Standing United

Chapter 1: A Call For Unity

“So…” Duskfall hadn’t really planned for this. Well, when her plans involved her ceasing to exist that was only to be expected. Now she was stuck with the awkward propositions of helping bring in a new world order, spending time with her ‘parents’, and being babysat by Death’s Right Hand. At least he was a goofball and not some scowling reaper. Speaking of her parents…

“So…” Tom agreed as he, Twilight, and Duskfall all sitting around the Map. They had decided to talk after coming back through the Mirror but had so far only been able to awkwardly eye each other for the last fifteen minutes.

“This is ridiculous!” Twilight finally broke, stamping a hoof against her crystalline seat in frustration.

“You’re only just now realizing this?” Duskfall couldn’t stop herself from snarking with an amused chuckle.

“You know what I mean, missy!” Twilight huffed with her ears splayed back.

“I think we’ve moved well past ‘ridiculous’ and perhaps even beyond ‘absurd’,” Tom quipped dryly, a bemused smile on his face.

“I hate both of you,” Twilight declared with a pout as she folded her forelegs petulantly.

“What an awful thing to say to your daughter!” Duskfall gasped melodramatically, “Oh, woe is me! My own mother hates me!”

“Well you’re Tom’s daughter at least. You’re both huge hams!” Twilight declared, trying desperately to maintain her pout through an oncoming fit of giggles.

“Hey, Duskfall, Tom, Twilight, I’ve got a message from Celestia!” Spike entered the room, cutting the three’s banter short. Spike walked over to give the note to Twilight and paused briefly to hug her, “I missed you.”

“Happy to be back,” She replied as she hugged him back before turning her attention to the missive.

“What’s it say?” Duskfall asked as she fluffed her wings.

“There’s to be a summit in two day’s time to discuss what should be done,” Twilight replied as she scanned the piece of paper.

“Ten bits says at least one of them wants to lock me up and throw away the key,” Duskfall grew a dark grin at her attempts at gallows humor.

“Duskfall you’re being silly. No one would want to-” Twilight started to say but was interrupted.

“I’ll take that bet,” Tom said, raising his hoof and surprising Twilight.

“What?! Why?!” Twilight shouted.

“Simple: Politician + Problem = ineffectually shoveling the blame onto someone else,” Tom shrugged, “Once the blame is assigned, they’ll need to punish the ‘one responsible’ so the people think they’re doing something about it.”

“To make matters worse, I am the one responsible,” Duskfall said as she nodded her head in agreement.

“So someone is bound to call for some sort of retribution,” Tom replied. Twilight cocked her head to the side as she considered what they had said before sighting wearily.

“I can’t exactly argue against your logic,” She admitted.

“So then, I guess we have two days to figure out what we want to do and say,” Duskfall said and the two Alicorns and one dragon in the room nodded.

Two Days Later

Celestia was nervous, even if she didn’t allow herself to show it. Why wouldn’t she be? This summit would herald the greatest change to the state of Equuis any of them save Discord and Harmonia had ever witnessed. It would make the Nightmare’s possession of Luna all those years ago look insignificant in comparison.

“Are you ready for the other dignitaries to arrive, Sister?” Luna asked at her side, awaiting the foreign dignitaries in the courtyard.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, Luna,” Celestia confessed.

“Well we do have a guide in this particular venture, which is undoubtedly a boon many in our situation lacked,” Luna pointed out.

“True enough, Luna,” Celestia conceded with a tilt of her head.

“I would have thought you two were used to making history by now,” Chrysalis snarked from her spot beside Luna.

“I don’t think that’s something you can truly get used to,” Cadence commented from Celestia’s other side.

“If it were a pedestrian thing then it wouldn’t be worthy of making the history books,” Duskfall quipped from her position farthest from Celestia on Cadence’s side.

“If it were pedestrian it would be part of an auto-biography,” Tom snickered.

“I think I see the first of the dignitaries,” Shining Armor announced as he squinted and shaded his eyes and sure enough a smattering of dots on the horizon soon revealed themselves to be the Griffon contingent. Shortly thereafter, the Griffons landed on the grass of the courtyard, which had been chosen as the meeting place with the Dragon Lord in mind.

“Princesses of Equestria, I greet you on this auspicious day,” The Griffon King and his entourage bowed politely. The Equestrians returned the bow.

“King Gallahan, we welcome you to Canterlot,” Celestia replied.

“I couldn’t very well refuse your invitation when I learned what the summit was about!” He exclaimed boisterously while clapping Celestia on the back with a wing.

“It will certainly be an event to be remembered,” Celestia smiled with practiced ease. Gallahan chuckled.

“Master of understatement as always, Celestia,” He said as he scanned the area, “Are we the first to arrive then?”

“You are,” Celestia confirmed.

