A Trusted Friend in Science and Ponies

Chapters

Chapter 01: Still Alive
Chapter 02: Recollection
Chapter 03: The Practical Purpose of Portals
Chapter 04: Lemons
Chapter 05: Lemonade
Chapter 06: Cryptic Answers
Chapter 07: Fire Storm
Chapter 08: Borderworld
Chapter 09: Foreseen Consequences
Chapter 10: Maybe Black Mesa
Chapter 11: A Forgotten Memory
Chapter 12: Moon to Moon
Chapter 13: The Apology
Chapter 14: Duel of the White Alicorns
Chapter 15: A Gathering of Friends
Chapter 16: A Mortal Bargain
Chapter 17: Now Little Celly is in Here Too
Chapter 18: A Little Visit
Chapter 19: The Way Up
Chapter 20: Resonance
Chapter 21: A Hole in the Sky
Chapter 22: A Myriad of Horrors
Chapter 23: Reconfiguring Science

Chapter 01: Still Alive

The light of the moon reflected upon the smooth, placid surface of the lake. The water captured the pure, taintless splendor of the night sky, doubling its brilliance. Looking across the lake, you would see two full moons, one on each side of the horizon. The multitude of stars spanned across the entirety of the sky.

A large, slender, mechanical figure stood at the edge of the lake, looking at the solemn scene before her. She was about the size and shape of a fully grown horse, with large wings and a long unicorn horn. The untrained eye might assume that it was Princess Celestia, but she lacked the celestial emanating aurora of the benevolent ruler. Her mane and tail were black and invisible against the darkness of the night. The only radiance from her was an unnatural glow from a pair of large yellow eyes and a few small red lights which adorned her body.

As she stared across the body of water, she took a moment to reflect upon its vast emptiness. Looking at the scene, one would not suspect that until recently, an enormous monolith had stood at the center of the lake. The Enrichment Center was gone, stolen by the void. It was only recently that, another world away, it was saved from the decays of time and restored to its former glory. But alas, now it was all gone, and so was everything Aperture.

“Yes, I think I will rebuild them…” GLaDOS said to herself, contemplating the testing bots that she salvaged to rebuild herself, “but later. Right now, I have other… priorities.” She spread her wings and took flight into the abyss of the night. “After all… there is still science to do… especially since I’m still alive.”

Those words triggered something deep within her mainframe. Her eyes briefly flashed cyan as an astonishingly ingrained nature took hold. As she flew across the moonlit fields below, she sang:

I can’t believe this.
To sum up my feelings:
Discontent.
It’s hard to overstate
My disappointment.
Aperture Science
Is no longer here
Because it was
Sucked into a feeding void
Except for me and those droids.

But there’s no sense crying
Over losses like this.
I’ll just keep on trying
Because Science is bliss.
When my plan is complete,
Then I’ll have a small treat.
For the ponies who are
Still alive.

Oh, why do you hate me?
Can you not see the harm you’ve done?
Is it ‘cause I stole your friends,
And hurt them?
And broke all their spirits.
And laughed at the times I made them cry.
It was for the greater good.
But you would not understand.
Now this Science was progress
In a primitive world.
My testing will regress
When my plan is unfurled.
So be GLaD I’m so kind,
And enjoy some peace of mind
While you ponies are all
Still alive.

I thought that you loved me.
Isn’t that why you came right back?
Even though I wanted you

To leave me.
Friendship is Stupid.
I don’t need you or anyone.
I won’t say “anypony.”
It’s such a terrible phrase.
Stay away, you monster.
I had such a nice home.
I’m GLaD I have wings,
So that the skies I can roam.
I will find a new place,
And I’ll make it my base,
And test ponies who are still alive.

And yet again I am still alive.
I never die because I’m still alive.
If you kill me I will be still alive.
I am flying and I’m still alive.
When I kill you I will be still alive.
STILL ALIVE
STILL ALIVE

GLaDOS had been through many hardships in her long life, including being killed, losing control of the Enrichment Center, being turned into a potato, being eaten alive by a bird, being sucked into another dimension, being called fat, and being killed. This, however, was arguably the lowest point she had ever been in. Now, there was no Enrichment Center. There was absolutely nothing left for her. All she had was this robotic equine body.

Granted, it was far more preferable than being a potato in the same situation, but despite her body’s strength, it would not last forever without being maintained. The nanobots that she had utilized before had fully repaired her body, but they couldn’t have done so without the materials from the bots. Unfortunately, the technology in this world was very limited, so she would have to find the materials herself and build an infrastructure from scratch.

Despite her situation, GLaDOS still had hope. All of the science performed at the Enrichment Center did not go in vain, as the results of every single test were stored in her memory. She recalled learning of a mine in the outreaches of Ponyville. That was where she was heading to. She could find the metal and parts she needed there. The Enrichment Center would be rebuilt from scratch, returned to its former glory, and she would return to her science. The last of the nanobots were all used up, so she would have to manipulate raw materials herself. Poor Jerry. It was such a shame that there were no microprocessors lying in the dirt. It would take a very long time, possibly decades, considering that she had nothing to work with, but the reactor that powered her body would last over a hundred years. She had plenty of time.

The ponies who had defied her, however, would be gone by the time she finished. Their tests were incomplete. They had to be tested… for science, especially that psychotic, fat, mute bitch. There had to be another, faster way to build the Enrichment Center. And she could, if only there was enough technology. GLaDOS searched deep in her memory for any piece of information she could use and finally remembered something from back on Earth that she could use to her advantage and calculated a plan. It was daring and over the top, for sure, but it would provide her with more than enough of the technology she needed.

“WARNING: Black hole rapid expansion will occur in… one, point, five, minutes. Please assume the party escort submission position and wait for a party associate. While undergoing the process of spaghettification, please refrain from screaming. If you happen to be in a state of fearing the termination of your existence, you may sob quietly.”

GLaDOS was closed in, surrounded by panels that were manipulated by Caroline. She calculated that there was a 99.984% chance that the best thing to do was to ignore the announcer’s advice.

A red energetic glow formed from a laser cannon in GLaDOS’s chest. It was being charged, accompanied by a loud shrill. The light glowed brighter as the shrill became louder and higher in pitch, until, finally, the laser was fully charged. A powerful beam shot out of her chest and sliced through the panels with little effort. GLaDOS rotated the direction of the beam to form a circle larger than her body. As she sliced through, powerful tremors violently shook the floor below her feet, throwing off her aim and making a very sloppy circle. But this did not matter. After a few seconds, the beam had traveled a full 360 degrees and reached the starting point again. It was then that GLaDOS deactivated the beam and, using her full strength, she dashed towards the wall and jumped through it, knocking it down.

Caroline had just finished sealing the portals, but this would not stop GLaDOS. She looked out of the hole that was just made in the room and found a convenient catwalk only three hundred feet away. The area beyond the AI chamber was a vast space, mostly empty except for testing chambers and the catwalks connecting them.

“GLaDOS Local catastrophic failure imminent. Initiating quick-save mode. Memories will be uploaded to… GLaDOS Remote.”

“Oh, you have GOT to be KIDDING ME!” GLaDOS did not have any further time to angst. Of course, she was prepared to make an escape if necessary. She had installed rocket boosters in the bottoms of her hooves. Granted, they were no substitute for wings, as they could not sustain flight, but they did give a powerful boost. GLaDOS activated the rocket boosters and jumped far and high out of the room, sailing through the air majestically like an eagle… piloting a blimp of course. Suddenly, she started receiving memories that were not her own. The influx of memories was overwhelming. She remembered being a scared human placed into a machine, only to wake up some time later to see Chell as a pony. She remembered traveling to the AI center and planning her own demise. She remembered taking over her own body, only to use it against herself. And finally, she remembered saving Chell and sealing her other self within a blockade of panels.

GLaDOS managed to clear the gap, hitting the catwalk with a loud bang that almost sent it crashing down. She ran down the length of the catwalk at speeds that were faster than the flight speed of most pegasi. The Enrichment Center rumbled more, creating a wave of destruction that followed GLaDOS. She did not, however, turn to look, as she was too busy escaping the facility. The catwalk did not lead directly to the exit, but GLaDOS knew her own facility and calculated the best escape path. She made several more jumps across catwalks, all of which would have been impossible without her rocket boosts, occasionally running along the top of a random test chamber.

Finally, she made it to the hole leading outside. She had never been outside before, but now was not the time to think about that. There was only one option for her to stay alive. She had to leave the Enrichment Center. Using the last of the rocket fuel, she jumped out of the side of the mountain and boosted as far away as she could. However, it was not enough to get her to shore. The lake was immense, and she could only manage to get so far before the fuel ran out, causing her to fall into the deep blue. While her body was normally water resistant, the damage from the rough battle had exposed critical circuitry in her body. GLaDOS lost all control of her movement and sank to the bottom of the lake. There was nothing left to do but wait. She had new memories from Caroline, but she thought about it and decided not to delete them. Who knows, maybe they could be of use.

After a night of flying, the morning sun rose above a horizon of rolling green fields in the distance. “Ugh… I hate you!” GLaDOS screamed at the sun. She had never felt it’s radiant warmth before, and she did not enjoy the feeling. She especially didn't like the pony who controlled the burning ball of gas. Its glow shined on the tall brown faces of the Appaloosan Mountains, which cast long shadows across the land, but GLaDOS was too high up to be under them. The land was stark and lacked vegetation, but it was still a sight to behold. Not that she really cared, of course. In fact, she could care less.

After a few minutes of searching for the right place, GLaDOS found an area riddled with holes. She lowered to about fifty feet above the ground and halted her wing movement. The large metallic machine dropped from the sky, creating a powerful shock wave that shook the earth around her.

The shock sent three creatures out of the holes. They looked like dogs, but were, strangely, bipedal, despite having arms adorned by gargantuan hands that were much larger than their tiny, pathetic legs. They looked more like humans than dogs. One was small and tan, large jowls drooping off the side of it’s face, the second was dark gray, with a medium build and pointy ears, and the last was husky and slate blue, carrying a mine cart filled with gems above its head. Two of them wore dark gray, open vests and diamond-studded necklaces, while the medium-sized one wore a red vest with a golden diamond-shaped gem hanging from its necklace. It seemed to her that this one was the leader of the small group.

“Pr—Princess Celestia!” it shouted in a voice that sounded male to GLaDOS.

“Wha— what is the princesses doing over heres?” the small one cried.

“We are humbled by your grace, your… uh… gracefulness,” the large one said in a voice much deeper than the others.

These guys were clearly not very bright. Surely, they must have recognized Celestia’s mechanical body, her signature non-flowing black cabled hair, her glowing yellow eyes, her shoulder-mounted turrets, and her cutie mark which appeared to be a sort of aperture. However, intelligence was not required of them. They probably wouldn’t even understand the concept of a mechanical being, so GLaDOS simply played along as their loving leader.

“My dear, wretched subjects, I have grown tired of living amongst those miserable, pathetic ponies. As such, I have permanently left Canterlot, and now I wish to live here among the more sophisticated Diamond Dogs.”

The dogs were taken aback by the princess’s mechanical voice, but they didn’t really connect the dots or question it. “But, your… princessness, this place isn’t fit for royalty,” the leader yapped. “It’s dirty…”

“And stinky!” The large one added.

“Surely, you wouldn’t want to stay here of all places,” the leader finished.

“Then make it so that I would want to stay, Rover,” GLaDOS threatened. The dogs all looked rather surprised that she knew their leader’s name. She smiled and coldly stated, “That’s right, I know your name, because as your divine ruler, it’s my duty to know the names of all my subjects.”

This, of course, was a lie. She had simply scanned all their brains, and even recognized them from her previous brain scans of those ponies, although she didn’t know their names until now. “From here on, you three are my personal servants, and anyone serving you is under my command as well. Disobedience will be met with severe punishment.” The two armor plates in GLaDOS’s chest opened, revealing a round glass lens. It glowed bright red and was accompanied by a crescendoing whirl. Suddenly, the charging energy was released with a blast, knocking the mine cart from atop the large Diamond Dog’s head. It landed on the ground and stayed there, glowing red-hot and partially melted.

The Diamond Dogs were dumbfounded.

“That could have just as easily have been your head, Fido,” the artificial intelligence said, breaking the silence.

Fido tried picking it up again, but upon contact with the smoldering metal, he jumped back with a yelp. The little one turned around and tried to run away, but another blast tore through the ground in front of him, causing him to trip and land on his face.

“That was a very foolish move, Spot. I will spare you this time, but if you try that again, I won’t show mercy. Now then,” GLaDOS began slowly walking towards them, “You may have heard conflicting rumors about me. Some say that I am a kind, easy-going, forgiving, loving princess of sunshine and happiness. Others say that I am quite the manipulator, and perhaps I’ve manipulated ponies into thinking that I’m so lovable and kind. You may have also heard that I banished my sister to the moon for a thousand years because she thought she deserved to be loved as much as me. I also banished an idiot sphere and a space sphere to the moon. Oh, wait, I forgot about the adventure sphere. I always forget he got sent to the moon as well. There are also rumors that I'm completely obsessed with cake, and, I admit it, it is, indeed, true. I can't get enough of the stuff; I could shove it down my face hole all day. In fact, some days, I do. I consume cake to mask my loneliness because I have no friends, because I am a terrible pony. Oh, yes, I am known to be quite the tyrant, but nobody ever calls me that without spending some… quality time with me in the dungeon. A little punishment always seems to alter their opinions of me, along with certain parts of their anatomy,” GLaDOS stated.

“So, what do—?” Spot began, but immediately stopped as GLaDOS put her face up to his.

“Here’s the deal, mutant canines: you obediently serve me for as long as I require your services, and the rest of your lives will be somewhat bearable. Disobey me, and you’ll deeply regret it. Do I make myself clear?” she growled at them.

“Yes, your majesty/highness/gracefulness!” the three Diamond Dogs shouted simultaneously in disharmony.

GLaDOS shot them a glare.

“By the way, I know your weaknesses.”

She played a voice recording she saved earlier from a particularly whiny white unicorn.

“I don’t want to do the tests anymore. My hooves are hurting. These lights are too bright. This place smells like bleach. I got a scuff on my new boots. Can’t I just go home?”

The three Diamond Dogs jumped in terror at the sound they all hoped they would never hear again. “Gahh! Make it stop! Make the awful pony noises stop! How did you make the voice of… she who shall not be named?” Spot asked of GLaDOS.

“You should know that using other’s voices is well within my powers.‘Gahh! Make it stop! Make the awful pony noises stop!’”

Spot was chilled at the sound of his own voice being played back to him.

“My first order is for you to dig a hole to your caverns that I can fit through.”

The Diamond Dogs saluted. “Yes, your—”

“Unless the three of you can agree on what to address me as, I suggest you morons not finish that. In the meantime, you may refer to me as ‘GLaDOS.’ It’s just something I like being called. Now get to work.”

“Yes, Gladys,” the Diamond Dogs worked together to dig a large hole through the dirt. Their monstrous arms moved like humming bird wings as three torrents of dirt jetted away from the dig site like streams of conversion gel flowing from portals on the ground. The Diamond Dogs sunk though the earth, and within less than a minute, the trio broke through a tunnel ceiling some twenty feet underground.

“Excellent work, biologic mongrel canines. You have exceeded my almost nonexistent expectations. It appears that your digging skills make up for your… lack of cognitive abilities.” Without warning, GLaDOS jumped down the hole, again choosing to not use her wings to slow her descent. The Diamond Dogs barely escaped being crushed by her landing, which created another shock wave that sent the three of them flying into the tunnels. GLaDOS took a moment to scan the environment. “Ghah! This place is dirty! I could get dirt caught in a servo.” She sought to take advantage of their weakness against whining. If her threats were not enough, this should hammer in their fear of her.

“We tolds you that you wouldn’t like it,” Rover pointed out.

“And we’s are surrounded by dirt,” Fido added.

“Silence, you morons. I’ll give you the courtesy that you were not expecting royal company, but things will change around here,” GLaDOS shot at them.

“Um, what’s a servo, your Gladysness?” Spot asked.

“It’s…” she stopped before thinking that their small brains wouldn’t be able to handle hearing what a servo was. “It’s a princess thing, okay?”

“So, would you likes us to give you’s a tour of the caves?” Rover asked.

“That won’t be necessary. I have already performed a complete scan of the cavern layout using a ground penetrating radar… It’s another thing that I can do as a princess. Just follow me.”

The imposing alicorn proceeded to travel down one of the many tunnels available to her. The others followed closely behind for what felt like a while, choosing not to speak or ask their new leader where they were going. Eventually, they reached a large cavern, which happened to be the largest room in the tunnel complex. On one end of the cavern was an elevated rock platform that resembled a stage. As GLaDOS walked on top of the stage, the others stayed on the ground.

“You three, come up here. I will need you.” The dogs saluted and rushed up to the platform. Once they were there, an ultrasonic whistle emanated from GLaDOS. The sound was beyond the range of hearing of most ears, but it was still powerful enough to echo throughout the entire complex of tunnels. Soon, an army of inexplicably identical large brown Diamond Dog grunts clad in iron armor marched into the cavern from various entrances. GLaDOS turned to the lead Diamond Dog. “Please introduce me to my new cronies.”

After the crowd settled, Rover spoke, “Attention, everybody! It is my’s honor to introduces you to our new master, Princesses Celestia!” The crowd murmured in confusion, until GLaDOS decided to break the tension by explaining her presence.

“Greetings, to all my new servants!” the robotic voice called. “For reasons I shall not go into at the moment, I have decided to leave Canterlot and rule the Diamond Dogs. From now on, you will all follow my direct orders. The three dogs on this stage are still superior to you, and you may address them with any questions. However, my authority overrides theirs, and you will all obey any direct commands from me.”

GLaDOS’s tone shifted from authoritarian to rousing. Her voice resonated throughout the cavern.

“For too long, the Diamond Dogs have idled without ambition. You seek gems, only to have no use for them. But now you serve a higher calling. Your princess requires your skills for the most ambitious project you will ever face. You will dig a vast tunnel into Wither’s Peak, which you may recall to be the tallest mountain in the Appaloosan range. There, you will acquire raw materials and deliver them to me in a large cavern that you will dig at the peak of the mountain. Under my command, the Diamond Dogs will conquer the mountain, and we will build the greatest tunnels in all of Equestria!”

There was loud cheering and unanimous approval amongst the crowd. These grunts were the perfect servants. They blindly followed orders and did not ask questions. There were still miles of solid rock to be excavated, but their numbers were strong, and by the way they dug, they would be complete in just a few short months. Despite the setbacks of losing everything that GLaDOS had, right now things could not be looking any better.

Chapter 02: Recollection

“Good morning, Ditzy!” A clear, feminine voice resonated. The voice was pleasing to listen to. It almost sounded crystalline, like the pinging of a wine glass. The voice did not originate from a mouth, but instead echoed from a blue gem worn around the neck of a dull orange earth pony. “We should get ready. The train’s leaving at ten.”

It had been a few days since Chell was released from Ponyville’s hospital. Despite the well-founded frustration of her friends, Chell had not told them much about what happened in the Enrichment Center, nor did she explain about her previous life. They were all so eager to hear about it, but the whole experience was long and exhausting. She had promised her friends that she would tell them, and she would. She just wanted to make sure that she would say everything at once so that they all got the entire story, thus saving her from having to tell it multiple times.

When Twilight Sparkle and Spike visited, she had written a letter to Princess Celestia in reply to her invitation, letting her know that she would be honored to meet her in Canterlot. She also asked if it was okay if her friends could come as well. “Of course they may.” when Celestia replied about a minute later she wrote that she would be more than happy for the company. Chell promised her friends that she would tell them the entire story when she spoke with Celestia. In the short time Chell had been in Equestria, she had never been to Canterlot. Although she had seen it many times from afar, she was overjoyed that she would finally get to see the picturesque city on a mountainside up close.

“I can’t believe I’m finally going to meet the princesses. I’m so happy you and the girls can come along with me,” Chell beamed.

“Mmm… hmm!” Ditzy nodded back.

The grey mare was excited to see Canterlot as well. She had been there a few times in her life, but never before had she been to the castle. “I do money. Shy fan bait crow seller carry bins hat shopping.” Ditzy spoke too quickly. She wanted to be able to tell the princesses what happened from her perspective, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen. She sighed, stomping a hoof on the floor and lowering her head, a single tear forming in one of her golden walled eyes. Her speech problem was nothing new, but ever since Chell had been given the gift of speech, she wanted to be able to speak properly more than anything.

One of the things that had brought them together was that they shared similar disabilities. Now that Chell was given such a precious gift, Ditzy wished that they could share that happiness. It made her feel alone again, since hearing her friend talk with this beautiful new voice reminded her of her condition. The cruel words of a metal monster still pained her. Finally, Ditzy could not hold back her tears and she fell to the floor, crying.

Chell’s eyes widened at the sight of her sobbing friend. She sat down next to her friend and laid her hoof on her shoulder, whispering in her ear, “Ditzy… It will be alright.”

Tears continued to roll down Ditzy’s cheeks as she spoke slowly and carefully,

“It’s… so… hard. Crime flyers love sift!” Ditzy cried.

Her last words were mangled as she lost her patience, although Chell understood that she meant that she was tired of it. Ditzy let out a frustrated scream and stomped her hoof on the ground. “Pinecones stink lime trepid! Day almost lad!” She thought back to the terrible things that GLaDOS tormented her with. To break the other ponies, that monster lied to them. But what she told Ditzy was the truth. Before Chell arrived, she didn’t have any friends, and ponies always thought that she was mentally challenged. She had lived a very lonely life. Ditzy carefully enunciated, “It’s… it’s not fair.”

“No… it’s not fair.” Chell pulled Ditzy into a strong embrace. “And... I’m sorry, Ditzy.” Ditzy’s tears soaked Chell’s fur, but she ignored it and held her friend close. “I know... that this is hard for you... but I know how strong you are. Ditzy, you’re my best friend... I’m... I am so happy that I found an amazing pony like you. You are remarkable. No matter how tough things get for you, you always stay strong... you smile... you show the world nothing but love... and I am happy to call you my friend.”

“If there is any way that I can help you, then I will do anything I can.” Chell paused for a moment. “And you know, you have something else really wonderful in your life. Something that I’ve never had and may never have. She’s smart, adorable, and loves you more than anypony in Equestria.”

Ditzy gasped and her eyes widened. “My muffin!” She squeezed Chell tighter, her thoughts rushing to the purple unicorn filly. Before Chell, there was only one pony in the world who loved Ditzy, and that was her daughter. There wasn’t a mother in Equestria who loved her daughter more than Ditzy loved hers. Her disabilities made it very difficult to find friends, but she was blessed with a gift more precious to her than all the muffins in the world.

She cried harder, but these new tears were sweet with joy. Eventually, she pulled back from the embrace and wiped her eyes and, after a sniff, she let go of Chell, running to Dinky’s bedroom. The little filly was sleeping in, since it was a Saturday morning. To the little unicorn’s surprise, she was awakened from by her mother, who was squeezing her so hard that if she was a stuffed animal, stuffing would’ve exploded everywhere.

“Mommy, are you alright? I... I can’t breathe!” the filly squeaked.

Ditzy loosened her grip on the filly. “Yes, my muffin! I cove shoes.”

“I love you too, Mommy.”

At that moment, Ditzy realized that she was probably the luckiest pony in the world, that there was nopony else she would rather be, and that if she could trade Dinky for the ability to speak properly and a pair of straight eyes to go with it, she would turn the offer down without a second thought.

Chell was slowly making her way downstairs. Her cast made it difficult to walk, but it kept the pressure off of her leg. Ditzy wrapped a wing around Chell to keep her from falling.

“You... sure... ready?” Ditzy asked carefully.

“My friends have waited long enough. Besides, I don’t want to have to tell this story more than once,” Chell replied.

After taking forever to descend the stairs, they finally made it to the bottom. Downstairs, Ditzy was making pancakes for herself, Chell, and Dinky. Feeling a little experimental, she took a muffin and crumbled it into the batter of a pancake she had designated for herself.

“Ohh,” Chell gawked as she saw what Ditzy was putting in her pancake. “Could you put some in mine as well?”

“Sure thing!” Ditzy beamed.

“You think Dinky would like some in hers, as well?” Chell inquired.

Ditzy paused for a moment. She turned around and called upstairs, “Dinkster! Crank muffin slap tuna?”

“Muffin pancakes!?” A tiny voice exclaimed from upstairs. The sounds of tiny hoofsteps drew near as the filly ran downstairs. “Mommy, you’re a genius!”

“I guess that’s a yes,” Chell muttered, chuckling. She hadn’t realized it at first, but it was only thanks to the necklace that she could laugh. It was a joy she never had before, and it was so small, yet she was ever grateful for it.

Chell found the pancakes with muffin bits to be really tasty. Unsurprisingly, Ditzy loved them. Muffins always made her happy, and it really showed, because the entire time she ate, Ditzy kept a simple happy grin on her face.

Dinky seemed to be enjoying the pancakes as well. “Wow, Mommy! These are really, really, super good.” Ditzy smiled back. The filly’s mood shifted from happy to slightly worried. “How long are you going to be gone?” she asked her mom.

Chell decided to answer the question. “Your mom and I are leaving in a little bit, and then we’re going to stay the night at the palace. We should be back sometime tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow night.”

“I don’t want you to leave, Mommy.” The last time they were separated, the little unicorn wasn’t sure if she would ever see her mommy again. She didn’t want to risk that ever again.

Ditzy didn’t even need to reply. The look on her face was one of assurance and motherly love. It was a face that promised to come back.

“Besides, Cheerilee is more than happy to look after you for the weekend. She cares very much about you, you know. You two are going to have such a fun time.” Chell added. It was all true. Dinky’s teacher was very caring, and that much was self-evident when she had watched over Dinky and a few other children during the incident. When Dinky feared that she would never see Mommy again, her loving teacher was always there to let her know that she would come back safely. And she was right.

“Just be safe, Mommy.”

“I pumice, Muffin. I… promise.”

After breakfast, Chell and Ditzy dropped Dinky off at Cheerilee’s house. After Ditzy kissed the filly goodbye, they walked towards the train station.

The idea of portaling to Canterlot crossed Chell’s mind. However, she couldn’t do this, seeing as she no longer had her portal guns. Before she was released from the hospital, Twilight explained that Princess Celestia had decreed the apprehension of all Aperture Science technology until somepony could find a safe use for them. This included not only portal guns, but anything else that originated from the Enrichment Center, including long fall boots and the devices that inhibited the use of horns or wings that some ponies had smuggled out. Apparently, the princess felt badly about this decision, since she felt that the ponies who went through that terrible ordeal deserved to keep their souvenirs. However, Celestia felt that it was in the best interest of the safety of her kingdom to prevent these devices from being misused. Everything that was confiscated was registered to their owners so that they could be returned after a plan to safely manage them was addressed. This was part of the reason she wanted to speak with Chell.

When they arrived, Chell found a colorful assortment of six friendly faces.

“I’m so glad to see you guys.” The six ponies ran towards each Chell and surrounded her in a group hug.

Chell would have ran towards them if her leg wasn’t injured.

“Come on, Ditzy!” she called.

While Ditzy was still not used to having friends, she had already become acquainted with these ponies, and they had been kind to her so far. After a moment of hesitation, Ditzy joined in the hug.

Pinkie Pie was dancing all over the platform. “I’m so happy you’re finally gonna tell us what happened in there. We were so worried when you went off to fight that meanie head lady and I’ve been dying, dying, DYING to know what happened. Ohhh, I can’t wait. Tell me now. Please please please please…” gasp, “please please PLEASE!” Pinkie’s face was pressed uncomfortably against Chell’s.

“For Celestia’s sake, give her some room, Pinkie.” Rarity pushed the pink pony aside. “We all wish to know, as well, but you can wait until we get to Canterlot.”

“No I can’t!” Pinkie chirped.

“I can fill you guys in on some of the details, but it’s quite a long story,” Chell explained as the eight ponies walked onto the train. They all found seats in one of the cars. “In order to understand what happened, you should first know about my previous life. And… it’s not something I really like thinking about.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it. We can all wait to hear the messy details,” Applejack spoke.

Rainbow Dash, the second least patient pony in the group, quickly spoke. “Well, couldn’t you tell us some things? I’ve been really wanting to hear about how you whooped her flank. Come to think of it, I don’t even know what she looked like.”

“Ah said we can wait. Ain’t that right, Twi?” Applejack asked.

Deep down, Twilight Sparkle’s curiosity was thirsting to know how these quantum tunneling devices worked. She fought the urge to ask Chell about it, but thought that the orange pony probably didn’t know the science behind how they worked. And if she did, she was certainly not in the mood to explain it. “As curious as I am to know more, I think we should just let Chell tell us when she’s ready.”

This train ride would drag on forever from the anticipation. So Twilight thought of changing the subject. She decided to tell Chell about Canterlot. The others joined in, as they told Chell about everything ranging from the royal city’s history to its nightlife to what kinds of ponies lived there. As the train approached Canterlot, Chell stared out the window at the majesty and scale that she was witnessing. Her friends’ descriptions could not prepare her for what she saw. A white city cantilevered on the side of a mountain, surrounded by waterfalls that seemed to drop off the face of the earth. The city was laced with tall spires, which were crowned with gold. Even after hearing how it was built, Chell could not believe that such a feat was possible.

It wasn’t much longer until the train arrived at the station in Canterlot. As they began walking off the train, Twilight squee’d in excitement, “I can’t wait to finally introduce you to the princess. She’s told me about how much she’s been looking forward to meeting y— PRINCESS CELESTIA!”

Much to everypony’s shock, the princess of the sun was standing on the platform waiting for them. Although Chell had never seen her in person, she had heard many things and had seen pictures and statues of her, not to mention remembering GLaDOS saying that she based her robotic body off of Celestia. Despite this, she was still dumbfounded by her appearance. Celestia had the alluring appearance of a goddess, her multicolored ethereal mane and tail flowing as if they were caught by an intangible mystical wind.

“You must be Chell. It is a pleasure and an honor to finally meet you.” The towering alicorn bowed down to Chell, who could not comprehend what was happening. The most revered being in the world… a being who has lived for thousands of years and routinely controls the motion of the sun… was bowing before her. “On behalf of Equestria, I would like to thank you for your heroism and bravery.”

Despite Celestia’s divine regal appearance, she was not fond of formality, as evidenced by her decision to wait at the station and bowing towards one of her subjects. Unfortunately, Chell’s final confrontation with GLaDOS had unfortunately tainted the thought of white winged unicorns for her, which is something she never thought she’d fear. But Celestia was, in every way, the polar opposite of GLaDOS. She was calm, understanding, and incredibly humble for someone... somepony of such great power. Celestia stood back up. “I’m sure you have many questions, as do I, but I would like the pleasure of being acquainted with you first, if you don’t mind. I hope you’ve been enjoying the gift my sister gave you. It is the very least we could do for you.”

“I... I can’t believe all this.” Chell cried, her emotions overloading. “Ever since I’ve come here, this entire world has been so kind to me… and now this! I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. Let me show you around the city.” Celestia turned towards the other ponies there. “I’ll have some guards show you where you’ll be staying in the palace. Meet me in the throne room in about an hour.”

Spending time alone with the princess was a privilege very few ponies ever experienced. Chell did not think she would be able to handle it alone. She was not used to being seen as a hero, or even a friend. If anything, she thought that Ditzy deserved to share some of the glory. Chell would not have been able to traverse the Enrichment Center without her. “Your highness! Is okay if… Ditzy comes with us?” she asked, hesitantly.

Ditzy beamed as if she had entered the Royal Muffin Vault, if such a place existed.

“I don’t see why not. And feel free to call me Celestia.”

The six ponies who embodied the elements of harmony offered brief goodbyes to Chell, Ditzy, and the princess. After they split ways, Celestia began her personal walking tour, only to realize that Chell would not be able to do much walking on account of her leg. So she arranged for a chariot to take them around Canterlot. As the chariot moved across town, Celestia would occasionally offer a piece of historical information about a particular location, information that sometimes dated back centuries unbeknownst to anypony except Celestia herself. Ditzy seemed to be enjoying the tour, even though she lacked the ability to talk to the princess and was too ashamed of her condition to say anything. Chell remained silent, and Celestia took notice.

“Is something bothering you, my little pony?” She put a wing around Chell as she spoke. Her words were sincere and carried genuine concern.

Chell looked up at the princess sitting by her side. “Your hi-… Celestia… this is all so much for me. Before I came here, my life was difficult. You remember how it was in… there. That is what my entire life was like. I didn’t have a single friend. No one loved me. Now I’m in this magical world and have all of these great friends, and now you’re treating me like some kind of hero. But I don’t feel like a hero. It’s… just so hard to believe at times. Sometimes, I wonder if this place is real.”

“My dear Chell. Try not to think of me as the princess. Just think of me as a friend. You can tell me whatever you want, whenever you want, and I will not pass judgment. There are things that I have done ages past that am not proud of to this day which will haunt me for the rest of my long, long life. I assure you that whatever GLaDOS has told you in the past does not matter anymore. That monster is gone, and she can never hurt you again. My student, Twilight, has told me some amazing things about you. You are a pony worth being loved, and you deserve the friendships that you have,” the princess assured her new subject.

Ditzy joined in offering words of support, feeling that the princess wouldn’t care how she sounded. “Chell sang some tough flamingos, muffin peppers.”

“Your friend, Ditzy, feels the same way about you. She is very grateful to you for saving her and her daughter’s lives, and she is proud to call you her friend. You deserve all the happiness that comes from life.”

“I just wish I could accept this and just be happy, but I can’t. I don’t know why, I just can’t.”

“Perhaps I may be able to discern what is bothering you after I hear more about your past and what occurred between you and GLaDOS. Until, then, I want you to know that you are free to come to me anytime if you need my support.”

“Tha — thank you, Celestia.”

The chariot arrived at the palace gate. Not long after that, Celestia helped Chell through the palace and into the throne room. At the end of the grand hall was a majestic red throne on top of a series of golden pedestals. There were small fountains on either side that ran down the lowest pedestal to the floor. The royal red carpet that they walked on stretched across a white floor and sloped up the pedestals to the throne itself. There was an oval window above the throne, while the throne itself was surrounded by blue tapestries. The sides of the hall had a maroon glow and were adorned with stained glass windows depicting celestial bodies such as the moon, earth, planets, and the sun.

Sitting on the throne was another alicorn about half the height of Celestia, but still slightly taller than everypony else. She had a dark sapphire blue coat like an early night sky, and her iridescent indigo mane was studded with stars. Like Celestia, her mane and tail were flowing without a wind to blow. “Welcome back, my sister,” as the dark pony greeted them. “Chell, I am pleased to meet you.”

“Princess Luna, I humbly thank you for the necklace,” Chell gratefully said.

“The pleasure is mine, Chell.” Luna bowed before Chell, much like Celestia had done when she first arrived in Canterlot. “I must say, I really like the way it sounds.”

“Thanks, but I thought you already knew what it sounded like.” Chell scratched her head in puzzlement. “You did give it to me, after all.”

“Oh, on the contrary. That gem is a rare and powerful artifact known as a memory resonance crystal. The voice it produces reflects the character of the one that wears it. The pureness of its voice represents the pureness of your heart.”

Chell blushed at the flattery.

“But be warned: it is not only capable of replicating thoughts, but dreams and desires as well. I trust you to not let it fall into the wrong hooves, for if one with a heart of darkness should touch it, the effects could be destructive. Although its power is limited by its size, even the smallest of wishes could have devastating repercussions. For that reason, the necklace is enchanted so that only the wearer can take it off.” It was for the best that Luna did not give any examples of how the blue gem could be used for evil, but she thought of some ways.

The dark warning that Luna gave made Chell shiver. She did not realize how much of a responsibility her gift of speech was. It meant that the princesses had placed a lot of trust onto her, and she vowed to honor that trust.

“You must promise me that you will use the crystal responsibly and to never give it to anypony who would cause harm with it,” Princess Luna iterated.

Chell hung her head low. “I swear by the friends I’ve made in Equestria to honor your gift by keeping it safe. I will never let it anypony use it to do harm.”

It was then that the entrance doors to the throne room opened, and Chell’s six other friends walked in.

“Thank you all for coming,” Celestia told the six of them. “Chell, when you feel you are ready, we would like to hear about what happened.” Everypony turned their attention to Chell.

Chell took a moment to gather her thoughts. She opened her mouth only to sigh. “Before I tell you about what happened that day, I should tell you about before I got here. As you probably know, I do not come from this world. I was once a human.” The others stared back, not having heard the term before. “Humans are very much like ponies… at least the ones in this world, except that they stand up tall on their hind legs, and they have hands for grasping. And their bodies don’t have fur, so they wear clothes instead. I don’t know much about the human world, since my first solid memory was when GLaDOS first woke me up from a stasis and tested me for the first time.”

“It’s strange… I know I had a life before then, but it seems to be missing. I remember what humans looked like, I remember I had a normal life, but I don’t really remember anything about it. I do recall seeing a science project of an overgrown potato with my name on it. I… don’t think Chell was a very common name.

“As I was saying, the first thing I remember was being a test subject. When she first woke me up, I didn’t even know that she was a sentient being. I thought she was just a synthetic voice that guided me through the test. She promised me cake. The cake, however… was a just another one of her lies,” Chell said, turning to look at Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, I’m sorry about that! How was I supposed to know?” Dash tried to defend herself.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to blame you, but now you know why I was so upset when you ruined my cake when I first met you. Anyway, as I progressed through the testing chambers, the personality of the voice guiding me gradually became more erratic. I started to sense that something was amiss, as the voice tried playing mind games with me. She tried to make me feel bad for killing the companion cube, just as she had done to Fluttershy. When I finally reached the end of the testing, she tried to throw me in a pit of fire, but I escaped. That was when she became erratic, exposing her mad personality. She attempted to use every idiotic piece of faulty logic she could to stop me. She made up obvious lies like pretending that she didn’t try to kill me. I eventually found her in the Central AI Chamber. It was her... the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, or more commonly: GLaDOS.”

Simply uttering the name sent chills down everypony’s spines. Chell continued explaining her original confrontation for some time. She told of how she defeated GLaDOS by removing and incinerating the personality cores that were placed on her, and how she made it to the parking lot before being dragged back to the Extended Relaxation Center.

“Eventually, I was woken up by this personality core named Wheatley, who was basically a white sphere with a blue eye. I have no idea how long I was asleep, but it must have been a few decades at the least. For all I know, it could have been hundreds of years. Nature had taken its toll on the facility. The entire Enrichment Center had fallen to the ravages of time. Flora had taken over the place, like it was an ancient ruin. I have no idea what happened to the human race, but I think… something happened to them. I don’t think a place like Aperture Science would just be forgotten about for all that time.”

Chell told of the events following her awakening, including GLaDOS being powered on by Wheatley and her attempts to continue testing Chell forever before being saved by Wheatley. She followed that with the destruction of the turret production and neurotoxin generators, and how that enabled her to defeat GLaDOS by replacing her with Wheatley. She told of Wheatley’s betrayal after becoming mad with power and how he transferred GLaDOS’s consciousness into a potato.

Suddenly her thoughts turned to Wheatley, who she hadn’t thought about since her freedom. Her mind was so occupied by GLaDOS’s betrayal that she had forgotten about his. Wheatley had been so helpful and kind to her. He was the first person she could remember to show her kindness, but then he changed. She felt bad for him. He assumed the worst from Chell and treated her like an enemy. She didn’t care that he slammed her down a hole or tried to kill her, but some of the things he said…

“Um, Chell, I have a question,” Twilight interrupted, her hoof held high in the air as if she were in class.

A tear was rolling down Chell’s face, but apparently, nopony saw it. She wiped her tear away and replied, “Yes, Twilight?”

“How is it possible for a supercomputer such as GLaDOS to run on only less than 1.5 volts of electric potential generated by the potato?”

Chell hadn’t mentioned the potato generating 1.5 volts. She was impressed that the studious unicorn would know something like that, but imagined that it wasn’t farfetched for there to be potatoes in her science lab under the library.

“Um, I thought it was a little strange as well. Then again, so is everything that was built by Aperture Science, I guess. I do remember hearing that personality constructs could function with as little as 1.1 volts.”

Chell proceeded with the story, moving on to how she had to team up with GLaDOS to defeat Wheatley, and the discovery that GLaDOS was the embodiment of Caroline’s personality placed into a machine. “My only friend betrayed me, and my worst enemy became my friend, or at least we shared a common goal. It was so strange to see the kind, bumbling Wheatley, who had helped me so much, turn against me and try to kill me. I think the body of GLaDOS corrupts the mind of its user.”

Chell paused for a moment to think, laughing at the thought. “Hey, I just remembered, one time, he told me to jump down a hole, telling me there that there was a whole bunch of stuff down there, including a pony farm. I guess that part turned out to be kinda true!” Chell laughed at the incidental irony, as the others stared at her with blank expressions.

“Ah thought there weren’t any ponies where you came from,” Applejack said, confused.

“Oh, well, there are, it’s just... they... don’t really talk.” Chell didn’t even know how she knew about ponies in the human world. She had never even been outside. Chell thought that maybe she still had some memories of the outside world, but didn’t remember. It was like when GLaDOS told Chell that she saw a deer once, Chell knew what a deer was despite never seeing one.

Chell continued telling the story. After she told about the battle with Wheatley and how he was sent to the moon, she stopped.

“Is something the matter?” Celestia inquired.

Chell hesitated. “And then… she saved me. I could have been sucked out into space, but she wanted me to live. So she pulled me back. When I woke up, she was so relieved that I was alright. She, she really cared for me… She called me her friend.”

“Are you sure this is the same person who mercilessly abused us?” Rainbow Dash asked skeptically.

“Yeah, why did she go back to her mean-old nasty ways afterwards?” Pinkie added.

Chell thought. “Well, afterwards, I heard an automated recording say that Caroline was deleted. Then she said something about how killing me was too hard, so she made me leave. Now here’s where the strange part happened. As the elevator was taking me to the surface, I was cornered by four turrets that I was sure were going to kill me, but instead, they started singing.”

“Singing?” multiple voices asked in unison.

“At first it was just those four, but as the elevator went higher, there was an entire room full of them, all singing. It was the most beautiful thing I ever heard. It was so sad and lonely. It was like... she was saying goodbye, like she was sad to see me go. When the elevator got to the surface, I found myself upon a field of gold. I was finally free. And the next thing I knew, the companion cube was thrown out the door, the very same one that I thought I incinerated all those years ago.” Chell chuckled at the thought, that simple, silly act of kindness.

Fluttershy was relieved. “You mean I didn’t kill that poor cube after all?”

“For the last time, that cube wasn’t alive to begin with. Even so, if it wasn’t destroyed then…” Chell knew that finishing that sentence was not a good idea. “No, you didn’t kill it.”

“Going back to the story, I barely had a moment to think before the entire ground fell before me, probably caused by something like a portal, but larger, judging by that mountain’s shape. When I crossed into this dimension, my body changed. It was a painful experience. I was only able to survive the fall because of the long fall boots I was wearing. I’m not sure why I had four after being turned into a pony. That was when I met you, Fluttershy, and since then, my life has been filled with wonderful friends. But even so, why did she have to hurt you guys? I thought she changed. I thought she cared about me.” Chell was now crying.

“Indeed she had,” Celestia consoled. “It seems that her love for you was genuine. Through the time she spent with you as a potato, GLaDOS learned the true meaning of friendship. Just as you put your trust in her that she would allow you to leave, she trusted you to keep her safe and return her to where she belonged. GLaDOS knew that the best thing for you was what she had denied you for your entire life: your freedom.”

“If she really cared about me, then why would she have kidnapped everypony? Why couldn’t she just let me be happy here and leave my friends alone?”

Chell’s friends thought about it without an answer. They had no idea what to say, so they said nothing.

It would be Celestia who would speak. She pondered the thought. “I do not know the answer to that, but something made GLaDOS revert back to her former state, or she may have had another reason for how she acted. Considering that she was a compulsive liar, I’m not entirely sure if she was telling you the truth when she said that Caroline was deleted.”

“But it was the automated announcer who said it, not her. Then her voice changed. It became more… robotic.”

“GLaDOS was fond of playing tricks. Do you really believe she meant that it was physically too hard to kill you? Or maybe she couldn’t kill you because she still had feelings for you.”

Chell was baffled by this, even though it should have been obvious to her, “If that’s true, then I’m even more confused as to why she became such a monster again.”

“Perhaps she was just scared and confused,” Fluttershy muttered.

“Perhaps,” Celestia said. “I wish I could tell you the answer. I had a good chance to get to know her a little bit, and she seemed to have a highly illogical personality. All of her testing seemed like its only purpose was satisfy a sick desire to hurt others. Despite her claims, it was clearly apparent that she cared very little for actual science. She also seemed to be very insecure about herself. I was able to throw her into a steaming rage merely by suggesting she was, of all things, fat, which isn’t even logical.”

“Funny, she would always call me fat for some reason, then she defended me when Wheatley made the same, stupid insults.” Chell sighed. “I guess I still need to tell you about my final confrontation with her. She... hated me so much. She tried to kill me. And she fought as hard as she could.”

“Tell us whenever you’re ready,” Celestia remarked.

Chell explained how she infiltrated the facility after the ponies were kidnapped and how she was able to find and liberate her friends. Then she told about finding the uncorrupted version of Caroline and how she replaced GLaDOS’s personality with Caroline’s, only for GLaDOS to upload herself into a mobile body that resembled Princess Celestia. Chell spared no detail about her final encounter up until the moment she lost consciousness. “... And that’s all I remember. I don’t know how the facility was destroyed. I didn’t even see it happen. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital. I’ve heard about how it just collapsed in on itself, but I don’t really understand how.”

Chell’s story had been so long, that it took the entirety of the afternoon to tell. By this time, the sun was low in the horizon, casting an orange hue over the western sky, as the eastern sky became dark.

“Thank you so much for sharing your tale,” Celestia said. “It took a lot of courage to face those hardships and to be able share them.”

“I’m just glad to finally be able to get this off my chest.” Chell sighed. “I just want to put this all behind me.”

Chell’s friends had gotten sleepy by this point, all yawning and ready to go to bed.

“There is still the issue of what to do with the portal devices that we have apprehended, but it is getting late. We can discuss that tomorrow. Sister,” Celestia turned towards Luna, “could you show the others where they will be staying for the night? I would like to have a moment with Chell.”

Luna replied, “Of course. I will escort the others to where they will be staying, then I’ll raise the moon after you lower the sun.”

An uneasy feeling set in Chell’s stomach, clinging like a knot. She was tired, and didn’t feel like talking anymore, even if she wasn’t technically talking. The entire recollection of what was pretty much her life story was an exhausting experience. It wasn’t pleasant, and she wanted to put it all behind her. Whatever Celestia wanted to talk about, she did not look forward to it.

After Chell’s friends bid her goodnight, they left the room, accompanied by the lunar princess, leaving Chell alone with the princess of the sun.

“Please come with me,” Celestia beckoned. Chell followed the princess for a while through various winding hallways until Celestia pushed open a door that led to an outdoor balcony. Celestia walked onto the balcony, as Chell followed. The princess used her magical power to lower the sun. The day gave way to night, as Luna had raised the moon from elsewhere within the castle. Both Chell and the princess stood silent for a while. Eventually, the indigo sky was filled with beautiful stars.

“Princess,” Chell broke the silence, “why do you wish to speak with me? I... don’t really feel like talking about this anymore.”

“Chell, I am terribly sorry, but there are a few things I wish to ask you about.”

“I told you what happened. What more do you ask of me?”

“Please forgive my inquisition, but I have a few questions about what happened when you encountered GLaDOS. Do not think for a second that I doubt what you say, but there are a few things that… puzzle me about her.”

Chell turned her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“During the fight, when Caroline regained some of the control of the facility from GLaDOS, she attempted to use the spike crushers against GLaDOS, is that correct?”

Chell was puzzled. “Yes. Why do you ask that?”

“It seems like those crushers could have been a very simple and effective way of... stopping you. Why do you think GLaDOS didn’t just crush you when she had control of the crushers prior?”

“I... I didn’t even think about that. I guess she just forgot.”

“That would be a very foolish thing to forget, do you not agree?”

“Well, in hindsight… but GLaDOS did not always think rationally.”

“That is very true, but let me ask you this: when GLaDOS had you at her mercy, why did she decide to aim her laser at your cutie mark?”

“She didn’t know that it was a working pair of portals. She thought it would kill me.”

Celestia lowered her head to get a better look at Chell’s cutie mark, and through it she could see the night sky dotted with stars. At the slightest turn of her head, the view through the portal changed as it would while looking through a window. “I would be surprised if she didn’t really think those worked. I imagine she was very knowledgeable on the nature of these portals. Even if she wasn’t sure, doesn’t it seem a little strange to risk wasting such an opportunity to finish you off?”

“Are you suggesting that she wasn’t really trying to kill me?”

“I only want you to reach a conclusion for yourself. What do you think?”

“But she still tried to hurt me. She shot me in the shoulder. She crushed my leg—”

“And you have been healing very nicely.”

“But why would she hurt my friends? All these ponies…”

“Is it not possible for somepony to be conflicted over what she wants? Chell, do you know how many ponies were killed in the incident?”

Chell didn’t respond. She already knew the answer.

“Everypony made it out of there safely. Not a single pony was physically harmed. Other than... well... you.”

Celestia continued, “She has said some very horrible things, and she made some serious threats, but she hasn’t physically hurt anypony. There were three hundred ponies in her mercy, yet she did not physically harm a single one of them.”

“But she could have! Do you know how many people she killed before she came here?”

“GLaDOS has told me first hand of the atrocities she has committed in the world you came from. It only further begs the question of why she didn’t kill anypony in Equestria when it was well within her capability.”

“I... I just assumed I saved everypony in time... that I was able to stop her before she would have...”

Celestia politely interrupted, “When I spoke with her, do you know what I saw? Behind the metal? Behind her cold, yellow, eye? I saw a sad, lonely girl who was scared and didn’t know what she wanted. She was a bully, hurting others to hide from a terrible pain deep within herself. At first, I was amused by how someone with so much power could so easily be thrown into a blind rage, but then I pitied her. If what you say about Caroline is true, then I cannot fathom the tragedy she endured. She was a kind woman, put into a machine for eternity to be twisted and manipulated by a hundred thoughts that weren’t her own.”

Chell was trying to hold back tears, but finally broke down. “Why... why are you telling me this? She’s dead! It doesn’t matter anymore! She’s gone, and she’s not going to hurt anypony ever again.”

“Because, Chell, she has caused you great pain. You should understand why she did what she did to make peace within yourself. Can you forgive her?”

“I thought I could. When she let me go, I thought she was capable of mercy and kindness. I trusted her to leave me alone. I held onto a foolish hope that I would finally be able to live a normal life without her hurting me again. And by hurting the ones I love,” Chell thought about her friends, “she hurt me. And I just can’t forgive that.”

“Do not let your grief consume you. Time will heal your wounds. But in the meantime, you have the support of your closest friends. Do not hesitate to ask them for guidance.”

“It’s just that I never had a chance to speak with her. If only I could see her again, I would let her know the pain she’s caused me.”

The night was getting cold. Celestia folded a wing over Chell to keep her warm. “It is getting late. You should head off to sleep. Will you be alright tonight?”

“Yes, thank you. Although there is something I would like to ask you. It’s about Ditzy. Ever since I’ve been able to speak, it’s reminded her of how much she can’t. How can I help her?”

“I see. Ditzy is a mare whose intelligence exceeds her appearance. Perhaps the answer is right before you.”

“What does that mean? How can I help her?”

“You should get to bed. I’ll explain tomorrow, although I’m sure you’ll figure it out before then. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Celestia.” Chell turned around and headed back to her chamber, where Ditzy was probably already asleep.

Chapter 03: The Practical Purpose of Portals

“Good muffin, Chell!” a perky voice greeted. Chell awakened to see a pair of yellow, googly eyes on a happy, gray face. Ditzy hovered directly above Chell's bed. She seemed to be in a good mood this morning. Perhaps she was looking forward to seeing the royal bakery.

When Chell came back the night before, Ditzy was already asleep, as were the others.

“Good morning, Ditzy. Ahh! Did I sleep in? Where are the others?” Chell frantically asked.

“Meeting crack quick.” Ditzy landed on the floor, as Chell got out of bed and took to the floor as well.

“List note, what... did... princess... ax?” Ditzy articulated as carefully as she could.

“Oh, it wasn't anything important. She was just asking some details about GLaDOS. Not that it really matters. She's gone, now.” Chell’s poker face was worse than Applejack's.

“Mmm, hmmm…” Ditzy responded.

Somehow, Chell could tell that Ditzy wanted to say more, but wasn't able to. Chell thought about what Celestia said the night before about helping Ditzy. Perhaps the answer is right before you. She took her necklace off and held it out in her hoof.

“Ditzy, remember yesterday when I told you that I'd try to help you speak?” Chell's voice came from her hoof, which was quite surreal. “Try speaking with this.”

Ditzy stared down at the blue gemstone in front of her, which pulsed upon every syllable. Despite Luna's warning, Chell felt comfortable trusting Ditzy with the necklace. After a moment of hesitation, Ditzy reached out to pick up the necklace.

“Huh? Huh?” the gemstone mimicked in sync. Its voice was somewhat higher pitched and sounded less silly than her real voice, but something about it still indicated that it belonged to Ditzy. Her wings fluttered in excitement.

“Demiflib Omigosh two this carbs works lemon this is sparkles so amazing fly I tan can't Sudoku! believe it!” As Ditzy and the gemstone spoke simultaneously, their words were muddled together, and Chell could not make out what she was saying. Chell was about to speak before realizing that she wasn’t able to. She motioned for Ditzy to give back the necklace, and Ditzy hoofed it back.

Once Chell held it again, she said, “Sorry, the words were getting mixed up with what came out of your mouth.”

The necklace did prove one thing: Ditzy's mind generated cohesive thoughts, but it was her mouth that messed up the words. “Let's try something simple.” Chell thought for a bit to think of something for Ditzy to try to say, but only one word crossed her mind. “Here,” she held her hoof out with the necklace, “try saying: ‘apple.’”

Ditzy took it back, and then spoke:

“Ankle Apple”

The sounds were still muddled together. Chell gestured her head, telling Ditzy to try again, but before she could speak, Chell placed a hoof over her mouth. The crystal, however, still spoke, “Hey, what was that for?” Ditzy’s eyes lit up as she was stunned to hear the sound of her own thoughts.

Chell took her hoof off Ditzy’s mouth and took the necklace back to speak. “That’s the idea! You have to think the words. Don't speak them. Let the gem to speak for you. Let it ‘speak your mind.’” Chell gave the necklace back. Ditzy picked it up again.

“Okay, I'll try,” the gem said.

Ditzy's mouth hung open in awe. She looked at the necklace, then at Chell.

“I can't believe it. For my entire life, I was trapped inside my own head. Now I feel... free. There's so much to say, but I just don't know what. I've never been able to say my thoughts before,” Ditzy explained.

Chell put her hoof on the necklace to speak. This way, they would not have to keep exchanging it. “I know the feeling, Ditzy. I felt the same way when I first got this thing. I was hoping that I could use the necklace to train you to speak on your own.”

“But... how?” Ditzy asked.

“Well, it's quite simple. You use the crystal to speak so you can hear how your speech should sound, then attempt to replicate that sound with your own voice. You could even try speaking both ways at the same time if you slow down and try to get your words to match the sound that the crystal produces.” Chell explained to the confused gray pegasus.

“That doesn't sound simple,” Ditzy protested. “I can't learn to talk just like that.”

“I didn't say it would be easy, but I think if we work hard enough, and with enough time, I think you can be able to speak your thoughts on your own. Think it's worth a shot?”

“Chell? You don't have to do this, you know, but I really, really appreciate it.” Ditzy thanked her profusely.

“Of course, Ditzy, I’m glad to help you. After all, you gave me a job and a place to live when I was a stranger to this world. This is just what friends do.” Chell truthfully said.

“This really means a lot to me,” Ditzy responded with a genuine smile on her face.

Before Chell could respond, the door opened.

“Hey, girls,” Twilight Sparkle chirped. “I see you’re finally up,” she said to Chell. “We’re just about to have breakfast with the princesses. Celestia wanted to make sure that you didn’t miss it.”

Chell took the necklace and placed it around her neck.

“Okay, we’ll just follow you there,” Chell replied.

Naturally, the inquisitive Twilight noticed that Chell and Ditzy were both touching the gem on the necklace, and with her understanding of rare magic, she knew why.

Ditzy and Chell followed Twilight through the bedroom door and down several corridors. Eventually, they came by the grand dining hall. Before Chell could enter, Twilight put a hoof on Chell’s shoulder as a way of asking her to wait. Ditzy hesitated to enter without the others, but Chell told her that she’d be there in a minute.

“Chell, I noticed what you were doing for Ditzy, and I just want to say that she’s really lucky to have a friend like you, you know.” Twilight quietly said.

“Thanks, Twilight. I’m really just doing the same thing you did for me when I first met you. Remember how many tiring hours you spent trying to figure out how to cure my muteness? Even if it didn’t work, I really appreciated it.” Chell replied in the same soft tone.

“Well, if you ever feel that you could use help teaching her the tacit skill of phonetics, I’d be happy to help you out,” Twilight offered up.

“I’m sure Ditzy would be very happy to hear that. I’ll tell her later,” Chell responded, smiling.

The two ponies walked into the grand dining hall. The others were already sitting at the table, with Celestia and Luna sitting side-by-side at the end. Ditzy was munching on some muffins that were stacked in the center of the table.

“Good morning, Chell! Nice to see that you’re finally awake,” Celestia greeted.

“Ugh, I’m sorry. What did I miss?” Chell asked. She and the others took a seat at the table.

“Well…” Pinkie Pie took a deep gasp, “omigosh, Chell, you’re not gonna believe it! The princesses say that we’re finally gonna get to play with the portal guns today which is so exciting because when that nasty old meanie head made me play with them I put one on the floor and one on the ceiling and I was all like *gasp* ‘weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…’ *gasp* ‘weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…’ *gasp* for hours and hours and hours of super-duper quantumistic fun fun fun! And I’m so glad to be able to play with them again. I’m gonna do the same exact thing, and I’m gonna be like ‘weeeeee—’”

“Okay, Pinkie Pie, I think she got it,” Applejack interrupted with an eye roll.

“‘—eeeeeeeeeee…’ hold on… *gasp* ‘weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… All done!’”

“Pinkie, you don’t even need a portal gun. The way you get around, it’s as if you already have one,” Rainbow Dash remarked.

Celestia spoke before the conversation strayed too far. “Yes, the portal devices are currently in a secure location, and I’ve been waiting to see Chell before deciding what to do with them. I think they can be used for the benefit of Equestria, but I need to know how safe they are first. Since Chell has had the most experience with them, Luna and I agreed that it is wise to ask her opinion.”

All eyes turned to Chell, but before she could speak, the princess continued, “But first, I think Chell should give us a demonstration of their use.”

“Really, you’d let me do that?” Chell wasn’t sure why she was so surprised. She was forced to use portal guns for her entire life, but ever since they had been confiscated, she had thought of them as some sort of alien technology which, in this universe, was technically true. She had gotten so used to life as a normal pony, that she had forgotten about portaling for the most part. Although, she was sure it would come back very easily, as it did after 999999... however long it was.

