In order to find Sunset, Twilight ends up on an adventure of her own
Twilight during an experiment on opening a portal shattered the fabric of their dimension send her hurtling into another universe, where Discord directed her to a world far from her own where she will be tested.
Twilight was preparing her first portal test, Discord frowned “Are you sure that you got everything?”
Twilight nodded “I’ve checked through my entire checklist ten times, everything is in order. All the smaller scale tests have succeeded, the only way to test it any further is for a large scale test.”
Discord frowned “I’m still unsure about this.”
Twilight chuckled, “And they call me the paranoid one, I have this all under control.” Twilight activated the mirror connected to multiple magical power systems hse had constructed, the machine instantly went haywire as a rift in reality tore open. Discord poured his power into stopping her from flying but the portal was stronger than his power was. He made a decision redirecting her path to the same building as Sunset was in. He then used his remaining power to close the rift before collapsing.
Twilight groaned as tried to stand, she felt different, strange. She was chained to a table in what appeared to be a high tech, she saw humans around her. She tried to get out of restraints “Let me out of here.”
A woman approached “Relax, these restraints are just until we get someone here who can help you adapt better. My name is Dr Catherine Halsey, and this is a top secret facility. Much of what you will see here is classified. I promise we will get you out of those soon.”
Sunset walked through the door in a shirt and pants “Ah, you were my successor back in Equestria, how did you get here?”
Twilight looked at her nervously “I was trying to create a portal to be a 2-way gate from Equestria to here but it malfunctioned on the first test run, Discord must have redirected my path here.”
Sunset groaned “That was foolish, now let’s get you up.”
Twilight’s restraints were removed, Sunset chuckled as she stood on all fours only to scream at her new hands. “What happened to my hooves!”
Sunset helped her up “Well you your front hooves get turned into hands, this means you stand upright like me. Trust me having five digits is far more handy then having only one, at least once you figure out how to use them. ”
Sunset stood a head or two above Twilight ignoring the horns. Sunset helped Twilight through the high tech facility, Sunset frowned as she stared at a group of teenagers eating in the barracks. Twilight blinked in confusion “Who are they?”
Sunset grimaced “This program was the second iteration of the Slayer Program now renamed Spartan. The first iteration was all volunteers who took part, that was also known as Orion but it failed. This second iteration was created without my knowledge. By the time they brought me in to consult they had already kidnapped seventy-five children.”
Twilight gasped “Why haven’t you told anyone!”
Sunset shook her head “That would cause an entire Civil War that could eliminate the human race or at least cripple human society leading to the death of hundreds of billions if not trillions of people. There is already conflict brewing and I would rather not add to the fire.”
Twilight’s voice was silenced, what to do in that situation cause the death of trillions or hide a terrible truth. She didn’t have an answer, Sunset frowned “I have a question. Would you like to take part in the program?”
Twilight blinked “Why do you ask that?”
Sunset sighed “Because the governing body wants to replace me as well and while I won’t force you to stay or take part I thought I’d ask.”
Twilight frowned “I’m not sure, I don’t want to be away from my friends.”
Sunset frowned “I don't know where Equestria is from here so I can’t send you back home. Given time moves faster here then there, getting access impossible without being able to sync both locations with a beacon. I have already set one up on Mars' moon which is quick to get to but the other one requires me to be in Equestria.”
Twilight sighed “I’m not sure. Give me some time to think about it, spend time with some of the trainees.”
Sunset nodded “That can be arranged, in the meantime we’ll take you to the medical wing. Regardless of whether you join, it would be advantageous for medical reasons to get your body scanned, both the augmentations as well as medicine would behave differently for you then for a human.”
As they headed in the way of the medical wing Twilight asked “Why didn't they do that for you?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow “After all the power I gained and the changes to my physiology I haven’t got sick once.” The duo approached the medical wing, as Twilight entered the medical facilities she realised they had looped back around to not far from where they started.
As they guided her there for a complete and extensive medical check up, Dr Halsey walked over to Sunset “Are you sure this is a good idea?’
