The bridging of two worlds

Chapters

Into the Everfree Forest
Plots and first impressions
the hoofball has been thrown

Into the Everfree Forest

As Twilight Sparkle looked out of her bedroom window she felt a pull on her heart she could neither understand nor deny. She had been feeling it for a few days now, and all her research hadn’t been able to provide any answers. Even Princess Celestia couldn’t explain what could cause such a thing, but she did manage to remind Twilight of the last time she had feelings she couldn’t explain.

Twilight’s big brother Shining Armor had been about to be married, but Twilight felt somewhere inside that the bride wasn’t what she claimed to be. Everyone disagreed, even Princess Celestia, but Twilight had been right. The bride was an imposter named Queen Chrysalis who had intended to devour the love Shining Armor had for his true bride Princess Cadence. Her instincts had proven true then, and even Celestia herself now believed if Twilight felt something then it would likely come to pass.

So it was with these heavy thoughts that Twilight continued to stare at the night wondering what in the name of Equestria could cause this pull in her heart. Unable to bear looking outside any longer, she resorted to her usual practice whenever a problem presented itself that she couldn’t immediately answer or research in her library, she paced restlessly in circles. She would occasionally look around at her library hoping to find some overlooked book that might provide some clues. It almost hurt that her library had failed her in this task. The beautiful library was built into a tree in a wide circle with nearly every piece of wall holding books. A flight of stairs off to the side lead to her room where a baby dragon named Spike slept even now.

Slowly she started to sense a shift in the pull, it was no longer just some random feeling inside her chest, but now it seemed to have a direction behind it. She could not resist the yearning to follow, and soon found herself trekking the long path towards her friend Fluttershy’s house. This confused her immensely for she had just talked to Fluttershy the previous day, and if the pull had been about her why didn’t it react when they were talking? Twilight continued her pondering all the way until Fluttershy’s cottage came into view.

It was a comfortable building made out of logs, and it looked almost like it had simply grown from the forest behind it. There were small creatures everywhere from squirrels to birds to frogs and much much more. Fluttershy was a yellow pegasus (ponies with wings who can fly) with a pink mane who cared for all creatures deeply, and she often took care of creatures she found sick or injured. That was why the animals were so prevalent in the area, they simply loved being around Fluttershy.

It took only a moment of looking at the cottage to know this wasn’t what had caused the pull, and she almost dreaded to think what her heart know told her. Whatever she needed to find was somewhere in the Everfree Forest.

The purple unicorn shuddered at the thought of the forest and all the creatures inside. In the entirety of Equestria there was no other place like it. The weather occurred all by itself instead of being directed by the Pegasi, there were dangerous monsters inside like manticores and Cockatrice, and there would be no one to come to her aid should she need it. Twilight tried with all her might to resist the pull and not enter the forest, but that proved futile. She could no more resist this pull than she could stop using magic. So she merely sighed as she entered the forest, terrified yet resolute.

As she traversed the forest she found herself searching constantly. She was not alone but whatever was with her so far didn’t seem to mean any harm, but that didn’t stop the unicorn from working herself into knots wandering what was out there. Her nerves seemed to twist her view of the forest till every tree was dark and ominous, every rock hiding some unseen threat determined to end her, and even the air seemed to chill with menace. Gathering what was left of her confidence she mustered all the energy and magic into her horn she could without alerting her unwanted companion of her intentions. Now all she needed was a direction to aim at.

Using the intense focus she had mastered through years of study and reading she tuned out the scenery and focus on the sounds around her. There was something there, she was having trouble recognizing but it definitely didn’t belong. She took a few moments more to study the sound and realized it was a pair of wings flapping strongly. This had to be it; whatever this was it had been stalking her since she entered the forest perhaps even before, and it was time to end it. Twilight had managed to build a powerful supply of magic in the time she took to analyze her unwanted companion, and when she was certain she had the location of her follower she turn and unleashed that energy directly at the perceived foe.

As the magic made its path she was able to see the foe, and was surprised to see her good friend Rainbow Dash. Rainbow was the best flier in all of Equestria and this day it saved her from her friends deadly attack. When she dodged the beam of magic it went behind her and made mincemeat out of a fairly sturdy tree. Normally loud,arrogant, and foolhardy the rainbow maned pegasus was left speechless by the fate that had so nearly been hers. Her friends weren’t so quiet.

“ What in tarnation do ya think you’re doin Twi?” Came a familiar voice followed swiftly by its owner. Applejack was an orange earth pony with blonde hair. She owned and operated Sweet Apple Acres, the largest and most successful apple orchard in Equestria, and was one of the strongest mares around. This last fact was not lost on Twilight as her friend bore down upon her seemingly ready to do bodily harm for almost blasting Rainbow Dash out of the sky. By the time Twilight pulled herself together to form a response the other three ponies and one baby dragon had left their hiding places and formed ranks beside Applejack.

From left to right stood Fluttershy trying to hide behind her mane so she wouldn’t have to participate in the coming confrontation, Rarity a purple maned unicorn with white fur and owner of the Carousel Boutique Ponyville’s only fashion store, Pinkie Pie an earth pony with pink hair and fur and an irrational ability to ignore the laws of physics, and lastly Spike a baby dragon with green spikes, purple scales, and a natural need to protect Twilight who had raised him from an egg and was as close to a mother as he would ever have. It was this need to protect that had forced him to round up Twilight’s friends when she snuck out tonight and follow her for her own safety.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anypony it was supposed to be a warning shot!” Twilight exclaimed desperate now to sooth her angered friends. They meant everything to her, and the looks they were giving her at that moment was like daggers in her heart.

