Convergence

“I’m just glad that James and Alex managed to stop the first strike, that’s basically the only good news that we have.”

“Yeah, but meanwhile we have the President to deal with over here.”

“If we can find a way to get the word out about what he’s been doing, the senate can impeach him.”

“I’m friends with the commander at Edwards, if we can stage a little mechanical failure in the mountains, they’ll get called up for search and rescue.  Then the pilot can tell them what’s going on.”

“But which pilot?  Who can we trust?”

“I have someone in mind…”

<(^)>

The Strike Eagle once more came to a rest in the court yard of Canterlot castle.  The pegasi guards, now knowing what to expect, quickly carried two ladders over to the plane.  The canopy slid open with the buzz of electronics, and James and Alex quickly descended the ladders.  Princess Celestia was waiting for them.

“Dare I guess at what just occurred?”

Alex and James traded glances.

“I think that it would be best if we explained the situation, your highness.”

At that moment, three guard pegasi flew into the courtyard, carrying a very stunned Jonathan with them.  He was quickly deposited in front of Alex and James, minus his combat belt.  Jonathan shook his head in wonder.

“Wow, you guys said magical ponies but… I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t believe it ‘til I saw it.”

James laughed, “It was hard for us at first too.”

One of the Pegasi that had brought Jonathan cleared his throat.

“We found the body of a second man, but it’s completely mangled, not to mention half flattened on impact.”

Jonathan grimaced.

“I didn’t mean to kill the poor guy; I was just trying to talk some sense into him.”

“It’s ok man, you didn’t know what it would do to him.”

At this point Celestia decided to step into the conversation;

“I can tell by your conversation that this man is not an enemy, however, I believe that an introduction is still in order.”

Alex bowed, “Forgive me Princess.  This is Jonathan, he is a friend of ours.”

At this the Princess motioned to a guard who had been hovering in the back ground.  The pegasus quickly flew forward, and handed –er, hooved Jonathan’s belt back to him.  Alex continued:

“And this, Jonathan, is Princess Celestia, who rules this world.”

“Joint rules, actually, but it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Celestia extended a hoof, which Jonathan reluctantly shook.  Celestia was about to speak, when Twilight, who had been standing next to her, suddenly burst in.

“Why did you fight each other?  What happened up there?  Did your people not heed your advice?”

James sighed, and Alex spoke cautiously.

“That’s a… touchy subject.  Is there someplace more, private, that we can discuss this in?”

Celestia nodded.

“There are several rooms in the castle that will meet our requirements, though I get the feeling that one in particular will be the best.  Please, after me.”

The Alicorn turned towards the castle entrance, and began to walk.  The rest of the group followed her.

Once inside the door, they were interrupted by a dark purple Alicorn, smaller than Celestia.

“Sister, upon hearing the commotion in the heavens, we came as soon as we could.”

Alex checked the other hallways.  There was no one with the pony.

Celestia smiled.

“Good, Luna, I’m glad you’re here, I’d like you to meet the two humans I told you about, James and Alex, and their friend Jonathan.”

Luna extended her hoof.

“It is good to meet you, James, Alex, and Jonathan.  My sister has told us much about two of you.”

Apart from her tendency to refer to herself in the plural, the humans were glad to meet the Princess of the night as well.

Continuing on, Celestia led them throw the halls of Canterlot castle, until finally they arrived at a set of iron double doors.  The doors sprung open with a soft glow from Celestia’s horn.  Jonathan was startled by the sudden appearance of magic.  The procession then entered the room.  Alex looked at the new surroundings with wonder.

The walls were covered in hundreds of maps, with marking and symbols that he could only guess at.  In the room’s center, a table sat.  On it was a three dimensional model of Equestria.  The humans all stared in wonder at the detail of the model.

Celestia turned to one of the guards in the room.

“I need you to send for the bearers of the elements of harmony, bring them here as soon as you can.”

The guard quickly bowed to his Princess, then turned and flew from the room.  As soon as he had left, the great iron doors closed, bathing the room in darkness.  Alex shifted uncomfortably in the pitch darkness.  Then several candles were ignited, and his vision was restored.

“This, is the map room.” Celestia said in her regal voice.

“It contains everything that you will ever need to know about the surface of Equestria.”

She paused.

“Also… in less desirable times, it can be used as a command room.”

The Princess turned towards the three humans.

“I believe that those times may soon be upon us, correct?”

Alex slowly nodded.

“Would you care to explain why?”

Alex swallowed, and then spoke;

“As best as I can, your majesty.  You see, our president, you know what that is right?”

The Princess nodded.

“Twilight has told me much of your world since last night.”

“Our president… in a complete overstepping of his authority… has decided to invade Equestria.”

The Princess’s eyes narrowed.

“Why would your leader want to do that?”

Alex assembled his thoughts, mustering them for action, inspecting them, and turning away the ones that seemed unfit.  Then he let them fly.

“This world is seen by the president and cronies, as a gift.  Our country, our entire planet really, has gone downhill, fast.  The world economy is literarily tottering on the brink of destruction.  A single gust of monetary wind could send it hurtling over the edge.  If the President could quietly invade this world, and steel its resources, then our country, the United States, would be left as the undisputed master of the globe.  No country could hope to stand in our way.  We would be the only nation not indebted to another.”

