A knock came to the door of Commander Twilight Sparkle’s office in the basement of the Golden Oaks Library where it had been since she first built it when the EDF was first formed. “Come.” The grey haired unicorn called as she wrote.

The door opened to admit a three foot tall purple dragon. “Twilight, Chrysalis is here.” Spike told her from the door.

The mare looked up at her assistant. “Thank you spike, tell her I’ll be up shortly.” She said before she went back to writing. A few minutes later she finished and closed the book before placing it on a shelf behind her desk. She got to her feet and rolled her shoulder, the cybernetics looked in good condition, if worn do to the fact the unicorn had been keeping them running by herself as Equestria still wasn’t up to them in technology yet. The mare popped her neck before she grabbed her cap and placed it on her head and withdrew her sunglasses from her storage locker, they were the only think stored in there these days as she had turned over all her guns and ammo to be placed in an armory she had built into the basement of the library so that when she was gone they could still be used or analyzed or placed in a museum or whatever it was people did with them after she was gone.

Placing the sunglasses over her eye the mare made her way to the door and made her way to the main room of the building. There she found the Changeling Queen calmly looking over the shelves of books as she waited. The queen looked exactly as she had years ago when she joined the army.

Twilight could not help walking quietly up behind her and out of the blue throwing her arm around the officer’s neck. “Queeny! So good to see you!” the unicorn said with glee, startling the poor Changeling nearly out of her chitin.

“Gah! Twilight must you do that?” The Queen scolded.

Twilight smiled wide. “Absolutely.”

The Major sighed. “Why do I ask such questions when I know the answer.” She said rubbing her head with a hoof.

“Because you like hearing your own voice?” The aged mare offered, even in her age she still couldn’t slow down and act her age, she simply couldn’t allow it.

The Major looked at the Commander wearing her dress uniform. “Are you ready Twilight? If you want to wait a bit we can.” She offered.

The mare shrugged. “I’m as ready as I can ever been Queeny, this is the ninth one I’ve been to, I don’t think I can be any more prepared then I already am.” She said and laughed, though there was no humor or happiness in it, it was a laugh of a mare trying to keep herself together as best as she could.

The major didn’t need to feel the mares feeling to tell what she was feeling and she placed a holed hoof on her shoulder. “You can do this Twilight.” She reassured and the mare nodded before turning and heading for the door, griping her hands behind her back as she always did when walking as a biped. The Changeling followed behind and when they stepped outside there was a black painted EDF gunship waiting in the space between the library and Ponyville Market place, a group of ponies had gather to see the flying death machine.

The Equestrian Gunship was very different then the Federal Army gunships in that rather than a single rotor on top and one on the tail the EDF Gunship had two wings that extended out the sides that had a rotor on each and the tail was just two small fin like wings. On the wings rested racks for varicose types of missiles to be placed from air to air or air to ground, though the Commander’s did not have any on it. Bellow the nose sat a standard 30mm cannon.

The pilots sat in two bubble cockpits like the Feds but behind them was a large door that opened into a space big enough to carry two wings of Sharpshooters and on the doors rested the insignia of Equestria though this one was without that as it was the Commander’s personal gunship, which was why it was black and not dark green and only had the 30mm cannon.

The Mare and the Changeling boarded the gunship and as soon as the door was closed the pilots, an earth pony and a unicorn started to engines and the blades slowly began to spin as the crowd moved back do to the dust. After a short wait the aircraft lifted off and began to fly towards the distance city of Canterlot. Another feature of an EDF Gunship that set it apart from a Fed Gunship was and EDF gunship could carry an EDF MBT and fly at almost normal speed, though its maneuverability would be sorely diminished.

As they flew nether of the passengers said a word and the Major knew in these times it was best to only speak when spoken to unless the Commander was on the brink of losing it so the changeling queen busied herself with the Hivemind. Her have was far larger then she could have ever imagined it would ever have been years ago.