“Well darling, warnings only work when there someone left alive to receive them!” Rarity shot back sarcastically. It was a true measure of how angry everypony was that Rarity, usually the coolest headed of them all, was resorting to sarcasm and crude language (well crude for her.) Everypony else just stopped and looked at her their shock at her outburst temporarily distracting them. Thankfully for Twilight this stop also had the effect of letting everypony think and regain their senses, though that was for sure not its intent.

It was Rainbow Dash who recovered first and asked rather pointedly “ what the hay are you doing in the Everfree, and why shouldn’t i buck you to next week?!” After saying this she flew over and was now inches from Twilight's face.

“ For the past few weeks i have been feeling a pull on my heart as we have discussed multiple times, but tonight the feeling changed. It’s no longer just some vague concept; it now has a direction. It started pulling me and I followed. I should have brought somepony with me I know and I’m sorry, but the feeling was so strong I couldn’t stop that long, and even now it’s a struggle to breath because i’ve stopped and it wants me to keep going. Rainbow I know you’re angry and you have every right to be, but please understand the spell i threw was only the magic I could build without drawing suspicion I never thought it was powerful enough to hurt anypony!” Having finished her rant of a plea she merely turned her head downward already convinced her friends would condemn her and she would be all alone in the world.

The rejection never came. While she was looking down the six others present had a wordless conference; so in tune with each other they really didn’t need to say anything to reach a forgiving consensus. Well Spike was lost in the sauce but that's neither here nor there. They walked up and simply hugged the lavender unicorn saying more than mere words could ever convey. “ But if you ever fire a spell at any of us again we’ll take turns putting you over our gosh darned knees.” Applejack stated simply when the hug was over. “Well since we’re here already we might as well come with ya Twi, lead on.”

All six ponies stated marching down the nonexistent path with Spike riding on Twilight’s back. It was a comforting action for both of them, bringing them back to a simpler time, and also expedient for spike was small and bipedal and couldn’t keep up with the six grown mares. His pride wouldn’t let him say it and the six wouldn’t embarrass him like that, but it was simply understood that one of the ponies would let him ride when they needed to do long treks like this one.

The trek was long and arduous and everypony was getting exhausted by the journey, well except Pinkie Pie but she was hyperactive 24-7 so she didn’t really count. As they walked the pull was getting stronger and stronger which Twilight hoped meant they were getting closer. After about three hours they came to an opening in the woods. Everyone knew instantly this must be the place, because the entire area was one giant circle, and far far too perfectly round for nature to have done. On the ground no grass grew, no stone lay, and the dirt was compacted to perfection completely smooth. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other confirming the other felt the raw magical power emanating from the circle.

She had been so worried about uncovering what this feeling meant that Twilight had never really thought about what she would do. She had come this far, but now she hesitated despite the near overpowering pull demanding she enter the circle. Something felt wrong about it, and she felt a chill of menace lingering in the air. If she were alone she would probably have simply entered the circle and seen what happened, but she now had her friends, not to mention her ward, with her. She simply couldn’t justify risking their safety to satisfy her curiosity. Just as she had decided to turn back and forsake this whole adventure she heard Pinkie Pie to her left “ What are you waiting for silly?” and with that Pinkie jumped into the circle.

The reaction was as instantaneous as it was powerful. The entire circle glowed with overwhelming power, and now the thin air of menace was a maelstrom of hatred. “Pinkie get out of there!” came from every mouth. “ I can’t I’m stuck!” came the forlorn reply. Twilight yelled to the others “Come brace me I’m gonna try to pull her out!” All five rushed to her side pushing against her as she desperately reached out with her magic. She held nothing back as she grabbed Pinkie and started pulling her. It was a terrible strain to all of them but Pinkie was slowly but surely was being pulled towards the struggling group.

She was mere feet from the edge of the circle when Pinkie stopped moving. Panic entered every eye as they saw thier efforts come to nill. It was as everyone started to give up that Applejack came up with an idea. “Twi can you use you’re magic to anchor me to everypony?” Startled by the question Twilight almost lost her grip on Pinkie who was being fought over like rope in a tug-of-war match. Her friends were trying to pull her out of the circle , but something was trying to pull her to the middle. After considering it the lavender mare replied simply “Yes. Why?” too busy to say anything more intelligent.

“i’m gonna try and reach her and pull her out you guys will keep me from getting sucked in!” the blonde pony said. The statement was met with universal dismissal. “ Than what do ya’ll suggest then darnnit?”

Rarity came up the the better suggestion. “Why don’t we split the tether with Pinkie so we have all six of us pulling instead of one pulling and five bracers?” This was met with universal acceptance. and was done as soon as they got into positions to start pulling. The momentary lapse had let the force pull Pinkie further to the middle, but this was halted when the five mares and Spike started to pull. At first they seemed to be making headway and pulled Pinkie much closer than last time, but once again she simply stopped.

However almost immediately there was a powerful jerk backwards this time which knocked a few off their feet. This loss of power would be their undoing as the force seized its chance to pull Pinkie to the middle. Together they stood a chance but as they were they couldn’t stop their dear friends fate. It was about a quarter of the way to the middle when the others realized a fact previously overlooked in their planning. They were now all tethered to Pinkie, and so they were now being dragged as well.

They tried everything in their power to stop their advance into the circle but to no avail. They could have cut the tether, but each of them knew in their hearts they’d die long before sentencing pinkie to face this fate alone. As they were dragged to the middle some of them said things they’d always held back, just in case this was the end so they wouldn’t die without having said them.

