The bridging of two worlds

by tyrant6

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.

Comments

[The Commissar]

“I'm on my way stay on the phone we'll help you through this, it'll be alright Samuelson.”

That line sir, is epic. Byall means continue!