Prologue
Hλlf-Life|Hλlf-Pony|ALL Freeman
A very strange crossover between Valve’s Hλlf-Life 2 and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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IMPORTANT NOTE: Being a FanFiction, the story is completely non-canon. What I WILL tell you however is that it takes place in the events right after HL2:E2 after the rocket launch.. Plus, being a crossover, some things may not make sense. Bear that in mind.
(Ex: In most other ‘Human in Equestria’ Fics, the human(s) are turned into ponies. In my opinion, this has been disproved by the HL series, because it literally shows humans going to other universes and still retaining their shape. SO yes, humans are once again in Equestria)
Also, throughout the FanFiction, I will give links to some appropriate music and information as you read.
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Prologue
The sun was setting fast and the bright day was soon giving way to a light dusk. The sky was dotted with clouds that streaked the skies like lightning. Quietly settled in a calming valley lay an aging Russian Cold War bunker named White Forest, one of the last remaining Resistance research facilities out there.
Just a few mere hours ago, the Combine have just made a full on assault on White Forest, complete with attack teams of Elite Combine soldiers, Swift Hunters, and Towering Striders. Their main intention was to halt the launch of a missile that was housed in one of two missile silos at White Forest. The Resistance planned on using this missile to close off a portal between their universe and the Combine’s universe.
The portal was caused after a massive explosion of the Citadel’s Dark Matter core collapsed in on itself. From the implosion came the so-called “Superportal”. Luckily, thanks to the heroic efforts of Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance, the attack was subdued, the missile was untouched, and the plans to destroy the Super Portal had once again gone underway.
Dr. Kleiner, Eli, Alyx, and Gordon were all huddled inside the missile launch room with a giant window of glass pointed towards the missile silo for viewing. Dr. Magnusson on a nearby screen was ordering everyone around, trying to make sure everything was perfect, or at least perfect in his way. Everyone in both the control room and around the base were very eager to see the launch of the rocket and finally end the Combine onslaught once and for all.
“…I suggest we adjourn this meeting of the ‘Mutual Admiration Society’ until we have launched our rocket!!!” Magnusson ordered quickly due to Kleiner’s, Eli’s, and Alyx’s nonstop comments on how Gordon had singlehandedly stopped the invasion of the combine soldiers. “Now I believe that we are ready to start the launch sequence.”
“I believe that Gordon should have the honor.” Eli turned her head in the direction of Gordon’s.
“You’ll hear no objections from me” Dr. Kleiner said agreeing. He proceeded to the launch button and pulled the glass case open for him.
“Well, it’s all yours Gordon” Alyx commented as she walked over to the giant window to get a better view of the launch.
Gordon slowly walked over to the big red button. His heart was beating fast and his head was breaking out with bullets of sweat…for once again, the fate of the world rested in his hands. Pushing down on the button, a click sounded a timer nearby started counting down from 30:00. The launch alarm rang out through the entire base.
“Silo doors open…” Dr. Magnusson said on his side of the television
monitor. A rumble shook the base a bit as the rusty silo doors opened with a loud creeeaaaakkkk. A flock of crows that were resting near the silo flew away, squawking loudly at the doors. The timer read 17:54. “Power to main thrusters…” Magnusson said. He himself was also breaking out into a cold and nervous sweat. The creaks and shaking kept on going with no stop. “Steady on…were launching!”
Dr. Kleiner had his eyes glued to a nearby computer screen and the missile silo whose doors were now completely open, exposing the tip of the rocket.
“T-minus…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…”
“Steady…steady!” cried a nervous Magnusson. He was shaking all over in anticipation.
“…3…2…1…”
At the count of two, an ear splitting rumble could be heard and the bunker swayed to and fro. All of a sudden, a loud bang echoed throughout the base and valley. A tower of smoke rose from the missile silo. Soon following, a rocket burst out at top speeds. Long jets of fire came out of the huge thrusters at the bottom. The launch room was filled with the bright light and the rocket quickly sped off into the sky, soon coming out of view.
“Lift off! Lift off! A-hahahaha!!!” Dr. Magnusson exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. A great feeling of joy swept over everybody in the facility.
“We did it!” Kleiner celebrated enthusiastically.
“Wow…” was all that Alyx could utter while staring at the giant rocket as it went past the atmosphere.
“Great! That was just fantastic!” Eli remarked with a great smile across his face.
“Ok, ok…deep breath…deep breath” Dr. Magnusson was trying to calm himself down,”…now, it’s still a bit too early to celebrate. We need to reach altitude and transmit the signal! “
“Too right, for clock is ticking!” Dr. Kleiner agreed as we waved a finger into the air.
“We couldn’t have cut it any closer if that was our intention.” Magnusson then stiffly replied.
“It…is…going to work, right?” Alyx asked with much uncertainty.
“It has to…” Eli told her daughter.
“Once the rocket is in range of the portal, we will be able to switch on the Xenium Resonator.” Kleiner added as he walked over to another computer monitor and read the data carefully.
“Let’s get outside. I want a better view of the fireworks.” Eli said as Eli, Alyx, and Gordon walked through a door to the outside.