“Spike I have always considered you my son and I’m very very proud of you, and I’m sorry it took this to make me say that.” came Twilight’s tearful admittance.

“Me too Mom me too.” came the reply. It was simple yes, but truly what more needed to be said.

Having heard that Applejack found the courage to state her own secret “Rainbow I I I’ve loved you for a long time and I was so scared of ruining our friendship I never told you that. I want you ta know i’ll always be there for ya. Always.”

Rainbow was simply too shocked to say anything until they reached the middle of the circle, but by than it was too late. The moment they hit the middle the entire circle turned a deep red, and for a long time they knew no more.

Plots and first impressions

AN: I really expected to get this out sooner but works been ridiculous. Also I had a good portion of this chapter written thought I saved it and turned off my computer, and guess who's chapter was gone >.<

As the red glare slowly faded the tranquility of the circle was restored. There was but one exception, what at first glance seemed to be a small owl sat rested in a tree just outside the circle. This owl was trying to regain its energy, its true form, and control of its seething emotions.

The night mage Cauldron slowly emerged from his feathery vestige, and staggered to the center of the circle. How his fortunes had changed when he had stumbled upon this seemingly random formation of trees!

He had been a simple show pony performing magic tricks to earn a living till a unicorn mage named Trixie had bested him in front of his hometown forcing him to leave his everything behind, and go on the road. This would not have been so bad had that infernal strumpet not visited each and every town he went to, and left a deep seated mistrust of show-ponies behind her.

With no food and no way to earn more he had decided to take his chances foraging in the forest. He had never meant to go so far in it was simply so calm and relaxing to him he didn't notice the passage of time until he was inside the very same spot he now stood. Being a unicorn the magic power in the circle was almost overpowering to him, and he had in fact fainted from it. It was an action that would change Cauldron's fate forever.

In his unconscious state he was contacted by the ancient spirits of the world, their existence forgotten by the ponies who once worshiped them as gods. They were bound by the forces of the planet, their near boundless power only able to escape inside a very select few locations on the planet, and even then they needed a conduit on the surface to direct their power.

They had once commanded the loyalty of all who lived, their commands dispensed in the dreams of their priestesses, but now they could do no more than slip into the dreams of this pathetic unicorn. Even the lowliest of servants had their uses that they had learned well, and they could be made better like a diamond cut to perfection. They had taught Cauldron magic beyond any he had known shaped him to what they needed him to be.

Of course the fool didn't realize this and still thought himself in control. He had been given a price for his gifts and thought he would sneak off without payment when he needed them no longer. It was all there in his dreams for them to see, and he would pay his price even if he didn't realize he was doing so. Their price was simple in theory and nearly impossible in reality: freedom.

They wanted out of planet Equis and unto the surface. They still cursed their lack of forethought for when they had their worshiped it had never once occurred to them to actually try to reach the surface. Well it had occurred to one of them, Discord the spirit of chaos had escaped his planetary bounds and gone to the surface. When Discord took control of Equestria his first actions were to destroy the temples, and destroy any and all evidence of their existence so no one could help his still trapped brethren from escaping.

The spirit of fire Vulcan, the spirit of water Aquarium, the spirit of earth Mountainia, the spirit of wind Aero, and the spirit of nature Gaia all still resided in the body of Equis. It had taken them long, long centuries to figure out how Discord escaped, but it was impossible for them to emulate. He had made two discoveries that changed all the rules the spirits knew. The first was that spirits can split themselves while still retaining their whole. Secondly it was possible to place a small fragment of yourself inside anyone that slept in the circle such as the priestesses. The problems were that the fragment was incredibly small, and anyone who had a fragment could only ever carry one. The second problem was that if the fragment holder had children the fragment would be passed to the child.

In short the most chaotic and impatient creature in existence had devised and carried out a plan requiring centuries of tireless work. When a new priestess came and slept in the circle he would place a fragment of himself inside her, and that fragment would be released upon her death. Since it was demanded that all priestesses remain virgins throughout their life he didn't have to worry about children. After centuries the final fragment of himself was released, and the split pieces were re-merged into a now surface dwelling Discord.

That was why he had destroyed the memory of their existence so that the others wouldn't be able to do the same to their worshipers. After nearly two millennium they finally had their chance. Cauldron had grand schemes to conquer Equestria that were bound to fail, but when it got out the bearers of the elements of harmony were now missing it would be but a matter of time before a search was mounted and this lost circle found again. Once this place was discovered it was a matter of time before people started napping, they would receive visits from the spirits, and they would bring many many more to share the holy experience. The foundations of their escape was laid even with that oaf Cauldron clueless to their plans.

Cauldron felt a shiver run down his spin he couldn't explain, but quickly ignored it. He was trying to figure out what had gone wrong tonight. His plan had been for Twilight Sparkle to be sent to that miserable planet Earth, but know all six bearers were on their way. Alone it was all but impossible that Twilight Sparkle would ever return from Earth, but with the other bearers beside her anything became possible. That in itself was enough to frustrate him how could those ponies empower each other they way they do it made no sense to him, but he had studied their battles and could not refute the evidence before him.

Equestria had no standing army, and their guards were mostly ceremonial for pomp and grandeur. With the army he planned to create using the spirits' power nothing could stand in his way even the might of the alicorn princesses Celestia and Luna. Nothing except the elements of harmony that is. The six elements Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, and Magic combined to form the most powerful force in known existence. Even the spirit Discord had fallen to its might not once but twice the elements turning him to stone, but for all their power the elements had weaknesses easily exploitable.

