Gordon Freeman walked along the small forest path, keeping a vigilant eye on the horizon. His 9mm pistol was in his hand, and he was ready to use it. His eyes darted back and forth, checking for possible threats, and at a random moment he would quickly turn around and check to see if there was anyone or anything following him.
Gordon’s eyes caught a flash of yellow and purple to his right, but he dismissed it. He doubted that the two small ponies could do much harm, although the unicorn might be able to rip a few chunks off his face before he could shoot her. However they seemed to be rather peaceable, and he could tell they were afraid of him. Good, thought Gordon Fear would make hostilities less likely. Gordon was still shocked at the strangeness of this dimension.
While they were walking, The purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle spoke of Equestria. She told of how it was a world populated solely by sentient ponies, although the animals possessed some sentience, and how there were three separate groups of ponies. The earth ponies seemed exactly like horses from Earth, nothing really special about them. They were usually farmers or herders. The Pegasi were ponies with wings who could fly, and apparently controlled the weather. Right, thought Gordon, These ponies must be in stage of cultural development similar to the Middle Ages from Earth. Pegasi controlling the weather, sheesh. Twilight also went on to explain how the unicorns could use magic to perform many tasks, including levitation, teleportation, and time travel. Gordon looked up at this and snorted. So they posses a form of technology too advanced for the other races, and call it magic. Do all worlds have to be like this? I admit they might have some limited form of telekinesis, but true magic, even with slightly different laws of physics, is impossible. Twilight continued to talk, informing Gordon of the ruling class, the Alicorns, who were some sort of blend between the pegasi and the unicorns. Apparently, the current ruler, Princess Celestia, took credit for the rising of the sun, while her sister, Princess Luna, took credit for the moon. Also, the Alicorns seemed to have an extremely long lifespan, having managed to keep their rule for over a thousand years. Gordon was surprised that the rulers maintained both the appearance of being benign and fair and the illusion that they can “raise” the sun and the moon.
Gordon felt they had been meandering through the forest for at least an hour, when the forest suddenly gave way to a large valley. The sun shone down on a peaceful-looking, brightly colored town nestled in the valley. A few trails of smoke came from the chimneys, but other than that, no signs of life were visible. Gordon instinctively crouched behind a large boulder, peering around the edge cautiously.
“What are you doing that for?” asked Twilight, “That’s Ponyville. Not many ponies are up at this time in the morning. Come on, I’ll show you around.
Gordon stood slowly from behind the boulder, replacing his pistol in its holster and retrieving his MP5. Although Twilight and Fluttershy had appeared friendly and helpful, Gordon still did not know the disposition of the rest of their kind. If trouble were to happen, Gordon would be prepared.
As they approached the town, Gordon became increasingly nervous. The buildings seemed to be growing closer together. The small alleyways between the houses could hide a large number of enemy forces. Those shut windows could have snipers behind them. There could be mines under the ground. Pull yourself together, Gordon thought, there is no way that anything can go—
“HI THERE!” shouted this large, pink, bobbing mass that sprang up in front of him. Gordon backed up and pulled the trigger on his gun automatically, releasing a stream of stream of bullets…
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Pinkie Pie woke up suddenly, sleep dragging at her mind. She finally shook all the last nooks and crannies of sleep from her unkempt mane and began to walk toward the bathroom. However, on her way, she felt her hair start to twitch.
There’s somepony new in town!” she half-shouted. “I aught to say hello.”
She bounced out of her house, heading in the direction of the forest. Just before she reached the end of the road, she stopped and listened. She heard the crunch of hooves on dirt coming from the road on the other side of the house on her left. I think I will go take a peek She thought to herself, Maybe I can surprise the new pony with a nice hello. She proceeded to sneak through the alleyway, watching and waiting until she saw a strange creature walking past, carrying a large gray something. A few seconds later she saw Twilight and Fluttershy walking behind him. This is my chance, Pinkie thought, here I go.
Pinkie was unbothered by the fact that the new pony wasn’t a pony. If Twilight and Fluttershy were with it, than it was worth saying hello to. She snuck up on her belly, being very quiet. As she passed Twilight and Fluttershy, she put a hoof up to her lips. Then she tiptoed up behind the creature, and staying low, carefully walked around it and jumped into the air.