“It will be quite a show!” Dr. Kleiner enthusiastically exclaimed. “Regrettably, I cannot go with you for Dr. Magnusson and I will need to keep a close eye on the rocket’s trajectory.”
“Aren’t you going to see us off?” Alyx begged.
“Just as soon as this is wrapped up. I wouldn’t dream of letting you go without a proper goodbye. “
“Okay, I’ll hold you to that…you too Doctor Magnusson!” Alyx exclaimed to both of them.
“Indeed” Magnusson replied as he got back to work on the panels on his side of the screen.
Alyx, Gordon, and Eli went through a couple of doors until they reached the outside. Alyx saw DOG waiting for them as the door slid open. “DOG! There you are!”
“You go on ahead sweetie…” Eli told Alyx. She obeyed and hurried forward to DOG.
“Hold on a sec there Gordon” He put a hand out and Gordon stopped in his tracks.
“The more I think about that warning from our friend, the more I’m convinced that it has to do with the Borealis. Don’t be deceived. That ship must never be used!” He then slammed a fist into his other hand to emphasize that statement. “You have got to destroy it, whatever the cost…”
Alyx then called the two of them over,” Where are you two! You’re going to miss it!”
“Be right there Alyx!” Eli yelled out,” Gordon, thanks for everything you’ve done. For Alyx…for everyone. I couldn’t be prouder if you were my own son. Now when you get back, we got a lot to talk about.” With that said, he walked outside to get to Alyx and DOG. Gordon followed suit.
They found themselves in what appeared to be a space for helicopters to take off and land from. In the distance, the giant, blue portal was spinning madly. Its bright blue glow seemed to illuminate the darkening sky.
“Oh my, Gordon, Alyx…look at the portal!” Dr. Kleiner yelled with excitement over a loudspeaker.
“This has to work…” Eli told himself under his breath.
“We’ve activated the Resonator!” Kleiner’s voice echoed through the valley,” This is it!!!”
The whole entire valley shook hard. The base rumbled and the trees swung to and fro. Gordon almost lost his balance from all the shaking.
“My goodness…” Kleiner exclaimed, holding his breath in anticipation
“”Yes…YES!” Alyx yelled. Out in the distance, if one looked close enough, they could see a small dot that was the rocket finally made contact with the portal. It exploded with a loud BOOM and the portal shattered into a million little dust-like blue particles. The land lit up in the immense light that was emitted from the explosion. Soon, no portal was in sight ever again. All that was left was the still swirling portal cloud.
“YES! The portal has been neutralized!” Kleiner exclaimed with a happy tone in his voice. Alyx and Eli hugged each other, and Gordon could hear the war cries of rebels inside the base.
“Oh my rocket, Oh my rocket worked! Oh, I told you it would work! HAHAHAHA” Dr. Magnusson could be heard from the speaker.
“Hey Gordon, I bet’cha the Combine sure aren’t happy right now!” Alyx yelled mockingly.
\/ [BEGIN CLEAN-UP PROCESS HERE] \/
Eli was jumping to see the portal vanish happy it was all over. DOG came over and pulled Gordon, Alyx, and Eli into a compassionate hug. Suddenly, DOG dropped them all and stared at the portal cloud.
Alyx had a very concerned look on her face,” What is it DOG? Something wro…” Her mouth gapped open when she looked into DOG’s direction. “Dad! Gordon! Look over there!” She quickly pointed into the direction of the portal clod. Somehow, the portal materialized once again, but this time, instead of going back to its normal size, it was expanding…bigger…bigger…bigger…
Dr. Kleiner could still be heard cheering over the speaker, but then his cheering stopped. All that was heard over the speaker was Magnusson’s and the Rebel’s cheers,” Dr. Magnusson, look over there! Look at the portal! Its back, but its rapidly growing bigger and bigger!” Kleiner yelled. Magnusson and the rebels stopped cheering an ran to the closest window they could find to check it out.
“Oh my…oh dear God!” Magnusson cried over the speaker. The portal was now pulsing…bigger…smaller…bigger…smaller…suddenly, another portal storm emerged from the now big portal…then another! Another one followed it! Seemed like a never ending wave of portal storms!
Magnusson hit the alarm button and a siren was heard all throughout the base,” Oh dear God…Attention! Attention everyone…” Dr Magnusson yelled over the alarm system,” This is not a drill; repeat, this is not a drill! Everyone please proceed into the safe house areas inside the bunker! This is not a drill! We are in immediate danger!” The multiple portal storms started to cascade down upon the base. Chunks of the building started to come down.
“Alyx! Sweetie, we need to get inside, now!” Eli yelled. All of them, including DOG, tried to hurry inside, but DOG was cut off by a mountain of rubble that decided to come down. Alyx peaked her head through a hole to talk to DOG,” DOG! I need you to find some safety! Stay within the boundaries of White Forest! Got it! Good!”
The three of them hurried back into the launching room. In there, Dr. Kleiner was madly talking with Dr. Magnusson who was still on screen. “Isaac! You have to get out of there and get down here this instant! I do not want to lose any more scientists from our science division! That is an order!” Before hanging up, something exploded behind Magnusson and rebels were seen running in all different directions.