Sunset frowned “None of this has gone how I planned, there were plenty of bad ideas you have implemented. Don’t expect me to be sympathetic to those who abducted children from their homes. You are lucky Slayer isn’t here or would have killed everyone in this facility for bringing innocents into this.”
Dr Halsey frowned “You can’t be serious, what kind of soldier would do that?”
Sunset smirked “The one who was on Mars defended a boring facility because he put his superior officer in a full body cast for ordering him to fire on civilians. Trust me, he has little care for protocol or politics.” Dr Halsey frowned “Neither do you.”
Sunset chuckled “Well yes but I hide that better than he does. I have walked in the environment of pompous overly arrogant bastards, I was one myself at one point. I know the game and how to play it even though I would rather not.” Sunset then faced forward observing the medical examinations of Twilight.
Sunset escorted Twilight to the dining hall, Twilight received glares from most of them. One of them sitting with two others gestured for her to sit with them, the boy frowned “So you may be joining the program?”
Twilight smiled, “Maybe, I’m Twilight.”
The boy nodded “I’m John-117. Are sure you are up for this?”
Twilight paused, “I don’t know yet.”
The other boy who was taller than her crossed his arms “I don’t know why she is.”
The girl at the table raised an eyebrow “Sam, given part of the program is to find a replacement for the legendary Slayer. She is from a similar race to Sunset and might be the one to replace her for a time.”
Sam crossed his arms “Kelly, we’ll see if she is made of the same stuff as we are.”
John frowned, “If you want to be around us, you’ll have to train with us, eat with us and sleep in the same barracks as us. Prove to us you are part of the team.”
Twilight nodded “Okay, I’ll try.” The rest of the time at the table was silent.
Then a booming voice shook the room “Stand and march!” Everyone stood up, Twilight scrambled to her hooves. A strong looking man stood there observing the room, John-117 turned to Twilight. She joined them in their march, there were guards carrying batons crackling with electricity. Twilight marched out of step and they struck her with the batons he crumbled to the ground screaming “STOP!”.
The man who commanded them at the dining hall stormed over “GET UP! IF YOU WANT TO BE ONE OF US, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!” He dragged her to her feet and tossed her back in line. Twilight remained silent as she focused on the person in front of her, trying to match their march.
They marched to the barracks, the commanding man commanded “Light out in ten minutes!”
As Twilight got onto the spare bed, it was rough and hard. Twilight looked at John-117 “Who was that guy, he was cruel?”
John-117 shook his head “He is necessary, he puts us through the ringer so we will be ready for what happens next. It might just save our lives. His Drill Sergeant Franklin Mendez and he wants us to be the best we can be. He doesn’t like you because we have been selected and trained for years, you have been dropped out of the sky just to be allowed to be part of it doesn't sit right with him, I’m sure.”
Meanwhile Mendez marched into the room Sunset was standing in “I don’t understand why? She is soft, undisciplined and untrained.”
Sunset grimaced “She’s not who I would have wanted, I would have wanted a guard from back home. As untrained as they are compared with Earth’s military they would be at least conducive to training but the project is funded by the government and this was one of their demands, should another one from my home they will be inserted into the program. I gave her the choice because I could cover this up and work on getting her home.”
Mendez stood beside her “What do you want me to do?”
Sunset frowned “Put her through the same thing they are, if she can’t handle I will pull her out. If she continues then she will be integrated into the program fully.”
Mendez saluted her as he walked out, VEGA walked out “He is an interesting man?”
Sunset grinned “Yes, I have learned a lot about combat from him.”
The next day Twilight awoke with a bucket of water poured over her head “GET UP!” Mendez was standing over her, she stood up. Mendez commanded “MARCH!” Twilight and the trainees marched out to the dining area, after a quick breakfast they were forced to march a mile.
Mendez commanded them “This is another capture the flag mission! You know what to do!”
They all nodded save Twilight nodded as they headed for a nearby building, the 75 trainees plus Twilight entered the building. John-117 tossed her a tranq rifle and a combat knife “You will be with me, Kelly and Sam. Try to keep up.” John-117 then began explaining the plan to the others, before they moved out.
