Standing United Chapter 2

The gathered being awaited with baited breath as the portal flickered and sparked lightly, as if it wasn’t quite as stable as it could be. Twilight felt her heart beating hard in her breast as she awaited first contact…well, it would be third contact, after Tom and David, but who’s counting? She wondered what manner of beings they would be. What memories she had received from Duskfall only made her less certain what might come through that portal. All of reality was a big place, after all.

Speaking of her pseudo-daughter, if Duskfall shared her nervous anticipation at all she wasn’t showing it. Twilight could be honest with herself enough to admit she felt the slightest bit of envy over Duskfall’s seemingly calm visage, but she also knew full well what Duskfall had gone through to get to that point.

Then her ears perked up, registering sound before her conscious mind caught up. She returned her full attention to the portal to find it looking as if it were on the verge of collapse, wild bolts of energy flying from it and its circular shape wobbling dangerously. Twilight didn’t need to be an expert to know the portal was either about to collapse completely or disgorge the ones who were using it.

Sure enough, with one last mighty crack of energy discharge, three humanoids and three small floating marbles came tumbling out just before the portal collapsed entirely. The humanoids groaned on the ground while the marbles hovered above them, seemingly in concern. The marbles then popped open into more complex looking models and to Twilight’s immense surprise, they spoke!

“Dan, are you alright?!” A rough, masculine sounding voice emanated from the red marble.

“Ugh, I think so…not looking forward to going through that portal again though,” A young man with brown hair groaned. He was wearing a red jacket, black undershirt, white pants, and a pair of goggles on his head.

“Sorry about that, I’m not sure what went wrong,” The small blonde boy apologized. He was wearing glasses, a blue vest over a light blue undershirt with white pants and blue fingerless gloves with orange orbs on the back of the hands. His hair was also done with a small ponytail in the back.

“Uh, guys, we seem to have an audience,” The young woman of the group said. She had orange hair and was wearing a small silver jacket, white gloves that reached almost to her elbows, blue earrings, and a rouge form-fitting jumpsuit with uneven sized boots and leggings. The most striking thing about her was her eyes. They seemed clouded over, almost like what happens with certain blind people, but not quite the same. Her eyes were also an almost uniform blue color, only a slightly darker center denoting possible pupils distinct from the iris.

The other members of her party turned to see the gathered crowd.

“Gah!” Dan exclaimed.

“Holy cow!” The smaller boy squeaked.

“You know, I thought I was ready for most things that might come through that portal. Borg, Andalites, maybe even the Teletubbies, if the universe was in a particularly sadistic mood. I was not expecting a pair of Humans, a Vestal, and a trio of Bakugan. It’s nice to know I can still be surprised,” David snarked.

“You seem to have us at a slight disadvantage..?” The redhead trailed off.

“David Thomas, but you have bigger concerns than who I am and how I know you,” David said mildly.

“Let me guess, how to get home and the fact that we’ve crash landed in the middle of what looks to be a bunch of royalty?” The redhead sighed.

“ROYALTY?!” Dan squawked.

“The crowns and things kinda give it away,” The smaller blonde deadpanned.

“Daniel, compose yourself!” The red marble barked and the young man jumped up to comply. He bowed earnestly, his companions quickly following suit.

“Sorry for barging in unannounced! I’m Dan Kuso, these are my friend Marucho, Mira, and Drago,” Dan introduced themselves.

“There’s no need to apologize. It seems like this was quite unexpected on your end and we were…well, not expecting you in particular, but we were expecting some kind of visitors,” Celestia replied graciously.

“Expecting visitors?” Mira asked curiously.

“Perhaps we can discuss this somewhere that isn’t the middle of an empty field?” Gallahan helpfully suggested.

“I’ll just plop us back in the courtyard we were in before if that’s alright with everyone?” David asked to general nodding and murmurs of agreement. In an instant they found themselves back in their seats, with their guests standing a little off to the side of the table.