“Excellent! What of our extraterrestrial guest?” Gallahan inquired.

“I can only presume he wishes to make an entrance,” Celestia answered as the corners of her lips twitched in poorly repressed amusement. She knew full well what he had planned.

“I’ll look forward to that then,” Gallahan smirked and he and his took their seats at the meeting table.

It was only a few moments later that a gentle breeze blew through the courtyard, bearing a group of Breezies with it. A Breezy twice the size of the others with the wings of a monarch butterfly fluttered forward.

“Hail Princess Celestia o’ tha Pony Tribes!” She greeted as loudly as her small frame would allow.

“Hail Queen Titania of the Breezy People,” Celestia greeted in kind, “And thank you for agreeing to attend on such short notice. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“Achk, Breezies have little enough say in Equuis’ politics as it is! I shan’t let a chance like this slip away!” Titania said firmly.

“And your input on this matter is much appreciated,” Celestia said, “As is that of every other world leader.”

“Oh no…don’t tell me ya invited the fooking Storm King!” Titania begged.

“As…energetic as the Storm King may be, he still rules over a large portion of the southern Badlands and Mount Aris,” Celestia said.

“‘Energetic’ is he? Are ya sure that’s tha word ya wanne use?” Titania asked with an arched brow.

“You know my answer to that, Titania,” Celestia replied, the barest ghost of amusement passing over her face.

“Yes, Titania, the Ponies have to at least pretend to be impartial!” Gallahan laughed.

“Gallahan, you old brute! I’ve been meanin’ tah have a word with ye!” With those words Titania and her escort fluttered over to the table.

Next to arrive were the Kirin. Celestia had fully expected them to either not show up at all or at the very least still be under the effects of that dreadful Stream of Silence, so imagine her surprise when, for the first time in almost twenty years, she heard the voice of Rain Shine as the Kirin leader greeted her.

“Greetings Celestia,” She spoke in a dry, raspy monotone. It was clear she was still out of practice with her voice, but it was still sweet to Celestia’s ears.

“Greetings Rain Shine. Your presence here is a surprise, but a welcome one,” Celestia said with a warm smile.

“Even the Kirin could not ignore this,” Rain Shine said neutrally and took her seat. Gallahan and Titania clearly felt uncomfortable with the Kirin’s attendance, but said nothing about it and Rain Shine seemed disinclined to care.

Shortly thereafter a mountain of scales and wings appeared on the horizon. Dragon Lord Torch had arrived. As was usual, it seemed he was alone at first, but as he drew closer, a much smaller dragon was spotted flying alongside him.

“Celestia!” The elder dragon bellowed as he touched down, “It’s been too long!”

“Torch! I wasn’t expecting you to bring anyone!” Celestia shouted back.

“Ah, I don’t believe you’ve met my daughter, Ember!” Torch gestured to the much smaller, much younger dragon next to him.

“Yo,” She said with the supreme apathy that only teenagers seem capable of producing.

“Pleased to meet you, Ember,” Celestia greeted. Ember opened her mouth to say something, but clearly thought better of it at the last second.

“Nice to meet you too,” The young dragoness replied, clearly forcing herself to be polite. Torch, for his part, seemed satisfied with her efforts. Torch took his place near the table, Titania yelling at him all the while to mind his tempest causing volume.

Somehow the Saddle Arabians, Zebricians, and Minotaurs all arrived at the same time, despite coming from three different directions.

“President Cliff, Sultan Shifting Sands, Chief Lionheart, welcome to the Summit,” Celestia bade as they approached.

“Of course, such an event demands nothing less than the Senate’s full attention and I’m sure my colleagues feel similarly,” Cliff said somberly in a deep baritone.

“Such a monumental change to the state of the world has not occurred since the days of Discord’s mad reign. We would be fools to put our heads in the sands and try to ignore it,” Shifting Sands agreed.

“To ignore this Summit would invite disaster. I only wish we could have known faster,” Lionheart remarked.

“Indeed. Potentially only having a day or two for this Summit is most unfortunate,” Cliff sighed.

“We work with what we’ve got. Now I do believe it is time for us to find our spot,” Lionheart said and the trio made their way to the table.

The next arrivals were King Vorak and Queen Haydon…Tirek’s parents. Celestia didn’t need to look at the trio of purple Alicorns to know they were apprehensive of the pair. Given their history with Tirek, such feelings were inevitable. Apparently the King and Queen also appreciated this fact as, instead of approaching Celestia, they went straight to the trio.

“Twilight Sparkle, Tom Williams, and Duskfall Sparkle…for the unspeakable horrors my son has inflicted upon you, you have my sincere apologies,” King Vorak spoke before he and his Queen bowed before them. Tom and Twilight appeared dumbfounded, but Duskfall had no such issues.

