Commander Twilight Sparkle trotted alongside her counter-part as they entered Ponyville proper. They had spent about two hours discussing things to learn about each other, both were different and what was the same. It seemed they both shared a love of reading while Twilight was the only one who had a love of guns. They also were both perfectionists though Twilight was more lax on it as she had learned that no plan survived contact with the enemy so was far more adaptable then the Princess to changing situations.

They were both prone to freak-outs though the Princess just went off in tangents like last night while Twilight usually killed something in a brutal fashion., granted Twilight didn’t tell the Princess that, she just told her she spared with soldiers. Overall they had a few things in common and some major differences but it did help in that they both had an understanding of each other so it would reduce incidents. Though their discussion had ended up with the Princess lecturing Twilight on friendship and how Twilight should try for more peaceful solutions for an hour. Twilight now knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of one of her own lectures and it was both boring and annoying at the same time but also informative.

After that the Princess had suggested that she give Twilight a tour of Ponyville, though Twilight already knew the town it would be interesting to see how things were without the EDF presence or the effects the Changelings had had on the town or well any of the other major differences.

And so Twilight trotted alongside her Alicorn self as they entered the town. “So this is Ponyville. “The Princess said sweeping her hoof over the town.

“No? Really? I had no idea!” Twilight snarked causing her counterpart to frown.

“Look I know you have a Ponyville too but you also said you’re was different than this one so the least you can do is just go with it as I show you around.” The Princess said with a flat look. Twilight just shrugged and followed along. The Princess showed her all the major spots of Ponyville such as surgarcube Corner and Carousel Boutique and the Market. Over all Twilight concluded the only major difference was the absence of Golden Oaks, which still made her blood boil, and the lack of an EDF recruitment office and few EDF soldiers who took leave in the town. Ponyville had been very welcoming to the EDF, especially after Tirek and had been one of the fist towns to embrace the changelings. And that that the town looked like it used to before Tirek nearly leveled it while fighting the EDF at Camp Mendez to spite them, thank the gods that the town had been evacuated to the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sister before Tirek arrived so there were no civilian casualties, but it had caused the town to look a little different do to nearly every building needing to be rebuilt from scratch with the help of Changeling Workers and EDF soldiers.

It was in the market they ran into Applejack working at the Apple’s apple cart. “Why howdy there Twilight, Commander.” The farmer said tipping her hat at the two nearly identical mares, something Twilight found amusing as everyone did a double take when they saw the two together. “Out for a stroll?”

“Yes and no Applejack, I’m showing the Commander around Ponyville.” The Princess said
Applejack cocked an eyebrow. “Ain’t she got a Ponyville of her own back home? I believe she said her Equestria was a lot like ours.”

“My Ponyville was mostly destroyed by Tirek when he attack Camp Mendez, we had already evacuated the town so there were no civilian casualties luckily but it had angered Tirek finding the town empty so he destroyed most of it. He’d have gone looking for the civvies if not for Camp Mendez being nearby.” Twilight said and sighed as she looked down shaking her head. “Granted with the recruits present in the Camp it wasn’t much better.”

The Farmer nodded solemnly. “Ah’m sorry for your loss.”

Twilight shrugged. “It’s fine, they had all signed up so they knew the risk but after Discord there was no way to get transports out so the remaining soldier shoved rifles into the hooves of untrained recruits with order to simply fight for their lives.” Twilight sighed again. “It went about as well as you’d think.” She said looking at the two.

The two ponies nodded slowly. “Ah guess he wasn’t a friend in your Equestria either.” Applejack said taking her hat off to what she could only guess had happened.

Twilight blinked. “The hell you talking about? If not for Discord what few recruits escaped after Tirek attacked never would have made it out.”

“Wait Discord helped you?” The Princess asked blinking.

“Well yeah, he works for me so why wouldn’t he?” Twilight said tilting her head.

“Wait, you’re telling us Discord is under your command? The Discord? And He didn’t betray your friendship?” Applejack blurted out.

Twilight blinked and righted her head. “Well not exactly work for me, he is a guest instructor for training soldier, he gets to cause as much chaos as he wants in his obstacle course as long as he doesn’t hard the recruits and from what I can tell he is very entertained in doing so. But he’s not my friend, he’s more Fluttershy’s friend and to me he is more of an asset and partner of sorts.” She then blinked. “Wait…..what do you mean betrayed your friendship?”