Kleiner turned around and noticed the very frightened Gordon, Alyx, and Eli,” Thank GOD you guys are alright! We need to get into the safe houses! From what I can gather, some passageways have already collapsed, and others may collapse soon also. We must hurry!” With that said, he opened a door and proceeded down a long hallway and a couple flights of stairs. “Hurry! We need to get moving!
The four of them started to sprint down corridors and stairwells. They were soon greeted by a group of four rebel soldiers.
“Doctor Freeman? Thank god you are alive! Look, we have been down that passageway, and it is blocked by fallen debris. I suggest we take the South-West route. I heard that the tunnel there is still holding up”
Dr. Kleiner then stepped up to the plate,” Dear me, I only know of this route because I memorized it by mind. I cannot read Russian…” He then pointed to the many original painted signs with arrows that were in Russian,”…so can you be so kind and lead the way?”
“Sure thing doc! Just stay close, we do not want to lose anyone, right?” The rebel then led the group of now 7 people down a corridor and took a sharp right at the first intersection. This led to another corridor, except wider. It appeared to be a vehicle tunnel. Looking around, the rebel took some time to think. Finally making his direction, he yelled,” This way!” Taking the left way, they passed by many crates, rusty barrels, and even the occasional dead guy under some fallen concrete.
After reaching the end of the passageway, they came up to what appeared to be a garage door. “It’s through here! The safe house is right through here!” He ran forward to push a big red button near the door when another portal storm passed through. White Forest rattled down to its very foundations. Pipes were heard snapping and hissing, and clumps of concrete started to rain down from the sky. Suddenly, the lights went out and the tunnel was left completely dark.
“ARGH!” The rebel who went to push the button yelled out in pain,” My leg! A chunk of concrete fell on my leg! OW!” He screamed in the darkness.
Out of a corner in the wall, what looked like a portal storm, started to pass through, except this time, it was colored like a portal.
“Shit! What is that thing?!” Alyx cried out, backing as far away from it as possible.
“It’s the portal, Alyx! It grew and now it’s enveloping us!” Eli also backed off into a corner. Gordon tried to back off when he tripped over a dead combine soldier left from the battle that ensued a few hours ago. He could not get up in time, and the portal soon swallowed Gordon, then a rebel, then the rest, then the room! White Forest shook and rattled so much it was like riding a bucking horse. A bright flash and a bang later, the rattling stopped, everything grew quiet and the room was once again plunged into a discomforting darkness…
/\ [END CLEAN-UP PROCESS HERE] /\
Crossover Inbound
The night had fallen upon the mystic land of Equestria. Princess Luna’s moon cast long, beautiful shadows everywhere, and the stars shinned magnificently in the sky. A few shooting stars could even be seen flying across the dark and endless blue. All the ponies had been tucked away soundly in bed with the calming night sounds accompanying them. All of them wrapped up snugly and tight under their thick bed sheets, cuddling up with the super soft pillows. Tonight was just a night of sleep and relaxation…except for one pony.
Down in the town of Ponyville, all the lights have died out in every window and everypony was sleeping soundly. Yet, noise and lights could still be seen and heard in the library. Twilight Sparkle was busily tending to her studies. She flipped through pages and pages of advanced magic books, history books, and anatomy books. Twilight just had the feeling of studying in her head, so she stayed up way past her bed time.
“Twilight?” Yawned a very tired Spike as he entered the room,” Don’t’cha think it’s time to sleep? You’ve been working all day and now into the night!” He rubbed his eyes a bit and stared groggily at the busy unicorn.
“No Spike. If one has the opportunity to study, one must take it. When the sun fell behind the horizon and the moon came up, I did not feel tired. Not wanting to waste my precious energy on sleep, I decided to study some more.” Twilight quickly answered as she read more articles and flipped through more pages.
Spike turned his attention towards a clock that hung on a nearby wall,” Look at the time! Its 1:47…A.M.! You need some rest Twi’!”
“Spike…” Twilight turned her head towards his direction,” I told you before. I do not feel a tad bit tired at the moment. Plus, I need more studying to do.”
“Well, can you at least keep the noise level down and dim the lights a bit?” Spike scratched his head a bit while saying this.
Twilight’s horned glowed and two cotton balls zoomed up to Spike and magically stuffed themselves inside his ears. “Here Spike. Just keep those in and close the door.”
Spike just grumbled and slowly walked towards his bed in Twilight’s room. His head was drooped all the way down. He closed the door behind him and in a few minutes, Twilight could head heavy snoring from behind the door. Rolling her eyes, she got back to reading. After finishing up the last paragraph on a book about star gazing, she then got out a new book, Everfree Forest: Mysterious Happenings – A book on the many unexplained occurrences that happened in the last 1,000 years! By Robert Bagley
“Huh, since when have I had this book?” Twilight questioned herself. She never believed any paranormal or unexplained mumbo-jumbo ever thrown at her. Twilight only believed these occurrences when there was solid evidence behind it or when it happens right in front of her; like with Pinkie Pie’s uncontrollable tail twitching.
