Near the edge of the Everfree Forest, a breeze slowly started to blow. As it swirled around a small clearing, it began to pick up speed till it was a mighty gale picking up leaves, twigs, and even small branches.

Then all at once the wind blasted outwards as the air in the center of the field tore open, filling the clearing with more light then Celestia’s sun above. From the tear, distorted voices could be heard. “Ok! It’s open! You should move through now. I have no idea how long we can keep it stable!” A male voice said.

“Are you sure you can handle things here without me?” A female voice responded.

“Relax Commander, we can take it from here,” The male voice replied.

“Well, if you are sure...” The female voice sounding uncertain.

“Go, I am not letting you back out now, Commander. We will be fine, I know everyone has been working towards this for so long, don’t let their sacrifices be wasted,” The male replied.

“Yes….Yes you are right, good luck to you all. It has been an honor serving with you all,” The female said.

“Please, the honor’s been ours, but I’ll pass your words on,” The male said. A clattering could be heard through the tear. “Fuck they are getting closer, GO NOW!”

The tear’s light grew brighter for a moment and then a purple unicorn came through and landed hard on her hooves, grunting as her hooves gave out and she went rolling. She slowly got to her hooves and looked back at the tear as the clattering grew louder. “Come on fuckers bring it on!” The male voice was heard yelling as the tear started to distort and warp till it snapped closed before the unicorn.

The unicorn sighed as she looked where the tear had been. “Good luck, Lieutenant,” She said quietly. As she stood staring, her ears swiveled around as she heard a distant roar. She looked in the direction it came from, and the sound of yelling filled the air. “Well, that can’t be good,” She said as she started to trot towards the familiar sound of battle.

Applejack drew her breath in sharply through gritted teeth as she crashed through one of the stalls in the market. She got to her hooves and shook herself. All around her, the market was in a panic as ponies ran every which way seeking shelter or just running in random directions.

“You ok, Applejack?” A rainbow maned and cyan Pegasus asked as she landed beside Applejack.

“Yes, ah’m fine,” She said looking up at what had thrown her. The large Bugbear roared at the orange earth pony and Pegasus. “Ah think he’s mad,” She said as the Bugbear flew at them.

A blue magical blast struck its side and it roared in annoyance as it turned towards the white unicorn with the perfectly styled purple mane who took a step back. “Oh…oh dear…” She said as the Bugbear picked up a cart and threw it at the Unicorn.

“MOVE RARITY!” Applejack yelled as Rainbow Dash took off and scooped up Rarity just before the cart landed where she had been. AJ sighed with relief as she saw RD set Rarity down and took to the air. “Tarnation, this ain’t going well.” She said, looking around; the market had mostly emptied out at this point, leaving just the three ponies and the angry Bugbear.

A yelp of pain drew Applejacks attention up just in time to see Dash flying towards her a second before she crashed into the orange pony sending them both tumbling. “Ow…that hurt…” Dash said slowly getting to her hooves, her feathers were a mess on one wing. She helped AJ to her hooves.

“Are you two alright?” Rarity asked as she galloped up to them. They both nodded though it was clear they were hurt. Rarity looked at the Bugbear as it was bearing down on them. “I’m…I’m not sure what to do here darlings.” She said looking towards Applejack for some direction.

Applejack didn’t know what to do and all she could was watch as it flew at them raising its claws.

A cart slammed into it from the side. “Hey asshole why don’t you try taking me on?!” A familiar voice called out taunting the Bugbear who turned to face the pony who’d thrown the cart.

Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash all looked as well and all three of them gasped at the purple unicorn they hadn’t seen since she vanished during a teleportation experiment three months ago. “Twilight?” Rarity said in disbelief that was shared by Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

The mare they were looking at certainly looked like the librarian that was their friend, but… she also didn’t at the same time. Her body was covered in some sort of dark green armor that had a few scorch marks and holes in it, upon her head was a dark green helmet that matched the armor. Her tail and mane were scorched and unkempt as well and her legs looked to be made of metal painted purple. The left side of her face was a mass of scars and her eyes looked strange, not just because she was glaring at the Bugbear coldly, but they looked off, unnatural. To her left, held in her magic, was some sort of metal stick thing that was pointed at the Bugbear as it roared and flew straight at her The armored mare’s eyes changed from their normal purple to red and seemed to glow slightly.