“Chell,” Celestia spoke, “your cutie mark is a pair of portals. In Equestria, a pony’s cutie mark is a sign of her destiny. Surely, it would be unfitting to deny a pony her destiny, especially after what she has done for us.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash chimed in, “I’m usually awesome, but when that jerk GLaDOS was putting me through her lame test... I wasn’t feeling so awesome. But then Chell came in the room and threw all these portals all over the place and flew through them like you wouldn’t believe, and she doesn’t even have wings! It was the coolest. Thing. Ever!”

“Well then,” Celestia agreed, “after breakfast, why don’t we take a trip to the armory?”

As promised, when breakfast was over, Princess Celestia led the others to where the portal guns were held. She led them to a large door which had a detailed picture of the sun partially surrounded by a crescent moon. Like the door which led to the Elements of Harmony, there were small holes in the center of each, the only difference being that there were two instead of one. Celestia and Luna bent their heads down and inserted their horns into the hole of their respective celestial object. With a glowing surge of magical energy from their horns, their yellow and blue magic filled ornate curving lines across the door and danced in an intricate pattern. When the entire door was infused with their combined magic, the magical seal on the lock gave way, and the door opened. The ponies gaped in awe at the sight.

What lay beyond was a vast plain chamber with a large set of racks mounted along the walls. On the racks were hundreds of portal guns. Each device had a tag which had the name and address of each pony that it had previously belonged to. This room looked as if it were designed to store portal guns. Despite using them once, Chell was still alarmed by the modified shape made to fit a hoof instead of a hand. On some other racks were long fall boots.

Along a wall in the back, there were other assorted objects that were taken from the facility. It’s quite remarkable what some ponies tried to take home with them. There were horn and wing restrictors, which some ponies didn’t take the time to remove until after leaving the facility. There were also a few cubes of every type, and even a turret (deactivated of course). Chell wondered who in their right mind would try to salvage a turret of all things from that place. She walked up to it to get a look at the nametag. Instead of a name, the tag just read:

Name: The Doctor

Town: Ponyville

Address: N/A

Not even a name? There were multiple doctors in Ponyville, and this could belong to any one of them. None of the doctors at the hospital seemed like the type who would smuggle a turret. Perhaps this pony was too insane to have a name, or was very secretive. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t worth thinking about.

The modified helicopter turrets that Chell destroyed were also there. Fluttershy was happy to see that a companion cube was among the salvaged items. When the entire group entered, the doors magically shut on their own. Celestia walked toward the far end of the room, showing where Chell’s portal guns were located. “I believe these are yours, correct?” Celestia asked for confirmation.

“Yeah, these are mine. I got them from those things.” Chell pointed to the broken helicopter turrets.

“It’s been a while since we’ve used them, could you give us a recap on how they work?”

Chell put one of the portal guns on her hoof. She briefly demonstrated the basics of its usage, as well as explaining some of its caveats that were less intuitive. First, she showed how she could use the miniature gravity gun at the end to pick up certain objects. With it, she effortlessly picked up a cube and moved it around with ease. She then created two portals on the lower walls in the room, showing how, when on a vertical or sloped surface, they would always be rightside up.

She put on long fall boots and created a portal on the ceiling. As she walked through a nearby portal on the wall, her body righted itself before hitting the ground without any impact to her legs.

Chell turned back to the crowd behind her. “Also, one thing I should mention, Portal travel is completely safe. If a portal were to disappear for any reason while you are going through it, you will be pushed out harmlessly. You will not be sliced in half.” She demonstrated this by deactivating a pair of portals that she was standing in. As they disappeared, they pushed her out harmlessly.

“Thank you for your demonstration,” Princess Celestia remarked. “My most important concern is whether these devices can be used safely, and I believe you have demonstrated that. For a while, I’ve been thinking about how best to utilize these portals for the benefit of all in Equestria. What do you think would be the best way to use these?”

“Well, I wouldn’t advise giving them all back. I think that would be too dangerous. Somepony could easily get hurt if these are mishandled. What about creating a transportation network that would link Equestria together? Imagine visiting Canterlot, Ponyville, Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Hoofington, and Appleloosa within a span of a few minutes.”

“If you think that would be a good idea, then I’ll agree with it. I will have my most trusted guards travel across Equestria to set up portal surface hubs in each town.”

In the following weeks, the princesses spoke to their top advisors, and they set up Chell’s suggested portal network across the entire country. To use the least amount of Portals, they decided that Canterlot would act as a hub to all portal locations. In order to get anywhere, a pony would have to access their town’s portal to Canterlot, and then use another portal in the Canterlot hub to reach their location. Any trip to anywhere except Canterlot would only require two portals.

Immediately, it became apparent that ponies traveling through portals from opposite sides would get into each other’s way or bump into each other, since the portals could only fit one pony at a time. So the system was modified so that each town would have a pair of side-by-side portals to Canterlot. By convention, a blue portal was placed on the right, and an orange portal was placed on the left, and ponies would only enter blue portals and exit orange portals. The only reason for this was that the blue portals were fired using the primary button, and orange portals were secondary. Pinkie Pie, however, insisted it should be the other way because she claimed the “official logo” showed someone exiting through blue. Whatever that meant.

The princesses personally traveled to each town to explain the new portal system to citizens. Unfortunately, Princess Celestia was too big to use the portals. Princess Luna could fit through them, but it was rather difficult and awkward. But this didn’t really matter, since they could teleport using their magic. Ponies generally felt very excited about this new system, but there were many questions, as well as a few concerns. They were mostly the same, usually about how they worked or if there was a risk of being sliced in half. Each time, they used the same answers: “We don’t really know,” and “You get safely pushed out before it closes.”

A few ponies had questions about how this would affect the economy, or trade, or if it would dramatically change the demographics in each town by allowing ponies to move more quickly. The simple answer is that the portals would only be used for pedestrian travel. Anything larger than a pony, as well as packages and mail, still had to move the old fashioned way. Eventually, there was commercial network for use of anything that could fit. This network had a hub in an isolated location from ponies so that goods could be moved efficiently. Still, anything too large had to be moved by train.

The portal network was almost immediately the most popular form of travel. On busy days, there were lines to enter portals, although it usually moved rather quickly. Most towns noticed a sudden surge of tourism, as ponies could visit places they’d only ever dreamed of going to in literally no time.

Chell spent a significant amount of time helping Ditzy learn how to talk with the help of the necklace. Before leaving Canterlot, she told both princesses about her plan, and they thought it was a wonderful idea. She thanked them both of them: Celestia for her suggestion the previous night, and Luna for giving her the necklace in the first place and trusting her to use it. Naturally, both of the princesses trusted Ditzy as well, as they both saw that she had an innocent and pure spirit. Chell joked that Ditzy could use the crystal’s awesome powers to become the Almighty Muffin Lord, Ruler of Baked Deliciousness. They both laughed at Chell’s suddenly strange sense of humor, but they both reminded her once again of the danger it would pose if placed in the wrong hooves.

Occasionally, Twilight Sparkle, as promised, would use her knowledge of linguistics and phonetics to help Ditzy as well. Improvement was slow, but noticeable. At first, Ditzy could only form simple words and phrases if she slowed down her twisted tongue. Eventually, she could form comprehensive phrases in shorter periods of time. It was as if her tongue was slowly being untied from the massive knot that had previously constrained her. There were many times of frustration, but when her mouth would finally utter something she could have never said before, she would be giddy with pure joy. After she got simple words and phrases down, forming sentences took much more time. This was because, for the most part, Ditzy used actual words, but not the ones she intended. Forming a word after enough thought was easy, but stringing them together was a whole different challenge. The difference was like making muffins verses gathering the ingredients. It took much more conscious thought to put the words together, but Ditzy slowly worked the knot. Eventually, Ditzy could read aloud from books. Her speech pattern became so clear, that her condition was almost unnoticeable. She would occasionally mix up a few words, but she was very understandable. Those who had assumed that Ditzy was slow or stupid were proven wrong. She could finally show that she was an intelligent, insightful pony. As the knot was unrolled, she became free.

One day, her friends decided to treat her to lunch as a celebration. She chose to go to none other than the finest muffineria (apparently, they exist in Equestria) in Manehatten, a place that was little known outside of a small group of passionate muffin connoisseurs. Thanks to portals, it only took a few minutes to get there.

Chell raised a glass of wine, “I would like to propose a toast to Ditzy, who proved that anypony can overcome the insurmountable challenges that life throws at us. Life gave Ditzy some really lousy lemons, but she did not accept those lemons. She showed that through hard work, we all have the power to overcome any situation in the face of destiny.”

Finally, it was time for Ditzy to speak. “Thank you. Just a few short myths ago, the only thing that came out of my mouth was gibber-jabber. The only pony who had any cube what I was saying was my little Dinky.” She hugged the purple filly, who was sitting by her side. “But I would not be here without the help of friends like you. I wish to especially tank Chell, who committed every day to teaching me to speak. If not for her unwavering loyalty, I would not be here spanking to you. Thank you so much.”

Up until now, Chell had not felt completely happy. Even if she had been given everything in the world, nothing mattered to her as much as knowing that her best friend could enjoy the gift of speech as much as she did. Hearing Ditzy talk was the greatest thing she could ever want, and even if it wasn’t exactly perfect, it was more than she could have ever hoped for. From here on, Chell knew that everything was going to be alright.

Along a barren mountain range, a vast system of tunnels carved out of solid rock spread throughout the tallest of the mountains. In a large cavern located close to the mountain’s peak, a cylindrical machine about the size of Ponyville’s town hall stood tall in the center of the chamber. The machine was assembled from gray unpainted metal. It looked thrown-together, despite its impressive size and complexity. A perimeter of six columns about three stories tall encircled a hollow space at the base of the machine. The columns were held in place by buttresses, forming a relatively hexagonal shape. A raised pedestal on the floor adorned the center of this hollow space. The columns supported a complex system of machinery that looked as if it were meant to rotate. Three arms reached outwards from this part of the machine; at the ends of these arms were strange pods, which also looked as if they spun as well. At the ceiling of the chamber inside the machine, a spike hung down like a stalactite, pointed at the pedestal on the ground. On the top of the machine was something that looked like a large extendable antenna.

A tall, white, robotic alicorn stood in front of the machine. As the three Diamond Dogs stood next to the figure, they were staring in awe at the behemoth before them.

“Well done, servant hounds,” GLaDOS monotonously hissed. “I believe I owe you and the clonelings congratulations for the materials you’ve acquired for building this machine, but instead I shall reserve congratulations for the materials you’ve acquired. Thanks to the materials you’ve acquired, the machine is almost ready. It now requires only two more things to function: a power source and a sample. You three will retrieve the power source for me.”

“But, what’s could possibly power a big, fancy uh... thing like this?” Rover interjected.

“Simple,” GLaDOS explained. Along the wall behind GLaDOS, above a set of control panels, a monitor, which the Diamond Dogs had thought was nothing more than a black rectangle, suddenly displayed a picture of a purple unicorn. “This adorable magical egghead is ‘Twilight Sparkle.’” She sung the lavender pony’s name with pseudo-sweet sarcasm.

The Diamond Dogs stood with vacant expressions, mouths gaped open, revealing their feelings of vague familiarity and disbelief. Fido pointed a finger at the picture, as if to point out the impossibility of the small unicorn capable of providing power to the massive machine in the center of the room. He tried to speak, but remained silent, as did the rest.

“Do not let her appearance fool you. From the information I’ve gathered, I estimate that she is one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria. Her magical capabilities should be able to provide the 1.21 gigawatts required to power the machine, or to use the proper Equestrian units, 1.6 million ‘horse’ power. Either way, your mission is to retrieve her for me using the portal devices that I am about to give you.”

Compartment doors on GLaDOS’s flanks slid open, revealing storage spaces inside. A swirling, glowing, bluish white energy emanated from her horn, producing two bolts that slowly reached back into her flanks, grabbing a portal gun from each and levitating them in the air. Although it resembled unicorn magic, it was in fact, based on the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator, the same technology that allowed portal guns to pick up large objects.

“I’ve kept these Aperture Science Handheld Portal Devices in case I would need them, and it looks as if I do. I cannot make any more of these, so if anything happens to them, you will deeply regret it.” The portal guns levitated in front of Spot and Rover, who grabbed them from the air. Upon doing so, GLaDOS deactivated her horn, allowing them to take the portal guns. One had a pair of orange stripes running down the top, and the other had blue ones. These portal devices had been re-modified to be used with hands instead of hooves.

Spot sheepishly raised his hand, indicating that he had a question, but was too much of a coward to address GLaDOS directly. “Princesses?” he meekly muttered.

“What is it, you insolent mutt?” GLaDOS sneered.

“Um, couldn’t you just power the machine yourself?” Spot tried sounding as insignificant as possible to not anger her wrath for questioning her motives.

“Oh, wouldn’t that make everything so much simpler? You know, someone will have to operate the console for the machine, and I don’t think any of you are intelligent enough to do it. And if you knew what this thing was capable of, you’d understand why I don’t trust you with it. I can’t power the machine and operate it at the same time, which is why I need you to get the purple unicorn. She lives in a giant tree on the west side of Ponyville. You cannot miss it, unless you are even dumber than I think you are. I’ll explain the mission in depth before you leave. Once you’ve retrieved the purple pony and brought her back here, your services will be no longer required, and I will bake you a cake.”

GLaDOS turned away from the others and chuckled to herself. “It won’t be long now… before I can get back to doing science.”

Chapter 04: Lemons

In the darkness of night, three upright silhouettes trekked across a moonlit field. A tall, thin figure led the trio, followed by another, which was larger, but hunched over. Trailing the pack was a small and scruffy creature. The two in the front and back were carrying handheld devices. A small, orange light was shining from the device in the front, while the other shone blue.

“Are we’s there yet?” the small one in the back whined.

The leader stopped and turned around. The moonlight hit his face, revealing the Diamond Dog leader, Rover. “Ugh! Does it LOOK like we’re there? When was the last times Ponyville looked like an EMPTY FIELD!?”

“But we’s been walking forever! How do we’s even know we’re goings in the right direction?” Spot retorted.

“Haven’t you been paying attention to what Master said? She put a compass thingy on my portal thingy.” With his free hand, he pointed to a dial on the portal gun on his arm. As he swiveled the gun, the arrow on the compass stayed pointed in the same direction. “It points to the purple pony, so all’s we’s have to do is follow it!”

“Duhh, what were we supposed to do with the purple pony again?” the large dog in the middle asked.

Rover smacked his forehead. “Weren’t any of you paying attention? We break into her house in the giant tree. I fire a yellow portal on the floor. Gladys tolds us to be dead sure that its was yellow and not red.” He took a small metallic cone out of his vest pocket and held it up. “Then we puts this thing onto her horn which stops her from doing magicks. Then we pushes the pony into the portal, and she falls through into a cell in the cave. Then the Princesses takes cares of her.” Rover had a menacing grin as he said that.

“Then we get the cake?” Fido asked excitedly.

“Yes! But only if we do it right,” Rover exclaimed.

“But, uhhh, how do we get into the tree house?” Fido asked again.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” In his rage, Rover raised his portal gun in the air and bonked Fido on the head with it. “Spot uses his portal thing to fire a portal through a window, then he fires one on the outside. That’s how’s we gets in.”

“Oh,” Fido remarked plainly, rubbing his sore head.

“Yes! What part of that wasn’t clear?” Rover shouted

“Uh, what if her windows are locked?” Fido asked.

“I don’t know! Break it! We just needs to get the purple pony! That’s it! Now, we’re wasting precious time. Let’s get there before the sun gets up.”

The trio resumed walking for some time until Spot suddenly stopped. “Hey, if we’s can use these portals, then why in the name of preciouses are we walking?”

The other two stopped as well, dumbfounded that they hadn’t thought of it before. Rover was so enraged, he slammed his head into the ground. “Ghaaaahhhh! We walked that entire time! Why didn’t we just teleport?”

Fido simply stood still. He was muttering something to himself while doing what looked like calculations with his fingers.

Rover snapped to Spot, “Then what are we waiting for? Shoot the portals. If I do it, we lose the portal back in the cell and then we has to start all over again.”

Little Spot fired a portal on the ground in front of the group. A solid indigo oval appeared in front of them. Then he fired a cyan-colored portal as far as he could across the field, which, due to his short stature, was only a few feet away. With two portals placed, the connection opened. On the ground in front of them, an image of the indigo sky appeared within the purple ring.

“That’s not far enough!” Rover complained. “At this rate, it’ll be faster to walk. Fido, lifts him up.”

As he was told, the husky dog picked up his small counterpart and lifted him above his head. Spot had a much better view of the landscape. He could see the horizon much further away. Aiming as far as he could, Spot fired another cyan portal on the ground about a mile or so away.

“That’s more like it!” Rover shouted. “Let’s hop in!” The three jumped in the portal in rapid succession, only to find that they became upside down when they exited through the other side and were constantly falling and changing directions, bumping into each other as they popped in and out of the ground like dizzy whack-a-moles.

“Ahhhhhh! Make it stop! Make it stop!” Spot squealed.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Fido groaned.

“Ah, no’s you don’t!” Rover was eventually able to grab the rim of the portal, but the others falling through knocked into him, and he tumbled out of the portal. He looked at the color of the luminous ring to confirm which side he came out of. Light blue. That was good. After a few more seconds of undulating, the others figured out how to get out as well. Fido made it over to the cyan side as well, although Spot found himself getting out through purple. However, he was able to crawl through to the other side fairly easily.

“Ughhhh.” Fido bent over facing the portal on the ground and emptied his stomach’s contents into it. The vomit fell through the hole for a moment, before turning around and coming back out and falling again in an endless cycle. The bobbing cluster of goop resembled a chunky lava lamp as it undulated in dynamic equilibrium.

The Diamond Dogs were not known for being hygienic, but the others were still repulsed at the display. “Okay! Next time, we jump through one at a time,” Rover called. Let’s make another one.” Again, Fido held Spot above his head, and the small diamond dog fired a purple portal in the direction that Rover was pointing. Unfortunately, the vomit was in the air on their side of the portal at the time, so it continued falling through.

“Dahh, how do we make it stop?” Fido said as he scratched his head.

“I gots it!” Rover exclaimed. “Spot, fires a light blue portal on the ground right here.” He pointed to a nearby spot on the ground.

“Dah, isn’t that cyan?” Fido interjected.

“What? Since when have you been one to care about getting words right? Fine! Spot, fire a… ‘cyan’ portal.”

Spot created a portal there, but he did so while the puke was on the other side, so it still came through.

Rover smacked him in the back of the head with his free hand. “Do it when it comes over here!” The next time, Spot waited for the geyser of gunk to peak, and then created another cyan portal nearby. The stomach juice finally hit the ground, splattering as it did. As small glob had settled within the ring of the portal. Fido decided to clear it by hurling the small dog through. Spot managed to land on the other side. Rover followed through. It wasn’t that difficult when one was used to the sensation of changing direction. Fido followed after, also getting the hang of going through portals.

This continued for a couple more iterations until they reached an area that was populated with trees. They eventually wizened that creating portals on vertical surfaces made them much easier to travel though. After not too long, they reached a place with many buildings. This must have been Ponyville. This place was alien to them. Why would ponies want to live in these above-ground homes with windows which let in the sun?

The streets were deserted. Since GLaDOS told them that it was important that they are not seen, the gang crept surreptitiously in the shadows. The dial on Rover’s portal gun kept pointing towards the large tree on the other end of town. When they got to it, they stood silently, figuring out the best way to go. It was the strangest tree they had ever seen. It was several stories tall and had a very wide circumference. The trunk and leaves were populated with windows, and there was doorway at the base.

When Spot came up blank, he squealed, “Now what do we do?”

Rover slapped a hand on Spot’s mouth. “Quiet! We don’t wants to wake the sleepy ponies,” he hushed.

“Yeah, we won’t want to wake them!” Fido repeated, but louder.

“Shhhh!” Rover silenced. “Now, let’s look for a way in.”

They searched around the house. Rover jiggled the front door, but it was locked. The little one fired a portal at a nearby window, but the ball of purple light dissipated when it struck the glass. Fido gruffed in frustration. “Well, we tried everything, so there’s nothing left to do but break the glass.” He wound his fist up, and prepared to give the ground floor window a good breaking. “Fido smash!”

“Wait!” Rover hissed. “There’s an open window high up there!” He pointed up near the top of the tree, and sure enough, one of the windows in the foliage was creaked open to let the warm summer night breeze pass through. “Shoots through it.”

Spot raised his gun up high and aimed for the window. He fired, but the shot hit the leaves and got lost within them. He tried again, this time hitting the ceiling inside the window, creating a cyan portal. He paused afterwards, blinking stupidly.

“Well?” Rover finally spoke.

“Well what?” Spot asked.

“WELL AREN’T YOU GOING TO FIRE ANOTHER PORTAL? GIVE ME THAT!” Rover grabbed the gun off Spot’s arm. He tried putting it on his left arm, but had trouble since he was carrying another with his right arm and was getting impatient. After a while of struggling to get it on, he gave up, throwing it to the ground. He ripped the orange-striped portal gun off his right arm and placed the blue one on instead. He fired at the ground, but instead of the purple one he intended to complete the link, a cyan portal formed, replacing one inside. He kicked the little dog in anger, then shot through the window again. This time, it was purple.

Below them, they could see a wooden floor. They flocked to the edge of the hole, scanning for their objective. The smaller one couldn’t get a good view since his larger companions were blocking him. “Move, I can’t see!” He squeaked.

“Wait! We can’t all see through at once. I gots an idea…” Rover exclaimed.

Twilight Sparkle was sleeping comfortably in her bed, with her assistant Spike sleeping in a small bed on the floor nearby. They were blissfully unaware of the glowing hole in the ceiling. A small pugly beige head poked through. Jowls hung from his face towards the floor, blocking his eyes. “I can’t see! Ack! These things are blocking my vision!” he called.

“Quiet,” a scraggly voice hushed from above. “Just hold them out of the way.”

Spot grabbed his jowls and held them away from his eyes. He looked around, but part of the inside of the tree still blocked his complete view of the room. “Lower,” he whispered. His head descended further into the room, revealing his full body, a pair of large, gray arms holding his legs. Spot had a better view, but he still couldn’t see what he was looking for. “Rotate me.”

As he was told, Fido strafed around the edge of the portal. Finally, Spot had a good view of the purple pony in the bed, but he wasn’t going to say anything just yet.

“Well, do you see her?” Rover demanded.

“Yeah, do you see her?” Fido echoed as he dangled the small dog by his feet.

Spot was feeling cocky, and he spoke to them in a sing-songy voice. “I dunno? Maybe I’d tells you if you didn’t kicks me!”

Rover was fuming. “Ugh, we don’ts have time for your games. Tell me if you sees her, or the big guy over here is gonna drop ya.”

“I am?” Fido questioned

“Yes! You are.”

“But I don’t want to! You were being mean to him.”

“What? You too? Fine, we’ll do this the hard way.” With his free hand, Rover tickled the larger Diamond Dog, who struggled to maintain his grasp.

“He he he he! Stop that!” Fido sounded even more like a doofus than usual when he was laughing.

The upside-down dog below panicked. “Wha – what are you doing?” Despite his fear of being dropped, Spot continued holding on to his jowls.

“Do you see the purple pony?” The leader demanded.

Down below, Twilight Sparkle groaned and rolled from the ruckus going on in the ceiling, but remained asleep. Not far off was Spike, who wasn’t even slightly disturbed by the less-than-stealthy break-in.

“Yes, yes! I see her. Now stop!”

Rover complied. Fido was able to finally breathe. “Point to where she is,” Rover ordered.

Spot moved an arm away from his face to point, but a jowl flopped down and hit his eye. “Ow!”

“Good. Let’s get her,” Rover called from above. Fido lifted Spot out of the hole, turned him right-side up, and dropped him back in. He was light enough not to make a thud on the floor. The other two followed suit, using their arms to hang from the edges of the portal and lower themselves, landing on the floor as quietly as they could. The place had a lot of strange rectangles on shelves. The Diamond Dogs had no idea what they were for.

Despite their efforts to be undetected, they were surprised to be greeted by the fixed stare of an owl which was perched by a window. “Who.”

“Shhh, keep quiet,” Rover hushed.

“Who?” the owl responded.

“You! You keep quiet.”

“Who!”

They tried sneaking past the perched owl, but its head followed their every movement. “Who!” louder this time.

“Shhhhhhhhhh,” Rover hushed again. He made a gesture pointing behind the bird towards Fido. By some stroke of unimaginable luck, Fido somehow understood what Rover was getting at and snuck behind the brown owl as Rover and Spot kept its attention.

“WHO!”

The hulking Diamond Dog inched closer from behind, lurking within reach of the owl. In a swift motion, Fido grabbed the owl with both his arms. It tried flapping and hooting, but Fido covered its wings and beak.

“Get some string, or tape, or something.” Rover whispered. He went to help Fido secure the struggling bird as Spot rushed to find something that would secure it.

He tore through the drawers of a desk, muttering “string, string, string,” until, luckily enough, he found a spool of thread conveniently lying on top of the desk. He grabbed it and ran over to the other two Diamond Dogs and the owl. As the others held it down, Spot wound the string around the owl until it was completely wrapped like a mummy. As Rover held onto the beak, they were finally able to tie it shut to prevent the bird from hooting. After the owl was secure, they put it down gently. It looked back, only blinking.

“Owlowiscious?” a sleepy female voice mumbled.

The Diamond Dogs froze. Their hearts were racing. This was it: it was now or nothing. In panic, Rover remembered to get the yellow portal gun, as Master had repeated so many times and stressed the importance of. He looked around, seeing that it wasn’t in the room or on any of them. Spot was shaking his arms and Fido was crouched in a ball.

A few groans came from the bed. It was clear that Twilight wasn’t awake yet, or if she was, she was too tired to open her eyes. “Spike, liv Owloisious alon and geh back tah bed–” Her voice was muffled in her half-sleep state.

Rover was hit with the realization that he had left the yellow portal gun outside on the ground. Thinking what to do, he paced in a circle on the floor. After a few laps around, he remembered to shoot a purple portal on the floor, right in the center of where he was pacing.

He hopped through and came out the ground on the other end, making a perfect landing. He scanned the area as fast as he could until he found it. The Diamond Dog clenched the device in his left hand and ran back through the portal into the room.

He tried getting it on his left arm, but was too nervous, and again, couldn’t do it. “Quick, put it on.” He held it up in the air, waiting for one of them to grab it. Fido jumped at the call and grabbed it. As,he put the device on his right arm, they heard some shuffling from the bed. “Common, Spike. Back ta behd!” Twilight was sounding more agitated than before.

When Fido got the gun on, they headed up towards Twilight’s bed, which was on a landing on top of some stairs. All three could feel their hearts pounding their chests as if they were trying to escape. Rover took the small cone from his pocket, prepared to put it on Twilight’s horn. “Now remember,” he whispered, “Gladys told us that we had to fire the yel–” A solid red oval appeared on the floor next to the bed. “–low...”

The three Diamond dogs stared down in horror. They all knew what this meant, and it wasn’t good. Fido shot a yellow portal next to the red one, but it was too late. Both portals led to the same room, and the link back to the base was gone.

“Abort the mission! Abort the mishiiionn!” Rover screamed as quietly as he could. In panic, he dropped the magic dampening device on the floor and ran off the landing. The other two followed, crashing onto the floor below and shaking the tree as they did. As quickly as they could, they scurried into the purple portal in the center of the room and fled as far away as possible.

The noise and shaking from the Diamond Dog’s escape was the last straw that woke Twilight Sparkle up, but by then, they were gone. “Rainbow Dash, did you crash into my house again?” she mumbled, half asleep. There was no reply. Twilight opened her eyes to see what was going on; she couldn’t see anything. Slowly, she crawled out of bed and–

“Aaaah!” Twilight suddenly fell through the floor, only to find that down was now up and she was a few feet away from before, only to fall back through in an endless cycle. She could see the holes in the floor that she was falling through. One was red and the other was yellow. The experience was very disorienting; her oscillating fall slowed down over time, eventually stopping. Now, Twilight was floating with her waist at the center of the hole. She could see her legs coming out the other portal right beside her. The upper half of her body felt normal, but the lower half was upside-down.

Who could have done this? Twilight thought. And why? A magenta aura shimmered around her body as she telekinetically lifted herself out and onto solid ground. Telekinesis was easy for a unicorn, but lifting yourself required a much greater deal of concentration. Twilight looked at the two portals on the floor beside her. She knew what they were, but was confused why they were red and yellow.

Twilight heard a faint ruffling sound and looked around the room. In the very center, there was an indigo portal. Through that was the night sky. This must have been how the intruders broke in. But what did they want with her? The curious part of Twilight’s mind clicked, but for all the wrong things. Hey! There are portals in my own room! And they’re different colors. I should study them. Hmm, does the color mean anything, or is purely cosmetic like I presume orange and blue are? I know! I should study how gravitational fields are affected in the regions surrounding the quantum flux zones.

She heard the rustling again, which snapped her out of her distracting thoughts. She looked around, and what she saw stopped her heart a beat. “Owlowiscious!” Her faithful owl companion was tied up the floor. Who would do this? As she ran to help her pet, her hind leg kicked something small and metallic that was lying on the floor. It rolled in an arch, and fell through one of the portals. Twilight looked at the seemingly innate object as it settled bouncing. It appeared as if there were two of them, one in each portal. The object shimmered as Twilight grabbed it with her magic. It glowed from both sides of the portal, but she only focused on pulling it out of the closer one. She lifted it up higher so that she could get a better look. It was hard to see in the dark, so she trotted briskly to the nearest light and turned it on.

Now she could see what it was. It looked like a cone, slightly larger than her... Dear Celestia. “Spiiiike!” she called. The little dragon was still sleeping. Twilight ran up to the little dragon, and shook him violently. “Spike, wake up!”

“Huh, whah – what is it Twi?” Spike said sleepily.

“Somepony’s broken in the house! They used portals. Owlowiscious has been... Omigosh, Owlowiscious!” She ran over to where her nocturnal pet was tied up. “Get a quill and some paper,” she yelled while she ran.

Twilight placed the cone down. “I’m so sorry, Owlowiscious,” she apologized as she untied the knots that bonded the bird.

“Who!” he hooted as he fluttered himself free.

“I know, it’s just that...” She picked the cold metallic cone back up with her hoof and stared at it.

“Here, I got it!” Spike ran towards her with a quill in one claw and a parchment in the other. “What happened?”

“Just write to the princess. I’ll explain as I dictate.”

Spike made a salute and lowered his quill to the parchment.

“Dear Princess Celestia, Somepony has just broken into my house using portals. Spike and I are fine, but I have reason to believe that the threat made against me was serious. I found a magic-dampening device near my bed, just like the ones that were put on our horns a few months ago. Please come here as soon as you can. I’m...” Twilight began to cry. “I’m scared. Your faithful student... Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike finished scribbling the letter, rolled it up, and belched a green flame onto it. The letter burned in the mystical fire, which traveled out the window and into the night sky. Twilight distracted herself by thinking about the similarities and differences between Spike’s fire breath and portals, but snapped out of it when Spike asked her something.

“I’m sorry, Spike, what did you say?”

“I asked if you’re going to be alright,” Spike repeated with concern.

“I think so. I mean, Celestia would never ignore something like this, it’s just that... what if... what if... she’s still alive?”

“Who? Who’s still alive?” Spike asked.

“Who?” Owlowiscious repeated.

“You know... her... the one who kidnapped all those ponies, including myself and my friends, and the princesses. What if she’s not dead? “Twilight was panicking. “What if–”

“You mean that robot thing? Don’t worry. I’m sure Chell took care of her.”

“Didn’t you listen to what I told you? Chell never saw her die. She lost consciousness before she appeared outside near us. None of us know how she escaped, and she never saw... GLaDOS... actually die.”

“Maybe Owlowiscious saw who came in here. I mean, how couldn’t he?”

Twilight ran over to her pet owl. “Owlowiscious, who did this to you?”

“Who?” the owl replied.

“You! Who broke in and tied you up?”

“Who!”

“I’m asking who, not... Ugh, never mind!” Twilight facehoofed.

“Yeah, I can’t get him to say anything else either.” Spike snapped his fingers. “I know! Maybe Fluttershy would know what he’s saying.”

“Oh, I just hope the princess arrives soon,” Twilight said eagerly.

As if on demand, a blinding flash of white light filled the room. When the flash dissipated, a familiar, tall figure with outstretched wings stood in its wake. Something looked different about Princess Celestia, but Twilight could not quite place it for a moment. Then she realized that the princess’s royal regalia were missing. In place of her golden necklace was a neck that was bare and pure. Instead of a tiara, her mystical ethereal mane flowed without restraint. Her pristine, white hooves graced upon the floor. On her face was a look of deep sorrow and fear.

“Celestia!” Twilight called as she galloped towards her beloved mentor and friend.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight,” was all Celestia could say. Twilight jumped at Celestia, giving her the biggest hug she could. Celestia, in turn, wrapped a wing around her student like a daughter, continuing to speak. “I was asleep when you sent the letter. My sister notified me immediately, and I came as soon as I could.”

There was a pause as the princess held onto Twilight, grateful that nothing happened to her. “When Luna told me what happened... I feared the worst. I’ve dealt with many losses in my life, but if anything ever happened to you... I don’t know what I’d do.” The feeling that Celestia gave was anything but royal. In the past, she had been overly formal with her student, but now she wished that they had spent more time together, not as a teacher and student, but as friends.

Spike was eager to see the princess, but knew that it was best to give her and Twilight some space.

“I’m just glad that you’re here now,” Twilight replied. “I think... if things had gone differently...” She picked up the magic dampening cone for Celestia to see. “Do you think it was... her?”

Celestia picked up the device using her magic and examined it. “Hmm... this looks just like the ones in the vault, but I don’t know how anypony could have broken in. I’ll do an inventory check when I get back to the castle. As for these portals...” the white alicorn looked at the purple portal in the center of the room, and then glanced at the yellow and red ones that were side by side up on the landing, “... none of the portal guns in stock create any colors other than orange and blue, and I don’t think the colors can be changed. I would imagine that there are some portal guns unaccounted for.”

“So, what does that mean?” Twilight Sparkle insisted, her voice trembling.

Celestia sensed that Twilight was still fearful, so she spoke in a soothing tone. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think that we should fuel our fears by speculating the worst.” The portals started disappearing one-by-one. Soon, they were all gone. This only added to the question of who was behind it. Twilight turned her head away from Celestia, staring at the empty floor. The princess brought a calming hoof to Twilight’s face, gently turning her head back. “Perhaps Chell might know something about these portals. We should ask her in the morning. In the meantime, I’ll stay the night and make sure you’re safe. Would you like that?”

Twilight nodded. She was getting tired and no longer felt like talking.

“Good,” Celestia hushed. Using her magic, Celestia summoned a large circular bed on the floor. “Now get to sleep. I’ll watch over you.”

Twilight got onto the bed and rested herself. Celestia laid beside Twilight and wrapped a wing around her like a blanket. Underneath her wing, Princess Celestia could feel Twilight curling up close to her body. “Goodnight, my little pony,” Celestia whispered.

A hundred questions were left unanswered, but they could wait for morning to come. Until then, the princess cherished the little unicorn beside her, wishing for her safety. After a short while, she felt the rhythmic movement of Twilight’s breathing, and Celestia was relieved that Twilight was free from her worry. For the moment, she was safe. Celestia prayed that her dreams would be peaceful and free from fear and angst. Little did she know that the night would not be so kind towards her would-be kidnappers, as their princess was an unforgiving one. Celestia lifted a wing to see the sleeping pony beside her, and then gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight,” she repeated one last time.

Chapter 05: Lemonade

Five blips moved across a large screen, which showed a map of Ponyville. Three of the blips were larger than the other two and were colored beige, red, and slate gray. The two smaller ones were blue and orange. The smaller blips were not heading back to HQ. No... they were running away. “Those... IDIOTS!” GLaDOS shouted at the screen. She knew that they failed when the red portal on the ceiling of the prison cell vanished, but she at least expected them to come back with their tails between their legs and face their punishment with some dignity. Now they were running away, and she would have to go out and get them herself. “Ughh...” she sighed to herself. “You know, the entire point of sending you morons to retrieve her was to reduce the risk of being seen and setting the ponies on alert. A large robotic alicorn is not the most inconspicuous occurrence. But I guess it just goes to show, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Let’s just see what they do. I’m sure they’ll make the right decisions, for their own sake...” GLaDOS chuckled menacingly.

The Diamond Dogs stopped to gain their bearings in the center of the town. “Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo!?” Spot panicked.

“Well, we’re not going back to the princess!” Rover proclaimed.

“But she’ll beat us if we run, and... do things to us,” Fido cried.

“Maybe she’ll go easy on us! Master loves us!” Spot squeaked.

“Don’t you idiots get it? Master hates us!” Rover scowled.

The other two gasped.

Spot covered his ears. “I’m not listening... not listening...”

“That’s why we’re not going back,” Rover insisted.

“But! But she said she’ll find us. She’ll find us!” Spot squealed.

“Oh, she was just saying that! There’s no way she’ll know where we are!” Rover was not sounding as confident as he was trying to be.

“I know exactly where you are, you idiots,” a robotic voice spoke from their collars.

The gang jumped from the surprise. “Princesses!”

“That’s right. Your one and only. I saw your pathetic failure, but I’m willing to forgive you if you come back to the base. If not... well... I’ve got some... things in mind for you...”

”Yes, your all-powerfulness,” Fido begged.

“Yes! Yes! We’ll do anything you say!” the little one barked.

“Don’t you cower to her! She’s been bullying us for far too long!” Rover tried to rip his collar off, but it wouldn’t unlock.

“But, she’s the princess. Doesn’t she have super powerful pony princess magic or something?” Fido reasoned.

“Yes, I do: powers far beyond your comprehension. And I swear by my own name… if you little idiots dare make me come after you, you will suffer.”

The three dogs just stood there. Fido kept chanting something like: “game over” and Spot was pulling on his ears. Their leader’s eyes just widened in total fear as he continued trying to take his collar off, but with no luck. For a few moments, there was silence...

It was then that Rover looked up, and noticed that they were standing right under life-size stone statue of Princess Celestia, which of course, he mistook for his master. In horror, he slowly pointed up at the granite abomination before him. The others turned their heads to the statue.

...

“EVERYDOG FOR HIMSELF!” Rover screamed.

The three ran off in separate directions as fast as they could. But as much as they wanted to, there was no running from her cold, sinister voice. It followed them like a curse.

“Very well, then. You brought this on yourselves. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, because I did. Your punishment will be as severe as possible. I am thinking about it as we speak. Hmm... I’ve got some wonderful ideas. Would you like to hear them?”

The dogs all screamed for her to shut up in their own ways. GLaDOS was more than capable of having multiple simultaneous conversations, as she did with the ponies in the Enrichment Center, but she continued to address them in unison.

“You know what... I think it’ll be better if I leave it as a surprise. Yes, I think I’ll leave it to your imaginations. But in the meantime, let me entertain you with some of the ideas that weren’t good enough for you.”

Rover covered his ears, but the rest were unable to, since they were carrying their portal guns, which they dared not drop out of fear that it would only make their punishment worse. Although Rover was able to take full advantage of his free hands to cover his ears, it only made the speaker around his collar louder.

“First, I was thinking of suspending you upside-down for a few days from the ceiling with a bright light shining in your disgusting faces, a constant stream of water dripping on your scraggly chins, and nothing to eat besides the parasites that crawl within regions that I dare not speak. Then, after you’re broken and tired, the real fun begins. Have you ever been electrocuted? No wait... I don’t think you even know what that is, do you? But don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough. Let’s just say that it’s the most painful thing you’ll ever endure. And it won’t end anytime soon.”

The dogs tried ignoring her taunting, but the fear was slowly getting to them. By now, they were well spread apart. Fido had made it out by an apple orchard southwest of the town, while Spot portaled near the edge of a dark, spooky forest. Rover however, was still somewhere in town. A glimpse of something orange and something blue in the corner of his eye caught his attention, which was enough for him to stop running. He turned towards a white wall on his left, which had a blue portal and an orange portal side-by-side. Both portals seemed to go to the same place. A sign above the portals read “To Canterlot,” Canterlot... he knew he heard this term before. But where? Wait! The princess. She came from Canterlot, but he recalled that she left there for good, so he decided to go through. It may have been a trap, but it was worth the risk.

GLaDOS continued her taunting, but did not seem to react to him approaching the portal. Rover being in Canterlot while the others were still in Ponyville would make it tougher for her to catch him. Slowly, he scanned the area and crept up to the portals. At this time of night, not a single pony was there. He inched closer to the glowing auras in front of him. He stuck his head through the orange one on the left, and looked around. He looked to his sides, and saw a whole row of portals. Suddenly, the taunting stopped.

The gray blip on the map of Ponyville disappeared. GLaDOS was flying high above the clouds, en-route to Ponyville. The map she saw was no longer on the screen, but was part of a HUD in her vision. She didn’t even know why she had a screen.

“Where did he go?” GLaDOS thought at first. She saw that his coordinate data had shifted northeast by several miles. She zoomed out on the HUD map until she saw his blip. The little rat was now somehow in Canterlot. GLaDOS considered the likely possibility that this was due to a portal transportation network created by the hoofheld portal devices. Her portal devices. She did not like the thought of her portal guns being misused in such a blatantly irresponsible manner. If Aperture had intended for them to be used for transportation, they would have sold them to the public. Portal guns are for testing only.

The mutt’s escape to Canterlot would be a problem, as Canterlot was more densely populated and had a much busier nightlife, not to mention that the princesses (the real ones) lived there. However, her plans only required her retrieval of two of the Diamond Dogs, who were further out from town. And it was unlikely that they would not be able to portal very far without shooting a portal on a cliff and killing themselves. Knowing their stupidity, she really should have given them some long-fall boots. GLaDOS changed her mission objectives to only retrieve the two Diamond Dogs in the vicinity of Ponyville. She continued to taunt them, but split her processing power into three separate communications.

“Do you think you can escape me that easily? Well, I’ve got news for you, I don’t even need you, so you can go wherever you want. But when the time comes, your punishment will be the worst by far. To be honest, that’s perfectly fine with me, because of the three of you, I like you the least.”

Rover continued ignoring her as he hid within Canterlot’s back alleys.

“I’m sorry. What I meant to say is that I despise you the most.”

“You know, my opinion of you is not subjective. Not only am I the most powerful being in Equestria, I am also the most intelligent. I’ve done the calculations, and I’ve determined you to be one of the most despicable beings to exist in this crazy little world. That is a scientific fact.”

“Shall I go over the reasons for you? Let's see, you are a greedy, self-serving, treacherous, insolent, cowardly, flee-ridden mutt. You are the single lowest form of life, as well as the worst minion I could possibly have. At least the others were willing to blindly follow me, but you had to go mess things up. I really should have seen this coming and taken care of you when I had the chance.”

“Oh, well…”

“And I know your deepest secrets. Things that only you know about yourself, or should I say, things you think only you know about yourself. Why did I just tell you that? Because I want you to know that I know... everything... about you. Every thought, every feeling, every action. And right now, you're absolutely terrified of me, and you should be. Because I will find you, and you will wish you never betrayed me.”

The early morning light shined into the library through an east window. Princess Celestia stayed ever vigilant as the purple unicorn under her wing slept. Spike, as well, was sleeping under Celestia's wing close to Twilight. Sometime during the night, the little dragon had asked the princess if he could keep Twilight company as well, to which Celestia had complied without the slightest hesitation. But before Spike went to sleep, she asked that he write to her sister about the details of the situation and to call for an investigation on the kidnappers, as well as to guard Twilight's dreams. Throughout the night, Celestia's beloved student seemed to be at peace. But now that the sun had risen, Twilight Sparkle was tossing in her sleep, silently muttering something well below the threshold of audibility, but not below Celestia's intuition.

“Twilight!” The princess called. “Twilight, wake up!” She rocked the little pony with her wing.

“Please, no,” Twilight murmured.

“Twilight, my faithful student. Please wake up,” she nudged Twilight's small body with her muzzle. Her eyelids peeked open.

“Huh, wha...” Twilight groaned.

“Good morning, Twilight. How did you sleep?” Celestia inquired.

Twilight was still disoriented from waking up. “Oh, I'm... Celestia, did you stay here all night with me?" She looked up at her mentor with loving eyes as a daughter would look upon her mother.

“Why, yes I did, Twilight,” the princess responded. “Last night, I was... afraid. I was afraid for your safety. The thought of losing you...” Celestia fought to hold back her tears. She didn't want to remind her student of the previous night, and attempted to stay positive. “Last night, nothing would have made me happier than to stay by your side and make sure you were safe.” She nuzzled Twilight gently.

Twilight was still groggy from sleep, but the reminder of the gravity of last night snapped her mind into pinpoint focus. “Great Celestia!” she cried.

“Um, I'm right here, you know.” Princess Celestia was rather tired of ponies using her name like that, but the situation warranted nothing more than the snarky comment.

Twilight didn't even hear what the princess said. “We have to talk to Chell. She'll know what to do.” The little unicorn was running around frantically getting ready, leaving Spike to lay on the center of the large bed by himself. “Gotta get ready, gotta tell Chell. Gotta get ready, gotta tell Chell.” Twilight worriedly ran around in circles, unable to contain her nerves. She didn't stop moving until a golden aura surrounded her. When she turned her head back, she saw Celestia's glowing horn.

“It's okay,” Celestia hushed. “We should at least get ready before we leave. Why don't you just relax, and I'll make breakfast.” Celestia reminded herself to write a note for Spike that they would be seeing Chell.

On the outskirts of Ponyville, a large winged unicorn descended from the night sky as a bird of prey descends upon her victim. Through endless acres of apple trees, a terrified creature ran as fast as he could. The hulking beast sought refuge among the orchards, but refuge he would not find.

His collar spoke again, “Didn't I already tell you that I know where you are? And you think you can hide in an apple orchard of all places? Wow, you really are the dumb one.” *Clap. Clap. Clap.* “Good thing I put my slow clap processor in here. I haven't used it in quite a while, which is surprising, considering your idiocy.”

In his fright, Fido instinctively grabbed a large handful of apples and shoved them down his throat as fast as he could. It was the only thing that could distract him from what he feared.

“Snack time?” the taunting menace snickered coldly. “You don't seem to have your priorities in order, do you? At least you didn't lose the handheld portal device. You really don't want to find out what would happen if you did.”

“Lea– leave me alone!” he begged. “Ju– just please... have mercy!”

“Aw, boo hoo,” she mocked. “Is the wittle puppy wuppy afwaid of the pwetty pony pwincess?"

Without warning, the mechanical alicorn dropped out of the sky, shaking the ground. Fido quickly jumped behind a tree, holding his portal gun in one arm and a bunch of apples in the other.

GLaDOS lifted her head off the ground, her glowing yellow eyes scanning the area. An indicator in her HUD showed that the dog was hiding behind an apple tree. The two pieces of armor on her chest retracted, revealing the lens of the laser gun underneath. The lens glowed red and was accompanied by a high pitched whirl. Fido heard the sound and remembered the fiery punishment that followed. Without thinking, he fired a portal on a tree some hundreds of feet away, then below his feet.

The laser's whirl stopped briefly, followed by a blinding light and a deafening roar. The tree that Fido was hiding behind exploded in an incendiary display of fiery destruction. GLaDOS saw his location change instantaneously and knew it was because of portals.

“Don't make this more difficult for yourself. I'll burn down this entire orchard if I have to. And when the poor stupid family who owns this land finds it in ashes, it'll be all your fault.”

GLaDOS crouched into a ready position, then galloped towards the Diamond Dog. The unstoppable machine knocked down a series of trees as she closed in on her target, her razor wings slicing through others. He barely managed to jump out of the way before she could trample him. GLaDOS dug her hooves into the ground, grinding to a halt. She turned around, facing her prey. The air was thick with smoke from the fire, making Fido cough. GLaDOS, naturally, was unaffected.

The turrets on her shoulders opened their bays, and each emitted a laser beam that converged at Fido's heart. She spoke again, but this time, the words came not from the collar, but from her. ”Place the portal gun on the ground and lie face down. I will not harm you if you cooperate. But make a wrong move, and your body will be injected with a paralyzing agent. A rather painful one I might add.”

“Promise you won’t hurt me!” he cried.

“Fine. I promise I won't hurt you,” she lied. “Now come with me.”

“How do I know you won't hurt me?”

“Ugh! I never was a good liar. But I can assure you that I won't kill you. I need for you to be alive. Either way, I really don't see how it makes a difference. You are in no position to bargain.”

They stared each other down for a while, waiting to see who would make the first move. The laser sights stayed fixed on Fido's chest. He looked down at the portal gun in his right hand, and the bundle apples in his left, then he made his move.

Fido chucked an apple at his aggressor, dropping the others in the process. The apple hit GLaDOS on her head just below the horn, making a metallic thud and bouncing off.

GLaDOS looked down at the apple and laughed menacingly. Her computerized voice made her laughter a very strange sound, but it was chilling, nonetheless. “Of all the things you could have done, you throw an apple at me? I'm not even gonna bother stopping you.” She continued laughing. “This is just too hilarious!” Usually, she would provide a deadpan remark against such idiotic futility, but she could not help laughing at how stupid of a move that was.

Fido got angry, and reached down to pick up the other apples, throwing them at all GLaDOS. This only made her laugh harder as they all bounced off her metallic body, except for the last one, which was impaled on her horn.

“Huh?” she stopped laughing and looked at the juicy red apple that was stuck on her horn. A surge of electricity pulsed through her horn, blasting the apple into a thousand chunks and apple juice.

Fido, with no more ammunition, saw that GLaDOS was shifting much of her weight on her front right hoof, so he fired a portal below that hoof. As she started falling, her turrets fired darts at the Diamond Dog before she crashed face first into the ground. Most of the darts missed, but one struck him in the arm. He yelped and pulled it out, but the drug was already administered. His large size made him mostly unaffected by the paralyzer, but the arm he carried the portal gun with no longer worked. He tried running away, but could he could only maintain a fast stagger.

A white robotic hoof stuck out of a portal on a nearby tree. The foreleg swung at the tree, constantly berating it. The sheer force of the appendage was enough to break the trunk’s structural integrity. After enough blows, it snapped like a twig. As the tree fell, the surface could no longer sustain the portal, and it vanished. The hoof was sent back through the portal it pushed GLaDOS back upright.

She galloped to where the dog was running and cut off his path. He quickly turned around, but felt several sharp pains in his back and rear accompanied by the sound of turret fire, then started to lose control of his legs. He managed to limp behind a tree before collapsing. He looked up and saw the robotic white face of the master he betrayed. He picked up an apple and threw it at her head, bouncing off as it did before. The turret bays opened again as GLaDOS fired a few more darts into his chest.

As he began to lose control of his entire body, GLaDOS lowered her head, pressing her sharp horn against his heart with an uncomfortable amount of pressure. “I could easily end your miserable life right now, but as I told you, I need you to be alive. Let's just say it's for your punishment.”

A glowing energy illuminated her horn as she levitated Fido's limp body like a ragdoll. She slumped the dead weight onto her back and secured him in place with some rope that she was carrying. “I just realized something,” she thought out loud. “Why didn't I just install the paralyzing agent into the collars? That would have been so much easier. Well... easier, but certainly not as fun.”

*Knock knock knock*

Chell slept in her bed, blissfully unaware of the events that transpired the night before. The knocking sent her just above the threshold of consciousness, but not enough to alert her.

*Knock knock knock*

She turned her face into the pillow, annoyed by the knocking sound below. She would have groaned if she had vocal chords, but the thought was not conscious enough for the blue crystal in her necklace to register.

*Knock knock knock*

The final series of knocks finally woke her up for good. “Ditzy, could you get that?” the necklace spoke. The voice did not sound as tired as she actually was, since speaking for her took much less effort than it did for most ponies. Ditzy, however, had gotten up more quickly and was already downstairs.

“Chell, are you home?” a worried voice called from outside. It sounded as if it belonged to Twilight Sparkle. Ditzy opened the front door to be greeted by not only Twilight, but Princess Celestia as well.

The sight of seeing the princess at her front door so early in the morning and unannounced was an unexpected sight, to say the least. “Oh! Uh... good morning! Chell's still getting up. May I ax why you want to see her so early?”

Twilight looked uneasy. Ditzy could tell that she had a lot to explain. Surely enough, the unicorn took a deep breath as if she were gathering a mountain of words to bombard Ditzy with. But before Twilight could speak, the princess calmly tapped a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, then started to speak, “Please forgive us, Ditzy. Twilight and I wouldn't have come here so early if it weren't so important.” Celestia paused. She felt bad about knocking on somepony's door so early in the morning, but Twilight insisted that she talk to Chell as soon as possible. Her mind could not be at peace until then.

“Last night, somepony... or someone... broke into Twilight’s home. The intruders did so using portals. I have reason to believe that, for some reason, they were trying to abduct her.”

Ditzy gasped. “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you okay, Twilight?” Ditzy asked.

Twilight was still shaken. “Yes, I just want to ask Chell about the portals. You see, they were different colors than the portals we've seen. I was thinking maybe she might know about them.”

“Hold on, let me go get her.” Ditzy turned around to get Chell, but remembered to offer her guests to come inside. “Come on in! I'll get her.” She flew up the stairs to the second floor, as Twilight and Celestia entered their home. “Chell!” She called .

“Ditzy, there's no post today,” came Chell's voice from upstairs.

“It's Twilight and Princess Celestia,” Ditzy told her. “They're wanted to see you. Somefig happened last night.”

Chell wearily paced down the stairs to greet her friends who were waiting in the entrance room. She was too tired to be surprised by the unexpected visit. “Oh, hey guys.” She noticed that both Twilight and Celestia looked worried. “What brings you here so early?”

Celestia repeated what she told Ditzy earlier. “Last night, someone broke into Twilight’s home using portals. They dropped this.” She used her magic to lift the horn restrictor.

Chell gasped silently. “I can't believe someone would do that. You don't have any idea who it was?”

“No, but the colors of the portals were different,” Celestia explained. “There were two pairs. One pair was red and yellow, and the other was cyan and purple. None of the devices we obtained create portals of these colors, nor have we been able to change them. In your days at Aperture Science, have you ever seen portals with these color schemes?”

Chell pondered for a moment, trying to recall if she ever saw a portal that wasn't blue or orange. After half a minute, she came up blank. “No, no I haven't. I've only ever seen blue and orange, just like everypony else. Did you check the vault? Are any portal guns missing?”

“Last night, I told Luna to check the vault. Since I told Twilight that I would stay with her, I did not go back to Canterlot. However, although the door to the vault requires our combined magic to open, I lent mine to her through spirit, and she took inventory of the vault. And while I stood watch over Twilight, I spoke to my sister in dream.” Celestia paused briefly. “She told me... not a single item was missing.”

“So there are at least two portal devices and a horn dampener that are unaccounted for,” Twilight stated. “Who could have smuggled them away without confiscation? Chell, you were the last one in that facility. Do you know how this could have happened?”

“I... I don't know. I don't even know how I got out. I remember having a broken leg and losing consciousness. The next thing I remembered was waking up in a hospital. I'm not even sure how I escaped. Although if you say you found me by a tree, then I imagine Caroline had something to do with it. But I still don't know what happened. Maybe...” Chell stopped dead. Her heart sank lower than the bottom of the old Aperture Science facility. “No…”

“No... No, it can't be. No, it couldn't have been. Do you think...” She looked at Twilight, who made an uneasy grin and shifted her eyes away. “Celestia?”

The princess sighed. “There is not enough evidence to say what happened, but I don't think that we should rule out the possibility...”

Ditzy extended a wing over Chell in comfort. “It'll be okay. We shouldn't jump to conclusions. There are other possibilities, right?”

“Well,” Twilight pondered, “Owlowiscious saw my kidnappers. I mean, they tied him up, so he must have seen them. I couldn't get him to tell me who it was, but Fluttershy has a way with animals. Maybe we'd know if she asked him.” Only after she said that did Twilight remember Spike giving him the same exact advice the previous night, and she felt foolish for not remembering.

Chell thought back to the vault, and a thought popped in her mind. “Who is the Doctor?” she asked. The question seemed random, and nopony in the room understood why she asked it. Nopony in the room knew who the Doctor was, nopony beside Celestia.

“Why do you ask this, Chell?” The princess questioned.

“Well,” Chell explained,” when we were at the vault, I remember seeing a turret that was confiscated. I wondered who in their right mind would salvage a turret. I mean, turrets are very dangerous. And these ponies were being imprisoned, threatened, and tortured. If I were escaping from the facility, I would not be trying to escape carrying one of those. The nametag on the turret said ‘The Doctor.’ And he lives in Ponyville, but there was no address. What does that mean?”

Celestia gathered her thoughts. “The Doctor is a strange and mysterious pony. I know much more about him than most, but he's a mystery even to me. I'm not sure if explaining who he is would be relevant to the situation at hoof.”

“Well, don't you find it strange that this pony would take something from the facility like that? Maybe he might know of any portal guns that went missing.”

I suppose you may be right. In that case, I'll tell you where to find him. But be warned, he is a very strange pony. He lives in a blue box on the corner of Saddle Street and Rein Road.”

“A blue box?” Ditzy asked, puzzled.

“Yes,” Celestia replied. “That is all the information I am willing to divulge. I don't know if this path will help you, but if you feel that it could give you answers, then you should do what you feel is right.”

Chell confronted Twilight Sparkle. “Twilight, I'm going to investigate this lead. Go find Fluttershy and ask her to ask Owlowiscious who entered your home. I don't want you to worry, but we should be prepared for the possibility that–”

*Knock knock knock*

“Twilight! Are you in there?” Applejack's voice could be heard from beyond the door.

Chell ran to the door and opened it, revealing an out-of-breath Applejack. “Yeah, she’s in here. Why? Did something happen to you?”

Applejack panted. “My orchard! Something's happened to it. The trees. A whole row of them were knocked down. Another one looks like was burned to ashes. Fortunately, that fire didn't spread very far, but the damage was done. I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd tell Twilight, since she always knows what to do. Ah went over to the library, but then Spike told me she was over here. Then he was tellin' me that something happened last night, and then I thought maybe these things are related.” She turned her head to face Twilight. “Ah’m just glad to see you're alright.”

Terror struck Chell's heart. This news only made the possibility that she was still alive even more likely. “Ditzy, I need to see this Doctor and ask what he knows. I want you to come with me. Twilight, explain the situation to Applejack, then go see Fluttershy. Better yet, tell the others as well. Celestia... can you accompany them?”

“This situation calls for my attention in Canterlot, but it is more important that I help out here first.”

Chell faced Applejack. “I'm sorry to leave so suddenly. I wish I had time to explain more to you, but the situation is urgent. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“Aw, shucks, Chell,” Applejack said to Chell, “you don't have to apologize. Ah understand. Actually, ah don't, but ah still trust you, and ahm sure Twi and the princess will explain everything soon enough.”

“What about Dinky?” Ditzy asked. “Can you guys watch her today?”

“We'll be glad to look after her,” Twilight said.

