Equestria in Conflict - Discovering Home

John looked out on the forest below as the chariot sped through the sky. Truthfully, he had no idea why he, Wesley, Anton, Twilight, Rainbow, and all four other 'Elements of Harmony' had been summoned to the castle, but he assumed it had to be big. Judging from the near-panic the letter displayed, he was probably right.

Right now, he and the others were riding a group of three chariots over the Everfree forest, the gigantic patch of woodland that dominated the center of Equestria, and seemed to be the only thing the ponies were scared of.

'It's just a damn forest.' John thought. Nothing too scary about clouds moving on their own or anything. Of course, there are supposed 'monsters' there, but the ponies have magic. Why can't they just clear the area out?

When he voiced that to Twilight Sparkle, who stood next to him in the chariot, she just stared at him before replying.

"Half of the creatures in the Everfree are immune to most magic, John." She said. "And not all unicorns can cast spells at my level. Think of it as the difference, in your army, between being a cook and operating one of your war vehicles."

"Most soldiers know how to drive, but I probably couldn't operate a tank worth a damn." John admitted.

Twilight beamed at him. "Exactly. There just might be hope for you yet!" She sarcastically commented.

John rolled his eyes. "At least I don't go into a panic every time Celestia comes over. I still remember that. Twenty miles outside of Seattle, and you were suddenly going crazy because 'Celestia might not approve'."

Twilight gave an exasperated sigh. "John, I put off that habit three months ago."

"That's why I'm here." John said, bracing himself as the chariot - and the pegasi pulling it - hit a small crosswind. "To remind you of all of your mistakes."

"I don't know whether I regret casting that spell or not now." Twilight joked.

"What? And miss out on all of us?" John said, throwing an arm out in fake horror. "I am shocked that you would even suggest such a thing!"

"I regret nothing." Twilight deadpanned, before both of them erupted in laughter.

Fifteen minutes later, the chariots touched down in the castle gardens in Canterlot, quickly slowing to a halt in the soft soil. John quickly jumped off of the one he was in as the others did the same. They made their way towards the castle, moving across the green lawn, before finding a familiar group of ponies waiting for them.

"Twilight!" Applejack shouted as the orange mare saw them.

"Girls!" Twilight replied as she and Rainbow rushed forward, meeting each other in a large group hug.

"I almost thought I might never see you all again..." Twilight said as they broke the hug.

"We're your friend, silly!" Pinkie Pie answered. "Of course we'll be there for you!"

"Any idea why we're here?" Wesley asked as he, John, and Anton caught up.

"I have no idea what could have prompted this." Rarity replied, avoiding Wesley's gaze. "But I am sure Princess Celestia must have a good reason."

"Let us move on so we can find out." Anton said, turning towards the doors to the castle and opening them.

"Come, we have much to discuss." Celestia said without funfair as soon as they entered, gesturing them towards a room at the side. The ponies nervously went inside, followed by the humans. They quickly found places on the chairs and couches scattered around the room as both Luna and Celestia entered, shutting the door.

"We have a problem, I assume." John immediately said.

"You assume correctly." Celestia stated. "Chrysalis has activated the same spell we used to get back from your world, and has changed it to allow a permanent portal to be made."

"How do you know this?" Anton asked.

"Tis a massive spell: It used a large amount of energy, sufficient enough that We noticed it immediately." Luna stated.

"What is your plan? You do have a plan, right?" Wesley asked.

Celestia nodded. "We do. The Changelings on your Earth were allied with the 'Russians' in your war: we cannot let them do so again. We shall reestablish the portal, make it dependent and permanent based on the background magic here, and set it to open where we left." She paused, and then continued. "Your government gave me the assurance that, if we should ever choose to come back, they would be ready to receive us there."

"What about the time difference, Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked. "Last time, months translated into hours!"

"Whenever a portal is opened, the times pass the same for however long it is active." Luna replied. "I was able to observe this when we came back."

"Ok, when do we do this?" John said.

Celestia gave a small frown. "As soon as possible. I shall teleport us to the spot."

With that, her horn lit up, and John had only a moment to prepare himself before he went through the slightly disorientating sensation of teleportation...

... And appeared in the castle gardens, on a stone rise. Wesley looked around him, taking in the area. The rise was an octagon, roughly twenty feet in diameter. There was plenty of grass around them, being that they were in a clearing in the practical forest behind the castle.

"Twilight, Sister, assist us in this." Celestia said. "This will take more energy than I am willing to spare."

John watched as Twilight Sparkle walked nervously up to Luna and Celestia, stopping in front of them. With that, John began to step back, as did the other ponies and his fellow humans.

