Convergence

TIME TO IMPACT: 28 MINUTES.

The chariot alighted on the side of mount Ragnon, its wheels clanking as they hit the cold stone.  Alex leaped from the chariot, falling to the ground, taking a few deep breaths.  Twilight walked up behind him, amused.

“I thought that you were experienced with flying?”

Alex steadied himself, and then slowly stood up, facing the lavender pony.

“I am… it’s just that when I fly, I’m strapped into a harness in a secure enclosed metal and glass cockpit.  Not free standing on a chariot, five thousand feet above the ground.”

Twilight chuckled.

“You’ll get used to it.”

Alex just slowly shook his head.

“Maybe.”

He was going to continue, when suddenly a pink ball of energy hopped from the chariot.

“WWHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEE!!!  That was fun, can we do it again, can we huh huh huh?”

Pinkie pie zipped up to Twilight, balancing on her front hooves.

“PLEASE!!!”

Twilight shook her head.

“Sorry Pinkie, but we have some work to do first.  We get to ride the chariots back thou…”

“AAAWWW  YESSS!!!”

Pinkie pumped a fore hoof victoriously in the air, which was quite an accomplishment, as it left her balancing on one hoof.

She shot off, apparently going to inform the rest of her friends of the awesome news.

Alex leaned in closer to Twilight, whispering.

“Is she always…”

Twilight nodded.

“And trust me, you really don’t want to see her when she ISN’T that way.”

Alex slowly shook his head.

“Ok then…”

Princess Celestia quickly alighted next to the two unicorns.

“Is everything in order here Twilight?”

“It sure is, Princess.”

Twilight beamed at her mentor.

“It looks like…”

She produced a checklist from her saddlebags.

“We’ve completed everything on here except for the last item…  Destroy the portal.”

Alex gulped.

The two ponies looked at him.

“What?”

Alex sighed.

“Well…  I guess this is the part where I have to decide something important…”

Celestia slowly nodded, while Twilight continued to stare at Alex, puzzled.

“Um, pardon me but… what decision?”

Alex managed a small smile.

“Well… here we are, probably just a few minutes from sealing off my world from yours…  and you have yet to find a way to change me back.”

Twilight continued staring at him, and so Alex continued.

“So… the question that I’m forced to ask myself is… do I go back home, and stay like…”

He motioned to himself.

“-This, forever, in the human world, or do I stay here, and start over… but actually fit in… sort of.”

Twilight sat down slowly.

“I… I hadn’t thought about that.”

Princess Celestia merely smiled.

“I don’t think that you had time to think about that, Twilight, what with all the other things that have been going on lately.”

She then took a step forward, addressing Alex.

“I understand that this is an incredibly difficult decision for you.  I sincerely wish that we had more time to work through the situation.  However, you know full well the… difficulties that we have.  Alex, I know that you probably desire to return home, but if you do choose to stay, then I will personally ensure that you are always taken care of.”

Alex merely sighed again, though Celestia's words comforted him.

“Thank you Princess.”

It looked like the light gray unicorn was about to continue, when a Humvee pulled up next to the group.  A very tired looking soldier got out of the driver’s seat, while the rest of the men stayed inside.  More vehicles quickly trickled past, the last of the friendly humans, heading towards the portal just a hundred yards distance away.

“Princess,” the soldier bowed, and then continued on, “I’m afraid we are in a bit of a bind.  I received a message about a minute ago from General Anderson, one of the friendly higher ups.  They have succeeded in arresting our president, so that’s one problem solved.  However, we currently are in a little bit of a time crunch.  Before the president was arrested he sent off a command…  right now, there is a nuclear missile, a weapon capable of destroying an entire city, inbound to this portal.  We only have about twenty five minutes.”

Alex groaned, while the other two ponies simply stared at the man.

“We’re getting the heck out of here, if we leave now, we will clear the blast radius, but just barely.  The point is, as soon as we leave, you need to close the portal behind us.  In our world, it’ll just blow up in the middle of the desert, but if the portal is left open, it’ll continue on and destroy who knows what.”

The man snapped to attention.

“I just wanted to let you know before we leave, that it was our honor to fight for you.”

Princess Celestia nodded gravely, the soldiers haunting words slowly sinking in.

“Thank you sir, and thank you to all of your comrades.  I wish there could be more time to offer you true thanks, but I’m afraid there isn’t.  Your services, and other’s sacrifice, will always be remembered.”

She bowed to the soldier, still standing at attention.  The man snapped a crisp salute, and then smiled.

