The next morning Commander Twilight Sparkle awoke at her normal time, which meant well before the sun was to rise. She had had one of her more normal dreams, in this case he sitting at the Memorial to the Fallen reciting all two hundred and fifty thousand names from rank, gender, serial number and where it was they had been found, as well as any notes that were in their files. The wall only had the names and rank on it but Twilight had committed all the names and information to memory so that those who fell in the EDF’s first major engagement wouldn’t be forgotten. She knew that probably wasn’t healthy but she doubted it could do much more damage to her then was already there and every now and then a member of soldier families would seek out the Commander. There were two types of people, those who wanted to know their loved ones didn’t die for nothing, and then those who blamed the commander for their deaths for having created the army in the first place.

The last group wasn’t as common but Twilight dealt with it the same way as always in that she let them say their piece, yell and scream at her and even strike her if they desired. Twilight never raised a hoof to stop them as she knew it was the only way they could deal with never seeing either there brother, sister, father, mother, son or daughter ever again. If blaming her for it allowed them to get through it then Twilight had no right to take it from them, she was sadistic, but even she had limits and destroying a grieving pony was one of them.

Twilight headed out of the castle and followed the route she had been using back in her Equestria for her morning run, in that she ran a wide perimeter of Ponyville within view of both the town and either Sweet Apple Acres or Fluttershy’s cottage depending on which side of town she was on. After completely all her laps she made her way back to her room and ran through her morning excises before showering and dressing in her uniform.

Once she had made her way to the kitchen and made herself a light breakfast she sat in her counterparts throne before the map with a book held in her hands. Without an army to run Twilight had a lot of free time she needed to fill and at the rate she was filling with books she would need to pick up some new books from this Equestria, good news is with a different history there was a high chance of different stories having been created, down side finding a good engineering book was slim as without the EDF engineering was a minor occupation.

Twilight had given up being a scientist in the manner she used to before her trip do to the fact she was very uncomfortable around most types of lab equipment, but she still had a love of learning and applying what she learns and with her new interests after her trip she had easily fallen into becoming an engineer. She replaced her basement lab in Golden Oaks Library into an officer for which she ran the EDF out of when not actually at a base and had done a bit of remodeling of the rest of the Library, she gave Spike the guest room as she realized she realized whenever her friends spent the night they slept on the main floor of the Library in sleeping bags so she hadn’t actually needed a guest room and Spike had been wanting his own room for some time. With the extra space afforded by Spike no longer being in the room Twilight had installed a workbench for her to tinker at when she had some down time and didn’t want to read. She threw herself into her tinkering the same way she used to her old experiments only this didn’t run as much risk of destroying the town as her old experiments did.

Well except the time her tinkering lead her to build a small nuclear reactor in her room, Twilight hadn’t really been sure what she was building at the time as she was just letting her mind race and the pieces fall into place. She realized what it was when she added the rods and turned it on. It was small, took up about an eighth of her room, and thankfully didn’t melt down. The hard part had been figuring out how to safely dismantle the thing and hide it all, she hated having to destroy all her notes but Equestria wasn’t ready for nuclear power yet and she wasn’t ready to introduce them to the other side of nuclear power just yet, she would later when the time was right though that may be well after she had died in which case she will have instructed Chrysalis in the construction and safety features needed as well as which of her books covered everything shed need. She’d leave it up to the Queen to decide when it was time but Twilight trusted her to make the right decision.

After reading two of her books hear ears flicked to the sound of hooves approaching the map room and she watched as a zombie like Princess of Friendship stumbled in. The other mare didn’t even seem to notice Twilight as she walked forward eyes half closed with a large cup of coffee floating beside her and climbed into her throne to sit and enjoy it. This meant she was half way sitting on the Commander who didn’t say anything for two reasons, one she knew how she herself used to be without coffee in the morning, and the second reason was because of how hilarious it would be when the Princess realized she was sitting on the Soldier.

Calmly Twilight waited as her Princess self drank her morning coffee to wake up, idling remembering how she used to be just like that but being a soldier had cured her of the need for coffee to wake up, she was now just awake when she was done sleeping as coffee was scares back when she was trained and there also wasn’t time. That and being shot in the flank with a paint gun while holding hot coffee was not fun.

