| Hλlf-Life | Hλlf-Pony | ALL Freeman |

by The Lich King

Anomalous Interactions

Anomalous Interactions

The rebels intensified their grip on their weapons once again when the other ponies came out of the bush; and the ponies all got into an offensive stance, lowering their heads and scrapping their hooves on the ground, every once and a while making threatening snorting sounds through their noses. The scene was very tense, for both teams did not know who was going to make the first move.

The same thoughts kept running through everyone’s mind; should we talk, or should we attack? Talk? Attack? Both thoughts bounced around. Some lowered their stance a bit while others intensified them. Alyx was the first one to break the tension;

“So…we both know we can speak each other’s language, so I will throw this question out to you; Are you friend, or are you foe?” She shifted her legs a bit and aimed her pistol towards the purple unicorn.

“Well, depends…who ever makes the first move shall decide the fate of the rest!” She replied out. All the ponies then took a slight step forward, and all the rebels were about to pull the trigger, when another rustle came in the bush. Everyone, including the ponies, jumped at this and put all their attention on the bush. The rebels were becoming a nervous wreck of,” Should I shoot or not!?”

Suddenly, popping out of the bush was a small yellow pony with a big red bowtie. She jumped in front of the group and acted as a small barrier between the rebels and the ponies. Shouting out in a squeaky voice,” Don’ you dare hurt mah sister’s friends, ya hear, or I may have’tuh do something I may regret!” She got into the offensive position too and was about to attack.

“Apple Bloom! What in tarnation are ya doin’ all the way out here! Have you been followin’ us all this time!? You know it’s mighty dangerous out here in these parts, even for us grown up ponies!” The orange pony with the straw hat came forward and pulled her little sister under her arm and gave an affectionate nuzzle. She then put a menacing glare on the rebels,” Don’ you dare even think o’ tryin’ to hurt my sister here or things may get pretty ugly…”

Alyx stared in all of the ponies eyes; all of them threatening and menacing yet very frightened at the same time. She then looked over at the older/younger sister pair. The older one had a protective arm over the small one, and the little sister had those big eyes and small frown on her face that just said,” Please don’t hurt her…she is the closest thing to a mother that I have…”

Protective sisters…sisterly love…very close to motherly love…a mother’s love…a mother…it was something that Alyx would never get back ever since the Black Mesa incident. She remembered it clearly…

Their family lived on the Black Mesa property in housing lodges for families. It was a hot day on the facility, and her mother was cooking in the kitchen and Alyx was coloring in the living room when the Resonance Cascade happened. It shook their house to its foundations and those aliens from Xen teleported into their household and took her mother’s life away. Eli burst into their household and fended off Alyx and then fled to safety.

Not only did she loose her house and ways of life in that single day, but she also lost her one and only mother. True, her father was like a mother to her, but there was no denying that no one could replace her mother…not even her dad…

She looked at the duo. Alyx was about to pull the trigger. The little one noticed this and buried her face into her orange sister’s body for protection…Alyx tried and tried, but she couldn’t do it…she couldn’t defend herself due to the mother-like sister love these two shared.

“God damnit!” Alyx yelled in frustration. She threw her pistol to the ground and yelled to her group,” I can’t do it! I can’t bring myself to shoot them, even in self defense! Confound these ponies! Confound their mother like love! Confound the loss…of my mother!” She fell on her knees and pounded the ground with her fists. Memories of her mother came flooding back, and she could not pull herself into separating someone’s (Or somepony’s in this case) love apart just because she didn’t have one.

Alyx quickly turned her head to the rebels, then to Gordon, then back to the rebels. All of them still had their weapons drawn and fingers ready to pull their triggers,” Drop your weapons!” All the rebels were surprised at this outburst.

“But Alyx, what if those things attack us?” One of them yelled.