First was the fact the elements were by themselves powerless, unless you had all six they were nothing but pretty jewelry for the bearers to wear. Secondly was the bearers themselves, they had to be in tune with the element they represented along with the other bearers or you had the same result. Lastly was the fact that the element of magic was the conduit for the other elements to function with, if you managed to remove the element of magic everything was completely futile. Therein lies the key to Cauldron's plan. Instead of trying to turn the elements against each other as Discord had tried and failed, he would simply send the bearer of the element of magic to a place far beyond the reach of the others thereby completely disabling the elements.

All that was in vain now that the baby dragon Spike had gathered the others and pursued Twilight tonight. When Pinkie Pie had activated the spell he'd laid with the spirits' power he couldn't stop what followed anymore than the bearers could. They were all together and capable of possibly anything. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair! He didn't yet have enough forces to attack Equestria even as weak as it now stood, and he was far too weak to act as the spirits' conduit after the raw power used in the teleportation spell tonight. All he could do now was plan, rest, and take whatever
action needed taking in the morning. For now he would sleep and gather counsel from the spirits.

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Goddamn had it ever been along day. Full eight hours at work than they decide to put the night shift that needs to sleep (that would be me and my teammates) the very last group to do the training lanes. Finally after 14 hours I reach my barracks room, and do the only sensible thing possible. I take off my gear, my cloths, and I get in the damn bed to sleep.

No matter how tired I am it takes me a while to sleep so I look around for something to do when my body armor catches my eye. It's standard issue so there is really nothing to tell it apart from any other except for the Specialist rank on the front just above my name tape which reads Samuelson. I may not sound like it but I'm very proud of to be a part of the U.S. Army and wear that uniform.

After a couple more minutes I finally manage to get to sleep, and it felt wonderful for the very short while it lasted. It is a weird phenomena of dreams that stimuli in the real world often manifest themselves inside your dreams, and while I cannot say for sure I'm pretty sure this took place that fateful evening.

I was having a very pleasant dream involving myself, miss February, and a hot tub when a white flash appeared throughout the building. This of course was not enough to distract me from miss February till it occurred again this time slightly brighter. This continued intermittently for what I would guess five minutes, but then again who can truly tell time in a dream? All at once bright white light flooded everything finally forcing me fully awake just in time to receive the loudest noise I had ever heard go off right in front of me.

It was a while before I was able to fully orient myself and to wrap mt head around what just happened, but when I did it was a bit longer for me to think of anything to do about it. First I did a visual and physical inspection of myself for injuries, and then and only then did I look at the rest of the room to see what might have happened.

At a quick glance it appeared at least that the T.V. Was just fine, game systems and blu-ray player fine, and all furniture undamaged. All this had been seen from my position on the bed still laying down to gain my bearings so next I sat up and looked down at the floor. At first I didn't believe the information my eyes gave me even going so far as to convince myself I had finally slipped into dementia rather than face the seven unconscious forms on my floor.

Possibly even more unbelievable than the fact seven beings just materialized on my floor they appeared to be six ponies and a rather large reptile. The were all very pastel colored and if I had to hazard a guess I would say all six ponies were female. I honestly don't know how long I would have stood there staring if my phone hadn't rung at that moment. I checked the number it was Sergeant Smith my supervisor.

“Hello Sergeant. This is Samuelson.” Some habits dye hard.

“Samuelson were the hell are you? We're doing accountability after that explosion.”

“Sergeant I don't think it was an explosion, and I’m in my barracks room.”

“How the hell did you come to THAT damn conclusion? They heard that blast all the way at the damn PX!”

“Because whatever it was it took place in my room and I wouldn't be talking to you if it was an explosion. Also explosions tend to destroy things not create them”

“... Come Again?”

“Sergeant I'm currently staring at six ponies and a reptile I’m slowly starting to think might be a baby dragon, and they definitely weren't there when I went to bed.”

“I'm on my way stay on the phone we'll help you through this, it'll be alright Samuelson.” It took me a few moments to finally figure out what the hell he was talking about, and it nearly floored me when I did. He thought I was suicidal! Great that’s just what I damn needed ugh. The entire trip to my room he kept up a monologue about it being alright and they'd get me the help I needed. I really wanted to hang up the damn phone but I new that would just increase his panic so I sat there till I finally received a knock on my door.

I opened it immediately and stepped aside for him to enter which he did hastily. It needs to be stated that my room has a fairly simple layout. After entering the room there was a bathroom to your immediate right, besides the bathroom door was a little sink with a mirror, across from them were two two closets, and beyond that was the room itself. So after entering the room he was immediately able to see the sprawling forms on the floor. I must admit he handled it much better than I had.

He merely took out his phone took a photo of the sleeping ponies attached a message stating my building and room number and sent it to every last member of the chain of command from our platoon sergeant to the battalion commander. Naturally this caused an avalanche of calls to his phone and a stampede of officers and non commissioned officers straight to my room.

It was shortly after my First Sergeant arrived that one of them finally started to stir. She was purple colored with a black mane that contained a reddish-pink stripe inside and whiskey-tango-foxtrot was that a horn growing out of her head?! We all waited with baited breath to see what she would do, but what she did took us all by surprise. She took a few moments to orient herself trying to take in and understand her surroundings when she of course noticed the mass of people in the room with her. Upon seeing us she must have jumped about six feet in the air and let out a damn loud scream for something only about three or four feet tall. This not only served to stun the living crap out of us it also roused her companions who took varying amounts of time awaking and orienting themselves.

