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Well, It Looks Like We Won't Be Working Together

This chapter is edited by Halusm, Clawder, Clayton the Hunter, and Slayerseba.

Well, It Looks Like We Won't Be Working Together.

<<>><<>><<>>

The ponies all ran out of the castle when they found out the silent human was no longer there; the castle's front door slamming open as they did so. All the ponies nearest to the castle stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the six mares in bewilderment as they were all looking around with various levels of concern… or lack thereof in Pinkie Pie's case.

"Hey mister," she shouted towards one of the nearest ponies, "Have you seen a tall human? Doesn't speak much, wears this orange suit thingy. We're playing hide and go seek and boy does he know how to hide!"

The stallion merely gave her a confused look as he slowly pointed a hoof towards the train station.

"Thanks," Pinkie chirped, and shot off in a blur.

"After her, girls!" Twilight exclaimed and the five of them hurried after their friend, while Spike stayed back, waiting for a reply from the princess.

<<>><<>><<>>

"That'll be twenty five bits, eh, sir?" The station's clerk said nervously, looking up at the tall creature standing before him.

"..."

Money, damn. Gordon knew he'd forgotten something. It had already been a pain in the backside trying to get the pony to understand where it was that he wanted to go; insistently pointing at the general direction on a map hanging on the wall behind the pony.

"Eh, sir?" The pony tried again.

Slowly Gordon turned around and moved away, his mind set on just following the tracks until he arrived wherever he was supposed to go.

"There he is!" Pinkie Pie cried out.

Gordon closed his eyes in resignation, trying to ignore the bouncing pony besides him as he jumped down the station's platform and started walking.

"Hey mister human who won't talk," Pinkie Pie said with exuberant enthusiasm, "You're really good at hiding, but I found you. Now it's my turn!" she declared, then grabbed Gordon by the shoulders. Before he could put up any form of protest, or even swat away the hooves holding him, Pinkie Pie spun him around with whirling speed, giggling all the while. "Now, try to find me!" she squealed, then shot off in a blur while Gordon stumbled on the spot, world spinning, barely able to stay upright.

"Oh, goodness," a meek voice said, and Gordon felt another pair of hooves get a hold of him; keeping him steady as he regained his sense of balance.

"Are you alright, mister? Pinkie Pie didn't mean it like that, she's just playful like that," Fluttershy said with a small smile, half her face hidden behind her long, pink mane.

"..."

Gordon shook his head in silence, blinking rapidly as the spinning started to slow until it stopped. He then realized Fluttershy was hovering before him at eye level, holding him by the shoulders.

"There, there. Do you feel better now?" she asked gently. Gordon found himself nodding his head without thought, though not understanding why. Fluttershy's smile, however, grew in size as she let go of him; then she patted him on the head before dropping down on the ground besides her friends.

Gordon stood there completely perplexed, unable to react in any way.

"Wow, that must have been the closest to an actual response from him we've got," Rainbow Dash remarked, "... Still not talking, though," she muttered under her breath.

Gordon shot her a flat stare.

"What were you even trying to do, running off alone like this?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, you don't know anything about this world," Rainbow Dash interjected, "What were you planning on doing, huh?"

Gordon merely rolled his eyes, turned back around and continued walking.

If only they knew.

"Well, how rude," Rarity spoke up, "Here we try to help you and you just turn your back on us, and leave. Have you no manners?"

"..."

"Really, y’all," Applejack joined in, "Ah don't think this here fellow's nogging is workin’ all that right."

"Applejack, that is not very nice," Fluttershy protested, "He's lost and I'm sure he has a good reason why he doesn't talk to us."

"Oh yeah! And what reason could that be?" Rainbow Dash asked brashly, "He doesn't talk. At. All. Not a single sound. What reason could there be for that!?"

"I, uhmm. Well, maybe. No, uhmmm. He could, oh no, uhmm…" Fluttershy's head steadily lowered, hiding more of her face behind her mane as she failed to come up with a plausible explanation.

"Oh! Maybe his world has been taken over by mindless, flesh-eating zombies and he is one of a group of four survivors, who must work together to make it to the extraction zone in order to be saved!" Pinkie Pie shouted her thoughts as she appeared out of Applejack's stetson; sitting on the farm pony's head, yet doing so without causing any difficulties for the mare, as she didn't seem encumbered by the sudden increase of weight.