The three ponies jumped as the metal stick started to make a loud clattering sound, the end of it spitting small bouts of flame and the Bugbear roared in pain as it raised its claws to attack, but, before its claws could connect, there was a purple flash and its claws struck empty ground.

There was a corresponding flash above it and Twilight was dropping. A twelve inch blade shot out of Twilight’s left leg and the blade plunged into the Bugbear’s back causing it to roar in pain. The loud metal stick clattered inched from the Bugbear's back as Applejack saw as its back sprayed blood from small holes appearing everywhere the stick pointed, the blade kept her on the Bugbear’s back. The three ponies stared as the Mare they knew smiled while the Bugbear roared and flew straight back towards a building as the metal stick stopped its noise.

Twilight pulled her blade free and teleported off the Bugbear’s back before it slammed into the building and reappeared close to the three ponies. “Oh come on, I’ve fought new recruits that were tougher then you!” She taunted, smirking as a small box on the bottom of the loud stick dropped off it. Another small box quickly appeared in Twilight’s magic and replaced the previous one before a piece on top was pulled back.

The bleeding Bugbear roared in anger at her and threw another cart at Twilight, who easily caught it in her magic and tossed it to the side. “I think it’s time to end this,” She said as more metal sticks appeared around her. All of them different sizes, some long and thin, other short and small.

What caught the three ponies most off guard were the two hovering machines that appeared beside Twilight. They were half the size of Twilight, and under them extended three lengths of metal.

The Bugbear flew straight at her. “Celestia, Luna, light this fucker up!” Twilight barked. There was a beep from both hovering machines as the barrels under them started to rotate before they started to spit fire loudly at the same time the metal sticks held in Twilight’s magic did so, and the three ponies had to cover their ears as the marketplace was filled with deafening clattering. They all watched while blood sprayed from hundreds of holes that appeared all over the Bugbear’s body as it was stopped in its tracks by the force of what was hitting it and slowly pushed back.

A small, round, metal object appeared in front of Twilight and she pulled a pin on it and launched it at the Bugbear, forcing the object into its mouth as it roared in pain and anger. “Cease fire!” Twilight yelled and, all at once, the loud clatter ceased, accompanied by beeps of acknowledgment. “Three….two….one…”Twilight counted down before the three ponies jumped as the Bugbear’s head exploded in a shower of blood and bone. It gave a quiet gurgle before it toppled over and lay still in an expanding pool of crimson.

“And stay down!” Twilight yelled at it with a satisfied smile on her face as her eyes returned to their normal, purple color. “You two did great,” She said, turning towards and patting the hovering devices affectionately, smiling proudly as the two machines beeped several times. “Oh, don’t worry, we will find you more ammo. It shouldn’t be too hard to manufacture some more,” She said, hugging them reassuringly.

Applejack slowly stepped forward. “Uh...Twilight? Is…is that really you?” She asked. The Machines beeped in alarm and moved to block Twilight. “It’s alright you two, they are friends of mine,” She said. The machines fell back to either side of Twilight and hovered there silently as all the metal sticks slowly vanished… well, except for a small, short one that went into a leather strap on Twilight’s left shoulder that seemed to be made for it, and the metal stick she had when she started fighting the Bugbear, which she slung onto her back, an attached strap holding it in place.

Once the sticks were settled, Twilight threw her front hooves around Applejack. “I’ve missed you guys so much!” She said sounding like the old Twilight as she hugged her friend who was struggling to breathe in the crushing hug as the metal legs squeezed tighter and tighter, making Applejack fear her neck was going to break as she tried to breathe. “Oh! I’m sorry!” She said, quickly letting go and stepping back, looking a bit embarrassed. “I kind of forgot to be careful,” She said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly with a metal hoof.

Applejack took several gasps of air before speaking. “T-Twi? What in tarnation happened to ya?” She asked as she stared at her friend in much the same manner as Dash and Rarity.