“Ah well, I guess I could study how different ponies have different views on things. Like these ponies for example; they always take something they saw in the Everfree Forest as an unnatural occurrence…as if that doesn’t happen every day…”
She flipped the book open to the table of contents…
“Table of Contents…Fantastic Beasts…Strange Flora…pfft, as if that stuff really existed…Paranormal Anomalies…oooh…Forbidden Lands…sounds interesting enough…page 822…”
Twilight flipped the pages of the book until she reached page 822,” Forbidden Lands: A compilation of strange natural disasters recorded in the Everfree Forest…”
Twilight read every single paragraph in the book and took extensive notes. She read ever paragraph of the chapter, writing down facts about The Great Windstorm, The Unexplained Hurricane, and The Horrifying Drought…”Man!” Twilight laughed to herself “Some of these titles and descriptions are just so made up, I sometimes wonder how they even got written onto paper and shipped out into stores!” Even with that, she continued to dissect every chapter until she yawned.
Looking at the clock, she read 3:12. Closing her book and stretching a bit, Twilight proceeded to put away the books she got out. After organizing them all and getting a quick drink, she proceeded to bed. Just as she reached the door to her room, Twilight heard static in her ear accompanied by a slow trumpet tune and then a few loud beeps that made the hair on her back stand straight up.
She stopped and paused at the sound. Twilight never heard static in her ear before, or even in all of Ponyville! Backing away from the door to her room, Twilight looked around the library. Everything seemed normal…except for one thing. While looking around, she peaked through a window and saw her lonely balcony staring off into the distance, but this time however, the balcony was occupied.
Standing there was a steel blue stallion with a dark brown mane and small silver streaked flowing through it. She could guess that he was about a middle aged pony by the wrinkles in his face. He was wearing a purplish-blue-gray business suit with a dark business pack lying on his back. All he ever did was stare off into the distance with his tired looking green eyes, towards the Everfree Forest. After a small smirk came across his face, he turned around and proceeded to the door leading inside. The static in her ear suddenly stopped.
“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight thought hard in her mind. She raced upstairs to the only door that led to the balcony. Knowing she had cornered this mysterious stallion, she raced forward and swung the door open…nopony was there! In fact, there was no evidence that there was even anypony up here at all! She looked around the balcony to investigate even more. Her horn had a strange itch in it as she searched the balcony. Suddenly, her eyes drifted beyond the railing on her balcony. Off in the distance, somewhere in the Everfree
Forest was a giant lightning blue dome, about a mile wide in diameter. The blue dome kept pulsing…bigger, smaller, bigger, smaller, always emitting that frightening yet enticing blue glow.
Twilight gazed in awe at the site, staring at it in an almost surreal stare. A slight gust of wind which rattled the library a bit got her out of the trance. Knowing that this was an unknown anomaly, she quickly summoned a pencil, a note pad, and that Everfree Forest: Mysterious Happenings book. They zoomed in front of her immediately.
She took note of everything she saw for the next thirty seconds. Just as she was about to write down another note, the blue dome suddenly got super small and the light emitting from it dimmed. Twilight put down her pencil and walked over to the railing, looking off into the distance. Suddenly, with great force, the blue dome expanded quickly and stopped. From the stop, a giant visible shockwave started cascading away from the dome and in all directions, with Ponyville in its path!
Twilight, whose heart was racing every second for she did not know what to do, curled up into a ball and braced herself, closing her eyes shut. She could feel the ground rumble beneath her and the tree rattled like the dead as the shockwave approached. The wave finally hit Twilight’s house. The branches rocked so much that some broke off; the windows rattled and shattered; and she could hear the distinct sound of books falling off of shelves.
Somehow, the shockwave passed through Twilight without harm. Sadly, the rest could not be said for the town. As the shockwave came through, Twilight could hear frantic and frightened cries from fellow ponies waking up from their slumber, trees falling and cracking, and could also make out the sound of the town hall’s bell tower coming down with a crash. Thinking the wave was over, she got up and opened her eyes. Twilight then saw three more shockwaves approaching her at a fast pace.
“T-T-Twilight! H-Help!!!” Spike cried from the inside of the house.
“”Don’t worry Spike! I’m coming!” Twilight then hurried in, trying not to fall over from the other shockwave’s trembles as they approached. She quickly got inside but accidentally tripped over a stack of fallen books. Instead of gracefully running down, she fell down the stairwell, hitting every inch of her body. She reached the bottom with a loud *THUD*. Twilight landed on her world started spinning.
“Twilight! Help me!” Spike cried once more. Twilight quickly regained her composure and proceeded to her room. She heard pounding on the other side and some ceiling rubble collapsed in front of the door.
“Hang on Spike!” She yelled reassuringly,” Stand back! I will try to remove this rubble!” It was kind of hard for her to concentrate on the rubble with the constant shaking, but she did. Twilight kicked down the door and ran inside. Spike immediately came over and hugged her around the neck.
“Come on Spike, we need to get out of here!” Spike jumped onto Twilight’s back and they rode off to the exit, narrowly avoiding falling debris and trying not to trip over any fallen objects while keeping their balance as the shaking continued. Twilight opened the door and ran outside into the cold, dark night.