Applejack was just as surprised by this as the rest.

"What!?" Twilight said, unsure if she heard her friend right.

"Oh, wait. Wrong franchise," Pinkie Pie realized, slapping a hoof against her forehead.

"What!?" Twilight shouted again, louder, feeling something spark and sputter in her brain.

"Uhmm, girls," Fluttershy said, trying to squeeze in her thoughts.

"Pinkie Pie, in what universe does that make any sense at all?"

"Girls!" Fluttershy tried again.

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath,"Well..." she began her reply, which only increased the overall confusion her friends had as she presented one elaborate theory after the other.

"Really, everypony. Listen… If you want to, I mean…"

"What kind of valve are ya talkin’ ‘bout?" Applejack asked, scratching her head.

"You really should listen… please."

"Pinkie, dear. Who, or what is a Gabe Newell?" Rarity asked, not sure what to make of the strange name.

"Everypony?!"

"What's a Glados?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's really important."

"What has a spy to do with Flash Sentry?" said Twilight, completely confused.

"LISTEN!" Fluttershy cried, scaring her friends who all reared back in shock; making Pinkie Pie fall off Applejack's head, legs sticking up frozen in the air.

"Oh, uhmm, sorry," Fluttershy apologized, as she hid behind her mane once more.

"Fluttershy, dear. What in Celestia's name is wrong?" Rarity asked, concerned.

"Oh, nothing, really. Well, except that the human is gone," she pointed out and they all looked to see that she was right.

"Wait, when did that happened?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking around to find Gordon; eventually spotting him in the far distance, moving at a brisk pace.

"Fluttershy, why didn't you say something sooner?" Twilight asked, quickly hurrying after Gordon with a quick flap of her wings, not waiting for her friend's response; the rest of her friends soon following suit, save for the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy, always the gentle soul, couldn't help, but feel peeved by that. And it showed as the faintest of faint frowns crossed her features, causing a nearby mare to gasp out as she noticed, quickly pulling her foal close to her.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry for pulling such a disturbing face," Fluttershy apologized, shocked by herself.

Quickly hiding her face again, she 'quickly' hurried after her friends with a gentle flap of her wings.

All the while, the mare looked at her, shaking her head disapprovingly.

<<>><<>><<>>

He could hear them come; hooves pounding on the ground behind him. In response, he somewhat quickened his pace.

He didn't understand why that non-human sent him here, nor did he particularly care about the motives that moved this twisted individual. What Gordon did care about was getting home as quick as possible and throw a wrench, or crowbar if his track record was anything to go by, to the engine that drove the Combine forces. Sticking with those ponies however, would not help him with that.

He was a man of results. Always had been.

He would get the task done. Either with a keyboard at hand, or with a weapon in it. Either by solving a trying mathematical equation, or bashing in the skulls of the Combine. Through whatever means, he would see it done quickly, efficiently and if luck would have it, with a large explosion… As long as he wasn't at the center of it.

Now though, as he found himself being surrounded by these slow-going, arguing ponies, he found his patience draining rapidly. There were more important things he needed to do, not play whatever game this was. Unfortunately, it would seem that his time with these ponies was not yet at an end, as the group of mares were quick to catch up with him.

Dang… Well, it's not like things could get worse, right?

… Yeah, he didn't believe that himself either.

"Hey, stop!" Rainbow Dash yelled at him, while easily catching up to the silent man.

Gordon did, in fact, not slow down.

"Fine, have it your way," Rainbow Dash grumbled and quickly matched his speed.

Hooking her legs under Gordon's arms, she easily lifted him off the ground; leaving him uselessly flailing his legs as Rainbow slowly circled back, a smug smirk plastered on her face.

Gordon struggled in an attempt to break free, but was met with little success as the pegasus took him back.

A shrill whistle rang out in the air, and Gordon took notice of the train departing from the station.

An idea quickly formed. He just needed to 'readjust' his current flight plan a bit and some measure of luck.

The luck part proved to be in his favor, as his carrier chose to stay near the tracks as she rejoined her friends. Even better, she slowed down as the train approached them at an accelerating pace; not too fast for what he planned on doing next.

With a sudden and unexpected pull and twist, Gordon managed to free one of his arms.

Rainbow Dash shouted in surprise, as the unexpected motion pulled her off course and she had to struggle a bit to stay level; moving slightly more towards the tracks.