Twilight shrugged. “Eh…a lot of shit, I’ll tell you later. In the meantime, I think it's lunch time,” She said looking around as Applejack stared at her. How could she be hungry after what she just did? Twilight looked at the three of them and tilted her head. “What is it?” The three just stared in shock, unable to speak, and Twilight just shrugged. “Sugarcube Corner still where it used to be?” Slowly, Applejack nodded, and Twilight smiled wide. “Oh good, I haven’t had a decent meal in…,” She thought, “I’d say…six weeks.” She nodded and started to walk off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner, the machines following close behind her.

Applejack looked at the other two with her before she trotted after Twilight.

Twilight Sparkle breathed in the clean air as she walked down the streets of Ponyville, Celestia and Luna flanking her as she hummed to herself a bit. It was nice to breathe air that didn’t smell of sewage and garbage or of blood and gun smoke, though she had to admit, it did smell odd, all that being absent, but she didn’t expect it to be here, and she did still have the smell of the battle with the Bugbear in her nose…so there was that.

She looked around Ponyville, it felt so good to be home. She’d almost forgotten what this place looked like, and it was good to see everybody again, though the town residents were staring at her oddly. Though, that was not surprising, it had been over a year since she’d been here, after all…or it was her combat armor, perhaps.

She looked over at Applejack as she walked up beside her, surprising her. “Yes?” She asked cheerfully. It was so good to see her friends again. She ignored the information about AJ that displayed before her eyes about the mare.

“Uh…Sugarcube…are you ok?” She asked, eyeing Celestia and Luna nervously.

“Never been better, why?” She asked, “And don’t worry about Celestia and Luna, as long as you don’t make yourself a hostile, they won’t have any reason to attack you.” She chuckled, patting Luna, who beeped in response, and reading the translation at the bottom of her vision. “Oh, don’t worry, she is a friend, she isn’t a threat,” She told the sentry.

“Um…Darling…are you…talking to it?” Rarity asked from behind. Twilight looked back at her.

“Yes? Why wouldn’t I? I was just reassuring her that you girls weren’t hostiles. They are having some issues as you don’t have any IFF tags. I may need to make you some so that Celestia and Luna won’t be so uncomfortable,” She said, looking back at the two Sentries, “Will that make you two feel better?” They both beeped affirmatives.

Twilight looked back at Rarity who gapped at her along with Rainbow Dash. “What’s wrong?” she tilted her head.

“They are named after the Princesses?” Dash asked, staring at her in disbelief.

“Yes of course, I thought the names were fitting for my personal sentries, and I wanted to honor the Princesses. What better way than to name two bots designed to protect me?” She asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was to her. The Princesses will be so honored to know that the Sentries that helped keep her alive were named after them.

Applejack slowly fell back with the other two, eyeing Twilight with worry. Soon Sugarcube Corner came into view and Twilight sighed happily, it looked exactly the same as it did so long ago. “So how has Pinkie been?” She asked, noticing her friends wince a bit. Twilight sighed. “Let me guess, her hair has been straight?” They nodded. “Well…with any luck, me being back will get her back to the old Pinkie.” She said as she pushed the door open, the bell sounding above the door.

Mr. Cake was behind the counter and his eyes widened when she saw Twilight and her two Sentries enter, followed by Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. “Mr. Cake! It’s been far too long,” She said, happily walking up to the counter as Mr. Cake eyed the sentries wearily. “Don’t worry about them, they won’t hurt you unless your dumb enough to do something hostile,” She said, causing his eyes to widen in shock, “Is Pinkie home?” She smiled when he nodded. “Could you let her know I’m home, and could I also have two hay cupcakes? Thanks,” She said as he stared at his motionless form and sighed. “WAKE UP!” She yelled, causing him to jump and start moving rapidly. Soon, she had her food and walked over to a table.

Slowly, the others took seats and stared at her as she started to eat, god she missed a good cupcake. Rarity started to speak first, “so…darling you simply must tell us wh—“

“Later.” Twilight interrupted. “I’m enjoying being home after six months of hell.” She said, noticing her three friends staring at her. “What?”