The rumbling had just about stopped and the full extent of the damage had just been revealed; shattered windows, broken shingles, fallen debris, and many heartbroken and scared ponies everywhere. Spike collapsed from fright and exhaustion and landed in the grass where he was knocked out and proceeded to snore loudly. Twilight dragged him over to a bench where she then placed his blanket he took with him outside onto him.
“Twilight, darling! Thank goodness you’re all right!” Rarity came up from behind and put a hoof around her friend’s neck and hugged it dearly.
Twilight hugged Rarity back,” Thanks Rarity. Seems like you are safe and sound too, right?”
“Not necessarily my dear, for part of my ceiling caved in and ruined my shop and home! It will take ages to repair, and no doubly my business will suffer too! Plus, the second floor and above are now too weak to support anymore weight, so I had to rush out as quickly as I could. Luckily, I got the essentials, such as Opal here…” The finely combed cat was just lying right next to Rarity’s leg, not giving at all the slightest bit of attention to her grief stricken owner.
“Oh, I am so sorry for your loss Rarity.” Twilight said. She really did feel bad for her because her shop was also her home. “Hey, listen. My house sustained less damage and has enough room for another pony to move in. You can stay until your house has been repaired and is deemed livable again.”
Rarity’s face lightened up with joy. She bounced up and down with delight,” Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Twilight! You don’t know how much it means to me and Opal! We had nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and you generously lent me lodging in your house!” Rarity gave Twilight a sort of ‘thank-you’ hug.
Twilight started to slightly blush. She turned her head away and said,” Well, that’s what friends are for, right? You would do the same for us, so I thought that I should repay you in a way.”
“Thanks again Twilight! Let me just get my bags, for I left them back at the boutique! Be right back!” Rarity then ran off to her shop with Opal desperately trying to hang on for dear life. Pinkie Pie then came over to Twilight with Applejack and Fluttershy accompanying her.
“Well, I think I can just go an’ thank the heavens now tha’ I see that you, Twi’, is now safe from harm!” Applejack rooted, seeing one of her closest friends safe and not injured in any way.
“Yea! I totally agree with AJ there!” Pinkie bounced around in a cheerful tone while pronouncing this,” I would throw a super-special-extra-riffic party to celebrate, but…” She then looked over at the Sugarcube Corner. Its windows were cracked, sweets and cupcakes littered the floor, and the ‘Sugarcube Corner’ sign that usually hung near the entrance was now smashed on the ground,”…it seems like the Sugarcube is a teensy-weensy bit busy right now.”
Twilight smiled reassuringly at Pinkie,” Hey, don’t worry. Once the corner is fixed up, we will all throw the best party Ponyville has ever seen in a long time! Everyone here looks forward to your parties! I will also help you clean up once things have settled”
“Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyoutha…” Pinkie was now bouncing around Ponyville. Twilight just followed her instincts and put her hoof out in the air. She somehow caught Pinkie in the mouth and stopped her from bouncing and blabbering. “A simple nod will do Pinkie” Twilight laughed. Pinkie then nodded and stopped blabbering on.
Rainbow Dash soon came zooming over to Ponyville. Her heart rate was pumping and sweat was rolling down her face. Hovering over the scene of destruction a bit, she swooped down to where her friends were. Instead of gracefully landing, she came down hard. Her eyes spun a bit and she was left dazed and confused. Dash’s normally straightened hair was all frazzled and messed up; it was much more frazzled than normal, even after doing tricks in the air!
“Rainbow, my words, what happened to you!?” Rarity exclaimed. She came forward and pulled Dash up and tried to fix her hair a bit with her hooves.
“Yea Rainbow, you aren’t usually this dazed and confused” Twilight was wondering what was happening with Dash. She isn’t this crazy.
“Twi…Twi...s…somet…something…ha…” Rainbow was sputtering but her mouth was too dry to make out anything and she was too tuckered out to say anything. She collapsed onto the ground. Twilight, frightened by this, made a glass of water appear out of thin air and put some up to her lips to sip. She then dumped the rest on Rainbow’s head. She immediately got back up, shaking the water off of her head.
“Ok Rainbow, tell us everything.” Twilight asked very sternly, yet also concerned for her friend.
She was gasping for breath, but then resumed her talk,” W…well, I was at home, asl…asleep of course, when suddenly, m…my house just started shaking! It was strange because o…only a strong storm could shake a pegasus’ house like that, but I remember distinctly that the Cloud Factory did not have any storms planned this week, and that news was given out the same day the shaking happened! Well, anyways, I got up and then I noticed…this creature…this horrifying creature flying past my window! I…its hard to explain what it looked like, but it was giving off a loud humming noise and wa…was carrying what appeared to be a metal house with no windows…and there wasn’t just one, but an entire fleet of them, dozens of them flying through the sky! They were also accompanied by the…these black things with spinning blades. They made a sort of chopping sound as they pa…passed by. I got scared because, ya know, I have never seen theme before, so…so I hurried over to Ponyville as fast as I could without leaving behind a Rainbow trail for them to follow me. A…and to add to that, while flying over here, I saw the…these little creatures carrying these black sticks, a…and they seemed to be escorting these giant white eggs…also accompanied by these weird shaped black th…things on wheels, and they were mo…mobilizing fast…and they were heading out in a…all directions…” Rainbow talked so fast and so quick that she was left breathless again and fell to the ground and started panting.
