//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Remembering Garry's Mod // by BioChemicalWolfGear //------------------------------// The marble walls of Canterlot Castle glistened in the sunlight, giving it a heavenly shine and a cheerful feel. The stained glass windows were adorned with flowers, that hung on hooks on the walls, adjacent to the windows. The castle bustled with activity, as guards patrolled the halls and the courtyard for any intruders. Servants also occupied the halls and escorted guests who came to tour the pristine white castle. They cleaned the rooms that were unused along with the halls when no one was using them. The castle was the busiest place of all Equestria. The only time a servant or guard got a break was when their shifts were over, or their platoon wasn’t given guard duty. That is except of course, the regal Princess Celestia. Princess Celestia sat in her throne room with a content expression on her face. The duties of the kingdom were finished, and the mayors were content with the funding they’ve received. The nobles were setting up for this month’s party, and everyone was happy; there was no paperwork to be done, and all the current threats to Equestria have been dealt with. Princess Celestia used this time to reminisce on good memories, and then jot down mental notes to set up appointments with her friends or write them nice letters. But she was still restricted to the similar deadlines and schedules that her servants and guards all bound to. Her role was to remain in the throne room, unless called away by a threat or an issue with a noble comes up that she must deal with. The only break she gets from sitting on her throne was when the country didn’t need any documents to be signed, or everyone was happy. She relished in this quiet, as she wasn’t required to do anything but entertain herself with her thoughts. Princess Celestia would rather have this time to spend conversing with another pony. Her guards are to remain quiet when on duty, unless they have something to report. So the Princess had nothing to do, but sit there waiting for something to happen. And of course, like many times before, it did. The doors to the throne room opened with light purple magic. Princess Celestia became slightly nervous when her nephew, Prince Shining Armor marched into the throne room with two guards escorting him. The room was silent except for the hoof steps from three stallions approaching Princess Celestia with stoic expressions. They weren’t rushing to get in front of her, so the Princess was sure it wasn’t an imminent threat to Equestria. Shining Armor had a purple cloth table napkin covering a small object he was carrying on his back. Princess Celestia found the scene strange, but she kept silent as they approached her. Shining Armor stopped in front of the golden stairs that led to the Princess’ throne. He saluted and looked her in the eye, “My Princess.” He put his hoof down on the ground and continued, “We’ve discovered a creature in the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. These two guards brought it to my attention and assisted a squad to bring it to the dungeons for examination. The creature doesn’t look like a threat, but it definitely isn’t from anywhere known to Equestria.” Princess Celestia remained motionless, excepting for her flowing mane and wore a small frown as she asked, “How did it get to the gardens?” “We don’t know. But the creature was reported to be barely conscious when it was found, suggesting that it used a great deal of power to get here. It was also carrying this.” Shining Armor’s horn lit up with magic and the purple napkin on his back lifted off of the small object on his back. It revealed a stick of wood attached to a metal contraption with colored wires and plastic plates attached at random places. Princess Celestia could make out the distinct look of duct tape on the thin end of the strange device. “What is it?” Princess Celestia asked as she grabbed it with her own magic. The Princess pulled it toward her and examined it more closely. She could make out a screen and what she assumed were computer parts attached to it. Its design made no sense to her, and it looked more like someone strapped a battery to some metal and expected it to do something. But as she held it with her magic she noticed a strange energy attached to it that tickled at her horn. “I will look into this,” she added emotionlessly. “I want you to report this to my sister at once. Tell her to meet me in the dungeons to examine the creature.” The three stallions saluted their Monarch. “Yes ma’am!” they stated in unison and turned at a quick trot out the door. Before Shining Armor cleared the door Princess Celestia saw him tuck the napkin snugly under his chest plate. Princess Celestia smiled for a moment, before drawing her attention back to the strange object. She chose to ignore the weird presence that it had when she held it with her magic. She stood up from her throne and began to descend. The Princess looked to her personal guards, who flanked her throne. Without words they began to show activity, and they trotted to each other and stopped when they made a four foot gap between them. They waited for Celestia to get to the bottom of the steps, and when she arrived