“How exactly would the president keep an entire world and sentient population quiet?  It seems that his plan would be over before it began.”

Alex swallowed nervously.

“He wouldn’t need to keep the entire population quiet…”

The Princess looked confused;

“Why is that?”

James entered the conversation, seeing Alex was too nervous to answer.

“His plan… is to kill you.  All of you.”

<(^)>

“General Anderson, have a seat.”

President Nickelson motioned towards the leather chair on the other side of his desk.  The General eased himself into the chair, careful to not rake his eyes off Nickelson.

“Thank you Mr. President.”

The President looked thoughtfully at Anderson for a moment, then suddenly his face turned into a good impression of a hawk.

“Why did you assign Captain Thalin and Lieutenant Williams to take part in the first strike?”

“Sir I had no idea that they would refuse their orders and…”

“I don’t care whether or not you knew!”

The President slammed his fists onto the desk, causing several stacks of paper to hop a small distance into the air.

“What could possibly have possessed you to send those two men on the first strike?  At the time I didn’t think much of it, being distracted by the troop build-up, but now?  How the freak did you get to be a General anyway?”

Anderson shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  He had to think of something…

“Sir, with all due respect, I thought that their relative knowledge of the area would prove beneficial.  Briefings are great and all, but it’s nothing like being there.”

“Perhaps.”

The President spat the word, as if ridding himself of a piece of chewed gum.

“But those two have literally cost us millions.  Thank God for the contingency plan!”

The Generals blood ran cold.

“Contingency plan, sir?”

Nickelson smiled.

“Yes, you know, you should never be without one.”

<(^)>

“Stalker one, this Stalker two, I have eyes on the target, over.”

“Copy that Stalker two, this is Stalker one.  All Stalker flights, report in.”

“Stalker two, checking in.”

“Stalker three ready to burn, over.”

“Stalker four, locked and loaded.”

“Stalker five, wound up and ready to go.”

“Stalker six here, all systems are green, waiting on your mark, one.”

“Stalker seven, everything is lookin’ good, over.”

Sergeant David Blackburn spoke into his helmet;

“Stalker eight, all stops off, good to go, over.”

“Copy, all Stalker flights green.  Stalker flights, prepare to commence attack on my mark.”

David sat in a hovering AH-64 Apache, just south of the cloud base that was their target.  His gunner, Sergeant Aaron Blastinger, sat in front of him.

“Mark.”

David flew the AH-64 forward, the rotors thumping loudly overhead.  The cloud structures loomed up before them.  The first missile hit the objective.  The clouds seemed to crumble in fire and steam, dispersing back into the atmosphere.  More missiles followed, joined by the steady rumble of machine gun fire.  Pegasi tumbled from clouds, flying frantically every which way as the sky burned around them.  David methodically tugged on his controls, mindlessly punched buttons.

Silently, he told himself; Just a bunch of stupid horses, just a bunch of stupid horses… He shuddered as he watched a pegasus tumbled to the ground, clothed in a wreath of flames.  It screamed as it fell, its mouth open wide, shrieking for all the world to hear.  David looked at the destruction around him, the death, and the dying.  We did this… Then he thought more. I did this…

<(^)>

Rainbow Dash slept softly, blissfully unaware of the world.  THWUMP.She sat bolt upright on the cloud bed, in the center of her room at the Cloudsdale Mareiot.  What was that?THWUMP.  TATATATATATATATATATA-THWUMP-TATATATATATA.  A chorus of rattling and explosions shook her room.  Rainbow lept out of bed, beating her wings.  She could smell smoke and hear the faint screams of other ponies.  She saw flashes of light flickering through the blinds on her window.

Dash was suddenly thrown to the floor as the building shuddered.  She picked herself back up again, brushing herself off.  What the buck is going on here?  Rainbow flew over to the window, threw it open, and soared out into the night.  The Cloudsdale, the city that was compared to Heaven, had become Hell.  Panicking ponies and the occasional griffon flew in every direction.  Rainbow could hardly move, staring at the city where she had been born.  It was unrecognizable now.

Suddenly Rainbow saw what must have been the source of the destruction; a sleek metal object, hovering lazily through the city, flashes of light and strange flaming objects came from it.  Whenever the flaming objects struck something, it exploded.  Rainbow felt a burst of heat on her left side, then a shock wave.  It threw her, spinning, towards the ground.  Rainbow plummeted, unable to reorient herself, far below the reaches of Cloudsdale.  She stopped as quickly as she began.  She crashed onto a cloud, gently stopping her fall, just a few hundred feet above ground.  Rainbow Dash passed out.

Rainbow slowly came to.  What a terrible dream…  Rainbow slowly opened her eyes, and stretched out.  Wait… where am I?  Rainbow Dash looked around.  She had been sleeping on a low flying cloud.  Then she looked up.  Rainbow’s heart sank.  Above her, Cloudsdale burned.  Though the messengers of destruction had long since departed, the city still smoldered.  Huge pillars of smoke arced high into the sky, visible for miles around.  Rainbow spread her wings, and turned towards Canterlot.