First was a pony with bright blue coloring, a rainbow colored mane, and Jesus H. Christ two wings on her back! How had I missed that on my initial check?! She had a similar reaction two the first one except she didn't yell and when she jumped she stayed in the air her wings seemingly powerful enough for flight. Second was an orange pony with yellow hair and I at this point the fact she was wearing a stetson cowboy hat really didn't phase me much. Her reaction was the least shocked and most aggressive so far, because upon seeing us she immediately jumped in front of the others and started to paw the ground like a bull before charging.

I have no idea what would have happened if she had been allowed to charge all these high ranking people, but thankfully the first two grabbed her and calmed her down. Then something happened that would forever more shake mankind’s understanding of the universe. The purple one spoke “Calm down Applejack if they were going to hurt us they would have done that while we were asleep!”

This immediately caused just about everyone in the room to gasp rather comically and a couple present to state such brilliant statements as “Mother of God they can talk!” By the time both we and the creatures had gotten over our initial shock at hearing the others speak their remaining companions had awakened and took varying positions behind or beside the first three.

There was a second pony with wings who let out a barely audible “eep!” before diving behind the purple one. The pony with wings had alight pink mane and tail and yellow fur. There was a second unicorn (it still amazed me to be saying that) this one with a white coat & a mane and tail a darker shade of purple than the first unicorn's fur. The last pony was pink. Her coat was pink and her mane and tail a darker pink. Finally the possible baby dragon had purple scales, green ridges along (I couldn't be sure but I thought he could be male) his back and tail, and upon seeing us immediately joined the yellow coated one behind the purple unicorn.

After the last one dove behind her back the purple unicorn gave an eerily human eye roll and sighed loudly. She took a moment to collect her thoughts and than turned to us “Hello, I am Twilight Sparkle protege to her royal highness Princess Celestia, and these are my friends the bearers of the elements of harmony.” She pointed to each pony in turn introducing them to us.

She pointed with her hoof to the blue flying one “This is Rainbow Dash the fastest flyer in all Equestria and bearer of the element of Loyalty.” Upon hearing this introduction the mentioned pony made a very cocky pose, and all her uncertainty at our presence seemed gone which I only later realized was probably intentional on Twilight’s part.

Next was the orange pony with the Stetson “You probably heard me call her Applejack so that's out of the way I guess. She is the owner and operator of Sweet Apple Acres Equestria's, most successful apple orchard, and bearer of the element of honesty.” After her introduction Applejack blushed slightly but still puffed her self up almost to match the one called Rainbow Dash.

Next came the pink one “This is Pinkie Pie the number one party planner in Equestria and bearer of the element of Laughter.” After her into Pinkie Pie (goddamn I don't know if I've ever met a more aptly named being) almost seemed to teleport into the middle of us and launch a rapid fire barrage of words none of us quiet made out. “OhmygoshdoyouguyslikepartiesIshouldtotallyhaveapartyforyouguysIalwayshavepartieswhenImeetnewpeople.AtfirstIthoughtyouguysdidn'thavepartiesanditmademesosad,butthenIsawthechipsandthecookieslayingonthetableandIknewanyponywhohaschipsandcookieshastohavepartiesandthatmademesooohappysonowIhavetothrowyouguysaparty.”

“My god is she always like that? And how did she get from there to here without us seeing?” I didn't realize I'd spoken aloud until Twilight replied.

“Yes she's pretty much all ways like that and we've long ago gave up on trying to figure out how she does anything. We asked her once and she said something about breaking the fourth wall and reentering in a different spot, but none of us have the slightest clue what's she was talking about. Pinkie
please get back over here before you start freaking them out more.” As she stated this last sentence she did another eerily human gesture she face-palmed (or face-hoofed in this case.)

Pinkie Pie seemed to bounce over to the others and proceeded to start munching on my potato chips which she couldn't possibly have grabbed. I let it slide though it seemed a stupid thing to spoil man's first contact over.

Twilight then gestured to the white coated one “This is Rarity world class seamstress, fashion designer, owner of the Carousel Boutique Ponyville's only fashion store, and bearer of the element of generosity.” Not unlike the first two Rarity seemed to preen under her friend's introduction which I was
now sure Twilight was doing on purpose.

“The pegasus behind me is Fluttershy one of Equestria's greatest animal caretakers and bearer of the element of kindness. Finally the baby dragon behind me is Spike my son. He is also my number one assistant at the Ponyville Library which I run and operate.” After this Spike came forward and stood by his mother (I was slightly disturbed by the thought of a dragon much less a pony dragon hybrid but what could I do?) while Fluttershy simply curled up into her mane even further determined not to be seen or noticed.

After it became obvious she was done speaking and was waiting for us to speak the battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel (LTC is the abbreviation which I will use from now on simply because it's easier) Biggs came forward to speak seeing as he was the ranking person in the room. “I am LTC Biggs and I am in charge of these soldiers. Am I correct in assuming that Miss Sparkle is the person in charge and can speak for you all?” Twilight looked at the others who unanimously nodded their heads yes she was in charge. “Excellent than Miss Sparkle could you please inform us of why and how you came to be here, and what are you seeking to accomplish while here?”

“LTC we do not know how or why we're here in fact none of us even know where here is. It is quite obvious that we are not in Equestria any longer because we've been to nearly every part of Equestria and never seen anything like your species. If I must state our purpose it would definitely be to get home by any means possible.” While well phrased this statement had a couple of negative consequences chief among them was eroding all the false bravado she had managed to instill in her friends with her introductions and drive home just how dire their situation was.