they followed her down the chamber. Princess Celestia kept her magic held onto the object and trotted at a jogging pace toward her throne room door. When she got close, they parted with her unicorn guards magic and she exited the throne room and down the short stairs into the hallway. She looked to her right and began to walk forward before a train of thought stopped her. She looked down the left hallway with a tilt of her head. She then used an old spell that she really only used when addressing a large crowd. “DISCORD! I NEED YOUR HELP!” she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Her well-trained guards didn’t even flinch when her voice boomed beside them. They readjusted their position beside the Princess so they would face where she was facing. Within a few seconds, a flash of light obscured their view and Discord appeared in front Princess Celestia. “Hello Celestia, did you miss me?” he asked with a smile. Princess Celestia smiled at the newly reformed Discord. “Well I would like it if you bothered me when no one was complaining about the state of Equestria.” she replied with a hint of irritation. “Oh, but I know you love it when I do that!” Discord added with a smile as he floated at a horizontal position with his head facing her. “Besides it’s not as fun if I’m not interrupting something. Now will that be all?” he finished with a bored expression. “No. I came across an object that I don’t know about,” Celestia levitated the metal instrument in front of her and into Discords view. “Do you know anything about this?” she asked. Discord looked at it as it floated there for two seconds, before reaching for it and taking it from Celestia’s magic. His expression unnerved Princess Celestia, as it held a face of interest and confusion. He then applied his own magic to the device and made it float above his palm. His confusion morphed into delight as he dropped it back down to his palm with a gasp and observed every angle of the contraption. The Princess couldn’t remain silent. “What did you uncover?” she inquired with interest. “Oh Celestia, this is the most marvelous thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life! There’s nothing to compare!” Discord exclaimed cheerfully as he looked over the object. “This is a tool of Chaos!” Princess Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise. “Can you be sure?” she asked him with worry. Discord gave her a deadpan look, “Oh please, don’t act like it’s the end of the world. It’s only chaos.” He smiled. “Besides, it’s completely inoperable right now. I could sense the residue of a lot of chaos magic in this. It’s broken now, but in its prime, it was probably a tool to do weirder things than I can think of.” He looked thoughtfully at the device, “Which by the way was why I was so excited. Something that used to do chaos at my level is interesting. What’s better is that it was made as a tool so anyone could use it.” Discord stated. Celestia sighed in relief. “Good. But Discord, we believe the operator of that device is here.” Discord stopped flapping his wings and he dropped to the ground, landing on his feet. “He what?” he asked with interest. Celestia repeated herself. “We believe the operator is here. Unconscious in the dungeons. I’d appreciate it, if you were to join me and Luna meet him.” “Of course I’d join you!” Discord announced with excited features. “Race you there!” he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the device behind. Princess Celestia caught the device with her magic and rolled her eyes. She then turned around to trot down the right hallway, that was one of many, that led to the dungeons. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Princess Luna arrived in the Canterlot dungeons. She stepped down the last step of the gloomy spiral staircase and a square room with iron bars. The room was connected to the many jail cells of Canterlot dungeon. Iron bars cut the room in half, and a single light bulb light up the room and cast long shadows. The light bulb was above the door Princess Luna just came from. She looked around and spotted the iron door that a guard was supposed to open for visitors or new inmates. The guard in question was an earth pony on the opposite side of the iron bars, and staring at her with a bored expression. A lone guard at the desk on the opposite side of the iron bars got up and trotted toward the iron door that Luna positioned herself in front of. The keys on his belt jingled together and clanked against his golden armor. Without speaking, he took the keys off of his belt and started sifting through them. When he reached the right one he lifted the key into the keyhole and pushed it in. With a fluid motion he turned the key and opened the heavy iron door as if it were a paper weight. “The cell you’re looking for is C-13. Princess Celestia and Discord are waiting for you.” he noted dully. As he waited for Luna to enter the jail Luna was preoccupied with her own thoughts. “Why would Celestia bring Discord? Is he part of the problem? Or does he know more about it than we do?” Luna thought to herself. Princess Luna trotted through the open iron door and into the room with the guard. He promptly slammed it shut, and a surprised Luna finally understood why it intimidated so many