ever saw, but now that he was in this war too, even his muscles were a little bulgier than normal. It scared her. He had no armor on, at the time, but he wore a necklace with a small trinket attached. It looked like a hand carved symbol of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, made from wood. A little messy, it was still a nice piece of work. Macintosh noticed her staring at it.

“Applebloom.” He said simply

“Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader?”

“Eeyup.” He said again. So much for being talkative, Twilight thought to herself. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Miss Sparkle, ah gotta go make sure mah little sis is all right. Spike’s office is just down the hall.” And with that, he began walking in the other direction. Twilight trotted down the rest of the hall, looking for any one else she knew. The barracks were set up oddly. All of the officers were given nice rooms and offices, while the simple soldiers and communications officers had to share a room with the others. It seemed a little unfair, Twilight thought.

When she reached Spike’s door, her heart nearly sank. On the door read “Colonel Spike”. She felt like she needed to knock before entering. Before leaving her room, she did a little bit of reading, and made note that Colonel was about as high as one can go without becoming a general. Spike was at the top of the food chain because of his tough scales and natural blood thirst. But he was still a baby dragon, maybe a young child now. What if they were over working him? What if he became something completely different?

Twilight finally decided to bite the bullet, and open the door. There, in a comfy looking chair, was her little assistant, Spike, spinning around, appearing to be having the time of his life. When he heard the door open though, he caught himself on his desk, and slammed his fist as hard as he could. “Who dares come in here without my permission? Am I gonna have to-“ Suddenly, his hard face turned into a much softer one when he caught Twilight’s face. Slowly, he dropped down from his chair, and walked over to Twilight, feeling her face with his sharp claws. “Tw-Twilight? It’s you…”

“Yes, Spike” She said sweetly. “I’m here.”

She couldn’t tell if what happened next was of anger or of love, because she found herself on the ground, again being choked (for the third time today) in a massive bear hug. “Twilight where have you been!?” Spike asked, letting go.

He was definitely getting older, Twilight thought. Though his voice and actions were the same, Spike had a grown a little from when she last saw him. With purple scales and green spikes, Twilight knew he would be a handsome young dragon one day. Twilight imagined he had probably grown an inch or 3 since they last met, but other than that, he was still the same Spike.

“In prison, unfortunately…”

“Wait, you were the pony that Applejack broke out of Celestia’s High Security Prison? Aw yes! I thought I was going to have to reprimand her, but now I can give her a metal of bravery.” Spike said happily.

“You were going to reprimand Applejack? But why?” Twilight asked.

“She was given a direct order to retreat back here for a new mission, but she told me she had to help the trapped pony. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“But, now you’re gonna reward her?”

”Well… yeah.” Spike said, assuming the reason was obvious. “She did save you. You’re really the only family I have.” He gave short shrug.

Though the way he said it made it seem like he didn’t care, Twilight’s eyes nearly watered. Spike was always by her side, always ready to help her in her times of need, no matter how small or insignificant. She always considered him a sort of son, having hatched him from his egg, but she never knew Spike considered her to be family. She didn’t think dragons had that mind set.

“Wait, wait, don’t cry!” Spike said. “I’m not gonna reprimand her anymore, remember.” Twilight ignored his comment, and gave her little assistant a hug, and a small kiss on the forehead. His rough scales were unpleasant, but she ignored it. “Uh, Twilight…?”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Twilight said, smirking. “Is my big draggy-waggy too grown up for a huggy-wuggy?” She cooed. Spike groaned.

“Hey, I’m a colonel now. I have a reputation to hold up.” Despite his acknowledgement of higher power, his face was still beat read. “N-Now, I have to get back to work, Twi.” He said, climbing onto his chair.

Twilight smiled again. “Well, okay, if you say so, big mister colonel sir.” She said, still in her baby talk voice. Finally she dropped it, noticing she was really starting to annoy Spike. “Listen, do you know where I can find Rainbow Dash?”

“Uh, R-Rainbow Dash? Uh, Twilight, I don’t think that’s a-“

“Oh come on, Spike, you know I have to go talk to her.”

Spike sighed. “Just… just don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

“What do you mean by-?”

“She’s outside the base, either scouting or just goofing off. I can’t tell anymore.” He said, with a slight disgust.

“Spike, Rainbow Dash is our friend. I know you’re a colonel now, but you have to remember everything we learned about friendship.” Twilight said, as she made her way to the door, opening it with her magic. The purple dragon gave a short laugh.

“Only you would think of friendship at a time like this.”

Twilight thought she might have just heard Spike wrong, so she looked behind her, gave one final wave, and left.

---

Twilight knew she had to go see Pinkie Pie and Rarity sometime today but she decided she had to see Rainbow Dash first.

“Well why would you want to do that?”

I know it’s silly, but I care about Rainbow Dash a lot. I care for all of my friends a lot but… just more so for her.

“Man, the writer has absolutely no idea how to give subtle hints, does he?”

“What!?” Twilight screamed when she saw her. Out of nowhere, a pink pony, dressed in full armor, was reading what looked like some papers crudely stabled together.

“What do you mean looked like some papers? They are papers, you silly filly.”

“P-Pinkie?”

“Oh, Twilight, it really is you! These papers weren’t lying!” Pinkie Pie cried, giving Twilight a hug. When she was done, Twilight gave her a confused look.

“What papers?”

With armor as heavy as Applejack’s, Pinkie didn’t look like she had the muscle mass to hold all of it up, but she did with what looked like ease. Unlike Applejack’s, the armor was clean and absent of any dents and had the number “83” on her chest in big red letters. Her armor was also missing shoulder pads, and a knife. To Twilight’s surprise, Pinkie’s magenta mane was still curly as ever. Twilight half expected Pinkie to go back to her “Pinkamena Dianna Pie” stage, with her personality going insane and her mane going straight from all the killing and lack of partying.

“Oh, well that’s because every day IS a party to me. Also, my name’s not Pinkie Pie anymore.”

“Oh? Well then what is- Wait, how did you know what I was thinking?”

“I’m the Pinkie Train now. That’s what this number is for.” Pinkie explained, pointing to the “83”.

“How does that number explain why you’re the Pinkie Train?” Twilight asked. She still didn’t get her answer to how she knew what she was thinking, but decided it was Pinkie Pie. Nothing made sense when she was around.

“Oh that’s easy. Have you ever played Gears of War? It’s this awesome game the author introduced me to before he sent us here. It was weird he was like” Suddenly her voice got really low. “’Hey Pinkie, I’m making a fan fic based on the game Gears of War. You want in, I think you’d make a great Cole Train’” Her voice went back to normal “So I was all ‘Oh okay just let me borrow the game!’ And he was so cool. Always whooping, and hollering. I’d love to have partied with him! He was number 83, so I decided I could be number 83 too!”

“…What? When did… how?”

“Oh, it was right before he sent us back in- Whoops! I almost gave away the twist, didn’t I?” Pinkie giggled a little. “I mean, it’s not a twist if you give it away. Then it’s, like, a boring old straight!” Twilight gave Pinkie a look of curiosity, but decided to let it go. “Anyways, Twilight, it’s good to see you’re okay. I was so worried. I cried for, like, months. Then I heard your voice and I was all” Pinkie suddenly gasped, similar to the way she did when they first met. “And then I cried some more because I knew you were okay.”

“…It’s… It’s good to see you too, Pinkie. I’m glad you seem to be okay as well… Physically, at least.”

“Oh, Twilight, I’m always super pinkie keen. But, I gotta go, it’s Ben Chestnut’s birthday today. I’m gonna throw him a big party!” And with that she bounced off, humming something Twilight couldn’t make out.

---

With the exception of Rarity, who she felt she would see sometime in the near future, and Applejack, who was still resting from the days battle, Twilight had seen everypony else she needed to see today. With that in mind, she knew she saved herself the best for last.

With a little help from another Unicorn soldier, Twilight managed to find the exit to the building, leading her into the city of Jastallion. Twilight was amazed. The city was larger than Manehatten in space and in height, the tallest building being around 20 levels high, as apposed to the 7 story high C.O.L.T. base. However, the city seemed familiar. Too familiar… This used to be her home.

“Isn’t this… Canterlot?”

Positioned along a mountainside higher than the clouds, Jastallion was in fact in the exact same spot where Celestia would later create Canterlot. Unlike Canterlot, the Jastallion was much bigger in size. Where as Canterlot looked like it would one day fall off of the mountain, Most of Jastallion seemed to be built on stable land that made up the mountain. However, the Princess’s castle and a few other buildings still seemed to be attached to the mountain, just like home.

While examining the spectacular city, Twilight saw something that made her heart drop. She saw someone that made her remember why she held on to hope for so long. She saw someone else she loved.

Rainbow Dash.

<Chapter 1                Chapter 3>

==============

Any questions comments and concerns can be posted on Fanfiction.net, the Equestria Daily page, or directly to me at

Andrew-64@derpymail.org

I do not own any characters/settings/weapons used in this fic.

All properties are © Hasbro, Epic Games, Microsoft, or their respected owners

==============

Oh, I almost forgot. The pony you sent to prison a year ago, Private Twilight Sparkle, has come under my control. Almost a half-hour after being released, Twilight fought off a small pack of beasts with Alpha Squad leader Sergeant Applejack. Applejack was hit, and Twilight risked mane and tail to go save her. I’m moving the two to Delta Squad alongside Corporal Dash, Private Pie, and Private Chestnut, and shipping them out to Eponya along with the rest of the Extraction Brigade. With those ponies on the job, I know we’ll get the location of the Elements of Harmony.

(A footnote from Colonel Spike to Princess Celestia about the plan to extract the Lightmagic Resonator concerning Private Twilight Sparkle’s bravery and new squad.)

<Chapter 2                Chapter 4>

=================

Act 1

Chapter 3

Love Runs Deep

=================

The Donut Hut in Canterlot

After The Grand Galloping Gala

1017 C.R.

It had been a long night for Twilight. All she wanted to do was spend time with her mentor, and talk about the magic of friendship and everything she learned while in Ponyville. Unfortunately, Celestia was as busy as ever, welcoming every pony that stepped foot in the hall while Twilight idly watched. She was happy to be with her mentor, but it wasn’t the night she was planning at all. Thankfully, she took comfort in knowing her friends had just as bad a time.