This time, Twilight conjured up a bucket of water and a thick blanket to put onto the shivering and obviously frightened Rainbow Dash. After having she drank a couple of gulps of water from the bucket and tucking the blanket tightly around Dash’s back which was as cold as ice, Twilight put a sympathetic arm over her body and said,” I think you need some rest Dash. You’ve been through a lot. Come to my house. Its still holding together and safe enough to stay in. Rest in my bed, I won’t be needing it for the night.” She then led the nervous and tuckered out pegasus to her bedroom.
“Wow…and to think I was random!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, for she never knew that Rainbow Dash could get more random than Pinkie herself!
After tucking in a very tired Rainbow Dash, Twilight came back outside with her friends to talk about their friend’s little rant. “Strange…Dash has never acted that way before? Yet, somehow, all her words seemed reliable…”
“Ya Twi’, but she seemed a little more…eccentric…in her wording” AJ counter acted,” When a pony don’t act like she usually do, then somethin’ strange is running amuck.”
“Yes AJ, I know she wasn’t acting normal, but I believe her. Its because I saw…well, I saw…”
“What Twilight? What did you see?” Pinkie asked curiously
But before Twilight could respond, the mayor of Ponyville came towards the town square’s fountain and, with a loud speaker, talked to everypony that stood out there,” Excuse me! Excuse me everypony! I would like an unexpected town meeting in the Town Pavilion at this moment!” Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and the rest of the ponies then proceeded towards the remains of the Town Hall. A large crowd gathered around the Mayor and her podium which was set up on stage so that everypony could see her. If one were to look closely, that pony could defiantly see strain marks in her face and see a very stiff, stern look.
Twilight and the rest of the gang were huddled near the stage around the podium.
“Citizens of Ponyville, we have been struck by an unnatural force that has shaken this town to its very foundations! We do not know what it is at the moment, but word has been sent to Canterlot at this moment to relay on this disaster.”
The crowd buzzed with talk, all of them coming up with strange answers to why this happened.
“I think that Celestia conjured this up so that we will have to pay double the tax so that she can ‘repair’ the damage.”
“Well, I say that that zebra, Zecora did this! Her evil spells have plagued this town since the start!”
“Oh yea, well I say that it is some sort of evil, dark magic that came from an unknown monster that did this!”
The stories got crazier and crazier until out of the sky, a Royal Pegasus dressed in gold armor came swooping down with a scroll in his mouth. He flew down to the mayor, gave her the scroll, and in a deep male voice said,” It’s from the Princess” He then flew away into the distance.
The mayor unraveled the scroll and read it aloud,” I received your message, and you are not the only ones to have felt it. It could be felt all the way here in Canterlot, and even as far as the borders of Equestria!...”
The crowd gasped at this. What could have been so powerful that it could of reached the very far borders of Equestria!?
“…I have detected something has entered this land, but it is not natural. It is something strange and new, and it is what caused this to happen. My powers have detected the strongest source could be found in the Everfree Forest. Your town happened to be the closest one to the source. I ask that you create a search team, find it and report back on your findings, for I have more important business to attend to.
- Princess Celestia”
The mayor rolled the scroll and spoke to the crowd,” Well, you heard her. Princess Celestia has detected the source to be in the Everfree Forest, and we are the closest ones! We need to have a search team set up in 10 minutes! Anypony willing to venture into the Everfree Forest at this hour, please meet neck here at the podium in 10 minutes!” She then left the podium and the crowd started to depart.
Twilight turned to her remaining four friends and told them,” Look, this has to do with everything that I was about to say and might be about what Rainbow Dash was blabbering about. Meet you all back here in 10 minutes. Just pack the necessary items like what we packed when we were going to face the dragon…” Seeing a small frightened look on Fluttershy’s face, she added,”…and don’t worry, I defiantly know this is not a dragon situation!” With that said, Fluttershy relaxed a bit.
“Okay girls, pack up and meet back here in 10 minutes…let’s go!” Twilight yelled enthusiastically. They all ran back to their homes and got their supplies ready; Rarity packed clothes, Applejack packed the hardest apples she had, Pinkie Pie packed party supplies, Fluttershy packed up food and medical supplies, and Twilight packed up maps and books to help them along their journey. As for Rainbow Dash, she woke up early and heard the mayor’s talk. Rejecting Twilight’s objections, she packed up some extra stuff that Twilight couldn’t carry. They all set off into the direction of the Town Pavilion.
Once they all gathered at the podium, the mayor was there waiting for them. It appeared to be that only the gang was going voluntarily.