After the battle with Tirek and ponies witnessing changeling giving their lives to save them public opinion had shifted drastically about the pony like creatures. There were still those who despised and mistrusted them but they were soon the silent minority as more and more ponies rose to the Changeling defense, especially with foal who hadn’t been alive during the changeling invasion, they only ever saw changeling saving ponies so many of them only saw the chitin creatures as heroes and would back talk anyone who said otherwise, even their own parents at times.

Because of that it had allowed the hive to grow as food became more plentiful, most ponies now freely gave them the food they needed to the point the hive had more food to feed a hive three times its current size. The Commander’s prediction about love and tolerance had proven correct as most of her prediction were.

While the Queen was busy managing her hive the Commander thoughts were far different. Namely they were on the past and the people she cared about. Her parents had passed away peacefully in their sleep in their home in Canterlot, that had been hard on the mare but the Queen had helped her through it.

What had bene harder was her Brother who had died far less peacefully in a terrorist attack on the Crystal Empire meant to killed Cadence by throwing himself in the line of fire, the plan had been executed by a group of Griffin separatists who did not like the fact the Griffin Empire was no longer the dominant military super power on the planet. The King was reasonable and did not see an issue because even if they were not the top military he still knew his nation was mighty for its size and could go toe to toe with Equestria for some time if they so choose. But there was no reason as relations between the two countries were good.

Not everyone had seen it that way and many called for the Griffin’s to retake their title by force and when the King refused they took matters into their own hands and attacked with under handed tactics.

Twilight had personally hunted that group down and made them scream till their throats were bloody. The official report listed them killed when the EDF tried to take them into custody but there were rumors among the soldiers of what happened, though none blamed the mare for taking action.

Fluttershy had had passed away peacefully in her cottage outside of Ponyville while Rarity had passed on in the hospital, even while there she never stopped designing fashion that was still worn to this day. Pinkie Pie had passed on while baking; people had bene alerted when the cake in the oven had caught fire. The fire did little damage to the little bakery but Twilight had paid for everything to be replaced that was damaged.

Applejack had been next; she passed in her bed out in Sweet Apple Acers surrounded by her family, exactly as she had wanted to go. That left Twilight and Rainbow Dash, both of them being the fittest out of their friends. Twilight could still remember the last time she saw the cyan Pegasus.

Rainbow had been called to be special guest at a Wonderbolt event as a special flyer she had been retired for years but still kept up with her stunt practice as best as she could, she wasn’t very fast these days and couldn’t do complicated stunts but she could still fly so she was happy.

Twilight had managed to catch part of the event as she was in Canterlot on business but she had only been able to stay for an hour and they had agreed to meet up for dinner that night.

Two hours later Twilight got the call that Rainbow had been found in her hotel room, she had laid down to take one of her famous naps and never woke up. That was three days ago and now the unicorn mare was on her way to the funeral with her only living friend left. Idly she mused to herself she still had any sanity left, though she did have the friend beside her to thank for that.

After about an hour the Gunship began to make it’s decent to land in the Canterlot Garrison, what had once been a single warehouse converted to a base was now a collection for ten buildings, all of which had been built after Tireks attack as the old building had been leveled and do to the fact after the attack the EDF was flooded with ponies wanting to join up the army had grow to three times its original size, they now had bases everywhere Twilight had wanted to place them and a couple smaller ones she let Chrysalis name as Twilight was out of names.

Once the gunship touched down and the engines shut off the two passengers disembarked. The sky was an appropriate overcast as it had always been for these events.

The two made their way down the street, past ponies and changelings going about their days till they reached the cathedral that was hosting the funeral. Walking in Twilight saw the crowd was mostly made up of fans of the rainbow maned Pegasus from her Wonderbolt years, some of them were even EDF so that made Twilight and Chrysalis not the only ones in dress uniform. At the front of the crowd sat the current Wonderbolts, a; of them wearing proper funeral attire for one of their own, though retire, had fallen. Once you were a Wonderbolt you were always a Wonderbolt, something that had come about after Rainbow had replaced Spitfire as captain.

The Commander and the Major Made their way to the front of the crowd and took the seats reserved for them, Twilight had one as the Element of Magic and a close friend of Rainbow and Chrysalis on request from Twilight.