“Twi you’ve only been gone—“ The sound of hooves galloping down stairs cut off Applejack, and Twilight looked over just in time to see a pink pony burst from the kitchen and sprint at her, wrapping her in a hug before she could think. “TWILIGHT I—“ Pinkie Pie was cut off as Twilight’s right hoof slammed into her stomach causing her to gasp in pain before her left hoof connected with her jaw in an uppercut sending the pink party pony sprawling as Twilight’s magic yanked her side arm from its holster and her blade came out and shot towards Pinkie’s left eye stopping centimeters from it as Twilight stared down at Pinkie with cold eyes that were red and glowing slightly, her side arm aimed right between Pinkie’s eyes, Celestia and Luna flanking her weapons at the ready.

Pinkie’s eyes were wide and she shook as she stared into the eyes of an executioner. “Don’t….do…that….”Twilight said in a low voice before the blade retracted. “Stand down,” She told the two sentries that went back to flank her as she returned her side arm to its holster and took a calming breath, closing her eye. The shop was deathly quiet. “I’m sorry, that was a reflex, but don’t do that again…I might not be able to stop myself from killing you next time,” She said, opening her eyes, the targeting icon disappearing from her sight as she sat and her eyes returned to their normal dark purple color.

Shakenly Pinkie got to her feet, staring at Twilight with a bit of fear. “I’m sorry Twilight, I’ve just been so worried about you…I didn’t think. Please don’t be mad,” She said quietly.

“Its fine, I’m not mad…and…I know. I’m sorry, just….not a good idea to surprise me anymore,” She said taking another deep breath to calm her nerves.

“I know, you’ve been through a lot, I understand Twilight, “Pinkie said reassuringly. “It’s why I’m going to wait a while before throwing your Homecoming party, that way, you’re a bit more settled,” She said, her straight hair poofing up a bit.

Twilight nodded in thanks and calmly went back to eating, her friends staring at her nervously.

Twilight walked with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and her sentry bots through the town. She had enjoyed hear meal at Sugarcube Corner, though was a bit sad her friends were so quiet, and still couldn’t shake all the looks everyone was giving her.

She looked up as she heard the flap of wings, and saw Dash returning with a yellow Pegasus in tow. She smiled wide as they landed. “Fluttershy!” She called out, throwing her hooves around her and hugged tightly. She chuckled when ‘Shy squeaked and slowly returned the hug, albeit a bit nervously.

Twilight broke the hug. “It’s good to see you, it’s been so long.”

“Oh…um…yes it has…it’s good to see you, Twilight…you’re looking…well…”Fluttershy whispered.

“Couldn’t be better! I’ve finally managed to return home!” She said, her smile slipping a bit as she thought about what it cost, “Well…maybe I could be a bit better,” She said quietly as her smile fell.

“Something wrong, darling?” Rarity asked, stepping forward.

“Yeah…just lost a lot of good people getting into the labs is all…”She said with a faraway look.

“Lost?” Fluttershy asked as Twilight shook her head to clear it.

“It’s fine…they knew the risks, and they volunteered. I’d have preferred not taking any of them but…heh….they refused the order to stay behind, said they’d gladly help me get home…” Twilight sighed sadly and looked at her hooves, “Bunch of fucking dumbasses…” She didn’t see the looks her friends all shared.

Fluttershy reached a hoof out to comfort her friend when Twilights head snapped up. “But that’s in the past, no use dwelling on it,” She said with a shrug, and, just like that, her sadness never happened and she started walking again.

Her friends scrambled to catch up. It didn’t take them long to realize where they were going and, sure enough, the large tree that was the Golden Oaks Library came into view with Twilight heading straight towards it.

She stopped outside the door, sighed, and smiled, running her normal hoof over the door. “It’s been a long time…” She said before slowly pushing the door open and walking in, “Spike? Spike are you here?!” She called out, looking around the familiar room of the library.

The sound of small feet running on the upper landing was all she needed to hear to know her number one assistant was still here. “Twilight?” He said as he peered down the stairs, his eyes widening. “TWILIGHT!” He yelled, running to her, jumping up and giving her a tight hug which she returned, being careful not to crush the baby dragon, and nuzzling the top of his head.