“Just drop your weapons!!!” All the rebels, including Gordon, dropped their weapons,” Look at what we have become!” She pointed at the lowered guns,” We have just entered an entire new universe, and what is the first thing we were about to do?” She then pointed at the ponies, especially the little one who was cuddling her sister affectionately,” Kill something so innocent and pure that has done nothing wrong to us! Who’s the evil alien race now!?” Alyx screamed, comparing their actions to the Combine’s. One could literally hear the distaste and hate in her voice.

A pang of guilt washed over all the rebels. One of them dropped their gun, letting it fall onto the soft earth below. Another rebel leaned against a tree and stared fruitlessly at the ground, trying to hide what he just hid. The medic dropped her gun too, stared at the ponies with the scared expressions, and then took off her gloves and stared at her cold, dry, and bruised hands, whispering to herself,” What have we become…” She then buried her face in her hands and began to weep.

Freeman put a comforting arm around the now weeping Alyx. “Gordon…why must we be so cruel? We were so close to ending an unnecessary life…What has this war done to us? Has it turned us into evil monsters that give no rational thought or reason?” Alyx buried her face onto his HEV Suit chest plate, shedding tears onto the painted lambda mark.

Twilight just stood there, taking it all in. She had heard the entire conversation, and a thought raced through her mind,” These creatures mean no harm…they are just dazed and confused. Maybe I can talk to them to calm them down…”
She approached Alyx steadily with her head still raised down. Her friends tried to stop her; “Twi’! Get back here! What are you doing!? You could get hurt!” Twilight ignored her friend’s pleas and continued anyways. Nearing Alyx, she opened her mouth and began to speak;

“E…excuse me? I know we got off on the wrong footing, but is there a problem here?” She asked cautiously. Alyx’s depressing sobs pierced Twilight’s heart. She now defiantly knew that they did not mean harm, because if they did, by now, she and her friends would all be dead.

Alyx raised her head slowly from the chest plate, wiped the tears from her face, and replied,” I h…hate to be a problem, but I just feel so dep…depressed” Her sobbing started to lighten up a bit, but her eyes still watered and her nose was still stuffed,” We got lost and we need help. There are more of us nearby and we…desperately need some help. This may sound a bit cra…crazy, with both of us barely even knowing each other, but can you help us?”

Twilight really didn’t know what to think, or even say at that point! She just met these things that nearly tried to kill her, but they are now asking for some assistance? They did seem very lost and confused, but still! She backed up and bit back to her friends to talk about it.

“Girls, I know you won’t believe me when I say this; you may not bear to imagine it, but they need our help…” She pointed towards the group of depressed rebels,”…we need to help them.”

“Uh, but Twi’, don’t it seem strange to be helpin’ the very same things tha’ tried to kill ya a few moments ago?” Applejack asked. She pulled her little sister in closer to her body.

“I must agree with AJ there Twilight” Rarity added,” It seems a bit odd to assist the ones who were going to kill you. I don’t know why, but it just doesn’t seem right to me. I think we should turn around and alert Princess Celestia immediately about this predicament. Surely, she would know what to do. “

Rainbow Dash, however, rejected both Applejack’s and Rarity’s objections,” Yea, but just because something wants to kill you in the first place doesn’t mean it can’t be reasoned with. Take that dragon and the Manticore Fluttershy handled. She didn’t handle them with brute force like the rest of us; she handled it with her words! Well…what I’m trying to say here is that maybe we can just talk our way out of this so that nopony will get hurt.”

“Pfft…yea…” AJ replied mockingly,” Maybe Flutter here can remove a splinter from under each and every stubby toe and give them the stare, then everythin’ will be alright!” She slapped her knee and laughed at her own remark. Rarity even chuckled a bit at this.

“Oh yea, well…um…meep…” Fluttershy was about to defend Dash and Twilight, but suddenly backed down in fright.

“What is it Fluttershy? What were you going to say?” Twi’ asked curiously,” If you need to say something, now would be the best time because frankly, we need to decide quickly right now...” She could see shadows move quickly and silently through the dense woods.