The second effect was less noticeable but still there. It was a shiver running down the spines of all the soldiers present. It was obvious they were not from planet Earth, and if they could be come here without their knowing who else might follow with no means of preventing them from appearing anywhere on the planet.

“Miss Sparkle I'm going to have to ask you to explain everything you can about what happened, and don’t leave anything out.” The faint menace born of worry was heard by all present.

the hoofball has been thrown

Princess Luna turned away from the enchanted mirror in which she had been watching her charges meet the strange species known as man. She turned to one of her nearby guards. "Awaken my sister and the captain of the guard. If my sister tries to turn you away tell her I said The hoofball has been thrown.”

If the guard thought the order strange he gave no indication. The guards were trained to obey orders and they carried them out well. It was an amusing distraction from her troubles for the princess of the night to imagine what would happen what would happen if and when the royal guards met their American counterparts.

The Americans were so utterly different than anything she had ever dealt with in a military. When last she had been to war her ponies all marched in single file, lances outstretched like a living wall of spears. The unicorns would shower magic projectiles from behind the earth ponies while the pegasi rained spears from above the enemy line. She or her sister would give all commands from their positions above the battle space. In their day these tactics had been devastating and brutal to all their foes, but unfortunately those days were long since past. The ponies of Equestria needed a new military with new tactics or there might soon be no Equestria to defend.

Several weeks ago Princess Luna had one of her visions of the current future. That is to say she was shown what would come to pass if events were left to unfurl as they currently were. She had seen the deaths of her and Princess Celestia, had watched as if there while Equestria's cities burned, and there people slaughtered or enslaved as toys for the monsters who had just destroyed their world. Like all her visions she had been shown the key to changing the fate upcoming, and like most of her visions the key was hauntingly out of reach.

The key to their survival according to her vision was the people of Earth. When she shared her vision with Tia they had both feared the worst. That this time the key was simply unobtainable and impossible to accomplish. First off Earth was on the other side of the galaxy how in the name of Celestia would they get there, and secondly the vision had given no hints at what they should do when they were there. Would the humans fight beside the ponies? Would they merely give material support and supplies? By Tartarous was Earth supposed to be Equestria's evacuation destination?

So many questions so very little answers. The first and most important question had been answered for them by the most unlikely of sources imaginable. A common street magician named Cauldron had stumbled upon one of the sacred circles long thought lost to this world. He had dreams of being on the thrown, and might have stood a chance with the spirits help. However like foal who had found his father's spear cabinet unlocked had used gratuitous amounts of their power to show off to himself, and that thoughtless power use had immediately caught the princesses attention. It didn't take long to understand his basic plan was to send Twilight to Earth, with the elements unusable launch an attack, and than seize the thrown.

From there it had been simple enough to manipulate the scene in the forest last night. Princess Celestia had sent a few letters to spike ensuring all the elements of harmony were there that night to catch their intergalactic flight, and a couple of moments of intervening in the struggle. In all the days she had been back from her exile on the moon nothing had been as hard to do as force herself to keep Pinkie Pie in that circle and knock her friends over ensuring their capture by the circles spell. Sometimes being a Princess comes with a high cost, but the looks of terror on the faces of those seven had nearly been too much.

When Shining Armor arrived Cauldron would be arrested and imprisoned, and his foalish plan ended. That was a conversation she was dreading very much. “Hello Shining Armor we just wanted to let you know we just made sure your sister Twilight Sparkle was teleported across the galaxy as an ally seeking emissary with no idea what just happened or why.” Sigh this was gonna be awkward.

As things like this have a habit of doing no sooner was that thought in her head than Shining Armor entered the thrown room his wife Cadence beside him, their newlywed glow still firmly in place. They came to the foot of the dais and bowed to their sovereign. Princess Luna greeted them, and asked them to await Princess Celestia's arrival. This wasn't exactly necessary but anything to delay the coming confrontation was welcome in her book.

The newlyweds made small talk while Luna desperately tried to formulate some way to tell her captain of the guard what had been done in a positive light. It wasn't long before her sister appeared, and Luna met her halfway down the room with an affectionate nuzzle.

Princess Celestia's seriousness dropped a little bit as it always did when it came to Luna, but still this was a matter of grave importance with nothing less than the survival of their species on the line. With this in mind the two alicorn sisters took their seats upon their throwns, and bade all present come and hear what they had to say.

“My fellow ponies it pains me greatly to inform you that dark times lie ahead. Princess Luna has had a vision of Equestria's fall, but we shall not sit idly by while our doom approaches. For the last few weeks we have been making war preparations in secret throughout the country. We now have the plans for a defense in depth against any foreign nation currently on Equis. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH BY FAR.” She took a few moments to let the gravity of her statements sink in to her audience.

“The royal guard is hopelessly outponied and out matched by our foes. From what we have seen in Luna's vision they use projectile weapons not unlike a unicorn hurling a rock, but their rocks are launched at such high speed and force as to rend our armor like cheese. They are bipedal and have armor designed to fight weapons similar to their own though we have no measure of how effective they might be. They have monstrous machines impervious to any weapon we have in our armory or any we could hope to create in the roughly one year we estimate to have before their arrival.” Nopony had any idea what to say for a long time after the princess finished till Shining Armor spoke what was on his soldiers minds.

“Then what is being done your majesty and what are our orders?”