The 76 of them split up, John was leading Sam, Kelly and Twilight forward “Twilight, release the safety, a switch near the back and fire on the enemy should you see them. Pull that trigger when you do.” Twilight was barely able to keep up with the three in front of her.
Soon several enemies popped out and started firing at them, Twilight not taking cover took a shot to the shoulder. She screamed as blood started falling from the wound, John cursed “Damnit! Sam, fall back with her! Kelly and I will press on!”
Sam dragged her out of the way, patched up her arm. Twilight held her arm as she looked at Sam “Go, I’ll be fine. They need you up there.”
Sam nodded “Very well.” Sam left her laying there, she stood up holding her rifle in her other hand as she staggered away from the fighting. As she was trying to flee behind the lines, three enemies popped out, with her lacklustre aim she was able to clip one of them in the arm before another came up behind her knocking her out.
Twilight awoke in a cell only to see two enemies in the room with her, her arms and legs were bound. She cried out as her insides shook, she stared at the face of the soldier as he kept kicking her. She coughed out blood on the floor, she whimpered as the one of Soldiers laughed “It seems those freaks have a new mascot. We don’t have to pull any punches with this one.”
They pushed Twilight against the wall, her eyes widened as he pulled out a sharp combat knife. She begged, “Please don’t.” The soldier stabbed the knife into her gut, he then slowly began to twist as she screamed. Blood began oozing from the wound, Twilight collapsed to the ground as they dropped her. The Soldier pulled out his knife and then smirked as he crouched down. Twilight looked at him with tears in her eyes as she held her gut, she screamed as he stabbed her in the eye, half her vision going black. She grit her teeth as pain shot through her head, then her vision went completely dark with another bout of pain.
Twilight heard their laughter starting to fade away, she awoke on a bed in the medical wing but the world was still dark. She heard and felt Sunset’s voice rippling through reality with the booming voice of Mendez mixed in.
Twilight then felt a twinge of pain, she then had to block the harsh light before she realised she was in the medical room. Dr Halsey scowled “We had to do extensive surgery to repair your eyes, the damage was severe and those responsible are currently being punished.”
Sunset then entered “Twilight, are you sure you want to continue with this?”
Twilight looked at her stitches around her gut beans then at Sunset and Mendez “Yes, I’m not going to back down yet.”
Mendez growled “This will not happen again!” With that they left Twilight to her recovery.
After Twilight’s recovery her progress was astounding. She initially struggled but threw herself at every challenge, even when she failed every other trainee could see she was giving it everything. Twilight did have a lot to catch up, she was pushed harder having to cover years of training and material. Her intellectual mind allowed her to quickly catch up on the theoretical portion.
Mendez was impressed on the physical side of things, Twilight seemed pretty unfit at first but quickly caught up over the following year. Mendez one day after the training approached Sunset “Twilight seems to be catching up at an extraordinary rate, this is odd. Do you have an explanation?”
Sunset frowned “On my home world there are three main races of my kind that exist, there are others but they are in smaller numbers. One tends the earth, the other shepard the skies and the third has mastery of spells, however through a process called ascension one who is worthy can ascend to become one who can wield all three traits at a heightened level. Twilight is one of those and her earth side grants increased strength, endurance and durability. Likely an underutilised part of her abilities given her attitude towards life.”
Mendez nodded “Natural ability is worthless without working to better it. I’ll be working to get her to where she needs to be.”
Twilight spent most of her time with John, Kelly and Sam. Kelly often cracked jokes at Twilight’s expense, John joined in or reprimanded her depending on Twilight’s reaction. Sam was more distant from Twilight then the other two but respected her hard work and tenacity.
One of her biggest challenges was going to come up, it was another training mission with Tango company. Sunset was standing there with Mendez, watching from a distance. Mendez frowned “Why do you have her doing this again so soon, it’s been only a year?”
Sunset frowned “If she is going to be of any use here, she needs to learn one last lesson. My people are very much pacifists, violence and conflict has been absent for centuries. She is the studious sort, determined and hard working. The training was going to be fine with time but can she take a life. I am going to test her today with that. I have given them the order to go it alone as a test as a final test before the procedure.”