After a while Twilight saw the door at the far end of the room open to admit both Spike and Starlight who both stopped in their tracks as they saw Twilight waving from her place beneath a more awake Princess but still not quite enough to notice her seat. Spike opened his mouth and Twilight pressed a finger to her lips to silence him. She smiled and nodded in thanks when he closed his mouth and the two of them made their way to the kitchen.

After a few minutes they both returned with their own breakfast, most likely wanting to watch the show that was fast approaching. This did not escape the waking Princess’ notice. “Why are you two eating in here and not in the dining room?”

“We thought we’d keep you company while you woke up. “Spike said and Starlight nodded in agreement which got a smile from the Commander that told her she was a good girl for playing along. This caused a small blush in the other unicorn who realized she was happy to have been praised by the military mare as if she were a pet.

Twilight nodded. “Oh alight thank you, I’m just waiting for the Commander to get up, and she’s usually walking in here by now.”

“Oh I’m sure she is already awake.” Spike said and tried to contain his laugh, succeeded for the most part.

The Princess cocked an eyebrow at this. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing, but remember the Commander gets up super early.” Spike said innocently.

Twilight furrowed her brow as she though. “Yeah your right, I wonder where she is.” The Princes asked as she took another sip of her coffee, enjoying the fact it was waking her up.

“I’m sure she is nearby.” Starlight said quickly and glanced at the Commander for approval which she got in the form of a nod. Twilight had a passing thought that she might be brainwashing the unicorn into a loyal servant and the thought amused her as it would make being around her a lot easier.

“Hmmm….maybe. “The Princess aid and finished her coffee before sitting back in her throne. She blinked as she noticed that it felt different then it should and shifted a bit to try and figure out what was wrong before looking back at it.

Her vision was filled with the smirking face of the Commander. “Morning Princess!” she said cheerily. “Enjoy your coffee?”

If anyone was still asleep in Ponyville they were rudely awoken as a scream echoed across the town emanating from the Castel of Friendship. Spike was rolling on the floor laughing as Twilight was barley staying in the throne as she laughed hard and slammed her fist into the self-repairing arm of the throne as Starlight hid her laugh behind a hoof while the Princess clung to the ceiling of the throne room breathing heavily.

Once the Princess got her breath under control she glared at the two ponies and one dragon. “Not funny.” She said.

“You’re right Princess, it’s hilarious!” Twilight said between her laughter and failed to stay in the throne as she was taken by another bout of laughter at how the Princess looked glaring at her from the ceiling of the throne room.

The Princess grumbled as she dropped from the ceiling, using her wings to slow her decent and upon landing she fixed the laughing trio with another glare of annoyance, resulting in another bout of laughter taking the group. After a few more minutes the group got themselves under control and Twilight was able to pick herself up off the floor. “Oh I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.” She said and stifled another laugh.

“Well so glad I could amuse you so much.” The Princess said sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

“Hey isn’t your job as the Princess of Friendship to make sure people are enjoying themselves?” Twilight said with a chuckle “I’d say you succeeded this morning.”

The Princess rolled her eyes once more, she couldn’t figure out the Commander no matter how hard she tried as the unicorn mare seemed to switch moods at a manic pace. “Yes but not at my expense.”

“Aw just think of it as me screwing with you Princess. “ Twilight said and patted the Alicorn’s head. “I don’t get many opportunities to do it to others except my close friends.”

The Alicorn blinked. “Wait you already consider us friends?”

Twilight shrugged. “Yeah kind of, not sure really. All I know is I like you Princess so getting there.” This seemed to improve the Princess’ mood this morning as she smiled broadly at hearing this and Twilight was sure she was going to start dancing around while chanting “YES!” over and over again like she herself used to do if not for a letter being delivered via Spike arriving.

The letter bore the Royal Seal of Princess Celestia and the Princess of Friendship was quick to grab. She broke the seal before unrolling it. Then she started to read it aloud forcing Twilight to suppress the urge to facehoof.

“Dear Twilight I hope this letter finds all things well with you and the Commander. I have been busy here in Canterlot making preparations to deal with the situation if need be as well as arrangements to allow the Commander to work on the problem with as little interference as possible.

It is this that I wish for you and the Commander to travel to Canterlot to meet face to face as I would like to go over some plans with her among other things and there is one other thing I need to speak with you both on at the same meeting. This is not to urgent so you may come at your earliest convenience

Princess Celestia”

When she was done reading the Princess rolled it back up. “That sounds important. I think we will head for Canterlot later this morning.” She said.