They laughed and joked about their terrible night, making each other feel better in the idea that everyone‘s night was just as bad or worse than the last. When Princess Celestia came in to tell them they had made the night the best Grand Galloping Gala ever, they had to admit, they felt better about themselves. Eventually, Celestia recommended they stay with her for the night, in case some ponies get aggravated over “ruining the gala”. They agreed.

Princess Celestia had plenty of guest rooms, but she needed most of them for guests who came from far away cities, such as Manehatten, or Troton. She offered the girls three rooms with one bed each. Pinkie Pie decided she would go with Fluttershy, to try and calm her down after going crazy during the party. Applejack was worried about Rarity not finding her “true love” and decided to try and tell her Blueblood wasn’t worth getting upset over. Rainbow Dash and Twilight decided they wouldn’t mind bunking for the night.

As Twilight and Rainbow Dash entered their room, Twilight flipped the switch for the light, and shut the door. They were pleased to see the bed was more than big enough for the two of them. It was a queen-sized bed, by the looks of it, covered in a soft pink comforter, and surrounded by a large white veil.

The two didn’t say much to each other, but stripped themselves of their dresses and immediately crawled into bed. They exchanged their good nights before Twilight used her magic to shut off the lights, and the two shut their eyes to fall asleep.

But after a night like that, it’s not as easy to sleep as one would think.

“Hey, Twi. You still up?”

“Yeah.” Twilight turned around in the covers to face Rainbow Dash. It was dark, so she could only barely make out the contour of the back of the pony right in front of her. “It’s kinda hard to sleep after tonight. It was crazy.”

“Y-yeah, I know how you feel.” Rainbow Dash said weakly. She sounded as if she didn’t want Twilight to respond, and she didn’t turn to face Twilight either.

“But at least everything turned out all right. It was the best night ever, just in a different sense.” Rainbow Dash let out a small sniffle. “Rainbow?” Twilight said, a little worried. She positioned herself to get closer to Rainbow. “Hey, are you okay?” She asked, using her hoof to nudge the pegasus pony.

Finally, Rainbow Dash turned around to face Twilight. After her eyes had adjusted to the lack of light, Twilight could see she had a tear rolling down her face. “It wasn’t. Not at all.” Rainbow Dash said, trying to mask her sadness with anger.

“Rainbow Dash, don’t. It’s okay.” Twilight said, scrambling for words. What was she supposed to do? She’s never had to deal with Rainbow Dash ever crying before, she was normally the toughest of the bunch. But she had to do something. If something hurt Rainbow Dash enough to make her cry, it was going to be hard bringing her back up. “You’ll get to hang out with the Wonderbolts another time.” She said, lightly patting her friend’s shoulder.

“You don’t understand, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash hissed, turning back around. “Your hero is Princess Celestia, and you’re her prized student. You can talk to her whenever.” She said, with a hint of jealousy. “My heroes don’t even know I exist.” With this, Twilight could hear Rainbow Dash fighting off tears.

“Rainbow? Rainbow Dash, please, stop.” Twilight quickly scotched her way over to Rainbow, and put her hoof on her crying friend’s shoulder.

“It’s not fair. Nopony knows who I am. Best Young Fliers Competition my hoof.” She complained. Twilight took her hoof off her shoulder. Rainbow Dash looked up, some tears rolling down her face. She was trying to stop them, to look strong in front of Twilight, but to no success. She was quiet, Twilight noticed, but that just made her seem sadder.

“Dash.” Twilight started. “You are the best flier in Equestria, you know that. And even if the Wonderbolts don’t see it, your friends do. I do. I know who you are Rainbow Dash. You’re my best friend.” Twilight held her hooves out, wanting to give her friend a sign that she cared, hoping the kind gesture would ease Rainbow Dash’s mind. Just a friendly hug would help her smile again, right? She had to admit, after seeing Rainbow’s distraught expression; she was starting to miss her friend’s proud grin.

Though having the young pony pretty much throw herself into Twilight’s embrace wasn’t exactly what she was expecting. She looked down to find Rainbow Dash’s muzzle buried in her stomach, holding on as tightly as she could.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you to say that, Twilight Sparkle.”

The two ponies sat there in that position for a few minutes, until Rainbow Dash finally let out her last tears. When she was finished, she sat up and wiped her eyes.

“I’m sorry about that.” She finally said, looking away. She was obviously embarrassed from the display, but she couldn’t show Twilight that.

“It’s okay. You know I’m always here for you.” Twilight said, smiling.

Rainbow Dash sat there, looking around nervously, as if she was thinking of something. Eventually, she looked in Twilight’s eyes. “Hey, Twi?” Twilight scooted closer to Rainbow Dash.

As quickly as she could, Rainbow Dash moved her muzzle to Twilight’s, giving her a very light kiss. She immediately retreated and gave Twilight a weak smile. “Thanks… we should… probably get to bed.” She said finally, moving back to her side, scuttling passed Twilight to get under her covers.

Twilight just sat there as Rainbow Dash past, her eyes wide open. Had Rainbow Dash just… kissed her? The rumor around Ponyville was that Rainbow was a lesbian, but Twilight never believed it. Maybe it was just that it was so late? Maybe that’s just what friends do? Twilight was only snapped back to reality when she heard the light snoring of Rainbow Dash, her nose still stuffy from crying. Still in shock, she slowly scooted over to her side of the bed, and pulled up the covers.

Twilight stared at the ceiling for hours thinking about what had happened. She never did get much sleep that night.

---

Just Outside Jastallion

Barracks – Time Unknown

Though it took a few minutes of crazy waving and flailing, Twilight finally managed to get Rainbow Dash’s attention. As Spike suggested, Rainbow Dash was either goofing off or scouting, flying around the perimeter of the city, only occasionally looking at the ground. But when she saw Twilight, she stopped flying, and slowly descended, her eyes staring in disbelief. Twilight trotted over happily, her mind going a mile a minute.

Rainbow Dash looked very much the same as she did a year ago, with the exception of her bangs being considerably longer. Her armor was very basic compared to Twilight’s, missing the shoulder pads and a flank guard. Though she still had a belt, chest guard and leg braces, they were made up of a much lighter material, to make up for her lacking stature. She was also not carrying a gun, but this was probably because she was on sentry duty. She also sported a pair of goggles.

By the time Rainbow Dash had reached the ground, her eyes had begun to tear a little bit. Twilight gave a small smile. “Um… Hey, Rainbow it’s… Heh. It’s been a long time.”

Rainbow just looked down at the ground. “Where have you been?” She finally asked. Twilight stood there in shock. She sounded almost sad. “I looked everywhere for you.”

“Rainbow… I’m sorry. I was in prison. I-“

“No, don’t say anything.” Rainbow Dash said. She sighed heavily. “So much has happened since you’ve been gone…” She began o flap her wings, letting her fly higher into the air. “I need to think about this.” And with that, she took off, leaving a rainbow trail like she always did. Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes, or her heart. Suddenly she heard a voice on her Comm Unit.

“Um, Twilight, I’m sorry… but, um, I just heard that… Come to Rarity’s house in the middle of the city…”

”We all need ta talk ta you Sugarcube.”

---

It didn’t take long to find Rarity’s house. It was the only house decorated in the slightest, given a colorful paint job of purple, rather than the bleak brown everyone else’s was. Compared to the other buildings though, the paint just looked… odd.

Twilight entered the house, and into a dark room. She could hear voices coming from the other room, which was lit. As she closed the door, she could hear gasps.

“Is that-?”

“I think so.”

“Last one there’s a mule!”

As Twilight walked towards the lit room and out of the dark entrance, she was suddenly jumped by three unknown figures. Well, unknown until she heard them speak.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ATTACK HUG!” They yelled. The lights were suddenly flipped on, and there stood the three fillies whom would occupy her time on Tuesday afternoons. She was just taken down by the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Unfortunately for them, war was not an easy time to get a cutie mark.

All of them looked only a little bit older, and a little bit bigger, Twilight didn’t notice anything much different about Sweetie Belle or Applebloom. Then she took a good look at Scootaloo. Though one of her wings was erect like it always was, the other was tucked away in a cast.

“Anything yet?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Luckily for them, attack hugging was also not their special talent. Suddenly, someone scolded them. “Girls, is that really the way to treat someone you haven’t seen for a year? Or ever, actually? Honestly, I thought I would have taught you something.” Twilight stood up and looked for the source of the voice. Rarity was standing in the doorway to the other room “Oh, Twilight, dear are you all right?” She said.

Rarity didn’t look much different from when Twilight last saw her. Though she still had an incredible amount of natural beauty, her lack of mascara was the first thing Twilight noticed. Her hair was still curly, an almost a regal shade of purple that contrasted nicely with her white fur. It wasn’t as clean as it was back home, but Twilight assumed the money usually meant for cleanliness was used for the war effort.

“Yes, Rarity, I’m all right.”

Rarity walked over to Twilight before gasping. “Oh Twilight, what did they do to you!? Just look at your hair. Don’t worry; Rarity has the best shampoo in all of Equestria.”

“Uh, Rarity, ah know your concerned about Twilight’s hair, but ah think she has more pressing matters at hand.” Applejack said, stepping into the room. “Come on, Fluttershy and Pinkie are waiting for us in the dining hall.”

The dining hall was brightly lit by a nice chandelier and large enough to hold a small party. The tiled floor and large windows on either sides of the room were nice touches as well. Twilight wondered how anyone could afford this. The three mares sat in three open seats next to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, with Rarity sitting at the end of the table.

“This is about Rainbow Dash, isn’t it? What’s wrong with her?” Twilight finally asked. Everyone looked away. Except for Pinkie.

“Well, for one thing, she’s completely out of character. I mean, she’s supposed to be the bad flank of our group, ya know? And here she is, upset when her friend comes back, I mean, hellooooo.“

“Pinkie! We all know Rainbow’s been actin’ a bit strange lately, but that ain’t no reason to criticize her… or, go crazy. We all know what happened.” Pinkie blinked.