The Princess blinked and trying to stop what she knew was going to happen but Applejack didn’t know the Commander as well as the Princess did so she spoke without hesitating. “That low down varmint was supposed to Capture Tirek and instead ended dup helping him steal magic.”

The Princess’s eyes widened and she quickly started to charge a shield spell to try and contain the commander but she looked she just saw the mare calmly nod. “Ah that’s what you mean, no my Discord did not do that, probably because he had both friendship and an outlet for his chaotic ways.” She said calmly and the Princess blinked as she let the spell die. “Anyways shall we continue our tour Princess?” she said looking at her counterpart.

The Princess nodded automatically and continued bid Applejack good day before the two of them left the farmer behind.

Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Commander finished their tour by stopping at the café in the town. So…That’s Ponyville. What do you think?” Twilight asked her unicorn self.

“Well it is exactly like it used to be before the EDF and Tirek so…it’s nice.” The commander said simply with a nod as their waiter came over.

“And what can I get for you today Princess and…”The waiter paused looking at the unicorn and clearly was trying to figure out what to say. “Her friend?”

“Daisy sandwich.” Both mares said in unison causing the waiter to blink as the two of them looked at each before they both let out a small laugh and shook their heads in unison before both stopped and blinked in unison as well. “Ok this is weird.” They said in unison once more before facehoofing.

The Waiter just looked between the two. “So…two order of daisy sandwiches, coming right up.” He said writing it down before leaving.

“Well this is interesting.”
“Well this is a thing.”

They looked at each other. “Let agree that that happened and that it was strange. Deal?” The Commander said and the Princess nodded.

“I suppose it was point to happen as we are technically the same person up to a certain point.” Twilight said. “It may even happen again at some point.”

“Fun.” The Commander said sarcastically.

“Come on Commander you have to admit it is fascinating that that happened.” Twilight said.

“It is interesting yes but also annoying.” The military mare said.

Twilight thought about it. “I suppose it kind of is.” She said.

“Thank you.” The commander said then scratched her chin. “Though I must admit it would be rather entertaining to watch people reaction to if the waiter’s reaction was anything to go by.”

“You sound like Rainbow Dash when talking about pranking.” Twilight said.

“Well I don’t really enjoy pranking exactly but I do enjoy being entertained.” The Commander said with a smile. For some odd reason Twilight had a distinct feeling there was more meaning behind that then what it seemed.

It wasn’t long after that that their sandwiches arrived and they started to eat. Twilight had to admit it was interesting to watch the other her eat when she wasn’t talking as she ate rabidly yet neatly and was done by the time Twilight was only a third of the way done. “You eat quickly.” Twilight said with a hint of amusement.

“I run an army and am usually busy with paperwork or reports and I don’t like leaving it undone so I learned to eat fast so I could get back to work.” The commander said.

“You seem to work a lot.” Twilight said.

“I run a massive army whose duty is to protect Equestria from all threats both foreign and domestic and spans across the nation, yes I am busy.” The Commander said flatly.

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant, I meant don’t you ever do anything fun?” Twilight asked.

“Well yes when I have time.” The commander said as she patiently waited for the Alicorn to finish her food.

“Well…what do you like to do in your spare time?” Twilight asked.

“Well as you know I like reading, I maintain my guns; I run and do obstacle courses, put recruits through their paces, meet with my friends or talk with the Major.” The Commander listed off.

“Wow…a lot of what you do seems to center around the army.” Twilight said.

The Commander nodded. “I’m a soldier through and through and there isn’t anything else I want to be.” She said with some pride in her voice.

Twilight nodded. “I can tell it means a lot to you.” She said and the other mare nodded as well. “So, you’ve mentioned this Major before, who is she, somepony I may know?”

“Well I’m sure you do know her but right now I think it’s almost time for Pinkie’s party as she is trying to discreetly invite people to the town hall.” The Commander said.

Twilight blinked and looked around; she didn’t see anything but ponies going about their days with no sign of the pink party mare anywhere. “How do you know?”

“Because about two minutes ago she ran slipped into a bush across the street then came out of a barrel a little ways up the street to speak to some ponies who nodded.” The Commander asked.

Twilight blinked. “How did—“
“Trained soldier.” The commander said. “Not noticing someone sneaking around is just asking to become well acquainted with a .308 round. Unless you meant how she got from the bush to the barrel then you should know.