“HI THERE!” She shouted. However, the creature, instead of being mildly surprised, backed up suddenly and then a loud noise like a construction crew's hammering exploded from the gray thing in its hand…
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Gordon missed! As he backed up, he had stepped on a large, uneven stone beneath him and fell as he pulled the trigger. He instead hit the side of the house next to him, an then landed hard on his back. He heard another loud crack in his chest, followed by the sound of his HEV suit. “Minor Re-Fracturing detected. Morphine levels dangerously high. Seek external medical attention.” Gordon would have cursed then if he could. His chest ached, even with the morphine that was already in his system. He sat up then, noticing that Twilight, Fluttershy and the pink thing, Wait no, a pony! Gordon realized, were cowering away from him, clutching their ears wit their hooves. He also noticed that many of the doors around him had opened, showing many different ponies and unicorns peering out of the doorframes. He made an apologetic gesture, wincing as his cracked ribs grated against themselves. He sheepishly put his MP5 away, realizing that there would be too many ponies here to reasonably take care of, even if he wanted too. After a short while, Twilight seemed to regain her bearings, and shakily led him to her house, a large tree in the middle of the town.
She handed him a quill and a piece of paper, a small cloud of purple haze surrounding both the utensils and her horn. Gordon looked curiously at this, but then took the paper and wrote What do you want to know? across the top of the page.
Twilight read the note, and then asked in a quavering voice, “What was that thing you did out there?”
Gordon thought for a moment, but then decided to be completely truthful. I used a weapon called a gun. It… He trailed off at this point, thinking of how to word it. …propels pointed projectiles, called bullets, made of metal at high speeds. The sound you heard was the explosion of chemicals inside the bullets, and the bullets breaking the sound barrier. Your pink friend startled me, and I apologize for using the weapon, but you would not believe what I have been through to get here.
Gordon watched as Twilight, Fluttershy, and the pink pony read his writing. Gordon waited patiently as they soaked up what he wrote. After they finished, the pink pony looked up and said “Huh? I got as far as weapon, but what are these bullet thingies? Do they dance like at a ballet? That would be cool to have a weapon that shoots dancing things. Speaking of dancing, I could Mpmph mmmph mpphhh mmmmmpph…”
Twilight had walked over and put a hoof over the pink pony’s mouth, waiting until she stopped talking. “Pinkie Pie, now is not the time for a concert or a chorus scene. Just wait a moment would you?” The pony, Pinkie Pie, nodded, going silent. Twilight removed her hoof and walked back over to Gordon. “So, you used this gun thing to attack my friend. This thing basically throws pointy bits of metal at whatever you point it at, and it explodes. Why would you have such a thing? In fact, why would you even bring it out? And what are the rest of the things on your back?”
Gordon thought for a moment, and then began to write again. Well, to answer your first question, I have been through Hell and back, and that specific one has saved my life on many an occasion. As for your second question, what would you do if you were about to enter a town full of lifeforms you have never met, whose intentions are unknown, and who might be able to severely harm you? And as for your third question, the other items on my back consist of differing types of guns, plus two special weapons and an alien creature/weapon. It will make more sense as to why I am carrying these things if I told you the whole story, but I doubt you would understand the horrors I have witnessed. I feel tha… He again stopped and looked up as a large rainbow light seemed to swirl around the tree. The door burst open, and in flew a blur of motion trailing a rainbow. It headed straight for Gordon and bowled him over with enough force to push him and his half-ton armor to the bookcase behind him, causing many of the books to fall on top of him. Gordon grunted as the force knocked into him, hearing another rib crack. At this rate, I am going to break every bone in my body before the day is out. This place may be peaceful, but I have gotten worse injuries here than in Black Mesa. Gordon thought as his suit began speaking again. “Minor Fracture detected, Minor Re-Fracturing detected. Morphine levels have returned to acceptable parameters. Morphine administered.” Gordon sighed as the pain went away. The thing that was on his chest still, pushing into him, came into focus. It was a large, blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. As his gaze alight upon it, it began talking in an angry, obviously female voice.
“WhodoyouthinkyouareattackingmyfriendandcausingchaosinmytownIaughtoflyyourightpastthemountainpeakanddropyodown!” She said this whole phrase without drawing a breath. When she did stop to breathe, Twilight jumped up and pulled her friend off of the creature.