“I will never forgive Tirek for what he did. You both played a role in how he turned out. A mother who refused to acknowledge Tirek’s wrongdoings until his crimes mounted so high as to be impossible to ignore. A father who treated him with naught but suspicion and paranoia until it became a self-fulfilling prophecy just because he was born with magic more potent than most…yet Tirek is his own person. We can sit here for days arguing if anything could have been done to turn him from his path and if so, when it would have needed to be done. That way lays madness and I should know. Instead I will say that I will not hold your son’s actions against you in our dealings as leaders of our respective nations. Anything else is irrelevant for the moment,” Duskfall declared. Twilight and Tom looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

“I understand. Truthfully, I had expected a much harsher rebuke,” King Vorak remarked.

“I have no interest in airing dirty laundry in public. If you find me behind closed doors, my censors will be turned off and you’ll get the full blast,” Duskfall smirked, her whole body suddenly radiating something akin to killing intent. Wisely, the King and Queen decided to take their seats rather than risking unintentionally provoking Duskfall.

The next party to trickle in was the Deer. Queen Sacred Springs and her entourage entered the courtyard with their renowned grace. Once she drew close to Celestia, she bowed respectfully.

“Lady Lightbringer, I greet you,” Sacred Springs said with reverence in her voice.

“Lady Sacred Springs, I welcome you to Canterlot,” Celestia said in return.

“Thank you for taking us into your home and hearth,” Sacred Springs replied before taking her own seat.

The Yaks, with their customary rambunctiousness, were next to show themselves.

“YAKS HAVE ARRIVED FOR MEETING!” Prince Rutherford shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Hello Prince Rutherford,” Celestia greeted pleasantly.

“GREETINGS SUN PRINCESS!” He replied.

“How did the journey here treat you?” Celestia asked conversationally.

“TRAIN WAS GOOD! THANK YOU FOR ASKING!” Rutherford answered before he and his took their seats.

Celestia took a quick headcount of those in attendance. There was only one party still missing. Secretly Celestia hoped he wouldn’t show up at all, but her faint hopes were dashed as storm clouds rolled in on what was supposed to be a clear day. Shortly thereafter a zeppelin flew into the airspace above Canterlot.

“Here he comes…” Luna couldn’t keep herself from muttering. It was a sentiment shared by most gathered, even if only some voiced it. It was a mark of how universally unpopular the Storm King was that even the Dragons and the Griffons, who were forever squabbling over treasures and land, shared a dislike for the Yeti.

The zeppelin landed and soon thereafter the Storm King, along with Queen Novo and a handful of underlings, disembarked. One in particular caught Celestia’s eye, a unicorn with a snapped horn. Celestia could only imagine the trauma that the mare had suffered, both the sheer power to shatter her horn and living with the injury afterward.

“Hello Ponies!” The Storm King greeted with a slimy, condescending smile.

“Greetings, Storm King,” Celestia said, doing her best to keep her face in her best fake smile.

“Happy to be here!” He declared, “And what a nice place ‘here’ is,” His eyes scanned the area with naked avarice. It sent chills up Celestia’s spine. She had suspected for awhile now that he had designs on Equestria. This all but confirmed those suspicions and she wanted nothing more than to demand he leave. Unfortunately that would be counterproductive at the moment.

“With your arrival, we’re all gathered. Let us take our seats so the Summit can officially begin,” Celestia said. Fortunately the Storm King complied without any further remarks. The Ponies then took their seats and the Summit was ready to begin.

Suddenly it seemed as if they were all transported to the depths of space. Glittering stars and swirling galaxies came into existence all around them.

“Space: The Final Frontier…” A commanding voice rang out. Tom, Twilight, and Duskfall looked at each other.

“Over the untold eons and the endless reaches of the cosmos, there exist countless civilizations. These civilizations range from the theropoda-like species Kinecelerans-” an image of one appeared before them, “-to the jellyfish-like Hanar,” Another imagine appeared.

“Yet despite their differences, one thing unites almost all sapient species: A desire to know what’s out there. A drive to explore, to discover, to learn, a drive which eventually leads them to look to the stars and wonder ‘what’s out there?’.” The speaker continued.

“Most species have the luxury of going into space at their own pace. They slowly develop from simple chemical rockets to faster than light travel and they typically find that they are not alone in the universe. Some species are, instead, forcefully advanced into the space age for one reason or another. You unlucky souls have been thrust even further along the road straight to being forced to play on the interdimensional stage,” David appeared at the head of the table.

“I have been tasked with giving you the tools and information you need to make this transition as painless as possible. That’s not to say it will be a smooth process, far from it, in fact. However, it is my hope that this does not become an unmitigated disaster,” He told the gathered delegates. With a snap of his fingers, the illusion dissipated and they were back in the courtyard.

“And how do we know you’re telling the truth?” The Storm King spoke, “Illusions aren’t that hard to make.”