visitors. It also explained why so many of them also requested the door be padded so it wouldn’t make such an intimidating noise. The gruff stallion solar guard returned to his desk and waited for the next visitor or inmate that was going out and heading home or to trial. Princess Luna looked at the door in front of her that led to a hallway. She opened it with her magic and walked down the gloomy grey brick hallway. The hallway also had one light bulb that cast long shadows. But thankfully it was a short one, that spanned only two meters, before reaching a three way passage. Princess Luna looked at the two signs on the wall that pointed to cellblocks in alphabetical order. She turned left where blocks A through N were located. As she walked she listened to her own hoof steps on the gloomy brick. She began to feel out of place with her surroundings as she searched for cell C-13. As she read each letter of the alphabet at each new hallway into another cellblock a morbid thought came to mind. “One thousand years on the moon seems like a luxury compared to only ten here. No wonder criminals are too afraid to commit another crime when they’re set free. It’s a wonder how only five percent of them are declared mentally insane after they get out.” She thought. She reached cellblock C and took a right. She saw Princess Celestia looking into the thirteenth cell with a neutral expression and Discord up against the brick wall behind her but following her gaze into the cell. The corridor was lit up with light bulbs that were spaced so there was one in front of each cell. The walls were still just as gloomy and slightly damp as the rest of the dungeon. As she trotted closer to them she realized the cells were empty. “Well, hello to the mighty Princess of the Moon.” Discord started the conversation in a mocking tone. Princess Celestia looked down the hallway to see Princess Luna trotting towards them with a small scowl directed at Discord. Celestia smiled when Luna looked at her and she in turn smiled back. “Hello sister. Discord.” spoke Princess Luna. “Hello Luna. The creature there hasn’t woken up yet. But Discord believes he will wake up soon,” replied Celestia as she gestured over to the occupied cell. Luna looked over to the occupant and put on a puzzled expression. The creature was wearing some form of clothing over its exposed skin. It was wearing a cap on its head, and its garments had many different pockets. The color of the cap was a dark green alone, with a different array of colors on the rest of the clothing. But they all had dark colors that seemed to match, and gave the creature a raggedy look. The creature's limbs were bound together with chains, and it was lying on its side on the floor facing away from the group. “When will it awaken?” asked Princess Luna. “Any minute now.” replied an unnervingly serious Discord. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I opened my eyes slowly. I was wide awake and cold. The article of clothing I was wearing felt different from what I was wearing when I went to bed. I looked around and noticed that not only was I not sleeping in my bed, but my bed was nowhere to be found. So was my room for that matter. In its place was a gloomy jail cell, with grey brick floors. I tried to move my hands to sit myself up but I was stopped by something solid and I heard the jingling of a chain. I looked down and saw my hands and feet were bound to each other. “Oh what the hell?” I whined out loud. I heard the distinct sound of whispering behind me. I froze in place as I began to realize that I’ve been arrested. Not only was I in jail, but I was in a jail I didn’t recognize. It didn’t look like a jail the United States would use either. The brick floor wasn’t something normal for a jail cell anywhere, and I began to wonder if I was brought to another country. I tried to roll my body to the right so I could see who was with me. After some struggling, I was able to roll myself upright and get a good look at my captors before gravity pulled me to the right, to permanently face them. My mind slowed down in utter disbelief when I saw three figures. Two were large horses with horns and wings, while the other one looked like a walking stained glass window of a chimera. My thoughts caught up to me, and I slowly remembered my dream. But the conversation with the light seemed so clear that I could remember the whole thing in detail. Even the things I didn’t notice before like the pattern of the grass. I felt slightly at ease when the thought of that dream being true was a possibility. Before I really had much time to react, the chimera with an eccentric smile snapped its eagle arm and disappeared in a flash of light. I pondered its intent before it appeared above me in another flash of light. “Hello traveler!” he greeted me cheerfully. “I’d really like to know how you made-” he reached behind himself with his lion arm and pulled an object out of the blue. “-this little contraption right here.” he said joyously. He held in front of me the Toolgun that I was entrusted to. Or at least, I think I was entrusted to it. The light wasn’t clear enough as to what the Toolgun was supposed to do for me. “Discord! How did you get that? Never mind just let him have his room.” scolded the white horse with