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3

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

One can hope, right?

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

The train slowed down for an upcoming turn in the tracks and, Gordon, up until now having made himself as comfortable as he could, shifted his position; preparing to jump off as the train would no longer head in the right direction for as far as he could see, following the tracks until they vanished past the horizon.

Frowning, he scanned the rapidly approaching terrain around the bend, looking for anything that could be used to cushion the blow; spotting, to his moderate appreciation, several tightly clustered bushes amidst numerous trees.

It would still hurt and most likely leave some scratches on his suit, and probably his face as well; the only part of him not protected.

Still, not one to sit back and allow someone other than himself dictate where he should go, he prepared himself to jump; frowning for a moment in irritation over the poor irony as, at this very moment, he was going exactly where someone else told him to go to.

It was a leash put on him without his consent, pulling him this way, or that whenever those holding it saw fit.

Shaking his head, he forced those thoughts to the back of his mind. Right now, he had to put all his focus on making the jump. If he jumped too soon, he would miss his mark and break who knows which and how many bones. Too late, the same result. And not feeling like breaking anything at the moment, he narrowed his eyes and mentally counted back from five.

At one, he sprung up and leaped off the carriage's roof, and soared through the air like an aerodynamic bulldozer.

His mark was off, but only just. With a crash and a silent wheeze and audible alarm
of his suit, he landed partially in the foliage.

"Minor fracture detected." his suit’s simple health monitoring system's AI informed him. Fortunately, only able to detect physical damage; otherwise it would have informed Gordon of the severe trauma to his pride and told him to seek immediate medical attention.

Groaning in thought, Gordon pushed himself up, lumbering out of the bushes with a slight limp.

Clutching his right shoulder, he carefully rolled it until he heard several pops and cracks. Exhaling loudly, Gordon released his shoulder as the knot he felt earlier came undone and he rolled his shoulder one more time; flexing his right hand while he did.

A quick inspection later, Gordon nodded to himself as there was little else damage other than a small fracture in one of his ribs, according to his suit. Not an injury that would slow him down.

Satisfied, he had a firm grasp on his overall condition and glad that, all things considered, he came through the ordeal with barely a scratch. Gordon looked around for any recognizable landmarks he remembered from the map and went on his way.

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

Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were all sitting in the gently rocking carriage of the train, following after the human who had left them in such a spectacular fashion that Rainbow Dash was still quietly swearing; arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

Not having received a reply from the princesses and understanding the urgency of the map calling them out to go to the same place the silent human had gone off to, Twilight and her friends made the decision to follow after the human as soon as possible; leaving Spike behind, mainly because the author couldn't really come up with a proper role for the young drake and he would only get in the way at this point.

"Ah still think it's strange," Applejack commented, "The princesses not responding, Ah mean."

"Well, I'm sure princess Celestia and Princess Luna are otherwise engaged, and simply haven't found the time to answer Twilight's letter," Rarity remarked, looking at her reflection in the window to see if her mane was still proper.

"Ah dunno," Applejack argued, "This human fella poppin’ up outta thin air seems like somethin’ they woulda reacted to as soon as they've heard about it."

"Don't worry, Applejack," Twilight replied with a reassuring smile. "I'm sure the princesses have a good reason for not responding to my letter."

"They do govern all of Equestria," Rarity chimed in. "One would say this is a rather time consuming job."

"Oh, it is," Twilight nodded her agreement. "Which is also why, as a princess myself, I must make decisions by my own and not add to their burden. Besides, as surprising as a human appearing out of thin air might be, we can all agree this is not the strangest thing that has happened to us, or Equestria as a whole."

"True," Applejack and Rarity agreed.

"Well, I still don't like it. Not one bit," Rainbow Dash scowled.

"Oh, Dashie... are you still grumpy over what that human did to you?" Pinkie Pie asked, pulling her friend in a spine crushing hug.

"Pin-gah-kie," Rainbow wheezed and gasped.

"Shhh," Pinkie hushed softly, petting Rainbow's mane, "Just let it out. Let it aaaall out."

"Pinkie," Rainbow Dash grunted, forcefully pushing the pink mare away from her, "let go!"

"No!" Pinkie replied firmly, tightening her hold. "Not until you stop being such a Grumpy Mcgrump face."

Looking pleadingly at her friends for help, Rainbow Dash was only mildly surprised to see them grin and snicker to themselves. This, of course, didn't stop her from muttering an annoyed: "Traitors."

"Well, it's not like we're to blame," Applejack said with a hearty laugh. "Ya know how Pinkie gets when somepony frowns for longer than thirty seconds."

"Yes," Rarity agreed, "And you have been at it for considerably longer than thirty seconds."

"Oh. Come. On!" Rainbow groaned, making another attempt to free herself. Pinkie Pie, however, proved to be an unmovable force and soon Rainbow gave up with a defeated sigh, her forelegs hanging limply as she just let it happen. "This is the worst," she murmured.