“Rainbow Dash, wait, Gordon was only startled, just hold off a moment. No one was hurt, ok?” Twilight said, as the pegasus called Rainbow Dash allowed herself to be pulled off of Gordon. “Look, the creature didn’t know Pinkie was friendly. You know how exuberant she can be when saying hi.”
Rainbow Dash just stood there, breathing heavily. “Ok,” she said to Gordon, “I’ll let you be, for now. But I’m watching you. One wrong move and POW! You won’t know what hit you.” She said, making punching motions with her hooves. Gordon eyed her with uncertainty, realizing that although she was full of loyalty to her friends, she probably could only do superficial damage in an actual fight, despite the extreme speeds she seemed to be able to achieve.
Twilight picked up the paper that Gordon had been writing on, and quickly skimmed what he had written. “Well,” she said, “I think we should see what this whole big story is. Apparently, all of our questions will be answered with your story.”
Gordon nodded, then grabbed the sheet and quill and began to write. As he did so, he did not notice a white unicorn walking in through the door that Dash had opened, nor the green and purple dragon sneaking down from its hiding spot above one of the bookshelves. After about five minutes of writing, an orange pony also walked through the door, going to stand in the corner with her friends.
During the ensuing hours of writing, Gordon only looked up once or twice, sometimes asking for water on a scrap of parchment, other times asking for food. Gordon had been surprised by the small crowd now in front of him, but he figured they would introduce themselves with time. He focused on his task, writing more than he had ever written before, including the time at college when the printers went down and he had to handwrite his twenty-three page term paper. When he ran out of room on one page, he would look up at twilight and point to the paper. After the first time, when she had looked questioningly at Gordon until she realized what he wanted, she just silently gave him the paper. The sun outside hit its peak and began to descend. As Gordon finished the last page, placing it next to him where Twilight would grab it with her telekinetic powers when she and her friends finished reading the previous one. Gordon sat there with his hands folded, waiting. For the first time, he noticed the small green and purple animal by Twilight’s legs. It was looking at the paper seeming to read it with Twilight and her friends. The animal was strange, covered in what looked like shiny scales. It must be some sort of lizard Gordon thought. He continues to watch it, when Twilight handed it the paper she had been reading after rolling it up. The lizard grabbed it with its forepaws and then blew fire onto the semi-neat, handwritten story Gordon had wrote, incinerating it almost instantly in a ball of green fire. Gordon was dismayed that Twilight thought so little of his hard work that she would have her pet fire-breathing lizard, Wait no, Gordon thought, pet dragon! destroy it. Twilight then grabbed the next sheet that Gordon had and began to read. The dragon again walked over to Twilight and appeared to read it. Gordon simply turned away, waiting for them to finish and then burn it.
Twilight finished the last page and sauntered over to Gordon. “So you’re a scientist at this…” Gordon watched her search through her mind., “… Black Mesa, and you caused a big explosion that caused large number of alien creatures to teleport into there. Luna's Mane you've been through a lot. It’s a small wonder that you almost hurt Pinkie. Well, you are safe here.” She trailed off, looking around. “Oh!” she said suddenly, “I never introduced you to my friends. This is Applejack,” she pointed to the orange pony, “Rarity,” pointing to the white unicorn, “and this is Spike, my baby dragon.” Each of the ponies said hello when they were pointed out, and Spike the dragon actually walked over, said hello, and shook his had. Gordon was surprised by this, having assumed spike was just an animal, similar in intelligence to the dogs on Earth.
Twilight then explained to the ponies assembled how Fluttershy had discovered Gordon, and how he had mysteriously appeared in the forest. Then the ponies just sat around, occasionally giving Gordon a sideways look. After about twenty minutes of waiting, Spike suddenly burped up a large scroll, wrapped in a red ribbon and sealed with wax. Gordon jumped at this, half-drawing his 9mm, but when he saw that the source of the noise was only Spike, he re-holstered his weapon and walked over to where Twilight was beginning to read the scroll.
”Dear Twilight Sparkle,” read Twilight, “Thank you for informing me of this new creature, and providing me with its story. I shall be arriving at Ponyville as soon as I can. I should be there before midnight. I want to see this creature for myself. Please await my arrival, and keep it inside your house. I don’t want anypony getting hurt accidentally by this Gordon Freeman. Your Mentor Always, Princess Celestia.”