“I suppose that this is the last official interaction between our worlds, at least for a long while.  I bid you farewell, and good luck, Princess Celestia.”

With that, the man strode away, and hopped back into the driver’s seat of the Humvee.  The engine roared, and within a few seconds, the vehicle had passed through the portal, following after the rest of the convoy, making all haste to get away from the soon to be death zone.

As they watched, General Starblink and two pegasi soldiers glided down from above, joining the other three ponies.  Celestia whirled to face the newcomers, her face drained of color.

“General, I am sorry, but there is no time to lose, you have to get the other bearers of the elements of harmony rounded up and bring them here immediately.  I am afraid that our situation is even more grave than I thought.”

The General motioned to the two soldiers, who immediately shot off, going to fetch the required ponies.  Then he returned his attention to Celestia, curious.

“May I ask what is going on?”

“I’m afraid that even I am not entirely certain…”

The Princess paused as Alex entered the conversation.

“It’s a nuke,” he jumped forward, coming to stand between the general and the princess. “It’s a weapon of mass destruction.  It can immolate an entire city, and everyone in it, in the blink of an eye, not to mention the fact that the blast leaves radiation, super poison if you will, that makes the area around the blast uninhabitable for years.  Conveniently, we’ve just had one launched at us.  Which means that we have to seal off the portal, like, right the buck now.”

Alex stopped then, surprised at how quickly he’d adopted the Equestrian swear word.  The General took a step back, his face draining of color, an impressive feat for a white pony.

“That… doesn’t sound good.”

Starblink was aware that he had just made the biggest understatement of all time, though frankly, he wasn’t sure what to say to that.

Princess Celestia sighed, and then spoke.

“Precisely general, that’s why it would be nice if the bearers would…  oh, there we go.”

The other five bearers of the elements of harmony were quickly approaching the small group.  Rarity, Fluttershy, and Apple Jack walked, while Rainbow hovered over her friends.  Pinky skipped merrily, her eyes blissfully shut, though she still managed to avoid all obstacles in her path.  Rainbow zipped out in front, skidding to a halt in front of the princess.  She threw a sloppy salute, and then took a step back.

“We’re ready to rock, Princess!”

Celestia smiled, and waited for the rest of the ponies to join them.

“Well my little ponies, are you ready to wield the elements of harmony once again?”

Six eager voices responded with a mix of ‘certainly,’ ‘course we are,’ and ‘aaw yeah!’

“Good,” the regal white pony continued, “All of you, the chest containing the elements of harmony is in the chariot that

Twilight rode in, so if you could all go and get them on, we can finish this as quickly as possible.”

The six ponies quickly trotted off, eagerly chatting amongst themselves.  Alex tensed as the small radio in his saddlebags beeped, and walked away from the princess and the general.  Celestia returned her gaze to the general.

“Now, about the…”

She noticed that Starblink was staring off into the distance.

“What is it?”

She turned her gaze to follow the general’s.  Two distant aircraft were flying towards the mountain.  Celestia recognized them as what the humans called “helicopters.” Starblink took a few cautious steps back.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

Celestia nodded slowly.

The two choppers drew nearer, and the sense of dread in Celestia’s heart grew.

“They might be friendly…”

Starblink jumped into the air, beating his wings rapidly, as a missile streaked from one of the aircraft.

“Or not!  Run!”

As the two choppers continued firing, the pegasus general shot upwards, taking refuge in the sky for which he was built.  The two aerial vehicles flew through the portal, leaving several burning patches of ground behind.  Starblink let out a sigh of relief, glad to be rid of the attackers so quickly.  Then, he suddenly remembered the princess.  Alarmed, the pegasus looked down, searching for his ruler.

He couldn’t make her out among the ponies running around on the mountainside.  Starblink dove back down, his heart now racing.

“Princess!  Has anypony seen Princess Celestia?”

He alighted on the ground, a cold sense of fear overcoming his heart.  Slowly, dreading what he might see, he turned back to where he had been standing, just a few moments before.  The ground was cratered, and several large piles of rocks had been thrown around by the blast.  The entire area was engulfed in flames.  Starblink’s eyes grew wide as he saw something slowly shift in the middle of the rubble.

“No…”

He stared at the flames, able to feel their immense heat, even from nearly thirty yards away.

“No…”

Slowly, he gritted his teeth, and dove towards the fire.  His fur began to get singed almost immediately, and he felt like his eyes and mouth were drying up.  The world seemed to move in slow motion, as the general strode through the wall of flames.  The very ground that he stood on burned his hooves, and he ran quickly through the fire, leaping from rock to rock, trying ignore the searing heat all around him.  His mane felt matted, and he knew it wasn’t with sweat or water.  He refused to look at his fur.