After a few minutes the doors tot eh cathedral were closed and the crowd quieted down as they found their seats.

Once they were seated Celestia took the small stage, Luna following close behind. The Sun Princess approached the podium and cleared her throat. “Welcome my little ponies to this unfortunate event.” She began. “Today is a sad day for we lost someone who was an inspiration to many of us. Rainbow Dash had always worked hard to achieve her goals but was the first to drop everything to aide a friend in need, even at the coast of something important to her because nothing was more important to her then her friends….”

Twilight tuned the Princess out as she just stared at the coffin adorn with the cloud and lighting bolt. She knew she wouldn’t be called onto speak as she had asked the princess not to as she wanted to grieve in peace, that was only part of the truth and a small part. The real reason was Twilight did not want to end up switching voices in the middle of her talking as she did when she grieved do to her mental state being very unstable. IT was one of the reason she had Chrysalis with her, the Changeling Queen could deal with those that came near to try and talk to the mare and to also help Twilight stay in control with a jab to the ribs if she started to lose it.

Twilight sat in silence just staring at the coffin of her last friend from before her time away. And now there was nothing left of what she had before. There was just what came after.

The serviced lasted for a couple of hours, both Celestia and Luna gave a speech as did the current captain of the Wonderbolts and then it was the after event.

This was Twilight and Chrysalis’ que to leave as they had a job to do.

Outside the service stood a combat ready Rifle Team and two Sharpshooter wings, at the base of the steps sat a small cart with a steel box strapped to the middle of it. Twilight stood beside the cart and pulled her SMG from her storage locker and held it close. The gun showed it age but was still fully functional as were all of Twilight’s guns.

After a short wait in which Twilight gave Chrysalis her preferred weapon, an LMG of all things, Celestia exited the service with Luna carrying in her magic a small gold necklace with a lightning bolt shape jewel. The EDF escort team saluted as Celestia placed the Element of Loyalty into the armored case and sealed it. This had become a sort of tradition at Twilight’s insistent.

The EDF would escort each Element to their final resting place in the Canterlot Castle vault. There were along the route the Royal Guard lined the street keeping the path clear in a joint effort to keep the artifacts safe, it was mostly for show as no one would really be dumb enough to attack an item both Princesses were with. But it let Twilight feel better knowing something that had been a part of her friends was safe.

One the box was sealed the Rifle Team split and four stood on each side of the cart as the two Wings took flight and flew close escort. The two Princesses lead the way as a Royal guard pulled the cart with Twilight and Chrysalis brought up the rear.

A crowd formed behind the Royal Guard and watched the procession as it’s made its way towards the castle. “You ok Twilight?” Chrysalis asked quietly so only the mare could hear.

Twilight nodded as she looked ahead. “As I can be, I may need to take a walk in the Everfree later and we will talk after that but I’m ok, still in one peace.” The mare said.

The Changeling Queen nodded. “Ok, if you need something just tell me ok?”

“I will.” Twilight replied.

After a while the escort passed the Memorial of the Fallen and soon was walking through the castle gate. The cart pulled up to the doors and Celestia lifted the armored case as the escort team formed up around her and they began to walk into the castle.

It did not take long for them to reach the Elements Vault and the Princess used her horn to unlock it as she set the case aside. Once the vault was open she opened the case. “Twilight, would you like to be the one to place the Element of Loyalty with the others?” She asked looking at the aged mare.

Twilight blinked as she hadn’t been asked to do the others. “Uh…yes sure.” She said and slung her SMG before walking forward. The Princess held out the artifact and Twilight took it into her hands. She approached the vault and saw the other Elements resting within including the Element of Magic.