“Well, I would like to thank you girls for, once again, helping this town when it is needed in a dire situation.” The mayor told all of them. She then got out a map and pointed at a location on the map,” From what we could gather, this is where the shaking started, and this is where you are right now. Its about a forty five minute journey through the densest parts of the Everfree Forest. I wish I could help, but the others who are staying behind need to help fix this place up…” She then looked in the direction of the Town Hall’s broken bell tower which lay shattered on the ground. “All I can do is wish you girls the best of luck…” She then walked to her office and left the gang of six to fend for themselves.
The six of them proceeded to the edge of the Everfree Forest. A pang of fear ran through their back, for they did not know what they were about to meet out there.
“Well, it’s now or never…we better get moving…” Twilight told them all as she got out her map with their destination marked on it.
“So…Twi’, you said something about what you saw has to do with this disaster and Dash’s rant?” Pinkie then asked as the group penetrated the outer layer of the woods.
“Oh yea…let me explain…” Twilight then recalled everything she saw that night; from the strange stallion on her balcony to the large blue dome in the direction that they were heading. The other five listened intensively and they dived deeper into the forest…
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Gordon stumbled around in the darkness, sometimes bumping into rebel soldiers who just said,” Sorry Doc didn’t mean to get in your way.”
A female voice then rang out of the speakers,” Power outage detected. Emergency Generators will start in 3…2…1…”
The lights in the tunnel flickered a bit and then turned on completely. The full damage of the portal storm was revealed; the passage they just went through collapsed and the rebel who was hit in the leg was shown; a chunk of concrete had shattered all of his right leg and he was moaning in pain. Blood was all over the floor and concrete. A doctor was tending to the rebels wound. All the rebel could say was,” Argh…someone, please hit the…ack…red button. It will open up the door…” Gordon obeyed and pushed the button on the wall. The doorway slowly creaked open and revealed the garage work area. Sitting there was Dr. Magnusson, some scientists walking around, making sure the machines were still functioning a few Vortigaunts talking to each other in their strange alien language, and many, many Rebels, all of them with stern or scared expressions on their faces.
“Freeman! Thank GOD you are alive! We all thought you, Alyx, Eli, and Kleiner were dead!” Dr. Magnusson exclaimed happily, almost hugging Freeman in the process, but then stopped himself.
A nearby rebel came up to Freeman holding an SMG and told him,” Hey Doc, we have some grave news to tell you…” He pointed in the direction of a Vortigaunt.
The Vortigaunt came forward and said in his gravelly voice,” Freeman, we appear to be in a predicament of sorts...”
The other Vortigaunt stepped forward and continued the other’s conversation,” When the missile made contact with the super portal, the portal expanded and engulfed the all of White Forest…”
“Except instead of being teleported into the Combine’s universe…”
“We were transported into this new, unknown universe. No human, Combine, or Vortigaunt foot has come here before…”
“We do not know what to expect from this land. We do not know if its inhabitants are peaceful or aggressive.”
“So we suggest you proceed with extreme caution while exploring the outside world.”
“But we do detect intelligent life living in this world, so it is vital that we make contact as soon as possible.” The two Vortigaunts then stepped back and continued their conversation with each other.
Magnusson came forward and put a hand on Gordon’s shoulder,” My boy, you know what this means? The portal expanded and transported us to an unknown universe. We now have no contact with anyone else; no more back up support when we are in a jam, nowhere else to go to, and defiantly nowhere to get more supplies from when we run out. This is a dangerous world, and we are stuck in the middle with no life support. Once our supplies dwindle, we might as well light candles to count the days we live until extinction.” He then shook his head in pain and went to lean against a wall.
“Well, that is most troubling indeed” Dr. Kleiner heard the entire conversation between Gordon, the Vortigaunts, and Dr. Magnusson,” We must ensure that our supplies lasts, dividing it equally amongst our remaining members. Certainly, since this atmosphere houses oxygen, flora must exists in this world, so food is not much of a problem. It’s more of power and ammunition as our problem. Once we run out of ammo, all our guns can serve us as very unreliable blunt weaponry. We must take immediate action!”
Alyx came up and asked Magnusson,” Hey doctor, mind if I request something?”
“Sure, go ahead. Just make it quick because I have to think of what to do next…” Dr. Magnusson waved his hand in Alyx’s direction.
“Well Doc, since food will be the main issue, I was thinking of Gordon and I leading a small expedition into the lands around us to see if the plants around here are edible…”
Magnusson looked surprised at this statement,” Are you out of your mind! We only have a limited amount of people to spare here! Sure, we may have thousands in this base, but even losing one life could mean the difference between life and death for all of us!”
“But doc, if we run out of food, we will still lose lives due to starvation!”
“Well…but…I…OH FINE! I grant you permission to go onto this…expedition…into the world to find food for us! While I admire your sacrifice you are willing to take for the rest of the team, all I can say is that I wish you the best of luck…” Magnusson then pointed to three rebels and one rebel medic,” You four! You will follow Freeman and Alyx here on an expedition to study the surrounding flora to see if it is edible!”
“Sure thing doc!” The medic yelled, assembling the other three together. Alyx led them all to a doorway that led outside. Magnusson stopped her just to say a few words,” Alyx, promise me…you will not have anyone killed, will you?”
