Falling Into the Unknown

I sat in the portal building, staring at the blue circle. Celestia had kept up the connection to ‘Discord’s magic’ for this entire time, keeping the portal going. The blue glow it cast on the darkened hall was beautiful, at least to me, like the reflection of a pool on the ceiling of a building.

Azure and Amber sat next to me, looking at the portal as well. It had been two days since the final battle for the Hive, two days since I killed Chrysalis, and one day since I arrived here again and met up with Amber and Azure. They had both survived the battle, as bad over eighty percent of the guards.

From what I had heard, the Changeling Hive was finished. Around half of the Changelings had been killed, and the rest captured. Currently, guards stood watch over them, while Celestia had worked to figure out how to handle it.

“So… Tonight you’ll be leaving us.” Amber said, her voice strained.

“About twenty minutes from now.” I replied.

After a short pause, Azure spoke up.

“It’s been an interesting two months.” My friend said.

“Has it been two months already?” I asked.

“Almost.” Amber said. “Two months since Cherilee came knocking on my door to warn me about a ‘strange monster’ in the forest.”

“And we all know how that ended up.” I said, chuckling.

“Yeah, with you knocking me out!” She said jokingly.

This time, the pause lasted several minutes before a new voice spoke up.

“Gathered around the portal already?”

I turned around and smiled. “Celestia. How nice of you to join us. Weren’t you busy figure out what the hell to do with the Changelings?”

The kind monarch returned my smile, sitting down next to our group as Luna entered as well.

“Nay. Tis I who convinced Tia to come here, else I would have been alone.” The princess of the night said as she sat down next to Celestia.

“Oh, I would have come myself.” Celestia said. “After all, Tyler did kill Chrysalis.”

“With over two thousand guards to back me up.” I deadpanned. “I keep telling everybody that.”

“You still killed her.” Amber said. “And that’s good enough for us.”

Another short pause passed before I spoke up again.

“You know, I’m going to miss you all.” I said. “When I go through, I’ll never be able to see you again.”

“We’re prepared to accept that.” Amber said solemnly. “You need to go back to your world, and we need to stay in ours.”

Song

“It’s time.” Celestia said after a moment, getting up off the ground. “Are you ready, Tyler Maddox?”

I nodded, getting up off the ground as I did. “I am ready.”

Azure and Amber both stood up, looking at me. I knelt down on the ground and hugged them, the only response I felt that was needed. After that was finished, I turned to Celestia.

“Now, was the entire time I was here so bad?” I said in jest.

“You foalnapped a guard, led my guards on a chase for hours, and annoyed us all with what you know… And shocked us with much of it. Yet you defended us during the wedding, took down the greatest threats Equestria had, and killed Chrysalis. No, it wasn’t so bad.” The solar princess said with a smile. “Go, Tyler, and live your life.”

I turned to Luna next, preparing to say my goodbyes, but she held out a hoof.

“Tyler, I have something I have prepared for thee.” Her magic levitated what looked like a glass ball to me. It was about four inches across, and was filled with a rainbow of colors, like an aurora had decided to take root inside. “This is a crystal, infused with the same spell that brought you here. If you ever wish to return, simply hold it in your hands, and wish to be here. You shall appear in the Canterlot Castle throne room.”

Luna paused as I watched the most precious gift I had ever received, holding it in my hands, before she continued. “It is all that I could give thee for what thou has done. Thank you, Tyler Maddox, for all that you have done.”

What she did next shocked me. Stepping forward, she hugged me. Celestia looked surprised as we broke away, before breaking out into a smile as I tucked the ball into my pocket.

“Thank you, Luna.” I said, shooting a glance towards the portal before walking towards it. When I stood mere feet from the edge, I looked back at the four ponies, my friends in this strange world.

“Until we meet again.” I said, stepping through the blue disk.

And everything went white.

-=-=-

“Mr. President, wake up!” One of the Secret Service agents said.

James Allen, President of the United States, quickly shook off his sleepiness. If the Secret Service woke him, it would be for a good reason.

“What is it?” The President said, quickly standing up off of the cot he had been lying on for the past week as the ‘Portal Crisis’ went on.

“Some of the Scientists have seen an increase in the amount of Radiation coming from the portal, Sir.” The man standing at the edge of his tent said. “They think something might be coming through.”

James quickly dressed faster, cursing his need of sleep. When he was done, he walked out of the tent, where several more men of the Secret Service were there to escort him, guns barely concealed. Together, the group walked to the clearing around the portal, where several men in coats stood.

“Mr. President!” One of them said.

“At ease, gentlemen. Now, what’s the problem?” James said.

“About five minutes ago, a new spike of radiation came from the portal. We think something might be coming through.” One of them said.

“How long until something does, if that is true?”

“Any second now.”

All of them looked beyond the barricades manned by National Guard soldiers, at the shining blue disk in the center of the field. It grew brighter and brighter, until it suddenly dimmed.

An arm went through, and then a leg, and then an entire body. President Allen went rigid, making out many of the features on the being that walked through. It looked completely human, clad in some type of camouflage clothing, with a backpack and a gun on its back.

“What am I looked at, Sergeant?” He asked the soldier next to him.

“Sir, entity appears to be clad in an old Woodland MARPAT BDU. It has an AK-type rifle on its back, along with what looks like a normal backpack and a laptop case. Sir.” The Sergeant next to him said.

-=-=-

I looked out at the groups of soldiers standing behind barricades, in the middle of a virtual tent city. Dozens of men stood in the background, as well as one in particular surrounded by about a dozen men in suits. Deciding to cut their thinking short, I said the first think I could think of.

“Hey, does anybody here know the date?” I said.

After a short pause, the man surrounded by the ‘guards’ spoke out.

“It is the 27th of August, 2014. Who and what are you, if you don’t mind me asking.”

I grinned. “I’m Tyler Maddox, and you’ll probably find me under the list of ‘missing people’ two months ago. Now who are you, and where the hell did I end up?”

After a short pause, where the man could be seen talking to a man next to him, who rushed off, he replied.

“You’re in the United States of America. Near the town of Little Rock, Arkansas. And I am President James Allen.”

“Mr. President.” I said, walking forward. “I am glad as hell to be back.”

“Mind telling the gentlemen here how you appeared out of a portal in the middle of nowhere?” The man, who I now knew was the President, asked.

“I’d be happy to.” I said with a smile.