an irritated motherly voice. “Oh please Celestia, if someone so normal as him had a device as chaotic as this, he’d be completely fine with new things.” the chimera shot back. “Discord, get on this side of the bars, please.” demanded the navy blue horse. The creature Discord folded his arms and disappeared in a flash of light. Only to reappear beside the two horses. “I’m sorry about that.” added the white one. “Still... I’d like to know why did you come here?” she asked in a calm and down-to-earth voice. My brain caught up and began sifting through the many things I could say. The many questions I have to ask these three, were supposed to be overwhelming. I’ve always like imagining my creations in other worlds, but now being in one myself made me feel vulnerable. I had nothing on my mind right now that I could really say. But the question that the white horse asked was the one thing I was only slightly sure of now. “I-I…” I paused as my voice failed me for a moment, the feeling of being judged was never a good one for me, but I always was able to get over it when the conversation continues. “I was sent here for help.” I responded honestly. I began to feel slightly paranoid when I realized two of them were wearing crowns. I began to suspect they were each royalty, and I didn’t have many options to my fate. They each showed differing expressions of confusion. The white horse cocked her head to the side, while the blue one scrunched her eyebrows in contemplation. The chimera looked unimpressed but he seemed interested and continued to listen. “What do you mean, 'sent here for help?'” asked the blue one. “Is your race in trouble?” she asked. “No, but I was sent here so I could change.” I told her. “Change how?” inquired the chimera. He leaned forward and held onto the bars with his different hands. “Well I’m not sure.” I answered honestly again. “The light told me that I wasn’t who I should be, and what I’m doing now isn’t what I’m supposed to do for the rest of my life.” I told them. “Also, it said I’m supposed to be creating worlds. Apparently I’m a god.” I thought sarcastically. “A light being?” asked the white horse with a tilt of her head. “Um, I guess? Hey where am I?” I asked trying to get them to answer my questions. The white one looked at me thoughtfully. “You are in our palace dungeons. I’m Princess Celestia and this is my sister Princess Luna. This is Discord.” she replied, gesturing to the other occupants of the room. After her introduction I began to speak their names in my head over and over so I would remember them better. As I did that silently, an important thought came to mind. “Wait, if you’re all royalty, why are you all here?” I asked with my eyebrow raised. “Not all of us.” Started Discord, his voice full of pride. “I’m the spirit of Chaos. By the way, how did you come across this?” he asked pulling out the Toolgun again. “It was given to me. Can I have it back?” I answered his question, hopeful to get it back. Luna was next to speak. “N-” but she was cut off by Discord who put his talon in front of her mouth. “Why of course!” he chuckled merrily while receiving a glare from both his companions. He tossed the Toolgun to me and it bounced on the floor and landed a foot from me. I then realized I couldn’t get it because my hands were tied up. I looked back up at Discord who was smiling widely while fighting back a fit of giggles. The two horses beside him had no inclination of my bound form, until they noticed my predicament. Even though I really wanted to ask them to un-cuff me, I felt inclined to get on their good side. I looked at Discord and smiled. “I see what you did there,” I noted matter-o-factually to make it as funny as I could get that joke to be. The Toolgun disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared in his lion paw. He smiled back at Celestia and chuckled triumphantly. “You see? I knew someone would get my sense of humor.” he said happily. “The last thing we need, is another Discord.” Princess Luna admitted as she rolled her eyes. “Oh don’t be that way Princess. You’ve done enough pouting on the moon anyway.” Discord mocked her. Celestia rounded on Discord and gave him a stern look. “Discord, my sister's banishment is nothing to joke about.” she growled irritably. “I’ve been away for one thousand years too, you know.” he countered and folded his arms. Princess Celestia looked away bashfully and turned back to me. “Tell us about yourself.” “She’s avoiding the conversation.” Discord whispered to Luna, loud enough so everyone could hear. Celestia in response rolled her eyes. Princess Luna smiled in guilty pleasure for her sister's awkward circumstance. But she turned back to me and waited for my response. Discord saw that he wasn’t going to get anywhere if he kept it up, and he looked back at me with crossed arms. The Toolgun remained in his possession as they watched me with a more serious expression. “Uh, can I be un-cuffed now?” I asked. “We don’t know if you’re a threat, so we won’t remove the cuffs.” noted Princess Luna. I pondered for a moment to think of a response. “…You think I’m a threat?” I asked. Discord responded. “Well, we don’t know. I personally think you’re no threat to anyone. But that’s because I can’t feel any magic in you, and the only possible