“Yeah, but they don’t know.”

“You mean Twilight and the girls?” Rarity asked. Pinkie shrugged.

“Who else would I be talking about?” Pinkie shrugged, giving a wink.

“Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?” Twilight asked.

“Well-“

“Anyone besides Pinkie.”

Everyone looked at Applejack, who sighed. “Why am I always the one to break the bad news to everypony?”

“Cause you’re a commando, Applejack. You’re supposed to always have the hardest job. I am a simple civilian. I have no business with C.O.L.T. soldiers.” Rarity said, a smile on her face.

“Ugh, fine.” Applejack finally said. “You see, Twi, Rainbow Dash… Blames you for something.”

“What? Does she thinks I sent us all here?”

“You are known for messing up spells, Twi.” Pinkie Pie said, smiling slightly.

“I have never messed up a spell in my entire life!” Twilight shouted, suddenly angry. Applejack raised her voice, too, putting her front hooves on the table

“Sugarcube, ah know you’re upset.” She took a deep breath, and lowered her voice again. “Ah know you’re upset, but we know you didn’t do it. Not even Rainbow. She blames you for something else.”

“What? What could I have done?”

“Um, I’m going to go check on the girls.” Rarity said suddenly, quickly walking out of the room.

Applejack sighed. “I hate this story too, Rarity, trust me.” She said quietly. She looked at Twilight. “Ya saw Scootaloo’s wing, didn’tcha? It all happened about four months ago…”

---

Rarity’s Old House, Ilimane

Sweetie Belle’s Birthday

Eight Months After

Twilight’s Imprisonment

There was never much to celebrate in Equestria during the war with Nightmare Moon’s Horde; Holidays like Celestsmas and the Summer Sun Celebration were not acknowledged during this time. The beasts would not yield, even on the Pony’s most sacred of days. It wasn’t safe to do anything but be given orders.

But Sweetie Belle was lucky. Her birthday fell on a day where most of her favorite ponies were in Ilimane, “protecting” the city until their next mission. Pinkie Pie set up the party, of course, and invited everyone in the surrounding area. Not many came, unfortunately, as Pinkie’s antics and strange decorations scared them.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were there, as well as Sweetie Belle’s best friends and, of course, her sister, Rarity. It was the happiest day she had during the war. There was delicious cake, great friends, and even a new dress from Rarity. Though like everything else that was happy during the war, it had to come to an end.

“All right, girls, we gotta head out. Next mission’s starting promptly at eight-hundred hours.” Applejack said, grabbing her lancer and strapping it to her leg. “Pinkie, Rainbow?”

“Aw, come on, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash complained, trotting over to Sweetie Belle, and ruffling her hair. “The little filly’s birthday only comes once a year.”

“No, Rainbow Dash, we weren’t even supposed to leave our post. You’re lucky Lieutenant Kim gave us the day off. Let’s go back and relieve him.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. Just then, a loud blaring alarm sounded that shook the foundation of the city. “What in the hay was that!?” Rainbow Dash cried.

“Twitcha twitch! Twitcha twitch!” Pinkie Pie yelled. As everyone turned to look at her, Pinkie’s eyes fluttered, then her tail twitched, then her knees wobbled. Suddenly, she gasped. “They’re here.”

“They who?” Scootaloo yelled over the alarm. As she yelled, the front door suddenly fell to the floor, screams from the outside being heard.

“The horde! They’re here!” Applejack shouted. Everyone in the house panicked. “Rarity! You and the fillies need ta get me behind me, NOW!” Applejack screamed. The four complied, as Applejack tilted a table onto its side, using it for cover, facing the wall. Rarity and the girls huddled next to her. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie flipped over another table, both trying to attach their Lancers to their legs.

As the ponies ducked in their cover, a smoke grenade was lobbed into the house. As it exploded, Rainbow Dash put on her goggles. The grenade released a cloud of smog, straining the eyesight of the mares. Rarity huddled Applebloom and Sweetie Belle closer to her. “It’s okay, girls, we’ll be okay” She said quietly.

Cougars were beginning to enter the building now. Though it was hard to see, Applejack was trained to hear where the beasts were coming from. She was a Commando, after all. She shot in their directions, and could hear the beasts yelp in pain. Rainbow Dash, catching on to Applejacks plan, did the same, firing in about the same area. Pinkie Pie fired at random, as was customary of her, but still seemed to get a few hits.

Scootaloo poked her head out from behind cover. The smoke was beginning to rise, and she could see lower to the ground then the other mares could. As she was looking, she suddenly heard a *tink*. It sounded like metal hitting Rarity’s tile floor.

“Grenade! Get your heads down, NOW!” Applejack screamed. Everyone did as they were told. Everyone but Scootaloo. She had heard stories of Rainbow Dash throwing back grenades to the beasts, saving her squad. She could do just that! The smoke was still high enough for her to be discreet anyways.

She leaped out from her position, and ran over to the grenade, picking it up with her mouth. The grenade was made up of a spiked ball, where the explosives were kept, and a rope made to help throw it. As powerfully as she could, Scootaloo threw the grenade back in the direction of the door.

“Hey, kid, what are you doing? Get back here!” Rainbow Dash yelled, noticing the filly. What she noticed next though, will haunt her forever. As she made her way back to cover, Scootaloo was shot. “Scootaloo! NO!”

The bullets were lucky shots, and hit Scootaloo in the right wing. Rainbow Dash counted three hits, and one graze. She never heard a filly scream like that. Applejack swore under her breath.

“We’re getting outta here! Rainbow, grab Scootaloo! Everyone else, on me. We’re going out the back way!” Applejack took out her own grenade from her pocket, and threw it towards the door. Rainbow Dash, seeing Applejacks distraction, flew over to Scootaloo and picked her up, before flying after Applejack and the rest.

---

Present Day…

“So what happened to Ilimane?” Twilight asked.

“Ilimane was taken over by the beasts. It took only 25 minutes.” Fluttershy said.

Applejack let out a long sigh, before looking outside a nearby window. “Only a few ponies survived. We got lucky.” Twilight tried to see what it was Applejack was looking at. On further inspection, it was Rarity, hugging Scootaloo. “Rarity never got over the attack. Scoot was hurtin’ real bad when we got her to Jastallion. Thankfully, we were able to save her, but no one thinks she’s ever gonna fly.”

“That’s horrible.” Twilight said, her head hanging low. “But, that doesn’t explain why Rainbow Dash blames me for this.”

“She thinks you abandoned us. She thinks that if you were here, you could have protected Scootaloo with your magic.” Fluttershy explained. Twilight gave her a look of doubt. “Oh, um, I’m sorry…”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

Pinkie Pie said, walking over to her purple-maned friend. “Dashie’s just… Being silly. She’ll come to.”

“What about Scootaloo?” Twilight asked, looking outside. Rarity had released the orange pegasus, who was now playing with the other fillies.

“She doesn’t blame you.” Fluttershy said softly. “She thinks it’s her fault.”

“She was just trying to help.” Pinkie Pie said, her spirits decreasing again.

“And now, she might not be able to fly. Rainbow Dash thinks you robbed her of being a pegasus.” Applejack sighed.

Twilight stood there a moment, watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders talk, still trying to figure out how to get their cutie marks. This was insane. How could Rainbow Dash blame her for something she had no control over?

“C’mon girls.” Applejack said finally. “We’re getting shipped out early tomorrow morning. Gotta new mission in Eponya. Why we couldn’t just do it yesterday I’ll never know.”

As Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie walked out of Rarity’s house, Twilight stayed behind. She had some serious thinking to do. And more importantly, she had a pegasus she had to talk to.

---

Spike’s Office

1 Hour After Leaving

Rarity’s House

“Lieutenant Fluttershy? Yes, please send Corporal Dash to my office.”

“Thanks Spike, you know you didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure, Twilight.” Spike said, putting on his colonel hat. Twilight had to admit; he looked kind of cute in it. “Just remember, you have a mission tomorrow.”

“Yes, and?”

“Well…” Spike walked over to Twilight, and hugged her around the neck. “Just be careful, okay?”

“When am I ever not?” Twilight said, closing her eyes, and lowering her neck into Spike.

“It’s good to have you back.” Spike said, before letting go. He gave Twilight a small salute, and she did the same, before giving a small giggle.

“Now get to bed, colonel. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.”

“Hey, I should be saying that to you, private.” Spike laughed, before opening the door to his office. “Oh, tomorrow, stay close to Applejack. Just saying.” He said, before finally leaving.

Spike’s office was smaller than Twilight expected. It was large enough to fit a desk, and a large bookshelf of desks behind it, with windows covering the left wall, looking over the beautiful city of Jastallion.  The door was in the back corner of the right wall, with a map of Equestria covering the rest of the wall. Twilight tried to find familiar cities, such as Ponyville, or Manehatten, but had no such luck. However, she did manage to confirm that Jastallion and Canterlot were located on the exact same mountain.

Well, that’s one mystery solved, fifty-three more to go. She thought to herself, rolling her eyes. This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

As she thought this, she could hear the door open. Rainbow Dash walked in, looking tired.

“Hey, Spike, I’m trying to rest for tomorrow, can we… Oh.” She said when she saw Twilight.

“Listen, Rainbow… I know what happened with Scootaloo.” She explained.

“What? Who told you?” Rainbow Dash asked. She then lowered her head in shame. “Oh… Applejack told you, didn’t she?”

“Yes, but you have to come clean with me now.”

Rainbow Dash lifted her head, and looked into Twilight’s eyes. She seemed upset, but tried not to let the purple mare see.  “I’m so sorry.” She said quietly.

“Rainbow, you know I didn’t really abandon you. I was in prison. I wou-“

“I know.” Rainbow Dash’s head lowered again, and she began pawing at the ground. “I know now.”

“Rainbow Dash, what’s going on? This isn’t like you.” Twilight asked, taking a small step forward. Rainbow Dash turned around, keeping her head lowered.

“I just… I was so angry. The kid didn’t deserve to be shot.” Suddenly, she lifted her head up to get a good look at Twilight. “And you… you just left us. No word, or trace.”