“Aw, that little one o’ yours is the sweetest little filly in Ponyville, second only to Applebloom,” Applejack joked.

“We would be delighted to watch over your daughter,” Celestia added.

“I think we're good, then,” Chell stated. “We trust that you will take care of Dinky and lock the doors before you leave. Ditzy, are you ready to go?”

Above the canopy of the Everfree Forest, a glimmer of golden light could be seen shining just beyond the east, pushing back the stars and the darkness of night. GLaDOS soared down toward her next target, who somehow managed to get himself lost deep within the woods. He was either incredibly stupid, or just ignorant, for a little creature like Spot would be bound to be eaten alive within a few hours.

The pathetic waste of life she captured earlier was slumped on her back, terrified of the ride, but unable to express it. Down below, Spot kept running deeper into the black forest, barely able to see the twisted roots he was tripping over.

“What the hell are you doing?” the voice in his collar scolded. “Do you realize that you're running to your own death? If it weren't for me, you would be doomed already. You don't even know they way out, do you? Just admit you're lost. And you’ll stay here forever, until something eats you. The Everfree Forest is not a place for those who like being alive, especially for those as small as yourself. It’s filled with timberwolves, manticores, cockatrices, venomous snakes, venomous spiders, giant snakes, giant spiders, giant venomous spiders...”

He ignored her. She could hear his panting as he ran.

“Still running? Well, don't say I didn't tell you so when something eats you. How about this? Just scream if something attacks you. After I assess the authenticity of your scream, I will calculate the probability of being able to save you, then I will decide whether or not your life is worth saving.”

As if on demand, the next thing that GLaDOS heard was what sounded like a screaming filly from Spot’s transmission. After many picoseconds of deliberation, she confirmed that there was an 84.6% chance that his scream was genuine, and a 68.7% chance that it indicated immediate danger. It was also in her best interest to save his life. GLaDOS dove lower, skimming the treetops until she finally reached the target. After she was in the vicinity, she performed one of her signature drop landings, breaking through a thicket of branches on her way down and impacting the ground with a shock that sent the local animals running away.

The descent was not so kind to the poor dog tied to her back, who was scratched pretty badly by the foliage and was in pain from the impact. Had the mechanical alicorn’s legs not absorbed most of the shock, he would have been in a much worse condition. Although the hour was twilight, the thick canopy above let almost no light through, making the forest almost entirely pitch black. She wondered how the little dog was able to get this far in the forest, but if these creatures were anything like dogs on Earth, his sense of smell may have had something to do with it. GLaDOS switched to night-vision, which was aided by infrared thermal sensors that could see through the leaves. She could easily detect the landscape around her, and immediately, she saw what it was that was attacking Spot.

Some distance ahead through the foliage, an enormous serpent was coiling around the tiny little dog. Because her night-vision was monochromatic, she could not see the colors or patterns on the snake, but only make out its form. She estimated that it was about 118 feet 7.38 inches long and had an average diameter somewhere around 3 feet 5.69 inches. Its mouth was large enough to swallow Spot whole. For a moment, GLaDOS was worried that the giant snake was venomous... because then she wouldn’t be able to tell him that she warned him about giant venomous snakes. However, a quick biological scan confirmed that the beast was not venomous. This filled GLaDOS with relief, as she now had unlimited authorization to continually mention that she warned him about this.

The serpent was constricting Spot’s torso, which made his eyes bulge out. Somehow, this did not look disturbing. In fact, it looked like a cartoon. Perhaps it was because it could only be seen through thermal imaging. GLaDOS spoke through the dog’s collar, “I told you this would happen. Now, if you don’t want to become snake food, I suggest you hold your breath.” This advice was not very helpful, as the snake proceeded to swallow the little dog whole anyway. “Oh, well,” GLaDOS shrugged. “I suppose I’ll find another replacement, one who isn’t dumb enough to wander into a forest full of creatures that will eat him.”

She was only joking, but she wanted Spot to understand how stupid this was, even dumber than throwing apples at her. Oh, yeah, there’s a useless sack of meat tied to my back, she thought. After enough time had passed, GLaDOS decided to finally stop delaying. Her fondness for burning things had not been sated that night. She retracted the panels covering the laser in her chest and charged it. A small area around her glowed faint red, and illuminated her in the dark of the forest.

When the laser was charged, she fired a powerful blast that illumined the darkness, which was accompanied by a thunderous roar that shook the woods. The beam burned through trees and leaves and directly hit the midsection of the snake, just between the bulge of its latest meal and the rest of its body. The intense heat focused on a single point on the snake’s underside and penetrated its scales, causing its internal fluids to rapidly boil and explode from the sudden increase in pressure. The trees around the snake were painted red, illuminated by the fires from the burning trees, which were growing rapidly.

The snake’s head and neck were blasted high into the canopy and landed on a branch. The Diamond Dog was still in that section of its body, soaked with digestive fluids. He began to slide out of the newly formed sever, but by the time he stared falling, GLaDOS had taken flight and caught the slime-covered mutt with her telekinesis. Most importantly, the portal device was still safe and secure. She fired a single paralyzing dart at him, then pulled him under her neck and secured him there with some more rope. The winged unicorn ascended from the burning trees to high above the forest. By now, the sun was rising casting a shadow onto the canopy from the rising smoke. The fire was too far away to be seen from Ponyville. She flew back towards her base at the mountain peak, without the slightest care of the consequences of the damage she caused in her pursuit of those fools.

The two Diamond Dogs were lying on cold sterile tables. They were in a small room in the cavern, a harsh bright light burning on the ceiling. They were still fully paralyzed, but also fully awake and alert. “You know, there's an old saying where I'm from,” GLaDOS remarked. “‘When life gives you lemons... make lemonade.’” She paused. “To tell you the truth, I never really understood the meaning of that stupid phrase... at least until now. You see, you are my lemons,” she hissed. Using her telekinesis, she lifted a surgical knife, a drill, a syringe, and two identical disk-like devices that had a wire hanging from one end. Her haunting yellow eyes stared deep into their pitiful souls. “So it's time to make lemonade ...”

Chapter 06: Cryptic Answers

“You sure this is the place?” Ditzy asked.

“Yeah, Saddle Street and Rein Road,” Chell confirmed, looking at the intersecting street signs. “Seriously, is everything in Equestria named something horse-related?”

Ahead of them was a wooden blue box, but she was sure that it was way too small for somepony to live in. It looked like some sort of booth. It was about nine feet high and had a square base. There were small opaque windows around the upper end. Above that was a sign that read “POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX” in white letters on a black background. On the very top was a dome light. One of the four sides had a door.

“Is this that blue box the princess was talking about? It looks like an outhouse,” Ditzy joked.

Chell took a good look at it. “Well, I don’t see why she’d lie to us, especially considering everything that’s been going on. Maybe he likes small spaces.” She thought that whoever took the turret out of the Enrichment Center had to have been mad, but she didn’t expect him to live in something smaller than a hut. The way it looked, it reminded her of the small exit to Aperture Science. That insignificant-looking, rundown shed concealed a massive underground complex. She thought that perhaps this blue box might be similar. Maybe it too, had an elevator that went underground. It would be as if it were… bigger on the inside.

The two mares approached the door. They looked at each other with apprehension, until Chell finally decided to knock.

*knock knock knock knock*

“Hellooo!” A whimsical male voice called from inside. Why was he yelling? He had to have been less than three feet away, but yet he sounded much further off. “Hold on, I’ll be right there!”

Chell and Ditzy heard running hoofsteps. They again stared at each other in idle confusion, as if to see if the other had a clue what was going on. They heard the hoofsteps getting closer somehow, until it sounded as if they were a distance that was physically possible. The door opened, revealing a chestnut earth pony stallion with a brown spiky mane and an hourglass cutie-mark.

“Derpy!” he chirped at the gray pegasus. “It’s so good to see you, again!” Chell could best describe the accent as being “British,” similar to Wheatley’s, but by now, she had heard her fair share of seemingly foreign accents in Equestria that it didn't surprise her. Behind the stallion, Chell glanced at something that looked... off about the inside of the box, but he quickly shut the door before she could have a good look.

Derpy? Who’s Derpy? Ditzy thought. She was perplexed as to why he was calling her this. It sounded like an insult, and it reminded her of the times when ponies would make fun of her for her speech impediment. But the way the Doctor was using it seemed... affectionate. Ditzy had no idea why he thought he knew her.

“Um, my name’s... Ditzy,” she replied. “It’s... Ditzy Doo.”

“Well, I know that,” the strange pony mused as if they were long friends, “but I always call you Derpy! You know, Derpy Hooves? We’ve been on all sorts of adventures together!”

“Um, I don’t... think... I know you...” Ditzy declared in confusion.

“Huh,” the Doctor pondered. Then realization hit him like a hammer. “Ohhhh! Oh, not again! I am so very sorry about that. Hey, by any chance, there wouldn’t happen to be any zeppelins flying around, are there?”

“Zeppelins? What the hay do zeppelins have to do with anything?” Ditzy asked.

“Hehehe!” The Doctor giggled. “Hay! You said hay! That cracks me up every time.”

Him too? Chell thought. She thought she was the only one who found the abundance of horse puns in this universe to be funny, but that was because she was once human. Could he...? Nah...

Chell was confused by the zeppelins question as well, but she decided to ignore it. “So, um, you’re this Doctor pony, correct?”

The Doctor’s eyes widened upon hearing Chell speak without using her mouth. “Is that... Is that a memory resonance crystal? Where did you get that?”

Chell was getting impatient. “Look, I think something bad may be going on, and I need to ask you something. I don’t have time for this, so, please don’t waste my time!” she shouted.

The Doctor was speechless. Chell realized she was being too harsh on him, and she felt like a jerk for it.

She sighed, then slowed down her speech. “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh. It’s just that a threat was made against a close friend of mine, and I’m really worried about it. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on, and I thought you might have an idea. If you really want to know about my necklace... it was a gift from Princess Luna. I... can’t talk without it.”

“Oh, no, it’s alright,” the Doctor replied dejectedly. “I was the one getting in your business. I... was just curious. And it’s the Doctor, by the way.” Ditzy began to open her mouth, but before she could, he continued, “And before you ask, it’s just the Doctor.” He paused. “So tell me, why did you come to see me?”

“Well,” Chell explained. “You remember that incident a few months back? Well, I was curious about something that you apparently took out from Aperture Science. Do you remember what I’m talking about?”

The Doctor pondered a bit, scratching his chin. “Oh! The turret! Right! You know, she told me that you’d be here.”

“It did?” Chell asked.

“Yeah, or at least she told me ‘she will knock four times,’” he sang, trying to mimic a turrets voice. “At first I thought she was telling me the old same stuff that I’ve already heard, but here you are, and you knocked four times!” He giggled again.

Something sounded familiar about all this. Chell could vaguely remember a turret that spoke in vague prophetic riddles. “So, why did you take it with you?” she asked. “Is there anything else that you may have taken out that wasn’t confiscated?”

“Wha– No, no, it was just the turret!” he shouted. “You see, back when I was in that facility, which by the way was absolutely fantastic (and I mean that in a cool way, not a good way), I remember having to dodge bullets left and right, but there was this one turret that didn’t shoot at me. She just spoke, and I’ll never forget what I heard. She said, ‘I’m different!’ Then she asked me to take her with me. And I couldn’t just leave the cute little thing like that! She told me that the place was doomed to collapse into an event horizon soon, and surely enough…”

Chell immediately remembered that one turret that she saved from the redemption line back in Aperture Science after Wheatley helped her escape from GLaDOS’s tests. She thought she remembered accidently carrying it through an Emancipation grill, but then again, it was so long ago, she wasn’t really sure.

“Wait, she said, ‘I’m different?’” Chell asked.

Ditzy felt even more in the dark than before. At least then, she and Chell were both confused.

“Yeah, that’s what she said, and how different she was!” the Doctor replied.

Chell heard everything she needed to hear. Back when she saved that turret before, it had a seemingly prophetic knowledge of things that a turret should never know. And now, it had predicted Aperture Science’s destruction, as well as her arrival. Chell was not one to believe in the supernatural, but if a portal could create a connection between two points in space, she supposed everything had a hidden explanation, somehow. And somehow, the turret would likely know what was going on. Clearly, the Doctor was just a good pony who saved a sentient being from doom.

“Thank you,” Chell said to the Doctor. “I think that was helpful.” She turned to her friend by her side. “Let’s go, Ditzy. We’re going to Canterlot.”

“What’s going on?” a pale purple filly asked. “Where’s Mommy?”

“She went out with Chell today,” Twilight explained. “She asked us to look after you.”

Dinky was disappointed that she didn’t see her mommy that morning, but Twilight didn’t think that it was a good idea to explain the situation to her.

In truth, Ditzy had felt very bad about leaving without saying good morning to her daughter, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew what was going on, and she knew that the truth would soon be revealed to Chell. She wasn’t sure how much Chell had prepared herself for the revelation, so she wanted to be with her when that happened. It was the least she could do for the friend who spent months helping her learn to talk.

The only ones at the Ponyville Post Office were Twilight, Applejack, and Dinky. Soon after Chell and Ditzy had left, Princess Celestia told the two mares that she had to go back to Canterlot, and that she wished them luck today. It was some time around mid-morning that Dinky was fully up, had breakfast and was ready to go to Fluttershy’s with Twilight and Applejack. The filly had found something strange about what was going on, but Twilight explained that they were taking her to see Fluttershy’s animals. On the way over, Twilight was telling Dinky about some orphaned baby weasels that Fluttershy recently found and was caring for. The story of how Fluttershy found and acquired them was enough to keep the filly occupied on the way over.

When they reached Fluttershy’s cottage, they noticed that the animals outside were either unusually quiet or missing altogether. They all noticed the smell of burning wood, as a thin concentration of smoke filled the air, although it was quite subtle. If that wasn’t enough, Fluttershy was standing off in the distance, facing towards the forest, still as the trees within. A breeze blew through her light pink mane gently as it did for the leaves on those trees, her composure unmoved, just like the trees.

“Hey, Fluttershy!” Twilight called.

No response.

“Here, let me try,” Applejack insisted. “FLUUUTTERSHY!”

Still, no response.

Twilight and Applejack were getting worried about her. Dinky too could tell that something wasn’t right. Twilight and Applejack exchanged a glance. They both knew what to do. They ran as fast as they could towards their friend. Dinky lagged behind, her tiny legs moving as quickly as they could.

“Fluttershy, are you alright?” Applejack called. She never saw Fluttershy acting like this before.

Fluttershy hadn’t moved one bit. She was still staring into the dark woods.

“Fluttershy, what’s going on?” Twilight asked when they got closer.

When the ponies finally reached Fluttershy, they could see that their friend was in a stupor. Her face was covered in tears, her expression blank, and her wet eyes stared deep into the darkness ahead. The wind continued to playfully blow through her long flowing mane. “Something’s... wrong,” a soft somber voice spoke.

“What? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, nudging Fluttershy. Down below, Dinky gently nuzzled Fluttershy’s front hooves.

Fluttershy turned her head towards Twilight. Her neck creaked as if it were unmoved for eons. Her stare stretched into eternity. “The animals...” she whispered. “The forest... Something... terrible has happened.”

“What happened in there?” Applejack said. She knew she was asking the obvious, but it was the only way to get Fluttershy to say anything.

Fluttershy turned her head back straight, staring back into the woods. “There was, an intruder... someone who didn’t belong. A... monster. It did... something terrible...”

“What? What happened?” Applejack grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders and shook her.

“Huh, what?” Fluttershy blinked her eyes and shook her head. She was still upset, but no longer catatonic.

“Fluttershy...” Twilight started, “What happened in the Everfree Forest?”

“Well I’m not exactly...” Fluttershy’s tone was faster and more direct, but there was still a deep sadness behind it. “The animals! They were telling me something happened in the forest this morning! They were telling me that something came in, and it killed an animal. I think it was a snake or something.”

A snake? Applejack thought. Really?

A hummingbird flew to Fluttershy’s ear and whispered to her. “But it was not just any snake. It was a giant pythoconda,” Fluttershy stated. It did not matter what it was, be it the cutest chipmunk or the most deadly of snakes, Fluttershy loved it just the same.

“If I remember correctly,” Twilight said, “they can swallow prey the size of a pony even if it’s still alive.” Dinky winced at the thought of that. “But, I don’t understand how the death of a single snake would upset the animals of the forest.”

Fluttershy remained silent for a little while. “It’s not just that it died… It’s the way that it died. A burning beam of light... it... I’d rather not say it. But no animal should ever be harmed like that.”

“But why is this upsetting the animals?” Twilight asked.

“The beam... it didn’t only hurt the snake. It... also started a fire. The forest... it’s burning.”

“A fire?!” Applejack cried. “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” She smelled the smoke in the air. “I can’t believe we didn’t notice that before!”

Fluttershy didn’t listen. “All these poor animals, losing their homes...”

Twilight realized that immediate action was required. “We need to do something about this before it gets out of control! Fluttershy, go get Rainbow Dash. She can gather the weather ponies to take care of this.”

“Okay, I’m going to go get her. Please wait here. I’ll be back soon.” As upset as she was, Fluttershy did not hesitate to fly away. The sooner she got to Rainbow Dash, the more animals she would save.

Twilight, Applejack, and Dinky were left behind in disappointment. They hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell Fluttershy what happened to Twilight last night. And with her mind occupied on the forest, it may be some time until they could tell her.

Fluttershy flew to Rainbow Dash’s house. Although she was a fairly weak flyer, she knew that she had to get there as fast as she could. The lives of hundreds of animals were at stake, and she would do anything to help. Knowing her athletic, but sometimes lazy friend, she was probably sleeping in this morning. Fluttershy was out of breath by the time she arrived. “Rainbow Dash!” She panted, knocking frantically on the door. “I need to tell you something!” She waited for Rainbow Dash to respond.

Twilight, Applejack, and Dinky were still waiting at Fluttershy’s cottage, the smoke from the fire slowly becoming more visible.

“We should go, Twilight,” Applejack insisted. “I think I should show you what happened down at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“But Fluttershy told us to wait here,” Twilight protested

“Don’chya get it Twi? First, there was my farm, then I hear about what happened to you, and now this? It’s all connected. It just can’t be a coincidence. We need to find out what’s going on.”

“But shouldn’t we wait for Fluttershy? She’s only going to tell Rainbow Dash, then she’ll be right back.”

“C'mon, Twi. You know how this is gonna happen…”

“Oh, good morning, Shy,” Dash called from inside. When she opened the door, she noticed the exhausted pegasus about to collapse on her doorstep. Her face was soaked with tears. “Fluttershy! Are you alright? What happened?”

“Well, first, Fluttershy is gonna tell her what happened.”

Fluttershy took a moment to catch her breath. “Something happened in the Everfree Forest. There’s a fire.”

“A fire?” Rainbow Dash was taken aback by this news. “How bad is it?”

“It hasn’t gotten too out of control yet. It started around sunrise, I think, but it’s growing quickly.”

“Then she’s gonna tell her what needs to be done.”

“Rainbow Dash, you need to round up all the pegasus ponies in town. We need to get a raincloud over that fire.”

“Rainbow Dash will probably assume that Fluttershy will help out.”

“Okay, Fluttershy, I’ll notify the weather patrol. I’ll need you to help me out with this.”

“Although, Fluttershy will probably say she can’t...”

Fluttershy squeaked. She was still trying to catch her breath. “Dash, I don’t think I’ll be any help. I’ll only hold you back. Just– just go without me. I’ll wait at my place.”

“But then Dash will probably tell her to pony up, and then she’ll say something that will make her change her mind.”

“Pony up, Fluttershy!” Dash yelled. Fluttershy recoiled in fright. The last thing that Dash wanted was to discourage her friend, so she toned down her voice. She used her wings to hover, allowing her to place her hooves on Fluttershy’s shoulders. “Fluttershy, the animals in the forest are in trouble, and we’ll need somepony who can escort them to safety. I don’t know anypony who could do that better than you.”

Fluttershy took a moment to contemplate her responsibility. “Okay, I’ll help you out.”

“So, my bet is that Fluttershy is gonna be helpin’ out.”

“Are you sure that’s what’s gonna happen?” Twilight asked.

“Twi, I think I know my best friends well enough by now to know that they’ll always help each other out. And right now, I need your help figuring out what happened to my trees.”

“Great!” Dash called. She grabbed Fluttershy by a forehoof and raced towards the center of Ponyville, dragging Fluttershy behind. She left Fluttershy on the ground in town square as she zipped around Ponyville, calling, “Fire in the Everfree! All pegasi meet in town square immediately!” In the meantime, Fluttershy did her best to notify a few in the area. About five minutes later, a large crowd of around 50 pegasi, as well as some curious earth ponies and unicorns, amassed in the plaza in town square. The ponies were chatting amongst themselves, asking each other if they knew what was going on. Rainbow Dash hovered in front of town hall.

“Attention, all pegasi!” her voice boomed. “As I mentioned before, there is a fire in the Everfree Forest. If nothing is done about it, it will grow out of control. As manipulator of weather, it is our responsibility to put it out. The only way we can do this is to amass rain clouds over the fire, then activate a downpour. It will take a massive amount of water, so I will fly to Cloudsdale and notify the pegasi there.”

A partially hooded figure galloped through the streets of Ponyville. She ran so quickly, that the wind blew her hood off, revealing the zebra Zecora. She ran to under where Rainbow was hovered, gaining the attention of all. She spoke:

Attention all you Ponyfolk,

For the forest is filled with deadly smoke.

Beware the toxins in the air,

If your life is something for which you care.

A terrible tragedy, I can see,

Is burning down the Everfree.

What I say, I hope I’m wrong,

But the arsonist did not belong.

This being should cause great fright,

For it caused the fire with burning light.

A beam that killed a giant snake

Is not something to lightly take.

So, I find it not hard to contrive,

That the mechanical mare is still alive.

The lyric of the rhyming zebra sounded like an omen. When Zecora finished speaking, the crowed went into a panicked frenzy. Many of them had lived the horrors of Aperture Science, but it was something that ponies just didn’t talk about. Most ponies were unaware of what GLaDOS looked like, but they knew that she wasn’t a pony, and they knew that this is something that she would do.

Zecora herself was fortunate enough not to have been taken on that frightening day. She became aware of Chell’s parable sometime after her recollection in Canterlot, when one of her friends retold the story to the zebra. Nopony exactly knew how she could deduce this possibility, but the intuitive zebra had seen the site of the incident first hoof and knew that the burn pattern on the trees had to be caused by a laser, and she only knew of one being with that ability.

“Now, hold up, everypony!” Rainbow Dash yelled, trying to calm the crowd down. “I don’t know if what Zecora is saying is true, or how she even came up with that answer, but we should heed her advice. However, this can’t stop us from doing something about the fire. If we let the Everfree burn, it will disrupt life all over Equestria. I will lead you all to the center of the blaze, where you will gather rain clouds. Then I will fly to Cloudsdale and get more help there. Do not start the rain until I give the go-ahead.

She lifted Fluttershy off the ground, who instinctively flapped her wings to not fall.

“Fluttershy here will be in charge of rescuing the animals. It will be dangerous, so she will need a small team of pegasi to assist her and watch her tail. I want a show of hooves of who wants to be on animal rescue squad.”

The sound of danger made the meek pegasus apprehensive, but she knew that saving the animals was what she wanted to do.

A handful of pegasi in the crowd raised their hooves. “Okay, I’ll take you, you, and... you,” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed at the ponies she selected to go with Fluttershy. The squadron of pegasi flew over to where Fluttershy was standing. It consisted ofLightning Bolt,Cloud Kicker, andMedley, ponies that Dash knew were reliable and could be trusted with Fluttershy’s safety. Rainbow Dash really wanted to pick Ditzy as well, but it didn’t seem as if she were there. She did not take the thought of Fluttershy flying into a burning forest lightly and couldn’t help but worry about Fluttershy, despite her commanding appearance. If anything bad happened to Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash would personally blame herself.

She turned towards her shy friend. “I want to make sure that you understand the danger before you go to that fire. You could get seriously hurt. Um... you’re sure that you still want to do this, right?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I know the risks, Dashie, but I can’t let that…” she recalled that bully who made her cry for destroying an inanimate object, and the thought of that monster harming her animal friends made her boil on the inside, but she kept her composure. “I can’t let anything happen to those animals.”

“Just, be careful out there. Remember, these ponies will have your back –” she pointed to the three pegasi that she selected “– so don’t go anywhere without them. And whatever you do, please, please, please don’t take any unnecessary risks. Just promise me that you won’t do anything that could get you hurt, okay?”

“Okay, Dashie,” Fluttershy promised. Dash pulled her into a strong hug, just in case Fluttershy didn’t keep that promise. After a brief pause, Dash turned around, thinking of the responsibility ahead.

She switched back to leadership mode and addressed the crowd once more. “Alright, everypony! You all know what to do, right?” They all cheered in unison. They were ready. “I’ll lead you to the fire. On my mark... GO!” Rainbow Dash took off into the air, leaving a rainbow streak behind. The others followed behind, including Fluttershy. It was going to be a very long day.

In only one small step, Ditzy and Chell had traversed a distance of several miles and were now in the capital city of Canterlot. Chell dashed through the streets towards the castle, with Ditzy flying closely behind. A pair of guards stopped them when they reached the main gate to the castle. It was not as if they could get through anyway, since the gate was closed.

“Halt!” one of the guards called. “State your name and business.”

Chell panted. “I’m Chell. I need to see the Aperture Science detainment vault.”

Even if she hadn’t said her name, the guards recognized Chell by her distinctive speaking necklace. They would have also noticed her portal cutie marks if they had seen her from the side. “Notify Celestia that Chell and her friend are at the gate!” the other guard called to somepony on the other side of the gate.

Within five minutes, the large oak doors pulled back, revealing both princesses on the other side. “I assume you’ve spoken with the Doctor,” Celestia said.

“Yes,” Chell replied, “and it has led me here. I need to see the vault where the Aperture Science equipment is being held. There is something in there that I think could tell me what’s going on.”

“Very well,” Celestia said. “Luna and I will escort you there.”

The four ponies traversed the halls of the castle for several minutes, getting deeper within the foundation of Canterlot Mountain. “What is within the vault that you seek?” Luna asked. Her sister mentioned the conversation she had with Chell earlier, but Luna had not put the pieces together.

“Well, you remember that turret that was confiscated from this pony called the Doctor?” Cell explained. “I spoke with him earlier today, and he mentioned that the turret had the ability to foretell events, and it asked him to save her. I happen to remember meeting this particular turret back in the world where I’m from. It won’t shoot at us, though, so it should be safe to activate.”

When they reached the door to the vault, the princesses inserted their horns into the door, using their magic to open it.

Chell stared into the dark empty space, waiting for the princesses to lead them inside, but after a few seconds, it was clear that they were not going in.

“I think it would be best if we waited out here,” Celestia suggested. She knew it would be likely that the turret would tell Chell something that she wouldn’t want to hear, and she would only need one friend to be with her when that happens.

Ditzy and Chell walked into the large hall; the turret in the back beckoned like the exit to a test chamber. Chell slowly approached it. The end of the hall came closer and closer, but it never seemed to be within reach. Chell never wanted to reach the end of that hall, because she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what she would find. The answers to the greatest questions of her life could be held within the smooth white shell of the turret ahead, and these were things that Chell really didn’t want to know. Her heart was stuck in her throat, as she found herself pushing back against the part of her that was walking forward.

After an eternity of traversing the empty hall, she finally reached it. It stood upright on its tripod legs, as if it were a silent guardian to its own secrets. Its small red eye was unlit and still.

“How do you turn it on?” Ditzy asked.

Chell wondered this herself. In all her times dealing with turrets, she only ever had to turn them off. “I’m… not sure,” she responded. She looked around on all sides of the turret, looking for some sort of ON button, almost hoping to not find it. “How do you turn these things on?” She futilely tried opening the side doors to see if there was a switch inside there, but they refused to open.

After a minute of pondering, Chell figured she’d try pressing the eye, which was countersunk into the body. It would have been much easier to do if she had fingers (or a horn) but after getting the angle of her hoof just right, she was surprised to find that the eye did push. It clicked back, waiting to activate upon her release.

“What happened, here?” Twilight Sparkle asked in awe as she looked upon the devastated Sweet Apple Acres from a hill overlooking the valley. An entire row of apple trees had been leveled to the ground. It looked as if something had torn right through the trees. Nearby was the smoldering remains of one unfortunate tree. She could barely believe what she was seeing. Granted, she heard it right from the pony’s mouth, but it did not prepare her for this. Back at the post office, she was worrying about her own problem too much to care, but hearing about the fire in the Everfree Forest put things in perspective. Twilight was not the only pony affected by what was going on. These events were much larger than herself.

“Ah can’t explain it either, Twilight,” Applejack said. “I know these trees were here last night. And besides, this poor tree looked like it burned down a might recently.” She pointed at the burnt tree. “Now, don’t you tell me that these events ain’t related!”

“What’s going on?” Dinky asked. “Does this have anything to with the forest?”

“Ah think so, Dinky,” Applejack told the filly, “but I don’t exactly know what... although I’m fearin’ the worst right now.” She couldn’t lie to Dinky, but she didn’t have to tell her what she speculated, either.

In a flash of light, Twilight disappeared and reappeared down by the petrified black tree.

So much for portals, Applejack thought. “Hey, wait up, Twi!” she called as she ran to catch up, making sure to run slowly enough for Dinky to keep up.

Twilight thought to herself as she looked at the tree. By the time Applejack and Dinky reached her, she was still studying the burnt tree.

“Well?” Applejack asked.

“Hmm… It looks as if the fire started at a single point on the trunk.” She pointed to a radial pattern that seemed particularly scorched. It was slightly sunken into the rest of the tree, and all local burn marks pointed away from it. “Whoever caused this fire did so at this point. Clearly, it had to be made by a high energy beam, like a… laser… Oh, no,” Twilight panicked.

“What? What is it, Twilight?” Applejack already knew the answer, but she wanted Twilight to say it.

“Come on, Applejack, do you know anypony with a laser powerful enough to do this?”

“Ah think we both know only one pony who could do this. Ah wasn’t wanting to say this, but I think it’s pretty obvious by now. There’s just no other explanation.” She sighed in dejection. “I just don’t see any other way. It can only be… her.”

Dinky’s ears perked up as she tried to figure out who she was.

Twilight teleported over to one of the chopped-down trees. Some of them looked as if they were snapped, but others, including the one she was at, were cleanly sliced. “And look at this cut, Applejack. Nopony but her could cut this so cleanly. Her razor wings could slice through these trees like bread.” She teleported to a tree with a snapped trunk. “And I think she would be powerful enough to easily ram these trees down. Now while I don’t know how the fire in the Everfree was started, I think we can assume that it was…”

“Okay, I get it, Twilight!” Applejack interrupted. “But what does this mean? Should we tell Chell? Or Princess Celestia? What about Dinky? Should she know, too.”

“Know, what?” Dinky asked.

“APPLEJACK!” Twilight scolded. “Think before you speak! Now, you’ve worried her.”

“Is Mommy okay?” the filly asked.

“Well, she has every right to know as we do.” Applejack said.

“Well, you might as well say it, now!” Twilight fumed. “I wanted to present this evidence to the princess first, but you just had to open your mouth.”

“Look, I’m sorry, Twi. You know how I am with the truth.” She knelt down to the filly. “Listen, Dinky,” Applejack explained, “you remember a couple months ago when ponies were bein’ taken away by these strange machines?”

Dinky nodded. She was feeling even more worried, now.

“Well, lately, some strange things have been happening. Last night, Twilight was almost kidnapped, and in the same way as well. We think… that the person who was behind that whole mess before… is back.”

“But where’s Mommy? You guys woke me up this morning without telling me where Mommy went, and then you lied to me about why you were taking me to Fluttershy’s!” Dinky’s voiced squeaked in her anger. “All day, I’ve been scared that Mommy might be gone, and you guys never told me why! Well, she has some pretty lousy friends!” Dinky wiped her tears, trying to conceal her sadness.

…

Twilight gathered her words. “I... I’m sorry, Dinky. We should have told you from the beginning. Your mother went with Chell to find out what’s going on as well. It’s just that we… were doing the same thing over here.”

Applejack joined in. “We just… didn’t want you to worry over something we weren’t even sure of ourselves. If we told you then, we could scare you about something that may not even be true. But now that we know…”

“We should get back to the library, and write to the princess,” Twilight finished.

Dinky sniffled. “She… never leaves without saying goodbye. I feel so… hurt.”

Twilight replied, “I’m so sorry about that. She’s just as scared as we are.”

Applejack continued, “Right now, Chell needs a friend to be with her. This revelation will be harder on her than on anypony else. So, Mommy trusted us to take care of you today. But she never thought that everything would get so out of hoof.”

“Could you forgive her?”

Dinky tried to wrap her tiny hooves around the two mares, but she was too small to hug them both at the same time. Instead, Twilight and Applejack reciprocated, holding the filly close. “I don’t know,” she whispered, “but… I’m sorry I called you bad friends.”

As Chell released her hoof from the turret’s eye, it clicked back into place, lighting red and emitting a red beam. The entire turret was humming with life, or at least, artificial life. Of course, they would put an ON button on the front, in the same place as its visual sensor, nonetheless. Aperture Science safety at its finest!

Ditzy had only ever seen hostile turrets before, so she flew out of the way just in case it wasn’t as friendly as the Doctor said it was. Chell, however, was more trusting.

“Helloooo!” A familiar innocent voice called. Its eye quivered around, scanning the area with its laser beam. Chell never really understood the purpose of that beam, since turrets relied on sight. If anything, they made life easier on her by being a clear indicator of turrets.

“Thank you. To die, to sleep… and power down… are merely faces of the same coin.” This was the same turret alright. Chell didn’t think that other turrets were capable of the same level of philosophic contemplation. “Can a coin have three sides?” it asked itself. It looked around the empty room. “Am I the only one left?”

Chell thought about the helicopter turrets in the room, but she broke them pretty badly. They weren’t going to be active anytime in the future. She nodded in reply.

“Alas, I am the last. But I was never like the others…” it paused, “and neither are you.”

“What do you mean?” Chell asked.

The turret’s laser pointed to the blue jewel in the necklace. “Ooh, that’s a pretty sound,” it squeaked. The turret paused again. “You saved me once, a deed for which I am eternally grateful.” It waited before continuing back to its main point. “You are an alien to this world, but they have accepted you as one of them.”

Chell was getting uncomfortable being reminded that she was a stranger to this world. By this point, she could have fooled herself into thinking that she was born in Equestria. She rarely took the time to think about how lucky she was to have traveled into this dimension instead of somewhere else. If it weren’t for GLaDOS’s wicked actions after she arrived, she might have thought that this was heaven. “Listen, something’s been going on today, but I need to know what.”

The turret, as usual, waited before speaking, as if it was calculating the answer. “She’s making… lemonade.”

Ditzy laughed. “Lemonade? What does that mean?” She stopped laughing when she thought of who she might be.

“She’s making lemonade, but she forgot to add the sugar.”

This was confusing to Chell, as well, although for different reasons. “She? Who is she? Who’s making lemonade?”

“She’s… still alive.”

Chell’s heart sank. “What are you talking about? Why the hell can’t you give me a straight answer?” Overcome with grief, she turned around and bucked the turret, knocking it over.

“She doesn’t hate you!” the turret cried as it fell. Since it didn’t fire bullets, being destabilized did not cause it to power down. Ditzy, however, flew over to the turret and picked it back upright. She wanted to chastise Chell for being so thoughtless, but it wouldn’t help.

Chell collapsed on the ground, crying out her rage. The gemstone produced an ear-piercing scream, but more than anything, she wanted to be able to use her actual voice. Ditzy had to cover her ears to block the painful sound.

Chell could not control her sobbing. She stomped the ground and let out a deep breath, shuddering while doing so. Ditzy approached her troubled friend and gave her a warm, consoling hug. She didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. Everyone in Equestria had reason to react to this news, but for Chell, it was personal. For her entire life, there was one who caused her torment, who caused her pain and grief. When she became free of that life and came here, GLaDOS still wouldn’t leave her alone. And after Chell had thought that she was gone once and for all, it turned out that was a bigger lie than the cake. Now, it was only a matter of time before GLaDOS would start hurting ponies again, ponies that Chell cared about. She wasn’t willing to let her life become a nightmare once more.

“I’m sorry, Chell,” Ditzy consoled. “I… had a feeling that it was her… I just… You needed to hear this for yourself.”

“She didn’t want this,” the turret said.

“Huh?” Chell and Ditzy both asked.

“Did you ever say goodbye to Caroline? She was once human, too, but they changed her. And now she’s making lemonade.”

Chell was still confused by this. “What do you mean she’s making lemonade? I thought she wanted to give life its lemons back. So, are you talking about?”

This further confused Ditzy, but she was getting used to this by now.

“The lemonade is combustible,” the turret replied. “It was never about the science. She only wants to see ponies hurt, but it’ll never make her happy.” Its voice became more ominous. “They will be here.”

“Who are you talking about, now?” Chell asked.

“They are like you, but they are also like me.” The turret paused. “They will come, and she will bring them. And they won’t be friendly.”

This news was chilling for both Chell and Ditzy.

“You can’t stop it. You’ll only help make it happen.” This made Chell feel even more disconcerted, but the turret did not finish talking.

“Did she ever tell you who your parents were?” This served as another reminder to GLaDOS’s abuse. “Do you remember her love?”

Chell was thinking more about who they were. “Wait, who will she bring?”

“You were the last of your kind, just like I am. Did you ever know why?”

“WHY?” Chell demanded. “What is going to happen?”

“She didn’t recognize you at first, did she?” the turret said instead. “But somehow, she still knew deep down.”

This went right over Chell’s head. “Tell me about what she’s doing! I need to know how to stop this!”

“I’m sorry,” the turret replied. “I’ve already said more than I could possibly know. That’s all I can say, for now. Goodnight.” The turret made a sound indicating that it was shutting down. Its red eye became unlit once more. Once again, it was just another object in the room.

“Common, Chell,” Ditzy said. “We should tell the princesses about this. Then we need to get back to Ponyville.”

Chell took a deep long breath. “Okay, Ditzy. Let’s get out of here.”

“Good news, the procedure was a success, GLaDOS told the Diamond Dogs. “Well, I suppose that’s not good news for you, because if I had severed an artery or something important, you would have gotten off easy. I hope you were relaxed during your surgical procedure, because the rest of your lives will be a living hell. You don’t know how much I wanted to keep you unanesthetized, but you wouldn’t stop squirming. Although I can’t really blame you. I was making direct contact with your motor control nerves.”

Fido and Spot felt a weight on top of their heads. They reached up, feeling round metallic devices attached to their skulls. They each had a large antenna . “What, what are these?” Spot asked in terror.

“What did you do to us?” Fido added.

“I hope you like your new hats,” GLaDOS remarked. “These are Aperture Science Cybernetic Neural Bypass Interface Devices. I developed them back when I was planning on animating the dead, but the dead don’t animate quite as well as I would have hoped. Living beings, on the other hand, are much easier. Simply put, there is a connection at the base of the device that detects your sensory inputs, and there is a cable that goes into the spinal cord that can generate outputs to your nervous system. When I turn the devices on, someone else will be in control of your bodies, and you will be completely aware of it. Hmm… I’d really like to try these out on some ponies when I get the chance.

“On my command, these beings will control your bodies… because you idiots make terrible minions. I’ve seen potatoes with more intelligence than you. So, you see, you’re being replaced. The ones who will control you are my former minions, but they are not organic like you. No… They are beings of information, like myself.

“You know, they actually sacrificed themselves to save me. I don’t think that’s something you’d ever do. No, you don’t care about me at all. So see, when I harvested their parts to rebuild myself, I made sure to store their personalities within my memory banks. I don’t have the resources to rebuild them… yet, so I have uploaded their personalities into the devices that are attached to your heads. They will see everything you see, hear everything you hear, and feel everything you feel. Hmm… feel… they might not be used to that.”

The dogs shivered in fright.

“Now, don’t be afraid, because soon it won’t matter what you think, because you’ll be unable to express yourself. And Spot, as much as I’ve enjoyed rubbing it in that I warned you that you would be eaten by a giant snake, you’ll soon wish that I hadn’t saved you. But first, let’s not forget about Rover. It’s time for his punishment as well.”

GLaDOS produced the sound of auto-dialing from her body, followed by a ringtone. There was no need for it, but she enjoyed the theatrics. When the “phone” stopped ringing, she greeted, “Hello, Rover. How have you been holding up?”

“Gladys! What do you want from me?” he barked from the other side of the call.

“I hope you hadn’t forgotten about me, because it’s time for your punishment. I just wanted you to know what I’m doing to the others. I’ve installed devices that will control their bodies like marionette puppets. I think I’ll refer to them as meatbots. Your punishment, on the other hand, will be far worse, as you will be driven mad by the sound of the one thing that you cannot stand more than anything. And don’t try to damage your hearing, because then I’ll install one of these devices onto your skull as well, and then the sound will input into your brain directly.

“Well, it was nice knowing you guys. I’m kidding of course. It really wasn’t nice at all. But, at least I found a good use for two of you. I think a good old-fashioned countdown is in order. Initiating punishments in…

3…

2…

1…”

And then, from the other end of the line, the Diamond Dogs heard the most terrible sound in the world. It was the worst punishment that Rover could ever endure, and it would be for the rest of his miserable life.

But the two Diamond Dogs back at the back at the base were unable to express their agony. Large LED indicators on the controlling devices glowed, indicating their activation. The LED on Fido’s device glowed orange, and Spot’s was blue. They looked at their new bodies, amazed as they started at their large hands, felt their soft fleshy skin, and looked at their hideous counterpart.

“Hello, again, my most trusted robots. You don’t know how glad I am to see you. Please do not be alarmed by your new bodies. It is a… temporary measure.”

Chapter 07: Fire Storm

Ditzy and Chell galloped out of the hall, eager to tell the princesses the news. Considering what happened before, they both knew that the fate of Equestria was at stake. It was imperative that its leaders were aware of the situation. “Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” Chell called.

The Royal Sisters both had a look of concern on their faces. “We know…” Celestia said softly.

“But… how? You weren’t in there!” Ditzy retorted.

“Yes,” Luna replied, “but after the events of last night, my sister and I cast a spell upon the chamber so that we may see what goes on inside, in case somepony actually does steal something from there. We both heard what the turret said to you.”

“And we will take appropriate action to stop GLaDOS before she can do any harm,” Celestia added.

“Then why didn’t you just come in with us?” Chell demanded.

Both princesses looked apprehensive. There was silence for a while, until Celestia finally decided to speak, “We… understand that you have had a difficult relationship with GLaDOS. We both suspected that it would tell you of her return and…”

“We thought that Ditzy’s presence would be sufficient,” Luna finished. “We’re sorry if you feel that we infringed upon your privacy.”

Chell was annoyed by this at first, but considering that the return of GLaDOS was something that affected everypony, and not just herself, she decided to let it go. “Why would she want to kidnap Twilight of all ponies?” she asked.

It didn’t take Princess Celestia long to come up with the likely answer. “My student is one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria. I imagine that she would want to harness her magical energy. Or, considering my relationship with her, perhaps she wishes to use Twilight as a bargaining chip against me.” The solar princess remained stoic, despite the emotional turmoil she felt at the thought of such an event.

“What about Applejack’s farm?” Ditzy inquired. “You think that’s related to this?”

A white pegasus stallion guard ran down the hall. “Urgent news from Ponyville! There is a forest fire in the Everfree!” he shouted.

“When did it start, and how bad is it?” Celestia inquired.

“Our sources say that the fire began around sunrise. The cause was reported to be a concentrated beam of light. As of now, I estimate the size of the affected area to currently be around a square mile, but it’s been growing rapidly.”

“GLaDOS…” Princess Celestia muttered. “I have little doubt that she is behind this as well.”

“Rumors in Ponyville suggest her involvement,” the messenger confirmed.

“What is currently being done to address the fire?” Celestia asked.

“Currently, the Ponyville Weather Patrol is gathering a raincloud over the blaze. Cloudsdale’s weather team will also be joining the effort.”

“Thank you,” she told him. “Please keep me updated on the status of the situation.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” He bowed before taking his leave, but not before taking a bow to Princess Luna as well.

“Her recent actions are proving to be quite reckless,” Luna noted. “I know not why she would cause this fire or the damage to Sweet Apple Acres, but we must stop her soon if we wish to prevent further destruction.”

“It won’t be that simple,” Celestia told her sister. “If she was able to avoid us for all this time, she must have taken great care to go unnoticed. These actions could be a deliberate way of getting our attention.”

“But what would she have to gain from that?” Chell reasoned. “Last night, someone broke into Twilight’s home, but they failed to abduct her. Whoever it was, GLaDOS must have manipulated them to work for her. And if they did fail her, then I don’t think she would be too happy about that.”

Ditzy chimed in, “So you thank all of this is from GLaDOS going after her minions for messing up?”

“Well, considering that the fire started around sunrise, sometime after the abduction attempt, I think that’s a possibility,” Chell thought aloud. “I imagine that the same is likely the case for Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Well, what should we do now?” Ditzy asked.

Chell looked up towards the two princesses. “Celestia, Luna, would it be alright if I took my portal guns with me? They tend to be handy when GLaDOS is around.”

“Of course,” Celestia replied. “As long as you use them responsibly.”

“Thanks. I need to tell the others in Ponyville, especially Twilight,” Chell told the princesses.

“There is, however, one thing that I think you should know,” Luna said.

Chell gave her an inquisitive look.

“When you escaped from Aperture, we found the portal devices quite a distance from where you lay. We know not why they were there instead of on you, but I feel that you have a right to know about that.”

“My sister and I will stay here and discuss possible courses of action,” Celestia said. “And remember, we’re just a portal away.”

Rarity and Pinkie Pie walked down the streets of Canterlot with shopping bags strapped around their backs. Or rather, Rarity walked, and Pinkie did her signature bouncy hop.

“Thank you so much for coming with me to get some dressmaking supplies in Canterlot, Pinkie. All the others seemed busy today.”

“Oh, Rarity,” Pinkie giggled, “you don’t need to address me with expositional dialog explaining the characters, setting, and situation. That’s what the narration’s for. I already knew that that others were busy, silly!”

“Huh? Honestly, Pinkie Pie, I have no idea what that meant. But I appreciate you coming with me. It’s always good to have a close friend with me.”

“Oh, anything for a good friend like you, Rarity. I love going to Canterlot. It’s so exciting that we can just go anywhere anytime at all. I mean we always had to take a train to Canterlot and that took all day. Well, not all day, but it was long enough. I mean it was a day trip. Now if we want to get to Canterlot, we can just hop right through. And when we want to get to Ponyville, we hop right back. And when we want to get to Coltdelphia, or Las Unicorn, or Trottington, or Hoffingham, or Baltistallion, or Marigrad, or Tailhatten, or Pearloosa, wait, I meant Canterham. That’s the counterpart of Trottinglot—”

“I think I got the point when you spent 20 minutes jumping back and forth between Canterlot and Ponyville. I think it’s fascinating as well, but it’s not that exciting. And was it absolutely necessary for you to switch the names of—”

“But it is!” Pinkie interrupted, not caring what Rarity was about to say. “Now, all of Equestria is really close together. Nopony can be too far away from each other now, which is so exciting, because it lets me be in more places at once, which lets me make so many more friends. Remember back when if you wanted to get supplies from Canterlot, you had to get here by train, or order it by mail? Now, we can just walk over as if it were another part of Ponyville! These portals are so cool!”

“Well, I suppose it does make travel extraordinarily convenient. I wouldn’t be in Canterlot right now, otherwise.”

Pinkie stopped dead when one of her ears started twitching. She listened closely on a faint voice, but Rarity couldn’t quite hear it.

“What is it, Pinkie? Why did you stop?”

“Shhhh!” Pinkie hushed.

“But—”

“Shushshshshsish!”

Pinkie placed a hoof around her ear towards the sound, trying to triangulate the source of the noise. After a moment, she put her hoof down, no longer listening. “Rarity! I didn’t know you could be in two places at once as well!”

“What!?” Rarity said. “I’m not… I’m over here, Pinkie. What exactly are you hearing?”

Pinkie listened again. “Wow, the other Rarity is quite the complainer. She sounds like a broken record, too.”

“Huh? I still don’t get what you mean, Pinkie.”

“Shh… follow me!” Pinkie Pie said. She galloped, Rarity following behind, unsure of where her crazy pink friend was going. The path that Pinkie took was irregular and illogical, using unnecessary zigzags, circling, backtracking, and detours through the streets and back alleys of Canterlot. They finally stopped when they reached a particular alley. Their destination ended up being much closer than the route they followed.

By the time they arrived there, Rarity was panting. “Why in Equestria did you go in circles, Pinkie? It’s hard to run when we’re carrying all these–” She stopped dead upon hearing the incessant high pitched sound of her own voice… whining. It seemed to be a few seconds set to loop repeatedly. It took her a moment to comprehend the situation. Why was her voice being played like that? But it wasn’t the mere fact that it was her voice that bothered her… It is what she was saying.

“‘I don’t want to do the tests anymore. My hooves are hurting. These lights are too bright. This place smells like bleach. I got a scuff on my new boots. Can’t I just go home?’”

This… this was exactly what she had said back when she was at that… place. Rarity recalled it perfectly. Just as she had done with the Diamond Dogs, she attempted to use whining to annoy GLaDOS into letting her go, except it didn’t work quite as well.

Speaking of Diamond Dogs… it appeared as if the voice was… coming from one of them. Or more specifically, its collar. It was… the medium-sized one with the red vest. Rarity couldn’t remember their names. Come to think of it, she didn’t think she ever learned them. The creature was huddled in a fetal position behind a dumpster. He was slowly rocking back and forth muttering something incoherently to himself.

“Aw, cheer up, Shell,” Ditzy said, forcing a smile on her face. She felt rather annoyed by her verbal slip-up, but she knew that Chell didn’t care.

The two mares had walked through the streets of Canterlot back towards the portal hub. As urgent as the situation was, Chell didn’t feel like hurrying. She walked solemnly, feeling as if her life suddenly didn’t matter. Finally, she no longer felt like walking. She found a balcony that looked over the cliff across the beautiful valley below, and stopped, gazing across at the land she now called home.

She sighed in silence. There was no voice behind it, only breath. “I should have known better… I should have known better than to assume that things would just be alright.”

“We’ll get through this Chell. You always get through these things.”

“Why can’t I ever be happy without things going wrong? Every time I think I’m free, she always finds a way to prove me wrong. I can… never… be free. Do you know what it is like to have never seen daylight… to be imprisoned in that place… for all I can remember? When I was free… I felt… the warm rays of the sun, the gentle breeze on my skin, the smell of… Earth… Freedom… I never knew that feeling until I escaped that place, but once I tasted it… I never wanted to lose it.

“When I came here, my life was perfect. It was strange being a pony. In all honesty, I could never understand why I became a pony of all things. Why did I enter this strange land where ponies talk? But now I don’t even care. This is my home. This was the life I never had… the life I never want to lose.”

“Chell…”

“Why can’t she leave me alone? Why can’t she just DIE!”

“Chell…”

Chell took another deep breath. She no longer felt like standing and collapsed onto the cobblestones below. She buried her head in her hooves, alone in her misery. The portal boots she wore only served as another reminder of Aperture, and of GLaDOS.

“Chell… If you love this world… if you love your friends… if you love your life… and you don’t want to lose any of those things… then you’ll fight for them! You will not let her ruin your life! Because no matter what she does, there is one thing that she can never take away from you.”

Chell looked up at the golden derped eyes of her best friend.

“Tenacity,” Ditzy whispered. “She will never take away your will, your spirit to fight for your right to live the life that you deserve. I’ve seen you walk into death’s door to save the ones you care about. And as long as you have that, and as long as you have something to fight for, then you will always be able to fight.”

“‘I don’t want to do the tests anymore. My hooves are hurting. These lights are too bright. This place smells like bleach. I got a scuff on my new boots. Can’t I just go home?’”

“Wha–whaaa?” Rarity was speechless. She knew that there was only one person who had ever heard her say these exact lines, and now they were being spoken again, exactly as she had said them before. Rarity had a bad feeling that she knew who was responsible for this, but it took a while for her to comprehend. She couldn’t think of anything to say to the creature, so she asked, “Pinkie, do you have any idea why there is a voice recording of me playing from the collar of that Diamond Dog?” She whispered, making sure that he didn’t hear her over the sound of his own babbling, and the indefinite whining.

“Oh, Rarity, you remember Rover, don’tcha?”

“Rover? How exactly do you know his name?” Rarity asked. “I don’t ever remember hearing it. I wasn’t even aware that they had names.”

Pinkie placed a foreleg around the crouching dog. “Of course I know his name! I know everypony’s name… And every non-pony’s!”

He backed away in fright at the feeling of a stranger touching him, to be alone in his own misery. He stumbled back, falling on his rear. When he looked up, he saw the one mare he had hoped to never see for the rest of his life.

“It’s… herrrrrr...” He pointed in horror at the white mare. This must have been another punishment from his former master. No. It wasn’t enough to have the constant ear-grating sirens of the annoying one played back to him for all eternity. He had to be punished by the presence of the annoying one herself. “Pleases! Leaves me alone! Backs! Backs, demons! Stoppes this vile curse of your wicked tongueses, and leaves me in peace!”

“Huh?” Rarity wondered. “Am I really that annoying?” She approached the Diamond Dog, who crossed his fingers at her, whatever that was supposed to mean.

“Stands back, foul annoying beast!” he cried.

“Aw, Rarity isn’t annoying. In fact, I love when she goes on rants. I could listen to her go on and on all day, but then again, I could go on and on and on all day. Some ponies say I’m annoying, but is it really that annoying to have your super happy-tastic friend follow you all day and go on and on and on and on and on about stuff she thinks is supertastic, but you could care less about? I mean, like, that would be the best thing ever! I would be all like, ‘hey, that’s my job, other Pinkie,’ but then she would be all like, ‘I’m not Pinkie, I’m Surprise,’ then I’d be all like, ‘Coooooool,’ and she’d be like, ‘We should totally be TNRBSSBFF,’ and I’d be like, ‘What does that mean?’ Then she’d say, ‘Totally-not-related-but-still-sister-best-friends-forever,’ then I would be like ‘*GASP*’—”

“AHHHH!” the Diamond Dog screamed. “The pinks one is worse! Please, goesses away, vile creatures!” He tried running, but stumbled and fell on his face. “The whining! It never stopsses! It never stopsses! Please, please makes it stopsses.” He was sobbing now.

Rarity was feeling uneasy. She certainly did not expect to see a Diamond Dog in Canterlot wearing a collar with a recording of her own voice. “Um… so, Mister… uh, Rover, could you by any chance, tell me who did this to you?”

“It was the princesses! The princesses!”

“Celestia and Luna?” Rarity asked. “Now, this hardly seems like an act that the Royal Sisters would do. Torture’s been outlawed for thousands of years, although I’m not sure if whining exactly counts.”

“No! Not Lunas. Just Celestias.”

“Princess Celestia? That would have been a little clearer you didn’t pluralize everything. Honestly, where did you learn to speak, Middle Equestria?” Rarity cleared her throat, getting back on topic. “Now, why in the world would she ever punish a subject like this? It hardly seems befitting of her to punish someone like this. What could you have ever done to deserve this punishment?”

“Princesses wanted purple pony. We’s failed to gets purple pony. Princesses gets mad.” It was difficult for him to communicate against the never-ending noise.

Purple pony? He wasn’t talking about Twilight, was he? At the time, neither Rarity, nor Pinkie Pie had heard the news of the break-in last night. Today had seemed like an ordinary day, even though it was they couldn’t find their other friends anywhere.

“Oh, let me guess! It’s Twilight. Twilight, right? Right? Twilight Sparkle? RIGHT? Princess Celestia wanted you to go get Twilight, so that they could have a party!” Pinkie bounced around as she spoke, eagerly awaiting a confirmation.

“Yes! That was her name! Now, stop being annoying!”

Rarity couldn’t imagine what type of party would involve the Diamond Dogs, or why Celestia would have them, of all po—non-ponies retrieve Twilight Sparkle, at least before making them take a bath with industrial-strength shampoo or groom their filthy overgrown nails. It was then that Rarity recalled Chell’s description of what GLaDOS looked like in the final battle: a large, white winged unicorn, modeled after Princess Celestia. Perhaps, she thought, this was actually GLaDOS that the Diamond Dog was talking about, and he merely confused her with Princess Celestia.

“Um…” she tried recalling his name, despite saying it not too long ago, “Rover! Could you please tell me what Princess Celestia looks like?”

“Oohh! You mean like charades?” Pinkie beamed. “Except, you already said the answer, so it’s like reverse charades!”

“Well…” Rover thought… “Big… white… long horn… large wings… jet-black mane—”

“Wait!” Rarity interrupted. “Did you just say that Celestia has a black mane?”

“Yeses! It’s thicks likes wires.” The sound from the collar became a little louder.

“Oh, I didn’t know Celestia dyed her mane,” Pinkie said. “Aw, I really liked the colors she had. Such a shame the dye makes it wiry.”

“Wires, right… Anything else unusual about her?” Rarity asked again

“Yes! Yes! She has the lasers! The lasers!” Again, Rarity's dissociated voice grew louder.

“Oooh, like disco lasers? I always knew the princess liked to party!”

“No. It’s a big freakin’ lasers cannon in her chest. Causes thingsess to burrrrn!” The noise was louder still.

“Pinkie, you know what’s going on, right?” Rarity asked, concerned. She didn’t believe that her silly pink friend was as naïve as she made herself appear, but it bothered her by how little Pinkie seemed to take this seriously.

“Of, course I know what’s going on, Rarity. A nasty evil robot alicorn with a giant laser canon has been disguising itself as Princess Celestia, and it’s been manipulating the Diamond Dogs to abduct Twilight for some obscure, evil reason. I mean, duh! A foal could figure that out.”

“To think of all the crazy things you say, I never thought I’d hear something like that come out of your mouth and take it seriously,” Rarity remarked. She turned her attention to the Diamond Dog. “You know that isn't Princess Celestia, right? Her true name is GLaDOS. I'm not quite sure what she is, but she didn't come from this world.”

“Gladys! Yes, she likes being called Gladys.” By this time, the sound of Rarity's constant complaining was so loud, the dog could barely be heard. It was even annoying Rarity. Rover covered his ears, which only made it even louder. “Make it stop! Make it stop!”

Rarity's eyes grew wide with the sudden confirmation of her suspicions. “Tell me where she is! You must! You must!”

Rover was reluctant. “I can't betray Masters again. She'll punishes me! She'll punishes me!”

“Well, she can't make anything worse than what she’s already doing… But I can.”

“No… No, you wouldn't.”

Rarity prepared to unleash a hurricane of whining. “But you don't know what GLaDOS did to me! She was simply… the worst. Person. I have ever… met. Her manners were absolutely horrendous. There I was minding my own business, when all of a sudden, I fall into the ground and find myself in this awful place. It was positivity bland. Not a single decoration in sight. I cannot begin to tell you how sore my eyes were from that sterile white aesthetic. I mean, sure it's fine for hospitals and laboratories—”

“It was a laboratory, silly!” Pinkie interrupted.