This momentary lapse was all Gordon needed and he spun around, punching the blue pegasus in the gut.

As a result of equal parts pain and surprise over the unexpected attack, she lost her grip over Gordon. Acting quickly, he grabbed onto her leg and swung towards the approaching train, before she lost too much height.

He soared through the air for several seconds, arms and legs moving in a controlled flail to adjust his angle, then he crashed into the roof of the second passenger cart.

The ponies inside the cart all looked up at the ceiling in confusion as a loud crash was heard; followed by several more as Gordon tumbled over the roof for several heartbeats before he managed to get a hold of the roof.

His momentum came to a snapping stop and he mentally groaned, as his shoulder popped, but fortunately, didn't dislocate.

A quick check later, he found he had taken some minor fall damage, but his HEV suit had taken most of the blow and his health indicator had barely dropped.

Satisfied that things were finally moving in the direction he wanted; meaning whatever location it was that damned non-human wanted him to go to, Gordon relaxed slightly as he looked back, seeing the rapidly shrinking forms of the six ponies. Rainbow Dash could still faintly be heard swearing and yelling some very strong profanities at him, as she was held down by the same anti-gravity force he had seen being used earlier.

Gordon frowned.

In any other situation, he would have loved a chance to study this unusual ability in more detail. Being able to use anti-gravity like that would make for a very valuable asset. Right now though, he would even settle for the trusted bar of metal that had to be around there somewhere. Deep down, he knew exactly where it ended up. Redirecting his thoughts towards the current situation, he found himself looking at the steadily approaching horizon in front of him. He was about to find out just how much of his expectations were correct; and just how much of a dick that non-human really is.

<<>><<>><<>>

Several minutes, and a whole lot of angry swearing by Rainbow Dash later.

"-AND JUST YOU WAIT TILL I GET MY HOOVES ON YOU!" Rainbow Dash finally finished her tirade, blowing steam from her nose, then turned to look at her friends with anger still burning in her eyes. What she saw, however, gave her some pause.

Fluttershy lay cowering on the ground, covering her ears with her hooves.

Rarity looked at her with mouth open in disgust, eye twitching.

Applejack, apparently having wanted to cut off her rampage, stood frozen on the spot with her mouth open and a warning hoof raised at her; eyes wide and unblinking.

Twilight, as well, stood frozen on the spot. One part, for everything she'd just heard; the other, because Rainbow Dash had just proven she knew words with at least three syllables, and she didn't know if she should either be disgusted, or impressed.

Pinkie Pie gave a low, slow whistle after she spit out the pen she had in her mouth; reading back all she had written down with slow turning of the pages, which was everything Rainbow Dash had said.

"What!?" Rainbow balked, scoffing.

Her friends didn't answer, except Pinkie Pie, who prodded her friends one by one with a hoof.

"Gee, Dash. I think you broke them."

"No I didn't," Rainbow snapped harshly, turning around fast enough for her tail to swoosh, "But I will break that human when I get my hooves on him," and she jumped up in the air, fully intent on kicking Gordon's flank Sonic Rainboom style.

Her plan was thwarted, however, by Pinkie Pie; who quickly grabbed her by the tail and pulled her down.

"Hey, Pinkie. What gives!?" Rainbow Shouted, glaring at her friend.

"Oh, Dashie," Pinkie said nonchalantly, putting a leg around her friend, "You can't just chase after him like that."

"Oh yeah, why not?" Rainbow Dash shot back, challenging.

"Why, silly, that's not how the story is supposed to go."

"Whu-?" Was all Rainbow Dash managed to say, clearly having not expected that. And in the silence that followed, another quiet voice spoke up.

"I… I… Is it o-o-over?" Fluttershy squeaked, peeking with a single eye through the strands of her mane.

<<>><<>><<>>

The castle of Canterlot was a complete chaos.

Guards ran from room to room, checking everywhere. Ponies were interrogated and all non-essential personnel were told to return home, until further orders.

The reason? Princess Celestia had disappeared.

No pony even knew how it happened. She just was sitting on her throne one moment and, was gone the next. None of the guards present in the throne room at that time remembered her teleporting away; nor did they particularly remember simply standing at attention before it dawned on them that their princess was missing in the first place. When they did, however, a castle wide alert was issued.