“I’m sorry…”

“No, you shouldn’t be. I should be.” Rainbow Dash looked out one of Spike’s windows. “After everything you’ve done for all of us, I thought you just retreated to the Princess’s castle. You didn’t run away though. You were in real danger… And I didn’t even realize it.” Rainbow Dash sighed heavily. “I was so happy that you were okay, so happy you didn’t betray us… But I knew I accused you of something wrong… Some Element of Loyalty I am.”

Twilight walked over to Rainbow Dash, and gave the pony a hug. “Rainbow Dash, it’s okay.” Twilight has done research on this before. Someponies, no matter how loyal, can jump to conclusions when they’re scarred, no matter how unrealistic. Rainbow Dash was trying to replace the memory of Scootaloo being hit with something more shocking. Her best friend betraying her. It hurt Twilight to think like that, but at least now she had set the record straight. “I promise, I won’t give you a reason to blame me for anything anymore. I’ll never leave your side.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said, beginning to sniffle. “How could I be so stupid? How could I think you’d ever leave me?”

Twilight decided her original hypothesis was right, for the most part. Maybe there was more to it then just that. Maybe… “Ponies aren’t meant to fight in wars, Rainbow Dash. It does crazy things to us.”

“It makes us forget who we’re supposed to be.”

---

Jastallion Flightpad

Minutes Before

Leaving for Eponya

“Wow, are you THE Applejack? The one who took back Colten with the Colonel?”

“The one and only.”

“Wow, cool!”

Anthony Chestnut was a typical young pegasus stallion. He looked like he just outgrown the age of colt, as he was lanky and sounded fairly young. A light shade of blue with a dark blue mane, he was covered in armor, as well as the helmet Applejack so strongly suggested Twilight leave off. He seemed like a nice enough colt, but he did have his Lancer on backwards.

“New recruits.” Rainbow Dash scoffed, whispering to Pinkie Pie, who giggled.

“Okay C.O.L.Ts, is everyone aware of their mission?” Applejack asked, looking at her squad.

As rag-tag as they came, the newly formed Delta squad consisted of Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and the new recruit, Chestnut. Twilight wondered if putting two privates in the same squad was really such a good idea.

“Flight Group 9 is going to drop us off on the outskirts of Eponya. We received a hint of sorts that the city contains the Lightmagic Resonator.”

Everyone but Twilight began whispering. “I’m sorry, Applejack, but, the what?”

“The Lightmagic Resonator. It’s a device Princess Celestia created to find the Elements of Harmony.” Chestnut stated. Twilight was impressed by what he knew. How something could immediately map out an area was beyond her.

“The Elements of Harmony?” She asked. Rainbow Dash nodded her head.

”I think Celestia’s gonna use them to seal Nightmare Moon like the story says.”

“But, uh, Sarge? Why does the enemy have it?” Chestnut asked.

“In their rush to escape with their lives, the cowards at Eponya High Security Prison forgot to take the darn thing with ‘em. Ah guess they just thought the Resonator was no big deal. Just make another one.”

“But they can’t. It’s way too expensive to recreate, and way too important to lose!” Pinkie Pie finished explaining. Applejack nodded.

“Our mission is clear. Get that Resonator under any circumstances, all right?” The group nodded their heads. “I trust every one of you with my life. Don’t let me down.” She put her hoof in her ear. “Fluttershy, send FG9 down. We’re ready to get moving.”

<Chapter 2                Chapter 4>

==============

Any questions comments and concerns can be posted on Fanfiction.net, the Equestria Daily page, or directly to me at

Andrew-64@derpymail.org

I do not own any characters/settings/weapons used in this fic.

All properties are © Hasbro, Epic Games, Microsoft, or their respected owners

==============

Hey, kid.

I’m writing to you from my latest post. I don’t really know where I am, middle of nowhere from the looks of it. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Do your wing exercises like the doctors told you, all right? Applejack thinks we’re going back to Jastallion for a bit in a month, so I’ll see you then, I guess.

Rainbow Dash

(A short letter from Rainbow Dash to Scootaloo, hung above Scootaloo’s bed)

<Chapter 3        Chapter 5>

=================

Act 1

Chapter 4

First Rule of the Colt

=================

Outside of Eponya

Half Hour After

Lift Off

“Checked your guns?”

“Roger.”

“Twilight, did you get loading down?”

“It took some practice, but yes.”

“Chestnut is… No, Anthony, the bayonet’s supposed to be away from you.”

Applejack had always run a tight ship. If one small thing were out of place at Sweet Apple Acres, she would make sure it was fixed. It came as no surprise to Twilight that she was even more serious about her squad. She was in charge of more than just apples now.

The Flight Group dropped the group off just outside the city limits, next to sandbags piled up on top of each other, which Twilight assumed was for cover. On the other side of the bags was a beautiful square fountain, surprisingly unaffected by the war. Just past the fountain were two sets of stairs, leading up to a large dome-roofed building. The roof looked like it had been hit by a few giant rocks, but Twilight had no idea what could have caused that.

“Oh. I was wondering how you guys dealt with the teeth digging into your chest all day. My brothers didn’t tell me anything about this.” Chestnut said after he had fixed his lancer. Twilight felt bad for the young colt. He seemed to have good intentions, but he wasn’t very quick. “Is this better? I already have the shooter thing in my mouth.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Don’t worry, stick with us, listen to me, and you’ll be okay.” Applejack said, placing her unarmed hoof on Anthony. “Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, ah assume you both don’t need to be looked over?”

“Come on, Applejack, I’ve done this a thousand times.” Rainbow Dash said haughtily, lifting her front right leg to show off her lancer.

“Don’t worry Applejack, I’m always ready. Whoo!” Pinkie Pie whooped, showing off her own gun. It was a Gnasher Shotgun, if Twilight remembered correctly; a powerful close range weapon that fired multiple shots at once. It didn’t have the frightening chainsaw like the Lancer, but Twilight read it could still rip apart enemies. It made her cringe. “Now let’s go kill some baddies!”

“Pinkie, don’t say that like it’s nothing.” Twilight said, worried.

“Wait, hold up y’all.” Applejack said suddenly. Everyone stood quiet, eyes darting around. If Applejack heard something, it probably wasn’t good. “You hear that?”

“Uh, no, not all of us were trained in the amazing magical powers of Commandoes.” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically.

”Ah’ll yell at you later… for right now… Take cover!”

As Applejack shouted, she slid behind the sand bags and immediately ducked her head. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie immediately did the same. Twilight and Chestnut stood there, as an explosion was set off just inches away from the sandbags.

“Oh horse manure, mortars!” Without turning around, Applejack lifted her Lancer over the sandbags, and fired a few shots. Twilight and Chestnut, after recovering from the explosion, ran to cover next to Applejack. “Pinkie, Twilight, ah need you two to take out any wolves that get too close. Rainbow Dash, Chestnut, go for the armed ones!”

“B-but, they all have arms!” Chestnut cried.

“The ones with guns!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Grenade, get down!”

Bullets flew past and grenades exploded, but Twilight kept her head down. To her right, Applejack and Chestnut were constantly standing, shooting off a few rounds, and retreating back to safety behind the sand bags. To her left, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were doing the same thing.  “On your feet soldier, Pinkie needs help!” She could hear Applejack yell. Taking a deep breath, Twilight stood, and located the nearest beast.

BANG… BANG BANG.

One shot to the hind leg, two shots to the chest, an instant kill. Twilight decided it best not to watch the wolf, and simply turned to her next victim, and shot two more bullets. One hit it’s chest, the other to the head, another instant kill. Twilight quickly scanned the area for more wolves, before ducking down, and sliding her magazine out of her gun.

“Chestnut, Rainbow, right flank!” Applejack called. “Pinkie, Twi, cover us!” The trio ran to the right and took cover behind more sandbags. Twilight didn’t even pay attention to the road that was coming from that direction, a perfect spot for an ambush.

Guess that’s why Applejack’s in charge. Twilight opened her saddlebag with her horn, and picked up another magazine. Carelessly, she shoved it into her gun, before standing up. About a yard away, a wolf had seen the perfect opportunity to charge, and was now running at Twilight at full speed. Despite her fear, Twilight held up her gun, aligning it for a perfect headshot.

Click… Click click click…

Her gun jammed, at the precise moment when she needed it not to. She must have hit the magazine too hard during her adrenaline rush. This wasn’t good, Applejack and Chestnut weren’t with her anymore. She let out a yelp. Someone else let out a whoop.

“Whoop!” Pinkie yelled, jumping off of her sandbag cover to block the wolf from Twilight, shooting the beast in point blank range, bloody bits going everywhere. From the looks of it, the shot had at least severed the wolf’s arm from the rest of its body. It took Twilight all her strength not to throw up on the spot. After the display, Pinkie jumped behind cover with Twilight. “You okie dokie?” She asked, as if nothing had just happened.

“I- I’m fine. I think my gun just.”

“Ah, darn Snub pistols, they’re always so silly. Here.” Pinkie grabbed the top of the gun with her teeth, sliding the top half back until she heard a click. She let go, allowing it to snap back into place. She walked over to Applejack. “I think that’s it, boss.” She said, scanning the horizon of the road.

“All clear. Chestnut. Good work.” Applejack said, giving Chestnut a small nod. She walked over to Twilight. “You all right Twi?”

“Y-Yeah, gun just… Just jammed.”

”Happens to the best of us. Right Rainbow?” She joked. Twilight looked around Applejack to see Rainbow Dash struggling to get her own magazine into her Lancer. Eventually, she pulled a small lever on the gun with her mouth, and hit the magazine in with her hoof.

“There. Ten seconds flat.”

“Good. You’re faster at reloading then Anthony here. My records two seconds.” Applejack smirked. “Pinkie’s is one second. Now come on, let’s go.”

“Yeah! Come on!” Pinkie Pie cheered, hopping her way towards the dome building. The rest followed.

“One second? How is that even possible?” Twilight could hear Rainbow Dash complain. She couldn’t help but laugh a little.

As the group reached the steps, Pinkie Pie had already bounced her way to the top, rushing ahead of the group. Applejack put her hoof to her earpiece. “Don’t go too far off, Sugar Cube. Ya know ah can’t heal you from a mile away.”