"Oh, it isn't that bad. I'm sure Pinkie Pie will let go of you in no time at all," Fluttershy spoke up, smiling kindly at her friend.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the alicorn, "Can't you do something!? Use your magic! Make it a royal decree. Something! Just get Pinkie off of me."

Chuckling, Twilight shook her head. "Sorry, Rainbow. There is a limit to what even I can do."

"But you're an alicorn now!" Rainbow argued desperately.

"And Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie," Twilight replied calmly. "I rest my case."

Face shifting through several emotive expressions, Rainbow eventually had to admit defeat. "This is the worst."

"There, there, Dashie," Pinkie Pie patted her friend on the back, "It's going to be juuuust fine."

Rainbow Dash groaned, loudly, as the train rocked on; passing the point where, unbeknownst to the mares, the silent human had jumped into some of the bushes growing near the tracks.

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

Discord, the ever busy draconequus, was hard at work mowing Fluttershy's lawn with a golf club, the head of which was that of a certain white bunny, whose body was hopping around with an iron eight for a head, while he himself wore the unmistakable attire of a surgeon ready to operate; vinyl scrubs and all.

Humming an out of tune melody to himself, he shook his behind to a beat only he could hear… for the time being.

Sighing out after a job well done, he leaned back using the club for support, wiping sweat onto his brow as he observed his hard work, obviously ignoring the angry muttering coming from near his feet; all the while applying just a bit more pressure on the club to muffle the sound, and removed the wheat stalk which hung loosely from the corner of his mouth.

At that same time, Bic Mac stood frozen, perplexed as he tried to figure out where that like pepper tasting carrot in his mouth had suddenly come from.

… Wait, pepper?

One loud yell of somepony burning his mouth rang out over Sweet Apple Acres later...

"Aahhh," Discord sighed contently, "Nothing like a good day of hard work out in the field. The sun, a nice breeze, beavers flying in flocks and the deer swimming upstream to migrate... Truly a wonderful, unremarkable day," he hummed to himself, watching as a flock of said rodents flew over; wildly flapping their tails while using their paws to steer and stabilize themselves.

A loud splashing drew Discord's attention to the riverbank on which he saw one of the deer, splashing and flailing as it had washed up.

"Oh my," Discord said, shocked, "This will not do. We can't have Fluttershy think I treated her animals poorly." And with a snap of his talon, the deer vanished, only to reappear in the middle of the river.

Not wasting a single second, the misplaced animal dove down, only to jump up and arc through the air like a dolphin a moment later.

"Yes, yes. You're welcome," Discord waved the deer off, "Go on, shoo."

Chirping like a hummingbird, the deer swam off, rejoining the rest of his herd as they swam upstream.

Discord smiled contently, with a slight hint of manic delight mixed in as he watched the deer go, following it for a moment until his eyes locked onto someone standing on the opposite side of the small river.

"Oh, it's you," Discord said, displeased, his good mood gone. "Although I can't say I'm surprised. I caught your scent the moment the first of those 'disturbances' appeared."

"Discord, as observant asss always... I see," the imposter equine said, standing next to the draconequus in the blink of an eye.

"I see those speech lesson I suggested really payed off," he snorted, looking at his lion paw with a great deal more interest than the fake pony.

"So, what are you here for this time? Another attempt to tie me to one of these 'contracts' of yours?"

"Not this time. No, my presssence here today is related to a new ploy in my em-ploy-ers plan. One in which you… do… not partake in. At least, ah, not… directly."

Discord, busy with picking something out from between his teeth, froze mid motion, eyes narrowing as he leered at the formally dressed not pony.

"And what does that mean?" he demanded to know.

"Oh, not much, I assure you. Just, one of our newest em-ploy-ees is being put to… the… test. Nothing too… serious, this time. No. You see, my employers are rather… busy. Always plotting and planning, which is a rather, ah, draining affair. And even… they are in… need… of somekind of en-ter-tain-ment… from time to time."

"Entertainment?" Discord repeated, eyes narrowing.

"Exactly," the imposter equine nodded slowly and stiffly. "And although a simple… deviation of made plans, it does require… me to set… the… stage. Make sure the players are on the board… or off it."

"I see," Discord said, bored, rubbing a shine on his talon against his chest. "And now you need me to 'disappear' as well, to make sure that I wouldn't interfere with whatever boring plan of yours is going on."

"This would be… prefered. However, unlike certain… individualsss, you aren't someone I can easily pluck.. from.. this.. world. We both know where that led to the last time this wasss attempted."