“A fair enough concern, Equuis is overflowing with Magic and such an illusion would be child’s play for one such as Discord. However, I direct your attention to the three young Alicorns sitting at this very table. You can sense their power, correct?” David asked the Yeti. He begrudgingly nodded.

“I suppose I can detect some small amount of power,” He said imperiously, barely glancing at Tom, Twilight, and Duskfall.

“So, that leaves us with three options. Either I’m such a skilled illusionist that I can make you believe you are sense Alicorn levels of power from three separate sources for a prolonged period of time, I have created three Alicorn level beings, or I’m telling the truth. In any of these three situations, wouldn’t the wisest course of action be to at least listen to what I have to say? At worse I’m a very powerful crazy person who just wants to waste your time,” David shrugged.

Most of the gathered at the Summit looked at each other. The Storm King was clearly just trying to stir the pot, as it were, yet they couldn’t say his words were completely without merit. Astonishing claims require astonishing evidence, after all. As David had pointed out, having three nearly identical purple Alicorns sitting next to each other was quite astonishing evidence indeed.

“So, for the moment if we take it on good faith that the things I’m warning you about will come to pass, let’s get down to discussing what we’ll do about it,” David said as his gazed scanned the gathered.

“That’s a fine idea, but what can we do about it?” Gallahan asked to mutterings of agreement.

“We certainly won’t be mewling hatchlings about it,” Torch rumbled.

“Policies on immigration, on imports and exports, on tourism, and on building new infrastructure seem like a good place to start,” Celestia remarked.

“Do we know how the first…guests will be arriving?” Sacred Springs inquired.

“Unfortunately not,” David admitted, “The most typical methods would be by spaceship or by portal. In the case of portals or teleportation, they could potentially end up anywhere on Equuis and I wouldn’t be able to detect their presence until after the portal has opened or from picking up the energy discharge from the teleportation.”

“I suppose that would preclude any of us from simply trying to close our borders,” Rain Shine said, her face impassive.

“Is there any way to prevent them from showing up in specific locations? I’m sure I don’t speak only for the Minotaur People when I say there are certain places we’d rather not have prying eyes,” President Cliff said.

“I can supply a number of devices meant to redirect most kinds of portals and teleportation. Unfortunately since they have to be more generalized, that means they aren’t able to hit as wide a range. At best I can get you 100 cubic meters of coverage per device,” David answered.

“We need ta decide if we’re gonna send ‘em all to a single location or iffen we’re gonna handle newcomers to each o’ our territories in our own ways,” Titania spoke up.

“Given the sheer volume and variety we’re looking at, a single location wouldn’t be able to keep up,” Shifting Sands spoke up, “But those selfsame reasons mean that coordinating between every nation who is and isn’t supposed to be on Equuis would be a nightmare if we weren’t all operating on the same protocols.”

“Perhaps neutral zones we should create, that such we might avoid such an unpleasant fate,” Lionheart suggested.

“YAKS LIKE THAT IDEA!” Rutherford proclaimed.

“It wouldn’t be difficult to set aside a piece of land to build some kind of processing center on. If the land is considered neutral territory, it also keeps anyone from having undue influence over the new arrivals,” Cadence mused and all eyes turned to the Storm King. It was no secret that those people he conquered often became slaves.

“All in favor of this plan?” Celestia asked and after a few moment’s consideration and one or two stink eyes directed at the Storm King, the motion was passed.

One and a half days later

The majority of the Summit had been spent hammering out the finer details, with some discussion on what should be the sole domain of each individual government. To Duskfall's eternal shock, no one had suggested arresting her yet. However, just as things seemed to be winding down David perked up like a hound that had caught the scent of a fox.

“It’s time for a field trip, boys and girls!” He declared, “We’ve got our first arrivals coming in via portal about three miles east!”

“Then what are we waiting around for?!” Torch bellowed.

“YAKS WANT TO GREET NEWCOMERS!” Rutherford agreed.

“I just need a moment to run the calculations for a teleport gate,” David assured and about 20 seconds later a magic circle appeared on the ground and they were teleported away.

The congregation reappeared in a mostly empty field. More than a few people had to deal with some disorientation, but they quickly shook it off. They couldn't very well tell their children and grandchildren they had been too busy dealing with a little motion sickness to properly greet the extraterrestrial visitors.

As one, they turned to the open portal that was sitting in the field, waiting with baited breath for who or what would emerge…

Author's Note

Ain't I a stinker?

To be completely, 100% honest, I'm just sick of looking at this chapter's ugly mug. It was supposed to get out months ago but then real life started kicking me in the balls and four months later here we are.

Anyway, allow me to properly welcome you to Standing United! Next chapter will be the reveal of who's coming thru the portal and chapters after that will start settling more into the slice of life/anthology category. I hope to see you there!