“Well then come on, sillies! We got a Resonator to find!” Pinkie called gleefully.

Applejack nodded her head, and motioned for the group to follow her. They trotted through the old building on top of the stairs. The inside of the dome scared Twilight. With rocks and boulders scattered around the floor, and weakened pillars and the roof missing pieces, she thought it was about to fall down on her. However, when she examined the ground, there seemed to be ammo and guns scattered everywhere. Maybe the beasts were using this as a sentry spot in wait for a squad trying to enter the city.

“Well looks like our lucky day.” Applejack said, picking up what looked like a gun. “Looks like a sniper. A Sharpshooter… Darn, it’s not compatible with the remote firearm… Trigger activated… Looks like it’s all yours, Twilight.” Applejack picked up the gun with her mouth, and dropped it in front of Twilight. “Consider yourself lucky, Twi.”

The sniper couldn’t have been longer than Twilight’s leg, and looked like nothing special, just a long hexagonal prism with a trigger. There was also a very odd looking button in the middle of the gun. To fill her natural curiosity, Twilight pressed it. The gun grew to twice the size, ejecting a barrel from the prism, and a magazine well. A scope also came out. Twilight thought it looked like a microscope, and figured it was used for long distance shots. Now it looked like a gun. If size mattered to weaponry, Twilight assumed this would take the cake.

“Twi, I’d take the Sharpshooter. That thing’s powerful from a distance.” Rainbow said, unhooking the pistol from Twilight’s leg, replacing it with the Sharpshooter. Rainbow Dash hit the button again, which made the gun go back to its small size.

“Well, all right, if you say so. I’ll just keep the pistol just in case.” Twilight levitated the gun up, and put it in her saddlebag. She then looked at her new gun, and wiggled her leg around a little, getting a feel for it. The sniper was heavier, and bulkier, but Twilight figured it was a price she had to pay for more firepower. She thought she’d feel better with a gun like this anyways.

“Alright, team, grab any spare ammo, and let’s get a move on.” Applejack said, taking a magazine out of a fallen lancer, before walking out of the building. The group followed.

“Hey, Sarge, why do the beasts have triggers on their guns if they can’t fire ‘em?” Chestnut asked. Applejack tapped her chin, deep in thought before turning to face him.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you. There are rumors going around about Nightmare Moon giving the beasts some of her powers over magic.”

“Wow… Man, why would Nightmare Moon do this? Lead an all out war over Celestia? It just seems crazy, you know? We don’t even know who she is, what she wants”

Applejack coughed. “Well, uh, neither do we.” She said. Her attempted lies were still transparent, as expected of the Element of Honesty. Thankfully, Chestnut seemed to shrug the comment off, perhaps thinking better than to argue with the squad leader, especially a commando.

Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, and dropped her voice. “Does nopony know that Luna is actually-“

“Not here, no, and telling everyone won’t help the Princess when she’s turned back to normal either.” Rainbow Dash whispered. “As far as anypony knows, Luna was captured by Nightmare Moon.”

Twilight thought about this. Though Princess Celestia seemed different, Twilight knew her teacher would never lie to her subjects. Maybe she was protecting Luna? Or maybe she knew the evil force that possessed her wasn’t really Luna at all? Twilight took comfort in this thought, and decided it was for the best.

The group continued through the house and into an empty courtyard. They could see Pinkie Pie hopping up stairs about a few yards away from them, bopping her head back and forth as if she were humming to a beat only she could hear. Applejack turned to Chestnut. “Anthony, you said you had brothers, right? Are they in the COLT?”

“Yeah, all four of us are. We each signed up when we were old enough. Figured we owed it to Celestia to join her army.”

“She do something special for y’all?”

“No. She’s just a great leader. And no one deserves to have their sister kidnapped. That’s what Dalton always told me anyways; my brother.”

The group walked up the same stairs Pinkie had just hopped up, approaching the courtyard to a large building that had seen better days. Some pillars that seemed to show no purpose but décor had broken to pieces, some of them falling to the ground, just like the prison. Those that were left standing were cracked and broken down, possibly ready to join the ground in minutes. Twilight wondered if there was anywhere in this world that wasn’t destroyed.

“Twitcha Twitch!” Pinkie’s voice rang in their ears, the static from their communicators nearly deafening them. “Get down! Sniper!”

The second Pinkie screamed to get the down, Rainbow Dash and Applejack dove in the nearest cover they could find; a fallen over piece of pillar. Chestnut panicked, while Twilight tried to recover from the shouting heard seconds before. As Twilight snapped to, she realized she needed cover. Chestnut was in the same position.

“Anthony, come on, we gotta run!” Twilight said, dashing towards the nearest fallen pillar. As she ran past random bullets fired by her enemies, Twilight felt something hit her. Dead in the chest with power resembling one of Applejack’s kicks, Twilight gasped for breath. She fell to her stomach, and stayed as still as she could, her only movement coming from the deep heaves in her chest as she tried to breathe. She shut her eyes. Was she just shot? Twilight couldn’t stand to look. She didn’t feel as if anything had hit her. Maybe that’s what it felt like?

”C-Come on! Get up!” A less than confident voice yelled. Twilight could feel something pick her up by the back of her armor. She was then pushed forcefully towards cover. As she hit her back against the pillar, she saw her savior. Chestnut ran towards Twilight’s cover, and positioned himself  just next to her. “Engage!” He yelled, still sounding less than confident.

Being shot at was a scary thing. Being shot was completely different. She was scared to look. Twilight looked down to check herself. No blood. That’s good. She thought. As she examined the armor more closely, she could see the armor had done it’s job, and deflected the bullet. With the exception of her new dent, Twilight was all right.

After catching her breath, and telling herself she was okay, Twilight peaked her head out of the safety of her cover to see what they were up against. It seemed like a small pack of lions, some equipped with the same guns as before, but others seemed to have the same exact gun that Twilight had attached to her leg not five minutes ago. She watched how it was used.

The lion she watched rested the gun on top of its cover, steadying it for an easy shot. Using the scope, it narrowed in on a position, and finally, pulled the trigger. Twilight could hear Applejack yelp.

“Son of a- I just had this dang shoulder pad cleaned. Twilight, take out that Sniper! I don’t want him denting my other shoulder!”

Twilight followed the lion’s example step by step. She pressed the button her sniper, making it shoot out to its actual size. She then leveled the gun on top of the fallen pillar, and took aim at the sniper. It peaked out his head to get a look, and thought it was safe to take another shot, and prepared his sniper. Twilight took a deep breath, and centered the lions head in her rang. She pulled the trigger…

BANG

Trying to stare at the newly formed hole in its head, the lion could only see blood trickling down his fur. If he was still alive, that is. A perfect shot was all that was needed to end the poor creatures life. Twilight just hoped it was quick.

As she thought this, Twilight set her eyes on a new target. A normal lion with a typical gun, hiding behind cover a few feet away from the sniper’s now lifeless body. She held her breath, and waited for the lion to peak out it’s head. The second it did. BANG. Another one fell.

“Is that… Oh no, PINKIE PIE!” Twilight could hear Rainbow Dash yelling. As Twilight lifted her head from the sniper, she could see a small blur of pink in the distance. Running backwards, Pinkie had her armed hoofed raised in the air shooting at the lions that were following her.

“Look who I found to join the party!” They could hear her yell through the communications unit. “Whooo!”

“When will that pony learn she can’t take on a group by herself?” Applejack asked herself, giving a small chuckle.

“Hold on, Pie, I’m coming!” Chestnut hollered, mounting over his cover and making a mad dash towards Pinkie, who was holding off three lions by herself. She successfully shot one in the chest, piercing its heart and killing it instantly. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were struggling to keep any other beasts from approaching her.

After a quick look to her teammates, Twilight looked around for any more snipers she could take out. As she did so, she noticed a figure mounting cover, and charging her, shooting wildly. Twilight panicked, and quickly fired her sniper, hitting the beast in its shoulder. That only enraged it further, as it closed the distance between itself and the purple pony. She shot another round, missing the beast by inches. As it approached the cover Twilight was using, Twilight couldn’t help but scream. The beast mounted over his last obstacle, and pushed Twilight to the ground.

Unknown…

“Twilight… Twilight?” A soft voice called. “My most faithful student, please, stand.”

“Wuh…?” Twilight stirred, opening her eyes slowly. Groggy and confused, she struggled to stand. As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, Twilight began to look around. There was nothing. “W-where am I?” As she asked, a small light appeared, and along with it, a white alicorn with a mane of four colors. “P-Princess?”

“Yes, Twilight, it’s me…” Celestia’s soft face suddenly became more serious. “But I don’t have much time.”

“Princess, what’s going on?”

“Twilight, listen to me carefully.” The alicorn said, her tone of voice not changing. “I’m sure you have plenty of questions, but for right now, I just need to tell you what you need to do to get home.”

“Princess Celestia, what are you talking about?”

“You’re a smart girl, Twilight. I know you’ve probably figured out where you are.”

“It’s Equestria, right? But it’s, different. Is this an alternate reality?”

“No…” Celestia gave a short sigh. “No, where you are right now is indeed Equestria. Long ago, in the time just before Luna’s banishment.”

“W-What? That doesn’t make any sense. What are these weapons we’re using though? They don’t exist in the future.” Twilight went to show Celestia her gun, before realizing it had disappeared. Her armor was gone too. “Umm, where did-?”

“Twilight, please. I know you’re confused. But you must trust me. Find the Elements of Harmony. I think they’re the only force that can bring you home.” Celestia said, unmoving.

“Princess, why am I here though? Why is all of Ponyville here?”

“The book you read had a spell on it, Twilight. I don’t know any of the details, however.”

“How could… who…” Twilight shook her head. “Wait, you didn’t put the spell on the book?”

“No. I don’t know how, but someone knew that you had asked for the book, even before me. I would never send you into such a horrible time.”

Twilight stood there in shock. On one hoof, someone who could control time was loose in Ponyville, and was clearly out to get her, for some reason or another. On the other hoof, she knew Princess Celestia didn’t do this to her, and that, for some reason, comforted her. “I’m assuming there’s no way you could send us forward in time?”