Princess Luna was woken from her sleep, which did leave the unfortunate duo of guards to deal with a groggy, irritated alicorn, who punished them by the use of the Royal Canterlot Voice before she could be made aware of the situation.

Those ponies were quickly pulled out by some of the braver guards, (those who already had foals and made sure their line would continue,) and then were sent to the infirmary with some presumed hearing loss, and shaking legs.

Now though, half an hour into the search, no sign of the solar sovereign could be found; and the guards and Luna were faced with the very real possibility that Celestia was no longer within the castle. That just left the questions: How, who and why?

Luna knew her sister wouldn't just up and leave like this. No, she was known for her jokes every now and then. But not this.

No, it was obvious that there was some foul play involved. And those responsible would be found and punished. Severely.

"Search the city. Leave no stone unturned. Find our sister and those responsible for her disappearance. Bring them all to me!" she commanded with royal decree, but with anger and worry bubbling within.

She watched as the guards all hurried to carry out their orders, leaving her alone, with the exception of the two bat ponies belonging to her night guard.

"Your majesty," one of them, a middle aged mare with decades of experience under her leathery wings spoke up, "Who, or what could have done such a thing?"

"Not many," Luna replied, "Discord, for one. But I have no reason to believe he has done this, seeing the lack of any chaos magic; nor do I think he would break his promise to Miss Fluttershy. Tirek might be able to pull something like this off, but it is not like him to move in such ways. I myself am capable as well. In fact, when under the influence of Nightmare Moon, I did just the same. No, whoever it was who took my sister, he, or she is a being of extraordinary abilities and power."

Silence answered her and Luna frowned, having expected at least some kind of acknowledgement.

Turning to look at her guards, she found them standing frozen on the spot. Then the world started to grow cold and grey.

"Priiincessss Luunaa," a morosely toned earth pony slowly stepped out from behind her, "Such a pleasure… to… meet... you. And, might I say, an honor to meet the first pony to, heh, set hoof on… the… moon. Hmmm."

"What?" Luna shouted her surprise, trying to step away from the unknown pony, but finding herself unable to do so, "Who are you?" she demanded to know; then realization struck and she leered at the pony with building hatred. "You're the fiend responsible for my sister's disappearance!"

"An accurate accusation, Princessss. But of little use, to… you. Hmm. In fact, you should be more concerned about what it is I, ah, or more precisely, my employersss want from you."

Lightning suddenly flashed and Luna's eyes glowed a blinding white, as she glared all her rage at the unnatural pony, but unable to move, or actively use her magic.

"Mossst impressive," the pony commented, then levitated his briefcase up before him, opening it with a flick of his hooves; rummaging inside, "Now, ah, yes. You see... like your sister, you are in a posssition that might… complicate certain matters regarding certain delicate affairs. And, asss was the case with your sister, I am tasked to make sure you are oth-er-wise occ-u-pied. Ahh, there we are," he exclaimed, pulling a strange looking L shaped object out of his briefcase.

"Now, yes, you see. Finding a… sssuitable distraction… for… you proved more challenging than originally an-ti-ci-pated. But, if anything, I do enjoy a challenge. Now, here, you'll have need of this," he said, levitating the object to her.

Luna found she was suddenly able to move one of her legs. Not being able to do much more, she indulged with the pony's instructions… for now.

"What you have there, well, the monkeys that invented it call it a gun. You will find it mossst valuable to you. Just, be careful, Princessss Luna. Your new, heh, friends. Well, they may not be all that friendly. And, please be carefull. It would be a shame if you got bitten."

Luna didn't understand what this crazy pony was talking about, nor was she interested to find out who these friends he was talking about were. Yet she found herself completely frozen once more.

Then her world went dark and cold.

<<>><<>><<>>

A ghastly wind howled through the air and rain pelted against the windows as pale moonlight shone in through the cracked, and broken glass.

With a low groan, Luna slowly came to. Twitching slightly at first, then slowly moving her limbs as she regained control.

'Ugh… What happened?' she thought, rolling from her side to her belly. Two strange orbs pushed into her chest.

"What is that!?" she yelled, pushing herself back with force. She then saw her hooves in the pale light of the moon. Or… what had been her hooves.