“It’s been so long…” She said, holding him close, eyes closed, a few tears in the corner of her eyes, “I almost gave up hope of ever making it back…”

Slowly, Spike released the hug and actually took in the view of his big sister. He blinked as he saw her strange eyes…and her legs…and the scars. “Twilight…what happened…your…your eye…and your legs….”

She looked at her leg. “Oh these? Hey don’t worry, it happened a long time ago, I’ve adjusted. “She said with a shrug.

“But…what happened?”

“Let’s just say a bunch of assholes didn’t like me blowing up their stuff,” She said, chuckling, then blinked when he didn’t join her. Spike was staring at her and at the two hovering sentries. “Oh, Spike, this is Celestia and Luna, they are Mark 3 personal sentries. I rebuilt them myself, and customized them with an upgraded AI, more armor and AP rounds,” She said proudly as she gave each a pat on their ‘head’.

“AP rounds?” Spike asked.

“Armor piercing. These models weren’t designed to face heavily armed soldiers, they were more for the private sector. But they are smaller and more easily maintained then their military counter parts. Plus they have the added bonus of being underestimated by more than a few fuckers dumb enough to try to take them head on,” She said, “Isn’t that right?” She asked, turning to the bots as they beeped in response.

“Anyways, I’m sure you all have questions but I haven’t had a decent shower in months, so if you’ll excuse me…”She said, starting to make her way towards the bathroom, her sentries following closely “You two stay out here,” She told them, and they beeped a few times in response, “Because the room is too small for me and you two to be in there, that’s why,” She said, “So stay,” She ordered, recieving a few beeps.

Twilight nodded, and her friends watched as she unslung the metal stick from her back and set it beside the stairs as she made her way up, undoing her armor and pulling it off. Her friends let out a collective gasp as they saw Twilight’s body. Her body was covered in many scars, some were small and round, others looked like old burns, some were slashes, and others looked surgical. The most shocking was that where her Cutie Mark had been on her right flank was just a square of scar tissue as if it had been removed along with the skin it was on.

Twilights noticed her friends staring and looked at them, her armor held in her magic beside her. “What?” She asked tilting her head.

“Wh-what happened to you?” Fluttershy asked eye wide.

Twilight tilted hear head. Then looked at her scars. “Oh! Those? Just a lot of things happened,” She said, shrugging and making her way up to the bathroom, setting her armor to the side of the door, removing her side arm from its holster and placing it on the counter beside the shower in easy reach before starting the water.

Her friends heard the shower start to run and looked at each other. “Th-that was Twilight right?” Fluttershy asked, looking at the door to the bathroom.

“Ah don’t rightly know shy…”Applejack replied, “It certainly looks like her sort of and at times acts like her…but….”

“It’s her.” Pinkie pie said from the back of the group, nodding firmly and looking at her friends who were confused, “She’s been through a lot…more then we could imagine. I’m surprised there is anything left of the old Twilight…”

“Darling how could you possible know that?” Rarity asked, looking at Pinkie. “She doesn’t even talk like Twilight, and what she did to that Bugbear….” Rarity trailed off and shivered, thinking about the mess in the market place. She felt sympathy for the ponies that had to clean that up.

“I just do ok? Just trust me, it’s Twilight, but she’s had to adapt to survive and the things she’s done….I don’t want to meet the pony that could do them and not be affected.” Pinkie Pie said quietly, her mane losing some of its poof. “Just…don’t be too shocked about things she does. She needs us now more than ever as she is going to have a hard time adjusting.” Pinkie looked at her friends pleadingly.

“Of course we will be there for her, she’s our friend,” Applejack said.

“Pinkie Promise.” Pinkie said.

“What darling?” Rarity asked.

“I want you all to Pinkie Promise you will be there for Twilight and not turn on her or treat her like a monster…” Pinkie Pie said very seriously, her hair completely straight as she looked at all of her friends who looked a bit nervous. One by one, they gave a Pinkie Promise. Once they completed it, Pinkie’s hair poofed back up and she smiled wide, back to her old self again as she bounced over to Celestia and Luna that floated off to the side of the room watching the group. The rest all chatted among themselves about what had happened that day, and then comforted Fluttershy when she learned what Twilight had done to the Bugbear.