“No, the element of time is a magic Luna and myself never learned to use. Not out of ignorance, but of caution. If I could control time… I know I would have changed some things.”

“But, Princess, what pony could know more than you or Princess Luna? It makes no sense.”

“I don’t know, Twilight. It’s possible this creature is not of ponykind. But I must leave now. I know that if anyone can do this, it would be you. Find the Elements of Harmony, and return safely to Ponyville.

“Princess Celestia!” As Twilight yelled, the light behind Celestia grew, blinding Twilight. The shadow that was once Celestia seemed to disappear as well.

“Good luck, Twilight… my most faithful student.”

---

“Hang on, just one more cupcake.”

“Pinkie, fer the last time, the cupcakes won’t do anything. Gosh darn it, why did Spike tell me you’d be good as our medic?”

As Twilight slowly opened her eyes, she could see Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie standing around her, the latter attempting to shove a cupcake in her closed mouth, smearing the frosting all over her face. As she opened her mouth to speak, Pinkie Pie shoved the cupcake into her mouth. Twilight sat up quickly.

“Ah-hah! I told you the cupcake treatment always works.” Pinkie cheered. Applejack sighed, and face hoofed, before giving a small smile.

“Well at least she’s conscious again. How you feeling, Sugar Cube?”

Twilight had to admit, she was surprised she managed to swallow the cupcake. She thought to herself though, it was the first real food she had had in a year. “I-I’m okay.” She said finally, taking deep breaths. “What… happened?”

“You were attacked by a crazy lion. Dumb thing charged right at you and knocked you down. I heard you scream, but I managed to get it right after it knocked you out.” Rainbow Dash said, smiling proudly. Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Well, thanks. I appreciate it… where’s Chestnut?”

“Right here. Glad you’re alright ma’am.” Chestnut said, walking up to the four mares.

“See any other beasts near here?” Applejack asked. Chestnut shook his head.

“Nah, not right now sir, uh, ma’am. S-sorry. Most of my commanders were colts.”

“You okay to walk, Twilight?” Applejack asked as Rainbow Dash helped Twilight back onto her feet.

“Y-yeah, I should be okay.” Twilight said, looking up at the sun. Was seeing Princess Celestia just a dream? If it wasn’t, why couldn’t she help, Twilight wondered. She knew her teacher would do everything in her power to save her and the rest of Ponyville.

“Twilight, come on. You feeling okay?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight looked at where her friends were standing not one minute ago, and saw that most of them were beginning to move on. Rainbow Dash seemed to have come back for her.

“It’s… It’s nothing. Sorry.”

The group walked for what felt like hours with no real excitement or fights. Pinkie Pie tried to entertain them with a story about how she saved her last squad, but turned down a promotion because she liked the sound of her name. “Private Pinkie Pie, it has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? I was thinking of adding “perfect” but that’s just selfish, don’t you think? Maybe peculiar or petroleum.”

“Why would you want a fuel source to be in your name?” Twilight asked. Pinkie Pie just shrugged.

“Hold up there.” Applejack said, dropping her voice, and holding her leg out. “You hear that?”

The group stopped, and listened, looking around for any anomaly. Chestnut spoke up. “Uh, Sarge? You hearing things again?” As he asked the ground shook slightly. “Oh, horse apples, what was that?” He yelled.

“Quiet; get down!” Applejack hissed, moving towards a large broken gate. The group followed, and leaned up against the brick walls holding the gate up. As they did, the ground shook, and Twilight could hear giant footsteps that sounded like canons going off. “It must be coming towards us, on the other side of the gate. Wait for it to pass…”

Twilight’s heart began to beat at an incredible rate as the ground shook again, at a much higher magnitude. Something big was heading their way. She turned to Pinkie Pie. “What are we, haha, hiding from, exactly?” She laughed nervously. Pinkie made a small motion, as if she was zipping up her mouth, and locking it, before putting her hoof to her mouth, and giving Twilight a small shush. Twilight bit her lower lip, not feeling any better.

“Here it comes, Delta… hold your fire.” Applejack said, taking one final look outside the gate before pressing her body against the brick wall, attempting to blend herself in with the shadows. Everyone but Twilight did the same. She managed to get one last look.

Taller than her library back home, and a dull shade of gray, stood the largest and most terrifying dragon Twilight had ever seen, followed by a group of beasts. It stood on it’s hind legs, while it’s front arms carried a gun each that look bigger than Twilight herself. It’s scales and claws were covered in blood, and a large helmet that covered most of it’s head, leaving the mouth free, probably to breathe it’s wicked fire. Despite it’s size, the wings looked too weak for the dragon to fly, ripped and torn in places that would prevent any flight.

Twilight wanted to give a small yelp of fear, but before she could, Pinkie Pie grabbed her by the muzzle and silenced her, before giving another “shh”. Twilight still managed to let out a muffled scream.

The dragon turned it’s head and looked towards the gate. Twilight’s heart was about to jump out of her chest. She could feel Pinkie Pie’s heart going a mile a minute as well, and only assumed everyone was in the same boat.

A nearby lion roared and shot at the dragon. That must be how they get the dragons to move… Twilight thought to herself. What a horrible way to treat a creature. Despite feeling bad for the dragon, she knew it was for the best, as the group walked past the gate, and away from Delta. They all let out a huge sigh.

“Oh, thank Celestia, I thought we were gonna be in the manure.” Chestnut said, walking away from the wall. “I vote we don’t go that way.” Chestnut pointed at the gate.

“Gotta agree… Let’s check out the old mansion. Maybe the resonator’s in there?” Applejack said. “Uh, Pinkie Pie, you can let go of Twilight now.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” The pink pony giggled, letting go of her friend, who took in a deep breath. “Wait, hang on. Twitcha twitch!”

“Come on, Pinkie Pie, we gotta go.” Chestnut said.

Twilight turned to look at Pinkie. “What’s going on? More beasts?”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes fluttered, then her knees wobbled, her tail twitched, and finally, she collapsed. Before she could stand back up, she shouted. “Worse, sniper!”

“Wha-“ Before he could even finish speaking, Chestnut fell to the ground, a stream of smoke leading to where the young colt once was. A bullet had lodged itself into his helmet. Twilight screamed in shock.

“Chestnut! Dang it!” Applejack swore under her breath. “Everyone, into the museum!” she said before grabbing the colt by his armor, and dragging him with her towards the building.

As she ran, Twilight turned to the gate, where she thought she heard footsteps.

There, standing where Delta was just a moment ago was the large 5 story tall dragon.

And it was not happy.

<Chapter 3        Chapter 5>

==============

Any questions comments and concerns can be posted on Fanfiction.net, the Equestria Daily page, or directly to me at

Andrew-64@derpymail.org

I do not own any characters/settings/weapons used in this fic.

All properties are © Hasbro, Epic Games, Microsoft, or their respected owners

==============

Colonel Spike tells me you’re joining up with Applejack, right? I’m a little jealous really. Just remember what mom always said. Just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean she can’t kick your flank. After all, she’s the only Earth pony to make it into the commandoes. Stick with her and I’m sure you’ll be fine.

(A letter to Anthony, signed by Sergeant Clayton Chestnut)

<Chapter 4        Chapter 6>

=================

Act 2

Chapter 5

No Mare Left Behind

=================

Inside the Eponya Museum

Twilight’s mind was filled with questions that didn’t have answers. Since when could beasts control dragons, and how? Where was the resonator exactly, and how does it work? Was Chestnut okay? The uncertainty of the situation made Twilight nervous, but she continued to follow Applejack, knowing she would get them out of this, somehow.

The group ran deeper into the museum, hoping to find some form of escape from the terror they knew was behind. Chestnut was unmoving as Applejack dragged him with the rest of the group. Rainbow Dash was flying behind everyone, on the radio shouting about hostiles and the need for the “Hammer of Celestia”. Pinkie was on point, leading the group through the wide hallways of the museum.

“Hang on, girls, this way!” Pinkie said suddenly, veering right down a narrow hallway.

“Pinkie, do you have any idea where you’re going!” Twilight shouted.

“Not a clue!” She shouted back, as she turned around to face Twilight and began running backwards. “But I have a good feeling in my gut! But that might just be the candy I ate this morning. It was kind of old but still absolutely delicious. Then I had some of that cake I made Coltmine yesterday, it-“

“Pinkie Pie!”

“Oh, right, onwards!” She said, turning around and darting down a hallway to the left.

The group was spat out into a large oval room with a dome roof. As the group slowed down, Twilight began to look around the room. Once beautiful statues had been knocked over from either nearby mortar strikes, or a battle that had gone on inside the building. Paintings lined the wall, though it looks as though someone had recently taken a few of them down.

As the team caught their breath, Applejack looked at Coltmine and put her ear close to his chest. She gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying over to her commander.

“He’s still alive!” She said, almost surprised. She put her hoof in her ear. “Control, this is Applejack, Coltmine’s been shot, and he needs medical attention now!”

“Applejack, what were we looking for again?” Pinkie Pie asked suddenly, on the other side of the room.

“The Lightmagic Resonator. It’s kind of a machine looking thing. I think Spike said it had things stickin’ out of the sides, and could be just be held by a strong earth pony. Control, please, come in!” She shouted suddenly into her earpiece.

“Is it this?” Pinkie asked, pulling a metallic object by her mouth towards the group. Covered in blood from who knew what, the object was heavy and bulky. It was awkwardly shaped, and looked more like dead weight then it did a “resonator”. The top looked like it could open up, too, but Twilight wasn’t quite sure what it was even used for.

“P-Pinkie!? How did you-? Where did-?”

“Oh it was… It was over there.” Pinkie said, sounding a little upset. She pointed to the other side of the room, where there lay two ponies in full armor. They were unmoving, which Twilight assumed only meant one thing.

“That must be Beta squad, or Alpha. They were the closest team to us. Dangit, why didn’t they call for backup?”

Suddenly, static shot through the group’s ears. Though just barely, Twilight could identify Fluttershy’s voice through the static. “Um, Applejack, come in? The radios have been acting odd, please, respond.”