He dodged through the massive patches of fire, until he reached the small movement he had seen from outside.  The Princess lay on her side, her chest heaving, and her crown and half her shoes missing.  What regalia she still wore was bent, and crooked.  Her eyes were shut, she was knocked unconscious by the blast.  Strangely, despite all this, she herself seemed barely singed.  Starblink growled, feeling the fire tickling at his hooves.  Then he grabbed onto the Alicorn, and began to drag her out of the blast zone.

Starblink’s next few minutes were indescribable, as every part of him seemed to burn.  He looked up as they neared the edge of the hellish area.  One last wall of flames separated them from freedom.  He dragged with all his strength, feeling the fire burn his mane, his tail, and his wings.  The smoke tortured his eyes, and clogged his throat.  Then suddenly, he heaved himself through, the princess next to him, still unconscious.  All around them, panicking ponies dashed to put out fires, and save their comrades.  Starblink managed to pull the Princess another ten yards, then he collapsed, unable to continue.

He gasped for air, hardly able to breath.  His hair was melted, and gave off a putrid smell.  He was virtually unrecognizable.  Starblink suddenly realized that he was not alone.  The six bearers of the elements of harmony stood around him, shocked expressions on their faces.

He tried to speak, though the pain racking his body transformed it into a snarl.  Slowly, Starblink relaxed, taking several deep breaths.  Once more, the burnt pegasus opened his mouth.

“Go…  Quickly, you have to close,” he halted as a new wave of pain tore through his body.

“Close… the portal…  now…”

Slowly, Starblink’s eyes fluttered shut.  His breathing became deeper, and more steady as he slipped from consciousness, unable to contend with the pain any longer.  Almost simultaneously, Princess Celestia awoke.

She glanced around at the other ponies, her memories crashing back to her.  The Helicopter… and then the explosion.  Getting thrown across the ground, and then feeling her head hit something, hard.  Then blackness.  She looked at Twilight, noting the element sitting on her head.

“Twilight!  Hurry!  You have to destroy the portal!”

The lavender unicorn continued to stare at the Alicorn.

“What about General Starblink?”

“What?”

The Princess looked down, suddenly seeing the burnt pegasus.

“What… what happened to him?”

Celestia was bewildered.

“He… he dragged you…”

Twilight had trouble answering, transfixed by the sight of the terrible wounds.  Celestia glanced behind her, seeing the flames.  A flood of emotions rushed through her, as she suddenly realized that he had dove into the fire, to save her.

“Oh…  Oh my…”

She quickly took inventory of the protective spells that she routinely cast about herself.  Celestia was dismayed to find that virtually all of them had been depleted.

Just a few more seconds in the fire…

She refused to think that thought.  Celestia lit her horn.

“I’ll take care of Starblink…  Don’t worry Twilight, you have to keep moving.  Destroy the portal, now.”

The pony slowly nodded, before turning, and trotting away.  The rest of her friends quickly followed her.  Celestia turned back to the burnt pony, grimacing.

This is going to be difficult…

Starblink groaned, as the first of the healing spells began to take effect.

TIME TO IMPACT:  THIRTEEN MINUTES

<(^)>

“James!  What the heck is going on over there?”

Alex levitated the radio in front of his face, the fires still burning behind him.  The small device crackled, hissing with static.

Then, James’ voice broke through.

“Alex!  You’ve gotta high tail it out of there right now!”

Alex smiled slightly, imagining the expression on his best friend’s face, hidden behind his helmet.  He sighed slowly, his heart heavy.

“James…  I’m not coming back.”

The response was almost instantaneous.

“WHAT?  Dude, what the heck are talking about?  You don’t belong there!  None of us do!”

Alex couldn’t help but give a bitter laugh.

“I’m afraid I don’t belong anywhere anymore.”

“Well, guess what buddy?  You belong there less than you don’t belong here!  If that makes any sense at all…”

Alex sat down slowly, his back against a rock.

“James…  I’m not really sure that you get it.”

The radio hissed out the reply.

“What do I not get Alex?  Why you’ve suddenly gone crazy?”

Alex leaned his head back against the cold stone surface, trying his best to relax.

“James…  I wish I could come back.  I really, honestly do.  But we have two problems to deal with.  The first one isn’t as important, it would just get me some really weird looks.  If you haven’t noticed, I’m a pony.  It’s a little strange, but, I guess it would be a cool way to make a lot of money…”

Alex chuckled.