The princesses both held their heads a little higher when he finished speaking. Everypony present was terrified, but not one was willing to flee. They trusted the princesses and would die fighting for Equestria without hesitation. The bravery of their subjects never failed to bring pride to the alicorn sisters. After taking a few moments to collect her thoughts Luna gave the awaited reply.

“We have arranged for the bearers of the elements of harmony to seek out some very powerful allies. They use similar technology to our aggressors, but we believe they will stand with us in defense of Equestria. Furthermore we are hoping to emulate their technology and seek their training and guidance in how to run a modern army with such varied technologies.”

Princess Celestia gave her sister an upset look that conveyed much more than anypony else in the room was privy too. Luna had deliberately avoided the issue of where exactly Twilight Sparkle and the others where and how they had gotten there. Celestia couldn't really get angry with her sibling, because when Luna had been released from Nightmare Moon the Royal Guard had taken the longest to forgive and trust her. Her sister was terrified of losing that trust, but Celestia knew all to well the information not said or misconstrued between allies was just as deadly as an enemy's spear.

The guards had been quiet while the sisters had there wordless conversation, but it didn't take them long to put two and two together. One of the guards about halfway in the back of the loose formation spoke up and shattered all of Luna's attempts at concealing the truth. “I beg pardon you majesties but I'm confused. If you say we have plans against everyone on Equis then where are these foes you say are coming, and for that matter where are these allies supposedly capable of helping us? If there where two nations capable of the technology prophesied I'm pretty sure we'd have known about them long before this!”

This time Celestia fielded the question, and unlike Luna who had purposefully muddied her words in unrealized self protection answered the question with the subtlety of a wrecking crane. “It's rather simple I’m afraid. The invaders are coming from outside our solar system in their machines, and the Allies we have sent for are on a planet named Earth which lies about 7 million light years from here.”

As Luna's doomsday prophesy was met with stoicism and bravery this new input was meet with panic and chaos. Questions and shouts poured from every corner of the room.

“You sent Twily across the GALAXY!?”

“How can aliens help us fight aliens?!”

“Why don't you simply hit them with the sun or the moon?”

“Please remain calm and let us finish what we need to say.” It took awhile but eventually everyone managed to regain their senses and under Shining Armor's example managed to go back to attention.

“I realize how terrifying this must be but panicking will solve nothing. We did not come to this plan without first knowing there are no other options. We have sent the elements of harmony to earth in order to enlist the help of a sentient race known as humans. They are just as intelligent as we are if not more so and they have what we do not. They have tools of warfare far beyond what we have and they have the knowledge of how to use them.”

“Luna and I believe the invaders are even more advanced than our hopeful allies, however I still believe this to be our only hope. We were forced to send the elements to earth with no knowledge of how or why they were sent, because the humans would likely have arrested them as spies if they were found on foreign soil trying to ask for war machinery.”

“We have the use of enchanted mirrors to watch over the elements, and they have Spike with them as well so we have good reason to believe we can establish communications with our envoys within the hour or sooner. We can give them our orders, but it is still the bearers that must secure our allies. Without the people of Earth we are bound to a fate of extermination. We wish the elements luck on their mission and the knowledge that all of Equis is in their hooves.”

“Finally there are preparations we can make here and now that can only help if and when our new allies arrive. We want members of the guard to travel to every town in Equestria informing the populace of the situation, and draft notices published and distributed to the same. Every capable male and any volunteering female from 21-45 will report for duty in the Equestrian Army, and any pony claiming themselves incapable of service must be given a note of pardon by their town recruiting guard.”

“Let it be known that from here till further notice all food and electrical power will be rationed with the rest being stored as preparations for the war effort. Until such time as we can establish a proper chain of command all current members of the Equestrian Royal Guard are hereby commissioned as officers of the Equestrian Army with Shining Armor taking the rank of commanding general. He will assign you all ranks and positions first based on your merits as leaders and secondly by seniority.”

“You are all dismissed until 7 P.M. tonight when Luna and I will convene a war counsel with our generals to plan a seize and capture mission on an enemy combatant any and all further needed measures. His capture is absolutely vital to our efforts and will hopefully be a good gauge of where we stand in an operational capacity. Anything you would like to say to your officers General Shining Armor?”

“Yes your majesty. Formation at 5 P.M. tonight in order to let everyone know their knew ranks and titles in time for the war counsel. All placings will be done fairly to the best of my ability, but I'm only pony. Anypony receiving a position they believe below or above their abilities will have the opportunity to address their concerns at the formation. Lastly I want to stress that all information said here today is classified and anypony releasing this information before we are ready to do so will be found guilty of treason. Report to your regular duties until formation and be sure to let everypony who isn't here right now about the formation. Dismissed.” This was followed by a loud chorus of affirmations and the sound of dozens of ponies leaving the hall.

“With your leave your majesty I will now go and start my new duty.”

“Yes General by all means... and we're sorry. For everything.”

For the first moment since he joined the Royal Guard Shining Armor didn't acknowledge his rulers words. He turns and leaves the hall his shoulders burdened with the unseen weight of the world.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Could this day get any worse? First I had a 14 hour work day, got two hours sleep before an explosion went off in my room, found seven creatures of alien origin in said room, and now seven hours later I'm standing in a room with multiple high ranking officers and NCOs trying to look inconspicuous while standing beside the alien creatures known as ponies. Did I mention we're now waiting for the president to video conference with? Some days it just isn't worth the hassle of waking up.