Gordon looked up, surprised that Twilight knew the ruler of Equestria. That was one fact she seemed to have left out when she explained about this world on the trip to Ponyville. The other ponies were excited by that fact, saying things like “Celestia will know what to do,” and “Better get this place cleaned up for the princess.”
The two unicorns began to use their horns, causing multiple different tools and items to clean and go to their correct spots. In about a half-hour, the whole place was sparkling clean, literally. There were reflective spots on everything from the wastebasket to the underside of the roof. Maybe Twilight wasn’t lying when she said there was magic here. Gordon thought, It seems almost as if they can control the Higgs Field. Theoretically, similar outcomes could be achieved by a Higgs Field manipulator, but the department that was involved with that project literally disappeared, staff, building, and all. I wonder how these unicorns do it.
Gordon continued to have similar thoughts for over an hour, waiting for this Princess Celestia to arrive. Twilight and her friends whispered together, occasionally giving him furtive looks. Spike originally stayed around Twilight, conversing, but then he meandered over to Gordon.
“So, you are from another dimension eh?” the dragon said, “That’s pretty cool. Do those things on your back really make things explode? Can I try it? I wish I could make things explode. I can only make some bits of fire. So can I at least hold one of your, what were they called? Uhh… Oh, right, guns. Can I hold one of your guns?” Gordon looked down at the little purple guy and raised an eyebrow. “I, uhh, will take that as a no, I guess. What are those things on your belt?” Gordon stared icily at Spike, until the dragon finally moved away, muttering something about “no fun.”
Finally, a knock was heard at the door, followed by an announcement. “The Royal Princess Celestia requests entrance.” Came a male voice from outside. Twilight rushed over to the door and opened it, forgetting about magic in her rush. Standing outside, resplendent in a Gold and Silver crown, stood a large white mare with a unicorn’s horn and pegasi wings. Her mane flowed behind her, rainbow in color and almost liquid in appearance. Twilight exclaimed “Your Highness!” and bowed slightly. Spike and the other ponies followed her example, bowing to the princess. Gordon stood up and inclined his head slightly, not quite realizing he was doing so. As the alicorn walked inside, she allowed Gordon to see the two male pegasi in full armor stood outside. The door was soon shut, and all of the ponies looked expectantly at Celestia, every now and again glancing at Gordon. Gordon just stood there, his hand ready to move towards his 9mm, just in case a threat was made on his life. From the history he had to read in college, he remembered that medieval rulers generally executed whomever they perceived to be a threat to their rule. The Princess slowly walked around Gordon, putting an image to everything she had read about. Finally she walked in front of Gordon, and put her face close to Gordon. Gordon stood his ground, noticing that the Alicorn was actually close to his height, not counting her horn. The other ponies he had met barely came up to his waist.
The Princess finally moved back from Gordon, seeming satisfied. Then she began to speak. “So, you are Gordon.” Gordon nodded, “Well, you are not quite what I have expected. Twilight,” she said, turning to her pupil, “You were well to inform me of this. Now,” she said to Gordon, “Lets see what we can do about your throat. I want a better and clearer explanation, and it will be far easier not to have to read between each question.” Gordon drew back as her horn began to glow, ready to leap into action if need-be, but then a bright, white light engulfed Gordon. Gordon’s suit began to beep. “Unknown Energy Signature detected. Unable to compensate. User recommended to leave area. Update, User’s health has returned to normal parameters.” Gordon began to feel good, better than he ever had before. As he reveled in his ecstasy, he began to notice something. At first, he just ignored it, but then it grew in intensity. His good feelings melted away, replaced with an unbearable itch in his throat. It felt like something was trying to claw its way out. The itchiness became worse, past the point of annoyance and into the realm of pain. He began to writhe where he was, suspended in the air by the magic surrounding him. The feeling in his throat became excruciating, burning as if he had swallowed napalm. All he could do was contort his body in pain. Then something began to build inside of him, something he couldn’t contain. It forced his way up his throat, clawing through the tissue until it came to his mouth where it burst forth into a scream of such raw pain and horror that the ponies yelled for Celestia to stop, but she shook her head ever so slightly, sadness apparent in her eyes. She never moved her eyes from Gordon however. Gordonwent limp, cutting off the scream suddenly. Celestia slowly moved Gordon down onto a bench in the library. The gaurds outside had burst through the door, but Celesta sent them away.
Twilight looked between Celestia and Gordon, finally managing to say something. “Princess, what did you do?”
End