The mare Place the final artifact with the rest and looked them over as they sparkled in the light, her mind drifting back to the past bother before her trip and after. She thought of the friends she made in Ponyville and the friends she made on earth. She thought of how she meat them and how they became friends from her pony friends helping her stop Nightmare Moon to how Listen helped her get armor while Dupo gave her love of firearms, the General had saved her through Whiskey and they spent hours drinking and chatting after that. To Marcus who was the only person who treated her with any kindness while she was in hell. To Dr. Grey who gave her something to do and taught her how to be a doctor. To Delco had her back when it came to hunting and killing Frisk to Cook who always had the perfect meal ready for her. And Mendez who always pushed her to better herself no matter what. And Nightmare Squad who had her back in the field. She thought of the soldiers who were there to fight to get her home, ready to give up their lives to get her home.

All this passed through her head as she stared at the glittering Elements of Harmony. All of them had been there for her when she needed them; all of them had been true friends. Twilight didn’t know why but her eyes fell upon the Tiara that was her Element.

Slowly she reached out and picked it up as she removed her Beret. She knew it was silly but she wanted to wear it one more time and pretend for a moment all her friends were there with her.

The Mare placed the Element upon her head and there was spark. She blinked and suddenly the other Elements came to life. Twilight took a step back and put up an arm to block the light. “What the hell is going on?” She shouted a moment before a beam of light shot out from each Element and struck her chest. The last thing she heard was yells of surprise from the escort team and the sound of hooves rushing towards her before everything went white.

The room before the Element Vault was a buzz with activity as the EDF went into full red alert and Chrysalis gave order to alert he Garrison and get them reinforcements as the escort team began to lock the room down do tot eh fact their Commander just got vaporized right in front of them by the Elements of Harmony. The Soldier were prepared to go to war with the ancient super weapon over this, which would be rather amusing to watch for Princess Celestia though she would need to step in after a certain point, she had seen the EDF pull of the impossible before and she wouldn’t put it past them to find a way to actually go to war with the artifacts.

None of the soldiers noticed that the Sun Princess was completely calm and she had a small smile on her muzzle. She had just about given up hope at Twilight succeeding after all these years but somehow the military mare had surprised her and now it was just a matter of waiting. She had planned to guide her student though this but the suddenness of this had been unexpected. She had asked the mare to place the last element out of courtesy and hadn’t expected the elements to react.

The Sun Princess had been unprepared so now her student was on her own though she had complete faith in her to make it through this, the mare had come through many close calls over the years as the leader of the EDF and Celestia was sure she could handle this.

It took only a few minutes for the door and the far end of room to burst open and squads of EDF troops of all types swarmed the room and began taking up defensive positions facing both the Elements and the door in case either the Elements attacked or an outside force did.

Celestia had to suppress a laugh at how absurd they all looked ready to defend against the artifacts that had protected them for so long, she knew it was just them following their training and doing their duty so she did not want to hurt their pride and she also couldn’t blame their reaction. Their leader did just vanish into thin air after being hit by a beam of light from the Elements.

After a while of nothing happening, the soldier not moving an inch as they waited to what they thought was an impending attack, a ball of light descended from the ceiling and stopped above where Twilight had vanished and it took all of Celestia self-control not to clap her hooves and smile as she saw it.

The soldier reacted by aiming their weapons at the light which was to be expected. There was a flash of light that blinded all present and when they blinked the spots away they saw Twilight Sparkle standing where she had been before eyes closed and the Tiara had changed from a tiara to be shaped like the military cap the mare always wore when not in armor.

That wasn’t all that had changed, her uniform looked brand new and freshly ironed and her cybernetic legs now matched her color correctly instead of being slight off in color and they looked more natural, though still robotic. Her body looked like it had years ago and the color was back in her mane and tail as it used to be.

But the biggest change and the one that caused all the soldiers in the room to stare jaws on the floor was the pair of wings the once unicorn mare now sported on her back.

The light faded and the mare opened her eyes, they were still clearly cybernetic but looked are more advanced and natural then they had to and the scars around them were less defined but still there as were the rest of her scars.

The mare blinked and looked around the room before looking down at her legs. She lifted a hoof and taped her legs making a slight clanking sound. “I…I can feel them.” The mare said in disbelief. She ran her hoof along her leg. “I can feel.” She said again and her wings shifted with her growing emotions and she froze.