Twilight nodded. “Sounds good to me.” She said and cringed inwardly as the Princess teleported the letter away rather than destroying it. She had to remind herself that the Princess was not her so did things differently, like not destroying messages that could tell the enemy where they are going.

“Spike would you mind making us breakfast?” The Princess asked the baby dragon who gave a salute before heading for the kitchen while the three ponies made their way to the dining room.

“So tell me Princess do you have your own transportation or are we going by train?” Twilight asked as they sat at the table to wait for their meal. Twilight noticed Starlight seemed to be a bit calmer around her now that she had been praised. Twilight made a mental plan to continue with the reward and punishment system as it would be both amusing and ironic to do that to the mare who had brainwashed an entire town and she also wondered just how far she could break her into an obedient pony.

“We will be going by train; I haven’t really gotten my own carriage yet.” The Princess replied.

“Ah ok, this will be interesting.” Twilight said.

The Princess looked at the military mare curiously. “How come? Don’t you travel in your Equestria?”

“Yes of course, I have to get to the bases somehow.” Twilight said with a chuckle. “But I take my personal gunship rather than the train as it is faster.”

“Gunship?”

“Flying machine created by the Equestrian Military Science Division. I had one customized for my personal use, though most of that just consists of it being painted black and not normally having missile pods equipped so it only had the 30mm cannon on the nose.” Twilight said. “It’s faster and safer then carriages.”

“So it’s a war machine?” The Princess asked with some hesitation.

“More or less, they are used to transport soldiers and equipment rabidly across the country as well as support ground forces. Also gives the added bonus of allowing earth ponies and unicorns the chance to fly somewhat like a pegasi. Granted they are surrounded by metal and glass to do it but still it is flying.” Twilight said with a nod.

The Princess thought about it, she had to admit that when she got her wings flying was one of the most amazing things ever. She looked at the Commander; the mare in her desire to protect her home had granted the ability to fly to ponies would normally would never be able to experience it without the use of a balloon which was very limited.

“Anyways riding on a train will be interesting again. Granted the EDF uses train to transport large amounts of gear or soldiers but like I said I don’t really use them myself.” Twilight said and shortly after that Spike entered with a cart topped with plates of pancakes.

Once everyone was seated the group started to eat. “You know Commander your Equestria does sound very interesting the more I hear about it, I wish I could visit someday.” The Princess said.

“It is a very nice place and who knows maybe some time you can visit and I can give you a tour.” Twilight said as she ate. “Though we would need to wait for us to be able to actually coordinate things as well as find a way for you to get back.”

The Princess nodded. “Yeah you are right I suppose.” She said a bit sadly as all that meant it would be unlikely she’d ever get to visit the Commander’s Equestria.

After they all ate breakfast the two Twilights made their way to their rooms to prepare for their trip to Canterlot while Spike and Starlight made their way to do their own tasks. After about an hour the Princess made her way to the throne room and found Twilight already waiting for her there, her uniform looked like it had been freshly ironed and the mare herself looked like she had spent her time making herself presentable.

Twilight looked up from her book when she heard the door open and saw the princess entering. “There you are, I’ve been waiting for a while, I thought only Rarity took forever to get ready but I see you’ve been taking lessons.” Twilight said with a chuckle and smiled to let the Princess know she was just joking with her.

“Sorry I wasn’t sure what to bring as Celestia didn’t say what the meeting was about.” The Princess said a little embarrassed.

“Well seeing as I’m sure she just wants to talk, we probably won’t need much but something to take notes with.” Twilight said as she scratched her chin. “Yeah that’s most likely what we’d need. Anyway shall we go?”

The Princess nodded and turned for the door, the Soldier falling in beside her as they walked through the town. Twilight had chosen to be a quadruped for the trip as walking besides her counterpart caused everyone they passed to do a double take as the two still wasn’t used to their ebbing two of them. Granted after they recognized her they quickly shied away. Seems Twilight’s reputation in the town wasn’t very good as she could tell they feared her. No matter she wasn’t here to make friends, she just had to protect them and she could accomplish that whether they feared her or not.

They arrived at the train station just in time to get their tickets and board the train. Twilight found it interesting and concerning that the Princess rode in a normal train car with the civilians. Interesting as she was used to the Princess having their own carriages private train cars and concerning because with so many other ponies around it made it hard to watch for attacks and since they didn’t know who was a Purifier and who wasn’t the Princess being so exposed was a very big concern for the military mare who was seeing it as her duty to keep her counterpart safe while she was visiting.