“Whoa!” The four of them exclaimed as they took in their sudden change of surroundings. Drago then groaned as he started wobbling in the air drunkenly.

“Drago! What’s wrong?!” Dan exclaimed worriedly as he reached out to cradle the Bakugan in his hands.

“Nothing…just a little woozy…” Drago assured him

“Sorry about that, first timers can sometimes experience something akin to motion sickness,” David apologized.

“I’ll be fine…” Drago assured a bit unsteadily.

“So…” Mira began, “You said you were expecting someone? And I suppose it has to do with that dimensional disturbance we detected?”

“That might’ve been my doing,” Duskfall admitted as she looked slightly away and her ears folded. She knew that inevitably the story of her fuck up would spread far and wide. She just wished ‘inevitably’ would come a lot later down the line.

“We should probably get our own introductions out of the way,” Celestia noted and the gathered all introduced themselves to the new arrivals.

“A world of magic filled with mythological beings! Amazing!” Marucho exclaimed as he took it all in with a wide eyed wonder.

“That was pretty much my reaction when I got here, with a side order of panic,” Tom snarked as he grinned at Marucho’s child-like enthusiasm.

“Being on the receiving end of Celestia’s death glare will do that,” Duskfall teased as she shoulder bumped him.

“Why yes, yes it will,” Tom nodded faux-sagely, if either of them noticed Celestia pouting, well, she was a big girl who could withstand a little teasing now and again.

“So, what exactly are yer intentions?” Titania asked of the dimensionally misplaced quartet.

“We were just investigating the source of the disturbance. We definitely weren’t expecting to find all this,” Mira said, “That being said, The Resistance could always do with more allies.”

“We can certainly discuss such matters,” Celestia replied as she noticed the Storm King’s sour look.

“Tell us of your enemies, child,” Gallahan encouraged, his intrigue clear in his posture and voice.

So they did, telling the tale of the Vestal people and how the royal family had convinced the general public that Bakugan were no more than dumb animals while performing cruel experiments on them.

“Such casual disregard for the sanctity of life, do you have any idea why the royal family would cause such strife?” Lionheart asked the slightest tone of disgust in his voice.

“Unfortunately we don’t,” Mira sighed, “All we know is they’re working towards some kind of goal.”

“All warfare is based on deception. Without knowing what they want, we can’t know what they need to do to achieve their goals or how far they’ll go to do it,” Tom commented.

“Just so,” Cliff agreed, “And speaking personally, I would need to get the approval of the Senate before entering any sort of alliance.”

Dan looked like he wanted to say something, but Marucho spoke first, “Of course, we just showed up unannounced and suddenly asked for your help in a rebellion. It’s only reasonable that you need time to deliberate.”

“In the mean time, you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need,” Luna offered, “Do you have the means to return home? The portal you used to arrive did not appear to be the most stable.”

“If nothing else, I should be able to get us home,” Drago said, “And your hospitality is very welcome.”

“Tis a small thing,” Luna assured and summoned one of the maids to escort the visitors to the guest quarters.

“That children should be made to fight against such a corrupt empire,” Sacred Springs sighed.

“We’ll have to confirm a few details, of course, but I share the sentiment. The young should enjoy their youth,” Shifting Sands said as he stroked his beard.

“There is an argument to be had about the young needing to fight for their future because it is theirs,” Gallahan said, “But that is neither here nor there.”

“You all can do whatever you want, but I’m staying out of it,” The Storm King declared to the surprise of absolutely no one.

“No one expected otherwise,” Torch rumbled dryly.

“Given recent revelations, I suggest we adjourn for the day and inform those who need to be informed,” Celestia suggested to general agreement and the meeting dissolved.

Author's Note

BWUAHAHAHHAHAAHAH.

I can guarantee none of you saw this coming and if you say you did then I'm calling you a filthy liar. I put exactly all the thought and zero thought into this choice. Also, it's finally done, thank fuk. Next chapter will likely be the last chapter done in a more sequential style before moving into a more anthology style.