“Fluttershy… Finally. We need an evac, now. We have the resonator, and Chestnut’s hurt pretty bad. You gotta get us outta here.”

“Um, I’ll see who’s available. But, you… You have the resonator?”

Suddenly a new voice could be heard through their mics. Another voice that was all too familiar. “Excellent work, Delta. I’m sending my top guards to get you as we speak.”

“P-Princess Celestia?” Twilight said out of shock. Did she know they had found the resonator?

“Where are you?” She asked, ignoring Twilight.

“Eponya Museum. Either Alpha or Beta squad must have made it here with the resonator, but they’re…”

Celestia gave a small moment of silence. “I understand. Be in the courtyard, I’m sending them out now.”

“Uh, Your Majesty?” Applejack said, giving a small cough. “There’s a, uhh, dragon… in the courtyard…”

“…Then I suppose you’ll need the Hammer… I’m on my way.”

“The Hammer?” Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash gave a small laugh.

“Oh man, this is awesome! You’ll love this, Twilight!”

“Pinkie, stay here and guard Chestnut and the resonator. Twilight, Rainbow, you’re with me. We gotta clear the courtyard as much as we can.”

“What!? Can’t we just wait for the hammer?” Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack gave her a stern look.

“Rainbow Dash, I know you’re nervous, but come on, they’ll aim for the Princess once they see her floating down.”

”N-Nervous? I ain’t nervous.” Rainbow Dash stuttered, revving up the chainsaw bayonet. “C’mon, let’s go show that oversized lizard who’s boss!”

Twilight nodded, and the group of three ran out of the room. They gave one last look at Pinkie, who had placed herself on top of the resonator, and sat there with the most serious look on her face, before taking a small bite out of a cupcake that she seemed to pull out of nowhere.

I hope she’ll be all right… Twilight thought to herself. Chestnut, too.

Running towards the exit, the three mares didn’t say a word. Twilight assumed it was nerves. Though they had faced dragons before, it was never with the intent to kill. Back home, though they were not very reasonable, they would usually avoid harming other creatures, other than thieves who stole from them. They weren’t cruel, but they were uncontrollable. Even Celestia could never muster the strength to take control of one.

Or maybe she never would… Twilight thought to herself, remembering to never doubt her teacher’s powers.

How could the beasts ever control dragons this way? Why would the dragons agree to this?

Twilight molded ideas in her mind about every possible reason, but none of them made sense with a dragon’s nature. She did this until the group reached the exit.

Applejack took a deep breath and looked at Rainbow Dash, and then at Twilight. “You girls ready for this?” She asked. Rainbow Dash swallowed, but gave her best confident smile, before nodding her head. Twilight shook her head no. “Yeah… me either. But we gotta do this.” Applejack took one look at the door, before spinning around, and kicking them hard with her hind legs, forcing the doors to fly open. “Go!” She yelled, running towards the nearest cover, a piece of concrete that had fallen from the museum. Rainbow Dash and Twilight followed close behind, but not before shooting off a few rounds.

The number of beasts had increased, Twilight noticed. They must have been fortifying their positions, rather than chasing after them. They were smarter then they looked.

“Dash, take care of the wolves. Twilight, take care of the lions. I call dibs on the big guy.” Applejack smiled, hurdling her cover and beginning to shoot at the dragon. Rainbow Dash did as she was told, and began shooting at the wolves that were making their way towards Applejack. Twilight took hold of her sniper, and immediately lined up her shots.

It was a good plan, as far as Twilight could tell. Though she was still slow with the sniper, none of the lions seemed to have any interest in charging out into a field with an angry dragon. Applejack was also doing incredibly well with keeping the dragon busy, though her bullets seemed almost ineffective. Twilight’s hope raised a little, and she suddenly felt she was gonna make it out okay. Then…

Click…

Click click click…

Hope was gone.

“What? Oh, it’s gotta… Applejack! I’m outta ammo!” Rainbow Dash yelled. Twilight searched her own saddlebag quickly. So was she. She only had one bullet left.

“Join the club Dash!” Applejack yelled.

“We’re not gonna make it!” Twilight shrieked.

“Hold it together, partner! We ain’t dead yet!”

Twilight looked over her cover, and noticed one last wolf was charging at her. With Dash out of ammo, it was up to her to take it out. She held her sniper, and locked onto the wolf. She panicked. It was too close to shoot. As the wolf drew closer and closer, Twilight panicked more and more, before finally letting out a blind fire, a dead miss. As the wolf jumped over the barrier, she knew this was it for her.

Suddenly, a second sniper shot rang out, and killed the wolf. It fell to the floor with blood trickling down its head.

As the beast fell, Twilight noticed, many others had been hit as well, cutting the forces of the beasts.

“Princess, the dragon is in the courtyard.  Easy target. Delta Squad is out of range.” Twilight heard a voice over her communications link say.

“I see it.” Princess Celestia said. “Delta, take cover.”

“Cover your eyes, Twi!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

Before she even got the chance to move, Twilight felt the ground shake. She looked over to where the dragon once stood, and saw a huge beam of light, coming directly from the sun. She was momentarily blinded. She felt a hoof wrap around her leg. She knew Rainbow Dash would help her, so she followed her wherever she led her. She was placed behind cover, and closed her eyes, hoping she was safe.

When the shaking and gunfire stopped, Twilight opened her eyes. She looked to where the beam of light was just minutes ago, to see the charring remains of the dragon. It was a mess.

Above the dragon, however, was a much more pleasant site. Princess Celestia, now with armor of her own, had flown down next to the remains. Two Pegasus ponies in full black armor followed.

“I’m glad to see you alive and well, Delta. Colonel Spike told me you were the right choice. Where is Sergeant Applejack?”

“Uh, right her, your majesty!” Applejack called, walking over to her princess. She bowed when she was close. They began speaking, but Twilight couldn’t make it out. Then she saw Rainbow Dash walk over too…

What? If that’s Rainbow Dash… then who…?

“Twilight Sparkle. It appears I do best you. Not only did my squad swoop in and save your rag tag team, I also saved you from the inability to see. You would think a scholar would know not to look at the hammer.”

That voice…

“Hello? Twilight!? The Great and Powerful Trixie demands you pay attention!”

Twilight stood herself up and examined the pony in front of her. Lacking her hat, Trixie was a little less than recognizable. However, the smug look, and diamond in the chest plate of her pitch-black armor armor, made it much easier. “Trixie? What are you doing here?”

“Do you not know, Twilight Sparkle? That I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, hold the very spot in Princess Celestia’s heart that you once held? The place of her student, and now, her number one Shire Guard?” Trixie boasted.

”Number one Shire Guard?”

“’Ey, Twilight, c’mere.” Applejack called. Twilight gave a look at Trixie, who stuck her chest out and gave a smug smile.

“Well, Sparkle?” She said, walking towards Princess Celestia. Twilight followed her. As the two mares approached the group, Twilight could not help but notice Celestia’s eyes narrowing. She bowed when she was close enough, attempting to hide her face.

“I remember you… The pony who stood against me a year ago. The coward.”

“Wait, Princess Celestia, we can-“

“Dash.” Applejack hissed, nudging Rainbow Dash.

“Princess, I-“

“Twilight Sparkle, is your name, correct?” Celestia said, cutting her off. Twilight couldn’t help but slink a little. She nodded her head. “I apologize, Private Sparkle. You have proven today that you are not a coward. All of you have. Facing a dragon with a squad of three mares. That hasn’t been done since Corporal Trixie. Of course, she killed the dragon.”

Twilight gave Trixie another look. Was this a boast that has gone too far, like the Ursa Major?

“Either way, Corporal.” Celestia said, turning to Trixie. “Take your Shire Guards, and retrieve the Resonator.”

“And the injured Colt. Chestnut is in there too.”

“Yes, of course.” Celestia said, nodding. Trixie gave a salute, and trotted over to the museum, taking a group of Shire Guards with her.

Applejack put a hoof in her ear. “Pinkie, the Shire Guards are here, they’re coming to get you and Chestnut. We’re going home.”

---

Rarity’s House

15 minutes after

returning to Jastallion

Twilight sat quietly in Rarity’s den. Stripped of her armor for the day, she still felt as though she was weighted down. Although the mission was considering a raging success, she could not help but feel she herself had failed. Not only did she have to be saved by the Shire Guards, led by the one and only Trixie, but also her own partner had been shot in front of her.

Of course, she wasn’t truly worried about Trixie. As smug and “superior” as she was, she was on their side this time, so being mad would get her nowhere. No, what worried Twilight, and the rest of Delta Squad, was Chestnut’s condition. A round to the head is not something that is easily survivable. Chestnut was still alive, but for how long, and what his mental condition would be afterwards were a mystery. Twilight cringed at the mental image that permanently implanted itself into her brain.

However, she tried to focus on happier thoughts. At least her friends were safe and sound. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were in the kitchen, perhaps making a delicious assortment of cupcakes. Rainbow Dash was telling Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle about her latest adventure, and Rarity, though she would not admit it, was listening in. Fluttershy, unfortunately, was still working, but she was safe in the base. Spike and Celestia were up in the castle, probably planning their next plan now that they have the resonator, which Twilight still had no understanding of.

Twilight slowly raised herself up, and took one final look at Rainbow Dash, who was now describing the dragon, make herself appear larger, and growling nonsense to scare the young fillies, who seemed to be enjoying it. Twilight smiled a little, before making her way for the door. Rarity noticed this.

“Twilight, dear, where are you going?” She asked quietly, so as not to alert the others. Twilight turned around nervously.

“Oh, just to, uh, get some fresh air. I’ve been in that armor for so long, you know?”

“Hmm, alright. Just be sure to come back before dark, all right? There have been stories of mares being mugged on the street… But I’m sure a big bad COLT such as yourself can handle it” Rarity said with a wink. Twilight gave a small smile, before exiting out into the city.

Jastallion was much larger than any town or city Twilight had ever been to. She had heard rumors about this being the ponies last strong hold, as it was Celestia’s home, a place where Luna’s troops dared not attack. Located on the mountain, it also had a good strategic layout over the land underneath. Attacking it would be foolish, as this was where most of the soldiers were placed, to defend the citizens.