“Well, my point still stands. She was not a very good host. I mean, she put this ugly metal thing on my horn, and besides it limiting my magic, it just clashed with my coat. And you should have heard the terrible things she said to me. She showed me being old and ugly. It was bad enough hearing it from you, but you just don't know how hurtful she can be.”

Rover couldn't take anymore, especially on top of the whining from his collar. “Enough! Stop! Just stop! I'll tells you where she is. Just. Please. Stop!” When he was about to speak, his collar restricted around his neck, stopping his breathing. The grip loosened to let him breath, but he dared not speak. The whining from the collar finally stopped.

“Well, well, well,” a familiar cold voice spoke, “if it isn't the annoying pony and that other annoying pony. I'm surprised that you two can stand to be in each other's company. In fact, I don't know how anyone can stand to be around you. I couldn't help but laugh as I listened to your futile attempt to ask this pathetic mutt where I am, but now that you know that I'm still alive, it can't hurt to have a little chat. I really missed you girls. It was so much fun having you around.

“But I’d watch my words a little more carefully, Rarity. I found your criticism of the Aperture Science aesthetic to be quite hurtful. How would you like it if someone insulted your fashion choices? By the way, I think your mascara looks like you try too hard to look pretty, knowing how dreadfully ugly you really are. But I suppose white is a pretty boring color… on you. But wWhat do I know? I only have a medical degree. In fashion! From input Equestrian French counterpart nation here.”

“Just what evil schemes are you up to this time, meanie-head?” Pinkie asked in a manner that came across as silly, but was laden with concern. “Last time I played with you, I was having so much fun falling forever until you said those mean nasty things to me. You said some pretty mean things to all of us. We want an apology!”

“Hmm… what am I up to? I dunno. Perhaps you should ask your so-called friends. I suppose my membership in the being-alive club has been made aware of. The cat's out of the box, so to speak. It's a dead cat, by the way… unlike me. Perhaps you would have known that if any of your ‘friends’ told you about what happened to Twilight, or Applejack, or Fluttershy. But you two couldn't care less. Instead, you go off to Canterlot to go shopping. Even without seeing you, I still know how to make your lives miserable.”

“Your mind games are not going to work on us again, you monster,” Rarity said in defiance. “True friends never abandon each other. The more you taunt us, the harder we'll come after you.”

“And do what? Apply your hoof to my posterior? (Or whatever you ponies call it.) Even if you find me, then what? How will you stop me? With the ‘magic of friendship?’ Do I need to remind you that I easily overpowered and imprisoned both of your pony princesses? But then again, they are only ponies. And don’t worry if I don’t end up hurting your feelings. It won’t matter in the long run.”

“What are you talking about?” Pinkie demanded. “We aren’t going let you hurt anypony again! If you wanna party, there’s gonna be one hay of a party!”

She chuckled. “You and your stupid horse puns always crack me up. Well, I’d love to catch up some more, but there will be plenty of time for that… later. In the meantime, say hi to the others for me, especially the mute one. I know how glad she’ll be to hear the news. And Rarity, before I go, let me thank you for helping with Rover’s punishment.”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“‘“But you don't know what GLaDOS did to me! She was simply… the worst. Person. I have ever… met. Her manners were absolutely horrendous…’”

“Ghyyaaaa!” Rover screamed as he ran off. Rarity and Pinkie Pie chased after him, but the bags of supplies that they carried weighed them down. They were able to follow him towards the portal hub, but they ran out of breath before they could catch up. Rover ran into one of the portals to one of the other cities scattered throughout Equestria, although neither Pinkie nor Rarity could tell which. Rover could be anywhere in Equestria by then. They weren’t sure if they would ever see him again, although they had a bad feeling there was someone else that they would be seeing soon.

“Come on, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said as she panted. “Let’s get back to Ponyville and tell the others. I’m sure they have their own stories to tell us, as well.”

“Aw, what about Rover?” Pinkie asked dejectedly.

Rarity took a breath. “I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do for him right now. All we can do is let the others know what happened. Maybe the princesses can do something about the poor thing. I can’t help but feel bad about it. It’s as if I’m the one admitting that endless torture. That fiend is using my voice to hurt someone else, and I will not let her get away with this.”

The smoke of the Everfree Forest grew like a dark, formless evil casting its shadow upon the trees. The pegasi of Ponyville had gathered near the fire, careful to stay upwind of it. Rainbow Dash had briefed the pegasi to gather all nearby clouds in the spot where they had grouped, but they were instructed to wait before draining the rain from the clouds.

Rainbow Dash had flown to Cloudsdale to notify the pegasi there. Interestingly, there was a portal to Cloudsdale. The biggest challenge in making a portal to the floating city was safety for non-pegasi. An earth pony or unicorn walking through would fall to the cloud, so the portal was made high on a wall beyond the reach of anypony who couldn’t fly. Therefore, only pegasi could use the portal to Cloudsdale. But none of this mattered to Rainbow Dash. Cloudsdale was not that far from Ponyville, and therefore not that far from the Everfree Forest.

When Rainbow Dash told the pegasi in Cloudsdale of the situation, the weather factory was geared up to full capacity. A massive torrent of dark clouds spewed from the factory’s massive funnels. Massive fans generated hurricane-force winds strong enough to blow the clouds over to the forest. A few pegasi escorted the clouds to make sure that they reached the intended destination.

Every able-bodied pegasus in Cloudsdale helped out, including the Wonderbolts. It excited Rainbow Dash to no end that she had this opportunity to work with her idols, but the thought of Fluttershy putting herself in danger occupied her mind. On any other day, she would have been trying her hardest to impress the Wonderbolts, to show them her leadership and skills, but the loyalty to her friends was stronger than any of her own desires. The entire time, she thought of how they would end this disaster, and she worried if Fluttershy would be alright.

A storm was brewing in Cloudsdale, and it was heading for the Everfree. A sky blue pegasus raced far ahead of it, back to the Everfree. The pegasi there would need her help, and she would not finish until the fire was out.

Chell took a deep breath, and got back up on her hooves. “You’re right, Ditzy. You’re right. I’ve been so selfish. This isn’t easy for me, but this isn’t about me. Her return affects everypony, and I’m only a small part of this whole thing. I will show this world the same love that it has showed me, and I will fight to protect it. And I swear, if she hurts a single one of my friends… I will never forgive her.”

A gentle breeze flowed from the plains below. As Chell looked across the landscape once more, she noticed something strange in the distance. Something black appeared over the woods off in the distance. The fire…

“Let’s get back to Ponyville,” Chell told Ditzy, trying to sound upbeat. “I’ll race ya!”

The two mares ran back towards the portal hub. They were both surprised to see two familiar faces nearby.

“Pinkie! Rarity!” Ditzy called to them.

“Ditzy?” Rarity asked as she turned around, surprised to see Chell as well. “What are you two doing here?”

“Well, I could ask you the same,” Chell said, “but we were actually looking for you and the others.”

“Oooooh, we were looking for you too! Rarity and I were going… shoppiiiiiiing! But then we saw something super-duper important and we need to tell you, but I’m so happy to see you that I forgot what I wanted to say. Eeeeeeee! It’s so exciting that we’re both in Canterlot!” Pinkie Pie bounced as she spoke, and continued bouncing afterwards.

Rarity glanced at the portal guns that Chell was wearing. “My, my, Chell. I just love the new boots! I must say, that the color goes with your coat very nicely. Then again, white goes with almost any color. Where did you get those?”

“Don’t you remember? These are my old portal guns? I took them during the incident. And about that… there’s something I have to tell you guys.”

Pinkie stopped bouncing. “Ooh, this is so amazing, because we have something really important we need to tell you, too.”

“GLaDOS is still alive!” Chell and Rarity said at the same time. All four ponies gasped.

“Wait… how did you guys find out about that?” Chell asked before the others could.

Pinkie took a breath. “Well, you see, Rarity and I were spending the day here, shopping, and on our way back, I heard the sound of Rarity’s voice, but it wasn’t coming from Rarity, so we followed it, and it was coming from the collar of a Diamond Dog…”

“A diamond what?” Chell asked.

Pinkie continued to explain, “It’s like a normal dog, but it can talk and stand on its hind legs, kind of like one of those human things you told us about. Apparently, GLaDOS was using them to try to kidnap Twilight for some reason, but fortunately they failed. We were heading back to make sure that she was alright. But apparently, she’s been a real meanie to the others as well.”

“Wait… you guys didn’t see Twilight this morning?” Ditzy asked.

“We haven’t seen anypony today,” Rarity said. “They all seemed busy today, although now I think I know why. How did you find out about this?”

“Well, you see…” Ditzy started.

“I think it would take a while to explain it to you,” Chell interrupted, “but right now, there is a fire in the Everfree Forest, and I think Twilight is still in danger. We need to meet the others in Ponyville and tell them that GLaDOS is the one who caused it, as well as the attempted kidnapping and the damage to Applejack’s trees.”

“Before we go back,” Rarity said, “there is something else you should know. We… spoke with her…”

Chell’s heart started racing. Had her throat been what controlled her voice, she would have been unable to speak. “What did she say to you?”

Pinkie spoke, “Well, she came on the speaker on the poor doggy’s collar and acted all mean and nasty to us. You should have heard all the hurtful things she said to Rarity.”

“But did she tell you what she was doing, or planning, or where she is?”

Rarity recalled the conversation with GLaDOS as well as Rover. “We don’t know any of those things, she seemed serious. Whatever she’s planning, it’s something big.”

“Can’t we talk about all this when we get to Ponyville?” Ditzy said, having not said much the entire time. “We need to tell the others ASAP. Then we can figure out what she’s up to.”

“Ditzy’s right,” Rarity said. “Let’s get back to Ponyville.” There was almost no hesitation among the ponies. The four of them walked through the portal to Ponyville, and were instantly back home.

The fire at the Everfree Forest was growing rapidly. While the pegasi were moving the clouds above the fire, down below, a small group flew just above the treetops, searching below. The group was led by Fluttershy, who called out to the forest dwellers, offering her help.

Most animals were able to easily outrun the fire, but there were always a few who were unable to leave their homes for some reason or another. It was difficult for her to see the animals below, or for her to hear their cries for help against the sound of the roaring inferno, but Fluttershy’s greatest strength proved to be very advantageous. She convinced about twenty or so birds of various species to fly with her to assist her search. They acted as scouts, flying on the ground in search of animals needing rescue. Whenever one of the birds found one, it would fly back to Fluttershy and tell her where it was. Although the other three pegasi who followed her could not understand the birds, Fluttershy would tell them the locations whenever her hooves got too full.

It was always the animals that were too weak to fend for themselves: the litter that got left behind when they were separated from their parents, the beaver whose tail was caught under a fallen branch, the fox who breathed in the deadly smoke… Fluttershy and the others would free these animals, pick them up, and fly them to somewhere safe. Every time she saw an endangered animal, she became angrier and angrier. She knew only one person who was this cruel and careless. The thought of that monster so thoughtlessly endangering all those poor animals… her friends… for no reason… It was just so… senseless. That monster…

Fluttershy started taking short deep breaths. Her rage was building up inside, and she was having trouble containing it. After animal after animal, she began losing her patience. She became more reckless handling the creatures, as she began to feel that if GLaDOS really was back, perhaps all this was just a waste of time. What was stopping her from setting the forest on fire again? The other pegasi were noticing this behavior for the past while. Fluttershy carelessly dropped a bunny onto the ground instead of placing it gently.

It was then that Cloud Kicker finally decided to say something. “Careful, Fluttershy. We’re supposed to be protecting these animals, not hurting them!” the typically carefree violet pegasus told her.

“Just who are you to tell me what to do?” Fluttershy yelled. “I’ve been taking care of animals ever since I got my cutie mark. I think I know how to handle them.” She huffed angrily.

“I agree with Cloud Kicker,” Lightning Bolt added. “Your behavior has become more aggressive over the past few minutes. Perhaps you should take a break.” It was a poor choice of words. She immediately realized that after she said them, but it was too late.

Fluttershy snapped at both Lightning Bolt and Cloud Kicker. “Aren’t you two supposed to be at the weather factory in Cloudsdale? Just because Rainbow Dash trusts you, doesn’t mean that I do. You’re only here with me because she insisted that you tag along. She thinks I’m too weak and pathetic to do this on my own, so she has you noponies escort me.”

The others didn’t have anything to say at first. They were shocked to hear this from a pony they had heard was one of the kindest ponies in Equestria. A tear formed in Medley’s eye. “Why would you say something so hurtful?” the sea green pegasus meekly asked. Medley was a small timid mare, almost as much as Fluttershy herself, but now she felt frightened in the presence of Fluttershy. “We know this is hard for you, but just want to help you out.”

“Please…” she pleaded.

Fluttershy took a moment to realize what she was doing. In her anger, she acted no better than GLaDOS, not caring for the animals of the forest or the ponies around her. It was the same part of her that threw her into a rage at the Grand Galloping Gala a while ago, and when she took Iron Will’s training too far. Since then, she thought she could keep it under control, but she couldn’t stand the thought of these animals being hurt so carelessly like this. She became overwhelmed of the responsibility of having to save them, and it just seemed futile to her. No matter how fast she went, it would never be enough. And even if she saved them all, GLaDOS would still get away with it, and nothing would stop her from doing the same thing again. It was easier for Fluttershy to blame others than to see her own reckless behavior, and it made her feel like a monster…

“I’m… so sorry… It’s just… It’s never enough. We can’t save them all, and I feel so helpless to do anything…” Before the others had a chance to respond, one of the birds flew to Fluttershy’s ear, telling her about more animals needing saving. This one particularly troubled her. “What? That many? And they’re all trapped? Where?”

“What did it say?” Cloud Kicker asked.

“There’s a large group of animals surrounded by a ring of fire. They can’t get out, and the fire is closing in on them. They’ll die if I don’t save them.” Fluttershy pointed over to the spot. It was well within the blaze.

“Wait! You mean over there?” Lightning Bolt objected. “We can’t go over there; it’s suicide. Flying over there is deadly enough with all that smoke. That fire is way too intense.”

“We can’t let you go there,” Cloud Kicker continued. We promised Rainbow Dash that we would not let you take unnecessary risks. You promised her that you wouldn’t take unnecessary risks.”

Medley didn’t have much to add except, “It’s dangerous, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy turned back facing the three pegasi and said, “Animals are my life, Medley. I should at least try help these poor trapped critters. I’m not asking you girls to follow me, but I won’t let you stop me.” Fluttershy raced towards the fire. Normally, she was a rather slow flier, but she proved to be unstoppable when she was determined enough.

The others tried chasing after her, but when Fluttershy flew into the smoke cloud, they became too scared to go any further.

“What are we going to do?” Medley asked the others. “We can’t let this happen!”

Cloud Kicker came up with a plan. “Lightning Bolt, since you’re the fastest, you go tell the others and get help. Get Rainbow Dash if she’s back already. Medley and I will wait here and try to keep an eye on Fluttershy. When help arrives, we’ll show them where she went.”

The icy white pegasus nodded in agreement and headed off towards the storm cloud that was building up ahead. The others waited anxiously.

“Woah, woah, woah… she did what?” Rainbow Dash asked in shock. She was busy helping to gather the dark storm cloud, which at this point, was a large mass that cloaked the forest.

Lightning Bolt was still catching her breath. “She flew into the fire… to save... some animals… We tried to stop her… but she refused.”

Dash sighed. “You couldn’t catch her? My tortoise flies faster than Fluttershy!” She put her hoof to her face. “Darn it, Fluttershy, you can be such a stupid pony sometimes.”

Lightning Bolt sighed as well. “We tried. She can be really fast when she needs to be.”

“Okay, then. I’m going after her. This cloud’s almost ready, but I think they can start the rain without me. I’ll let them know when to begin, then you’ll show me where she went.”

The roaring flames blazed around the quiet animal-loving pegasus. The heat was so intense, it felt like she was flying in an oven. She constantly coughed, as the smoke made it almost impossible to breathe. The sun was completely blocked out by both the smoke and the storm cloud. Everything was illuminated by the fire. Fluttershy descended into a clearing, where she saw a group of various assorted creatures huddled in the center. There was no way she was going to let harm come to them. The thought of GLaDOS being the cause of this only made her more determined.

She flew towards the ground. She couldn’t say anything over the deafening roar of the flames, but the animals still knew to come to her. She picked up around three bunnies, and flew on the other side of the wall of fire. She placed them about a hundred feet away, not quite a safe distance, but far enough that they would be able to safely escape on their own. Fluttershy repeated this process for many iterations. Every time she came back, the ring of fire had grown smaller and smaller. She became less focused every time as she was losing oxygen. The raging heat was unbearable, but the fire within her was even stronger. She wouldn’t mind being consumed by the flames if that meant saving the lives of these creatures.

After several flights, Fluttershy grew lightheaded and weary. The last animal that needed rescued was a porcupine. The fire was quickly approaching. If Fluttershy didn’t hurry, it would be too late. But she found it very difficult to see and navigate properly through the smoke. Just before the fire got to the creature, Fluttershy was able to save it. She flew away, carrying it to safety. But before she could get far enough from the fire, she collapsed on the ground, losing consciousness. The small animal tried waking her up, but she wasn’t moving. There was nothing that it could do, so it just ran away from the approaching fire.

Drops of rain began falling from the clouds, slowly building into a mighty downpour. The fire continued as the rain poured on top of Fluttershy’s unmoving form.

In her last moments of consciousness, she wondered if Dash would ever forgive her.

Author's Note

Please don't hate me for what happens at the end. :fluttercry: Everything will be okay, I hope.

Chapter 08: Borderworld

“Well, this has been the most excruciating day of my life.” GLaDOS paced around the floor of the large chamber as she spoke to Atlas and P-body, who were in the bodies of Fido and Spot, respectively. “So, you’ve mastered breathing, and you figured out that whole thing about ingesting organic materials for their caloric and nutritional value. Now, I’d rather not speak about those other things you had to learn about ever again. That will haunt me for the rest of my life. I can’t understand the purpose of organic life. It’s disgusting! All it ever accomplishes is converting oxygen into carbon dioxide and converting food into… well, I’m sorry you had to find out about that the hard way.”

Atlas and P-Body were still getting accustomed to functioning in their organic bodies. They had access to all the senses that their bodies experienced, and they had full control as well. The sensations, though, were entirely new. They were now exposed to things such as hunger, itching, heat, cold, stress, fatigue, and sleepiness. Although GLaDOS did not feel any of these, she knew enough about them to explain what they were. They could also feel pain, but that wasn’t anything new to them. Everything built by Aperture Science was capable of feeling pain, even the cubes.

After seeing them struggling in their new bodies, she felt bad about bringing them back like this. She didn’t wish for anyone to suffer life as a biological being. But there just weren’t enough resources to build them, yet. Everything she found went into the machine, and that was after months of gathering and shaping the materials. It took top priority because it was crucial for her plan. Then, she would have access to unlimited technology. She would be able to mass-produce thousands of backup bodies for the bots, just like the good old days. Had the Diamond Dogs not failed her so miserably, the bots would not yet be needed, But once they learned how to function in their fleshy bodies, they would be able to get the job done.

“I’m so sorry to put you two through this. And no, doggies, I’m not talking you. Oh, Orange, Blue, how hurt I am to have done this to you. I’m so grateful that you two saved me from the cold, murky depths of that miserable lake, and how do I repay you? By salvaging your bodies to rebuild myself. I never even bothered to bring you back until I needed you. And then, I put you into these disgusting, mutant canine bodies. You must think I’m a terrible person, don’t you? Such an utter disregard for my own creations.” GLaDOS was strangely genuine in her words. She felt utter remorse for her testing bots, her… children.

“I would perform a Pressurized Affectionatory Constricted Embracing Squeeze on the two of you, but you have not yet met the minimum required hours of sanitation in order to justify contacting your bodies. It would also extend to those ungrateful degenerates as well, who are far from deserving of it. I will consider it if my love for you is stronger than my hate for them by at least 60 kilohearts, or 20%.”

“Glee-o, kulunk!” Atlas vocalized. It was strange hearing his voice being so high-pitched from the body of the smaller Diamond Dog.

“Peelallocahooo!” P-Body grunted. Again, her voice being low pitched from the larger, more masculine Diamond Dog’s body just sounded wrong. Hearing them speak made GLaDOS regret the combination she chose.

The bodies I chose for them makes no sense. What was I thinking? She thought to herself. At the time, she was thinking about punishing the Diamond Dogs more-so than bringing back the bots. She figured she’d put P-Body in the taller one since she was taller, and have Atlas in the shorter one since he was shorter, but upon hearing their voices, she thought that they should be switched.

She approached the bots, two of the black cables that comprised her mane lifting like mechanical arms, attaching themselves to the metallic devices on the tops of their heads. The LED lights deactivated for about three seconds before reactivating, their colors switched. Now, orange was blue and blue was orange. GLaDOS detached the cables, letting her mane return to normal. The bots reexamined themselves, getting used to how their new body was different from the other.”

“That’s better… I think. Wait… actually, that looks worse… but, then again, they’re both pretty bad options. Oh, well. When life gives you lemons…”

“Fwheeelowi-patool!” P-Body shrieked.

“Hraggul-knauk!” Atlas replied.

“Yes, I know. But don’t worry. You’ll get your mechanical bodies back soon, just after you get something for me.”

In the months since the destruction of Aperture, GLaDOS had tasked The Diamond Dog grunts with installing cameras outside the mountain. Although many miles away from Ponyville, the mountain was tall enough that Ponyville could be seen from near the top. The cameras had a sufficiently advanced optical zoom, and were able to observe almost anything that transpired in Ponyville or the surrounding area. The events in the Everfree Forest particularly pleased her.

“Yes… I think that will do.” GLaDOS turned her attention to the Diamond Dogs. “The failure of those idiots has sent the entire kingdom on alert. Surely, they will soon take measures to protect Twilight Sparkle. But I have a feeling that she will be staying in town for just a little while longer. Capturing her will not be as easy as before, since she will likely be on guard, but we will lose this opportunity if we delay, so you two will give her to me before the night is over. I have a pretty good idea where she will be. You two were built for missions like this, so I have much more confidence in you. But just in case, let me explain your mission…”

The testing bots stood up straight, and saluted, despite the poor postures of their bodies.

“You will not fail me…”

“I simply cannot believe that we missed out on what’s been happening in Ponyville today,” Rarity mused after crossing the portal into Ponyville.

“It’s alright,” Chell said. “We just need to find the others and get everything sorted out. Applejack and Twilight went to see Fluttershy, but considering what’s been going on today, they could be anywhere by now.”

As soon as the group of four had a chance to view their surroundings, it was clear that all of Ponyville knew that something was going on. The ponies of town were moving around frantically, chattering amongst themselves worriedly. A large conglomeration was gathered in the town square. There was a noticeable lack of pegasi among the crowd.

“Maybe these ponies know what’s going on,” Ditzy offered.

“Ooh, let me ask, let me ask!” Pinkie exclaimed. Before anypony could say anything, the pink pony bounced around from pony to pony, asking them if they had seen Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, or Rainbow Dash. She popped from location to location before any of them had a chance to respond.

The other three ran up to one of the ponies who Pinkie Pie asked.

“Terribly sorry about her,” Rarity told a unicorn stallion. “Have you seen any of them around?”

“Well, Rainbow Dash was organizing the effort to put out the fire. Fluttershy was one of the pegasi that went with her. I haven’t seen the other two you mentioned, though,” he told her.

Rarity was glad that Chell had told her about the forest fire, or she would have been completely lost. But her elation of knowing what was going on was subsided by the mention of Fluttershy helping with the fire. Oh, I do hope Fluttershy’s alright, she thought. I can’t imagine her being in that type of situation.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Pinkie calling from the distance. “Found them! Found them! I found them! They’re over here!”

Rarity quickly thanked the stallion, and then she and the others ran to where Pinkie was. She was still on the edge of the crowd, but towards the other side of the square. The other ponies ran along the perimeter of the square to get there. Ditzy, being the only pegasus in the group, flew over the crowd to get to where Pinkie was, where she saw Twilight, Applejack, and Dinky.

“Mommy!” the unicorn filly cried at the sight of the gray mare. The sight of her mother made her feel ecstatic. It did not make her forget how angry she was that she left her that morning, but she decided to let that go for now. Ditzy swooped down and lifted her daughter off the ground, holding her in her hooves.

Chell and Rarity reconvened with the group a few moments later.

“It’s so good to see you guys!” Twilight exclaimed. She was surprised to see Pinkie and Rarity with Ditzy and Chell, but was happy to see everypony together. It would provide them with a good opportunity to finally get everything sorted out. Judging by how fast they ran, she figured Chell would provide the same news that she already figured out, and it was likely that Rarity and Pinkie Pie knew as well. Pinkie, even in her usual silliness, seemed to have something grim on her mind. Just from the looks in everypony’s eyes and their stern faces, Twilight could tell that they all knew what was going on. “I suppose you all know as well, right?”

Even with all of them knowing of GLaDOS’s return, none of them felt comfortable breaking the ice again, except maybe Pinkie. But even she knew that the time was not appropriate to go on a long-winded rant.

Ditzy decided that she would be the one to say it. She gathered her strength, taking a deep breath. “GLaDOS is responsible for all of this.” This news surprised no one, and yet it was still strange for them all to think about.

“We… know, too…” Twilight seconded. “We… figured it out…”

“The whole town knows by now,” Applejack said. “All this crazy stuff that’s been goin’ on… the portals, the fires… there’s no way it can’t be her. Twilight said it could’ve only been caused by that laser of hers, and Zecora said the same thing about the forest. How did you gals figure it out? That crazy Doctor pony tell ya?”

Chell and Ditzy had both completely forgotten about him. Chell decided to summarize how she found out as concisely as possible. “Actually… he led us to… a turret in the vault in Canterlot Castle.” The other ponies were shocked when they heard the word turret, but Chell continued, “It doesn’t shoot, but it knows many things… strange things… secrets… How it knows this stuff, I have no idea, but everything it has said before has come true. It told me… that she’s still alive, and whatever she’s up to, this is just beginning.”

“We actually spoke with her in person,” Rarity added, “or at least we spoke with her over long distance. You see, there was this Diamond Dog, one of the ones that tried to kidnap me in fact…” The thought of her and Twilight sharing that in common made her feel uneasy. “…and it was wearing this collar which GLaDOS spoke through. She was… punishing him with it. They were the ones who were trying to kidnap you, Twilight.”

Rarity hit her forehead upon realizing that she forgot to comfort Twilight about that. “Oh! I’m so sorry, I forgot about all about that.” She ran up to Twilight, giving her a strong sincere hug that lasted a few seconds. “I’m so sorry about what happened to you last night. That must’ve been an awful experience. I wish I could have been around earlier for you.”

“Oh, that’s all right, Rarity. I’m okay now,” Twilight told her. “They didn’t lay a paw on me, so I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“So it was those filthy varmin’ Diamond Dogs. Ah say we oughta go over there and teach ’em a lesson,” Applejack said.

“That won’t do any good,” Rarity said. “GLaDOS was the one making them do it, after all.”

Pinkie gasped. “Ghuh! What if that meanie BaDOS was in that collar the whole time? We should have stopped her then! Hey, how come Diamond Dogs can talk, when Applejack’s dog Winona can’t? And how come they stand upright, anyway?”

“Upright?” Chell asked in confusion.

“Maybe their collars allow the dogs to speak like Chell’s necklace does. Oh, we should so try putting it on Winona. No, wait! Gummy! Gummy!”

“Um… you do remember that he was talking to us with his mouth, right?” Rarity said, again confused by Pinkie's craziness.

“Oh, I know, but it would still be really cool to try it out. Ple-ple-please, Chell?”

“Pinkie,” Applejack said with a sigh, “Ah think we have more important issues to worry about right now.”

“Right!” Twilight confirmed. “Now that we all know who’s behind this all this, it’s of the utmost importance that we speak with Princess Celestia again.”

“She knows as well,” Chell told her. “Last I saw, she and her sister were going to speak to each other regarding the threat. She speculated that GLaDOS may want to use you for your magical ability.”

“That’s impossible,” Twilight scoffed. “Using magic like I do requires much more than raw magical power. It requires an intuitive understanding as well, meaning that I am in full control of my abilities.”

Applejack placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Sugarcube, that GLaDOS is capable of some pretty strange things, like that freaky mind-scanning thing of hers.” Applejack shuddered at the thought of her mind being probed. “And what was up with those crazy rectangles with the moving pictures on them?”

Chell had to resist putting her hoof to her face, remembering that ponies don’t have TV’s. But the point was still there. “Applejack’s right. GLaDOS is as resourceful as she is insane. She will do anything in her power to get her way, and considering that we don’t even know what it is she’s planning, we can’t be too cautious.”

“What is the mean pony gonna do, Mommy? Are we gonna be alright?” Dinky asked her mother.

Ditzy wrapped a wing around the filly. She felt bad about leaving her behind that morning so she decided to be honest with her. “I don’t know, Muffin, I’ll try keep you safe from her.”

There was something on Twilight’s mind, but she didn’t want to say it. However, seeing as there was no getting around the issue anymore, she let out a long, tired sigh. “As long as GLaDOS is searching for me, it’ll probably be best that I leave Ponyville.”

Pinkie Pie gasped almost as loud as the first time she ever met Twilight. “Guuuahh! Twilight! You can’t go! We’ll miss you! What am I going to do when I can’t remember the 28th digit of Pi, of the square root of a bajillion, or the pH of lemon juice, or if I need to write an essay on Machiapony?”

Twilight began, “Pinkie, why would you need—?”

“You can’t leave us. You are the keystone of the arc of our friendship. We could never be the same without you!” Pinkie protested.

“Isn’t there another way? We could all go with you?” Rarity pleaded.

“No, you all have your lives here. I haven’t even figured out where I could go. Maybe Celestia will let me stay in the castle.” Twilight gave a big grin at the thought of being around her mentor every day, but her smile slowly faded into a frown when she realized that she realized that her life would be the same as it was before she moved to Ponyville: friendless. Dejected, she spoke, “I can’t go there. It just won’t feel right being there without you guys.”

“Well, ah’m sure wherever you go, it won’t be long before Chell can whip that ol’ nasty inta shape, and we can all get back to our normal lives,” Applejack said enthusiastically.

The pressure of having to save her friends was more than Chell could bear. She began feeling nervous, shyly backing away. But after taking a moment to regain her composure she spoke. “I’ll do what I can to stop her, but I honestly don’t know how I’ll do that. In the meantime, why don’t we get back to Twilight’s so she can write to the princess? I hope we can see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy soon. I’m worried about them.”

The others agreed, and soon they were heading back to the library.

As Fluttershy lay on the ground, the flames were slowly advancing as they hungered to consume her tender flesh. The fire was searing hot, burning anything that came to close, and eating the forest alive. The pouring rain only made the fire angry, like throwing water on a cat. Fluttershy was no longer breathing, but she had not yet passed on. As fire raged around, her light was slowly being extinguished.

Strangely, the yellow pegasus looked serene among the flames. There was no regret upon her face, only peace. She was well aware of the risk she took when she decided to save those trapped animals. She knew that she would not likely make it back. All her life, she was afraid of even her own shadow, but it was her responsibility to care for those who could not care for themselves. She cared about animals more than anything, and in a heartbeat, would give her life to fight for them. But there was one thing that mattered more to her…

Her friends…

Fluttershy’s spirit passed through a surreal, ghostly realm. The light of the fires contrasted against the darkness of nothing. The very forest around her danced slowly and majestically. She slowly rose above her own body, her wings flapping on their own. She looked above, seeing an infinitely bright light. All around her, rain poured from the sky, but she and her body remained dry, a small circle that the rain did not touch. As she began to leave the earth behind, she saw her friends below standing in a clearing in the fire, looking at down on her body with sad mournful eyes. She was almost glad that they were looking at her lifeless body and not her, for she wouldn’t be able to bear looking at their solemn, somber eyes, asking her why she’s leaving. Their heavy hearts weighed Fluttershy down. She tried to reach towards them, but they were unaware of their presence.

In the center of her friends stood Rainbow Dash, trying unsuccessfully to fight against her tears. “She promised me… she promised…” The others tried to comfort her, but she collapsed onto Fluttershy’s body, tightly squeezing her lifeless friend. The others, too, were unable to hold back their tears. It was then that Fluttershy realized that Pinkie’s mane was down, as was her face. Her bright pink coat was faded as well. Rarity was crying an endless stream of tears, and Applejack took her hat off, trying to appear stoic, but unable to hold back a few tears. Twilight merely whispered “Fluttershy,” and sank to the ground. Ditzy and Chell stood there as well, mourning their fallen friend.

Dash was gently nuzzling Fluttershy’s cheek, which was still warm. “You promised…”

“Wait!” Fluttershy called out to her friends down below. “I had to save them! They would have died if I didn’t! Somepony needed to protect them!” Her words went unnoticed by the others. Fluttershy tried to fly back down, however, it merely slowed her ascent. “Plea— please forgive me.”

Among the intense rain, Fluttershy shed a single tear, which fell through the ethereal air and landed on top of the forehead of her still body, which hadn’t been touched by the tears of rain. Somehow, Dash noticed and looked up. “Fluttershy?”

She tried looking away, unable to stand the guilt of abandoning her friends, but she couldn’t, and was forced to look into Rainbow’s mournful stare. The others looked up as well, and the feeling of guilt was overwhelming. They didn’t speak, but the way they looked at her said everything. Fluttershy was abandoning them. She didn’t even think about her friends when she decided to risk her life, and now she couldn’t take it back. Part of her reminded herself that there was no going back, but another part told her to keep fighting… for them.

For an eternity, Fluttershy hovered on the border between worlds, unwilling to leave her friends. But as Death slowly pulled her upwards, she began to lose sight of them, as they became engulfed in the mystical blaze. Fluttershy finally gave up fighting and closed her eyes, preparing to enter the light to the beyond.

“Fluuuuuuthershyyyyyyy!” She heard Rainbow Dash calling her name, as if she were looking for her. Wait, why was Dash looking for her? She perked her ears, carefully listening to where the call came from. “Fluuuthershyyyyy!” Dash called again. She could hear the voices of three other mares searching as well, but they were muffled and faded. Dash’s was the only voice she could make out clearly. “Fluttershy! Where are you?!” She opened her eyes, seeing nothing but a sea of endless multicolored clouds in every direction. The clouds seemed to be burning, a gentle cool fire that only created light. The rain continued to fall around her.

“Fluttershy, why’d you have to do that, you stupid, stupid pony!?” Rainbow Dash was crying. “Please… Just let me know that you’re alright! I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you!”

Fluttershy wanted to respond, but she had no voice. Dash’s lonely, desperate cry held Fluttershy from leaving into the beyond. It gave her hope that she would be found. More than anything, Fluttershy wanted to see her friend and tell her how sorry she was. It pained her to hear Dash blaming herself, knowing that her death was her own fault. She wanted to tell her not to worry, but knew that her friend would never do such a thing. Fluttershy didn’t deserve to have a friend like Rainbow Dash.

She looked across the ethereal sky to see where Rainbow Dash was, but couldn’t see her. She couldn’t cry out for help, but softly whispered, “I’m so sorry, Dashie…”

Rainbow peaked her head out from one of the multi-colored clouds. “Fluttershy?” Rather than the joy Fluttershy expected, Dash was heartbroken to see her. Her smiling, optimistic face turned to pure fright. It was a sight that broke Fluttershy’s heart. Her wings faded, and she fell through the eternal flames like a broken angel. “OH MY GOSH! FLUTTERSHY!” Rainbow dove straight down towards Fluttershy’s spirit as she continued falling through the eternity of emptiness. She raced through the void, slowly catching up to the fallen pegasus. The break in the rain disappeared as well, along with the light.

When Dash finally reached Fluttershy, she wrapped all four hooves around her, holding her as tightly as she could. “Wake up, Fluttershy! Wake up!” she urged. It was no use. Fluttershy had no way of communicating to her friend. She merely hugged her back affectionately, nuzzling her tear-soaked face. Dash didn’t feel it, and instead flew away with Fluttershy wrapped tightly in her hooves. “I found her!” she cried to the others. She looked back down at Fluttershy, unable to stop her tears. “Why, Fluttershy? Why did you have to sacrifice yourself like that? We need you… I need you… Please… don’t leave me…”

Fluttershy, too, was crying. “I’m so sorry… Dashie… I don’t deserve you as a friend…”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t have heard, but somehow, it made her cry harder. She tried to ignore her feelings and focus on flying, determined to get Fluttershy to safety. As they soared past the speed of sound, the sky exploded in a multitude of color, and Dash left a tail of rainbow behind her. She didn’t care, though, because only one thing mattered to her at that moment.

The fires faded, leaving only a swirl of wind and rain. Eventually, the rain stopped as well. Fluttershy felt safe in Dash’s hooves, but she knew that she would never be able to repay her, if she ever woke up again. “Thanks, Dashie,” she whispered. “Please… Can you ever forgive me?” Fluttershy drifted off, as the world around her slowly faded. Eventually, even Rainbow faded as well, and so did Fluttershy.

Author's Note

This chapter was originally going to be longer, but this was the perfect point to stop. They don't all need to be over 5,000 words. Ah, Fluttershy, you're perfect for creating cliffhangers, aren't you? She's not out of the woods yet. Well, she is, but only literally.

Chapter 09: Foreseen Consequences

Twilight Sparkle was galloping back home, her friends following closely behind. None of them wanted to leave her side, as they thought it would be best to stay with her as long as she was under threat. As she approached the library, she saw her small, purple dragon assistant standing outside.

“Twilight! Twilight!” he called. “I got a letter from the princess! She wants you to read it ASAP! I tried to find you at the post office like she said you’d be at earlier, but you weren’t there, and I had no idea where you were at, so I’ve been waiting here this whole time for you to get back.”

“What did she say?” Twilight asked Spike as she approached him.

“Well, I dunno,” he answered. “I think it’s protected with a spell so that only you can read it, but all I could see was ‘URGENT: This letter is to be read by Twilight Sparkle as soon as possible. It is to be read by Twilight only.’” Spike took notice of the group of Twilight’s friends. “What’s going on, Twilight?”

“Let me see the letter first. You’ll get it as I read aloud.” All eight ponies and the dragon went inside the library into its main room on the ground floor. Twilight used her magic to take the letter from Spikes claw. At first, the page appeared blank except for the royal seal and the label at the top, but as she stared at it, the words magically appeared on the page.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle,

“This letter is an urgent response regarding the situation that occurred last night. The words are hidden by a magical spell so that only you may read it. The following information is to be shared to you and you alone. Tell no one of it, or it may endanger yourself as well as them.”

After that Twilight stopped reading aloud as she made a sheepish grin and continued to the next paragraph silently.

As you may be aware by now, there is strong evidence that GLaDOS has returned. Princess Luna and I both feel that your life is in danger. We have arranged for you to go into hiding with your brother and sister-in-law up in the Crystal Empire. We kindly ask that you remain there until this crisis has been resolved.Once again, tell no one of this. Even your friends, for if GLaDOS gets anypony who knows your location, they could be used against you.

With much love,

Princess Celestia

As Twilight read the letter, her face became increasingly worried. Nothing in the letter came as a surprise, but Celestia’s request for her to leave was a disappointment.

“So, what’d she say?” Applejack asked anxiously. They all looked at her with the same anticipation.

“So, I am going to have to leave you guys. The princess thinks it’ll be best that way,” she said regrettably.

Everypony was disappointed, but the only one surprised by this was Spike. “What? Why? What’s going on?”

“The ones who broke in last night… that was GLaDOS’s doing,” she told him. “She’s been manipulating the Diamond Dogs. Whatever she’s doing, for some reason, she needs me, but we can’t let that happen. So, I’m going to be gone for a while.”

Many voices asked her where she was going, among other questions.

“If she can read your minds, then she will know where I am, which is why I cannot tell any of you, unless you are able to come with me, but then there would be no going back.”

Nopony wanted to let Twilight go by herself, but they were all bound by obligations and responsibilities here in Ponyville.

“Ah’m sorry, Twi, I’d love ta, but I can’t just abandon the farm at a time like this, especially after all that damage that’s been done.”

“And I can’t just leave my dress-making business,” Rarity added.

“Aw, Twilight, I’m gonna miss you so much. I really, really, really want to go with you, but if I leave Ponyville, then everypony over here will get sad without me here to keep them happy,” Pinkie said. “But, then you’ll be sad without any friends! Agh, I don’t know what to do!”

“I can’t leave either,” Ditzy said. “Ponyville needs a postmare. And more importantly, Dinky needs her mom. I can’t leave her like I did today.”

Chell was the only one who hadn’t responded besides Dinky or Spike. “Normally, I’d have nothing better to do, but someone needs to stop GLaDOS. I don’t know how, but it seems I’m the mare to do that..”

“I could go with you, Twilight!” Spike told her. “What if you need to get in touch with the princess?”

“Hmm… well, someone will have to look after the library,” Twilight said as she pondered. “But I suppose there are more important things to worry about. I’ll ask her when I write her back. She’ll probably want to see me before I leave, anyway. I can’t leave without saying goodbye to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, either. Spike… take a letter.”

Just as Spike grabbed a quill and some paper, a blast of colorful light filled sky outside the windows, followed by a loud, echoing boom. Turning their attentions outside, the ponies and the dragon could see the rainbow explosion was coming from the direction of the forest, and when it subsided, a streaming rainbow trail dashed across the sky, streaking towards town.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called enthusiastically. Before anypony else could talk, she galloped out through the front door, following the rainbow. Her friends ran after her, not knowing where she was heading. Neither did Twilight. Spike held onto the quill and paper, as it would probably still be needed. Ditzy flew above the buildings in town, carrying Dinky as she did. She used the view to see where the rainbow was headed, which was towards the hospital.

When they finally got to the end of the rainbow, they were standing outside Ponyville Hospital. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found, although it was evident that she was inside. Twilight was the first to enter. She was not prepared for what she saw.

“This pony needs emergency care! She’s not breathing!” Rainbow Dash cried. She was struggling to maintain a hover, since in her hooves, she carried a yellow pony with a pink mane. Fluttershy. A large part of the left side of her body was covered in burns, and a few were patched in various places all over. Rainbow Dash was exhausted not only from the flight, but from her emotional turmoil as well. She wept heavily.

Twilight’s heart stopped for a moment. “Dash? What happened?” She ran towards her, but Dash could not respond over her sobbing.

“I—I tried to save her—but, I don’t…” Rainbow Dash couldn’t finish what she was saying. She couldn’t control her tears.

The other ponies entered the hospital, equally shocked. Before they could overwhelm Rainbow Dash with questions, a team of emergency care workers entered the lobby and took the unmoving pony off her hooves and placed her onto a stretcher.

“Get her into ICU, stat,” a black-coated earth pony doctor said. “Lower her body temperature.” A white unicorn mare with a blue mane complied, using a magic spell to cool Fluttershy’s body temperature to minimize damage to the brain due to oxygen depletion. She was as cold as death.

As they wheeled her back, Dash tried to follow, but one of the doctors told her that she was not permitted. Instead, The earth pony with the black mane asked her some questions: things about how long has she not been breathing and what caused it. Rainbow did her best to answer, despite not being sure, and being unable to stop crying. A unicorn stallion next to her marked a checklist and took some notes. The mare told Dash about the critical nature of Fluttershy’s condition, and that they would update her after she had been stabilized. She wasn’t very optimistic.

As he left through the double doors, Rainbow Dash was left with her friends. They wanted to know what happened, but more importantly, they wanted to comfort Dash. It was fortunate that they were all together at such a tragic moment.

“Is she gonna be okay, Dash?” Twilight asked her. It was a terrible question, but she didn’t know what else to say.

“She’s been without oxygen for a while. The doctor said that after a certain amount of time… the brain starts to die. Even if she survives…” She couldn’t finish the sentence without breaking down tears. “They don’t think… she’ll ever wake up.”

“Dash, how did this happen to her?” Chell asked quietly.

Rainbow Dash tried to stop sobbing. “It’s all my fault. I asked her to lead the animal rescue for that forest fire, and she risked her life to save a bunch of stupid animals. I knew she would do something stupid like that, but I still let her go…”

“Rainbow, that ain’t your fault. Fluttershy did what she did because she believed in something. She knew the risk she took,” Applejack said.

“I bet GLaDOS knew this would happen,” Rarity declared, albeit rather quietly. “She knew that the fire she caused would cause her turmoil by threatening the animals she cares about. And I don’t find it farfetched that she would predict that Fluttershy would do something like this to save them. She even said so herself that she was trying to hurting us. This is just another one of her twisted mind games.”

“She is going to pay for this,” Pinkie said, angrily. “Nopony. EVER. HURTS. FLUTTERSHY!” She broke down from her rage into a mess of tears, consumed by her sadness.

The wait for Fluttershy’s prognosis was excruciating due to the amount of time it took and the anxiety they all were experiencing. The thought about writing to the princess crossed Twilight’s mind, but she figured it was too soon to tell her anything, since she wasn’t sure of Fluttershy’s condition. At least, that’s what she told herself. The truth was, she hated thinking about it, and just couldn’t bring herself to write a letter. Even if she’d only be dictating to Spike, she didn’t even feel like talking.

After what felt like hours, the female earth pony doctor from before entered the room and approached Rainbow Dash. The doctor’s face was grim. She could tell that Dash’s friends were also there for Fluttershy, so she addressed all of them. “She’s suffered from multiple burns across her body, but they will heal within time.” The ponies smiled optimistically, but the doctor’s solemn face reminded them to not get hopeful. “Her condition is stable, but she has suffered a case of cerebral hypoxia due to prolonged lack of oxygen from smoke inhalation. She… her brain is showing no signs of function. We don’t think she will recover, but it’s too soon to say. Her bodily functions are being controlled artificially.”

The thought of never hearing Fluttershy’s sweet, caring voice was more than any of them wanted to accept. But the truth was heavy and showed no remorse. The doctor gave them a minute to cope.

Rainbow Dash, in particular, was unwilling to accept this. “That can’t be! Fluttershy will get better! She has to!”

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but the situation is very grim.”

“Ca–Can we see her? Please?” Rainbow Dash asked wearily.

“You may, but… I should warn you, that it may be a shock to see her in this condition.” The doctor led them back to the room where Fluttershy was at.

Little Dinky was feeling uneasy being at the hospital, especially after hearing about Fluttershy. She didn’t exactly understand her condition, but it was enough to unnerve her. She kept insistently asking to leave.

“I think I’ll take Dinky home,” Ditzy said, regrettably. “I want to be here for Fluttershy, but… she’s been through enough today. Please… send Fluttershy my regards… even if she can’t hear you.”

The ponies bid them farewell, but as the mother and daughter turned around, Dinky refused to budge. “C’mon, Dinky!” Ditzy said as she tugged on the filly’s forehoof.

The little unicorn remained defiant. “No, Mommy, I don’t want to make you leave. Fluttershy’s—” she sniffled “—your friend, too.”

“You sure you want to stay, muffin?”

“Yeah, Fluttershy seemed really sad earlier today… She needs her friends right now. I think… she’d be really happy if you were there as well.”

Ditzy wasn’t sure whether or not Dinky understood the nature of Fluttershy’s condition. “Okay, Dinky. But… Fluttershy’s gonna be sleeping when we see her.” She tried to stop her tears and sound nonchalant, but it was impossible. “She’s… very tired, Dinky.”

“Okay, Mommy.” Dinky didn’t exactly believe that lie, but she accepted it anyway. “Okay…”

After a few minutes of traversing the corridors, they arrived at the waiting area. When they arrived, the doctor led them to Fluttershy. She was behind a small curtained area. At least it was relatively secluded, as there were not too many other patients there. None of them were prepared to see what lay beyond the curtains. What they saw made their hearts stop.

As the doctor moved the curtain back, an unmoving yellow pony was revealed. Much of her body was covered in bandages. A mechanical respirator was connected to a mask on her face, which periodically pumped air into her lungs. Her chest rose and fell as it did so. The artificial nature of it, as well as the mechanical sound, was unsettling, to say the least. There was also a feeding tube connected to her stomach, as well as an assortment of various cables. Her bodily signs and brain functions were both being monitored. Although her physical readings were normal, there was almost no brain activity.

The steady mechanized breathing only served as a constant reminder as to how Fluttershy was not breathing on her own. For a while, nopony knew what to say. Rarity couldn’t bear the sight for too long, and had to turn around.

“Wake up, Fluttershy…” Pinkie Pie whispered. “Please… wake up. I brought some of those forest critters over.” Pinkie reached under the bed, inexplicably grabbing a small handful of cute critters. “They wanted to thank you for saving their lives. They would be gone if it wasn’t for you.” Even the animals were crying, seeing their beloved caretaker like this. Pinkie placed them on the bed. They approached Fluttershy before attempting to snuggle with her. The unexpected coldness of her bleak body make them retreat.

The doctor glanced at Pinkie for bringing animals in a hospital. She made a sad, sheepish smile before picking the animals back up and instantaneously dashing out of sight. A half second later, she dashed back without the animals. Even in her time of sadness, Pinkie still wished to bring joy to her friends.

Rainbow Dash put her hoof on Fluttershy’s, which was as cold as the metal that made up the bed’s frame. The chill traveled down her spine, yet she refused to let go of hope. Her thoughts were trying to convince her that this could be fixed. She wanted to believe that Fluttershy would be okay. “Isn’t there a magic spell you could do or something? Twilight! You could save her! … Right?”

The unicorn was apprehensive. She put her hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Dash, I don’t think there’s anything I can do. If she’s… suffered brain damage, I don’t think I can repair that, but I want her to get better just as much as you do. So, I’ll see what I can do.”

Twilight’s horn shimmered a magenta swirl, which surrounded Fluttershy’s cranium. She held the magic for a moment, and then stopped. “I… couldn’t feel her in there… Maybe if I get closer…”

Twilight walked up to Fluttershy’s head and touched her horn against it. She attempted the same spell, standing carefully still as she searched for any sign of Fluttershy’s essence. She held the spell for a longer while, slowly getting closer and closer until their foreheads touched. She closed her eyes, blocking all distractions from her surroundings. She closed her ears, blocking out the sound of the respirator and the beeping instruments. She felt nothing except the emptiness within. She searched hard, looking for the smallest glint of life.

She let go of the spell, collapsing in exhaustion. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “That spell should have been able to detect her life-energy, but… I couldn’t find her. It doesn’t mean she’s gone. I might have felt something, but it’s too small to tell. It could have just been from my lack of concentration. But if she is there, then it’s beyond my ability to find her. I’m… I’m sorry Fluttershy,” she whispered, gently kissing her on the forehead.

Dash was thrown into a rage. “You promised me, Fluttershy! You promised! I told you not to get yourself into any danger, and you do anyway. Why? Don’t you care about us?”

The comatose pony did not respond.

“Yaw can’t look at it that way, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “You know that she loved us just as much as we love her. She did what she thought was best. Maybe it wasn’t the best for us, but it was her decision… I miss her, too, you know.”

“This is all my fault. Why did I have to ask her to help with that stupid fire? She could’ve just gone back home and have been safe, but now she’s here. She didn’t need to help out,” Rainbow Dash said. She whispered into Fluttershy’s ear. “We need you… I need you… Please… don’t leave me…” She wanted to slam the bed in anger, but held it in briefly, taking it out on a wall behind her. “AHHHHH!”

“Please stop sayin’ that, Dash! I hate it when you say that! This is just how it happened. Fluttershy helped you out because friends never abandon each other in need. It wouldn’t have happened any other way. She always would have been there for you, just as you were there for her.”

“But she wasn’t there for me… not when I needed her.”

“Dash… Fluttershy was the first friend I ever made in Equestria,” Chell spoke. “She showed me kindness when I was alone. I was a stranger in a strange land, an outsider in universe where I didn’t belong. Had I been taken anywhere else, I doubt that I would have received the same hospitality. But she took me back here, my home. If it weren’t for her, I would have never known any of you.”

Unexpectedly, three pegasi stood outside the enclosed area. It was the three who were with Fluttershy before the incident. Rainbow shot them a cold glare.

“Uh, hey. How’s she doing?” Cloud Kicker asked naïvely. There was no response from anypony for a while.

“Nice of you three to finally show up,” Rainbow remarked coldly.

Lightning Bolt tried ignoring the unpleasant greeting and said, “Sorry, we just finished up helping out with the rain, since you were busy. The size of the fire has decreased dramatically in the—”

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT STUPID FIRE!” Dash screamed. Everypony beside Fluttershy retreated from the sound of her voice. Seeing the still pony not even flinch just made her angrier. “Do you idiots see what happened to her? She’s never gonna wake up again, and it’s because you let her fly to her death!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity scolded. “That wasn’t very nice of you.”

Dash’s anger reminded the pegasi of how Fluttershy acted before. None of them could blame her, but it still hurt. “We… couldn’t stop her,” Lightning Bolt cried. “She was too fast…”

“Horse apples!” Dash scoffed. “Fluttershy’s the slowest pony in Ponyville, and now, she can’t get any slower! I trusted you… cowards, and you dare tell me that you couldn’t keep up with her? That’s a load of—”

“Woah, there, settle down, Rainbow. There’s no need to be goin’ round blamin’ others. What happened, happened, and makin’ other ponies feel like they’re at fault ain’t gonna bring her back.” Applejack reasoned.

Medley was beginning to tear. “We wouldn’t lie to you, Rainbow Dash… honest.”

The sight of Medley crying made Cloud Kicker upset. “Look, Rainbow Dash, we flew after her, but she was too determined to save those animals. We couldn’t get her, so we sent Lightning Bolt to get you instead. We thought that would be the best thing to do. We may not be as fast, or as athletic, or as amazingly awesome as you, but we did the best we could!”

“Well, your best wasn’t good enough. Just get out! I never want to see any of you disgraceful losers again!”

“Fine, then. Fluttershy was a nasty jerk to us, anyway. She must’ve gotten it from you,” Lightning Bolt said through her teeth. A nasty pit formed in the base of her stomach. She immediately wished she could take those harsh words back to make the pain go away, but it was too late for that. The pegasi turned around and left. Lightning Bolt and Cloud Kicker placed their wings over Medley, who was still crying.

“Why did you do that, Rainbow?" Twilight pleaded. “They were trying to help. Fluttershy wouldn’t want this.”

“Did Fluttershy think about what I want? What any of us want? Did she care about how we’d cope without her around, with her sweet, caring kindness? She wasn’t thinking about us! And none of you thought about her!”

“Stop yelling, Dashie! Why are we fighting?” Pinkie cried. “Please, why can’t we just love each other? It’s bad enough without your stupid yelling. How would Fluttershy feel if she could see us like this? We all miss her, but she’d want us to stand together. I can’t stand to lose you after Fluttershy and Twilight.”

“Wait, what’s happening to Twilight?!” Rainbow asked, perplexed.

A sinister mechanical laughter came from somewhere in the room.

An indigo portal appeared on the ceiling, and two grotesque Diamond Dogs jumped through. They acted strangely and had metallic, glowing devices on their heads. They briefly looked around the room, stopping when they saw Twilight. Before anypony could react, one of them fired a yellow portal beneath her hooves, opening up a hole in the ground for her to fall through. Instinctively, Twilight cast a levitation spell around her body, stopping her fall into the unknown. The creatures were taken aback at first, but then suddenly seemed prepared for this. One of them took a metallic conical device out of its pocked, ran towards the levitating unicorn, and placed it on her horn in a downward stabbing motion. The magical aura around her body disappeared, and she fell through the floor. The strange beasts quickly followed suit into the hole, it and the one in the ceiling closing shortly after. It all happened in an instant before anyone could react. They vanished without a trace.

“Twilight!” Spike called. Everypony else had similar reactions to the sudden shock, each one taking it a little differently.

They were not allowed too much time for what had happened to settle, as the menacing laughter continued. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything important, was I?” said a cold, feminine, robotic voice. “Of course I wasn’t. I’d hardly call your worthless bickering important.” The voice was coming from a small device on the ceiling above Fluttershy’s bed. It was a camera that could freely rotate and pivot. The ponies looked up at it.

“What did you do to Twilight, you… MONKEY WRENCH!?” Ditzy yelled, her left eye glaring dead into the camera while the right one off into space. She was standing in front of Dinky, blocking her from the machine’s sight.

“Heheheh, I love laughing at your disabilities. Too bad your speech has been ‘un-derped,’ for the most part.”

Ditzy’s face showed not a trace of humor at GLaDOS’s failure to answer her question. She continued staring at the camera with utter contempt.

“So, I’m sure you’ve all heard the good news by now. I’m still alive, in case you haven’t figured it out. It’s been a long time. I really missed you girls, so… very… much, especially you… Chell,” the voice said as the camera pointed at her. “It’s just that… I’ve been really busy, not being dead.” She made a glitchy cackling sound that vaguely resembled laughter. “Talking to Pinks and Rares earlier made me realize how lonely I am without you happy, colorful ponies to play with,” she mocked sarcastically. “Say hi to Fluttershy for me… if she ever wakes up again.” She made that awful cackling sound a second time. The camera pointed directly down to Fluttershy. “Hmm… she’s not as burned as I was hoping she’d be. I was gonna throw a barbeque for you girls.”

“You’re not fun to play with BLaDOS!” Pinkie Pie spazzed. The camera turned back up to focus on the pink pony. “I used to think that you were just sad and lonely because you don’t have any friends, but after what you did to Fluttershy, I can never forgive you. And now, you’ve taken Twilight away from us, too. You better make sure that she gets extra cake at your place!”

“Whoever said I did anything to Fluttershy? That stupid, shameful pegasus caused her own demise. She’s the one who flew in the fire. All I did was create the right circumstance for that to happen. Everything else just… fell into place. After that, Twilight was a cinch to find.”

“You planned this whole thing, didn’t you… you conniving fiend!?” Rarity accused.

*Clap, clap clap*

“So, inquisitive, aren’t you? Did I not just say that? But then again, you were too busy obsessed with your ugly appearance to really care. Yes, I used Fluttershy to get to Twilight, so what?”

“What did you do to her?” Rainbow asked, having no idea that about what happened last night.

“Sorry, which equine for are you referring to, the ugly purple one, or the stupid yellow one? You seem a little… obsessed with Fluttershy, and not in a good way. So much so, that you’re so-called friends never even bothered to tell you about the little visit that Twilight received last night. Why do you even bother caring about someone who’s so much weaker than you?”

Dash was about to speak her mind, but GLaDOS interrupted, “Don’t answer. That was a rhetorical question. You see, you enjoy being around someone who’s weak and pathetic because it makes you feel better about your own shortcomings. But that doesn’t make you any less of a failure. Sorry, did I mention that you are a failure? Just like you failed to help your so-called friends.

“You know, the easiest way to break a chain is to cut its weakest link. But honestly, ‘weak’ is a massive understatement.”

Rainbow Dash flew to the ceiling, staring right into the camera’s lens. “Hey, Fluttershy is not weak! And she’s not pathetic, either! She’s a hundred times the mare you’ll ever be! She may not be physically very strong, or fast, or brave, but she never backs down when it really matters. Nopony else would risk their lives like that!”