Celestia's horn began to shine a golden yellow, starting at a dull glow and slowly turning into a brilliant spear of light. Likewise, Luna's horn began to glow a deep blue, and Twilight's a bright magenta. The light swiftly grew from bright to blinding, and John shielded his eyes with his hand. A low, deep hum began to reverberate through the air, and John thought he smelled ozone.

Will one final burst of brilliant white, everything returned to normal, save for a deep, majestic blue disk in the center of the stone octagon. It stood in the air, simmering slightly, as ponies and humans alike stared at it.

"So..." John said several seconds later, breaking the silence. "Who's going in first?"

Earth

United States of America, Washington

60 miles east of Seattle, Cascade Mountains

Senior Researcher James Hartlock buried his face in his arms, trying to stave off the boredom. It didn't work. Ever since the end of the Third World War in 1992, and since this facility was last 'in use' in 1990, the United States government had stationed a small team of researchers here to study the aftereffects of the 'ponies'. Why they appeared a was a partial mystery, happening the day of the First Battle of Seattle, with the specifics locked up in enough red tape to make obtaining it nearly impossible.

And so, day after day, he went to work here, studied the aftereffects of the strange fields that the 'unicorn' and 'alicorn' ponies could manipulate, went home, and did nothing else besides. He was one of four that had to monitor the room for a possible 'return', and he was thankful his shift ended in an hour.

"Thank god I only have two more years of this duty." he mumbled into his sleeve. "Remind me never to piss off the head of technology at the DoD again."

Suddenly, a speaker to his left began to emit regular beeps. James raised his head out of his arms, expecting another false alarm from the radiation near Cascade Falls again, only to see several light lit up various shades of green and red.

"What in the world..." The scientist murmured.

Several displays, many ten years old, began to light up, showing large readings of the mysterious force that the 'unicorns' and 'alicorns' had emitted. James looked out, through the glass of the small control center, and out onto the dimly lit 'field' in front of him. The area enclosed in a complete dome was almost a fourth of a football field. In the center of it, a dim ball of blue light hovered, growing brighter with every second. James Hartlock, Senior Researcher, stared at it, his jaw open, before shaking off the surprise and shock while moving towards the hidden compartment.

Behind a slide-up steel barrier, sat a small, black button. He had been shown it only once, and told to activate it only if there was a positive sign that they might return.

James slid the small piece of steel up, before pressing the button down for the instructed five seconds. After that period, he let go as it automatically notified local authorizes, specifically the military bases in Yakima and Puget Sound, that there was something amiss.

One of the screens switched to a camera view of an office as the orb in the room began to glow. In the view of the camera was Major General Ronald Cruz. The general was staring at the camera as the room around James began to light up.

"Dr. Hartlock, you'd better have a good reason for this." The general said.

"Sir, I have confirmed sight of another portal opening!" James said immediately. He might have been stretching at 'confirmed', but there was definitely something happening.

There was brief delay as the general opened up the live camera view, just a the orb transformed in a brilliant flash of light to a bright blue disk twenty feet across, before slowly darkening to a deep blue. The general stared in complete shock, before quickly recovering and getting to work.

"Dr. Hartlock, I am going to immediately send this up the line." Major General Cruz said. "See what you can do for our incoming 'guests'. A backup team will be there in five minutes. Godspeed, James."

With that, the general cut the connection.

James rubbed his eyes to clear out the spots from the light. He proceeded to stare at the portal, waiting for something to happen.

He did not have to wait long, as a bipedal figure came strolling through the portal, clad in late 20th century army fatigues, and carrying what looked like an AK-type rifle. When the helmet tilted up, James could see that the figure was clearly human, and quickly identified him as John Maddox, one of three humans given the option to go with the ponies in 1990, and nearly legendary among research circles.

"Anybody home?" The figure called out. James took a deep breath, before moving to the side of the control room, opening a door, and stepping out onto the small field.

"Are you John Maddox?" James asked as two other figures stepped through the portal, whom he identified as Wesley Brown and the mysterious Russian who had went with him.

"Yeah, who's asking?" 'John' replied.

"James Hartlock, senior researcher."  James said. "You guys have been gone a hell of a long time, y'know."

"What year is it, then?" 'Wesley' shouted out as several of the ponies walked in. James's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw the two 'monarch' ponies, as well as the four identified to have been on earth, along with two others.

"It.. It's 2019." James replied after a moment of hesitation.

"Thirty damn years..." He heard 'John' mutter. "It's only been a few months in Equestria."

"Equestria?" James asked. He vaguely remembered the name from somewhere, but couldn't remember what he had read about it.

John chuckled. "Boy, do I have a story to tell you..."

On June 4th, 2019, contact was reestablished. An event planned for thirty years on one side, and in a single night on the other.

Neither could see the war that would come.