“Excuse me where is the bathroom?” The purple one asks me. It still shocked me that they spoke perfect English, but then again they seem certain that we are speaking Equestrian . She had never said so but it seemed obvious she was the defacto leader of the group with the others all deferring to her without seemingly realizing they were doing so. Case in point The yellow and pink one, I think they said her name is Fluttershy, was the one who needed to use the bathroom judging by her fidgeting, but the purple one was the one that tried to fix the problem.

“Its this way miss Sparkle. Please all of you follow me so I only have to so you once.” I had been put in charge of the ponies until their meeting with the president (god it fells weird and nerve wracking to say that!) and I had been informed rather pointedly to make them comfortable in every way possible. That in itself was rather strange cause the battalion commander had looked about ready to lock them all up after hearing they were teleported here from space unknown, but Twilight Sparkle had pretty much talked the ponies way out of danger.

After a few corridors and a couple of turns we arrived at the bathrooms. As I suspected Fluttershy immediately entered the female lavatory. This caused me wonder how four legged ponies could use a toilet (not to mention their tails) but I then decided somethings were better left unknown. Meanwhile the other ponies were studying me just as subtly as I was studying them. Which is to say not at all.

In fact the only ones that went staring at me like I was the creature from the Lagoon was the orange coated one and the blue coated one. I think their names were AppleJack and Rainbow something or other (I'm bad with names so sue me) and they were to busy having some kind of quarrel to give the scary human much attention. I couldn't hear much of their conversation so I mostly tuned them out. A few minutes of awkwardness later and Fluttershy emerged from the bathroom and joined her fellows.

“Spike you'll find the men's room around the corner so I trust everyone knows where the bathrooms are now?”

After I received seven nods of agreement we headed back to the conference room to find everyone waiting for us rather impatiently. My First Sergeant sent me a look promising painful death which I didn't understand until I turned to the monitor and found myself face to face with President Smith. I brought the ponies to their predetermined spot and made the introductions that I was told to make.

“Mr. President, my name is Specialist Samuelson and I am here today to present to you seven esteemed guests of the United States. These beings speak the language English but appear to have a different alphabet than our own. They refer to themselves as ponies and say they are from the country Equestria on the planet of Equis.

They claim a circle of magic captured them while trying to rescue Pinkie Pie. They were rendered unconscious and awoke inside my barracks room after a non incendiary explosion leaving me the de facto subject matter expert. Their names from my left to right are Twilight Sparkle with Spike on her back, Rarity, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash (I asked on the way back from the bathroom), Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.

As you can see Mr. president the ponies are divided into the tribes.”

“Magic?! Tribes?” The president asks. I see Twilight open her mouth and hurry to intervene lest she try to lecture the president.

“It is very difficult to believe Mr. President, but the ponies with horns, called unicorns, are capable of telekinesis and a range of other abilities seemingly impossible by all known laws of physics. With no other fitting word we were left no option but to use theirs, magic. Ms. Twilight Sparkle has agreed to give you a demonstration of her abilities after the conclusion of the brief. As for the tribe issue that is the word they used to describe it Mr. President, and they became slightly upset when we tried to use the word subclass.”

“If I couldn't see them with my own eyes I..very...very well proceed specialist.”

“Yes Mr. President. The three tribes are unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Each tribe is characterized by the presence or lack of horns or wings. The unicorns have horns and are capable of using magic. The Pegasi have wings with which to fly, and have the ability to manipulate the weather. We have verified this claim Mr. President when Mrs. Rainbow Dash flew to the cloud layer and brought one down to within ten feet of the ground and proceeded to empty the water in that cloud on an unfortunate soldier she had heard making under breath jokes about her sexual orientation. Finally the Earth Ponies have no wings or horns, but have a natural ability for agriculture and making things grow.

It is important to note Mr. President that the ponies have informed us that Equestria is ruled by a Diarchy of two sisters. These sisters are supposedly the only known members of a fourth tribe that have both wings and horns known as alicorns. I hesitate to make this final statement Mr. President, but it was decided it must be done. The ponies inform us that Equis doesn't revolve around their sun, but rather their sun revolves around Equis. The sun is supposedly moved around Equis by the elder of the sisters Princess Celestia, and the younger sister Princess Luna moves the moon around Equis. Do you have any questions Mr. President?

“I'm not even gonna touch the sun and moon thing my head hurts already.I have just one question specialist. What are their intentions.”

Before I could stop her Twilight spoke up from behind me. “Mr. President we just want to go home. We realize this may be impossible and definitely is in the immediate time frame. Therefor we humbly ask that we be given a place to stay and food to eat. We will of course do any and all work asked of us in return.”

“Well spoken Ms. Sparkle. If you were thought to be a security risk you wouldn't be speaking to me right know so I can already lay that aside. My real concern is if you managed to wind up here on Earth than perhaps more of your kind may follow. It is possible that diplomatic and economic relations with Equis may be established one day, and as unorthodox as it may be, for the sake of that possibility I declare you, Twilight Sparkle, to be Equestria's official ambassador to the United States.

General Livengood I want these ponies in Washington within two weeks. I also want Specialist Samuelson to join them as the subject matter expert and because the ponies seem far more at ease with him than anyone else. Use your two weeks to get him ready for escort and bodyguard detail.”

“Yes Sir Mr. President.”

His affirmation received the president turned off his monitor leaving absolute silence behind him. Everyone seemed stunned at what just happened. We had expected to be meet with disbelief and scorn, and had prepared extensively to argue our case. Never had we expected such easy acceptance not to mention declaring her ambassador. Not surprisingly it was General Livengood that recovered first. He turned to me and said.

“Specialist go grab your range gear your life just became hell for the next two weeks.”

The only thing that ran through my mind was FUCK!