Despite Twilight concerns the train ride was rather uneventful and Twilight had been going to listen to some music but the Princess had requested her not to as it may bother the other passengers so ride had been mostly enjoying the view she had seen hundreds of times. With the Princess so concerned with what Celestia could want Twilight had elected to read for most of the trip while still watching all their surroundings.

All too soon the train pulled into Canterlot Station and the two mares disembarked. For a moment Twilight had been expecting to have been met by an EDF officer as it was habit when she visited Canterlot for the EDF High Command to send someone to meet her though here there wasn’t even a member of the Royal Guard on the platform. If not for the fact Twilight had witnessed it herself and spoke to Celestia on the matter she’d never know that the nation was facing a great threat to the nation’s stability for all they acted. It was disgraceful Twilight decided.

The two mares made their way through the streets of the city Canterlot toward Canterlot Castle, they got a few curious looks from passersby’s, something Twilight took note of every time as she decided whether it was idle curiosity for the two mares who looked almost identically save for one who was an Alicorn and wore saddle bags while the other was a unicorn who wore a simple military uniform and mirrored sunglasses while other she was sure were something more.

Throughout the wall she also watched the Princess out of the corner of her eye to see how she carried herself in this place, she noted that she walked with confidence and showed no doubt or fear anywhere in her steps, good. Within a short time they arrived at the castle main gate and the two guards smiled and nodded to the Princess for they all knew who Twilight was as she had practically been a fixture of the castle when she was growing up till she moved to Ponyville, the castle was a lot emptier without her around.

However while they showed a warm welcome to the Princess when they noticed Twilight beside her they eyed her with suspicion, twilight just assumed they had not been informed of her being present in the nation and she mentally patted their heads for being wary of a near look alike to the Princess. Granted she still found them trying to act intimidating adorable beyond anything else but she thought it wouldn’t be a good idea to point out how cute they were being with their play at being soldiers towards a real soldier.

Even with their suspicion the fact Twilight was with her counterpart meant they didn’t try to stop her from entering the castle. “Did Celestia say where she wanted us to meet her?” Twilight asked as they walked the halls.

“No, I’d assume that if it was important then it would be in her private study.” The Princess said as they walked. Twilight nodded at this as it made sense, the Purifiers were not something to discuss in the open area of the Throne Room. Twilight and her Alicorn self made their way through the castle towards Celestia’s privet study. Twilight keeping an eye on the servants, Guards and Nobles they passed for any sign of aggression or other motives.

“Twily!” A voice said behind them and Twilight froze mid-step. The Princess didn’t notice this as she spun around.

“BBBF!” She said and leapt at the white stallion with a blue mane to hug him. “It’s bene a while Shiny, how have you been?” She asked with a big smile. “Is Cadence here?”

Shinning Armor smiled back at his little sister. “Everything in the Crystal Empire has been doing well and I’ve been well as well. Also yes Cadence is here she should be along shortly as Celestia asked the both of us to meet here.” She said and noticed the mare his sister had been walking with hadn’t turned to face them and seemed to be looking at the ground. “Who’s your friend?” He asked as he didn’t recognize them from behind and knew none of the Princess’ friends were purple.

“Oh! Right I forgot to send you a letter explaining things. “The Princess said as she turned to face the other mare. “This is—“

“Commander Twilight Sparkle, Equestrian Defense Force.” Twilight said stiffly as she turned to face the two of them, her face a mask of stoic professionalism. “I’m semi-visiting your Equestria till I find a way home. It is nice to meet you Captain Armor.” Twilight said then looked at the Princess. “I’ll let you catch up with your brother and I’m sure he will have a lot of questions, I’ll meet you at Celestia’s study, don’t worry I can find my way. “She said in the same stiff manner before quickly turning and making her way down the hall.

The Princess blinked at the sudden change in mood from the Commander as Shinning looked at her with confusion. “Let me explain. “She said as she looked at him. Neither of the two siblings notices the Commander duck down a side hall that didn’t lead towards Celestia’s study as she was heading for somewhere else.

Author's Notes:

I couldn't help having the scene in the beginning, with how Twilight is always portrayed without her morning coffee there was no way I wasn't having CTS screw with that.