“Well…okay, if you insist Twilight” Fluttershy continued off,” These, so-called ‘creatures’ resemble the monkeys and apes I have seen at the Equestrian Zoo and in animal books that I have read. I have studied their habits and they tend to come off the friendlier side, and they are quite social, so I can say that if we could talk and help them, they may in return, help us with something. Plus, since they speak our language, communication shouldn’t be a problem.”

“So I guess it is settled then” Twilight ended the conversation,” They might yield the information to our predicament back in Ponyville, so we might as well submit to their demands.” She then walked over to Alyx. She had recomposed herself and had stopped weeping, although her eyes were just a little puffy.

“After a small discussion with my friends, we have decided to assist you with whatever you need.” Her friends soon followed and stopped short of Twi’. All of them nervous and anxious on what will happen to them. Apple Bloom was holding on tight to Applejack.

Alyx cracked a small smile,” Thanks. You don’t know how much it means to all of us. We are desperate for some assistance. Gordon, lead the way…”

Dr. Freeman quickly got up and looked for the nearest X that he marked into a tree…over there…Gordon went to the X and made a hand gesture that signaled the rest to follow.

“Okay Gordon, whatever you say!” A rebel yelled out and followed swiftly. The ponies just kept a steady pace and Alyx walked beside them. With the relationship between the two groups improved, she started to strike a conversation;

“Look, I can never thank you enough for the help. We are sincerely desperate, for now our crew and supplies are now limited. I am also kind of sorry for that small…outburst…I had earlier. I don’t know what got over me…it just took over and had a mind of its own…” Alyx blushed a little bit in embarrassment and turned her head away.

“Don’t worry about it. I could hear the rage and sorrow in your voice and could immediately tell that you all have been through a lot of stressful times. I know that feeling, and when it is bottled up inside you, it can explode with a force that is just uncontrollable.” Twilight responded thoughtfully. This made Alyx feel a whole lot better.

“Yea, you could say that. It’s a long and complex story to explain, so I will save that for when we reach base. I don’t think we properly introduced ourselves. I’m Alyx, Alyx Vance, and over there is Gordon Freeman.” She pointed towards the HEV Suit crowbar wielding bearded man leading the way,” If you looked into what he did for us, you could call him our savior, because frankly, he has saved us multiple times in a row before.”

“Alyx and Gordon…those are some nice names you got there. It’s nice to meet you. As for me, I am Twilight Sparkle, although most of my friends just call me Twilight, or just Twi’ to shorten it up. Over there is Applejack with her little sister Apple Bloom…there is Fluttershy who really has a way with animals…right there is Rarity, the best fashion designer around…that is Rainbow Dash, fastest flier I have ever seen, and Pinkie Pie. She is quite hyper and tends to defy the laws of physics somehow. She also likes to be random and often breaks out into songs…”

“Songs???” Alyx was very confused.

“Yes. She does break into constant songs. While they leave you completely puzzled and annoyed at first, you tend to either like them or ignore them.”

“Now that is very strange indeed. So, what are you things exactly anyways? I have been asking that question to myself for quite some time since I saw you.”

“Us? Well, we are ponies, unicorns, and pegasi.”

“Unicorns? Pegasi? Impossible! Well, I thought about that when I first laid eyes upon all of you, but I still find that hard to believe…”

“How is that hard to believe? What, you have never seen them before? Now I find that hard to believe because they are pretty common around here…or…you are not from around here, are you?”

Alyx just shook her head and said,” Like I said before, all the explaining will be done once we reach base camp…and speaking of which…”

Their group had just stopped outside of White Forest. Its gray concrete walls were cracked in a few places due to the portal storm tsunami that just ensued a few hours ago. The fading ‘White Forest’ symbol lay quietly painted near the blast doors the group had just came out of.

“Wow…it looks so…different…” Pinkie Pie remarked, looking at the style of the base. It was full of very natural colors and distinctly had no dark edges surrounding it. It was also defiantly darker than the surrounding forest’s colors and tone.