Twilight found her way to the edge of the city that looked over the mountain. She managed to see the sun as it slowly set behind the mountains beyond. She smiled a little. She hasn’t seen a sunset in a long time.

“At least the sunsets are still the same…”

As Twilight thought this, static passed through her ears, catching her attention. I must have forgotten to take out the communicator. She thought to herself, as a voice spoke.

“Private Sparkle, your wanted in Colonel Spike’s office.” A gruff voice said. Twilight nodded, forgetting that the voice could not see her.

“Oh, um, right. Tell him I’ll be right there.” She said cheerfully. The voice made a small grunt, but said nothing. Twilight made her way to Spike’s office, looking around the city as she did so.

---

Spike’s Office

5 minutes later

Twilight knocked her hoof loudly on Spike’s door, before opening the door with her horn. Spike was sitting alone, writing on a piece of paper with a quill. He looked up, and gave Twilight a big smile.

“Twilight! There you are.” He said, putting the quill down. He jumped off his chair, and walked over to the purple mare. “Phew, you didn’t wash up did you?” He said, holding his nose. “You smell like a horse.”

Twilight blushed a little bit. “Spiiiike,” she said through her teeth. “You didn’t just bring me here to harass me, did you?”

“Oh, c’mon, I’m just kidding.” Spike said, rolling his eyes. “But no, I didn’t. Have a seat.”

Twilight did as she was asked, and sat in front of the baby dragon’s desk. Spike sat in his chair, before taking his quill, and beginning to write again. After an awkward silence, Twilight gave small cough. Spike looked up.

“Right, sorry. So, me and Princess Celestia-”

“Princess Celestia and I” Twilight corrected him. Spike raised his eyebrows.

“Princess Celestia and I tested out the resonator. Thankfully, it still works”

“How does the resonator actually work, Spike? How can something just find the Elements of Harmony?”

“Jeez, Twilight, don’t even let me finish with what I’m talking about.”

“Right, sorry.”

“Princess Celestia managed to find five of the elements of harmony. Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Loyalty. The only one we’re missing is Magic.”

“Where could that one be?”

“I’m not sure. But, that’s not important. What’s important is to find the ones we know the location of. Five elements are better than none.”

“So, where are they, exactly?” Twilight asked. Spike shook his head. “From the looks of it, they’re all together, but in Beast Territory.”

“What? Spike, why does Lun- I mean, Nightmare Moon hold the elements of Harmony?”

“According to Celestia, Nightmare Moon might have known of the power of the elements when they sealed Discord away.” Spike said. Twilight flinched at the name. She tried to forget the time where she was forced to fight Discord. It was the only time her and her friends had ever fought. “She probably took them early on to prevent being turned to stone, or worse.”

“So, what does this have to do with me.”

“We’re sending in a whole lot of squads into Beast territory in a few days… Delta is the first one going in.” Spike said, turning back to his paper. Twilight blinked.

“Why? How could-“

“Twilight, Celestia knows you have a special connection to the elements.” Spike said, taking a deep breath. “She thinks you’ll be able to find the elements easy.”

“But, how? When Discord stole them, we had no idea where to find them.”

Spike shook his head. “I don’t know what to say, Twilight.” He said, as he put down his pen. He got up from his chair, and walked over to Twilight. “But I’m not worried. You’re still the smartest pony in Equestria, and I know you’ll be able to get through this!”

“…Thanks, Spike… I hope I can….”

Spike gave Twilight a small hug. “You worry too much.” He said, as he released her. “But listen, as a precaution, I’m sending you with two extra ponies this time. I don’t know who yet, but you’ll meet them before the mission.”

Twilight nodded her head, and looked at the map of Equestria hanging on Spikes wall. She looked at the spot where Ponyville would be built years later. She felt worried again. She only survived this time because of luck. Now she was marching straight into the mouth of the beast.

“So, can you please answer me, how does the resonator work?” Twilight asked finally. Spike shrugged.

”Magic?”

“That’s really the only explanation you can give me?”

---

Rarity’s House

2 hours later

“Actually, it’s much much deeper than just magic. You see, Princess Celestia’s got a special kind of magic right, just like Twilight and Rarity. So they’re all special right? Anyway, Princess Celestia’s magic is part of what makes the Elements of Harmony the Elements of Harmony. So when the Princess’s magic mixes with the Lightmagic Resonator and PRESTO! We find the Elements of-“

“Pinkie Pie! What are you even talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked loudly to get her pink friend’s attention. Applejack laughed.

“Well Spike didn’t know how the Resonator works, and I just happen to know how it works.”

”Pinkie Pie, how could you possibly know that?” Twilight asked. Pinkie smiled.

“Magic, of course.”

Twilight sat there with her mouth open, but decided it best not to proceed any further. After talking with Spike for what felt like an hour, Twilight immediately returned to Rarity’s to tell her friends the news. This wasn’t exactly something she could keep to herself.

“Well, Sugarcube, I hate to break it to ya, but that’s how it works around here.” Applejack said. “The second we get a break, we got a new assignment already waiting. But if we can find the Elements of Harmony, this war might be over sooner than we know it! It ain’t all bad.”

“Though that’s true, have you ever actually attacked the beasts strongholds head on?” Twilight asked, raising her eyebrow in concern.

“Nope! But how hard can it be.” Pinkie chirped in. “We’re the good guys. We’ll be fine.”

”Pinkie, that’s not how it works. There is a massive difference between fighting on one’s own turf and fighting in the enemies.

“Twi, you just have to keep calm. Don’t worry. We’ll make it through, all right.” Rainbow Dash said, putting her fore hoof around Twilight.

“Oooooo”

“Pinkie Pie…” Rainbow Dash said darkly. Pinkie Pie giggled a bit.

“Well, if that’s all the news for tonight, I believe it’s time for bed. I don’t mind if you all stay up, but please don’t wake me. It’s hard enough keeping track of Sweetie Belle and the Crusaders. They seem to be all over the place lately.” Rarity said, getting up.

“Maybe they’re finally getting to be that age? Maybe Sweetie Belle needs the talk, Rarity.” Applejack laughed. Rarity’s white face turned a shade of red.

“Oh, heavens no, mother and father can take care of that.” Rarity said quickly. She then looked out the window. “That is… if I see them again…” Rarity blinked quickly, and smiled at her friends. “B-but there’s no need for that. Get some rest my faithful Colts, you deserve it.” Rarity said finally, walking off to her room.

“Poor Rarity.” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash scoffed.

“Shouldn’t she be happy? Her parents were away when we all got sucked into this, so they’re probably okay.” She said, slightly annoyed. Applejack’s eyes narrowed.

“Now, Rainbow Dash, that poor mare hasn’t seen her parents in over a year. You can’t sit there and tell me you haven’t once thought of your parents and how much you miss them?”

”Well I- I mean I could… Uh”

“Mmhmm. That’s what I thought.” Rainbow Dash lowered her head as Applejack sighed. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t quite right of me… Anyways, I’m heading off to bed. You should too, Pinkie.”

“Why would I- Ohhhhhhhhh. Right.” Pinkie Pie giggled, before making small kiss noises.

“What was that?” Twilight asked, Pinkie Pie smiled.

“Oh nothing, you silly willy! Good night!” Pinkie Pie practically yelled, hopping away from the three remaining members of Delta.

“G’night, you two.” Applejack said, beginning to walk away. “Oh, and don’t let Pinkie get to you. Ya know how she is.”

“Uh, right, night, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash said, giving a slight wave, before turning to Twilight. “So, uh…” Rainbow Dash turned a light shade of red. Twilight did as well, turning away from the light blue mare.

“I guess we should be, um, heading off too.” Twilight said, tripping over her words. It was getting late, she’d had an…eventful day to say the least, and it’d be nice to get at least some shut-eye as soon as possible.

But the little, almost unnoticeable pout on Rainbow Dash’s face was slowly starting to convince her otherwise. The blue pony looked up at her with a soft “okay”, but made no move to follow up on it. She looked almost anxious, even a little flustered still from Pinkie’s comment. And a flustered, pouting Rainbow Dash, wasn’t something Twilight had the pleasure of enjoying often.

She chuckled. “It’s been a long day, we should get some rest.”

“Well, I’m used to staying up late. Training and all. Though I wouldn’t mind staying up with you…” Rainbow Dash said, barely whispering the last part.

“…Sorry, Dash, diiiiiidn’t quite catch that.” Twilight said, leaning in a little in hopes she’d hear her friend better. Rainbow Dash’s face tuned red when she realized she was heard. She looked away again.

“Oh, what? I didn’t say anything important” Rainbow Dash said, giving a half hearted laugh “I just said, uh…I wanted to, uh, stay up with you” She said, again in a whisper

“Rainbow, I still can’t-”

“I just wanted to stay up with you!” Rainbow Dash said suddenly. Twilight blinked. The sudden outburst was only as loud as a normal conversation, the words seemed much louder to Twilight. “Oh, uh…” Rainbow Dash turned a much deeper shade of red. “That… uh”

“Rainbow, I-”

“Nooooo no no no no. You’re tired, you should start heading to your room now, I’ll go, too, right no-” Rainbow Dash stuttered, turning quickly to head off to her room

“Hey, Rainbow,” Twilight said softly, trotting over to her friend and stepping in time next to her.

“Y-yeah?” Rainbow Dash looked up at her, not as nervous as before, though still a little anxious.

Twilight’s lips curled into a soft smile before stepping in front of the now incredibly curious blue pony. She paused for a second at the look in her friend’s eyes, before taking in a small nervous breath and kissing her on the cheek. “Good night.” She whispered.

Before she could even pull away entirely, she felt a similar feeling on her own cheek, as Rainbow Dash’s voice tickled her ear. “G’night, Twilight” And before she knew it, the owner of said voice had quickly trotted past her and into her room.

But Twilight didn’t miss the grin on her face.

<Chapter 4        Chapter 6>

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Any questions comments and concerns can be posted on Fanfiction.net, the Equestria Daily page, or directly to me at

Andrew-64@derpymail.org

I do not own any characters/settings/weapons used in this fic.

All properties are © Hasbro, Epic Games, Microsoft, or their respected owners

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