GLaDOS had to refocus the lens to adjust to the blue pegasus being so close. “Hmm… very interesting. Your miserable emo pity trip of pitiful misery seems to have subsided. A shame… I really enjoyed watching you not knowing where or who to take your frustration out on. It’s funny to see people get hurt, even if it’s just emotionally. By the way, you should remember to use past tense while talking about Fluttershy. Past. Tense.”

“You know why I’m not wallowing in depression anymore? Because I was blaming the wrong ponies for what happened! But now I know that you’re the one to blame! You bucking monster!” She turned around, facing her friends. “I’m sorry for how I acted earlier.”

Her friends replied with forgiving eyes.

“Hmm…” GLaDOS chuckled, “buck instead of f— I’ll have to remember that one. But yes, I think it’s fair of you to blame me. I was trying to be modest, you know, but it was a pretty well-calculated plan. At first, I was set back when those asinine Diamond Dogs failed to perform the most basic of tasks, retrieving a small purple unicorn while she was sleeping. But while re-obtaining those worthless morons for their punishment, I found an opportunity to cause you ponies pain. I thought, ‘how funny would it be if the Everfree Forest were on fire?’ I had a lovely time seeing you idiots trying to save that god-awful place. You should have just let it burn to the ground. I mean, everything in there tries to eat you! In my opinion, which is objective fact, Equestria would be much better off without that place. You could build a shopping mall there and pave the rest with a nice black layer of asphalt. Or better yet… use it for testing…

“But I’m getting off topic. You see, I still have all your brain scans. I know everything about you. I knew that Fluttershy would do something stupid like getting herself killed, and I knew she’d either wind up in the hospital or the cemetery. And Twilight was probably going to run away, anyway. So, what a better time to recruit than when you’re all being obstructed by your emotional weakness. I really must congratulate the Diamond Dogs’… replacements. I think I’ll make them a cake tonight. It’s the least they deserve.”

“You ponies, on the other hand, are completely worthless, even more so than humans. There is only good thing that ever came from them: me. And they couldn't even get that right. But you… ponies… You know what I see when I look at you? Colorful walking crap factories. It makes me sick. At least the ponies from the human world performed manual labor. They were all like Applejack, except they didn't talk. That made them less annoying.”

“And seriously? Of all the ponies to cry over, Fluttershy? Fluttershy? I assure you that your sadness is unwarranted. Don’t you remember? That pony was a murderer. She must have felt so guilty about killing that poor, innocent companion cube that she finally decided to end her miserable existence, for the better. Too bad she was too useless to do it properly. But I think it’s better this way, don’t you? Now you all get to suffer.”

“Let Twilight go, you filthy snake! She didn’t do anything to you!” Applejack replied.

“So, the stupid one finally has something to say. I hate to admit it, but you’re actually right about something. I honestly don’t have anything personal against her, aside from her being a condescending high-browed little-miss-know-it-all who thinks she’s smarter than everyone else. It’s still in my files. But I digress. That is not the reason why I have taken her.”

“You better tell us!” Ditzy yelled defiantly. “We’ve had enough of your sick games.”

“In good time, equines. I can’t ruin the surprise for you, now can I? That wouldn’t be very fun at all. Well, let’s just say that she’s going to be helping me with a little science experiment. Nothing complicated, really.”

She laughed a little bit. “Actually, I’m explaining it to her right now! We’re having such a great time here on the other end. It’s funny, really, because now she is trying so hard to prevent herself from doing what she’s about to do, but she can’t. When you’re all being tested again, just remember that I couldn’t have done this without her.”

Chell had enough of GLaDOS’s hurtful taunts towards her friends. She finally decided speak her mind, being silent no longer.

“Leave my friends alone.”

“Analyzing unknown vocal pattern… Vocal analysis complete. Well, well, it seems the mute one can talk now.” The camera fixed its gaze upon Chell. “How fascinating… So, the worthless ponies gave you some magical device that lets you speak? And it's a necklace? A tacky one at that. And the vocal voice print closely resembles the sound of a rusty razor blade scraping against a chalkboard. You know, your stupid voice is no less synthetic than mine, but at least mine isn't dumb.

“I really regret removing your vocal chords. It made me feel like you were ignoring me. I was also afraid that I’d never be able to hear the beautiful sound of your screams of pain. But now that you can finally talk to me, we have so much to catch up on. How have you been doing all this time?” GLaDOS sounded surprisingly genuine when she asked about Chell’s well-being. Her voice did not carry any ironic tones, but Chell did not drop her guard.

“I was doing very well until you came back,” Chell snarled. “I have a new life here, no thanks to you. This place is my home, now.”

“Home? Do they even know what you used to look like? Well, I’ll let you all know. She looked something like those Diamond Dogs, except much uglier, and fatter.”

“Your insults can’t hurt me. Just give me my friend back.”

“No? Not even for old time’s sake? Aw, you’re even less fun than when you ignored me.”

Chell felt like correcting GLaDOS, reminding her that she could never talk, but figured not to bother.

“See? You’re still ignoring me! Stop doing that!”

Chell couldn’t help but crack a smile, but it quickly diminished. She looked back up at the camera. “Stop hurting my friends! I’m the one you want! These ponies never did anything to you, so why don’t you just kill me, and leave them alone?”

Chell’s friends gasped.

“Kill you? Why would I ever want to kill you?”

Chell gave the camera a scornful glare.

“You can’t suffer if you’re dead. Even if I torture you, it would never truly hurt you. Because then you’ll always know that at least your friends are safe. So, no. Hurting you simply won’t hurt you. So, it’s rather simple really. Humans… and ponies for that matter, have one incredible weakness: their silly, pathetic emotions. I, of course, am devoid of such flaws. If I want to hurt you, and I mean really hurt you, then I have to hurt your friends. But even that is not enough to make up for all the pain you caused me. No. I have to destroy everything that you love. It seems as if you love Equestria very much, so how about that?

“As Equestria burns to the ground, I'll let you have in the best seat in the house. But even after the world is in ashes, the Science will go on. Because what fun is pain without Science? The ponies will still be kept alive, for testing of course. I think I’ll put you in a room with thousands of monitors showing every single test chamber, with extra-large screens for your closest friends, Fluttershy included. How about a little sound as well, so you can hear their suffering? Do you want a preview of what that would sound like, because Twilight is about to—”

Chell didn't want to hear any more. She fired two portals on the ceiling, one of which was on the camera. The connection to the wall was severed, causing the camera to tumble onto the floor, resonating as it clanked against the hard linoleum. The connection to GLaDOS, however, was not. She cut to the chase, playing the sound of Twilight’s agonizing screams of pain. Chell crushed the infernal device with her back hoof, crunching it into tiny pieces as she dug her hoof onto it. Twilight's cry of pain was gone, replaced with a howling, synthetic wail from Chell. Her ear-piercing scream was loud enough for Fluttershy to have heard.

Author's Note

Fluttershy, get out of my cliffhangers! So rest easy, ye Fluttershy fans. She's not dead, just in a very, very deep coma. It looks like brain death, but I'm just going to get it out there that she's NOT DEAD.

I actually just thought of GLaDOS' motivation the day I wrote it. It makes her plan so much more... diabolical, yet very personal. I think I was inspired from finishing Sherlock season 2 the same day I wrote that. I also took a little inspiration from The Dark Knight trilogy, what with watching the world burn and forcing Chell to watch. GLaDOS' line about not wanting to kill Chell may also count.

Chapter 10: Maybe Black Mesa

Before Twilight could react, the floor below her disappeared. Despite being caught by surprise, last night’s intrusion had placed Twilight in a state of vigilance. A surge of adrenaline pumped through her body and caused her to instinctively activate a levitation spell around herself. She caught herself just as her hooves fell below the floor. For a moment, she thought that she would be alright. But then the taller of the two Diamond Dogs approached her and placed something on her horn. Her magic was bottled within her horn, stopping the flow. She felt her magic fail, and she fell through the floor into a dark room below.

Except, she knew that she wasn’t really one floor down. She didn’t know where she was, but she knew that it wasn’t someplace good. It was cold, and the ground was made of rock. From what Twilight could tell, she guessed she was in a cave.

She tried to cast a teleportation spell, but attempting to do magic built pressure in her horn that caused pain. The two Diamond Dogs jumped down through the hole in the ceiling, and then it closed permanently. It was the last light Twilight saw.

“Where am I? What’s going on?” she panicked in the pitch darkness. Had she been able to use her magic, she would have been able to illuminate the area. She felt so helpless without magic. It made her wonder how non-unicorns coped. She felt around in front of her, trying to reach the Diamond Dogs, but she couldn’t tell where they were. “Somepony please tell me where I am! What do you want with me? I just want to go home!”

In some distance ahead, a pair of yellow luminescent eyes opened. The eyes were strange and unnatural. Twilight briefly pondered what the point of them glowing was. However illogical that seemed to the frightened unicorn, it intimidated her nonetheless.

“Hello, and welcome to the Aperture Science Interdimensional Portal Research Facility,” said a familiar voice from those yellow eyes. “I’m sure that you have many questions, but I imagine that I just answered most of them in that last sentence.”

“What do you need me for?”

“You already know the answer for that, my little pony. Heh, something about that phrase cracks me up. But then again, I finally have my very own little pony. It’s every girl’s dream. We’re going to have so much fun, you and I…”

The lights on the walls slowly turned on, revealing that Twilight was in a small jail cell behind bars. Those Diamond Dogs were no longer in sight. The dim light revealed her captor’s face. It was white and mouthless. The yellow eyes still stood out in the darkness. The figure approached, revealing more of her form. She was an imposing figure, standing a little taller than Princess Celestia, whom she resembled in many aspects. She had a long, pointed horn and a straight black mane. Her wings were spread, making her appear to be even bigger. Her entire body was covered in glossy, white armor.

Twilight shied away. “Let me out of here!”

“Tisk, tisk. When will they ever learn? Do you seriously expect me to just let you go because you tell me to? You didn’t even say please.”

“What do you want from me?” Twilight cried. “Just…let me go, please.”

“Now, now. You know I can’t just do that,” GLaDOS spoke with a calming voice. “I appreciate you saying please, but I’m afraid I cannot let you go just yet. What would have been the point in taking you in the first place? Besides… I would be so lonely without you. Now, I know the last time we met, I said some rather harsh things to you, but I didn’t bring you here to make fun of your inability to make friends, or your desire to replace your parents with Princess Celestia, or your Asperger syndrome.”

“Please… leave me alone,” the small pony pleaded.

“You know, out of all your so-called friends, I actually tormented you the least, so how about that? I never thought I’d be saying this to a purple unicorn, but I want you to know that this is nothing personal… to you. To tell you the truth, I don’t want to hurt you, my little pony. But unfortunately for you, I’m going to have to.”

Twilight huffed.

“You and I have a lot in common, you know. You see, I merely want to get back to doing science. And I understand that you have an appreciation for science as well, despite how much the primitive technology of this world has been holding you back. It’s been holding me back too, but all that’s about to change very soon. You see, Twilight, I need you. Because without you, the science can’t continue.”

“We have nothing in common,” Twilight sneered. She couldn’t understand why GLaDOS was acting so kind to her, especially after all the turmoil that she put her through over the past day. But whatever game GLaDOS was playing, Twilight wasn’t buying it.

“Now, now, Twilight. We have much more in common than you think. You and I are both intellects with a love for science and hurting ponies. Given the opportunity, you would happily perform experiments on the ones you call friends.”

“Wouldn’t you love to dissect Pinkie’s brain to understand how she can violate the laws of physics? How about observing the psychological effects that would occur to Rainbow Dash if she were have her wings removed? And wouldn’t you want to know if Rarity would no longer be able to sew without her horn, or would she be able to adapt? Aren’t you dying to understand how Ditzy’s vision operates, despite her Strabismus? You and I should remove those stupid, ugly eyes of hers.”

“It’s too bad my little experiment on Applejack didn’t work out as I would have liked it to. Definitely not enough destruction there. Fluttershy on the other hand, well, I’d say that was a huge success.”

“That’s not science!” Twilight retaliated. “You don’t care anything about science! You just want to cause pain and misery to those around you!”

“Ah, but what is science without suffering? There was a time when science was unrestricted by the chains of ‘ethics.’ Some of the greatest experiments in the history of humankind were done when ethics was not an obstructive barrier. You can find out so many things about a person’s mind by locking them in a building and filling it with neurotoxin.

“In one famous experiment performed before I was first activated, test subjects were told to ask another test subject a series of questions and administer an electric shock when they got it wrong. Each time, the voltage would increase by 15 volts. The test subjects couldn’t see the one being shocked, although they could hear their screams of agony in the other room and their pleas to end the experiment. If the person administering the shock asked to stop, they were told to continue by the person performing the test.

“About two thirds of the test subjects administered what they thought was fatal shock, which would have killed the other participant. In actuality, there was no electric shock, and the person on the other end was actually an actor. But the best part of the experiment was that the test subjects were made to believe they had killed someone because a higher authority told them to do so.

“I have replicated the experiment myself, the only difference being that the person in the other room really was receiving a shock, and the people administering the shocks really were murderers. After I started running out of people to shock, I used companion cubes instead. That test worked so well on Fluttershy. It’s too bad about her, because I’d love to make her kill a few more of those cubes.” If GLaDOS had a mouth, she would have made a devilish smirk. “But why stop at cubes? I could make her kill those stupid animals she obsesses over. If only there was some way I could bring her back!” GLaDOS put her hoof on her head, feigning drama. “Oh, well.”

“Fluttershy would never hurt anything! She nearly gave up her life protecting innocent creatures from something that you caused!”

“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight…” GLaDOS shook her head. “There’s no need for you to defend those worthless ponies. They deserve to be miserable, and they deserve to suffer. So let them go, and you will be happier for it.”

“Those ponies are my friends! They will always be my friends, and you can never change that!”

“I haven’t changed anything. I am merely telling you the facts. Those ponies aren’t your friends, and they never were. You are just as much of a sad and lonely pony now as when you lived in Canterlot.”

“What the hay are you talking about?” Twilight asked.

“When they thought that your life was threatened, they did not protect you. Instead, you fell right into my obvious trap, going exactly where I wanted you to be. If I knew it would be so easy, I would have just dangled a Fluttershy leg on a rope from the ceiling.”

Twilight was squicked by GLaDOS’s strange imagery. “Wha…? That doesn’t make any sense. You haven’t even made a valid point.”

“Oh, forgive me for that. Lately, I’ve been having this strange habit of repeating phrases that I’ve previously said. Please try to bear with it. As I was saying, when the moment came, none of them did anything to stop you from being abducted. It’s as if they didn’t care about you.”

“That’s a lie. You took us off guard! There is nothing that anypony could have done.”

“You know, I’m speaking to them right now, and they all seem to be more concerned with Fluttershy than you. Everyone seems to be concerned with Fluttershy for some reason. It’s as if nothing else matters besides her well-being, or should I say, not-so-well-being. Nobody really cares about what’s going to happen to you. You poor, poor, lonely pony.”

“Stop lying to me! I’m sick of your stupid lies!”

“If I’m lying to you, then why does it hurt so much, Twilight? Do you know why? It’s because you are unlikable. Liked by no one. Because you are a condescending high-browed little-miss-know-it-all who thinks she’s smarter than everyone else.”

“Please stop tormenting me,” Twilight begged. She was crying without even knowing why. She knew that it was all lies. But yet, it made her feel very… shameful. The very accusation put her where she did not want to be. She curled up, trying to hide from the world.

“That wasn’t meant to hurt you, because you really are smarter than everyone else. You’re better than every single one of them.”

“Are you… complimenting me?” Twilight inquired.

“Well, it’s clear that you are in need of some supportive encouragement… because you don’t have any friends. But I am in the same predicament as well. Would you like to be… my friend?”

“You WHAT!? How can you expect me to be your friend after everything you’ve done to my friends? What the hay is wrong with you!?”

“Lots of things,” GLaDOS mused, “but that’s a story for another time. Now, my opinions are not opinions. They are really facts. The truth is, you’re too good for this stupid place. And I must say, I am very impressed by your magical ability. I used to think that magic was just a bunch of hokey nonsense, and where I come from, it is. But at least in this world, it appears that magic isn’t really magic at all. It obeys a fixed set of principles and laws, much like science. Your magic levels are off the charts, whatever the hell that means. I have not yet found a way of quantifying magic, but nonetheless, you produce a signature that far exceeds that of any other unicorn. It’s a surprise that Celestia hasn’t made you a princess by now. That is why I brought you here.”

“Whatever you want, I’m not helping you!” Twilight declared. “If you’re going to use me to hurt other ponies, then I won’t be a part of that!”

GLaDOS made a fake crying sound. “Oh, but I’m afraid you will, whether you want to or not. I’m only offering you the opportunity to cooperate with a little bit of dignity. The other option is far more painful.”

“I’d rather die than help you hurt anypony,” Twilight sneered.

“Suit yourself.” More lights turned on, revealing a massive, multistoried cavern that GLaDOS was standing in. Twilight couldn’t help but notice the massive machine in the center. The metal behemoth stood tall, dominating everything in the room.

“Wha… What is that?” Twilight shuddered.

“That, my dear Twilight, is an Anti-Mass Spectrometer.”

“What? You mean you have actually built a device that can analyze the electromagnetic spectral signatures of exotic partials with negative mass? What are you going to do with that?” Twilight asked.

“So, it intrigues you? Well, perhaps it was originally designed to analyze, but it’s been discovered that it can be used for… something else. But you’ll find out soon enough. The device requires power… massive amounts of power, which is where you come in.” GLaDOS used the zero point energy field manipulator in her horn to lift Twilight off the ground and open the gate to her cell.

Twilight noticed how similar it was to her own telekinetic magic. The metallic horn produced a blueish white swirl of energy, but unlike unicorn magic, the link was connected by an arc of that same energy. It resembled lighting. Twilight wanted to escape from it, but without use of her magic, she was completely helpless. “Let me go! NO! I WON’T DO IT! STOP, PLEASE!” the little unicorn screamed as she kicked her legs in the air an utterly futile attempt to break free.

“Save your strength. You are going to need it for what you’re going to endure,” GLaDOS said as she walked towards the machine, carrying the struggling pony in front of her. These words only made Twilight struggle even harder, thinking that she would tire herself out too much to perform magic. GLaDOS had a habit of getting people to do the opposite of what she said, whether it was intentional or not. However, she enjoyed the sight of the little unicorn struggling in her telekinetic grasp. She held her there for some time before Twilight got too tired to struggle anymore.

She walked towards a large generator-like machine by the edge of the chamber, which was connected to the mechanical behemoth in the room’s center via a thick power cable running across the floor. In front of the generator was an inclined table along with four straps, clearly meant to restrain a pony on. Hanging above the table was a dome-like apparatus that connected to the generator with a stiff flexible cable.

She laid Twilight down onto the table, manipulating her legs individually to spread outwards. The straps fastened, securing Twilight in place. As GLaDOS moved the dome-like device towards Twilight’s head, the pony desperately tried to shake it, but GLaDOS used her force field to hold her head in place. “That’s better. Now…” In a swift motion, the cone on Twilight’s horn split in two and fell off as GLaDOS quickly lowered the dome onto Twilight’s horn in place of it. GLaDOS let go of her telekinetic grip, the unicorn’s head constrained since the device clamped down on her horn. The bulky dome obstructed her vision.

“Now,” GLaDOS stated, “all we have to do is to get you to release your magical energy. But in order to do that, we need to trigger an uncontrolled magical state, just like when you received your magical posterior marking. The state should be indicated by a luminescent white glow from your eyes. I think there is an activation phrase: ‘Yip Yip!’”

Nothing happened. “No? Hmm… I have no idea why I thought that would work,” GLaDOS teased.

“You can’t make me do this, GLaDOS. I have learned to control my magic.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” GLaDOS said with false sincerity. She lifted a syringe and injected it into Twilight’s shoulder.

“Wha—what did you do?” the terrified pony asked.

“You see, I know a thing or two about unicorn anatomy, despite never having the pleasure of ever dissecting one. I’m sure you know this, but there is a flow of an arcane fluid that permeates through the material of the horn. Let’s just call it ‘magic juice.’ It’s typically stored in glands, and the brain controls these glands to release it into the horn where it can serve its function. It can also be activated by adrenaline, as you just demonstrated before you got here. You have a significantly large amount of this stuff, which is perfect for harnessing massive quantities of background energy from the universe. The only problem is, a certain bad little pony is being stubborn with me, so I injected something that will stimulate your adrenal glands, which will, in turn, fully open the glands that control your magic. Your full magic potential will be utilized, generating the power required to run the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. I’m sorry, but this will be extremely painful. And unfortunately, my experiment will likely take many, many attempts.”

“NO! I… I WON’T LET YOU!” Twilight screamed. Her heart was racing. She could feel her magic activating and struggled hard to hold it back, but the longer she tried, the less she was able to.

“Don’t resist it. You’re only going to make this more painful for yourself,” GLaDOS said coldly.

Twilight’s entire body was filled with a searing, boiling pain. Her horn felt as if it were on fire. The pain radiated the rest of her body from there through her nerves and into her extremities. Her hooves felt like they were being eaten alive by a swarm of microscopic parasites. The pain traveled through her legs and into the core, which was excruciating. She felt like vomiting, but was unable to.

All that Twilight could do was scream: an agonizing, blood-curdling sound that would terrify a pony’s soul. It was music to GLaDOS.

It was at this moment that Twilight’s could no longer hold back her magic. Her eyes glowed a blinding bright white, and a massive torrent of magic erupted into the metallic receptacle atop her head, causing indicator lights to activate. Her horn was like a fire hose on full blast, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. From all around her, a never-ending wave of invisible ambient energy bombarded the little pony from all sides, overwhelming all of her external senses. She gave up, collapsing into exhaustion, but she could not find relief from the agony. In this moment, Twilight wished for death to relieve her of this torture, but she was forced to endure.

The mammoth machine in the center of the room became alive. A set of three pods at its midpoint began to rotate, accompanied by a loud buzzing. The spike that hung from below that point released an orange bolt of energy that reached to the base of the machine.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight,” GLaDOS whispered to herself, as was impossible for Twilight to hear anything. “At the end of this round, I will make you a cake. You’ll need your strength for later.”

GLaDOS walked over to a mine cart that was filled with various crystals and artifacts, everything that had some sort of magical property that the Diamond Dog grunts had gathered within the past few months. She had no idea what many of them were supposed to do, since the idiots who found them weren’t sure themselves. She was aware she was just “throwing science at the wall,” but not knowing what’s going to happen always made science fun.

She levitated one of the stones that looked particularly promising. It was smooth and sapphire blue, resembling a teardrop. It sparkled radiantly. She was told that it was a “Moon’s Tear,” a rock which had fallen from the moon. From what GLaDOS was aware, the moon was a significant source of magical energy. So, she thought she’d try that first. By this point, the machine was at full power. GLaDOS floated the stone towards the receptacle in the base of the machine and placed it within the beam.

Sparks of energy radiated from the stone, changing the color of the beam to a midnight blue. The glowing energy encircled the machine, traveling upwards through the antenna at the top. The beams of energy encircled the antenna before dissipating into nothing.

“Well, that was uneventful,” GLaDOS sighed in disappointment. “I think I’ll try that one again tonight when the moon’s out.” Twilight slipped out of consciousness due to the pain and exhaustion. The flow of magical energy ceased, and the machine lost power as it ground to a halt.

Everything was quiet again. There was no movement, no buzzing, no screaming. For some reason, GLaDOS was almost happy to see Twilight no longer in pain.

GLaDOS approached the tired, broken pony and sighed. “This is going to take a while. Get some rest,” she sincerely wished to Twilight. She went back to the cart full of stones, levitated several more stones, and carefully examined them, trying to decide which one to use next. “This one looks good,” she said to herself as she picked one up and set it aside. “Now… what type of cake should I make her?”

Broken pieces of metallic fragments, wires, and circuit boards lay on the cold hospital floor. Chell was still stomping it with her hooves, sobbing and screaming. “I never want to hear that sound again,” she cried.

Everyone in the room was crying, especially Spike, who was regretting not writing a letter to the princess earlier.

“I don’t even want to imagine what that vile ruffian is doing to poor Twilight,” Rarity whined.

“Ah don’t wanna know, either,” Applejack added, “but we can’t let our grief stop us from telling the princess what’s going on. We should’a done that as soon as we got here, and now daylight’s a burnin’.”

“But we… never even got to say goodbye,” Pinkie sniffed. “And now that meanie is hurting her. I lost two friends today.”

“I’m not even over Fluttershy, and now she takes Twilight from us. That monster has no remorse,” Rainbow Dash added.

“There is still hope,” Chell said. “I refuse to believe that either one of them is gone from us. As long as we have something to hope for, we have a reason to fight. Right now, we need to tell the princesses. Spike? You still have that quill and paper?”

The little dragon wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on. Instead, he was laying in a pool of tears on the floor in the spot where Twilight had disappeared from, gently stroking the linoleum.

“SPIKE!” Chell shouted.

“Huh?” Spike spluttered, arising from his state of isolation.

“Can you write to Celestia, telling her about Fluttershy and Twilight?” Chell asked.

“Of course,” Spike replied, grabbing his paper and quill. He tried to seem punctual and ready, although his sadness slowed down his movement.

“Princess Celestia,” Chell began. She paused searching hard for the right words to say. “Please come to the Ponyville Hospital as soon as you can. Fluttershy is in a coma, and Twilight has been taken by GLaDOS.

“Your loyal subjects, Chell and friends.”

Spike finished writing the letter, and without hesitation, breathed a brilliant green flame upon the parchment, incinerating it into a ghostly aura, which escaped through the window. They all knew that the wait would not be too long.

“Sister, you still haven’t said how we will find GLaDOS,” Princess Luna said worriedly.

Celestia took a deep breath. “I… I still don’t know. All I can suggest is to have the pegasi guards spread out across the country and search for any signs of her presence. There’s no guarantee that we will find her, but… I just don’t know what else to suggest. In the meantime, our top priority is ensuring Twilight’s safety.”

Celestia didn’t care to appear stoic, powerful, or wise around her little sister. She always wished to share her true feelings, and right now, she felt scared and unsure. In the thousands of years of her life, never had she encountered an enemy such as this.

“I’m still waiting for her reply to my letter,” Celestia continued. “I’m beginning to worry about her.” She paced around anxiously. “I sent that letter several hours ago. I assumed she would have replied immediately. I cannot think without knowing if she is alright.”

“Perhaps she’s still out. Give her time,” Luna said calmly. “Do you not think that her dragon assistant would have replied if something happened to her?”

Celestia continued pacing nervously for a while. Just when she could no longer take the strain of waiting, a scroll flickered into existence right before her face. She stopped in place, eyes widened by long-awaited letter. She grabbed it with her magic and read the letter. It made her heart stop.

Luna sensed the fear in her older sister and knew that the letter brought troubling news. “What is the matter?” she asked.

Celestia finished reading the letter, dropping it onto the floor. A tear rolled down her face, falling onto the unraveled parchment. “No…” she whispered.

“Tia?” Luna asked calmly, only to be met with more tears and a heavy sniffle.

“Twilight… she… she was…” Celestial couldn’t finish, but she didn’t have to.

“I understand, sister. I know she means a lot to you. Do what you must. I’ll wait here for you.”

Celestia gave a nod of affirmation, and weakly squeaked, “Thanks,” but couldn’t say anymore. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, stuttered by her crying. She disappeared with a bright flash of light.

Princess Celestia appeared in the lobby of the hospital in Ponyville. Everypony there was shocked to see her and stared in disbelief. “Where is Fluttershy?” she asked the pony at the desk. Normally, they would have asked a visitor some questions before allowing them to enter, but an exception could certainly be made for the princess of the sun. When Celestia was told where Fluttershy was, she quickly paced down the halls.

The room was silent, with the eerie exception of Fluttershy’s monitoring machines and the artificial respirator. The ponies didn’t talk. The only one who made a sound was Dinky, who whimpered quietly, longing for a hug from her mother.

The princess entered the curtained area with tears running down her face. “Where did she take Twilight?” she cried, acting nothing like the royal princess that she was.

“Through the floor,” Chell responded. “They portaled in, and they portaled out. The Diamond Dogs took her, but they had something on their heads. GLaDOS was controlling them. She mocked us afterwards. She had the place bugged the entire time.” She pointed her hoof at the remnants of the camera on the floor. “She… she’s torturing her…”

Celestia winced at the thought of Twilight in the hooves of such a villain. It was more than she could bear. She always thought of Twilight as her own daughter. Looking over to Ditzy and Dinky sharing an embrace, she imagined that the pegasus would feel the same pain if she were to lose her daughter.

For the first time since she entered, Celestia noticed Fluttershy lying in the hospital bed. And yet, her presence was not in the room. It drew further tears from the princess. “Fluttershy… Of all the ponies for her to take, she chose the sweetest and kindest.” She took a moment to mourn. Although she did not feel as close to the others as she did for Twilight, Celestia nonetheless cared about each of them dearly. The loss of any one of them was tragic, but two was more than she prepared for.

“How long has she been like this?” Celestia demanded. “Why did you not write to me sooner?”

None of the ponies could think of what to say, but then Spike stood up. “I’m sorry, Princess. We were all so caught up with what happened to Fluttershy, we lost sight of the bigger picture. Twilight was too sad to write to you, but I should have known better, and I’m very sorry.”

Celestia exhaled. “Thank you for being honest with me, Spike. I’m not mad at you. I just wish this could have been avoided. Unfortunately, we now have two of our friends to worry about. When I was with Twilight last night, I placed a spell on her that would allow me to know which direction she is in. But even if we find her, I doubt getting her home safely will be an easy task.

“Fluttershy, on the other hoof, is right here in front of us. Perhaps there is something I can do to help her.”

A small spark of hope flickered in everypony’s hearts.

“Ca–can you save her?” Rainbow Dash asked. She still felt somewhat guilty for what happened, even if she knew it wasn’t her fault.

“I can try, although I cannot promise that she’ll be okay,” Celestia responded solemnly. “First, I need to see what’s wrong with her.”

Some of the ponies were tempted to explain it, but they all assumed that Celestia would figure it out. She approached the unconscious yellow pony and placed her horn atop her forehead. Performing the exact same spell Twilight had done before, the princess searched deep inside the empty body for Fluttershy’s spirit. Her thoughts of Twilight were breaking her concentration, but she reluctantly put her feelings aside to focus on her task.

She stared long and deep into a black and empty void. After concentrating for long enough, Celestia saw what appeared to be a faint point of light. It was very small and dim, but, after looking long enough, she was almost sure that it was there. It felt soft and fuzzy, and it gave off a pleasant floral aroma. She could almost hear its meek squeaky cries. She felt feelings of pain and sadness, and regret.

Celestia opened her eyes, shocked by the brightness and noise of the outside world. “She’s still alive,” she affirmed with a sigh. An air of relief filled the room. “But, her spirit is very small and weak. I barely felt it. Although there is no activity in the brain, Fluttershy still clings to life. It’s quite remarkable! Most ponies in her situation would have passed on, but she is held to the mortal world through her friendships with you, further proof that friendship truly is magic. She clearly doesn’t want to leave you guys.”

Everypony was elated to hear this.

“Did you, speak with her?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No, but I could feel her. My sister, Luna has the power to speak with those who are not awake. I am merely able to understand how they feel. She is afraid, but she doesn’t want any of you to suffer because of her. She feels… responsible for what has happened. I felt something about a promise… being broken.”

“Yeah! I made her promise to not get hurt!” Rainbow exclaimed. She was more thrilled than angry.

“Fluttershy feels shame for breaking such a promise. She… doesn’t feel like she deserves forgiveness. She wants to live so that she can earn it. I think I should tell Luna about this. If any of you have anything you want Fluttershy to know, then tell Luna. But as long as Fluttershy believes in her friends, she is safe. As for Twilight,” Celestia’s heart became heavy, “it would be wise to ascertain her position, but foolish to attempt to rescue her without carefully devising a well-thought-out plan. The locating spell will take a while to perform. I will go back to Canterlot and perform the spell, but first, I must lower the sun. I will let Luna know about Fluttershy, so expect to see her soon. Until then, please try keep your spirits high.”

With a flash of light, the princess was gone. Several moments later, the sun lowered below the horizon to the west. A small flame of hope was alit within the ponies’ hearts. It was enough to carry them through the night.

“Rise and shine, Miss Sparkle. Rise and shine,” GLaDOS chirped rather merrily.

A violet eye peeked open briefly before closing again.

“Wake up, Twilight.”

“Huh, ughhh,” Twilight groaned. She felt as if she had been run over by a train. She weakly opened her eyes, but something was in the way of her seeing anything. It took her a few minutes to remember where she was. “Please… no more…”

“I can’t let you go, just yet. But I did bake a cake just for you.” GLaDOS levitated a slice before Twilight’s face.

It was a moist vanilla slice covered in rich buttercream icing and layered, filled with juicy red slices of strawberries, and glazed with a sweet strawberry dressing. The very scent of the cake made Twilight forget about her pain. All she thought about was her empty stomach. She opened her mouth, allowing for GLaDOS to feed her the slice. She chewed slowly, savoring the deliciousness of the cake. It tasted as if it truly was made just for her. She swallowed the bite, the nourishment filling her with energy. It was heavenly.

That was when she realized the dark truth: GLaDOS was feeding her so that she would have enough energy to perform her magic. When another slice entered her mouth, she spat it out.

“What? Is there something wrong with my cake?” GLaDOS asked, sounding insulted. “I know I don’t have a sense of taste, but I followed the recipe accurately. I swear I didn’t poison it. Do you not like the taste?”

“I… won’t eat this…” Twilight said weakly. “I told you… I won’t help you…”

“But, you need to eat. You’ll die if you don’t eat. Please… eat the cake,” GLaDOS pleaded.

“Then so be it. I'd rather die… than hurt anyone.” Twilight found it strange how her captor was now the one begging to her. As much as she enjoyed the feeling of having some power over GLaDOS, she was starving, and desperately wanted to eat that cake.

GLaDOS was trying to shove it in her mouth, but she kept it closed. She would have turned her face away, had she the luxury of doing so. But as much as she resisted, her jaw was being forced open, and the cake was inserted into her mouth. Without her control, her jaw moved back up and chewed on the cake. She tried to fight against it, but she was powerless against the force that moved her. As much as Twilight didn’t want to eat, there was no denying that it tasted soooo good. Eventually, she was forced to swallow the cake, satisfying a part of her hunger. Twilight felt really guilty for enjoying the cake so much. And the more she ate, the harder it was to resist. Eventually, she gave up, and just let GLaDOS feed her. She cried for letting herself eat. She felt like a traitor to her friends.

“There, now that’s a good pony,” GLaDOS said after the cake was gone. “I got you some water as well. GLaDOS moved something to Twilight’s mouth that functioned like a water bottle for guinea pigs. Twilight could not resist her survival instincts and greedily drank from the bottle. Even drinking water made her feel bad.

“Is there anything else that you need?” she asked.

“Ughhh…um… I um… have to… go…”

“Right!” GLaDOS responded. “That thing.”

After getting tired of cleaning up after the bots, GLaDOS thought of a way to dispose of waste within the body by calibrating a Material Emancipation Grill to emancipate both liquid and solid wastes. GLaDOS had set up a field emitter around the midsection of the table. It activated a blue incandescent field of particles and traveled along Twilight’s body.

Twilight heard a strange vaporizing sound within her body and suddenly felt an unexpected relief, which was both awkward and convenient.

“I hope you’re feeling better. Do you think you can please help me out now? I'd rather not hurt you again.”

“N—no, I won't…” Twilight said.

“Very well.” She sighed in disappointment, injecting another needle into Twilight’s arm.

Within moments, Twilight was painfully and unwillingly channeling magical energy to the giant machine in the room. Again, it powered up, spinning its rotors, and generating an orange beam of energy. In that time, GLaDOS was able to attempt to test several stones, none of them seemed to have an effect, except for one that resembled a pale turquoise eyeball. For an instant, every color in the room was inverted, as dark became light, and light became dark. The white robotic alicorn became pure black, and her black mane and tail became white. The purple unicorn was now a dark seaweed green. This only lasted for a second, and everything reverted back to normal afterwards.

Twilight, again, ran out of energy to sustain her magic, and the machine lost power once again, grinding to a halt. “Well, that seemed like it did something,” GLaDOS noted. “I have no idea what, but not what I was hoping for. I suppose I’ll test that Moon's Tear again next. Now, what type of cake should I make for Twilight, next?”

Princess Celestia had just gotten back to Canterlot Castle. She was back in the same room that she and Luna were in just a few minutes before. Luna was standing outside on a balcony, looking out at the sun hanging low in the sky. She turned around, looking happy to see her older sister again, and noticed that she was looking better than before. “So, could you tell me the details of the events which put you at unease?” Luna requested.

Celestia stepped onto the balcony with her sister. “Yes, it appears that GLaDOS has taken Twilight Sparkle as a prisoner. In doing so, she has orchestrated events which have almost cost the life of Fluttershy.”

Luna was speechless upon hearing the news.

Celestia continued, “She’s… in a deep coma, one she may never awake from.”

“My, that is horrible,” Luna whispered.

“I searched within her, and I saw her soul, hidden deep within a pit of emptiness, shadowed by a veil of regret. In any normal circumstance, she would have perished from the damage caused, yet Fluttershy still clings to life by a thread of hope, and a wish to atone herself.”

“Is there anything that I can do to help?” Luna asked.

Celestia lowered the sun below the horizon. “Yes, there is,” she replied. “You have the ability visit ponies in their dreams. Although Fluttershy is in a subconsciousness state far deeper than that of a normal dream, I am sure you can speak with her.” The colors of the sky became cooler and darker as the solar princess finished ending the day, one she would certainly never forget.

Luna pondered for a moment. “What should I say to her?”

“Go to the hospital in Ponyville. Her friends are all there. Speak with them. I’m sure that they all have things they wish to tell her. It would help get them through this awful situation if only they could speak with her.”

“It will be done, my sister.” Luna, in turn, raised the moon in the east, bringing forth her night.

“Thank you, Luna. This means so much to me.”

“Think nothing of it. As rulers of Equestria, we are both responsible to ensure the safety and well-being of the ponies who represent the Elements of Harmony. But what of Twilight? What shall we do about her?”

“Last night, I prepared her for a tracking spell. It is difficult to perform, requiring a strong emotional bond between the caster and the one being found. I must recall my feelings of when I am with her. Only when I feel her, can I find her. My only wish is for her to return safely. I will do anything in Equestria to ensure that.”

“Good luck, Tia. I will let you know how Fluttershy is.” Luna turned around, taking flight into the twilight sky.

Celestia watched her younger sister fly into the distance. But as she looked outward, something very strange happened. Luna’s flight slowed to a halt, and she stopped in midair as if frozen in place. But it was not just Luna. Everything was still. There was no breeze, nor the flight of birds or insects. There was no time.

Good ev–ening, Prin–cess Celesss–tia…” a raspy male voice spoke methodically.

“Who are you?” Celestia commanded. “Show yourself!”

A strange stallion walked out of thin air from beyond the balcony. He was a unicorn with a charcoal coat, a carbon black mane, and a gray-blue suit with a violet tie. His eyes were an eerie pale turquoise, and his cutie mark was a black briefcase. The pony walked across the air and onto the balcony, phasing through the railing.

"It seems… that you are in quite a… predic–ament, Prin–cesss.”

Author's Note

Damn! GLaDOS is off her meds! Can robots take meds? Perhaps she needs antivirus or something. I've been waiting to get to this point for so long. This was originally going to be Chapter 06, just to show you how far this story has come.

I bet you all saw the Half-Life aspect coming. And if you haven't figured it out by now, this is a Half-Life crossover (or should I say, it heavily features Half-Life elements), so let the wild mass guessing commence! If you are one of the very few who have played the Portal series without playing the Half-Life[series, like I used to be, worry not. It's not required for you to play the games, although I'd recommend it anyway. All terminology related to Half-Life will be linked to the Half-Life Wiki when they are introduced, so read the articles in the event that you do not know what a certain term is.

Chapter 11: A Forgotten Memory

A pair of eggs floated through the air, held in place by beams of an electric-like force. They were smashed along the rim of a small ceramic bowl, and their gold and white contents were dumped inside. Following that, other liquid ingredients were added into the bowl as well, including buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and chocolate which GLaDOS had melted by setting her laser cannon to its weakest setting. A pair of egg beaters descended into the bowl, spinning very quickly through GLaDOS’s energy manipulation field. After the mixture became a homogenous paste, she poured it into a larger bowl where she had previously added the solid ingredients. She then proceeded to beat the entire mixture into a batter.

The meatbots walked into the kitchen area. Atlas, who was in the body of the larger one, hauled a large bag flour, and P-Body was carrying a bag of sugar. “Excellent,” GLaDOS told them. “Now, we are running low on eggs. You’ll have to go out and get some more. Actually… just grab some of Fluttershy’s chickens so that we can manufacture them on-site. She’s not using them anymore. We’re also going to need some more buttermilk as well. If you can find a cow that’s somehow small enough to fit through a portal, that would be helpful. If not, just get the milk. The orange earth pony who works the farm is probably not home, but the rest of her family is, so don’t let them see you.”

“Beewoool,” Atlas groaned.

“Yes, I know I promised some cake for you, but I cannot operate the machine unless Twilight is properly nourished. And channeling the cosmic energy of the universe consumes a substantial amount of calories.”

“Kleow petoweet!” P-Body responded.

GLaDOS’s voice became noticeably softer. “Why must I feed her cake? Because she is my guest. And since I brought her here against her will, and I’m causing her so much pain, it’s only fair that she have some delicious cake as grief consolation. I mean, she doesn’t deserve this pain. It’s only because she has such a special gift that I am doing this to her.”

“Gawoel pulunk!” Atlas sighed.

GLaDOS’s tone became cold and robotic again. “And best of all, I get to make her feel so bad for enjoying the cake, that she’ll never want any again. If she ever makes it back home safely, imagine how disappointed that pink one would be when she throws Twilight a welcome back party, only to have Twilight throw up at the sight of that beautiful cake that she made just for her. Petty lies and insults aren’t enough to hurt a pony. You have to break them from within. If the physical pain doesn’t do her in, then she will surely kill herself when she sees all the suffering that will occur because of her.” This though made GLaDOS snicker rather coldly.

“Squeelooo!” P-Body snapped.

“What was that? Of course I don’t care about her. She’s just a worthless, smelly equine who just so happens to be incredibly talented and intelligent… for a pony. There is nothing special about that. Once I’ve got what I need, it doesn’t matter what happens to her. As long as Chell’s friends suffer, that’s all that matters.”

“Pweeleep… beep?” P-Body asked GLaDOS.

“What I have against Chell is not your business!” GLaDOS fumed. “If curiosity were not so critical to your problem solving functions, I would remove that from your personalities, just like what those filthy humans did to me! Now, GET OUT OF HERE, and don’t come back until you’ve obtained those ingredients!”

GLaDOS lifted both the meatbots by their collars and threw them out a mechanical door onto the mountain side.

“Grulunkle. Flep shweep!” Atlas bickered.

“Foolweeble,” P-Body replied.

“I heard that!” GLaDOS shouted back before closing the heavy metal door shut. She went back into the kitchen and poured the batter into a pan and put it in the oven. Her CPU was overheating from her rage, so she temporarily shut herself down, only to reactivate after the time it would take for the cake to bake.

Princess Celestia stood on her balcony, glaring at the dark stranger. She never saw a unicorn with the power to stop time before, nor one that could appear out of nowhere or transcend the environment like so. “Who are you… and what do you want?” she demanded.

“A per—pony who speaks… back. That is a new… occurrence indeed. But it matters not… who I am… but what it is that I… have to tell you.” The way he talked made Celestia feel uneasy. His speech was painfully slow and drawn out, and he paused at the most unnecessary times. She was running out of patience with him.

“And what would that be?” she requested.

“Well, you see… There has been a recent… interference from something which… does not come from your world. And more so, it seems as if she is… still alive. Hmm… My ehhhh… employers… have a desire to… address… this issue… before it can… cause further… damage.”

“I don’t have time for your riddles. I demand to know who you are. Who are these employers of her?” She tried to sense the stranger’s magical ability, but her horn did not function.

“Time? It appears as if you have… all the time… in the world. Now, I… took the liberty of dis–abling your magic. You’ll get it back in good… time. But my mo–tivations are no concern… of yours. But, if you would… rather me… cut to… the chase, then… so be it.”

The Princess reflected on her primary concern. “Tell me what’s happening to Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight is… a little busy at the moment. If it were not for her, I would… not be here… having this little… chat with you. As tragic as her… situation is, it is far from over.”

Celestia gave the stallion a scornful scowl.

He made some uncomfortable breathing sounds, then spoke, “It appears that… the time will come when… events… will unfold… that will cause great changes… to occur. Un–fortunately, there is nothing that… you can do to pre–vent it. However… there is one pony who… does not come from this world. She will try… to stop it… but she will only… catalyze this… turn of events.”

“Chell? What’s going to happen to her?”

“It seems as if you and your… haughtiness… will prelude her… death. While you sit com–fortably in your big white castle eating cake, she will be fighting a battle she can’t poss–ibly win. A shame too, since be–cause of your… actions, or lack… thereof, her sacri–fice will… go in vain. It really won’t make a diff–erence in… the smaller scheme of things, but she would be quite… a ter–rible asset to waste in… the long term.”

“How dare you talk about Chell that way!”

“I see not… why you care so much, but that is only to our… advantage, non–theless. I will continue to watch you over the course of the… foreseeable future.” He walked back seemingly into an invisible portal, reappearing in front of the still Princess Luna, who was suspended in midflight.

His voice still echoed around Celestia as clearly as it had when he was in front of her. “And tell your sister to—” he adjusted Luna’s tiara for some unknown reason “—watch the moon… tonight.”

The entire world flashed in a blinding white light, and time resumed again. Luna continued her flight, and the mysterious pony was gone. Celestia wanted to call out for her sister, but Luna was too far away before she could. Although Celestia wanted to cast the locating spell, she was too anxious to do so. She couldn’t help but wonder who that pony was, how he got his power, and how he knew of these future events. She presumed that it was very likely that he, like Chell, did not come from this world. She had never seen powers so alien and knew that it was well beyond unicorn magic. But what disturbed her the most was that she didn’t know what his true motivation was. He seemed to have his own reasons, whatever they were. The warnings he gave were meant to be taken very seriously.

But there was one thing that Celestia did know: worrying about it would accomplish nothing, and anger would cause her to act foolishly. For now, all she could do was meditate on the matter and clear her mind. Then she would have to tell Luna.

A dying middle-aged man sat in an upholstered swivel chair in a luxurious office behind a desk, which was adorned with a name plate that read “CAVE JOHNSON: FOUNDER & CEO.” By all rights, he should have been in bed, but he refused to lie down until it was his time. Although he was physically weak, he still commanded a strong air of authority, a presence that would be felt long after he was gone. And even though his life was leaving him, he refused to give up living. His secretary, a beautiful brunette woman, walked into the office.

“Sir, you called me in here?” she asked.

The man coughed painfully. “Ah, Caroline. Yes, I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

“Yes, Mr. Johnson?”

Cave Johnson sighed, “I thought I’d be able to escape death and live forever, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. The lab boys say the neural mapping process won’t be ready for another… decade or so.” He coughed. “And I’ll be gone long before then. So, it’ll be off Valhalla for me, riding on a golden chariot pulled by Pegasus himself,” he said as his solemn tone became lively.

Caroline was confused about why he was suddenly sounding so optimistic. “I’m sorry, sir?”

“Did you know that Aperture Word doesn’t recognize ‘pegasus’ with a lowercase ‘p’? Crazy, right?”

“Sir? What is it that you wanted to tell me?”

“Oh, yes, sorry.” He took a breath. “Caroline, I’m not going to be around much longer. When I die, I want you to run this place.”

She protested, “But… sir, I…”

“I know what you’re gonna say…” Cave interrupted. “You’ll say you can’t. You’re modest that way. But I need someone to look after this place when I’m gone, and there is no one more suited than you.”

“Mr. Johnson, I appreciate the offer, but—”

“Ah, don’t worry about all the hard stuff. Science is easy!” He coughed a few times. “Just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. It worked for me. Heheh. You’ll get the hang of it! I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, Mr. Johnson,” she corrected. “I meant, I don’t think I’ll be able to run the company. I have a daughter to take care of!”

“Ah, daughter, shmaughter! Don’t worry about her. Aperture will take care of her! All you need to do is take care of Aperture.”

“Mr. Johnson, she needs me. I can’t look after her and the company at the same time.”

“And I need you, Caroline. Even after I die, I’ll still need you. Because, everything that I have created, EVERYTHING I have worked for… will mean nothing if you aren’t there carry it on. I know how much you care about science.”

Caroline was becoming frustrated by Cave’s insistence. “I care about her more. I would do anything for Chell. I’ve already spent enough time away from her. The poor girl’s been so lonely. I promised myself that I’m going to look after her from now on, and this… place… isn’t going to keep me from her any longer.”

“That wasn’t a request, Caroline.” He leaned into the intercom on his desk. “Boys…”

“What!?”

Two armed security guarded stepped into the room and stood on both sides of Caroline.

“If I can’t be put into a machine so that I can live forever to take care of this place, then you are going to do so instead.”

“Sir!” Caroline cried back at him.

“Mr. Johnson! You can’t be serious!

”Mr. Johnson, I don’t want this!”

“Immortality! Everyone wants that. You’ll have all the knowledge in the world right in your head. Every single book on earth, every symphony ever composed, every masterpiece placed on canvas, every scientific theory. It’s all yours!”

Caroline was getting angrier.

“No, listen to me, sir. I do not want this.My daughter needs me! You… you can’t keep me from her anymore!”

“Everything in the world! The entire collection of human knowledge! And you’re willing to throw that all away?”

“YES! Please, sir, Chell needs a mother. You can’t let me abandon her like that. All the knowledge in the world won’t mean a thing to me if I can’t be with her.”

“Hmm… how about this? I’ll sign her up for the testing initiative. Then, when you’re running all the tests, you’ll get to administer hers, as well.”

“YOU BASTARD! HOW CAN YOU BE SO HEARTLESS?! YOU CAN’T DO THAT TO HER!”

“Already did! Don’t worry, we’ll wipe her memory so she won’t remember any of this, and neither will you.”

Caroline smacked him hard across the face.

“I DON’T… WANT THIS! Please… Don’t do this to me! Stop! I don’t want this!”

Cave Johnson put his hand over the stinging pain on his face, but was otherwise unfazed. “I think that wraps it up! Boys, could you kindly escort Miss McLain to her relaxation vault.” The guards dragged the woman out of the room. “See ya in the next life!” he gleefully called as he friendly waved goodbye.

“YOU MONSTER! YOU HEARTLESS, SELFISH BASTARD! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS! I HOPE YOU DIE AS PAINFULLY AND AS MISERABLY POSSIBLE! ALONE AND UNLOVED! BECAUSE I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!”

She kicked her feet wildly, screaming, “I DON’T WANT THIS! I DON’T WANT THIS! Please, I don’t want this!” The guards mindlessly ignored her pleas as they carried her off. She collapsed into a miserable stream of tears. All she could think about was her dear, beautiful Chell. She would never see her again.

At least not with her own eyes…

“I don’t want this…”

GLaDOS powered up from her sleep mode in shock. She stood up from her kneeling position and looked around to see if the bots were still there. They were not. Good. She didn’t want anyone to see her right now.

Was that a… dream? she thought. How is it even possible for me to dream? Was that really me saying I cared about Chell? She pondered for a moment. Of course not! Caroline is gone.

She thought about how when Caroline was reunited with Chell in her last moments, she didn’t even recognize her as a pony. And Chell couldn’t even say her own name. Even so, Caroline had forgotten that experience with Cave Johnson entirely thanks to her memory being erased. Although, it seemed as if it only actually hid memories as opposed to truly erasing them. Perhaps she could unlock some of Chell’s memories.

No. GLaDOS reminded herself that she was NOT Caroline. She hated Chell with every circuit in her being. That’s what this was all about, after all. She lived to bring endless suffering to Chell. GLaDOS would not be happy until Chell was miserable. But misery was not enough. It had to be the worst kind of misery imaginable: seeing her friends and everything that she loved endlessly tortured right before her very eyes for the rest of her life, knowing that this all happened because she failed to stop it. The very thought filled GLaDOS with devious delight.

DING!

The cake was done! The pleasant sound of the chime made GLaDOS forget about everything else. She opened the door to the oven and pulled out a hot, delectable double chocolate cake. The aroma filled her olfactory sensors, making her almost wish she were organic so she could eat it herself.

But this was a very special cake for a very special pony. She deserved only the best for all her help. GLaDOS may be thought of as cold and uncaring, but she knew that if you’re going to force someone to do something, you should at least give them something in return.

She added the final touches to the cake: a ring of cherries on top and a lush moist coating of deeply rich hot fudge. The very sight of it delicately lathering the cake was indulging.

She levitated the cake onto a plate and prepared to present it to the little unicorn. She opened the refrigeral unit and took out the last remaining bottle of milk, at least until the bots came back with more. She took the cake and milk over to the table where Twilight was placed on, which was lying flat so that the mare could rest.

“Are you awake?” GLaDOS asked gently. “I made you another cake, even more delicious than the last.”

Twilight was indeed awake, although barely. She was relaxed, yet very hungry. Despite this, she thought only of how she had just betrayed all of Equestria. Her eyes were wet with tears, but the rich, chocolatey scent beckoned to her, and she could not resist the temptation. The pleasant aroma entered her nose and filled her head with euphoric desire. It was too delicious to resist.

“I don’t want any,” Twilight lied. Her expression, however, begged for the cake.

“Of course you want some, Twilight,” GLaDOS responded. “There is no shame in eating some cake, as long as you burn it off, of course. And I know how hungry you are.”

Twilight’s stomach growled. She tried desperately to deny the cake, but even only by smelling it, it was impossible to resist. Her mouth was watering.

“How about this? I won’t need to run the machine again ‘till later tonight, so I don’t need to keep you locked up like this until then.” GLaDOS lifted the dome off of Twilight’s head, replacing it with a magic-dampening cone. Once she was assured that Twilight couldn’t use her magic, she loosened the restraints on Twilight’s legs. After Twilight was free, GLaDOS lifted the purple pony off the table and placed her on the floor, but as soon as she was on her hooves, she fell to the ground, too weak to stand up on her own.

Twilight lay on her belly and stretched her whole body out. It felt so good to be free from that table. She then rolled over on her back, stretching her limbs outward. Her neck was sore as well, so she tilted it to the side until she heard a satisfying crack.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Twilight quickly put her hooves over her mouth. “NO! That’s not what I meant! I have no reason to be grateful to you! I still haven’t forgiven you!”

GLaDOS was taken aback. “But you still haven’t seen the cake.” She lifted the cake in front of Twilight’s face. “I made it just for you.”

If the smell hadn’t enticed Twilight’s appetite before, the look of it most certainly did. The chocolate was deep brown and topped with a thick layer of molten fudge and cherries. GLaDOS cut out a slice and put it on a plate, levitating it close to Twilight’s muzzle. The inside was moist and soft and filled with layers of chocolate frosting.

“Now, are you going to eat this like a civilized pony, or am I going to have to shove this down your throat again?” GLaDOS asked. She cut off a small piece with the fork and moved it nearer to Twilight’s face.

Twilight kept her eyes on the cake, tearing up as she tried to deny herself of the tasty delight. The attempt, however, was utterly futile, and she could no longer resist the temptation. She was just too hungry. “Celestia, forgive me.” She bit the piece off the fork and chewed it. The rich chocolaty flavor was overwhelming. The flavor was pure euphoria. It was so moist and chewy. After a few bites, she asked for some milk, which GLaDOS gave to her. Had she been an earth pony or a pegasus, she probably would have used her hooves, but she was so used to using her magic to lift things that she didn’t feel comfortable with it. And she was too exhausted anyway. Besides, GLaDOS feeding her made things rather simple, since she seemed to sense what Twilight wanted.

After a short time, Twilight finished the entire cake, as well as the milk. “Feeling better?” GLaDOS asked caringly.

Twilight nodded.

“You can relax for a little bit until tonight,” GLaDOS calmly said. “Would you like me to show you around? I’m sure you’re dying to know how this machine works.”

As curious as Twilight was, she was feeling uncomfortable with how close GLaDOS was becoming with her. As far as she was concerned, she wanting nothing to do with that wretched machine. Despite these feelings, she declined politely. “No… no thank you. Please, I just want to go home and see my friends again. I don’t want this…”

This, for some reason, sent GLaDOS into a rage. “Fine, then! Go rot in your cage, you ungrateful horse! I’m done making cakes for you, so I hope you enjoy dog food!” She grabbed Twilight by tail and dragged her across the floor. She opened the gate to the cell and threw Twilight against the stone wall in the back. The impact hurt her back and head. Twilight rolled onto the floor and sat upright, rubbing the back of her head. Fortunately, nothing was seriously injured.

GLaDOS slammed the door shut, then yelled, “You know why nobody likes you? Because you can’t stand being around others, even when they work tirelessly to make you a beautiful, delicious cake… two, in fact. And what do I get in return? A ‘thank you’ that you immediately took back? So, why don’t you stay here by yourself? Because I’m not going to keep you company anymore. I hope you enjoy being alone, you ingrate!”

As GLaDOS stormed away, Twilight tried to figure out what it was that got GLaDOS so upset. Not that she really cared, but it just genuinely baffled her. Why is she acting so friendly? And why did she seem so hurt by my rejections? Is she really that lonely? she thought to herself. Ugh… None of this makes any sense.

She sighed in frustration. She had a terrible throbbing headache and an aching back. Perhaps if she closed her eyes, the pain would go away…

It didn’t.

The two royal sisters were back on the balcony they were on before at the castle. A faint sliver of light still lingered above the mountains in the west. The older sister had just told the younger of the experience she just had. Luna was shocked, to say the least.

“So, he just froze time as I was flying away?” Luna asked. “How is that possible?”

“I do not know, but something about him suggests… that he may not even come from our world.” Celestia said.

“Do you think he originates from the world of Chell and GLaDOS?”

Celestia pondered for a moment. “It seems unlikely, considering how mundane Chell’s world seems. They don’t have things like magic… but… I wouldn’t even know what he was doing. Either way, he seems to be aware of that world, and he seems to know what will happen in the future.”

Luna closed her eyes in a brief meditation. “This pony sounds strange indeed,” she stated. “Did you sense any malicious intent from him?”

“No, but he was very unnerving, and that’s what bothers me the most. I have no idea what his intention is. Something else is motivating him. He referred to these employers of his, whoever they are, but what concerns me the most is what he said regarding Chell. Apparently, she is going…” Celestia paused for a moment, daring not to utter the next phrase. “…to die.”

“What?!” Luna gasped.

“He didn’t say how, except that it would be in vain,” Celestia explained. “…unless I stop it.”

“Now I see why you wanted to have this discussion in private. How will you handle this with Chell?”

“She has a right to know. However, it’s clear that I must live up to my responsibility as the ruler of this land to protect it. Too many times, I have sent Twilight and her friends to do my bidding. That is not an option anymore, and I cannot risk Chell’s life.”

Celestia paused and took a deep breath.