“It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.” They said in unison once more and the Commander facehooved.

“Damnit!” She said. “Anyway I suppose by the fact the town is now deserted we should make our way to the town hall as the emptiness is making my skin crawl.” The commander said as she got to her hooves.

Twilight nodded and joined her and together they walked down the street. “Also you may want to go in first and dispel the “Surprise” part she most likely planned.” The Commander said.

“Why?” Twilight asked looking at her unicorn self.

“Because the last time Pinkie surprised me I near put a blade though her left eye on reflex.” The Commander said and Twilight paled as the Commander looked at her. “Remember I’m a trained soldier and my body reacts on its own and it reacts to defend itself and I really don’t want to hurt your Pinkie Pie if I can help it.”

“Twilight nodded. “Yes…yes I’ll go in first.” She said as they reached the town hall. Twilight took a deep breath and walked in through the front door while the Commander waited outside.

As she entered the lights snapped on and the gathered ponies all cried out at once. “Surprise!!” loud enough and with enough force to blow the Princess’ mane back.

“No no, not Princess Twilight, the other Twilight is the one we are supposed to surprise.” Pinkie said popping up from behind the crowd.

“Other Twilight?” A pony in the crowd asked and they all looked around confused.

“I believe she means me. “The commander said as she walked in behind Twilight. “Greetings, Commander Twilight Sparkle of the Equestrian Defense Force, currently a guest of Princess Twilight Sparkle. For the sake of simplicity and to combat confusion you may call me Commander Sparkle or Commander.” She said calmly and crisply. The crowd of ponies looked between the two of them with confusion. “It’s complicated; just know that I am visiting your Equestria.”

That seemed to dispel things that and the fact Pinkie hopped to the front of the crowd. “Come on everypony! It’s a party so LET’S PARTY!” She showed and music began to play despite the fact no one touched the stereo.

The crowd quickly began to disperse into the party as Twilight made her way over to her friends while the Commander wondered off into the crowd.

A moment later Pinkie bounced over to the group of friends. “Hey Twi why did you walk in before the Commander?”

“Well she asked me to as she knew it was a surprise party.” Twilight said and the pink pony blinked.

“How did she know that and why wouldn’t she want to be surprised?” The party pony asked.

“Well…she saw you sneaking around town and talking to ponies, don’t ask me how. And…”Twilight hesitated a moment. “She said her Pinkie surprised her once as….she almost killed her on reflex….She said and the gathered mare blinked in shock and Pinkie’s mane deflated a bit.

“Oh….I guess that makes sense.” She said a bit sadly.

“Hey there surgarcube, it’s not your fault, remember she isn’t Twi and is rather strange too.” Applejack said trying to cheer up the pink mare.

Pinkie nodded. “Yes I suppose, but still I wanted to throw her a super “Welcome to Equestria” party.” She said.

“Hey Pinkie I am sure she loves it, me and her do have a lot in common and I love your parties.” Twilight said.

Pinkie’s mane poofed up a bit. “Really?” She asked hopefully and Twilight nodded. “OK!” The pink mare shouted and her hair poofed back up fully. “I’m going to go check on the other guests; you girls have fun now ok?” She said and with that vanished into the crowd; if not for her being earth pony twilight would say she just used a teleportation spell.

Twilight and the other began to make their way around the party enjoying food and the upbeat tune that washed through the air of the party from the stereo. After about an hour Twilight noticed she hadn’t seen the Commander at all and started to look for her.

After a bit she found her off in a corner seated on a beck an open bottle of whiskey beside her and she had headphones on and her Datapad besides her bobbing her head to whatever music she was listing to. As the Alicorn neared, the Commander looked up and horn flared for a moment and she pulled the headphones off. “Hey there Princess Twilight, what bring you to my little party?” The other mare asked with slurred speech.

“Are….are you drunk?” Twilight asked blinking.

The Mare held her hooves apart so they were almost touching. “Little bit yeah.” She said and laughed. “It’s a party so I figured why the hell no eh? I only had a fourth of a bottle of whiskey left so might as well put it to good use.” She said and took a large drink of the alcoholic beverage at her side. Twilight recoiled slightly, she remembered how the drink burned and the head ache it had given her the next day.

“Why are you here by yourself?” Twilight asked.