The mare looked back and blinked as she saw the wings. Slowly the wings extended to their full width and they gave a couple of flaps as the mare looked to the other side. Then she froze as her eyes fell upon her right flank under the pistol holstered there where it once had been nothing but scar tissue was now fur and something she had not seen in a very long time, the purple six pointed star of her Cutie Mark.

Carefully as if she was afraid it would vanish the young Alicorn reached out and ran a hoof along the star. The mare stood up on her hind legs and Celestia smiled as she smiled like a child on Hearths Warming Eve who had just gotten what she always wanted. The purple Alicorn extended her fingers and Celestia noted that the ends of them were points like claws instead of blunt like they used to be and the mare smiled wider.

Then her blades shot out they had gained three inches and looked far sharper and were covered in some sort of design that glowed and pulsed with magic.

Celestia frowned as her Student’s smile only grew wider till her face was nearly split by it. “Oh, this will do nicely~~~” She said sounding a bit like a foal. “Yes this will do perfectly~~~~” She said and started to laugh as the blades retracted. She continued to laugh more and more it going from a normal laugh to one that was unnerving as she faced the ceiling. “So much power!~~~ I can feel it~~~~” She said and Celestia checked and found her student was only slightly less powerful then Luna was and there was still that thread of darkness with in it.

Celestia frowned in concern as her student laugh continued to degrade as she laughed hysterically at the ceiling. The Sun princess was about to say something when she saw Chrysalis sigh and roll her eyes before she walked up to the laughing mare and before anyone could think slapped her across the face hard enough for the stroke to echo.

The room was dead silent as the new Alicorn faced the wall, the slap having turned her head. She worked her jaw and then griped it and moved it back and forth before facing the Changeling Queen eyes wide. “Uh…thanks Major….I needed that….sort of lost my head there…..”She laughed sheepishly.

The EDF Officer just sighed. “Anytime ma’am.” She said and smiled at the Commander.

The Alicorn took several deep breaths and then looked at the crowd of on lookers. “Hehehe…sorry about that folks.” She said. “You can relax now, everything is fine.” She said and the soldiers all looked at each other before saluting while the Royal Guard in the room bowed to the new Alicorn. “Uh…” She looked at the Royal Guard nervously before looking back at her wings. “Riiiiight….Alicorn equals Princess which mean Royalty.” The mare said looking back at the crowd.

The Sun Princess blinked several times as her student was now acting like herself though she wondered about that laughing it wasn’t to out of the ordinary for the mare. She took a few Steps forward and smiles at the new Alicorn. “Yes, you are now an Alicorn, I must admit I almost given up hope of you reaching this point.” She said and smiled. “But you were able to achieve what I thought you could and I am proud of you my most faithful student.”

The mare blinked and then snapped into a salute. “Ma’am thank you ma’am I am glad I did not disappoint.” She said falling back into her military persona.

“At Ease Twilight. “The older Alicorn said with a soft chuckle. “You can consider yourself off duty for the time being.”

Twilight nodded and dropped the salute. She then blinked and unslung her SMG and Celestia looked as well. The gun looked brand new and was covered in small glowing runes that spiraled along every part of the barrel but the magazine. Blinking again the mare drew her side arm and found the same had been down to it as well. “Well….that’s a thing.” She said looking between the guns then blinked.

“Where the hell are my sunglasses?” She said retuning her guns to where they had been and checking her pockets. She found the sunglasses in the left breast pocket and she looked them over as they were pristine and she smirked before putting them on and looking at the gathering of ponies and changeling. “Well then, things just got a whole lot more fucking interesting, now didn’t it?”

Author's Notes:

So here we go Twilight now has both Cutie Marks back.

and now she has wings...and more power.....yeah....I just gave the insane mare more power.

whelp that's now a thing, if you'd like to disregard this then feel free, I know not everyone likes Alicorn Twilight but I've had this planned for some time.

now I wonder how many people stuck around to find this hidden chapter.

also YAY I have finally finished a story for once! normally I burn out and never finish them so this is a milestone for me as this is a multi-chapter story I actually completed.
also the sequel happens before this point in her life.