“Yes Pinkie, it sure does look different…and an eye sore to add to that. Look at the walls! So drab and dirty! How could anypony live in such conditions?!” Rarity added after a quick look at the place.

“Yea Rarity, I must agree, it ain’t the prettiest thing to lay eyes on, bu’ I must admit it does look pretty sturdy, even though it does have its wear n’ tear” Applejack told her.

“This is just amazing…” Twilight stared in awe,” It looks completely different than our world! In fact, it wasn’t until now did I realize that you all look completely different compared to the rest of us, and I am not talking about your shape.” She turned her head into the direction of Alyx,” You are defiantly not from around here, are you?”

Alyx shook her head,” Like I said before, it’s a long and complex story that will be told later…”

“Yea, we had the same reaction when we saw your world for the first time! It looks so strange and unreal to us!” The medic of the team laughed after hearing Twilight’s remarks on the style of the rebels and White Forest.

One of the rebels walked up to the blast door and pressed an intercom speaker located near the entrance,” Dr. Magnusson! Dr. Kleiner! Dr. Vance! Let us in! We have returned from our expedition!”

Static was heard through the intercom when Magnusson’s voice rang out through it,” Well, took you long enough! What took you so long anyways? What am I saying; did you find the surrounding plant life edible or not?” He demanded these questions to be answered in a stern tone.

“Well…err, about that…we haven’t tested the plant life yet to see if it is edible, or more importantly, dangerous…”

“WHAT!?!? You mean you wasted our precious time and supplies for no reason!”

“Not exactly doc, because we encountered some of the native wildlife…”

“Oh good, we can have a roast tonight to save up our rations for desperate times…”

“Well, not exactly again Doctor. You see, we…kind of led them here to White Forest. They are standing next to Alyx right now.”

“So what…are we going to breed them and then eat them? Splendid idea! Waste even more time and supply off our hands just to get a few snacks to bite!”

“Uh, no doc. They are intelligent and actually speak our language. We actually talked them into leading them here…”

“YOU SIR ARE CRAZY!” Dr. Magnusson could even be heard from within the concrete walls of the bunker from this remark,” They could be deceiving you! Once they get inside, they might kill us all! They might even have a disease that could kill us! That is what happened with early explorers exploring new lands; they got diseases from the natives! That’s what! GET RID OF THEM!”

Alyx, hearing all the commotion at the intercom, politely told Twilight,” Hold on, I have some business to handle with.” Walking over to the speaker, she started to talk,” Hey Dr. Magnusson, I cross my heart that these natives are not at all a threat or a danger! If they were, Gordon’s HEV Suit would have detected it!”

“That doesn’t matter girl!” Girl…how rude of him…Alyx has a name you know,” You don’t know what type of shit Gordon has been trudging through in that suit of his! For all we know, it could have malfunctioned and read any diseases out there as non-threatening! I am not permitting any of you to enter until we get hard evidence that you have not infected yourselves and may soon infect the rest of us!!!”

Suddenly through the intercom, a small scuffle could be heard, along with the muffled cries of Magnusson yelling,” Left mphf gofffph!! Left gophff!!!”. Soon enough, Dr. Kleiner’s voice could be heard through the intercom;

” Err, sorry Dr. Magnusson! It was a necessary measure we had to take! Oh yes, um, Alyx, I have overheard what was being said and my scanners detect no diseases from the outside for sure, and my scanners are defiantly fully functional. Just for safety precautions, I would like your friends to please step into the airlock. We will do a quick scan and then let you all in.” The intercom had static again and then turned off.

Turning to the ponies, Alyx remarked to them,” Well, all I can say is…” A red alarm outside of the blast doors started to spin and a siren could be heard. The doors slowly creaked open and led to the dark scanning chamber,”…welcome to White Forest…” The sirens slowly died down and the entire group traveled inside. The blast doors closed tightly shut behind them. Fluttershy gave a small whimper of fear. In fact, all the ponies had a slight pang of fear chilling them down the bones as they lay in the dark room. Some even regretted from even coming over to this place.