“Well the music isn’t very good and I don’t really have anyone to talk to besides you and you were busy with your friends so I decided to have a party within a party, a party-seption if you will.’ The mare said and laughed taking another drink then held out the bottle. “Want some?”

Twilight shook her head. “No thank you.” She said holding up a hoof. The Commander shrugged and took another drink.

“You don’t like the music?” Pinkie Pie said stepping out from behind Twilight where she had not been a moment ago.

“No not really.” The Commander asked.

“Well. Why don’t you pick the music? You seem to have some.” The pink mare said.

The Commander thought for a moment. “Sure! That is a great plan.” She said and unsteadily got to her hooves, her Datapad and bottle following her in a magical grasp as she walked over to the stereo and pulled out a cord. “I have just the song.”

She hooked her Datapad to the stereo and started laughing. “What’s so funny twilight asked walking up as the partygoers looked on wondering what she was going to play.

“Just when they said this was a universal cord I didn’t know they had been being serious and it literally worked in any universe.” She said and laughed again as she went through her music. “Ah here it is.” She said and selected a track.

A moment later a FLUTE started to play and then a male voice started talking in an accent Twilight didn’t recognize and talking about….well she wasn’t sure and then she jumped as the music went from gentle to very loud and fast paced and she couldn’t understand a word the singer was saying do to his accent and how fast he was singing.

She yelped as the Commander grabbed her and dragged her to the dance floor. “Come on Princess, you can’t not dance to this!” She said and downed half the remaining whisky in her bottle in one go before they reached the dancefloor as the other ponies looked on in confusion and back at each other as the Commander started to drag the Princess around the dance floor and was dancing, if it could be called that as it was mostly just her stomping her hooves and jumping around the princess who looked very confused.

Whatever the commander was doing it seemed to be infectious as soon other ponies joined them and followed her lead and soon the dance floor was filled with ponies stomping and jumping around rapidly and the Commander was skipping from dance partner to dance partner and only stain long enough to link a for leg with them and spina round before letting go and doing the same for the next pony she found.

The entire dance floor was filled with this chaotic dancing as the song played in the background and the Commander moved through the dancer laughing the entire time. Twilight had to blink as she watched as she had never thought the commander had this side to her, though it may be the alcohol and after a few minutes she noticed her hoof was tapping along with the music as it seemed the commander had looped it as the song ended and then restarted.

It wasn’t long before the princess suddenly found a random pony linking hooves with her and spinning the Alicorn around and then let her go and she stumbled to another who did the same as everypony was following the commander in her wild, drunken dancing and soon Twilight couldn’t help laughing and smiling as she moved from partner to partner like everyone else. She had never seen this type of dancing, if it even was that but, it was so energetic and fun she couldn’t help but be swept up in it and the music, at least the commander finally seemed to be relaxing.

She was vaguely aware of the doors on the far side of the room bursting open and her seeing a brief flash of dark yellow but she was too caught up in the party to really pay any attention.

Then there was a loud crash and the music cut off suddenly and the dancer stopped looking around in confusion. It was then that the Princess noticed the group of blocking the entrances and surrounding the dancers wearing dark yellow robes and her eyes widened as she recognized the robes. She looked around for her friends but it seemed everypony had been swept up in the dancing so all she could see was the confused dancers around her she think she saw the Commander for a moment glaring at the robed ponies but she seemed to have finished into the crowd.

“Forgive us for interrupting your revelry good people but there is one among you who we require and if you turn her over to us none of you will be harmed.” Came the sophisticated voice Twilight had heard on the road. “There is an Alicorn, a “Princess” among you and all we ask is for you to turn her over and we will depart without incident.”

“Hey it’s you! What do you want with Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said as she flew up above the crowd.

The voice remained calm. “What we want with the abomination is not your concern, merely turn it over and we will depart and you may return to your revelry.” The voice said.

“Abomination? Nopony talks about my friend like that!” Dash said and flew at the stallion. Before she got close one of the other ponies jumped between them and raised an amulet and when Dash go close there was a blast of light and she was sent flying backwards and crashed into the far wall and somepony in the crowd screamed as the partygoers started to panic.

Author's Notes:

Well then, things are kicking off now aren't they?

Next chapter everypony learns one of the few things the Commander hates and without having to completely worry about rules of engagement how she deals with it.

but first we need to check in on Major Chrysalis and the EDF.