"It might ring a bell," Discord said nonchalantly, as the bell of Ponyville's school ringing ahead of schedule; leaving a thoroughly confused Cheerilee as all the colts and fillies ran out of their class cheering. "But even then, I don't see why I shouldn't get myself involved. After all, you don't want me to disturb whatever little plan you've concocted. And I clearly remember saying that I wouldn't play along like some pet."

"I see," the imposter pony said without emotion, "And there is ab-so-lut-ely nothing I can do to change your, ah, mind? Oh, well. I see," he said all business like, moving away from Discord, "I suppose I should Inform my… employers."

"Yes you do-" Discord waved him off, only to fall silent, eyes narrowing. "Hold on, just like that? No threats, or bending reality, or anything else to change my mind?"

"Would that have… helped?"

Eyes narrowing further, Discord popped out of existence, only to reappear in front of the imposter equine. "Now hold on. I see what's going on here. You're using reverse psychology on me. Saying one thing to make me do the opposite."

"Asss… observant as always, I see."

"Well, it won't work," Discord huffed annoyed, crossing his arms. "As I said, I'm not one of your puppets to do whatever it is you want. And if you want me to do the opposite of what you just said, you can bet that fake pony behind of yours that I will not play ball."

"I think… that you're looking into this a bit too much."

"Oh, that's what you want me to think. Don't play dumb, I'm onto you," Discord sneered, his single fang glinting menacingly. "You say you don't want me here, because you know that is exactly what I will do. Well, guess what. This little plan of yours is not going to work."

With a snap of his talons, a swirling portal opened behind Discord, while he himself suddenly wore a red and blue suit of Mjolnir mark seven power armor as the lively image of a boxed canyon revealed itself in the passage through reality.

Turning to the reader, Discord chuckled. "What, confused? By now you should know I embody chaos and disharmony. So there is no reason for me to stick with the same franchise, or anything affiliated with it."

Turning back to the fake pony, he leered through his golden reflective visor before jumping through, shouldering his ketchup firing BR55 battle rifle while carrying a M6D pistol on the hip.

The portal closed, leaving behind the faux pony who adjusted his tie, showing a small but cocky smirk.

"Too… easy"

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

Gordon stood atop a hill, looking down on the small, bland village; all buildings identical and somber in design. Nothing like the overly bright, mind bogglingly designed village he had ended up in thanks to Kleiner's teleporter.

In truth, the bleak appearance strangely reminded him of the somber, depressing City 17 he found himself in when his humanoid acquaintance had dropped him off within that mostly empty train; already pulling into the station and ready to offload its passengers for processing by the Combine oppressors, and those who followed them.

And speaking of trains and being followed, the long, tell-tale screech from the grinding of metal on metal drew Gordon's attention to a not too distant train station as an eerily familiar train slowed down to off load its passengers.

Gordon stood frozen, mulling over this fact, wondering how he had missed the not too subtle building in the first place during his walk to the village and almost groaning in irritation upon realizing he could just have stayed on the train instead of jumping, and upon spotting the now familiar colors of six equines he didn't feel like interacting with right now. Especially the overly brightly colored rainbow maned pegasus whom he knew would be less than happy to see him.

Yet where he completely missed the train station the first time, the group of mares didn't have any problem finding him at first glance. Or, more specifically, a loudmouth pegasus who shot towards him in a blur and slammed into his chest with concussive force found him.

"High impact reactive armor activated."
"Major fracture detected."
"Automatic medical systems engaged."
"Morphine administered."

Well, it looks like they are going to 'work' together after all.

Author's Note:

And thus, we return.

Now, I can hear you think, dear reader. Why such a meager chapter? Well, there are several reasons. First and foremost, the chapter ended so well as it did, I couldn't find a way to include more content without it feeling forced. Of course, there was also the issue of needing to rewrite the scene about yours truly, Discord. Originally, I set to work, and the words just flowed from my hands, giving shape to a scene I both enjoyed and liked. However, due to the drastic turn towards a more darker tone of story telling, I couldn't include it as it would require an complete change of what is still to come.

Naturally, I didn't just delete my hard work, so should you wish to see what couldn't have been, you merely need to ask.

Also, may I ask of you to inform me about any and all mistakes my hard working editors have missed. This would be greatly appreciated.

And, I tell you. There is no hidden message to be found, just underneath the chapter's title, which one can copy and past in the comment box to read.

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Sharp77

Sharp77 #1 · Dec 14th, 2016 · · ·

Owwww......

Sigma957

Sigma957 #2 · Dec 14th, 2016 · 1 · ·

Honestly only thing I dislike is the chapter title. Valve can't count to 3... And I fear if they ever do count to 3 it will be the end of the world. Might I suggest renaming this chapter 2.1 ?

Powerdrainer

Powerdrainer #3 · Dec 14th, 2016 · 1 · ·

7794329 There is a hidden message located directly below the title. It is directly linked to both the number, and what you just said. Copy/past it into the comment box to read it.

Powerdrainer