Twilight moved forward with her tranq rifle and combat knife, poking her head around corners knocking out every enemy she saw with precise shots. As she pressed onward, she was ambushed by five of them, one who shot the gun out of her hand. She grabbed the closet one tossing him at another, she then punched another with a strike before turning to the other two.
Twilight kicked one in the chest as the other ran, she picked up her tranq gun only to see the guy slump down. She pressed his neck, a chill went down her spine. She went to the others, none of them had a pulse either. She shouted “No, no! I killed them! I killed them! I…” She took a deep breath as she heard footsteps, calming herself down. She could panic later. She backed away from the sound of footsteps and hid behind cover.
Twilight heard one of them growl “She must be around here somewhere?” Twilight stepped back quietly moving from cover to cover, she popped out shooting a target before sneaking away. Manoeuvring around silently taking out some of the guards, she soon found the sound fighting as the main base of the enemy. Twilight saw that everyone ended up being together just by happenstance. Rather than joining them as they were winning the fight, she snuck around the back taking out snipers and knocking out key guards allowing her allies to close the distance quickly.
Soon the base overrun as the trainees took the flag winning the wargame, Twilight joined John as they headed back “Mission success.”
John nodded “how did it go.”
Twilight looked down “Some of them, I killed by accident. I don’t know what to do.”
John shook his head “You will have had to kill at some point, it’s quite possible it’s why you were included in this exercise. The fact you are questioning it is good. A soldier who kills indiscriminately for fun is no good on the battlefield. Still, learning how to incapacitate without killing is important too.”
Kelly joined them “Relax pony girl, you did well out there. Chin up.”
Sam walked up behind her “You were impressive.”
Soon they made their way back to Sunset and Mendez. Mendez spoke with the rest of them as Sunset pulled Twilight aside “You did well out there, even killed some of them.”
Twilight frowned “That’s nothing to be commended.” Sunset frowned “Part of this was knowing you could kill if the need arose and that you would not become slaughter hungry.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow “You enjoyed slaughtering demons.”
Sunset frowned “Demon were created for sheer purpose to cause destruction. I was destroying living weapons, besides I enjoy the thrill of being challenged. I hold back in sparring sessions to get the best fight out of it. As for control, that will wait until after augmentation procedures, then I will become your personal partner for training you to control your strength.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow “Augmentations?”
Sunset nodded “They are to strengthen everyone, granted yours aren't as extensive and won’t be as effective. If you were at the level of Luna or Celestia I would have nothing to fear but you are still a new Alicorn thus you have barely scratched your potential.”
After returning they were given the rest of the day to rest. The following day was reserved for Augmentation. Twilight was in line with John, Kelly, and Sam. They all entered and laid down as the device was activated, he was different from the others. Twilight felt the injection start, pain shot through her body as everything started to fade to black.
Twilight awoke in bed, she looked around to see a few others still resting. She also saw bags being dragged out, she looked over herself. Her muscles were bigger, stronger. She could feel the strength. Her mind was working faster. She staggered to her hooves only to see Sam who was slightly taller and his massive muscles were even larger than before. Sam escorted her out of the room, Twilight frowned “What happened?”
Sam shook his head “Thirty didn’t survive, some haven’t awoken yet, some have been damaged. John and Kelly are alive, just recovering from the Augmentation.”
Twilight took a deep breath. “Good, they're alive.” The duo took time to rest as they waited for the others to awaken.
Twilight and her fellow trainees were brought into the mines alongside soldiers in power armour to train with. Twilight's trainer was Sunset herself. Sunset held back severely during their training, to the point where she was fighting with less power than Twilight could output at full strength. Sunset frowned “You need to control your strikes, so you only hurt others with intention. If you are hurting them by accident, that is a major problem.”
Twilight struggled with this, each day Sunset and Twilight slept in the same cavern. Trained from dusk to till dawn, Sunset also walked around her while she practised unarmed fighting “You’re too stiff. Now you're overcompensating for that. You need to be loose but ready.”
Twilight growled “It’s not easy!”