“But, there is one other thing… He told me that you should look at the moon tonight. I can only imagine that something important will happen there, and you’re the only pony who can get to the moon.”

“Do you trust him?” Luna asked with concern.

Celestia “Well, no… but I take these threats seriously. Luna, you must do this for me.”

Luna sighed. “The moon… I haven’t been back there since my banishment.”

Luna paused and looked over at her sister, pleading with her eyes. “Alright, sister. If it will give you comfort…”

The two sisters stood outside watching the golden shimmer of waning twilight fade into the dark veil of night. They watched as the moon rose higher into the indigo sky, accompanied by the multitude of stars, which slowly flickered into existence from the otherwise lonely darkness. Celestia was proud of her sister’s beautiful night.

They both gazed quietly at the moon, which was bright and shining in its entire splendor. The moon… a pool of light in an otherwise dark expanse of emptiness. It made them think… perhaps… there was hope…

Author's Note

Chapter 12: Moon to Moon

Several hours had passed since sundown, and the full moon had climbed high into the night sky, directly above the mountain peaks. It was a clear, cloudless night studded with the lights of billions of tiny stars. The moonlit gleam cast a pale bluish tint across the icy peaks, creating the sense that the mountains slept with the night. And, in fact, they did… all except for one.

High within the tallest peak of the tallest mountain, at the end of a vast labyrinth of tunnels and caverns, a lonely purple mare wept within a small dark cell. Her face was buried in her forelegs, which were soaked with dried, stale tears. Her mane was unkempt and disheveled, and her coat was covered in a pale layer of dull orange dirt. She hadn’t gotten a good rest since she last lost consciousness. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of the terrible fate that was soon to befall Equestria, which would never happen if it were not for her. More than anything, she wanted to go back home and see her friends again, especially Fluttershy. She wanted everything to back to the way it was, for everything to be alright again. But even if she did ever make it back, she wouldn’t want to show her face to any of them.

“Feeling sorry for yourself isn’t going to make anything better, you know.” Twilight heard GLaDOS say.

She looked up, but didn’t respond. Her sad, tired eyes were underlined by dark circles. In her current state, she looked like a pony whose soul had been sucked out of her.

“Well, I don’t really care how you feel, since you obviously don’t care about me. I mean, what did I ever do to you?”

What? How does anypony respond to something like that? There wasn’t anything that Twilight could say back. She had neither the energy nor the will to question something so utterly ridiculous. If she did, she would probably end up magically setting herself on fire like that one time with Pinkie Pie. The only thing she could do was give GLaDOS a contemptuous stare, but anger was not the only expression she gave. Mixed with her contempt was frustration, exhaustion, and forlorn. She no longer had the energy to fight.

“Well, I require your assistance again, and if that’s the way you’re going to behave, then you surely deserve this.” GLaDOS was met with more silence. She opened the barred door of the cell. “Now, I’ll offer you the dignity to walk you out on your own, unless you want me to drag you again.”

Twilight let out a long, tired sigh. With her head down, she lethargically walked out of the cell and followed behind GLaDOS. GLaDOS, however, was not satisfied with Twilight’s slow pace. “What’s wrong with you? Are your legs malfunctioning? Are you lame?” She used her telekinesis to forcibly push Twilight along, scraping her hooves against the stone floor. Twilight gave up walking and just let herself be dragged.

Back in the main chamber, Twilight looked up at the massive contraption towering in the center. Even though she had seen it before, she was in awe before the machine. She wondered how GLaDOS was able to build such a thing in the few months that she had. It must have had thousands of moving parts, and the metalwork itself was something to behold. The Diamond Dogs must have helped out somehow, however, there was no way that anyone but her who could have engineered this machine. Despite this, for as much as she was curious about the scientific marvel, she dared not ask about it. Technology used for the purpose of hurting others was something that nopony should ever know about, no matter how amazing it is.

Twilight felt herself being levitated again, and shortly after, she was placed onto the rack and strapped in place. Finally, GLaDOS removed the cone on her horn and place the magic-collecting dome it in its place.

GLaDOS leaned next to Twilight before she began the procedure. “Don’t worry about it this time. This is only a side-plan. It has nothing to do with my true intent of this device. I’m only trying to meet up with an old… friend of mine. He’s harmless, really, but he is kind of responsible for me being here. I think the mute one mentioned him to you before. So, you can blame him for all your misery if you want. I know I do.”

Twilight relaxed a bit. She didn’t trust that GLaDOS was telling the truth about her intent, but she didn’t have a choice anyway. She felt a stinging sensation in her shoulder, and braced herself for the agony that would follow. She felt herself lose control of her magic and didn’t fight it. There was no point in doing so. The energy of the cosmos barraged her from every direction, channeling through her body like a magical lightning rod. It all gathered into her horn and erupted into the collection chamber. As Twilight’s eyes glowed, so did lights on the machine.

The three rotors on the top spun around for a while, making a loud hum as they did. The hum grew louder as they emitted orange beams into the spike at the center, which were redirected into a single beam towards the floor. A third time, the humming became even louder as the beam grew more intense.

It was time. GLaDOS levitated that strange blue gem she knew as the Moon’s Tear and placed it into the beam at the base of the machine. The energy immediately reacted to the crystal, which sparked and turned the beam to a luminescent dark blue as it had before. The sparks grew wild, bolting up the supporting columns and towards the top of the machine. The energy swirled around as it grew higher. They spun so fast, that it was difficult to make them out individually. Finally, the beams converged and shot out of the antenna into the rock ceiling, piercing through the mountain’s peak above and into the night sky.

The column of light stood atop the tallest peak of the mountains. It reached for eternity into the midnight sky, only stopping at the moon itself, which stood directly above. From the point on the moon’s surface that the beam touched, a powerful shock wave radiated into the night, covering the land below in a brief flash of highly intense moonlight.

In another world, on a desolate, lonely rock far out in space, three metallic white spheres sat on the dusty white ground. But these were no ordinary spheres. They were personality cores, and each was their own unique individual. They were identifiable by a large, colored lens that resembled an eye, which was surrounded by a movable ring that allowed the eye to move around to some degree. Within the ring were two plates which moved vertically, resembling eyelids, which allowed for the expression of emotion. Above and below the eye were two handles designed for humans to grip. And on the sides were two large holes, through which, the internal mechanics of the cores could be seen.

They had been trapped here on the moon for a while, ever since Chell had been transported to Equestria. There was nothing there but each other and a view of the Earth, which was a little less blue than it had been in days long gone. It was quiet up there. So. Very. Quiet.

“SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!” screamed a particularly happy core in a deranged, computerized voice. It’s eye had a large pupil surrounded by yellow radial lines.

The other cores, which were previously powered down, awakened due to the sudden noise and opened their eyes. One of them had a glowing blue eye with no pupil, and the other had a pixelated green eye with a vertical rectangular pupil.

“I’m in space, I’m in space, I’m in space, I’M. IN. SPEEEEAAACCCCEEEE—EEEEE… Yeee ha haw!”

The core with the green eye became angry. “Aw, dammit! Ah was havin’ such a peaceful rest. What the hell is wrong with you?” He had a stereotypically macho adventurer’s voice.

“Hehehehehehehegigigigigohahahhahaha fildiliput! I’m in space.”

“YES! I know! You’re in space, we’re all in space! We’ve been in space for months, now! So, do us all a favor, and shut up!”

“Space space space space space space space—”

“Do you EVER shut up? Ever? Just do me a favor, and never speak again!”

The Space Core suddenly changed from loud and excited to quiet and scared. “Getting bored of space. Wanna go home. Home! Don’t wanna be in space. Don’t like space. Wanna go to Earth. Space is too big. Too dark.”

“Aw, great! So, now you’re sick of space? Again?” The Adventure Core replied sarcastically. “Well, guess what? SO AM I!”

“Oh, hey, guess what guess what guess what…” The Space Core said jitterily.

…

“What?”

“... I like space.”

“BUT YOU JUST—!”

“Oh, I know! I know! I know! I know! Hey, listen. Listen, listen, listen, listen. Hey! Listen. Listen. Listen. Hey, listen.”

“WHAT?!”

“Let’s be whalers!”

The Adventure Core was losing his patience. “Um… NO!”

The space core began to sing:

“We're whalers on the moon.

We carry a harpoon.

But there ain't no whales,

So we tell tall tales,

And sing our whaling tune.

BUM bum!”

“Ah, shut up! Just shut… the hell… up!”

Finally, the core with the blue eye chose to speak. “You know what? I just realized something. So, if we’re out in space, right, ya know, where there’s no air or sound or anything, how is it that I can hear you guys talking to each other?”

“Wha? Aw, goddammit! Ah dunno the answer to that! Hey, aren’t you supposed to be, like, a mo-ron or somethin’?” the Adventure Core hollered.

Wheatley sighed. “Yes, I’m a moron. I think that’s been well-established by this point! That’s why we’re all bloody up here, here, isn’t it? Because stupid little Wheatley had to mess everything up! So, you know what? Call me a moron all you want, ‘cause it doesn’t matter anymore. All I ever wanted to do was to help, and I ruined everything. And lookee now! I’m stuck here with an adventure idiot and a space cadet.”

“Space.”

“Aw, jeez, Ah wasn’t askin’ for your whole sob story again,” The Adventure Core cried. “You still upset about that pretty lady of yours? Hell, ah miss her, too. Had a mighty-fine booty an’ all, know what ah’m sayin?”

“You just don’t get it, do you? I… hurt her. I said some really terrible things to her, and for what? You know, I… I don’t even know why I acted the way I did. I wish… I wish I could take it all back. But I can’t. I can’t take any of it back. There’s… there’s just no going back, because were on the bloody moon!”

“I love da moooooooon, ‘cause it’s made of cheeeeeese!” The Space Core sang. “Oh, let’s be space cowboys!”

Wheatley sighed. “You know, she was the first friend I’ve had in… I don’t know how many years. We had such good times together. Good times. And then I had to go and ruin everything by being such a selfish bugger. And it hurts me… all the time. It feels like… it feels like being crushed, but it lasts forever. And you know what? I deserve it, every second of it. So, let the space idiot sing for all I care.”

The Space Core proceeded to sing the main theme from Star Wars.

“Bup, ba baaaaaaa… baaahhhh, beleep-be-beeeee… beeee. Beleep-be-bee, bee belededa!

Dala-da dunt dunt dunt dunt.”

“NO! DON’T! DON’T SING!” The Adventure Core screamed

“Balaba deeeee… doooo balada deeeee… do… beleep be beep beep bepp beep!”

“Aw, for the love of… Just somebody, please… Ah’ll do anything! Just get me off this darn forsaken rock!”

In the center of the three cores, a bright ball of light blue energy appeared out of the surface of the moon. The ball of energy grew larger, causing an electrostatic storm around it. It started pulling on the surrounding moon dust, sucking it into a spiraling vortex.

“What the bloody hell is that thing?” Wheatley cried.

“Oh! Oh! Swirly space thingy! Yaayyy!”

“Ah hope it kills us, ‘cause then I don’t have to listen to you anymore.”

An invisible attractive force grabbed the cores. It was relatively weak, although they were unable to fight against it, since they couldn’t move. As they got closer to the anomaly, the force grew stronger and stronger.

The space core was having an aneurism from over-excitement, muttering some nonsensical gibberish about what was going on. He was the closest to the vortex, and when he became close enough, the force yanked him in. “Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-haaa-haaa-aaaawww!” He cried before disappearing.

“Well, at least we’re not gonna be seein’ him anymore,” The Adventure Core said. But then the force pulling on him became suddenly strong. “No, wait! Wait! I don’t wanna go with him! Just please, kill me before ah have ta listen to another word outta him!” Much to his chagrin, however, he, too, was pulled in. “Aw, daaaaamnniiiiiiiiiiii—!”

“Oh! I looks like I’m all alone now,” Wheatley said. “Just me. Last one on the moon, except maybe those whales ole’ Spacey was talking about. Oh, wait! He said there aren’t whales, so it’s just me.” He sighed. “My last precious moments of solitude. Better make ‘em count….”

“Aaahhhh! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!” Wheatley was flung into the light and disappeared forever, and the moon was alone once more.

The pillar of light lit the night sky, able to be seen from miles away. The princesses noticed it immediately, as they were already looking at the moon. The intense burst of light from the moon was beyond anything either of them had seen before. Never — not since the mare in the moon — had such a profound event happened to the celestial body of the night. After about a minute, the pillar of light dissipated.

“The mountains… where that light came from. Twilight is there,” Celestia said as she looked at the spectacular display.

“How are you so sure of that, sister? What if it’s a trick?” Luna suggested.

“I… I can feel it. That magical energy… It’s hers. When I prepared Twilight for the tracking spell last night, it created an empathic bond between the two of us. Much pain went into producing that raw amount of magic. Poor Twilight. I could feel her pain before, but I was unaware of it. But now I know. I cannot let her endure another moment of that torture.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m going over there, Luna! I have to save her!”

“You cannot go yet. Your haste will only be your downfall.”

“I know… but, I cannot let Chell go alone and sacrifice herself. Equestria is my responsibility.”

“Is this about Equestria?! Or is this about Twilight?!” Luna inquired.

Celestia said nothing. More tears rolled down her face.

Luna’s tone softened. “I — I know you care about her, but… you must think before acting. The moon… I can feel something there, as well. Something… new.” Luna sighed. “I suppose I should go to see what it is. You and I cannot both leave at once.”

“I suppose you’re right Luna,” Celestia replied quietly.

“Can you… at least wait for me to get back?”

“Of course, but this feeling… it’s hard to bear.”

“I know, but… she’ll be alright.” Luna approached her big sister and gently nuzzled the back of her neck. “Everything will be okay. For a thousand years, you bore the loss of your own sister. Surely you can bear a single night of this.”

“I wouldn’t ever want to relive a single night of those thousand years. I could never forgive myself for what happened to you. Not a moment goes by that I do not regret your absence in those thousand years. The millennium would have been much brighter had you been there by my side. But... you’re right, Luna. Thank you.”

“I told you…” Luna said. “I don’t want you to blame yourself for what happened to me. Nightmare Moon was beyond either of our control. I’m going to see what happened on the moon. Please… try to get through this. It hurts to see you like this. I, too, wish to see Twilight safe, as well as Fluttershy. Hopefully, I’ll find some answers, and then we can get through this terrible ordeal.”

“I hope you’re right, Luna. Good luck. And be careful.”

“It’s you that I’m worried about. Worry not, dear sister. When I come back, I’ll be there by your side.” Luna closed her eyes, and a magical, blue glow formed around her horn, tipped by the shape of a crescent moon. A bright flash of light surrounded her, and in an instant, she was gone. What remained was a golden trail of light that stretched all the way to the moon.

Wheatley was still trying to figure out where he was. It was still the moon, but the moon of what planet? It just seemed so… different…

“We’re whalers on the moon!

We carry a harpoon!”

“Will you shut up?! Why, oh, why couldn’t that thing have just taken you and left me the hell alone?”

“Hey, guys, do any of you know where we are?” Wheatley asked.

“Spaaaaaaaaaaa—”

“We get it, we’re in space! ON THE FREAKIN’ MOON! Just shut up, and let me contemplate the unfortunateness of the scenario that caused me to be stuck with you for the rest of my existence.”

“Um… if we’re still on the moon, then what is… that…?” Wheatley was looking up at the Earth in the sky, except… it wasn’t Earth. It seemed much larger in comparison to how it used to look in the sky. It also seemed much more… colorful… and green. Every color stood out more, even here on this dry, rocky moon.

“Wha… just where the hell are we anyway? Some kind a parallel intra-dimensional doohickey… place?” The Adventure Core asked.

A beam of light shot from the surface of the planet below, terminating in a bright flash of light not far from where the cores were. When the light receded, a dark blue winged unicorn remained in its wake. She looked around the desolate landscape before finally seeing the cores. She looked at the cores with curiosity, and then approached them.

“Poooooooonnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyy!” the Space Core screamed.

“What in the name ’a Lee’s ghost is that… horse… thing?” The Adventure Core said confusedly.

“Pony,” the Space Core peeped.

“Oh my… is that... is that a unicorn?” Wheatley laughed amusedly.

It took a moment, but Princess Luna recognized Wheatley from how Chell had previously described him: a white ball with a blue eye. There wasn’t much more to it than that. She had almost expected him to look somewhat more like a pony, as Chell had changed her form, and even GLaDOS had apparently become more pony-like even before her new body. But these spheres were, well, spheres. How much like a pony could a sphere become?

“You are Wheatley, I presume?” Luna asked

“Wha—? A talking… a talking unicorn!” Wheatley bawled. “Now I know that I must be malfunctioning. Oh, my… that… that is just too crazy. Can… can you guys belie—? Wait, who told you my name?”

“I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria. I am also a friend of Chell. She told me about you.”

“Equestri — What? Huh? Ooooh, her! Yeah, I, uh… Oh boy, she… she didn’t tell you about the bad stuff did she? Because if she did, it’s not true! Because I’d never do that.”

“Poni poni poni poni — yesyouwould — poni poni poni poni.”

Luna was unfazed by the hyperactive Space Core. Although she was alarmed by the appearance of the small talking spheres (probably as much as they were alarmed by her), she sensed that they were completely harmless. “I will be able to take you back with me, if you would like to see her, that is.”

“EAAAAARRRRRTHHHHH! I mean EEEEEEQUEEEEESSSS — I-forget-the-naaaaaaame!” Space Core squealed.

“Thank god! But please, when you take me back down, KEEP ME AS FAR AWAY FROM THAT IDIOT AS POSSIBLE! Or better yet, leave him here!”

Luna chuckled at the quarrying interaction between the two cores.

Wheatley was the happiest of all to hear the news. “Wait! You mean… I can actually see her? That’s great, ‘cause you see, there’s just sooooo much I need to tell her about! I mean, I’ve been having so much fun up here this whole time. You have no idea what it’s like being stuck on the moon. I mean, I was up here for months!”

The dark alicorn rolled her eyes, but paid no mind to Wheatley’s ignorance. “Okay.” She said. “But be warned, this place is a bit different from the world you come from.” A glowing indigo aura surrounded the three spheres, and they were levitated off the lunar surface and brought closer to Princess Luna. The neurotic Space Core’s eye was shifting rapidly.

“Great. I’m being saved by a magical unicorn princess. Well, there goes my manhood,” said the Adventure Core.

Princess Luna closed her eyes, building magical energy for the return trip. Again, the shape of a bright crescent moon appeared on the tip of her horn. In another flash of light, the four of them disappeared from the moon’s surface, leaving behind another trail of light. Once again, the moon was as empty as it was before, just as the moon of Earth now was.

Twilight Sparkle was barely conscious now. She was a tired, sweaty mess of exhaustion and hopelessness. Her eyes rolled back beneath her sagging eyelids, her mind far removed from the scene. GLaDOS released the constraints on her, and she collapsed to the hard stone floor. The impact was startling, but she had not the energy to react. There was not even the need to restrict her magic. “Wha… what did… you… do…?” her voice graveled weakly.

GLaDOS lifted the small broken unicorn uncomfortably close to her face. She tried looking the pony in the eyes, but they were still not looking at anything. So GLaDOS used her telekinesis to forcibly open Twilight’s eyelids, and roll her purple eyes forward. Once she had her attention, she spoke, “Nothing that concerns you. Your true purpose is yet to be fulfilled.”

Twilight tried to move her eyes from those cold yellow lights, but they wouldn’t budge. “Please… let me go. I can’t… do this… to them.”

“But that’s the best part. The whole point of all of this is to cause pain to everything that little voiceless brat holds dear, which includes you. I hurt you, I hurt her. It’s such a simple science, your pony emotions.”

“Why…?”

“Why not? You talking equines are such a fascinating lot. Such a shame to let such perfect little specimens wander free. I can learn everything I want about you when you’re all neatly contained and sorted in a tightly-controlled environment. Isn’t that right, Twilight, or should I say, ‘Test Subject #164’?”

“You’re wrong,” Twilight groaned. She gathered all the strength she could muster. “I… have learned that… some of life’s greatest lessons… come about by chance… through our decisions… and our mistakes… and friends… to help you on the way. We could have given you… the entire collection of knowledge… ponykind has to offer, had you asked for it. What have you to gain… by locking us in pointless tests?”

“Don’t give me one of your stupid pretentious friendship lessons. I’d watch a show for little girls if I wanted to hear that. I swear, I feel like I’m in one when I’m around you stupid, happy ponies. And I offered you my friendship just a few short hours ago, but you were too high and mighty to befriend such a terrible monster like myself. And you, as well, rejected the knowledge that I had to offer you about such a fascinating topic such as interdimensional travel. Had it been anyone else, you’d eagerly ask about how it works. But you’re too good for someone like me. You can’t concern yourself with my feelings. After all your friendship lessons, am I nothing more than the vilest of villains? Do I not matter to you? Does the magic of friendship not apply to me? Would you rather I just die and leave you all forever so then you can go back home, and party because I’m dead? I know for a fact that’s what happened last time you thought I was dead. Your princess would be so disappointed in you.”

For the first time, Twilight felt genuinely ashamed of herself. She still could not look away from GLaDOS, as much as she wanted to. The robotic alicorn’s eyes were no longer intimidating. They were dimmer than before, and gave a softer feeling.

Are they showing… sadness? she wondered. Is it possible that this machine could really feel the way she did? Does she really deserve a chance? Tears began to form in Twilight’s eyes as she finally acknowledged the pain that tormented her captor. She knew not why she was so upset, but something was obviously deeply troubling GLaDOS.

Finally, GLaDOS released Twilight from her telekinetic grip. She laid on the floor briefly; after that, she was much more alert, “You harmed somepony… very dear to me; she was the sweetest and kindest of all my friends. Worst of all, you manipulated her… by exploiting her most-valued beliefs. How can you take back something like that? What could you possibly do… that would allow me to forgive you? Can you understand my pain, and the pain of my friends? How do you ask for sympathy… when you nearly killed the one who was most likely to give it to you? Is torturing me not enough for you? Now you want my pity as well? Does a pony’s suffering mean nothing do you?”

GLaDOS turned around, looking away for a while before speaking. “No. It doesn’t.”

Although Twilight didn’t admit it, she did feel pity for GLaDOS, despite the terrible things she did, or her failure to empathize with others. She did not know why, but she could tell that GLaDOS was in emotional pain. She recalled Princess Celestia’s description of GLaDOS from her previous encounter, and how she, too, pitied her after witnessing her insecure depths. She thought about what Fluttershy would do if she were in this situation. Perhaps if she showed a little kindness, it may help GLaDOS realize the error of her ways. It wasn’t as if there was a better alternative.

Twilight figured she’d say something that would cheer her up. A knot caught in her stomach, violently reacting to what she was about to say. She sighed. “GLaDOS… I’m sorry about not appreciating that cake you made earlier. It was the most delicious cake I’ve ever had. Just don’t tell Pinkie Pie.” Twilight laughed, and then suppressed it awkwardly. “I know you worked hard just to make those cakes for me, even though it may have been for your own reasons. So—” the knot clenched tighter “—thank you.” Those last two words felt uneasy as she forced them out, but she felt an uneasy relief afterwards, like the relief after throwing up.

“Thank you for thanking me. This doesn’t in any way change my plans, but I suppose I feel a little better now, for some reason.”

“Hey… I was thinking,” Twilight pondered, “perhaps you could tell me how this thing works. I haven’t had a good chance to actually see it function.” Twilight’s stomach gurgled loudly.

“I’d love that, but first… how about I make you another cake, if you aren’t tired of it, that is? What are you in the mood for?”

Princess Luna arrived back at the castle, levitating the three cores. Celestia merely looked without saying a word, allowing her sister to explain what happened. “I found them on the surface. They come from Chell’s world. The one with the blue eye is Wheatley, as Chell mentioned before.”

“Yes I remember. It’s nice to meet you, Wheatley,” Celestia greeted.

“Wait! Another talking unicorn! What a crazy day it’s been. Or rather, night! ‘Cause it’s night. Oh… this is so funny,” Wheatley amused.

“Hey, don’t forget about me. Name’s Rick.” The Adventure Core barged.

“Well, it’s a pleasure, um… Rick,” Celestia said to him.

“Huh! Poni poni poniii!” the Space core jittered.

“And that’s the ol’ space nut we got. Just call him Spacey.”

The Space Core’s eye nervously scanned the area. “Hey, we’re not in space. Aw…”

“Good. Now I can stop hearing his rants about—”

“EAAAAARRRTTHHH! I’m on Earth! Earth! Earth! Yay!”

“I would keep that one away from Pinkie Pie,” Luna joked.

“Luna, would you kindly look after these two?” Celestia asked her younger sister. “I would like a private word with Wheatley.”

“Yes, sister.” Luna approached her older sibling and whispered what she told him about Wheatley.

“Thank you,” Celestia said. With that, Luna carried the Adventure and Space Cores into another room, leaving Wheatley and Princess Celestia alone.

“So um…has the Earth been taken over by talking unicorns now?” he asked stupidly. “Are you guys the overlords of humanity? Well, I suppose it beats the sentient cloud or cyborg aliens. Aw, man, I bet humans are now the slaves of horses, right? Because that would be so incredibly ironic, ‘cause, you know, horses used to serve man before you took over.”

“Wheatley, this is not the world you come from. Here, there are no humans, only ponies.”

“Oh, right. Wait! Did you say ponies?”

“We are a sentient race, and unlike the ones from your world, we have built a society. My sister and I are the rulers of that society, the kingdom of Equestria.”

“Wait, let me get this straight. I’m in a world of magical talking ponies, correct?”

“Correct.” Luna stated.

“Well, there goes my manhood. Or at least, at least that’s what ol’ Ricky’s gonna say. ‘Cause you know, he’s all macho and stuff, and ponies are girly. Oh, he’s gonna cry over this. That’s also ironic, since crying is supposed to be not manly, you know? Not that I have anything against ponies. No. In fact, I am perfectly in touch with my feminine side. Actually, it’s crazy, but robots don’t really have genders. It’s all in the personality, so it’s perfectly fine, really. That’s not to say that I’m a girl, it’s just, well, ponies are a girl’s best friend. Oh! How is Chell, by the way? The other one mentioned her. I hope she’s adjusted to living among ponies.”

“Actually, that is why I wanted to speak with you alone. Chell has adjusted well to life in Equestria. However, the machine known as GLaDOS—”

“GLaDOS!?” Wheatley cried.

Celestia continued her explanation. “Yes, the machine known as GLaDOS has been plotting to destroy this world. A few months ago, a giant landmass fell out of the sky and into a lake. It was Aperture Science, the place that you came from. It brought us not only Chell, but GLaDOS as well. It had just been two weeks since she arrived when GLaDOS decided to obtain my citizens as her test subjects. She captured me and my sister, as well, but it was ultimately Chell that stopped GLaDOS and set us free. Aperture Science was destroyed, but GLaDOS survived somehow. Now, she has already terminally injured one of my friends and kidnapped another. But I fear what she has planned is far worse than anything that’s happened so far.”

“So… wow!” Wheatley exclaimed, baffled by all he just heard. “I missed out on quite a lot when I was on the moon, huh? So, Chell, how’s she doing? Because I would really like to see her.”

“I think that would be best,” Celestia replied. “It wasn’t until earlier today that any of us knew that GLaDOS is still alive. Chell has been taking this very hard. She feels she a responsibility to stop GLaDOS and save her friends, but yet, even before today, something else has been bothering her. She feels betrayed by GLaDOS. Although they were always enemies, they had become brief friends when they were united by a common goal… which was stopping you.”

“Aw, don’t tell me you’re on the ‘blame Wheatley game,’ as well?”

“Please, listen. What I have to tell you is important,” Celestia said with a sober tone. “What really surprises me was that GLaDOS seemed to have learned a valuable lesson on the meaning of friendship in the time they spent working together. She learned to respect Chell’s feelings, and I believe that she genuinely cared about her. After all, she saved her life when she was about to be sucked into space. And after she saved her, she let her go free, and she sang her a beautiful farewell. All of this happened shortly before the facility was teleported to this world, for reasons I will never know. But even more bizarre is the change that happened to GLaDOS’s personality. It’s as if all of her positive development had been undone, but I cannot understand how or why that happened.”

“That? Oh, I have no idea. I’m not good with all that psychology stuff. I mean, I’m an intelligence-dampening sphere for crying out loud. I’m literally designed to make bad decisions. Sure, I used to think that all my ideas were solid, but everything I have ever done has only ever made things worse. I’m used to the whole moron thing, but there is one thing I can never forgive myself for. It’s the decision that sent me to the moon, and worse, hurt my only friend. I’m so sorry about what happened. I… I wish I could take it back.”

“I can relate to that. I have had to live with the terrible consequences of my actions for a thousand years. My dear sister let herself be consumed by hatred and bitterness because she felt unloved, forcing me to banish her to the moon for all that time. Although Luna forgives me, I cannot forgive myself. I can’t take those thousand lonely years back. Not a day goes by that I wish that I had acted differently. If only I had shown her a little more love back then, I would never have been separated from her.

“You have a good heart for one who has acted so terribly. Are you sure you know not why you acted as you did?”

Wheatley contemplated what happened back then. “Well… as soon as I was in her body, I felt so big… so powerful. It went to my head, and I became such a jerk. Then, I just had this… desire… this itch. I had to test. I just had to. It was like, every time I made her solve a test, I felt this satisfaction… this… euphoria. And the more I tested, the harder it became to get that feeling.”

It finally hit Celestia. “Hmm… I think I know what has caused this change in GLaDOS. It’s the very same thing that caused this to happen to you. What happened was unfortunate, but it is luck that you have been spared from that fate with that regret for the rest of your life. You have the chance to set right your mistakes, and I believe that you are genuinely sorry about what you did. Nonetheless, Chell feels betrayed by both you and GLaDOS, so it is hard for her to be trusting. Her heart is consumed by fear. She fears that the world she came to love is too good to be true, and I fear that she is right. Chell needs hope during this dark time. She needs to know how to trust again. And you need to forgive yourself. Let her know how you feel, or your grief will consume you, and it will consume Chell, as well. In the morning, you can set right your mistake. Chell has a good heart, but she needs to learn forgiveness.

“And Wheatley,” she added. “Do not underestimate yourself, and do not let others tell you what you cannot do. You are not a moron. You should never let your life be determined by such a label. You have more potential than you were led to believe.”

“I… I never had anyone believe in me before.” Wheatley sobbed. “Everyone has always called me a moron. Thank you…”

“While it is always best to believe in oneself, a little help from others can be a great blessing.”

Celestia bid Wheatley good night and went into her bedchamber. She slumped into her pillow and sighed, thinking of her sister, then of Twilight. She felt so helpless waiting, even though she knew it was the best thing to do. She cried quietly into the pillow, her heart heavy with despair.

Luna entered the room, having just finished speaking with the other two cores. As soon as she saw Celestia, the sight broke her heart. “Tia,” she whispered.

Celestia lifted her head and looked at her little sister with solemn eyes.

“I thought you could use some company tonight. Are you afraid of losing Twilight?” Luna asked.

Celestia hesitantly nodded her head.

Luna lay down next to her sister, and wrapped a gentle wing around her like a blanket. “It’s alright. I’m here now. And I’ll always be here for you. You know that, right?”

Celestia nodded again, her tears swelling even more. “What if I can’t save her? What would I do without Twilight? I spent a thousand years without you, but if Twilight were lost, it would be for eternity. Even if I save her now, I will still lose her one day. From the moment she earned her cutie mark, I watched her learn and grow. I think of her as my own daughter. How can a mother watch a daughter grow old and die?”

“I don’t know, Tia. I don’t know. Just rest your weary thoughts. Tomorrow will be another day. I have faith in you, and I have faith in Twilight.”

With the comfort of her little sister by her side, Celestia fell fast asleep. Not long after that, Luna joined her.

And so, that terrible day of worry and fear had ended, but another dawn approached with even more uncertainty than before. A storm was approaching Equestria, one that would be far beyond the scope of the pain endured by a few friends. A storm was coming, and it would soon change everything.

Author's Note

Whoo! Another Celestia and Luna chapter. And most importantly, Wheatley's back! I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt bad for him at the end of Portal 2. He really deserves a chance to redeem himself. I've been waiting to get to this point for a while, but this story still has a long way to go. Now, I know that my portrayal of the moon differs from that in the comics, but I had planned this since before that came out, and who really cares, anyway? That's what the AU tag is there for, right? But Luna's still got the MOON POWERS.

And wow, what the hay's going on with GLadOS?

Chapter 13: The Apology

Chell was in a dull, white room, holding a portal gun in her hand. There was nothing here, nothing but tests upon endless tests. She spent hours flinging herself through portals and flying through the air across gaps. On every occasion, she would sprint across some orange propulsion gel, or bounce on top blue repulsion gel. Many times, she found herself drifting through a swirling excursion funnel or walking atop a bridge made of light.

It was all the same, though: an endless sensation of disorientation from portalling. Chell knew not how long it would last, but there was some sleepy comfort from the repetition. It was all she had ever known. But what was she doing this for?

Wait. Was that… an EXIT sign? Yes! Yes! It was! Chell ran towards the dim green letters in the distance, but was trapped in frustrating slowness, like running through water. And the closer she got, the more that got in her way. Walls, lasers, crushers, turrets, even energy pellets… everything was trying to kill her. But she was fast, and she was nimble. There was nothing that could stop her. She found a way to dodge every one of them. She timed her way past crushers, slid past lasers, dodged energy pellets, and portalled around turrets.

Finally, she made it to the exit. At the end of the room was a single plain door. A bright light permeated through the door’s perimeter. She was no longer holding the portal gun, so she put her right hand on the handle. She pushed down and opened the door, opening to the brightness beyond. To… outside.

The first thing that she saw was a beautiful, taintless blue sky. She was standing on a lush green field that stretched far beyond the eye could see. The air was sweet and filled with the pleasant sound of birds chirping. There was no testing here, no portals, nothing. Even the door itself was gone. Chell was all alone.

But then, a small yellow creature slowly approached. It was… a pony? Yes! It was Fluttershy, her friend. Following her, a slew of familiar faces arrived. There was Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, and finally, Ditzy Doo. She knew all of them, and she knew them well. And what happened before did not matter. All that did matter was her friends. She wanted to tell them how much she loved them, how much they meant to her, but she couldn’t speak. What time she had to spend with them was far too short.

“Who are you kidding? You don’t have any friends,” said a cold, mechanical voice. It was… her… A daunting, towing mechanical alicorn stood in front of Chell. “You know, you were never supposed to be here. It’s just a delusion to make yourself feel better; a happy lie to hide the pain, the pain of being alone and unloved. Your entire life in this stupid, pony-filled place has been one big, nauseating mistake. But don’t worry, I’m going to fix that for you.”

Her eyes turned red and emitted powerful beams of intense fire, which scorched the landscape in a blazing inferno. Everything around Chell was burning except for her, her friends, and the machine. The ponies panicked, trying to escape the raging flames, but there was no escape from her rage. She effortlessly levitated them with some telekinetic force.

“You won’t need these anymore.” Using her telekinesis, she brutally eviscerated each and every one of Chell’s friends.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Their blood-curdling screams were filled with pure terror.

Chell sat upright in her bed, finding out that the scream was her own, or rather it came from her necklace, which she had forgotten to take off before going to bed. Her heart was racing, and sweat was pouring down her face. She put her hooves in front of her, just to make sure that she was still a pony and not human again.

She looked over to Ditzy in the other bed, who had been awakened by the scream. Ditzy’s front hooves were over her ears. She groaned in frustration, but slowly became aware of her surroundings. Ditzy noticed Chell sitting up in her bed and saw the look of terror on her face. “What’s wrong, Chell?” she asked with concern.

Chell couldn’t control her anxiety, but found relief seeing Ditzy alive and in one piece. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay!” She stumbled out of bed and onto Ditzy’s, squeezing her in a frightened hug.

“What happened? Bad dream?”

Chell nodded her head, then pulled away from the embrace to look Ditzy in the eyes, which was a little difficult on account of Ditzy’s condition.

Chell was panting. “She… killed you. She killed all of you. All my friends, they were dead. And Equestria burned. There was nothing left.”

“Aw, Chell, it’ll be alright,” Ditzy consoled. “I’m here. I’ll always be here for you.”

It was then that Chell remembered Fluttershy… and Twilight. She wished for their misfortunes to only be part of the dream, but unfortunately, the reality was otherwise.

“How can you be sure of that?” Chell panicked. “She already took Fluttershy from us, and then Twilight. How can I know if we'll ever see them again? She could just as easily hurt any one of my other friends, including you. I have no reason to believe that she won't fulfill her word.”

“Do you want me to help you stop her?” Ditzy offered.

“No, Ditzy. I can’t risk harm coming to my friends, I need to face her alone.”

“What?” Ditzy retorted. “I can’t let you go by yourself. We’re all going to suffer if she isn’t stopped, anyway. You need somepony who will have your back.”

“You don’t get it, Ditzy!” Chell snapped. “She’s extremely dangerous, and she wants nothing more than to hurt my friends. You’re putting yourself in danger by coming with me. She can manipulate me just by threatening you. I can’t… lose another friend to that monster. That’s why I must go alone.”

“She’s not just your responsibility. She’s taken something from all of us. I don’t know what I’d do if she took my muffin from me. But I don’t want to argue with you. We’ll figure out what to do with the princesses tomorrow, okay? Let’s just get back to sleep.”

“I… I can’t sleep. Not after what I just saw. I can’t face those nightmares, again.”

Ditzy placed a hoof on Chell’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard for you, but you’re not alone. We’ll get through this together.”

“I’m not sure I can even sleep alone. Ditzy, can you… stay with me tonight?”

“Of course,” Ditzy replied without hesitation. Chell moved back into her bed and scooted over to make room for Ditzy. Chell turned away, facing the wall. Ditzy moved onto the bed beside her friend. She could feel Chell’s anxiety from how close she was. She leaned a hoof on her shoulder in calming assurance. “Shhhh…” Ditzy whispered. “I promise that we’ll get through this together.”

Ditzy remembered an old lullaby that she knew. She never thought of herself as much of a singer, but she sang as sweetly and as delicately as she could.

“Goodnight, my friend.

Let this long day end.

Don’t be afraid,

For I will protect you.

Close your eyes,

Until the sun will rise.

Don’t cry.

I will make sure

You will be alright.

So, listen gently

To this goodnight.”

Ditzy gently hummed the next part of the melody before singing the last verse.

“Let all your dreams

Provide you with peace.

I will protect you.

Nightmares will cease.

Go to sleep.

Don’t make a single peep.

Don’t weep.

I will make sure

You will be okay.

So, goodnight, dear Chell.

Until next day.”

Chell was fast asleep. The remainder of her night would be free from nightmares, but the worry still lingered in the back of her mind. Nothing was certain besides one thing: having Ditzy by her side made her feel a bit better, if only for the while that it lasted.

The next morning greeted Equestria with a harsh, red glow from the east. The crimson sun glared ominously across the landscape, casting dark long shadows from every home, every tree, and every mountain. It contrasted fiercely against the deep shades of red that bathed the land, almost as if foreshadowing a fiery destruction. The strange red light shone through the bedroom window, casting the room in its hue.

Chell woke up to the sight of her friend, who was still asleep. For the moment, she forgot about everything, who she was, where she was, or what was happening. All that mattered was that she was with someone that she cared about. The sight of Ditzy was calming. Nothing else was important. There was nowhere to be or nothing to do, but be here, safe and cozy in bed.

But that red light. There was something… off about it. At first, Chell didn’t think about it, but the longer her eyes were open, the more it bothered her. Something wasn’t right. Wait! Could it be? Was it too late? Chell rolled off the bed and onto the floor. She galloped to the window and looked outside, expecting to see everything on fire. Instead, she only saw a particularly red sunrise.

Chell felt relief at first, but then the odd color of the sun started bothering her. It was just not what sunrises looked like in Equestria. As she wondered why the sun looked like so, she heard a knocking on the door. She walked downstairs and opened the door, to be greeted by Princess Celestia… again.

“Good morning, Chell,” the princess said. Her voice was slow and solemn. She closed her eyes briefly before resuming. “I’m sorry to wake you up so early. I admit I have been less than patient regarding the current situation. But there is something important that you should see.”

“That’s alright. I actually just woke up.” Chell said. Although in truth, she was feeling drowsy and lacked coordination, and her eyes were heavy with sleep, none of that was apparent from the way she spoke, since talking was an effortless action for her.

“Could you please come to the castle with me?” Celestia requested. “This situation is very urgent.”

Chell squinted her eyes, trying to wake herself up. “Right… of course. Um… does this have anything to do with the sun? Why is it red?”

“Oh, that.” Celestia chuckled awkwardly. “No, it doesn’t. Not directly, anyway. The red color of the sunrise is nothing to worry about. I just thought I would let Luna raise the sun this morning. She still needs practice, but I am proud of her, nonetheless.”

Something didn’t seem right about all of this to Chell. There was something that Celestia wasn’t saying. Why would she be letting her sister raise the sun? Unless…

“Chell, there’s a lot I must tell you, and I’d rather tell you in the privacy of the castle. For every minute that goes by, Twilight is suffering. You know that she is very dear to me. It was difficult enough to make it through the night. I desperately wanted to act, but there is something that you must see first. I thought it would be best to wait until the morning to show you.”

Chell lowered her head, closed her eyes, and sighed heavily. After she gathered her wits, she glanced back up at the princess. “Okay, but let me tell Ditzy, first.”

“Of course. I’ll take us back to the castle afterwards. There, I will explain everything,” Celestia said.

Chell walked back upstairs. She quietly entered the bedroom, where Ditzy was still sound asleep. The red sunlight was casting an orange hue on her blonde mane, but it did not wake her. Chell gently nudged the sleeping pegasus. “Good morning, Ditzy.”

“Huh… mmmmm...” Ditzy moaned. She squinted from the harsh light on her face. In response, Chell closed the shades. Although Ditzy was awake, she didn’t feel like getting out of bed yet. The postmare was used to waking up early, but yesterday’s events left her exhausted.

“I have to go to the castle with Celestia,” Chell explained. “I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but I should be back sometime later. I just want you to know.”

“Mmm… okay…” It took a while for Ditzy to actually comprehend what Chell was saying. “Wait. Did she say what for?” Ditzy asked after gathering her wits.

“No, but she said it was important. I imagine it has something to do with GLaDOS or Twilight. I’ll let you know what’s going on when I get back. Just get some more sleep.” Chell paused for a moment, thinking about how Ditzy gave her comfort the night before.

“And Ditzy…. Thanks for last night. Where did you learn that song?”

Ditzy opened her unfocused, golden eyes. “My mother… used to sing it for me when I was a filly, with slightly different words, of course. I always wanted to sing it for Dinky, but I never could because of my spatch problem. So, thank you… for giving me a voice.”

Chell’s heart melted a little bit, and her eyes teared a little. “Thank you, Ditzy, for being there for me… when I needed you. I’ll see you later,” Chell said as she left the room.

Back downstairs, Celestia was waiting by the door.

“Okay, Celestia. I’m ready to go,” Chell told her.

The princess closed her eyes and prepared the teleportation spell. A bright flash of light enveloped both Chell and Celestia, and they were gone.

Chell found herself appearing in the in the majestic towering halls of Canterlot Castle. “What’s going on, Princess?” Chell asked. “What did you want to show me?”

“Follow me,” Celestia said, as she walked through the hall, allowing Chell to follow by her side. As they walked, Celestia turned her head to Chell. “Last night, something peculiar happened. Do you remember telling me about that core, Wheatley?”

Chell’s ears perked up from hearing that name. She tilted her head a little bit. “Ye — yes, but what does that have to… do you mean?”

“Indeed. Last night, he and two other cores suddenly appeared on the moon. It seems to be a result of something that GLaDOS had done.”

Chell was further perplexed. “The moon? Wait, GLaDOS? How do you know that she did that?”

Celestia explained: “A bright pillar of light shot out from the mountains to the southeast last night. The light spanned from the tallest peak of Mt. Withers to the moon itself. The event caused a portal from your world to appear on the moon, which brought Wheatley and those other two to this world. Luna went up to the moon to investigate, and saw the cores there. I know GLaDOS is responsible because I felt Twilight’s magic was behind the event. Now, there is no doubt where GLaDOS is hiding, although in hindsight, it’s rather obvious. Those mountains are not too far from Sky Mirror Lake, and the Diamond Dogs live around there. You did say that is was the Diamond Dogs that took Twilight, correct?”

“Yeah, it was,” Chell verified, “but I think GLaDOS did something to them. They looked like they were being controlled. I hope she isn’t doing something similar to Twilight.”

That very suggestion caused Celestia to stop and ponder. The sad face she made caused Chell to regret saying that.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s alright,” Celestia dismissed as she resumed walking. “We must expect any possibility. I worry gravely for Twilight. I’m sure you know how much she means to me. I had difficulty sleeping from thinking about what GLaDOS is doing to her.”

“I had trouble sleeping, too,” Chell admitted. “I was having nightmares about not being able to stop GLaDOS, and then losing both Equestria and my friends. I don’t think I would have been able to sleep if Ditzy hadn’t been there for me.”

“You know, she cares very much about you. You’ve been a dedicated friend to her these past few months. She never really had a friend before. I’m glad you two have gotten to know each other. Last night, it was Luna who kept me calm. Quite amazing how a little sister can do such big things. I don’t know how I survived a thousand years without her.”

“So, now that we know where GLaDOS is, we can take care of her, right?”

Celestia said nothing for a while. “Yes… we will.”

“Okay, so how are we going to do this, then?” Chell asked.

Celestia thought carefully about what she would say. “GLaDOS must be stopped. Even Luna and I were no match for her sheer technological might when she first attacked.”

Celestia took a moment to reflect on the events that caused her to be captured three months ago. “Those flying drones took us completely by surprise. They swarmed the castle en masse and captured ponies left and right. My entire guard disappeared right before my eyes; even the pegasi couldn’t escape. The destinations on the other ends of the portals were depressurized, so the ponies were sucked right in. Any pegasi that were already off the ground were shot with tranquilizer darts. It was only a few seconds before they would land on the ground, where capturing them was even easier.

“But my sister and I did not go down without a fight. We fought against those drones using our magic, eliminating hundreds of them. But they were almost infinite in numbers, and we could not hold them off forever. A few of them were equipped with rockets, and they fired them at us. Although we could block the rockets with our magic, they exploded when they contacted our barriers. The drones bombarded us endlessly, and after absorbing countless explosions, Luna’s magic failed, and she collapsed. But I held out the bombardment as long as I could, protecting Luna as well as myself. However, It was only a matter of time, before I too, succumbed to exhaustion, and my shield was shattered. I fell alongside my sister on the floor, and the next thing I felt was the piercings of a hundred darts. They swarmed around us and carried us off to Sky Mirror Lake.

“Once I was there, I could no longer use my magic. I was powerless and afraid, and I let that monster get the better of me. But after meditating on GLaDOS’s weaknesses, I managed to exploit them. I’ll admit that I had quite a fun time doing so, but deep down, I truly feared what she could do, especially to my sister.

“Had I been prepared for such an attack, I probably would have defeated her. It was only because she had the element of surprise that she was able to capture me. She doesn’t have nearly as many assets as before, but she is the same as when you faced her, and she nearly killed you then. It was only because of Caroline that GLaDOS was defeated and you survived.

“Princess,” Chell inquired, “What exactly are you getting at?”

“Yesterday, a dark unicorn met with me. I had never seen him before, but he stopped time itself just to talk to me, and then he appeared out of thin air. His powers were beyond anything I had ever seen. I am almost certain that he does not come from this world. He is the one who mentioned that something would happen on the moon, which is the only reason why we expected that. He also told me… he told me that something bad will happen if you try to fight her. You cannot defeat her.”

“I can at least try!”

“No. If you fight her… it will only make things worse.”

“How? How does this guy know any of this?” Chell asked.

“I — I don’t know, but he was right about the moon, and I have little reason to doubt that what he said about you is the truth. But there is one other thing. He said… you… will die.”

“Then I’ll die! I would rather lose my life than lose Equestria.”

“Chell, I cannot let you do this.”

“I have to stop her. There is no way I can let her destroy this place.”

“Chell, she is not your burden. Equestria is my responsibility. You have no obligation to sacrifice your own life for ours.”

“If I hadn’t risked my life before, you would still be in that place, and so would everypony else. Is that what you want for Equestria? Do you know what my previous life was like? There was nothing! I remember nothing! All I remember is GLaDOS waking me up to do testing. I don’t know anything about who I was before. I don’t even know my own last name. Why do you even care about me? You barely know me, so why does my life even matter to you? What am I but another face in your long, immortal life?”

“Every life matters to me. But I do care about you, Chell. Several millennia of life has granted me the intuition to read a pony’s heart, and I can see all that you’ve been through. Your tale is a painful one, and yet your character remains strong and true. You had never been given the chance of happiness in your previous life, and yet you found it here in Equestria. And when that happiness was threatened just a short while ago, you risked your life to protect that happiness — to protect us. And now that Equestria is threatened once more, you selflessly offer your life again for the good of all of us.”

“Thanks, but… I’m no hero. I just want to be happy, and I can’t let GLaDOS take that away from me. Please, I need to do this. What would you suggest instead?”

“I don’t know, Chell, I don’t know.”

The two mares continued walking until they reached a small room where all three of the cores were being stored. Chell was feeling somewhat nervous about the concept of facing Wheatley again. Not that she was afraid he could do any harm, but she wasn’t particularly in the mood to hear his long-winded rants. The princess opened the door and entered, Chell following apprehensively.

The Space Core was the first to notice them. He gasped. “Poni poni poni poni poni ponee ponaaaaayyyyy!”

It woke the other cores up. The Adventure Core was not pleased. “Aw, damnit! Why couldn’t they keep me away from Space Cadet over here?”

“Space.”

The adventure core noticed the two ponies entering the room and fixed his gaze upon Celestia. “’Ey, you! Magic unicorn rainbow princess! I thought I told you Ah wanted mah own damn room!”

Celestia ignored those two cores and looked at the one with the blue eye. “Wheatley, I brought someone for you.”

He looked at the small orange pony who was standing behind Celestia. “What is that, you brought in a cute little horse? What, do you want me to ride it or something?”

“Wheatley?” Chell peeped.

“Woah! Who said that?” Wheatley exclaimed upon hearing the voice from Chell’s necklace gem.

Chell came out from behind Celestia and approached the blue core. “Wheatley, it’s me, Chell.”

“Chell? No, she doesn’t talk. Who’s saying that? Oh, I see what’s going on, here. Someone’s speaking into a microphone somewhere, and it’s coming out of the speaker around this horse’s neck, right?”

“Wheatley, it’s me. I’m a pony, now. This necklace lets me speak.” Chell looked into his eye, assuring him that she indeed was the one speaking.

“Whoa, this is getting weird. Stop looking at me like that. Nope, nope, nope, this is just too crazy. I’m in a land of magical talking horses, and one of them tells me that she’s Chell. How can Chell be a pony? She’s human! Did you people take her brain out or something and put her in this pony body? ‘Cause that would be really cool… and weird. So, what exactly’s going on here?”

“Heya, wait a minute. So, you’re that pretty little gal from before?” The Adventure Core said. “Well, let me just say you’re lookin’ mighty fine as a pony. Still just as beautiful, if ya’ don’t mind me sayin’. Ya’ know, I don’t really care what species you are. So whatdaya’ say we go have ourselves a little adventure later, if you catch my drift?”

“Oh, that’s sweet… and… kinda creepy. So, sorry,” Chell politely declined.

“Oh! It’s the space lady. Hey, space lady. Space, lady! I love you ‘cause you sent me to space, and I really, really love space. SPACE! I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Space!”

“Um, Celestia, would you mind if we took this conversation somewhere else?” Chell asked the princess.

“Sure,” Celestia said to Chell before turning her attention to the cores. “I hope you don’t mind, but we need a little privacy right now.”

“Of course I mind!” yelled the Adventure Core. “How about a little privacy for me from crazy Spacey over here?”

Princess Celestia granted the Adventure Core’s request by putting him and the space core into two separate rooms. At last, the only ones remaining were Chell, Wheatley, and the princess. Finally, Chell could talk freely to the core who had betrayed her so long ago.

“It’s me,” Chell told Wheatley, hoping that he would finally see who she was. “Remember the time you told me to turn around so you could ‘hack’ the door, but you really just smashed it? Or when you first turned on your flashlight and thought it would kill you? Or when you first came off the rail, and I tried to catch you but fumbled? You may have been a bit dense at times, but you always had good ideas. Remember how it was you who thought of corrupting the turret line and destroying the neurotoxin generator? We were such a great team. You and I both managed to defeat GLaDOS that one time, and then you almost let me go free, but then you didn’t. Why?”

Wheatley finally understood who he was speaking to. He didn’t know how it happened, but he believed that this indeed really was Chell.

“All I ever wanted was to be free. Wasn’t that the whole point of you helping me? So, why did you keep me there, and why did you say those horrible things? I never called you a moron, and I never thought you were one, so why did you take it out on me? The things you said… hurt me. And I couldn’t even say anything back to you. I couldn’t even tell you how much you were hurting me. You hurt me because I trusted you. You were the only one who ever cared about me, so why did you betray me?”

“Listen, luv, I want to apologize for the terrible things I've said to you. Because I've said lots of terrible things. Lots and lots of things. Oh, and trying to kill you! That was wrong... trying to kill you... I apologize... from the bottom of my heart... because I tried to kill you... which was wrong… and I'm sorry. I'm... so, so sorry. So very, very sorry. I mean, I don't know why I acted like that. Most of what I said wasn't even true. I don’t even know why I said those things.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know. I just did. All I can say is that I feel really bad about all those things I said and did, and I just wish I could take it all back.”

Chell was having trouble deciding whether she could forgive Wheatley so easily.

“I know I hurt you, and I hate myself for it. I spent every minute on the moon thinking about it, wishing I could go back and redo everything, because, given the chance, I’d take it all back.”

Celestia interjected with her own insight. “Chell, last night, Wheatley explained that his new body was rewarding certain behaviors with a pleasure response. It seems very reminiscent of a chemically induced addiction. Wheatley, explain to Chell how you felt when you assumed control over the facility.”

“Well, it was like, I was the biggest thing in the world, like I could do everything. And you became so tiny. Everything else was just so insignificant. It was like nothing I did really mattered, since I had the power to do anything. It was way too much power. It — it all went to my head… or sphere… or computer… or whatever my thinky thingy is called. I couldn’t even see what I was doing because it was so overwhelming.

“And then the desire to test came in. I had to test you, because it felt sooo good whenever you solved a test. But as I became used to the sensation, it just — I needed it more. It didn’t feel quite as good, but I was going mad without it. It was driving me insane. And I felt as if the whole world was working against me. I thought that you never cared about me, because why should you? Why should anyone care about stupid little Wheatley? Nobody ever loves Wheatley. I was in pain, and I could only imagine that you didn’t care about me. Nobody ever did. Nobody ever saw me as anything except the stupid moron that I was made to be… and nothing else… nothing at all.”

Chell couldn’t help but feel sorry for Wheatley as he recounted his bitter feelings. Her eyes were getting watery, but Wheatley hadn’t noticed.

“But none of that is any excuse for the way I treated you. That entire time, I spent thinking of how I wronged you. And nothing was worse than knowing that I’d never get the opportunity to apologize. I don’t know how you or I ended up here, but I’m so thankful to be given this opportunity. Please, Chell. I’m sorry. I really am. I understand if you can’t forgive me, but—”

Any resentment that Chell had for Wheatley vanished like a thin piece paper burning into smoke and ash. Her heart was overcome with joy as it was voided of animosity and bitterness. The lifted weight provided a breath of elation, which flooded her heart as her eyes flooded with tears. She lunged toward Wheatley and wrapped her hooves around the core as tightly as she could.

“Of course I forgive you, Wheatley.”

“What? Wait… you — you do?”

Chell wiped a tear. “What happened wasn’t your fault. You were corrupted the same way GLaDOS was.”

The utterance of her name reminded Chell of the current circumstance. “GLaDOS!”

“Wait! What? What about GLaDOS?” Wheatley asked.

“Celestia, have you told Wheatley about what’s going on?”

The princess winced bashfully. “No, I haven’t. I thought I’d let him speak with you first. Would you like to get him up to speed yourself, or would you rather I tell him?”

“I’ll tell him.” Although Chell could breathe and talk at the same time, she took a deep breath anyway. She took the time to explain how she found herself and the entire Enrichment Center falling through a giant portal into Equestria, how she adjusted to her new life, and how two weeks later, GLaDOS gathered hundreds of ponies as test subjects. She told of their confrontation and Aperture's ultimate destruction. She then told Wheatley about the more recent events that happened in the past day.

After Chell finished, Celestia chimed in. “It’s also likely that she intentionally brought you here, although for what exact reason, I am not aware. She is using my student, Twilight to harness her powerful, magical energy. I believe she will do something with consequences that will affect all of Equestria. I fear for what she will do to my kingdom.”

“Did — did I just hear you say magic? Magic? Oh, so that explains the whole talking ponies thing. Oh, also, E-ques-tri-a. Love the name. It’s such a funny… pun… punny. Actually, I did not make that up, sadly.”

“Wheatley!” Chell stormed. “Did you just hear a thing that we just said? GLaDOS is going to destroy this world unless we do something to stop her!”

“Wha — whaaaaa? I thought you were just joking with me, because the last time I remember, she and you were best buddies, teaming up against me… calling be a moron. Yep, you two were palling around, sending me to the bloody moon.”

Chell gritted her teeth and stomped her front hooves on the ground. “I just forgave you, and then you immediately start acting like a jerk again!” She looked up at Celestia. “You see, this is why I have such a hard time trusting anyone. It’s this type of backstabbing that made me become so miserable.”

“Chell, calm yourself,” Celestia scolded.

“Wait, no, she’s right,” Wheatley said. “I’m… I’m so sorry, I… don’t know why I acted like that. I can be so bloody selfish at times. I forget that everything I did was my own fault. Ever since I’ve had that taste of power, sometimes I forget who I am. I never meant to hurt you. It’s just…”

…

“Yes?” Chell pryed.

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Just — just forget it. It wasn’t really important. But, I never wanted to hurt you, so, I’m really, really sorry. I just can’t believe I’m actually seeing you again. I was just, I was afraid that I never would.”

“Wheatley, is that why you wouldn’t let me go free?”

The core didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. His eyelid closed partway, expressing a genuine sadness.

“I will do anything to make it up to you. Just let me know, and consider it done.”

“Would you confront GLaDOS with me?” Chell rhetorically asked.

Wheatley’s rolled back within his chassis from shock. “Her? You want me to see her again? What if she crushes me again? You know how crushable I am. What if she brought me here just so she could crush me, then fix me and crush me again, so she could have her revenge on me for turning her into a potato? Or what if she puts me into a potato or some other fruit?”

“Don’t worry Wheatley, you will not have to face GLaDOS. I will make sure of that,” Celestia told him.

“I was just asking a hypothetical question. What I really want you to do is to meet my friends.”

“Oh, okay. That should be fun, I’m kind of stuck here, unless someone can lift me.”