After an hour had passed, the sound of the shower going off was heard and everyone looked at the top of the stairs at the bathroom door.

Twilight hadn’t felt hot running water in a long time. It felt amazing to feel it on her coat again. It hadn’t taken her long to wash, but then she decided to wash her armor as well and, once that was done, she just stood still, letting the water run over her body.

Reluctantly, she shut the water off after an hour and stepped out. She needed to talk to her friends, and there was plenty of time to enjoy another hot shower later. Strapping her armor onto herself once more, she returned her side arm to its holster and opened the door, smiling as she stepped out. “Hey girls!” She said happily as she walked down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she noticed the stares from all her friends except Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who paled when she saw Twilight, and hid behind her mane, “Is something wrong?” She asked, her smile slipping a bit as Celestia and Luna moved to flank her.

Applejack stepped forward and Pinkie Pie sighed. “Twi…are you ok?” She asked, looking concerned and weary.

“Yes, I’m great why?”

“Because, darling, you blew a Bugbear’s head apart.” Rarity said, stepping forward.

“Well technically the grenade did it, but what’s your point?” Twilight tilted her head to the side.

“Our point is the Twilight that vanished two month ago would have never done that.” Applejack said.

“Two months ago? What do you mean two months ago? I’ve been gone six months…” Twilight said, looking at her friends in confusion.

Applejack and Rarity shared a glance before Rarity stepped forward. “Twilight dear, you’ve only been gone for two months.”

“No….no, I’ve counted…it’s been exactly six months and three days. I’ve been counting!” She yelled at them before she started to pace, “This doesn’t make any sense, I counted…it’s been well over two months…” She mumbled to herself as she paced, glaring at the ground before her head shot up, her eyes wide. “I didn’t account for a possible temporal shift alongside the dimensional shift! That has to be it!” She said.

“Darling…what are you talking about?” Rarity asked with a bit of concern.

“The device that brought me to the place I was, and that we used to send me back…I hadn’t thought of the fact it may cause a warping of time as well as the wall between dimensions,” She said. Her friends jumped back as the metal sticks appeared around her and the one beside the stairs floated over as Twilight went to the table in the room. She sat at it, removed her helmet and set it on the table, and started to take apart the metal stick that had been by the stairs.

“Hey Twi…what are these things anyways?” Rainbow Dash asked from above her.

“They are called guns. They shoot bullets…bits of metal at a high velocity. They are weapons,” She stated simply as she finished disassembling the gun and a bottle of chemicals appeared beside her from her pocket dimension where she kept all her gear.

“And what are you doing?” Applejack asked, looking over her shoulder.

“I’m cleaning them….it helps me relax. Though they are highly effective, if they aren’t cleaned regularly then they run the risk of jamming or, in rare cases, exploding,” She stated as she cleaned, “And before you ask what happed to my legs and eyes, just know I’ll explain as needed later. But just know now that things happened and, rather than be forced to sit around the base while everyone else around me worked their asses off, I had them replaced as needed by cybernetics. It was risky as they weren’t designed for ponies, so they had to be modified…and the fact we didn’t exactly have a sterile room to do the surgeries, but it was my decision to make,” She said firmly, “Personally, I’ve found them quite useful.”

Twilight looked up, seeing her friends staring at her and sighed, "I lost my left leg and eye in an ambush and I ended up losing my right eye during a raid on a Fed compound a few months back, so had it replaced as well. My right leg was blown off by a landmine and my rear legs were crushed when a building collapsed on top of me. There are a few others but those are minor, mostly just the brain implants to help me use my cybernetics and process the information. Over all, they have been very useful,” She said before reassembling the rifle, then grabbing another in her magic and starting to work on it.

She glanced at her friends and saw the looks of confusion, horror and concern on their faces and sighed, “I guess I should start at the beginning” She said, looking back at her work, “And how I found myself in the hell known as Demanil Labs. The playground of one Doctor Adam Frisk...” She said the name and visibly shuttered.

Author's Notes:

I'm going to try to write long chapters then normal for this story.

Chapter Edited by Aqua_Breeze

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