threat was this thing.” he admitted as he held up the Toolgun. “But...” he dropped his arm to his side. “It doesn’t work anymore. It was broken a long time ago.” his voice was full of disappointment. I was instantly demoralized when I heard him say it was broken. I ran through the many things I could have done with the Toolgun. I then realized that without the Toolgun, I’d be so much more naked to this place. I will have to survive off of the generosity of these horses. But then I thought of the possibility that it was turned off and will activate when I touch it. It was a hopeful thought in an impossible situation. “…Can I see it? I want to see if I can fix it.” I stated after the silence stretched on a while. Princess Luna responded to me. “No. We would like to examine it further before we release it back to you. So for now, you can’t have it back.” her voice was full of authority. “Ok. Can I at least be un-cuffed then?” I asked. “I don’t agree to this. I don’t want to unbind you.” Princess Luna stoically replied. “I’m not so sure Luna. He isn’t really much of a threat. Removing his cuffs wouldn’t hurt.” Princess Celestia chimed in affectionately. Her horn became surrounded with a strange material and I felt a strange sensation with my cuffs. I looked down only to see them having the same aura and suddenly disappearing in a pop. I was silently impressed by the display and I gave my arms and legs an experimental shake. I then sat up into a sitting position before getting onto my knees and standing up at my full height. I looked back at them to catch their interested gazes. I was as tall as Luna if her horn wasn’t jutting out of her head. “Well, a fellow biped.” Discord wryly noted with an interested tone. “How nice it is to know I’m not alone in the castle anymore.” I looked to my left and found a single toilet up against the wall and a sink on the farthest end of the cell. There was a cot that was folded up against the wall to my right of where I stood. I examined it quickly and determined it wasn’t big enough to fit me, along with the toilet and sink. This cell was created for something smaller than me to live in. I looked back at my three odd visitors who were watching me closely. “Hey can I get a different cell?” I asked looking between each of them. “No.” replied Princess Celestia. “At least not tonight. But tomorrow I’ll send transfer orders to a new cell. Although if you behave, I’ll let you have a guest room.” she added with cheerfulness. “Can’t get into much trouble in a jail cell.” I commented. “True, but if you resist any orders the guards give you, then you’ll be hearing from us.” Princess Celestia teased me. “Got it.” I replied turning toward the cot. I grabbed it and pulled it down from the wall. It fell down and snapped into place a foot off the ground. It was barely four feet and looked only mildly comfortable. I looked at the cot with a disapproving frown. I turned my head to the Princesses and Discord and raised my eyebrow. Discord was smiling at me with a smug expression. He lifted his talon and snapped his fingers. In a flash of light the cot increased in size to fit me. Although it still looked just as uncomfortable as always it was still a cot. “Thank you.” I replied sincerely. “Not a problem. Although, you now owe me two bits.” he joked, his eyes alight with amusement. “Discord, please don’t tax my prisoners.” Celestia chimed in. She then faced me again with a smile on her face. “I’ll visit you sometime later. But someone will come to get more information about you in the morning. Have a good night Mr…” she paused and realized that I haven’t introduced myself. “What’s your name?” she asked sheepishly. “Blake.” I responded. “Good to meet you, Blake.” she said. Discord disappeared in a flash of light. The last thing I saw on his face was boredom. I began to suspect he was only here because he wanted to learn more about the Toolgun. I didn’t know much so I couldn’t offer him much information about it. “Goodbye. And again be prepared for the morning.” she stated in her motherly tone. “Bye.” I responded without much emotion in my voice. They both turned to my right and trotted out of view. After a few minutes of listening to their trotting, I sat down on the large cot. Their hoof steps were gone and my thoughts shot off in thousands of directions. I had my arms wrapped around each other as my situation began to sink in. I lowered my head and leaned forward as I began to think. But when I looked down I noticed something odd. “Wait, these aren’t my jeans.” I noted out loud. I looked at the rest of my attire and found I was in the resistance uniform from Half-life 2. The outfit fit well and was warm from the layers of clothes. But the most concerning thing about it was how distracted I was, to not notice I was wearing something new. I felt the cap on my head but didn’t think much of it. I knew exactly what I looked like now. I looked over to my shoulder to confirm the lambda symbol was on my arm. I fell to my side onto the cot and rolled to my back. The strange development from my regular life to this new fanciful and strange one was absurd. I began to wonder if I actually had a conversation with two giant horses and a walking window. “I’m on LSD.” I admitted to myself matter-o-factually.