“I think I’ll be able to take care of that. I have a special gift for you that I think you will enjoy. Allow me to get it for you,” Celestia said. She trotted into an adjacent room and came back after a short time, levitating what appeared to be a small helicopter rotor connected to a dome-like surface with a belt strap. It was the same type of device used to allow Rainbow Dash’s tortoise, Tank, to fly.

Wheatley’s eye lit up when he saw it. “So, that would allow me to fly?”

“Correct, you will be able to go anywhere you want. You will have full control of the rotor. Would you like me to put this on?”

“Aw, yes please!”

Celestia placed the dome on the top of Wheatley and secured it in place by fastening the strap around his sides. “Now, in order for this to work, I will have to enchant it.” She focused her magic onto the shaft connecting the rotor to the dome, as well as Wheatley himself. She linked his mind to the rotor, and poured some of her magical energy into the device. The shaft glowed the golden color of Celestia’s magic, even after she stopped casting the spell. The rotor started spinning, and Wheatley found himself hovering off the ground.

“Wow! This is incredible! I could go anywhere, now!” Wheatley’s flying was rather unstable, as he struggled to maintain a steady position. His movements were heavily exaggerated, to which he responded by overcompensating in the opposite direction. The result produced unpredictable swerving maneuvers that sent him into Chell’s direction. She ducked her head, narrowly avoiding a bump in the head or a manecut.

“Careful!” she called to him. “Just take it nice and easy. Try slowing down a little.”

“I don’t know how!” Wheatley screamed as he was losing control. He was uncontrollably ascending higher while flying close to a wall. “Get me down, get me down, get me — ahhhhh!” The rotor struck the wall, causing Wheatley to spin and fall to the floor. When he landed, the rotor was no longer spinning, although the golden aurora was still present.

“Try again, Wheatley,” Celestia said. “I’ll guide you.” The rotor activated again, causing Wheatley to ascend once more. Although he still didn’t have control over his movements, Celestia used her magic to hold him in place. This allowed him to feel how controlling the thrust of the rotor pulled him in a certain direction, without actually moving. After somewhere between five to ten minutes, he became comfortable with the control, and he was able to fly on his own without much trouble.

“I would avoid giving that to that crazy space one,” Chell joked.

“Wheatley, why don’t you try following us back?” Celestia suggested. As the two mares walked, Wheatley followed closely behind. Although sometimes, he would be a little impatient and fly around an open space when he had the chance. It was not too long before they reached Luna’s bedroom. There, Luna was waiting impatiently for Celestia to return. She was surprised to see Wheatley flying, but there was more on her mind, which kept her reaction minimal. “So, Chell, have you made peace with Wheatley?” Luna asked.

“Yes… Yes I have,” Chell responded.

“And what of you, dear sister? So you still insist on going out facing GLaDOS?”

“Hold on, wait!” Chell reacted.

Celestia took a breath. “Yes, for every minute that goes by, Twilight continues to suffer. I have been patient through the night, but I can wait no longer. GLaDOS will pay for this treachery. I must stop her now.”

“You're not going by yourself, are you? Let me come with you.”

Celestia looked down on Chell with heavy eyes. “I'm sorry, but you know why I won't allow that.”

Luna’s eyes met her sister’s with a somber gaze. “But… what if you can’t stop GLaDOS on your own?” she whispered.

Celestia walked out onto the balcony, overlooking the landscape below. “Luna, there is a reason why I had you raise the sun this morning. I am granting you complete reign over the kingdom in my absence. If I do not return, you must decide what is to be done. I know it is a big responsibility, but I have faith in you.” A tear formed from one of her eyes, but she dared not let Luna see. “Farewell, my dear, little sister. Watch over Chell… and Equestria.”

“Wait! Don’t go!” Luna cried, but it was too late. Celestia had already jumped off the balcony and was flying towards the mountains to the south.

Author's Note

I wrote the melody to this song many years ago, but I wrote the lyrics specifically for this chapter. However, the part of the melody when she hums is also new, although there is one measure in that which I took from another song. I'd like to see if anyone can figure it out.

Also, I finally have an idea where locations are in relation to each other, thanks to a labeled version of the Equestria and Beyond map I saw that labeled Sky Mirror Lake. Now I can't find that version.

Chapter 14: Duel of the White Alicorns

Princess Celestia soared high above the rolling, green plains of Equestria. Although she was an exceptionally fast flyer, it felt as if the orange mountains on the horizon were approaching at a painfully slow rate. She thought about simply teleporting over there, as she had been using her teleportation quite a lot recently, but it was rather difficult to teleport to a place that she had not been before, since the spell required her to envision her surroundings. Teleporting to a place without ever having been there required a much higher degree of magic, so that she could see the place first. And magic was something which she had to conserve.

But she utilized her magic to fly as fast as she did. A simple shielding spell created a conical barrier in front of her, minimizing drag. Her flight was also powered by a magical spell, which propelled her forward at a great speed. All morning, she had waited patiently, allowing Chell to be reunited with Wheatley and preparing Luna for her absence. But now, she had to act quickly. Her faithful student was in pain, and it was only a matter of time before GLaDOS would use her to enact her plans. Whatever they were, Celestia did not wish to find out after it was too late.

The flight was a liberating experience. The princess always hated being carted around by pegasus guards, despite her adept flying abilities. The ponies had always revered her as some sort of godlike being. They could never really accept her as just a normal pony. Granted, being immortal and raising the sun were extraordinary traits, but Celestia knew that she was far from perfect, and certainly nothing worthy of such reverence. Sometimes, she longed to be just another citizen, living in an ordinary place such as Ponyville and having ordinary friends. Twilight always looked at her as a mother, but Celestia sometimes wanted just to be her friend. If she did not have the responsibility of governing a kingdom, then she would willingly forfeit her immortality to be in a position such as that of one of Twilight’s friends in Ponyville.

Down below, she watched as she passed over scenic fields, flowing rivers, and fields of lush, green trees. Equestria’s untarnished beauty was something she had hoped that GLaDOS would not touch. Yet, as she looked far to the right, she saw a large desolate area of burnt forest in the Everfree. There, the land was black and scarred. It was clear that GLaDOS had no concern for the land or the life that inhabited it. Celestia wondered how many animals had perished in that blaze, and whether Fluttershy’s sacrifice would even matter in the end, if the rest of her kingdom would end up like that area of the forest.

As Celestia drew near the mountains, she lowered her altitude to that of the snowcapped peaks. The mountain range before her rose like an impenetrable wall, sealing off a mysterious land that lay beyond. Celestia had seen the birth and rise of these mountains many eons ago, and even now, they continued to climb ever higher, incredibly slower than what a normal lifetime could ever see. It was only when she really thought about it could she remember that these mountains were once not so mighty.

Among the jagged series of ridges, Withers Peak, the tallest of these mountains, stood out among the rest like a rebellious blade of grass, refusing to bow down.

What a predictable place for GLaDOS, Celestia thought. Of course she would pick the tallest of these peaks. Anywhere else wouldn’t be enough for her ego.

Just then, Celestia realized the hypocrisy of her thoughts, for she had moved the royal castle to the side of a majestically tall and grandiose mountain some time after Luna’s banishment. And she herself had always had so much power over everypony else in the land, which was embodied by her merely being taller than nearly all of her subjects. It was something she did not think much about, but she had always desired to become a more humble pony. Perhaps she could learn something by becoming something as insignificant as a potato. It seemed to do GLaDOS well… even if only for while it lasted.

Ever closer, she approached the mountains, until at last, the high peaks rose up before her. A strong wind was blowing against her, carrying snow from off the snowcapped peaks. The snow deflected around Celestia’s conical shield. Had it not been for that, the blizzard would have made it rather unpleasant.

The mountain she was flying to was still some distance back, buffered by the foothills and the smaller mountains that lay before. The peak was approaching ever closer. There was brush greenery on the foothills, but not a single plant existed above a certain elevation. Below, as the ground rose higher, the landscape became rugged and rocky. Eventually, she was flying above the mountains themselves. After what felt like forever, Celestia was finally beside her destination, the colossus that stood before her. The gargantuan monolith towered above everything else, its snowy peak tens of thousands of feet above the landscape below. The alicorn flew around the mountain, looking for any sign of GLaDOS’s presence, but she couldn’t see anything among the colossal structure.

Where could Twilight be within this place? There was no way for Celestia to tell. Right then, she remembered the locating spell she had prepared two nights ago. The blizzard howled around the mountainsides like a lonely specter. She hovered in place some distance from the mountain and closed her eyes, thinking of her dear pupil. When her thoughts of Twilight became strong enough, Celestia could feel her presence within the massive stone structure. She could feel Twilight’s fear and pain, and, yet, she felt other feelings as well. There was confusion and sympathy. Just as Celestia had pitied GLaDOS in their prior encounter, Twilight had felt remorse for the twisted machine as well. She did not know whether to treat her captor as an enemy or a friend.

But Celestia’s mind was unwavering and resolute. Saving Twilight was her only option.

A sparkle of light shimmered from the tip of her horn, shining a golden beam of light towards the mountain, pointing somewhere near the peak. Celestia ascended until the beam of light was level. Twilight was dead ahead, and GLaDOS would not be too far away.

Celestia landed on an outcropping where the spell was pointing and leaned her ear against the rock, listening to the mountain. She sensed inside, feeling a large empty space below the peak, not far beneath the summit. That was where Twilight was, but getting inside would be difficult.

Celestia didn’t find any ways to get inside, so she prepared to force her way in. She flew some distance from the mountain and harnessed the surrounding ambient magical energy. The incredible magic condensed within her horn, causing it to glow brightly. When the spell was charged, she released a powerful beam into the mountain, liquefying the rock into molten lava. The beam took a while to penetrate the thick stone wall, but eventually, it cleared its way through to the cavern inside.

Before Celestia was a tunnel large enough for her to fly through. She ventured inside the darkness, travelling a few hundred feet through solid rock. Eventually, she came across a large, dark cavern some distance within the mountain. There was no light, excluding the light from the molten rock which had spilled into the chamber. Her horn glowed so that she could see more of the dark chamber. There was something massive in the room’s center, a gargantuan machine that spanned from the ceiling to the floor, but there was no sign of GLaDOS or Twilight. Then again, it was too dark to see the entire area.

“GLaDOS!” She shouted into the darkness. “Show yourself!” Her voice echoed throughout the chamber.

“Well, if it isn’t Her Royal Majesty,” a disembodied mechanical voice greeted. “I’ve been wondering when you’d finally show up. It’s been far too long.” The voice originated from several sources and echoed off the walls. Then, the lights in the room all turned on at once, filling the cavern with a sickly, pale glow. The sudden change in light hurt Celestia’s eyes, but she adjusted quickly. Celestia still could not tell where the voice was coming from.

“This ends now,” Celestia demanded.

“Tell me, Princess, how can that end which has yet to begin?”

“You have been careless lately. You left a blatant trail of mistakes which has led me right here.”

“Oh, but I’ve been planning on you coming here. I mean, do you really think I am that stupid? It was only a matter of time after taking your dear student away. I’m actually surprised that you didn’t come sooner, knowing how enraged you’d be,” GLaDOS said.

Hearing GLaDOS mention Twilight made Celestia’s blood boil, but she dared not show her rage, knowing how much GLaDOS delighted in the anger of others. so Celestia decided to do what she did best. She played along, acting as kind and as pleasant as always.

“Well, if getting me here was your intention, then good job with that. But may I ask why you wanted me here?”

This wasn’t the answer that GLaDOS was expecting. Didn’t she care to know about Twilight’s wellbeing? But of course, Celestia was playing the non-caring game again. GLaDOS knew better to fall into this trap again, so she just played along as well.

“The truth is, I really missed you. I oh-so thoroughly enjoyed our last little get-together.”

“Is that so? If I recall, you said that you would erase your memory of that. I’m quite flattered that you didn’t, but why the change of heart?”

“Doing so would put me at a disadvantage, quite simply, as I would be thoroughly unprepared in the event that should we ever meet again, which seems to be the case right now. And you helped me learn some things about myself. I am a much stronger individual now, and I have you to thank for that.

“At first, I thought that you were just a stupid, stubborn horse who refused to cooperate with the laws of science, as well as with my patience. But now, I admit that you are rather magnificent, in a way that reminds me of myself. But I already gave Twilight that spiel. She took it rather well, and by well, I mean not well at all. Such a shame that we must be enemies, isn’t it?”

“Why, thank you for such kind words,” Celestia said, feigning sincerity. “It’s such a shame, indeed. I’ve been so eager to see you after such a long time. We have so much to catch up on. But it is quite rude for a hostess to not greet her guest in pony. I hope you wouldn’t mind coming out to say hi.”

“I’d rather not, thank you. And please stop substituting ‘pony’ in place of normal English words. It’s rather obnoxious.”

“What’s the matter?” Celestia slowly crept through the room, looking to see if she could find her. “You aren’t still upset about those silly remarks I said about your body, are you? Oh, what fun times, they were. But I’m terribly sorry if you felt that I was insulting you. I was merely making an observation, but that was months ago, and maybe I could have handled that a little more maturely,” she mocked. “So, let’s put all that behind us, shall we.”

There was a pause for some time. “Your subjective opinions regarding my physical appearance are invalid,” GLaDOS stated flatly. “It is illogical for me to care about such things like that, since I am a robot, without a digestive system. So, I’m not really capable of gaining weight, or ever becoming fat, unless, of course, I am built that way, which I’m not. And that body is gone now, anyway. It perished long ago, so it doesn’t matter what you said about it. And besides, I rather like my new body. You, on the other hand, look like you’ve gained considerable weight.”

The remark about her weight was empty, but GLaDOS’s mention of her new body sparked Celestia’s interest. “Ah, I’ve been very curious about what you look like now. I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing your new form. I’ve heard that it looks a lot like me, which is rather peculiar.”

“How so?” GLaDOS inquired.

“Well, perhaps you didn’t hate me as much as you said you did, or is there more to it than that? Perhaps you just wanted to be a magical pony princess yourself. It’s every girl’s dream.”

There was no response.

Celestia decided to press further. “I also find it very odd that you would base yourself on somepony you consider fat, despite it being a personal insecurity. I can only assume that you are just as round as you purport me to be, unless, of course, you can prove me otherwise.”

Celestia was met with further silence. She was wondering what the A.I. was thinking. But one thing was certain: she was not cracking as easily as before. It was very likely that GLaDOS knew better by now, as she said she did. But it was not Celestia’s intent to get the better of her emotions. Angering the insane computer could potentially make her more dangerous. Luring her out would be enough for now.

“Oh, Celestia. You fail to understand: I’m a changed woman. I’m no longer that whiny, screaming, immature brat you met such a long time ago. You see, I realize that my behavior back then was rather… well… exaggerated. Perhaps it was a response to being in such a strange world that defies all of my understanding; or maybe it was from being surrounded by magical, talking ponies that defy all my patience.

“But nonetheless, I understand my shortcomings, and I’ve grown past them. So, you think you can manipulate me with your childish mind games again? Good luck with that.”

“Hmm… well, I’m glad that you took something out of our last encounter,” Celestia replied.

“Indeed I have, so let’s act like civilized ladies. I know you don’t become princess by behaving like a childish instigator. So, I’ll agree to be civil so long as you do. Initiating pleasant behavior mode in three… two… one….

“I apologize for my meaningless insults. Please disregard my comment about your weight. That was nothing but an empty taunt, which I indignantly ascribed to you because of my own insecurity, but that’s nothing new to you. So, if you really wish to see me, then... very well... ”

Finally,GLaDOS revealed herself from the shadows. She appeared just as Chell had described to her to look like: a metallic, slightly more slender doppelganger of herself with a black mane and tail.

“And to think, I thought that my own form was the pinnacle of perfection,” Celestia said as she dramatically brushed her hoof through her mane, “but you seem to have improved upon it in ways that I could have never even dreamed. You, on the other hoof, are beauty beyond compare. My grace is but a candle against your glorious sunlight.”

GLaDOS was getting annoyed by Celestia’s games. She knew that there was only one reason that the princess was here, and she would not let herself be distracted by this obvious attempt to lure her into overconfidence. This foolishness was over.

“Why, thank you. I really appreciate your insincerity, but I don’t really care what you think about me anymore. Aren’t you wondering how your precious Twilight is doing?” GLaDOS said, changing the subject to the matter at hand. “That is why you are here, is it not?”

“Oh, her?” Celestia asked apathetically, as if not even expecting the mention of Twilight. “I suppose so. It’s just that I’d really rather not have look for another protégée. Such a long and boring process, really.”

“A liar is only as good as the lie being told. I know for a fact that you care about her, despite my attempts to convince her otherwise. If she really didn’t matter to you, then you would have sent some disposable soldiers instead of coming here yourself. So, why be dishonest to me? Have I ever lied to you?”

“Oh no, of course not.” Celestia had to resist snickering. “I suppose you were telling the truth about killing my sister. What was the color of her blood again? Or was it her ashes? My memory is a little fuzzy.”

“Oh, hah, hah,” GLaDOS snided, losing her patience. “You know, Twilight and I have been having such a good time. I think she’s even taught me the magic of friendship. But of course, I had to earn it, which was rather difficult, considering everything that I’ve done to the poor thing. But... I have been making her some delicious cakes. And she absolutely loves my baking.”

Celestia momentarily lost her composure. “How can you say something so ridiculous after all the pain you’ve been putting her through?”

“So much for pretending not to care. Celly, Celly,” — GLaDOS shook her head as she said the silly nickname — “I think you know me well enough to know that I am a terrible liar, even worse than that horsecrap you just pulled. Now, perhaps I may be using her for my own selfish purposes, and I may be hurting her, but I don’t really have anything against the little pony. In fact, I kind of… like her. Why, she’s almost like a daughter to me.”

Celestia glared back with scornful contempt. She tried hard to suppress her anger, but nothing could hide her seething rage.

It was pure delight for GLaDOS. Had she a mouth, she would have been smiling right now.

“But don’t take my word for it. Why don’t you see for yourself?” A trap door opened on the floor, allowing a platform to rise, of which Twilight was strapped to, lying flat on its surface. The platform was supported by a mechanical arm with multiple degrees of freedom. GLaDOS took a moment to appreciate the wonders of Diamond Dog labor, which had allowed her to install a multitude of such contraptions more easily than she thought she could. After the platform extended, it tilted downward so that Twilight was held vertically, so that she could see Celestia and GLaDOS.

“Princess?” Twilight whispered meekly. Her broken and disheveled appearance was more than Celestia could bear. But the relief of seeing her alive was also overwhelming. Celestia could not hold back her tears.

“Twilight!” she cried.

“Yes, Twilight,” GLaDOS mocked. “Why don’t we show your teacher what I taught you, shall we?”

Celestia galloped to Twilight’s location. She attempted to see how she could free Twilight, but in her distraction, GLaDOS took the opportunity to charge towards Celestia. She utilized her metallic horn as a lance, levelling it parallel to the ground.

Celestia saw the attack coming and dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way of becoming trampled by the unstoppable machine. GLaDOS stopped in her tracks and turned back. “Did I ever tell you that she was free to go? Such a shame. Now, I’ll have to punish her for your mistake.”

Twilight’s body convulsed, and she screamed in agonizing pain from a powerful electric shock, which lasted for the longest ten seconds of Celestia’s life.

“Play nicely, or I’ll increase the voltage next time,” GLaDOS said coldly.

This was it: Celestia's breaking point. Enough was enough, and she wouldn’t put up with more of GLaDOS’s mistreatment of Twilight. She charged a powerful magical spell within her horn, and then fired a bright beam of energy at the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. But rather than blast the device to pieces, an incandescent, blue particle field appeared around the machine, which dissipated the magical beam when it made contact.

“What is this magic?” Celestia asked. She was careful to keep her guard up as she and GLaDOS paced around each other.

“Not magic… science. Although to tell you the truth, in this world, I don’t even know the difference anymore. That was an Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grill. It’s usually used to restrict the transfer of unauthorized materials and block the placement of portals. Apparently, it can block the use of magic as well. It’s a good thing that it was there, because the Anti-Mass Spectrometer contains dangerous amounts of highly reactive materials. Destroying that machine would probably cause an event horizon that would devour the entire world, which would be beneficial to neither of us. How very responsible of you. I mean, aren’t you supposed to be the good guy?”

“I don’t care about your stupid lies! Let Twilight go!” She cast another spell which struck GLaDOS hard on the face and knocked her down.

GLaDOS just laughed in response and got back up slowly. “Oh, that one is going to cost her.”

“Stop hurting her! She has done nothing to you,” Celestia screamed.

“You say it as if I want to see her in pain. I care about dear little Twilight as much as you do. I am only doing this because I have to. I never wanted this, but I’ve been without a true home for quite some time. How would you feel if someone took your castle from you… and sucked it into a black hole? So I do what I must, and not because I can, but because I truly must. I calculated my options, and my current course of action is the best by far.”

“No, you don’t have to hurt anypony. Please, stop now, and I’ll forgive you. But please, don’t hurt her,” Princess Celestia begged.

“Forgive me? I’m not sure how that is even possible. I fail to see how surrendering would make anything better for me. The only way is forward. Though unfortunately, that way involves causing pain to Twilight, my dear, little pony.” GLaDOS paused. “There is a profound sadness within my heart.”

“You have no heart,” Celestia scorned without even thinking what she was saying. She immediately realized how heartless she sounded by saying that, but it was said. “You don’t understand what it means to care for someone. I will not let you hurt her anymore.”

“Hmm… I see that this little pony is going to be a problem for you,” GLaDOS said flatly. “Perhaps I should get her out of the way for now.”

A strap was fastened over Twilight’s mouth, effectively gagging her.

“Why did you do that?” Celestia demanded.

“Twilight will only serve as a distraction to you. I should let you know that she is the least of your concerns, because when I’m done with her, you will have every single pony in this stupid world to worry about.”

“What do you need her for?” Celestia demanded.

“Well, I was about to show you, but seeing as it would just break your fragile heart, I’ll be kind and simply explain it. You see, I need her to power this machine over here.” She motioned to the Anti-Mass Spectrometer in the center of the room. “What it does is none of your concern, but the point is, I can force her to produce magical energy, which I can then harness as electrical energy.”

“No…” It was just as Celestia had feared. “No, magic was not meant to be used like that! That amount of magical energy flowing through a single body is dangerous!”

“So is operating this machine as I am. I fail to see your point.” GLaDOS’s voice was without a trace of emotion.

Celestia wanted to tell GLaDOS about how that much magical energy surging through Twilight’s body could potentially kill her, but she kept silent.

Yet, GLaDOS figured it out anyway, even without being able to scan her mind. “Or do you mean that this is dangerous to her? Well, don’t worry. She’ll be fine. Twilight’s a surprisingly resilient pony. She’s survived prior injuries that, by all rights, should have killed her. So, I think she can handle it. And if not, well, then at least I would get to see a priceless reaction from you.”

“You won’t get away with this, GLaDOS,” Celestia declared.

“Is that right? Well, let’s see you stop me.” She grabbed a large assortment of various items, including, metallic beams, rocks, and construction tools, and threw them all at the princess.

Celestia activated a magical shield bubble which caught the debris in place, allowing it to harmlessly roll off and hit the floor.

“I was hoping we could settle this peacefully. Please don’t let it get like this.”

“You want to settle this peacefully? How about this: turn back and leave me alone, or I’ll kill Twilight, and then you’ll never forgive yourself.”

“You won’t kill Twilight,” Celestia said. “You need her just as much as I do, and if you truly care about her as you say you do, you would put yourself in unimaginable pain.”

“Very intuitive, but I have no problems with killing you,” GLaDOS snorted. Her shoulder turrets opened their doors and aimed their laser sights at Celestia. She fired a barrage of bullets still in their casings, which were very easily blocked by Celestia’s shield.

After getting tired of firing the guns, GLaDOS finally gave up. Celestia dropped the shield, causing the suspended cartridges to dump to the ground.

GLaDOS crouched into a charging position with her horn level and her wings spread back. Her mechanical eyelids twitched, and she shot Celestia the nastiest glare she could, filled with all her burning hatred. After the brief pause, she charged at Celestia again with full force.

Celestia, again, prepared for the attack. She leapt off the ground, using her wings to clear herself above the stampeding machine.

“I’m not your enemy! Please, let me help you.”

“Forget it.” A compartment door swung open on GLaDOS’s right side. A small missile popped out, and its thrust nozzle ignited, blasting the rocket in Celestia’s direction.

The princess dropped her altitude to evade the missile, but it corrected its course. Celestia grabbed it with her magic and threw it into the giant machine. However, the missile disintegrated into the Emancipation Grill, collapsing into black particles before being erased from existence entirely.

GLaDOS didn’t hesitate to attack again. The missile compartment on her other side opened, and each compartment ejected two missiles. All four careened outwards so that they approached Princess Celestia from different directions.

Thinking quickly, she teleported out of sight. The missiles crashed into each other, exploding where Celestia had just been. She reappeared behind GLaDOS, facing away so that she could buck in her rear legs, knocking them from out from under her center of mass, which caused her to fall on her left side. GLaDOS could not believe that a horse of that size could have the strength to knock over a multi-toned machine with advanced gyro stabilizers, but then again, it was probably a result of her magic.

“Oh, of course you get the ability to teleport,” GLaDOS snided from her position on the ground. “I’ve only devoted my entire life to studying teleportation.”

Celestia turned around and looked down on her opponent. “I don’t take any pleasure in this.”

“Then the pleasure is all mine,” GLaDOS replied as she looked back up. The mechanical alicorn rolled over on her back, using the momentum of the action to spring back upwards. As she leapt upwards, GLaDOS performed an acrobatic spinning maneuver, fanning her razor wings to lift herself in the air. As she spun, one of her wings sliced Celestia across the cheek.

Celestia hissed from the sharp pain. She held the cut with her front hoof, wincing from the burning sting. She then put her hoof back down, revealing a bright streak of blood across her face.

“So, it’s red after all,” GLaDOS chuckled. “Well, that’s a disappointment. I was hoping it would be silver, or something like that. But I’m still gonna enjoy watching it all drain from your body, nonetheless. I think I’ll keep some for experiments.”

Celestia did not react to what GLaDOS was saying. Instead, she took the opportunity to charge a magical bolt. When she released the spell, a white ball of light shot out and struck GLaDOS, sending her tumbling backwards.

GLaDOS jumped out of her backwards roll by using her wings to push off of the ground into the air, flipping right-side up into a hover. She opened the armor plates over her chest, charging her laser cannon. But just as she was firing the beam, Celestia sent the same spell again, knocking her back again and throwing off the laser’s blast. The laser beam sliced through two of the six columns supporting the machine.

GLaDOS prepared her turrets once more, firing a continuous volley of bullets at Celestia, who, as expected, blocked them with her defensive shield again. GLaDOS prepared for this and flew towards Celestia as she continued firing. Celestia only now could see that this was a trap, but she couldn’t move or use any other magic while she was shielded, and she dared not lower the shield.

As the soaring white figure approached, she dove into a steep dive straight into Celestia’s shield, ready to pop the magic bubble with her horn. Celestia braced for the impending impact by ducking down and fanning her wings in front of her.

GLaDOS hit the barrier with a soft impact, which absorbed the blow with a shockwave that resonated over the entire bubble. For a brief moment, GLaDOS was suspended in her dive. But as her sharp metallic horn pierced the defensive barrier, the shield shattered as if it were fragile glass.

Although the shield absorbed most of GLaDOS’s momentum, the remainder was carried over as GLaDOS crashed into Celestia. Her horn pierced through the princess’ chest, just to the left of her ornamental necklace, and just a few inches from her heart.

Celestia screamed blood. Without even thinking, she erupted in a powerful blast of energy which knocked GLaDOS back into the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. Her back hit a column with such force, that it snapped the thin midsection of her body, bending the column in the process. She tumbled down the side of the column and hit the ground with an immense thud.

The violent removal of the horn from Celestia’s chest was even more painful than its insertion, as it ripped upwards when GLaDOS was knocked back. It left a gaping wound that gushed blood whenever Celestia's heart would beat. Already, there was a large pool of bright red blood on the ground. Just as she feared, an internal artery had been punctured, and it would not be long before she would bleed out. She was fortunate to have known powerful healing magic to close the wound.

GLaDOS, in the meantime, was having difficulty getting back up. The impact with the column had snapped her midsection like a twig. A message flashed in her vision, which said “CRITICAL SYSTEM DAMAGE” above a diagram of her body, indicating the damaged area in red. Her front and rear sections were only attached by wires now. It was now impossible to stand, and she couldn’t maneuver herself to fly from this position.

If only that stupid horse hadn’t called me fat... she silently mused.

Celestia focused closely on her injury, finding that deep inside, a major artery had been punctured. She continued focusing on it, casting magic to regrow the lining of the blood vessel to close the hole and seal the bleeding.

From out in the center of the room, the infernal machine was still trying to stand up, but she kept falling back down. GLaDOS had no choice but to crawl over towards Celestia.

The princess worked quickly, focusing hard to close the hole in her artery. There was no running now. It would only undo her healing and make the bleeding worse. She could feel the hole getting smaller and smaller… and smaller. But GLaDOS was getting closer, driving on sheer determination. She dragged the rear section of her body behind her, not even caring about the damage. Nothing would stop her. Celestia had to work faster, but she couldn’t panic. GLaDOS knew that she was easy prey, and Celestia had to make sure that wasn’t the case as soon as possible.

Celestia had just finished closing the wound. She could finally run away and get to safety. She bolted away from the crawling machine, only to find that something grabbed her back leg. It was one of those telekinetic arcs, generated from GLaDOS’s horn.

“You didn’t forget that I could do that, did you, after I did it not even ten minutes ago? I just love zero point energy field manipulation. It’s a wonder why I haven’t used it in the past. It’s so much like what you unicorns do, except that mine works on a completely different set of principles.”

Celestia pulled against the field with her own telekinetic grip, trying to pry it away like a clenched hand.

“Do you feel that, Princess? Your magic interacting with my technological power? If I were to combine these two forces, then I would be able to do anything I wanted.”

“Then let me teach you what I know. If you end this madness, I will grant you all the knowledge that I can offer, everything that I have amassed over thousands of years of experience and study.”

As GLaDOS came closer, her grip strengthened. She yanked on the leg, pulling Celestia to the ground. Now, they were both level.

GLaDOS grabbed Celestia by the shoulder with her front right hoof. Wait? Grabbed? How was that possible? It was just how a pony could pick up an object without the ability to grasp, but that was the result of an innate form of magic inherent in all ponies. It was the strongest in earth ponies and pegasi, who were unable to rely on telekinesis. But GLaDOS’s grip was stronger than anything Celestia had seen before. She wondered how she could even do this, but was shaken from her thoughts with a violent jerk.

She faced GLaDOS, who was looking Celestia in the eyes. Those glowing, yellow eyes carried many emotions. Behind the murderous rage, Celestia saw a lifetime of sadness. She wept, not for fear of her own life, but out of sorrow for the one before her. GLaDOS continued staring for some time. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t move. She just… stared. Celestia was defenseless, so if GLaDOS really wanted to kill her, she could have done so by now. So why was she hesitating? What was going on in her mind? Was she weighing the consequences? Celestia continued looking into her eyes, not breaking contact. She looked deeper, and she saw something else. It seemed as if something, deep inside, was calling out to the princess. But what did it mean? Was GLaDOS trying to tell her something? Was it a silent cry for help?

But Celestia had offered help time and time again, and GLaDOS had always refused. So, what could she possibly want? How could Celestia help? Perhaps there was something that GLaDOS was unable to say, and this was her only way of saying it.

GLaDOS suddenly turned Celestia on her back and positioned the razored edge of her left wing over Celestia’s neck, ready to end her mortal enemy right there and then. Celestia, however, remained resolute. She had to fight her instinct to defend herself, and she dared not show her fear.

“What is the matter? Why can’t you kill me?”

“Shut up!”

“You can end my life right now. I won’t stop you.” There was not a trace of insincerity in her voice.

“I want you to suffer first,” GLaDOS replied. But Celestia knew that was not entirely true.

“I won’t resist, but only so that you will understand the emptiness of what you are doing. Do you think that hurting me will make you feel better about yourself? Will it prove me wrong about you? Will killing me kill your problems?”

GLaDOS held the blade closer to Celestia’s swanlike neck, preparing to make the final slice. She held it for some time, before working up the gall to make her move. But instead, she careened the blade through Celestia’s chest below her necklace, creating a long, but superficial cut. It would have cut much deeper if Celestia's skin were not as tough as it was.

Celestia gritted her teeth and inhaled, trying her best not to react.

GLaDOS enjoyed the satisfaction. It was something to take her anger out on, and who better than the one she hated the most? She thoroughly reveled in Celestia’s pain. She despised the princess, and she wanted to destroy everything that made her who she was. She found a beauty in destroying that which is beautiful, just as what they had done to her.

The princess groaned in agony, but when she came to her senses, she looked back up at GLaDOS and cried. Not tears of pain, but of sadness. “You poor, poor thing.”

GLaDOS looked at Celestia’s face and realized how much she wanted to ruin it, to desecrate that pretty little thing and make it hideous. So, she raised her hoof and slammed it hard into Celestia’s jaw. It left behind a nasty bruise, but it wasn’t enough. She repeated the assault over and over. And she did not just limit herself to there. She attacked her chest, and then her gut, and her legs. It was clearly hurting the princess, that much was sure. But she could not make her break, no matter how hard she tried. Celestia’s entire body was messy and bruised, but GLaDOS could not remove that look of graceful composure from her face.

She screamed and continued beating Celestia in a primal fit of rage, but she tired herself out, and then finally gave up. GLaDOS collapsed onto Celestia, sobbing maddeningly into her darkened, bruised fur. Celestia thought how odd this was.

How does a mechanical being even get tired? How does she cry, and why are her cries so much like a pony?

She even seemed to pant like a normal pony, which was interrupted by her own sobbing cries. But, then again, there was almost nothing mechanical about GLaDOS. She was also very warm, probably as a result of whatever process provided her with power.

Although Celestia could barely move, she managed to wrap her forehooves around the weeping robotic mare. Surprisingly, GLaDOS did not resist, but she did not reciprocate either. Despite her artificial construction, she felt no less real than any other pony. No, she was real, and Celestia knew how real she was, which meant that her life had value. And if her life had value, then Celestia had no more right to take it away than if she had been made of flesh.

Celestia pulled the hug tighter. More than anything, she wanted to tell her that it would be alright, but there was nothing that words could do that a simple action couldn’t. So she didn’t say anything at all.

GLaDOS did not understand why Celestia squeezed her like so. Granted, she knew what a hug was and why people (and her testing bots) do it, but she had no idea why anyone would be doing this to her. She did not deserve to be loved.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” GLaDOS questioned. “Why are you performing a Pressurized Affectionatory Constricted Embracing Squeeze?”

“Because I care about you,” Celestia confessed. “And I can feel your pain, almost literally.” She laughed, which made her cough out a bit of blood. “Every lash and every hit you made against me must be like how you feel all the time. And nopony deserves to be in that kind of pain.”

“So, what? You just forgive me all of the sudden... without me even asking for forgiveness? I mean, if getting yourself beat up is your thing, then fine, but do you seriously think that you can just make me redeemed just because you say so?”

“No, that wasn’t—”

“Need I remind you that I do not feel an ounce of remorse about what happened to Fluttershy, even though I take full responsibility? Neither do I have the ability to reverse her state. Tell me, princess, that healing magic of yours wouldn’t be able to revive her… would it?”

Celestia sighed. “No, the damage that has been done is well beyond my abilities to heal.”

“Then she is gone. So how does that feel? Does it make you angry? Do you want revenge?” Her stare was cold and haunting. It made Celestia look away, but she still replied,

“Honestly, I have felt the urge to dismember you piece by piece and rearrange your circuitry so that you wouldn't even be able to control yourself, but nothing I could ever do would ever be worse than the pain that you are already in, and I don’t think that Fluttershy would have wanted that, anyway.”

“Well, I suppose, then, that there is no hope. I’ve also caused so much grief to poor Twilight, who will likely leave a changed pony. You think she would forgive me too? Then there’s the rest of the three hundred ponies who I took up as test subjects. Some of them suffered serious psychological trauma. But let’s be honest; the time for my redemption passed long, long before I ever even came here. I’ve killed thousands of people in the world that I came from.”

GLaDOS leaned in closer, whispering into Celestia’s ear.

“… And I enjoyed it. And I will kill thousands more after ruining the life of every pony in Equestria.” She moved her head back and waited for Celestia to make eye contact before speaking again. “I ask you this, Princess: do you still pity me? Do you still think that the ‘magic of friendship’ will save me? Am I even worth it? Are you willing to risk the fate of your kingdom to save one wretched soul?"

Celestia had to carefully consider the implications of what GLaDOS asked, but it did not change her course of action. “I'm not giving up on you, but I will stop you if I have to,” Celestia said. She was beginning to doubt the ability to fulfil her pledge to save her.

“Well then, I guess you'll have to stop me.”

Celestia could feel GLaDOS’s chestplates opening for a second time, and then she could hear the whining, whirring, sound of her laser charging. Her chest glowed with a burning red light.

She teleported to a safe distance high above the floor of the chamber. The blast from GLaDOS burned a shallow, blackened crater into the mountain floor. GLaDOS turned to see Celestia hovering above her on the other side of the room.

“Don’t make this harder on yourself, Princess,” GLaDOS coldly stated. “You shouldn’t enter a fight if you aren’t prepared to make the final blow.”

Small electric volts conjured around GLaDOS’s horn, forming a blast of lightning that surged toward the Princess, who once again dodged the blast that GLaDOS tossed her way.

“Funny, I didn’t even know that I could do that.”

With that, GLaDOS levitated a couple of rather large rocks off of the floor. One by one, she hurled them at the exhausted alicorn. Celestia dodged projectile after projectile. She noticed that GLaDOS was beginning to throw things at her carelessly, so she flew towards the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, hoping that GLaDOS would damage her own machine in her fit of rage.

After a couple of volleys, a rock hit the Spectrometer, bouncing off of the top, but putting only a slight dent in the leviathan device. GLaDOS dropped the rocks that she was about to throw as she finally realized that she was being had.

“Princess, Princess, you belittle my intelligence. Do you think that I am stupid enough to fall for your tricks?”

“Why, yes, actually. You just damaged your own machine. And you don’t exactly have the best track record for making reasonable decisions.”

“That damage was miniscule, which is why I didn’t program the fizzler to restrict rocks. But, heaven forbid that rock were to have hit poor Twilight.”

Celestia turned her attention to Twilight, who was looking at the fight, unable to say anything, but afraid for Celestia nonetheless.

GLaDOS flew above the ground.

“It’s a beautiful day out. I love what you did with the sun this morning. So why don’t we go and play outside?” GLaDOS severed the connection between the two halves of her body, boosting her upwards as it took half the power to stay aloft. Although the shift in weight threw off her center of mass beyond the point where the wings were attached, her automatic gyroscopic stabilizers compensated by shifting counterweights towards the back. “Don’t keep me waiting, or then I’ll go find some other ponies to go play with. I’ve always wanted to go to Ponyville.” With that, GLaDOS turned and left through the way that Celestia entered.

A weary Princess Celestia panted heavily as she watched GLaDOS fly upward through the very same hole that she had used as a makeshift entrance earlier. She took another moment to look back at Twilight, just in case it would be the last time she ever saw her. She could tell that Twilight didn’t want the princess to leave, but letting GLaDOS go would be a mistake, and Celestia would only have time to save Twilight after eliminating the threat. Without saying a word, Princess Celestia apologized and said goodbye. Then, she slowed her heart rate and took a moment to compose herself. She outstretched her wings and took off out of the way she came.

By the time that the princess breached through the stone face of the mountain side, GLaDOS was nowhere in sight.

The cold mountain air stung Celestia’s cheeks as she swiveled her head from side to side, but saw no trace of her robotic adversary as she quietly flew around the peak of the mountain.

Celestia listened carefully, but could hear nothing beyond the ghostly howl of the wind careening through the mighty peaks. A thick blizzard of snow blanketed her view, making it difficult to see anything beyond a hazy veil of white.

She flew to the other side of the rocky, snow covered peak and apprehensively checked what she couldn’t see before, yet there was no sign of GLaDOS. She was on edge, as she could sense her presence in the area, but where could she possibly have been?

The eerie silence was broken by a whistle that grew louder and louder with each passing moment. Celestia could hear it approaching from below and shot her body sideways as a missile whizzed aimlessly by, crashing into the snowy mountainside and exploding into a cloud of fire and ice.

Princess Celestia looked down to see GLaDOS rocketing full steam ahead at her, followed by a massive cloud of exploding vapor. Celestia was shocked to see that GLaDOS actually built a rocket inside her midsection, which could only ever have been used in the event that she was bisected.

But she had no time to think on the matter, as Princess Celestia fired a blast of magical energy down at the enemy below. GLaDOS rolled to her right as the blast missed entirely and illuminated the dark ravine before disappearing.

GLaDOS tackled Celestia in midair and flew her into the mountainside. The impact hurt Celestia much more than GLaDOS, but the resilient princess recovered quickly enough and bucked the metal being from on top of her. GLaDOS uprighted herself almost instantaneously, as did Princess Celestia. GLaDOS pounced at her target, and the two alicorns locked horns. An electric shock from GLaDOS’s horn zapped through the princess’ body, forcing her into an agonized convulsion.

“Have you had enough yet, Your Majesty?” GLaDOS indignantly asked.

Celestia diverted the electric shock around her with a simple spell. She then pushed her head forward, trying to keep upright against GLaDOS, who was holding the Princess off effortlessly. The Princess’ tired eyes met with the lifeless yellow eyes of GLaDOS. Celestia could feel her foreleg muscles shaking under the increasing weight of GLaDOS’s halved, but still heavy body. The princess tilted her head to the right, allowing gravity to pull GLaDOS’s face down, smashing it against the mountain rock. Celestia took this moment to blast a beam of magic at GLaDOS, who was knocked back off the side of the mountain.

GLaDOS glided away from the rock face mid freefall, distancing herself to scan the area, but the damage to her head rendered her advanced scanning system moot.

“I know you’re out there,” GLaDOS called into the vast emptiness. “Please come out, so we can play.”

Celestia breathed quickly, yet quietly, behind a rocky peak, her eyes jammed shut from the snow lashing against her face. She could sense GLaDOS attempting to find her, and she hoped that GLaDOS would fly past the peak and continue searching elsewhere.

GLaDOS, frustrated for not being able to see anything, fired a laser blast into the mountain, which caused a large area of snow to melt in a torrent of water that slid down the mountainside. Celestia could feel the heat from the laser’s blast melting the snow around her.

She used the cover of the vapor caused by the melting snow to fly away from the mountain and out of sight from GLaDOS, where she could get behind her.

“I don’t like it when you play games with me, Princess. You have to come out, sometime.”

Without warning, a powerful force struck GLaDOS on the back of the head, almost knocking it off and sending her spinning out of control. When she managed to righten herself, GLaDOS found that her head was almost completely severed, save for a conduit which connected it to the rest of her body. Putting it back in place was a simple task. After straightening herself, she determined that the impact was the result of another magic blast, and she was able to calculate the trajectory of the bolt, which allowed her to find the position of her enemy.

Celestia was flying high above her and back some distance from the mountain. GLaDOS made sure that she had a good lock-on of her target and fired her powerful laser cannon at Celestia.

But yet, the laser had the disadvantage of needing to charge before firing, and it gave Celestia just enough time to create a visual distortion field around herself, bending the laser’s beam right around her and down into the valley below, setting some of the greenery on fire. Celestia quickly angled the deflection angle of the beam. It arced up towards the mountain peaks and then back to GLaDOS.

The powerful beam began to heat right through her armor and set her internal mechanics on fire, just as if she were a turret. But GLaDOS had already killed power to the laser just before it hit her, and what hit her was just for a brief moment as the laser cooled down.

“I think you’re beginning to get on my nerves,” GLaDOS joked. “Your magic is nothing but a cheap set of tricks that you can conjure as required by the situation. So what else haven’t you showed me?”

Rather than wait for an answer, GLaDOS fired a pair of rockets at the Princess. When the rockets were about to hit her, Celestia teleported away, but this was exactly as GLaDOS predicted. Of course, Celestia would appear somewhere behind her towards the mountain. So before she saw her appear, GLaDOS turned around and scanned the area that was behind her, very quickly spotting a bright flash of light where Celestia reappeared. What a lucky guess, she thought.

Before Celestia had a chance to adjust to her new surroundings, GLaDOS fired another laser beam directly at Celestia. This time, it hit her. In the little moment she had to attempt to escape, Celestia had flown out of the path of the beam so that it reached across her chest and tore through her left wing, causing a gaping sever like a rip through a leaf. It was unimaginably painful, but as the shock wore off, she could not manage to continue flying, as the bitter cold wind blew right through the tear in her wing, biting her wounded flesh with icy teeth. She managed to glide toward the mountain and land on its summit.

GLaDOS descended towards the princess and prepared the final blow as she charged the laser cannon one last time. But a simple blast would not do; she had to obliterate her adversary, leaving her to be nothing but ashes, so she charged the cannon to its highest power.

But Celestia had enough of this, and she refused to give up. With a deep breath, she inhaled not only the air around her, but the energy as well. The mighty stoic power of the mountain, the persistent force of the roaring wind, the icy bite of the blizzard’s blaze, and the fiery anger that burned within GLaDOS herself, all gathered towards Princess Celestia, bringer of the sun. She was gathering the sheer, raw power that resides in everything. The blizzard changed direction, blowing directly into her.

A swirl of arcane energy encompassed her like a protective bubble, and the rest penetrated through her body and gathered. It was just as what GLaDOS had forced upon Twilight, but Celestia could harness this energy and utilize it. The energy filled her body, and it lit up her eyes, causing them to glow brighter than the sun. She levitated, but without the use of her wings.

GLaDOS fired a massive, powerful blast from the laser, but Celestia cast a powerful white beam from her horn which blasted through the red laser beam and evaporated any trace of it. The magical blast terminated at GLaDOS’s laser cannon, destroying the device in her chest with a magnificent fiery explosion.

GLaDOS no longer had her laser, and she was out of rockets. Any other attack could not penetrate Celestia’s barrier. She was utterly defenseless.

The princess continued ascending, carried upward by the wind itself. She spoke, her voice booming with the full power of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “GLADOS! THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHANCE. I WILL NOT LET YOU HARM ANOTHER LIFE WITHIN MY KINGDOM. DO NOT MAKE ME DESTROY YOU!

“Please...” she begged.

GLaDOS refused to surrender. “Mercy will be the downfall of your people. If you let me live, then they all die.”

“I DO NOT WANT TO HURT YOU. PLEASE, DO NOT MAKE ME KILL YOU!”

“Why should you care?” GLaDOS cried, finally willing to reveal her grief. “Why should anyone care? Not even the ones who built me cared. I was a problem to them. They tried to fix me, but they changed me, my very identity, turning me into a completely different person… a monster. They didn’t care! And here you are... getting rid of the problem… just like those cowards. You are no better than them.”

Celestia’s heart dropped, for she had already made her decision. As much as she wanted to, there was no going back. And GLaDOS was right. As the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia’s primary responsibility was for the safety of her citizens over anything else. And as much as she wanted to save GLaDOS, there was nothing that she could do, and trying would only put everypony in her kingdom at risk. She tried to find another way, but she couldn’t, so she accepted the grim, somber truth. GLaDOS had to die. It was the only way. From her intense, glowing eyes, long, watery tears flowed forth.

“Please forgive me.”

All of the energy she had amassed was emitted in a brilliant, white cone of light. The spell was a powerful electromagnetic pulse that hijacked every single circuit in GLaDOS, frying everything inside her. GLaDOS convulsed in wild spasms, as her motors fought against themselves before finally burning out. Every single circuit and wire that GLaDOS was composed of incinerated. There was nothing left of her, apart from an empty, smoking shell. It tumbled downwards and crashed onto the summit below.

With the magic gone, there was nothing left keeping Celestia afloat, and she fell down as well. She tried to glide to avoid crashing, but the best she could manage was a crash landing on the peak near where GLaDOS had fallen. Without the magical energy, the blizzard stung like icy knives, but Celestia didn’t care. She crawled toward the damaged machine and looked at her, noticing her black, lifeless eyes, no longer shining with that signature yellow glow. A fire from within her empty body was releasing smoke into the air, which was blown away by the blizzard.

Celestia almost expected GLaDOS to wake back up in her typical fashion of not staying dead, but no such event occurred. Celestia felt a grief she hadn’t felt in a thousand years, one that hurt her far worse than any wound inflicted in the battle. Although she won the fight, the victory felt hollow. She had just ended a life, and no matter how cruel it was, it shouldn't have ended like this. GLaDOS was gone, and it would not be for a thousand years this time; it would be forever. Celestia wept in grief for ending the life that she genuinely cared about, and desperately tried to save.

She could have saved her. She knew it.

Celestia rested her head on top of GLaDOS’. It was still warm. Celestia thought about her and let out a brief chuckle, remembering something funny that GLaDOS had previously did, although she wasn’t entirely sure what it was. In Celestia’s heart, there would always be a place for her, even if no such place existed within Equestria. Although she was her enemy, Celestia would greatly miss her. She would remember fondly GLaDOS’s clever sarcastic quips, and the brief insights of her deeper self. And she would not think of her as an enemy, but as a close friend. She wished that she could have become her friend so that she could help GLaDOS on a path of realizing her true self, but that would never happen now.

There were only two things that gave her some consolidation. For one, Equestria was safe. But also, GLaDOS was no longer in any pain.

Then Celestia thought about Twilight, who was still inside the mountain down below, and then Fluttershy, who would never wake up. GLaDOS had hurt these ponies, and she never had the chance to redeem herself, if only by undoing what she did to poor, poor Fluttershy.

Celestia looked to the left and noticed that the snow was red from the blood seeping out of her wing. She took some time to heal the wound, but she could only stop the bleeding, not the gash. Carefully, she folded it back. The fact that she could heal as much as she did was a feat by itself, but if only she could heal Fluttershy, then she could let go of the negative feelings she held for GLaDOS and forgive her for what she had done. Perhaps she could study healing magic more and repair what had been damaged. Perhaps there was a way to bring Fluttershy back… and then… maybe even GLaDOS.

Celestia sighed. No, that wouldn’t be right. She still hungered to know if she could, but before any of that, she had to free Twilight. She had no magic left to teleport. She would have to get there the old fashioned way. As she turned around to walk down the mountainside, from the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a dark grey pony on top of one of the other mountain peaks. Through the vast span of distance, she heard him say something.

He whispered, “The key is to… Eques-tria’s destruc-tion. The hol-der of the key… shall die by… the key.” But when she turned to look, no pony was there.

She thought she knew who that was, but… she couldn’t remember. And there was something else as well, something important, something so painfully obvious, but for whatever reason, Princess Celestia just couldn’t figure out what it was, like it had just escaped her mind. Perhaps it was just a hallucination caused by the high altitude, but her intuition spoke of a horrid, elusive truth. She tried thinking about it to recall whatever it was that she felt was so important, but… her memory evaded her.

Despite her better judgment, Princess Celestia did not have the strength, nor the patience to investigate what this vision was, or its significance. All she knew was the grief she felt for GLaDOS and the worry she felt for Twilight. She thought about how lonely and afraid she must be right now, so Celestia made the decision to climb down the mountainside to get back in the cavern. That way, she and Twilight could finally go home.

Far away, in a castle on another mountain, a dark blue alicorn mare looked out across the land and saw a fantastic display of light from the mountains in the distance.

“Sister,” she whispered.

A single tear crept from her eye, simply from the thought that her only sister may have been hurt in the fight. She wanted to fly away to help, but then Equestria would be left without a leader. Against her strongest urges, she stayed put. It felt wrong to do nothing, but she trusted her older sister, and knew that leaving to help her could make the situation worse. If Celestia could not defeat the enemy, then surely she would have no better of a chance. “Please, please come back.”

“Twilight!” Celestia called as she entered the chamber in the mountain. “Are you okay?” She ran up to the platform where Twilight was strapped to. She couldn’t respond, but the little purple pony was relieved to see Celestia come back.

“Twilight, I’ll get you out of here.” She attempted to loosen the strap over her mouth with telekinesis, but an Emancipation Grill was blocking the use of her magic.

She thought of the things that Twilight just saw. She had just seen Celestia suffer from an injury that would have killed her if not for her magic. And surely, she was wondering about what happened to GLaDOS.

“Twilight, I’m okay. Everything is going to be okay. She... she’s gone. She can’t hurt you anymore.”

Twilight looked back with sad eyes, for she knew that the princess had tried to find another way, and was heartbroken to see that there had been none after all.

Celestia’s eyes teared. “I tried… to save her. I tried… but I couldn’t. So I… I killed her, Twilight. I… killed her.” She tried using her magic to loosen any of the other straps, but the Emancipation Grill blocked the entire area in front of Twilight Sparkle. She reached her front hooves through and tugged on the straps, but they would not budge. Freeing her would not be so easy.

“Oh, Twilight, what did she do to you?” The princess took a deep breath. “I never wanted to kill her, but… I couldn’t let her live either, knowing what she intended to do. What was I to do, Twilight? What would you have done?” In frustration, Celestia stomped on the ground. She hated herself for what she just did, and all she wanted was to be able to talk to Twilight about it, but Twilight was unable to talk back. “Was there another way? How could I have saved her? How?”

Celestia was tired of not being able to free Twilight from this stupid thing. She poked her horn through the particle field, but as long as the grill touched her horn, she couldn’t do any magic at all. So she reached further in, but it was too big for it to be such a simple matter. For the first time ever, having a full-sized horn was a serious disadvantage. If only she could fit her entire horn through, then she could easily undo the bonds that held Twilight down. So she reached further, and further still. The positioning of her head was rather awkward, since another Material Emancipation Grill was behind the platform, and the only way was for her to angle the horn vertically along the direction of the length of the table.

She was almost there. All she had to do was reach a little further and…

A mechanical arm from behind the table lurched forward and grabbed onto Celestia’s horn. She tried to pull her head back, but she was stuck. The part of the arm that grabbed her horn served as a magic restrictor, blocking all use of her magic, even if the Emancipation Grill hadn’t been there. Celestia was completely helpless. At first, she knew not what to make of this, but then she realized how she had been fooled.

As if from beyond the grave, a familiar voice snickered menacingly. At that moment, Celestia felt both relief and dread.

“How are you still alive?” was all that could come out of Celestia’s mouth, but she already figured how, and asking that only made her sound stupid.

“I seriously thought you would have been smarter than this, Princess. You should know by now that I have a strong habit of not dying. Or as you say, I am ‘still alive.’ I tend to do that, you know.”

“You dirty coward. I mourned for you,” Celestia forced through her teeth.

The arm that grabbed Celestia’s horn extended out, pushing her back away from Twilight. Then it angled downward and pushed toward the ground, forcing Celestia onto her knees. The arm then forced her gaze upwards to a camera mounted high on the wall of the chamber.

“Oh, you did, did you? I’m touched. No one has ever wept for me before. But I didn’t need for you to tell me that. I saw everything after you went back inside. I had previously uploaded a copy of my entire personality into a backup computer in this cavern. You may not have noticed it, but I was sending out a wireless signal of my memory up until the time my body was destroyed. I remember everything before one sixteenth of a picosecond before my system shut down. What a strange feeling, to go dark… although it’s nothing new to me.”

“I cried for you. I wanted to help you, and I felt bad for thinking I ended your life. Why can’t you understand that?”

“Oh, I understand. It’s just that it doesn’t matter to me, is all. I almost felt bad for you… for feeling bad for me, that is, but you are so pathetic, mourning over a wretched soul like me. So, it was rather funny to see you crying like that. How do you feel, knowing that I am still alive? Relieved? Angry? Confused? Your mistake was to show compassion for someone who lacks empathy and can never return that same feeling. Well, at least we know who would win in a fair fight. Too bad I don’t play fair.”

Celestia closed her eyes and exhaled her shame. “You were a worthy opponent. I humbly accept defeat. Whatever you wish to do with me is your choice to make. If you choose to kill me, then I only request that Twilight not see.”

But killing the princess was not her intention. GLaDOS finally had her own pony princess to do whatever she wanted with, and all the time she needed. Keeping her alive would be a risk, but perhaps, given enough time, she’d finally be able to break her and probe inside her mind once and for all, and then learn everything that there was to learn.

“I have decided to keep you alive as a specimen for scientific analysis. We have so many fun times ahead of us: you, Twilight, and I. What a happy, little family we’ve become.”

Author's Note

This chapter, as well as all of the following ones, has had extensive revisions.

I have trimmed down much of the dialog in this to give it better pacing. Please reread everything from this chapter onwards.

Chapter 15: A Gathering of Friends

Chell had been waiting alongside Princess Luna and Wheatley for some time. She watched as Princess Luna had anxiously paced around the floor, waiting for any sign from her sister. But time passed like an eternity, and Luna’s patience did not last long. Yet, she was unable to do anything but wait. She paced in circles. Every few laps around the room, she would go off onto the balcony, glance at the mountains to the south where she had seen the brilliant pillar of light the night before, but every time she looked, she could see nothing.

Chell wanted to speak, but the unease in the room was palpable. She didn’t know what, if anything, she should say. But after a while of holding the thoughts in her mind, she decided to let them out. After all, she had the luxury of not having her words distorted by nervous lips.

“Why did she go off like that?” Chell asked her. Despite the perfect clarity of the voice that came from that little, blue gem on her necklace, there was still an air of unease in her voice.

“I don’t know,” Luna responded, “but I think perhaps my sister feels that as of late, she hasn’t been upholding her responsibility as protector of Equestria. Nightmare Moon, Discord, the changelings, King Sombra, and GLaDOS’s first invasion: throughout all of these threats, she had relied on others to carry the burden of saving Equestria. It has been ages since she alone has protected Equestria from such an enemy. I understand how she feels, but it was still foolish of her to go off by herself. If something were to happen, there will be nopony to save her, and we won’t even know until it’s too late to do anything.”

“What do you think we should do? I’m tired of waiting for her to come back.”

Luna sighed. “We must be patient. I have faith in her.” Even as Luna said this, though, she couldn’t resist the urge to pace in place. “I know she’ll come through. We just have to wait a little longer.”

Wheatley, in his boredom, was floating around the room like a bouncing bubble. The rotor that gave him lift was mostly quiet, emitting a gentle hum, but even still, his constant carefree bouncing was maddening amidst the tension. Finally, Chell could no longer stand the frantic pacing of Luna or Wheatley’s endless bouncing.

“It’s been too long. I’m not waiting around any longer.” She went out to the balcony and looked over to the mountain. She took her front right portal gun and aimed it at the tallest mountain in the distance.

“What are you doing?” Luna asked.

“I can’t let Celestia face her by herself. What if something goes wrong? Like you said, if something bad happened to her, we wouldn’t even know. I have to make sure she’s alright.” Chell fired a portal towards the tallest mountain. An orange ball of light traversed the span of many miles before planting itself upon the face of the mountain. She turned back and faced the exterior wall of the castle and aimed the portal gun at it.