"What are these!?" she cried out as she stared at the strange, flexible, five digit appendages which had replaced her hooves. Her legs too, had changed. No longer covered by midnight- blue fur, but almost completely bald, save for some very light fur still covering the transformed limbs. A quick inspection later, she found her entire body had changed as well. With the two orbs she felt pressing into her, being some strangely oversized teats, placed on her chest, for reasons unknown. And, worst of all. Her magic, no longer seemed to work.

"What did that fiend do to me!?" she yelled.

The light of the moon reflected off of something metallic and she then noticed this ‘gun’ thing, lying several steps away from her.

Not understanding anything of her current predicament and not wanting to deal with anything this charlatan forced onto her, she quickly ignored it; instead opting to try and stand up.

She soon found out this body she was now in, was bipedal, not quadruped. She was just glad nopony else was there to see her as she figured that out.

Stranger still, as she struggled to stand on two legs, she realized that not only was she lacking fur, she was also clothed in a tightly fitting, dark blue attire covering her upper body and half of her front legs, while a black, short-sleeved attire covered her hips and half of her hindlegs. A strange, brown colored belt hung loosely around her hips, with what appeared to be a pocket for the gun, allowing one to easily store it, but quickly retrieve it for reasons Luna didn't understand.

Suddenly, she heard shouting in the distance, but growing louder and louder terrifyingly quickly.

With a 'BANG', the door of the building she was in was slammed open and four creatures resembling herself rushed in.

They were all yelling, their voices clearly filled with fear and panic, as they looked back through the door. It also seemed that they were all carrying all manners of metallic objects, some of which Luna recognized as more of these so-called guns.

Loud, thunderous cracks, joined by blinding flashes in the dark spewed from these guns and objects she realized were of similar nature. Fear gripped at her as she tried to figure out the full intended use of these things. Not to mention, what it was they were being used on.

The answer, horribly enough, came soon after as several more of these strange creatures came dashing. Only, these creatures were bleeding all over and looked as if they had been dead for several weeks; they also screamed with horribly mangled voices.

"Die! Die! Die!" one of the original four creatures roared. A stallion, Luna realized.

A loud, cannon-like boom blasted out of the long, double tube he held in his abnormal hooves, and the head of one of the ravaging creatures blew up in a fountain of blood, brain and pieces of skull.

Luna almost threw up.

"There's more of them!" A mare cried out, aiming a large weapon (as Luna now realized what these objects truly were) towards an oncoming horde, then pulled the trigger.

A cacophony of deafening explosions, flashes, and falling cases of metal dropping on the ground was what followed, causing the rampaging crowd to drop one by one.

"Close the door!" Another stallion ordered and they were quick to carry it out. Slamming the broken door shut and barricading it with whatever they could find.

"You think it will hold?" one of them asked.

"Not for long," another answered, "Let's get out of here while it does.

It was then they noticed Luna.

Their weapons snapped up in the blink of an eye, leaving Luna standing frozen and terrified on the spot.

"Umm… I come in peace?" she offered lamely, eyeing the still smoking barrels of their weapons with fear.

Author's Note:

Ah, so we meet again.

By now, I believe that I have gained your curiosity and intrigue, and that a new chapter continuing this story is much awaited. Alas, dear reader, it shall not be for a little while longer. Although, I must admit, I was taken by surprise by the overwhelming positive feedback, chapter three is still only a mere concept in my imagination. My attention is required elsewhere first, and this story must wait for me to free up some time in my agenda. Although, you shouldn't worry. I fully intent to deliver, and by no means shall this fic go down the path as the game by which it was inspired. Chapter three shall come, but not today nor tomorrow. But until then, you must find enjoyment with what I, as well as my team of driven editors have presented you with today.

Now, please, share your thoughts and ideas. Inform me about ant mistakes that slipped through the cracks. Leave a comment telling me what it was that made you laugh, frown, or come to a life altering realization upon reading the words displayed on your screen. Anything goes.

So, for today I will bid you adieu, and until the next time we shall meet.

~Powerdrainer.

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wlam

wlam #1 · Aug 30th, 2016 · 5 · ·

Wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and... smell the ponies.

Ok, that sounded better in my head.

wlam

wlam #2 · Aug 30th, 2016 · 1 · ·

Twilight, as well, stood frozen on the spot. One part, for everything she'd just heard; the other, because Rainbow Dash had just proven she knew words with at least three syllables, and she didn't know if she should either be disgusted, or impressed.