One of the rebels noticed this and said in a very calming tone,” I know this may be a lot to take in, but this place is safe. Nothing is going to harm you, although a few surprises may wait inside…” His mind flew back to the dead bodies that lay under some concrete and the many bullet holes that riddled the corridors from the previous battle taken there.

In the darkness, a small pale light turned on, dimly illuminating the entire room. Dr. Kleiner’s voice could be heard over another intercom hanging on the wall,” Just hang on in there. The desterilizing and scanning will be over very soon. Oh, and to our new guests’ native to this world we have landed in, we here at White Forest happily welcome you here. It’s a little bit dirty and dank, but has shone through thick and thin with flying colors! So, welcome to White Forest.” The intercom turned off.

A few panels incorporated into the walls slid back and nozzles protruded from the cavities concealed inside. Although Gordon, Alyx, and the rest acted normally and just looked around, the ponies all huddled into the center of the room, eyes fixed at the nozzles. They then emitted a sterilization spray that engulfed the whole room. Rarity coughed and sputtered at this,” Well, that was a little more than necessary! One or two puffs are all that is needed!”

One of the female rebels smiled and exclaimed,” This isn’t fancy perfume you know! It has to cover your entire body to make sure we don’t transfer anything from the outside into the inside!”

The nozzles then receded back into their cavities and their panels closed shut. Four flat discs then came out of the very sides of the wall and formed a slightly translucent wall that scanned the room from top to bottom very slowly. Fluttershy cowered in fear, covering her head as the wall came down closer and closer.

“There is nothing to fear Fluttershy. It’s completely harmless…” Alyx added as the wall passed through her body, then the pony’s, and finally through Fluttershy’s, and did the scan from bottom to top. Once it was all over, she sighed relief and got back up.

“Okay, everything seems to be a go!” Dr. Kleiner’s voice was heard once again through the intercom,” You’re all green lighted. Please stand back from the doors as they open.”

The doors in front of them slowly slid open and stopped with a large, grinding halt. Gordon, Alyx, the rebels, and the ponies all proceeded into the large safe house chamber. All eyes in the room lay upon Twilight, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Jaws could be seen wide open and many astonished remarks came from the crowd;

“Wow Gordon! Nice find out there! Wish I traveled with you more often!”

“They are absolutely adorable! So what if I am a man? I have to admit; I could just snuggle with one right now!”

“Agreed”

“Amen bro’!”

“They look so fluffy!”

“What’s with all the tattoos on their asses?”

“They’re normal Frank. I could show you mine if you wanted…”

Eli came running forward and hugged her daughter tightly,” Oh sweetie, thank God you are alright. Anything interesting happen besides meeting the natives?” Alyx described everything to him, except she left out the uncontrollable rage she had felt earlier.

“The Freeman has done extraordinarily well out there.” One of the Vortigaunts called out,” No fire had been exchanged between you and the natives. You, Mr. Freeman truly do know the ways of negotiation now; through peace and through war, although our type usually forego the latter and are more in favor with the first…”

Dr. Isaac Kleiner came up to talk with Gordon and Alyx,” Well, what turned out to be a scouting mission for food turns out to be an unexpected visit from our neighbors? Care to explain yourselves?” He had a small smile curve near the tips of his lips.

“Well, I would like to explain, but maybe somewhere in privacy…” Alyx eyed the many rebels standing around them who were, all in turn, staring at the ponies. They all were cowering a bit behind Twilight due to all this unwanted attention; Apple Bloom and Fluttershy seemed to be doing it the most out of the group,”…seems like our friends are a bit uncomfortable around all these people. You got a small room to stay in? A closet perhaps? Got somewhere private doc?”

“No need to fear Alyx!” Dr. Kleiner waved a triumphant finger into the air,” The conference room is still intact, and luckily, all the shelves and other pieces of furniture have stayed in place as well. Hold on a second there Alyx…” Kleiner then yelled out into the group,” Eli! Can you meet us up in the conference room in five minutes?”