“The second problem is the bigger concern…  James, even if I walk through that portal…  I’ll get incinerated in a nuclear blast.  There’s no way I can run fast enough to get away from that.  Sorry buddy… but there’s just no way.”

The reply took longer this time.

“Dang it Alex…  What the heck are we supposed to do now?”

The grey pony shook his head sadly, not caring that no one could see.

“I don’t know James…  I just don’t know.”

“I was really hoping that we would all come home from this one Alex…  I really was.  What am I supposed to tell your parents anyway?  That you’re alright, but that you got turned into a pony, and by the way, they’ll never see you again?”

Alex felt like he had suddenly been covered by a dark cloud.  There were a crap load of people on the other side… but that didn’t matter now.  There wasn’t a way to make it back, at least not for a long while.

“You should tell General Anderson what really happened…  He, of all people, deserves to know the truth…  As for everyone else…  tell them…  I died.  It’ll be easy enough to pull off.  It isn’t like they would expect to find a body anyway.  I wish we could end this on a happier note than that, but it isn’t happening.”

James hesitated, and then began to speak back to Alex.

“Are you sure about all of this, buddy?”

Alex swallowed hard.

No, not really…

“I’m not sure about anything right now James,” Alex laughed, “but I think that this is the best way to go about it.  If I’m wrong, and I probably am… then whatever, you suckers can figure it out.”

He laughed again, although there was a tear in his eye.

“I mean, why should I care?  I’m a freaking magical pony in a whole different world.”

“Alright buddy…  I’ll tell the general, and see what he thinks.”

Alex choked back a tear, and then once more spoke into his radio.

“Thanks James…  take care of yourself.”

Alex could tell that the brave pilot was holding back his own tears.

“Alright Alex, you too…  See you later?”

Alex laughed.

“Definitely.”

“Alright then,” James sniffled, “I’m going to shut up now… before we both end up crying about how much this sucks.”

Alex felt a tear run down his cheek.

“Yeah… have a good one dude.”

“You too Alex… Thanks, friend.  See you again.”

With that, the transmission cut off, forever severing the original crew of Striker one one.

Alex slowly let the radio fall to the ground, as the full weight of his decisions and recent actions crashed down on him.

It was for the best though...  Or so he hoped.

Alex offered up a sad smile to the world, the tears now running freely down his cheeks.  He looked back across the mountain, to where Twilight, her friends, and a large group of soldiers had gathered in front of the portal.  He tried to laugh, but ended up sobbing.  The portal was still invitingly open, offering one final temptation for nuclear incineration.  Alex merely cried, and closed his eyes.  It would all be over soon enough.

TIME TO IMPACT:  EIGHT MINUTES

<(^)>

Twilight Sparkle felt the weight of the element upon her head.  Part of her felt unlucky to carry the most important element of harmony; the extra weight was really quite annoying.  Still, it was her honor to serve Equestria, and the entire world, by representing the element of magic.

Twilight felt a shiver pass through her, as she thought about the element.  When she was in contact with it, it felt almost as if the element was alive, and thinking, trying to speak.  That was a ridiculous notion of course, but she still felt it all the same.  Around her, her friends stood, flew, and bounced.

In front of her, the portal sat, its massive rock frame alive with magic.  She could feel the power before they even arrived at the mountain, radiating out into the surrounding landscape.  She could only guess that the reason it had remained undiscovered, was that it had not been active until the humans had discovered it on their side.

There were carvings in the rock of the portal.  She quickly glanced over them, always interested in learning something new.  Part of her hoped that the elements would just deactivate the portal, not destroy it.  However, she doubted that they would be so lucky.  She recognized some of the carved images.  The sun, the moon, and a wide collection of constellations.  She looked closer at the constellations, realizing that while some were familiar, others were strange.  She laughed to herself, one of them almost looked like a scoop, or a dipper.  She continued to look over the carvings, seeing ponies, strange creatures, what looked like humans, and then…  She gasped, then narrowed her eyes.

What could he have to do with this?

At the very top of the portal, sat a huge carving of the mad beast himself; Discord.  Twilight smirked a little.  It was only appropriate that he was depicted in stone.  She turned to her friends, all wearing their elemental necklaces.

“Ready girls?”

Rainbow was the first to answer.

“Duh!  Why do you think we’ve been standing here?”

Rarity promptly nodded, running a hoof through her mane.

“But of course, darling!  Really, I can’t wait to get home, and away from all this dreadful dirt!”

“Umm…  I’m ready… that is… if you guys are ready… if that’s ok.”