Sunset raised an eyebrow “Of course it’s not, doesn’t mean that I can’t inform the gaps in your fighting. The Night Sentinels were far harsher in their methodology, they beat it into me until I could do it without sight or sound relying on my body’s instincts alone. Just the feeling of the air moving was enough to fight my enemies.”
Over the ensuing few months Sunset started adding her magic to the fights, teleporting around, striking from multiple angles. Twilight frowned as they sparred “Why didn't you do this during your fight against the demons?”
Sunset frowned “I never thought of it. The Night Sentinel training was rather focused And the ensuing battles gave little time for experimentation, especially when I was already winning fights without difficulty. It took some time to incorporate it into my combat.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow as they continued “Where did the Slayer go?”
Sunset dodged a punch “He lives on Earth, it is his home. He has had many rage filled years of fighting demons. He still keeps in fighting shape but he has been enjoying his peace. We still talk occasionally.”
Sunset asked, “What has changed since I left?”
Twilight explained “Well me and my friend saved Princess Luna using the elements banishing Nightmare Moon’s influence from her, we defeated and reformed Discord. There was a Changeling invasion at Cadence’s wedding, we defeated Sombra in the Crystal Empire and Trixie got her hands on the Alicorn Amulet.”
Sunset frowned “I read about the Alicorn Amulet, I thought about using it to trigger an ascension but after discovering it was culpable of corrupting the user I decided to stay away from it. I’m surprised Celestia let such a thing be out there without investing time in tracking it down.”
Twilight blocked a punch “She probably was busy preparing for Luna’s return.”
Sunset dodged “Why do you think that Nightmare Moon is gone?”
Twilight held up a hand “What do you mean, we blasted her with elements didn’t we?”
Sunset shook her head “Nightmare Moon is not some possessive entity, it is not a ghost, ghoul or other demon. That power was always there, she could always do that. She just permanently took that form during her rampage likely out of anger and sorrow. The only way such a form could generate a personality is if you deny it for long enough.”
Twilight frowned “So Luna and Nightmare Moon are one in the same.”
Sunset nodded “Yes, any Alicorn could develop a dark side that represents the parts of you that you reject being part of you. Celestia probably has one, she has always been repressing herself. Nightmare Moon’s love of theatrics is something that Luna also has, Luna was a patron of the arts based on the books I had read.”
Twilight whined, “Celestia hid those books from me.”
Sunset groaned “Twilight, Celestia hides stuff from everyone. There is not a single pony alive or dead who knows everything about Celestia.”
Twilight blinked “Really?”
Sunset nodded “She has so much history that she hides from everyone. Her romantic partners, her role in major conflicts. Trust me, her not telling you something is nothing new. She keeps secrets for a good reason, I have lived a long time. Once you have hundreds of years under your belt you keep more secrets.”
Twilight looked at her wings “Will I start doing that?”
Sunset shrugged “Probably, now let’s get back to it.”
As they got back to training, Twilight frowned “What are your plans after this?”
Sunset frowned “Well, I’ll have to find a way to return you home which means I need a vector to get you back home. Once we find that, I’ll be able to get you home. Still I can’t leave until my plans here are finished.”
Twilight nodded as the two continued, preparing for the incoming conflict. Meanwhile in the other cabins, Kelly frowned as she kicked one of the poor trainers into a wall “Why isn’t Twilight training with us?”
John frowned as he sent another hapless trainer into the wall“She is not like us, we are still young. We have a way to go before we grow into the warriors we were meant to be. She is full grown, it means her training is different. Not to mention she needs to learn how to use her unique abilities in combat.”
Sam nodded “Indeed.”
During the following years, Twilight learned how to teleport in combat while Sunset regaled her with tales of the past. She also taught what she knew of dark magic, Sunset had never used any of it but taught her the theories behind dark magic and it’s corruptive influence on the user.
During Twilight’s training, John went on a mission to capture the leader of the United Rebel Front. Sunset did want Twilight to get some field experience but the mission coordinator objected, given the stealth of this mission and how Twilight’s inhuman physical characteristics would draw unnecessary attention. Twilight’s training continued which would lead to facing a far greater threat than some rebels.