“Sure thing Izzy, I’ll be right there!” Eli yelled out. He proceeded to open a door that led to the room.

“Why must we always have this constant parade of interruptions?” Dr. Magnusson was shaking his head in regret,” I should have never let those two go out there…now everyone in this base is obsessed with hugging those things…” He muttered under his breath.

“C’mon guys, we need to get going…” Alyx waved a hand in the direction of the ponies, Gordon, and the rebels that had ventured outside to follow her. The other rebels called out objections to this;

“NO! Alyx, take me with you!”

“I haven’t even had the chance to hug one of them yet!”

“Too cute to let go!”

“UGH! Why did you have to show me Marci!?”

“What Frank? You were curious to know…”

Alyx led their group through a small door and called out to the ponies,” Stay close, these hallways can get a little cramped, and especially with the amount of people…and ponies…we have to deal with!” She jumped over a small hunk of fallen concrete that lay in their path. The others followed suit.

After going down a couple more corridors and through a few more doors, they all finally got to the conference room, which was about a modest size. It had a long table in the middle with seats that could sit about 20 people. Along the sides of the wall were shelves of books; most of them in Russian; along with maps and other stuff. At the opposite end along the far wall was a large pane of glass. It used to have a view over the valley, except now it has a view of the Everfree Forest. Off in the distance, you could see Ponyville and Canterlot, and if one were to take a strong pair of binoculars or a telescope, they could see pegasus ponies flying all over, trying to clean up the mess that the portal storms have caused.

“Well, would you all kindly take a seat? The meeting is now adjourned.” Eli politely asked them all. After everyone and everypony found a seat; Apple Bloom just sat on her sister’s lap; Dr Kleiner started their conversation,” Well, I would like to thank you Gordon, Alyx, and the rest of you rebels, on helping us gain the upper hand on knowing the natives.” He turned his head over to the purple unicorn,” From what I have gathered, you seem to be the leader of your group, is that correct?”

Twilight looked up and responded,” Well, I guess you could say that…” An awkward silence then fell upon the group.

“Well, I came here expectin’ answers n’ questions that need to be asked and answered! What I see, however, is not that!” Applejack hollered up. She could not take this small talk anymore and wanted her questions answered right away.

“Err…quite right. First of all, I think we should introduce ourselves. Do you agree Eli?”

“I fully agree with you Isaac. In order to maintain a good relationship, we must know each other first.” He turned his head towards Twilight’s direction,” Well, since you are the leader, I guess you can start…”

Twilight got up from her chair and positioned herself in between Isaac and Eli,” Well then, if you want to know, we will tell...” She started to point and name all the ponies, unicorns, and pegasi in the room.

Downstairs, however, a rebel manning the radar station was sipping his coffee when he heard some bleeping on the screen. Turning around, he saw a red dot heading towards the base; then another dot, and then another! Soon, almost twenty five dots were closing in on their target; White Forest!

“Oh shit!” He yelled, dropping his coffee in fright which smashed on the hard floor below. Moving forward, his fist smashed a giant, red button, and then an ear splitting alarm rang throughout White Forest, with a male voice accompanying it,” ATTENTION! ATTENTION! INCOMING ATTACK AT 0800 HOURS! ALL MEMBERS, PLEASE PROCEED TO BATTLE POSITIONS...”

Comments

[GuyFace]

“What’s with all the tattoos on their asses?”

That man is my hero.

[iloveportalz0r]

"She now defiantly knew that they did not mean harm" - e.deviantart.com/emoticons/moods/anger.gif
"It was also defiantly darker" - e.deviantart.com/emoticons/moods/anger/rage.gif
"You are defiantly not from around here" - e.deviantart.com/emoticons/moods/anger/rage/outraged.gif

[Ayy Lamo]

GOD DAMN IT FRANK!!