Twilight smiled at the yellow pegasus, hovering nervously at the back of the formation.  She was about to answer, when another pony replied for her.

“Of course we’re all ready sugar cube.  What do ya’ll think we’re doing here anyway?  Admirin’ the scenery?”

Twilight chuckled, then turned to her pinkest friend, who was being unnaturally quite.

“Pinkie, are you ready?”

The earth pony was glaring at the portal.

“Yeah, I don’t like it when people just think they can waltz right on in to another world.  That’s supposed to take practice, you know?”

Twilight chuckled at her somewhat insane pal.

“Sure Pinkie… sure.”

Twilight returned her attention to the stone behemoth.  She smiled, and quickly ignited her horn, channeling her magic through the element upon her forehead.

TIME TO IMPACT:  THREE MINUTES

<(^)>

Celestia smiled as Starblink’s wings slowly reformed, his body embraced by her golden aura.  Gently, she started to lay him back onto the mountainside, then thought better of it.  She kneeled down to the ground, and extended one of her massive wings.  She gently lay the pegasus on top of it, careful not to damage any of his newly grown skin.

She redirected her gaze to the six elements of harmony, standing just in front of the portal.  She watched, as slowly, all six of them finished their ascent, and then braced herself for what would come next.  Magical energy exploded from the group, bathing the surrounding landscape in rainbow colored light.  Celestia arced her neck, blissfully enjoying the power being emitted by the elements.

The light slowly began to spiral, as the bodies of the six bearers glowed.  The spiral quickly increased in speed, and then shot straight into the air, spinning at a ridiculous pace.  Power filled the sky, and sheer magical energy flowed through all the ponies in the surrounding area.

Then, the magical light crashed down onto the portal.  The entire structure began to shake violently, as the elements dumped energy into it.  The carvings on the portal’s surface all began to glow with a golden light.  The human’s world, still visible though the portal, began to shimmer.  Celestia squinted.  She could almost swear that she could see something in the sky…

The portal cracked, overwhelmed by the sheer power of the elements.  Along the crack, which ran through the entire structure, energy escaped, fleeing into the air.  Celestia grunted, almost feeling overwhelmed by the sheer power of it all.  She closed her eyes, and then slowly opened them again.  The stone was crumbling away, disintegrating.  Still, in the middle of the cavern, a huge, wavering hole in the fabric of space remained, clearly showing the other universe.  Celestia could clearly see something in the sky, and it was coming fast.

The edges of the portal began to collapse, folding inwards.  The six elements themselves still remained airborne, pouring energy into the gap, forcing the portal to end implode upon itself.  Slowly, the portal halved in size.  The object streaked across the sky, growing in size, leaving a flaming trail behind it.  The portal shrunk, and shrunk, and shrunk.  The object was but a thousand yards distant.  Celestia’s eyes grew wide.  Then the portal shrieked.  The fabric of time and space collapsed upon itself, sealing off the other world forever.  As it did, Celestia swore she heard a faint explosion.  For a moment, all was silent, as the assembled ponies stared at the space the portal had previous occupied.  Then, the silence was broken.

All around the mountainside, ponies cheered, stomping their hooves, and shouting cries of victory into the air.  It was a great moment for the country, and really, the entire world.  Celestia smiled, knowing how close they had been to defeat, and death.  Yet once more, Equestria was safe, thanks to the power of the elements of harmony, and the sweat and blood of thousands of soldiers.

The six bearers of the elements of harmony alighted on the ground, smiles plastering their faces.  They were immediately met by dozens of cheering troops, all wishing them well.  Celestia laughed, realizing that this was the first time that the six ponies had received an immediate thanks for their actions.  Hopefully, it wouldn’t be the last.

<(^)>

“Shut down all electronics, quickly!”

The crew of the Humvee sprang into action, as the vehicle halted its trip across the desert.  The engine was quickly killed, and then the soldiers removed all the batteries from any electronic devices they carried.  Then they faced towards the front of the vehicle, and waited.  All around them, other personal did the same for their own equipment and vehicles.  A silence fell across the desert, no one moved, and no machine could be found still running.

The silence was shattered by a massive explosion.  Thirty five miles behind them, the desert was turned into glass.  A fireball the size of a small city illuminated the terrain, casting crazy shadows across the ground.  The soldiers could feel the heat on their backs, even from so far away.  After a few seconds, the first of the men began to look back.  They were filled with an immediate sense of awe.

Thirty five miles away, yet still easily visible, a mushroom cloud was just starting to rise in the Nevada desert.