“Don’t worry about them. You know Gordon, he always protects his squad with all his heart.” With that said, Alyx led the group to a giant room with closed blast doors that went outside. “Well, here goes nothing…” She said as she started to turn a handle. A pair of blast doors closed behind the group. A siren blared above them, signaling that a blast door was being opened. With a great tug, the doors creaked apart. A blast of the cool air came in and fell upon everyone. A cold chill ran down everyone’s spine. The group of six slowly came out, guns drawn, all members of the team cautiously surveying their surroundings.
“What the hell…is that!?” A rebel yelled. She pointed at the entire world; everything was very different! The plants, the sky, everything had a very bright color, even in the night’s moon, and they were all outlined with thick lines. Alyx went forward and touched the grass,” Well, this grass sure does feel different than our home world grass. Have a feel for yourself a Gordon!”
Gordon knelt forward, took off his HEV Suit’s gloves, and felt the grass. Dew had just started to form and the grass was defiantly softer than Earth’s grass.
The group walked off the White Forest property and into the dark forest. Everyone in the group stared in awe at this new world; it was heavily stylized and pastel looking colors. Looking back at the base and at everyone else, they had retained their original composures, shape, form, and color compared to their new world.
Walking deeper into the woods, the group soon lost White Forest through the thick trees and brush.
“Hey doc?” One of the rebels asked,” What will we do if we get lost? How will we get back?” Gordon thought and thought, and finally came up with a solution. Getting his crowbar out and proceeded to mark X’s into the tree trunks, marking a trail behind them.
“Good idea Freeman!” He remarked. With that situation handled, they continued down the path they chose…
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“So what you’re saying, Twilight, is that the blue orb you saw in the Everfree forest and those strange things Rainbow saw…are connected?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously.
“Exactly! If my calculations are correct, I saw the dome and Dash saw the creatures at exactly the same time! Surely they must be connected with each other!” Twilight exclaimed. She then put her attention back onto her map,” Okay, we should be nearing the site very soon…”
Rarity felt exhausted,” Thank Celestia! This trip is really ruining my manicure I just got this morning!” She looked down at her muddy and worn down hooves.
“Don’t worry Rarity, we should be heading home as soon as possible” Twilight tried to comfort her, for she knew how much Rarity cared about her looks.
“So what will happen when we meet these things? Shall I give them the one-two punch?” Rainbow Dash asked as she threw a few punched into the air.
“No Dash. If we aggravate whatever is out there, we may be putting our lives at risk here. If they do show signs of aggravation, everypony get down into an offensive position.” Twilight added,” Plus, since these creatures look like they do not belong here, I think Fluttershy may not be able to do anything since she does not know the habits of these things…”
After a few minutes of hiking, a thick bush stood in their path. “Stay here” Twilight told the rest of the gang. She probed her head into the bush, for she sensed something was inside. Suddenly, Pinkie got a funny feeling in her hair. She alerted Twilight of it,” Twi’! Twi’! My hair! It goes a-twitching again! It goes twitch-twitch!!! Although I don’t know what it even means…”
Twilight ignored it and kept moving through the bush. After moving forward, her face came into contact with a creature. She looked into its four eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs. Her mane stuck straight up into the air. Twilight immediately got out of the bush and the creature receded from the bush also with a very frightened expression. Twilight then stumbled into her friends and they collapsed into a pile…
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Gordon reacted to the creature that he had just landed a face in. Stumbling backwards, he fell into the group of rebels and Alyx too. All of them felt dazed and confused.
“Hey Gordon, what was that for!?” Alyx asked. All Gordon could do was gape and point at the bush he was just in. The group noticed the bush rustle and they all got onto their feet, all raising their weapons, all aiming at the bush,” Steady now…” Alyx told the group in a quiet voice.
The bush rustled even more and more. Noises could be heard in the leaves. The rebels raised their weapons a little bit when a purple hoof stepped out of the bush. Everyone was just about ready to pull their triggers when its head came into view; it looked so innocent and scared, and those eyes…those damn eyes looks too cute to shoot at…NO! No rebel should lower their weapon in front of a strange new creature! They kept their weapons raised and pointed them at the creature.
The purple creature soon came into view; it was a pony, except in the shape, form, and color of this universe! Ponies have gone extinct on Earth ever since the Combine rule, so seeing a pony, even if it was not of their world, was just incredible for everyone. The body was of a purple color and the pony’s mane was a darker shade of purple with a pink streak running through it. A horn stuck out through the head…so that made it a unicorn...and the unicorn had a tattoo of a star surrounded by five other stars on her rump…fascinating.
The unicorn was soon followed by a blue flying pony with wings…a pegasus? Impossible…and had a rainbow colored hair. It hovered very close to the ground and had soon landed to get a better view of the group. Soon, a pink pony, a yellow pegasus, and an orange pony wearing a straw hat came into view also. Six pony-like-creatures…six human beings…all of them stared attentively into each other’s eyes, waiting for the first one to make the move.
The purple one turned its head to the other ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, and then finally back to the rebels, saying in plain English,
” By Celestia, we found them…”
Alyx stared in awe,” My God Gordon…they talk!”