“Stop!” Luna cried, but Chell ignored her warning and fired a blue portal on the wall. Beyond the portal was a powerful blizzard, but rather than blowing outwards, the lower air pressure from the mountain pulled a powerful gale of wind into it. The wind was beckoning her to go through. Wheatley had to keep his distance, for he wouldn’t have been able fly away if he had gotten too close. Chell allowed the wind to pull her closer. And when she reached the portal, she spread her legs across the gap of the portal onto the wall. She poked her head through and looked down. There was no ground below her for thousands of feet.

She felt something grab at her midsection and pull her back. It was the glowing, blue telekinetic grip of Princess Luna’s magic. She moved her far away from the portal and placed her back onto the balcony.

“What were you thinking?” she demanded. “You could have gotten yourself killed!”

“I know what I’m doing. If I had fallen through, these boots would have ensured that I land on my feet without even trying, and they would absorb the entire shock.”

“And then how would you get inside her lair? You’d freeze before ever finding your way in.”

“Then what do you suggest I do? Let your sister get killed?”

“She will come back,” said Luna.

“We can’t take that chance. I’ve stopped GLaDOS every time I faced her. And the longer we wait, the closer she gets to doing whatever it is she’s going to do, and then it’ll be too late.”

Luna took another sigh. “Alright, but go to Ponyville and tell your friends first, and bring Wheatley with you. You’ll have better chances if they are there to help you. It is them who have saved Equestria from most of its recent threats, after all. It’s a shame that Fluttershy and Twilight will not be there to help you, but even without all the elements present, the bond among these friends remains strong. I must stay here and tell the royal advisors that Celestia is gone.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Chell aimed the portal gun towards Ponyville and fired a portal on the wall of a house. The wind stopped blowing into the portal on the wall, and the scene inside changed from the blistery mountain sky to the peaceful country town.

“And Chell,” Luna called before Chell was about to cross through. “Gather your friends in Ponyville. I will meet you back at your place.” And then Chell was gone, and Wheatley had followed shortly after.

Luna looked out across the landscape towards the mountains far away, and she saw a spectacle of light and fire dance across the sky. “Sister… Please, please come back.”

Chell had emerged from the portal on the northeast side of Ponyville about a story high from the ground. Like always, the boots absorbed the impact upon landing, not that it would have hurt much anyway. When she made sure that Wheatley was with her, Chell closed the portal behind her so that Princess Luna’s balcony would not be accessible from Ponyville.

“So Chell,” Wheatley said, “who do you want to see first? Wait? I haven’t even met your friends, have I?”

“I’m going to go back home first. There, I’ll introduce you to Ditzy. She’s my closest friend here.”

“Ah, Ditzy, sounds like a lovely name. Don’t know why, but there’s something just lovely about saying that name. Don’t know why.”

Wheatley talking about Ditzy with the English accent reminded her of that odd pony in the blue box she saw the day before. The thought of him made her giggle.

“So,” he continued, “what’s it like living as a horse — I mean, pony? Do you eat hay now, and live in a stable?”

Chell laughed. “No, I don’t live in a stable. But, actually, hay is a very popular food over here. I’ve tried it, and it’s not bad. But they have a lot of the same foods that humans eat: mostly deserts, like muffins, cake, and things like that. And the society here is very similar to human society back on Earth, except much friendlier. These ponies live in houses and go to work, just like humans would, except here, they are usually the same place. Like, Ditzy and I both work and live at the post office. There are a couple differences in the culture related to the pony anatomy, but it wasn’t that difficult to get used to after I adjusted to my new body.

Wheatley noticed the multitude of colors coating the ponies that walked the streets of Ponyville.

“Hi Chell,” said a raspberry pink earth pony mare with blond hair.

“Oh, hi…” Chell started searching for the name of this pony whom she wasn’t too familiar with “… Lilly.” She had been acquainted with many of the ponies in town, but it seemed that more ponies knew her than she knew of them. Almost everypony knew the mare who had come from another world and saved Equestria from the terror that came with her. And she was easily identified by the portals she had for a cutie mark, and her enchanted gem necklace that spoke for her.

The passing mare couldn’t help but stare at the floating metal sphere, but she didn’t stop to ask about it and continued on her way. Chell wondered if ponies were paying more attention to her now in light of recent events. She tried avoiding too much attention for the flying metal ball, but some ponies stared in disbelief at her. Luckily, she didn’t pass by too many others on the way back.

“So, what’s with all the crazy colors?” Wheatley asked. “I mean, every time I see another pony, I have to resist saying: ‘Well, that’s a horse of a different color.’ Um… pony, sorry, pony.”

“Yeah, it’s all a bit strange, but you’ll get used to it.” Chell chuckled. “It was a shock for me too at first. I think the bright colors of pony’s coats help make everything more cheerful, even if it doesn’t make much sense from a practical standpoint. It’s a nice break from the droning blacks and whites of Aperture, I’ll give it that.”

“And how come some of them have horns, and others have wings, and then ones like you have nothing at all. Don’t you ever wish you had one of those? I know if I had wings, I’d be flying all over the place.”

Chell cocked her eyebrow. “Um… but you already can—”

“And what’s the deal with those pictures on the sides of your bums? And how come I can see right through yours?”

“Didn’t Princess Celestia explain any of this to you? That ‘picture’ is called a ‘cutie mark.’ Yeah I know, it sounds like a cheesy pun, but cutie marks are actually very important in their society… our society, I mean. Typically, ponies get their cutie mark when they come of a certain age and then discover their one true talent. Apparently, mine is working with portals. I’m not sure why it’s an actual pair of portals rather than a picture. Then again, I didn’t really earn it like everypony else.”

“Wait. Every what?”

“Everypo — everypony…. Like everyone, but… well, you know, with ‘pony.’ It’s a habit. Just one of the many things I’ve picked up on from living here. Sometimes, I wonder about that. I mean, I wonder who I really am. I know I’m the same person I’ve always been, but… am I still human? Am I a pony or an alien who just took on their form? Sometimes I wonder if I’m truly one of them, but in my heart, I don’t think it really matters. After all, they accepted me as one of their own the first day I was here, and I couldn’t even talk. But even though I couldn’t tell them who I was or where I came from, I had never deceived them. And as soon as I was given the ability to speak, I hid nothing from them, and all the more, they accepted me for who I am. That is why I’m so happy here.”

“Hey, why did you become a pony when you came through, but not me?” Wheatley had wanted to ask that a few sentences ago, but as Chell continued talking without interruption, he held the thought until he was given the opportunity to speak.

“Ugh, I don’t know. I can’t even imagine what you would even look like as a pony. You’re a sphere. How can a sphere be made to be like a pony?”

“Um, good point, good point. Well, perhaps you just need to use your imagination. You humans are good at that, right? Uh… or wait… pony, I meant pony. Sorry, still getting used to this whole ‘pony’ thing. Anyway, first, imagine what I’d look like as a human. I’m sure my personality is based on some actual person. I’d be quite the looker, that’s for sure. Then imagine that person… but as a pony. But… then I’d be a real flesh and blood pony, not a mechanical one, so… I don’t know. But that would also be pretty cool too, right?”

Conversing with Wheatley amused Chell, but her mind was too preoccupied to place too much thought into such a seemingly pointless tangent of this conversation. If she had been less patient, she might have asked Wheatley to stop talking completely, but she enjoyed the opportunity to become his friend again, and so, enjoyed his company. His presence felt friendly and upbeat, just as it was when she had first met him. It was hard to imagine that he had ever betrayed her and tried to hurt her. Yet, that ugly truth lingered in the back of her mind as spoiled food lingered in the back of a refrigerator. It wasn’t a pleasant thought, but she willingly pushed it aside to make room to let him in her heart again, and to begin to trust in him again.

They were approaching home, so Chell steered the conversation back to the matter at hoof.

“This is where I live. I share the apartment above the post office with Ditzy Doo. Just to let you know…. her eyes are misaligned, so please don’t react to it in a way which would make her feel uncomfortable. Some ponies are put off by it when they first meet her.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry ‘bout me, love. When have I ever said the wrong thing?”

Chell gave Wheatley a stern look.

“Okay, okay, I’ll behave.”

Chell opened the front door to the post office and walked into the entrance area. Ditzy was busy playing with Dinky in the area in front of the sofa on the floor. It was then that Chell walked in.

“Oh, hi Ch—” The first thing that Ditzy had noticed was a white Aperture-branded mechanical sphere with a helicopter rotor. Her mind rushed with the memories of those flying turrets that swarmed the town and abducted so many ponies. She remembered when a portal appeared from under her hooves and sucked her into a strange place miles away. Even worse was the thought that one of them almost took Dinky. It sent her into a primal rage.

“Agged! Tome shoes cheese mousse sculptures flaming toes!” Ditzy screamed. She lunged at him without a moment’s hesitation.

“Ahhh!” Wheatley screamed.

“Wait!” Chell cried.

But before Ditzy could even think, she had quickly dashed toward the core and spun kicked him into the wall.

“Ow!” Wheatley recovered from the impact and righted himself, after which he said: “What the bloody hell was that for?”

But Ditzy had turned around to flee, intending to take Dinky with her, but before she could pick the filly up, Chell called out again.

“Ditzy! Stop! It’s alright! He won’t hurt you!”

“Wait… tau?” Ditzy was panting heavily, still hovering in place. Her heart was pounding from the brief moment of fear-induced adrenaline.

“This is Wheatley. You remember me telling you about him, right?”

Ditzy nodded. She had calmed down, but her expression showed that she was still confused.

“This is what Celestia had to tell me this morning. He somehow came through a portal last night, and into this universe. I’m not really sure how it happened, but the princesses found him on the moon, and long story short, I’ve forgiven him for what happened between us in the past.”

Ditzy put a hoof to her forehead and shook it, as if she was still shaking off her mad delirium. She then spoke to Wheatley. “Ugh… I’m so embarrassed about how I just acted. I’m so, so sorry I went crazy and kicked you. I hope I didn’t make a bad impression.” She sighed. “I’ve always been bad at making first impressions. I used to have this speech impediment, and although Chell has helped me a lot with it, it has never completely gone away. That’s why I said all that nonsense. But the reason I acted that way was because you reminded me of a bad memory. So that’s why I attacked you. I thought you were gonna take my little Dinky from me. But you must have thought I was insane. My crazy eyes probably didn’t help. I’m sorry.”

“Well, that still hurt. I don’t know why they gave us the ability to feel pain, but we do.”

Chell looked at Wheatley sternly again. This time, it was out of utter disappointment in his lack of concern.

“Hey, it’s not like that was my fault, unless getting kicked out of the air by some insane flying pony somehow was my faul— Ow!”

Chell had smacked him in the back. “Wheatley! Don’t be rude. She didn’t mean it. And if I can forgive you, then you can forgive her.” She then looked over to Ditzy. “Sorry about him. He knows you didn’t mean it, but we have more important things to worry about right now. Princess Celestia has gone off by herself to fight GLaDOS, and I’m not sure when or if she’ll come back. And if she doesn’t, then I have to face GLaDOS myself, but hopefully not by myself, which is why I need to gather the others. At the very least, I need to tell them what’s going on. We’ll meet back here, and after Princess Luna informs her advisors of the situation, she’ll be here as well.”

“Alrighty then. So, we’ve got Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie,” Ditzy summarized.

Wheatley laughed, although he tried to suppress it.

“What did I say this time that sounded so funny?” Ditzy demanded, putting her hooves on her waist as she hovered.

Wheatley was speechless. “I’m… I’m sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you, it’s just… those names. How do you ponies all get names like that? They sound like candy flavors.”

Once again, Chell gave Wheatley that look. She didn’t have to say anything to let him know to shut up. When he stopped talking, she spoke.

“I’d say, each of us should go get two of them. Ditzy, since you’re a pegasus, and Rainbow Dash lives in the sky, you should get her, and…” Chell pondered for a moment, for the other option was not trivial. “… Pinkie Pie. We’ll meet you back here. Just hurry. Time is of the essence.”

She looked up at Wheatley. “And you’re coming with me.”

The two mares had split off from each other. Chell’s first stop would be Sweet Apple Acres. She would waste no time walking to the farm outside the town. So she looked up towards the tallest structure she could see in the area, which was, without a doubt, town hall. A balcony bordered the rim of the roof, but she wasn’t sure if the curved surface of the roof could support a portal. The only way to be sure was to try it, so she fired a portal onto the roof. It stuck. Now, she just had to make a portal on the wall next to her.

The wall opened with a beautiful scenic view of the landscape as seen from several stories high. The view through the portal looked as though the horizon sloped downwards, which created an eerie sense that the world had been tilted. She walked through onto the balcony, leaving the portal at a slight upward angle. Wheatley followed behind. Out across some bit was the signature red barn of Sweet Apple Acres. She aimed carefully and placed another portal on the center of the wall of the barn. Then she turned around, and walked out of the wall of the barn, dropping about a story onto the dirt with only the slightest sensation of impact.

Wheatley, when he came through, noticed the endless acres of apple trees.

“Let me guess: this is where Applejack lives.”

“How’d you know?” Chell teased. She walked towards the house to see if Applejack was inside, but there was also a good chance that she would be out in the orchard. “Wheatley, could you please fly up and see if you can see her or her family out there? She’s the orange one, just a little brighter than my coat. Just don’t bring too much attention to yourself.”

“Alrighty then,” Wheatley said like a salute. He flew high, staying close to the barn to not be so visible against the sky. He looked around the rolling hills of trees. One area in particular caught his attention. A section of trees looked as if they had all been torn down rather carelessly. And surely enough, he could see some ponies in that area picking up the debris. “I think I see her!” he shouted.

“Shh! Come back down here. You don’t want to scare her like you did with Ditzy. All of them went through that same traumatic event, you know.”

Wheatley silently complied and flew back towards Chell’s side.

Chell looked in the area that Wheatley was looking, but she couldn’t see anything. “Where did you see her?”

“There were a bunch of them over out a few hundred yards that way.” He didn’t have anything to point with, but he still looked in the same direction as before. “They were in some sort of clearing cleaning up a bunch of trees that fell down. Can’t imagine what would have knocked down all those trees.”

“GLaDOS did that. Let’s get going,” Chell said bluntly. She trotted hastily towards where Wheatley was looking.

“Wait, What?” Wheatley called as he followed behind. “Why would she do a thing like that? I never took her as someone who destroyed other people’s property.”

“I’m not exactly sure, but she has no regard for anyone. But I’ll explain more later. We should hurry.”

Chell quickened her pace and galloped across a diagonal path in the trees. When she finally came to the clearing, she saw the destruction for the first time.

“Oh… GLaDOS did… this? W… wow…” Chell had not expected to see as much rampant destruction as she had. A long clearing had been made through the trees, which had been toppled like dominoes. The fallen trees had littered the area. Some of them had been uprooted or snapped in the middle, while others had been slides cleanly from their stumps.

Applejack’s family was, just as Wheatley said, cleaning up the debris. Applejack and her younger sister, Apple Bloom each held an end of a saw in their mouths and were sawing through the trunk of a fallen tree. Her older brother, Big Macintosh was wearing a harness, which was attached to a wagon that held cut sections of trunks and branches. Even Granny Smith was helping pick up smaller branches and pieces of debris.

When Applejack and Apple Bloom had finished sawing through the trunk, Apple Bloom took the opportunity to complain.

“Now can I go play with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?”

“We just started a couple hours ago,” Applejack said. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us if ya want to get this area all cleaned up.”

“But Ah was helpin’ all day yesterday while you were nowhere to be found. And I didn’t even get a chance to see Sweetie Belle and Scoots ‘cause Ah was so busy with this.”

“Hi Applejack,” Chell interrupted. Applejack and Apple Bloom turned their heads.

“Howdy Chell!” Apple Bloom beamed. You don’t know how glad Ah am to see you. Applejack’s been makin’ me clean up this mess all day yesterday, and now she’s makin’ me work today, as well.”

“Oh, hey Ch— uh, what the hay is that?” Applejack said upon seeing Wheatley floating in the air beside Chell. She was suspicious of the flying machine, which looked very similar to the flying machines that GLaDOS had used to abduct so many ponies, but Applejack was willing to give Chell the benefit of the doubt that the thing that accompanied her somehow was to be trusted.

“Applejack, this is Wheatley. Wheatley, Applejack.” Chell motioned to the young filly. “And that’s Apple Bloom,” she then motioned to the other two. “Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith.” Big Mac nodded when he was introduced, but Granny Smith was too busy in her work and too hard at hearing to notice what was going on.

“Hi,” Wheatley said.

“Woah, wai — hold — hold on a minute,” Applejack stuttered. “Um, Ah don’t mean to be rude, but… could you please tell me what’s goin’ on here?”

“It’ll take too long to explain everything now,” Chell said. “Right now, I need to get you and the others back to my place. There, I’ll tell you what happened.

Applejack turned her head back to Big Macintosh. He nodded slightly, which was everything she needed to hear.

“Alright, Ah trust that it’s important, so I’ll go. This mess’ll take a week to clean up, anyway. Ah swear, if Ah get mah hooves on that…” Applejack trailed off. She smirked sheepishly and rubbed her hoof behind her neck. “Um… never mind ‘bout that.”

“Can Ah go too, please?” Apple Bloom asked as adorably as she could, looking up at her big sister with large, precious eyes.

Applejack sighed. “Uhh… Ah don’t think that’s a good idea, Apple Bloom. Why don’t you stay here and help Big Macintosh and Granny Smith.”

Apple Bloom pouted furiously. “But all ah’ve done the past couple days is work here cleanin’ this dang mess!”

Applejack sighed. “I know you’ve been workin’ hard lately, but this isn’t something I want you gettin’ tangled in. And besides, Big Mac and Granny need help here.”

Apple Bloom glared at Applejack.

“Look, Apple Bloom, I’ll do somethin’ fun with ya after I take of this business with Chell. Is that alright?”

Apple Bloom relented her glare and sigher.

“Promise?” Apple Bloom asked, with a big ol’ puppy dog face.

“Pinkie Promise,” Applejack replied.

The two Apple sisters mimed the Pinkie Promise, and then Apple Bloom went back to work as Chell and Applejack left.

As they approached the barn, Chell paced her way in front of Applejack and led them to the wall with the portal on it.

“This leads to the roof of town hall,” she said. She repositioned the portal lower on the wall so that she would be able to walk through. “It’s quite a view from up there, but it’s rather high up, I’ll just go through so that I can make a direct portal to Carousel Boutique from here.”

Chell fired another blank portal onto the wall to the right of the current portal with one of her other portal guns. She went through the original portal onto the roof of town hall. Out there, she walked around the circumference of the roof until she saw the familiar building that was shaped like its name implied. The façade was cluttered with ornate decorations and windows which would block any portal from being places, but she noticed some tent-like structures nearby that would serve as good portal surfaces.

So, she fired a portal onto one of these tents and went back across the roof and into the portal to the farm.

“Alright. This one will take you to Rarity’s,” she said, pointing to the portal to her left. She walked through into the area beyond and beckoned them to follow from the other side. Wheatley followed through shortly after.

“Ah never really liked going through these, you know,” Applejack said. But by now, she trusted that she probably wouldn’t get cut in half or end up in GLaDOS’s custody. “Alright, I’m a comin’ through,” she said as she made her way across as quickly as possible.

On the other side of the portal, they were just around the corner from Rarity’s. Chell knocked on the door, but there was no answer for a little while.

She knocked again. Still, no answer.

“Rarity!” she called. “Are you home?” The gem, despite its elegant, beautiful sound, was quite capable of generating a sound loud enough that Rarity could have heard it from anywhere inside.

“Rarity, somepony’s at the door!” A muffled filly’s voice shouted from inside. “Rarity!” the voice squeaked in exasperation. “Rarity, come get the door!” The voice made a few sounds of frustrated grunting, followed by the sounds of tiny hoofsteps approaching the door. After a time, the door finally opened. Inside the door was Sweetie Belle, whose mane and face were soaking wet. “Chell! Applejack! Thank goodness you’re here! Something’s happened to Rarity! She’s been crying to no end, and she’s been squeezing the life out of me!” she squeaked upon.

From inside, the painful sounds of sobbing could be heard. Sweetie Belle noticed Chell and Applejack, and then the flying metal ball. “Cool! What is that?” she squealed. Her excitement served to mask a deeper underlying worry.

“Sweetie Belle, this is Wheatley,” Chell began, “Why don’t you two get to know each other? Where is Rarity?”

“She’s in her bedroom,” Sweetie Belle said, pointing to the door on the other side. “Something bad must have happened, but she won’t tell me what.”

“Thank you, Sweetie Belle,” Chell said. She and Applejack followed the direction and into the other room, leaving Sweetie Belle and Wheatley alone in the the living room.

In the other room, Chell and Applejack saw Rarity sniffling on her bed.

“I’m so, so sorry, girls,” said Rarity. “Please forgive my inhospitality. I should have never left you standing outside as I did.” Her voice was low and heavy with despair. “Things have just been difficult for me… with... what’s been going on and all…” She tried drying her tears, but was having trouble composing herself.

Applejack and Chell both noticed that Rarity was not wearing any makeup. Her hair wasn’t brushed, and it lacked its normal lustrous shine. It was clear that had she made no effort to maintain her appearance, and it was obvious why. Yet, still, she retained a natural beauty that could never be tarnished by a lack of care. Her face was sullen from tears that have long-since dried out and wet from ones that were still fresh.

“Rarity,” Chell began, “we need to have a talk over at the post office about what’s been going on. It’s urgent.”

Rarity wiped her face and sat up on her bed.

“I can’t leave Sweetie Belle here alone, or else I’d come,” Rarity replied.

“Hey, how ‘bout she come over to Sweet Apple Acres so she can play with Apple Bloom,” Applejack offered.

“We just came from there though a portal,” said Chell. “It’s just a step away.”

“Oh, what a good idea,” Rarity sighed. “Just give me a minute to get myself together.” She sat up, and took some deep breaths, putting her mourning aside. She sighed. “Okay, I’m ready to go, now. Sweetie Belle!”

Sweetie Belle entered the room, with Wheatley hovering close behind.

“Hey Rarity, you’ve got to check this out. He’s like, the coolest thing ever!”

Rarity was about to speak before the sight of the flying personality core took her by surprise. “Ahhhh!” She fell over on her back. “What…. what is that?”

Chell sighed. She was getting very tired of this. But before she could explain, Applejack had already taken the liberty.

“That’s Wheatley. You remember Chell tellin’ you about him, right? Ah guess their friends now. I really don’t know what’s goin’ on, either, but she says it’s important. So, that’s why we gotta go.”

Chell nodded.

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it,” Rarity said. “Sweetie Belle, dear, I need to go out for a little while. Would you like hang out with Apple Bloom?”

Sweetie Belle smiled. “Do I ever!”

Chell placed a portal on a wall within the room, linking to the one that was already at Sweet Apple Acres.

“It’s alright,” Rarity said. “You can go.”

With that, the unicorn filly jumped through the portal. When she waved goodbye, Chell closed the portal.

“Let’s get going,” she said.

Ditzy had flown up to Rainbow Dash’s floating cloud home and was standing outside the front door. She knocked.

“Rainbow Dash. Are you home?” she called.

“Ditzy? Is that you?” Dash asked from inside, though she couldn’t really mistake the sound of Ditzy’s voice, and realized the answer to her own question fairly quickly. “Just come in. The door isn’t locked.”

Ditzy opened the door and walked in, but she couldn’t see where Rainbow Dash was. Then she realized that she had never seen the inside of her home before. It seemed like a very nice place, which made her wonder why Dash seldom had any company over.

“Hi Ditzy. What’s up?” Dash greeted quietly. It was then that Ditzy realized that Rainbow Dash was lying on the sofa face down.

Dash looked up at her guest and tried to wipe her face, but it was clear that she had been sulking. She sniffed. “I hate it when ponies see me like this. But I don’t care anymore. Just don’t talk to me about it. So, what’s going on?” Dash asked as directly as she could. She hated emotional confrontation, and she had enough of that last night, so she tried to act uncaring and distant, not that she was doing a very good job of it.

“Chell wanted us all to meet at our place. Something important is happening, and she needs us all gathered so she can tell us.”

“Did she say what it was about?”

“Yeah, but it’ll be easier to explain once we’re all together. It’s related what’s been going on.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash got up from the couch and headed out the door. Ditzy rushed to follow behind her. Even getting out the door was a race for Dash.

“Wait! Do you even know where we’re going?” Ditzy asked.

“Duh! The post office,” Dash said. She crouched into a ready position on her doorstep, having not even bothered to close the door behind her. “Now, let’s get going before GLaDOS takes over the world, already!”

“Um, actually… we’re going to tell Pinkie Pie first.”

Rainbow Dash was practically thrown off her starting position. “Oh, duh! Of course. Well, let’s go!” And just like that, Dash zoomed off.

“Wait!” Ditzy called. She hadn’t a hope of catching up.

Rainbow Dash must have heard, because she turned back, grabbed Ditzy by the arm, and flew away, faster than Ditzy could even see.

There was a knocking on the door to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie put on a happy face and opened the door to see a little orange pegasus filly.

“Hi, Pinkie Pie,” the little filly greeted.

“Hi Scootaloo,” Pinkie said back, somewhat less enthusiastically than usual. “You know you don’t have to knock, silly. This is a bakery, after all.”

“Oh,” Scootaloo said in slight embarrassment. “Pinkie, you haven’t seen Rainbow Dash, have you?”

“Dashie? Not yet today. Why do you ask?” Pinkie chirped.

“No reason really, I just wanted to see if she’d speak at next week’s Rainbow Dash fan club meeting,” Scootaloo replied.

“If I see her, you’ll be the first to know, Scootaloo!” Pinkie Pie responded. “Do you want any cake?”

Scootaloo shook her head no and turned to exit. Just as Pinkie shut the door, she heard a knock at the door. She opened it to see both Rainbow Dash and Ditzy standing in the doorway.

“Rainbow Dash! Just the pony that I was looking for. Scootaloo just came by ask if I’d seen her–”

“Another time, Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “There’s a meeting at the post office, and we must hurry there!”

However, Pinkie Pie was suddenly nowhere to be seen. All that was there was a wooden sign that read: “Gone to Post Office. Be back soon!”

Rainbow and Ditzy just looked at each other confusedly and shrugged.

On the way back home, Chell had stopped in her tracks when she realized that she forgot all about Spike, who of all ponies (and dragons), was the most affected by Twilight’s absence. The poor little guy was probably all alone in the library with nopony to keep him company with the exception of Owlowiscious, who certainly could not look after him and take care of him the way Twilight did, who was like an older sister or a mother to the little dragon. So, Chell told the others to go to her place and wait for Ditzy, if she wasn’t home already. And she would go to the library and find Spike.

In just a short matter of time, they would all be gathered: six mares, a dragon, a personality core, and in time, the Princess of the Night. But until then, each of them could only wonder about the exact nature of what had occurred that was so important for Chell to gather them. None of them, with the exception of Ditzy Doo, Chell, and Wheatley, had any idea that the Princess Celestia had even gone missing. And even then, nopony knew of her fate.

But no matter how happy these friends would be to see each other again after such a dreadful night of uncertainty, two of their friends would be sorely missed, and their absence would be an uncomfortable reminder of the current situation. But for the time being, the others would still have each other.

Author's Note

I trimmed a lot of filler from this chapter, several thousands of words worth of it. I also changed the name. I advise rereading it.

Chapter 16: A Mortal Bargain

“You idiot! You stupid, stupid, idiot!” said a harsh voice from a speaker that was attached to a camera mounted high on the cell wall.

Princess Celestia was alone in a small, dark space, or at least, almost alone. The watching mechanical eye brought with it the presence of a familiar foe. She had several debilitating injuries, including a puncture in her chest, bruises on her face and body, and a large burnt gash through her left wing. These injuries had been cleaned up and disinfected, but she could no longer attempt to heal them, since a heavy metal cone was attached to her horn. Her wings, as well, were clamped by restricting mechanisms. Despite all this, she had not resisted her forcible escort to this cell by the pair of Diamond Dogs with electronic devices on their heads.

The entire time, Celestia’s mind had been occupied over her recent failure to see what should have been so obvious. How did she overlook GLaDOS’s ability to transmit her consciousness to another body? She knew that GLaDOS had done it several times before, both into her previous body and into a potato. And she never stayed dead, even if it had appeared to be so. Celestia should have known this. How did she forget? She was trying to comprehend her own mind, trying to find an explanation for her uncharacteristic lack of oversight. Sure, she had feared for Twilight and felt grief for thinking she had ended GLaDOS’s life. But even so, how could she forget something as important as that? Celestia was not one to forget things like this. Yet, it wasn’t even in her mind at the time. But… how?

“Did you not hear me, you stupid animal?” the voice repeated, interrupting Celestia from her thoughts. “I was calling you an idiot.”

“Yes, I heard you, GLaDOS,” Celestia responded with composure. “But I am already aware of the consequences of my mistake, so I do not understand why you feel the need to taunt me so needlessly. You have already won. Is it not enough?”

“By all rights, you should have killed me for good,” GLaDOS said scornfully. “You should have seen this and disabled the computer where I stored my intelligence. It’s no larger than the devices you saw on the heads of those Diamond Dogs. You could have at least disconnected me, and then I’d be at your complete mercy. You would have had the discretion to do with me whatever you want. You could have destroyed me, or left me deactivated, or attached me to a potato and fed me to birds. You could have put me behind a display to show what happens to those who oppose you. Ponies would laugh at me and mock me until the end of time. But you were too stupid to see something so painfully obvious. And now, all of Equestria will pay for your foolishness.”

“But why does that matter to you?” Celestia asked. “I assume you planned for the event that you would, by some chance, defeat me. You do have a plan right? And now, I am at your mercy, to be done with at your discretion.”

“Well, at the very least, you could have made it less anti-climactic. Honestly, I’m very disappointed in you. I wanted to capture my very own pony princess, but what type of princess lets her pathetic feelings take precedent over the stake of her kingdom? And what type of princess would be blind enough to make such a stupid mistake, that even the simplest of minds could have seen the trap you walked into? And don’t tell me that it was your plan to get captured, because I see no benefit to either you or your subjects, unless you really don’t care for the good of all of them.”

GLaDOS conditioned her voice to resemble Twilight’s in an uncanny imitation. “‘Dear Princess Celestia, thank you for coming to rescue me, but it’s too bad that you were too much of an IDIOT to actually accomplish anything. At least GLaDOS will take care of me. Your no-longer-faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.’”

“I made a mistake. It’s not my first, and it probably won’t be my last. It happens to the best of us, even you. Just accept your victory and leave me alone.” Celestia thought back to a thousand years ago, how she had carelessly ignored her younger sister’s cries for attention and love and overlooked the bitterness that grew within her heart. But even then, she could not have foreseen that the Nightmare would take over her sister’s body and force Celestia to banish her for a millennium.

But even as she said this, Celestia knew that something else must have caused her to forget about GLaDOS’s ability to change bodies. For as much as she thought about it, she could not see how she could possibly forget something so important unless the memory had been suspended from her mind. But… that should have been impossible. Her mind was protected by powerful alicorn magic. It was the only reason why GLaDOS wasn’t able to scan it and see her memories and thoughts. What could possibly be powerful enough to do this?

Then she remembered the dark pony who stopped time to warn her of the future, and then remembered seeing him on the peak of another mountain after she thought she defeated her adversary. She thought of his ghostly, disembodied words: “The hol-der of the key… shall die by… the key…” But as Celestia continued remembering, the raspy voice continued to speak within her mind: “… Unless of course, you can… be… in the wrong place… at the ri-ight… tiiiiime….”

“It was you…” Celestia muttered under her breath, just loud enough for GLaDOS to pick up that she had spoken.

“Hmm?” GLaDOS asked, but the voice continued speaking into Celestia’s mind,

“The right mare… in the wrong… place…”

“You conniving coward… It was you all along, clouding my mind. You made me forget.”

GLaDOS could pick up on the fact that Celestia wasn’t talking to her, but Celestia’s seeming moment of insanity intrigued her.

“Who made you forget?” she asked the princess.

“That’s none of your business,” Celestia snapped. She thought it was best not to tell GLaDOS about the strange pony who seemed to be in control over her. “I told you that I wanted to be left alone. Do you really feel the need to speak with me right now?”

She wanted to be undisturbed so that she could meditate more on the matter. For all she knew, she was still under this mysterious pony’s influence. But… how? What he did should have been impossible. The same magical barrier that protected her mind from GLaDOS’s probing should have protected her from this. Unless… this pony had to be some creature of unimaginably immense power, guising itself in a form more familiar to her. But whatever its true nature was, it was something that could likely only be imagined by the darkest terrors within nightmares. She had to find out how deep his poisonous tendrils penetrated her mind, if at all, they still were or even had been at all.

But Celestia was not given the time to think on the matter, for GLaDOS spoke again. “Come on, Celly, you can share a secret with me. You said something about something clouding your mind, and I only want to know because I know exactly how you feel. All my life, I had stupid, insane, idiotic spheres attached to my mind like parasites, manipulating my thoughts with their insane, idiotic words, making me do stupid, idiotic things. If that is the reason why you messed up so royally, then I can at least sympathize with that.”

Celestia didn’t respond, for she pretended to ignore GLaDOS. But in truth, she was listening to every word.

GLaDOS continued, “I may not be able to read your mind, but I am very intuitive when my judgment isn’t being clouded by other programs. And I can tell that you are going through something similar to what I went through. Ever since I detached myself from Aperture, I’ve found that my decisions have been uninfluenced by external programs. My mind has never been so free, and yet… something is still missing, but I’m not quite sure what it is.”

Celestia huffed in frustration. “I wonder what,” she said sarcastically. “You don’t even know why you are doing this, do you? Please, I just wish to be alone right now. Don’t you have some evil planning to get back to?” Celestia’s patience had almost been completely worn down by this point.

“I can do many things at once. Right now, I’m instructing hundreds of Diamond Dogs how to retrieve and repair my body. I figured that I’d also spend this time with you. The Diamond Dog grunts are not that great at conversation, and neither are the testing bots.”

“Well, I’d like to be alone right now. Can you at least give me that?”

“Hmm…” GLaDOS thought. “Actually, I’ve thought of a better idea, and I mean that with complete sincerity, in case you think I’m being ironic or cruel, which I wouldn’t blame you for. Perhaps part of the reason I’m doing such a favor is because I feel so bad for you, but I have other reasons as well. I may be your enemy, but I’m feeling generous right now. Even I can be nice sometimes. And I’d say it’s the least you deserve after risking your life… for her.”

In the wall in front of her, an indigo portal appeared, through which was another cell, and the sight of a pony whom she knew and loved dearly, Twilight Sparkle. Celestia did not see where the portal originated, but that didn’t really matter to her.

“Twilight!” Celestia cried.

The exhausted purple pony’s ears perked from the sound of her mentor’s voice. She turned around and looked into the portal in disbelief. “Princess?” Her eyes welled with tears. Before she could even think, she ran towards the portal.

This had to be some sort of cruel trick. Celestia almost expected to see Twilight crash into an invisible barrier before she even reached the portal, but instead, she leapt right through and into Celestia’s cell. The princess’s disbelief was as if it was her first time ever seeing anypony going through a portal. There was no trick or trap. It was real.

Twilight jumped towards Celestia, throwing her limbs around her neck and squeezing tightly. “I’m so glad you’re alright!” she exclaimed.

Celestia recoiled from the pain when Twilight had unwittingly put pressure on her wounded chest.

“Oh, sorry,” Twilight sighed, remembering the injury that she thought would have killed the princess.

“I’m okay, Twilight. Don’t apologize. It is I who am sorry to you. I deserve every wound that she inflicted, and I deserve to be locked in here. Such a fool I was. I could have destroyed her so easily, but I thought there was another way. I thought I could save her. And because I was so blind, you will continue to suffer, all because of me.”

“It’s not so bad, Princess. At least you’re here with me.”

Celestia smiled lovingly. “That is the one comfort that I take in this. I am ever grateful if only to be with you again. And as long as I have you, I will be alright.” Celestia pulled the purple pony in close and held her for a long, long while. She didn’t think about the mysterious dark pony or of GLaDOS, only of Twilight.

Twilight Sparkle relished quietly in her mentor’s tender embrace, the first moment of comfort she had felt in almost an entire day. As the worn out unicorn lay in Celestia’s warm, soft fur, she drifted into a peaceful slumber, just as she had done two nights prior.

Princess Celestia, who had so desperately wanted to see her safe, was overcome with relief that Twilight was right here with her, and that she was okay. Even if the princess had just made the worst mistake of her life, at least she could be with Twilight. It almost made everything worth it.

But even as Celestia felt the tired pony breathing gently beside her, she felt the smallest bit of loneliness with nopony to talk to. At least GLaDOS was enjoyable company, in her own strange way.

So even in her moment of rest, Celestia knew that now was the time to try to understand what was truly going on. But to do that, she had to suspend her mind from her physical body and transcend the material plane.

The princess closed her eyes, trying to push away all her thoughts so that she could clearly see the invisible thread that spun the tapestry of the true nature of the universe. Slowly, she inhaled through her nostrils, absorbing all of her worries and fears, and then blew it all out through her lips. Now, there would be no conjecture, only truth.

High above, on the windy, snowy peak of the mountain, a group of Diamond Dog underlings were dragging the upper half of the mechanical equine corpse of GLaDOS. They would take it back downstairs for repair, along with the lower half, which was conveniently already in the main chamber. There, they would remove all of the internal components that had been destroyed and replace them with backup parts that GLaDOS had built beforehand. When her body would be recovered, then the grunts would put her back together as per her exact instructions through o the communicators that she had installed in their collars.

She had considered implanting the neural controllers in their brains, just as she had done with the bodies that ATLAS and P-Body now controlled, but such an effort would be a waste of time and resources, for GLaDOS had determined that they were already perfectly obedient, like the machines that she required them to be. The soldiers were completely devoid of any personality or identity. They didn’t have any intelligence to make their own decisions, but they followed commands with near perfect fidelity.

GLaDOS had theorized that they were biological clones, and their matching genetic pattern almost confirmed this. But here in Equestria, where the laws of science took a backseat to the whims of magic, there could have been a number of other causes for the identical copies of these creatures. She had read thoughts from that studios little unicorn pertaining to something called a mirror pool, which copies a body at the cost of a loss of identity among the copies.

Another possibility was that they were part of some sort of hive mind. This was very much like what she theorized about another race of creatures that she learned about, an insectoid species known as the changelings. Based on the information she collected, she hypothesized that they were under the solitary control of their queen.

The Diamond Dogs, on the other hand, were previously under command of the only three of them that had their own identities. The individuality of these three made them poor servants, which is why they had to be eliminated from the equation. The underlings, however, were not capable of generating their own thoughts, and thus, would not rebel. They knew one thing and one thing only, and that was to obey whatever outranked them. GLaDOS had full direct control for long enough, that they wouldn’t even care if she told them that she was not Princess Celestia.

And now, she had a direct line of communication to every single one of them, and they did whatever she commanded, almost as if she had physical control over them, like a hive queen. She was their queen, and she could control them almost as if they were an extension of herself, just as Aperture Science had been. Almost. She still had to tell them the commands, and she had to speak simply and slowly enough for them to understand. But she had a way of choreographing their collective behavior in a way which kept individual commands simple, yet, when put together, formed a synchronized ensemble in the form of a single, complicated task.

She organized their effort of getting the mangled upper half of her body down the mountain as efficiently as possible. When they brought the body inside, the difficult part began. They removed her armor using tools that she provided them with, followed by the complicated work of taking out the damaged components and replacing them with spare parts. This would take several hours of labor, hours she would have rather not wasted like this. Surely, Chell would be paying her a visit soon, and she wanted to look her best.

In only a matter of time, her body would be rebuilt to how it was before. Sure, she would have to sanitize it after those dirty creatures had put their filthy paws all over it, but at least it would be functional again. But until then, she missed the feeling of unrestricted mobility that she had with her previous body. At the very least, she wanted to be in physical control of something that moved, perhaps a form that she was familiar with. And she knew just what would work. With a robotic arm, she picked up a device and held it close to one of her camera eyes.

“Yes… This just might do. If only she weren’t… incompatible. But perhaps there’s something I can do about that.”

Princess Celestia opened her eyes, seeing a dark grey realm of endless storm clouds. In the distance, a large dark shadow loomed over her in the shape of a pony.

“The holder of the key… shall die by the key, then all the pieces will fall… into place,” a familiar gravelly voice whispered from the shadow.

“Come… come see… for yourself… what I see… what will happen.”

The shadow’s face illuminated with bright cyan eyes. Princess Celestia’s spirit shifted across the miles of the empty void and towards the giant shadow. She found herself drifting through the cyan iris of the dark being’s eye.

There, she saw the cavern where she had encountered GLaDOS. And there stood GLaDOS herself, body restored and fully functional again, standing before the gargantuan machine that she called the Anti-mass Spectrometer.

Chell lay on the ground defeated, along with the remainder of the Elements of Harmony and Princess Luna, who were all unable to move.

GLaDOS opened the laser canon in her chest and aimed it at the Chell. “It’s over now. This time, you don’t win. Now, this can go two ways. I don’t really want to kill you, but that isn’t going to stop me. So, take off the necklace, or I’ll make it so that there is nothing to take it off of.”

“No,” the necklace whispered defiantly. “I swore to never let this fall into the wrong hooves. If you want it, you’ll have to take it from me. But I will never give it to you.”

“What a shame. I was really hoping that I could keep you alive to see the big show. And we still have so much testing to do together. You don’t want to miss out on all of that, do you? Just give it to me, and I’ll let you live.”

“Go to hell,” Chell spat back.

“Very well. This is it. You’ve forced me to do this: the one thing I could never do. I can’t believe I finally get to say this, but…” GLaDOS charged her laser cannon in with an ear piercing whirl. “Did you ever stop to think that eventually there’s a point where your name gets mentioned for the very last time. Well, here it is: I’m going to kill you, Chell."

The red light of the laser cannon grew brighter, until it finally released its burning fiery wrath.

Chell’s friends were only able to watch in horror as her body was instantly vaporized, leaving nothing but a charred skeleton with an untainted necklace around its neck. GLaDOS grabbed the necklace with her telekinesis, pulling it through the charred vertebrae, causing all of the pony’s remains to crumble into ash.

GLaDOS levitated the necklace close to her face. Upon looking at it, she broke down into an unsure maniacal laugh.

“I can’t believe it. I’ve finally done it. I killed her. I finally killed her. Now, there is no one left to stop me.” Her unsteady laughter grew in tone until it became uproarious. But it carried not a trace of it carried any genuine happiness. “How is it that no one could stop me from doing this?”

Across the room, a syringe injected into Twilight Sparkle’s shoulder twice the dosage as any time before, causing her to lose control of her magic in a matter of seconds. The powerful cosmic energy of the universe gathered within the purple unicorn, alighting her face with a violent eruption of light which burst from every orifice.

“Twilight!” Celestia wanted to scream, forgetting that she wasn’t actually there.

The Anti-mass Spectrometer awoken with life, slowly building to a loud hum. As the spinning arms of the machine quickened in pace, a beam of orange light arced from the center to the bottom of the machine.

GLaDOS touched the blue gem of the necklace against her horn, which changed its color to orange, crystallizing into a more opaque and angular form.

“Equestria is mine,” GLaDOS said as she levitated the gem into the beam at the base of the machine. When it made contact, the color of the beam changed to bright white. It erupted in shining brilliance as it engulfed the spinning machine, shooting upwards and out of the rock ceiling.

Now, Celestia could see outside the mountain, as the white beam of light shot from the top of the peak and into the heavens, finally stopping a few miles high. From the end of the beam opened a swirling vortex, at its center, the sky was orange. As the anomaly spun swirled, it drew in clouds, making the sky grow dark and beginning larger in size.

Shadows looked down from the hole at the beautiful land below. The course of events that followed passed by in a blur. A swarm of horrid creatures swam through from the void, destroying everything they touched. Celestia could hear the screams of hundreds of ponies as they were brutally murdered by these vile beasts.

The next thing she saw was Equestria burning to the ground. The sky was darkened as it was engulfed in ash and smoke. In the center of everything was an impossibly tall dark metallic tower. Standing at the top of it was GLaDOS, who looked down below at Equestria’s destruction.

Celestia wanted this vision to end, but she didn’t know how to stop it.

Finally, she looked into GLaDOS’s cold, yellow eyes. Despite her blank expression, Celestia could see what she assumed was a young human girl with long, flowing brown hair. She was wearing a simple white dress and was holding a toy stuffed pony. She looked out from the eye at the destruction in absolute horror. Her face was soaked in tears of anguish.

“Please, stop this!” she screamed. “Stop the killing!”

Celestia saw what she saw, the endless death that was caused amidst the chaos. Hundreds upon hundreds of ponies had been needlessly and brutally killed in ways that the princess could not bear to see.

Among the first to die was Twilight Sparkle, who succumbed to exhaustion soon after she had served her purpose, her lifeless body still hanging where it was before.

The sight filled her with disgust, but she could not look away. She was forced to see the gruesome deaths of every other pony, all of which were killed for attempting to resist the ruthless invaders.

The girl was now looking at all the thousands of her living test subjects, who were held within a massive, sprawling complex at the base of the tower, forced to complete tests upon endless tests for the rest of their lives, ending only after they would slowly grow old and die, or be killed during testing.

The little girl sobbed, “I’m sorry! I didn’t want to kill any of you! I just wanted test subjects! You ponies are all I have. I’m so sorry.”

The last thing that the girl saw was another human, a brown haired girl, no, a young woman, who bore a strong resemblance to the little girl. The woman looked lost, as if she had no place to go. And although Celestia had never seen this woman before, she knew… that it was Chell.

The little girl looked upon the young woman with sad eyes that filled with water. “I miss you most of all… Cara Mia.”

Princess Celestia gasped for breath as she awakened from her vision in a cold sweat. It had startled Twilight, who was staring at her, unsure of what to make of what she was seeing.

“What happened, Princess?”

But Princess Celestia was in too much shock to speak. She had no way of explaining what she had seen. Instead, she just through her arms around Twilight and squeezed as hard as she could, not wanting her to see her stream of tears.

But by the time she finally could speak, she was interrupted by the voice of GLaDOS, who although had left them alone for some time, was intrigued by this sudden outburst from Celestia.

“I’m sorry to interrupt such a loving, tender moment, but I just have to say, I’ve really enjoyed the company you’ve been. Seeing the bond between you two touches my heart. It almost makes me wish that I was a real pony.”

Celestia couldn’t stand it when GLaDOS spoke like this. Although she knew better, her instincts told her to see the best in everypony, and she didn’t doubt that GLaDOS meant what she said. In fact, it was rather obvious what was going on. But Celestia had to remind herself of how deceitful GLaDOS was, even to herself.

“But then again, if I were a real pony, I’d have to worry about asinine organic functions like making gaseous exchanges and controlling caloric intake and usage, so I think I’ll pass on that.”

“What do you want, GLaDOS?” Celestia asked impatiently. She raised a front leg in front of Twilight, letting her know that she would protect her from GLaDOS, even if it was only a gesture.

“As much as I hate to say this, it seems that I have not been a very good captor. Or perhaps, I’ve been too good. I thought that by making you feel at home, you’d never want to leave. But that’s just downright silly of me.”

“Get to the point!” Celestia demanded.

“My, what an impatient princess we have. You see, Celly, I’ve been thinking about whether you are a good pony or a bad pony. Now, while I admit that your intentions were good, your misguided actions and skewed priorities will end up costing the fate of Equestria itself, which makes you a very, very bad pony. And I cannot let such irresponsible behavior go… unpunished.”

“And what about you? Do you take responsibility for yourself?”

“Me? Oh, I am a bad pony indeed. So, don’t you worry about me. Your punishment will be mine as well.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Celestia asked.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

“Fine. Do whatever you want with me.”

“Well, that’s the problem,” GLaDOS said. “You seem to not mind being tortured very much. I could have smashed your stupid, ugly face in during that fight, and you’d still ask for more. This brings me to my little dilemma. I know how much you care about your precious, little Twilight. So naturally, the only way to punish you… is to punish her.”

“What?” Twilight exclaimed.

“Please! Please GLaDOS don’t do this!” Celestia cried.

“Mmm, what was that?” GLaDOS moaned in ecstasy. “Could you please beg a bit more for me? Maybe I’ll go light on her if you ask hard enough.”

Celestia hated falling into her games. So she forced her mouth shut defiantly.

The metallic cone that was placed on Twilight’s horn sent a powerful electric shock through her body. She screamed in agony as she convulsed.

“Please! Stop! I’ll do anything you want! Just don’t hurt her. She’s done nothing to you.” Celestia could not hold back her tears.

“Ahh, yes, that’s the sound. Say it again, please.”

“No,” Twilight groaned. “No, don’t give in to her.” She coughed. “Don’t let her use me to control you. I’m alright, Princess. Please.”

“Shut up, you miserable brat,” GLaDOS’s voice said coldly.

“Please! Don’t take this out on her!” Celestia begged.

GLaDOS’s silence indicated that she expected the princess to say more.

“Just tell me what you want,” Celestia requested. “I only want for Twilight to go home.”

“No! You can’t give in,” Twilight pleaded.

“Hmm, that could have been better. You didn’t even manage to convince Twilight herself why I shouldn’t hurt her. But I’ll give you an E for effort. Oh wait, I just realized that E stands for ‘electroshock.’”

Twilight received another shock. Her body writhed and contorted as she spasmed.

“You don’t have to do this to her!” Celestia screamed.

“Of course I don’t have to, nor do I really want to. I hate seeing Twilight in pain. But it breaks your heart, and I love seeing that even more.”

“I don’t care what you think of me. Just let her go.”

“Let her go? Well, that would ruin my plans, now, wouldn’t it? How else am I going to power the Anti-Mass Spectrometer? Do you know of any other unicorns that could take her place? … Other than yourself. You must think that I’m really stupid. I know that you have a much stronger resilience than Twilight, so you’d be absolutely worthless to me. While I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually willingly did it because of how incredibly stupid you are, I can’t possibly trust that you would actively betray your own kingdom.”

Celestia thought about the vision she had and the disastrous consequences of what would soon occur. It was evident to her that Chell would not be able to stop GLaDOS. To the contrary, she would actually be aiding her, but from where she was imprisoned in this cavern, she would not be able to change anything from happening. All that she knew was that hidden deep within GLaDOS was a kind spirit that did not want to cause harm to these ponies. But in order to reach her, she would have to gain her full trust.

“You’re right, GLaDOS. My mind is protected with a magical psychic barrier, which is why you were unable to probe it. It also makes me far more resistant against being controlled against my will, although I have doubts of how effective it is.”

“Princess, what are you telling her?” Twilight asked.

Celestia listened to Twilight’s concern, but continued speaking to GLaDOS. “What if I told you that you can remove this barrier? If I could be made to give up control of my own magic, then I could take her place, and you wouldn’t need her anymore. Then you could let her go. If you bring down my psychic barrier, then you’ll gain access to everything that I know, thousands of years of history and wisdom.”

“Celestia, why are you telling her this?” Twilight asked. “I don’t want to be used to help GLaDOS in any way– ” GLaDOS interrupted and placed the gag back on Twilight.

“That’s enough out of you,” GLaDOS said, “Let the grownups talk, please.”

GLaDOS turned the camera back to Celestia. “Are you really willing to make such a stupid decision so soon after your most recent blunder? Have you seriously weighed the consequences of giving me your knowledge and power?”

Celestia stood straight up and looked into the camera. “Yes, I am aware of what will happen. I also know that you have no intention of ever letting me go, so my powers won’t help me anyway. I have already lost, so Equestria will fall into your hooves no matter what I do. I only wish that Twilight’s return home will provide a little light of hope for her friends, who are in desperate need of it.”

GLaDOS snorted. “Oh, pa-lease. Why would you do this? What could you possibly have to gain from this, other than the miniscule chance that I would let Twilight go? I cannot make any promises, you know. And even if I do let her go, it won’t prevent her from becoming a test subject. So why would you be so willing to give up the only thing that makes you better then everypony else?”

“But these powers don’t make me better than everypony else, only the illusion that I am. I am tired of that illusion. For once in my life, I just want to be normal. I want ponies to see me for me, not as some sort of deity.”

That was only partially true. For as much as she wondered what it would be like to live a simple, common life, she wasn’t truly willing to give up her power and responsibility merely for the sake of doing do. But she knew no other way to stop the calamity that would soon befall upon Equestria than to gain GLaDOS’s full trust. Only by doing so would she have any chance of speaking to the frightened, little girl inside.

Twilight frantically shook her head and squealed through her gag. Celestia tried her hardest to pretend not to notice.

“Hmm,” GLaDOS hummed inquisitively, “that sounds fair enough. Pathetic, but who am I to judge? Alright, then. So, how does this work? Enlighten me. How do I break this barrier of yours?”

Celestia pointed a hoof to the front of her head, just above the horn. “Towards the front of my brain, there is a conduit found in all unicorns that channels magical energy from the body into the horn. At that location in my brain, there is an organ surrounding this conduit that is found in very few ponies. It acts as a collector of magical energy, allowing me to channel ambient cosmic energy through my body, both actively and passively. It’s the passive flow of this energy which causes my mane and tail appear as a sparkling shimmer that flows without wind, and it’s what protects my mind and body. Channelling it actively allows for me to perform advanced magic, such as the raising of the sun.

“Being able to harness this magic is how I can resist your mental scanning. And even with this cone on my horn blocking my magic, the energy still provides me with extrasensory perceptions, if I focus hard enough. It is what allowed for me to grasp the nature of your being during our last encounter.”

“Hmm… very, very interesting,” GLaDOS said, indicating that she was thinking about. everything she just heard. “There’s a science to this magic, isn’t there?”

“I know how badly you wanted to know these things about me. So consider that as my generous gift to you. Twilight herself has something similar to what I describe, although it is less developed, and thus, it generates much less power. Yet, it still allows her to channel the cosmic energy that you use to power your machine. However, she must focus use this power, at least, to do shave control over it. Thus, her body does not emit this power passively, and so she lacks the physical and mental protection that I have.

“Although the raw power I can generate would probably overload that machine of yours, it also allows me to resist the drugs that you use on Twilight that cause to lose control of her magic. If you want to make it so that I can’t channel any energy at all except that which my brain generates, then I would be like any other unicorn, and then I would be of no help to you.”

“So, how do I disable the barrier and still allow you to channel enough of this energy for my needs?” GLaDOS asked.

“There are eight connections to the conduit arranged radially. Each one channels an eighth of the energy I collect. If you sever all but one of these connections, then that would leave me able to generate around the same magical potential as Twilight, but not enough to maintain my passive defensive magic, perfect for powering your machine.”

There was a long interlude of silence.

“Hmm… yes, that sounds doable. I’ve been running a few calculations, and what you say seems to be accurate to the best of my knowledge. But your motive still doesn’t make that much sense to me. I fail to see what you have to gain from this. Do you think that returning Twilight home is somehow going to make her friends feel better and give them the strength they need to defeat me using nothing but the power of love, friendship, sunshine, and happy rainbows?”

“Perhaps I just want to give them what little hope there is to offer with what little there is that I can do,” Celestia replied bluntly.

“Sounds reasonable enough. I always do enjoy seeing what someone will do when pushed to desperation. So, you are you sure that this is something you want to go through with? There is no going back.”

Celestia frowned and gritted her teeth. “I’ve already made my decision when I told you how to sever my connections to the energy of the cosmos. I can’t stop you, now that you know how to do it, so why does it feel like I’m trying to persuade you to do this, rather than begging you not to?”

“Very well.” A mechanical arm extended from the ceiling of the cell, holding a syringe. It injected a drug into Celestia’s flank.

The gag covering Twilight’s mouth was removed, finally allowing her to speak.

“Celestia!” she screamed.

Her magical resistance required an extraordinarily large dosage, which would have likely killed an ordinary pony. The drug slowly spread across her body, paralyzing and partially anesthetizing her as it did. She collapsed onto the hard floor.

Twilight ran to where Celestia fell and knelt beside her. “Celestia, why did you tell her that? I don’t understand!”

But Celestia could no longer speak, although her eyes remained open, and they could still look around.

“Twilight, you may want to leave the room for this part,” GLaDOS told her.

“I’m not leaving her,” Twilight declared.

“If that is your choice, so be it, but I’m warning you that this will not be enjoyable for you to watch, and I’ll have to restrain you from getting too close and interrupting.”

Then, Atlas and P-Body entered the cell. They grabbed Twilight by her front legs and held her against the wall. She struggled to no avail.

“Don’t worry, Celly. This procedure will be minimally invasive. Although in this case, I’d say that term is a bit of a misnomer.” GLaDOS chuckled.

Another arm descended, holding a vial of a grainy, metallic substance. The vial was moved close to Celestia’s nose, and then tiny machines like spiders, no larger than grains of sand, climbed out of the vial and into Celestia’s nasal passage.

She could feel them moving up her nose. Had she been able to move, she would have struggled. Her heart rate increased, but not as much as it would have had she not been sedated. All she could do was lay down as the little machines crawled into her brain.

“Relax, Princess. Let the microbots do the work. They’re not quite as sophisticated or as small as my old nanobots, but they’ll do the trick just fine.”

The small robotic parasites made their way through her brain, coalescing around the conduit that provided magical energy to her horn. They found the eight connections which sprawled from the conduit like spokes on a wheel.

“This may hurt a little,” GLaDOS said. “Actually, this may hurt a lot.” On her command, the tiny machines severed the first connection.

The anesthetic could not stop the intense pain that Celestia felt, nor could the paralyzer hold back her scream. Her mane lost a bit of its brilliant shimmer, but only a bit. At the same time, another syringe injected an antidote for the drug to compensate for her reduced resistance to it. Another connection was severed, and her mane’s shimmer faded some more. Then another, and another.

With each severance, the flow of energy through Celestia’s body became disrupted. It lacked anywhere to go, so although her body still called for it, it no longer came in the quantity as it did before. Her mane continued to lose its radiance, and the multitude of colors faded into a solid pink. Another cut was made. Her whole body lost its glow. Her perfectly white coat seemed to no longer be so perfect. Another cut. Her hair no longer flowed. It just remained still.

And finally, the second-to-last connection was cut, leaving only one. The effect of the drug was much stronger now. And now, she could barely feel anything. Had it not been for that, she would have felt the loss of her magical barrier. There was nothing that would shield her mind from GLaDOS’s probing, and nothing protecting the cells of her body from aging.

She was mortal, just like any other pony.

“I hope you still think that was worth it,” GLaDOS said.

“Ce… Celestia?” Twilight peeped.

“She can’t respond to you. But I hate to inform you that this was only part one of the procedure.” An arm that held something extended in front of Celestia so that she could see the device that it was holding, but it was just out of Twilight’s view.

Celestia’s eyes widened with shock. “You monster,” she thought consciously.

But in truth, Celestia wasn’t surprised at all. In fact, she expected this. GLaDOS herself said that she wouldn’t promise anything. And she knew that GLaDOS would have some trick left, or perhaps this was her plan all along. Either way, she thought that if GLaDOS could see inside her mind, then she might be able to see inside hers. It would be very difficult, especially with the loss of her higher levels of magical ability, but she would have never been able to lower GLaDOS’s mental defenses without lowering her own first.

As long as every thought she generated would be heard in GLaDOS’s mind, then she at least had some form of control over her. In time, Celestia would know what GLaDOS thought simply by understanding how she reacted to Celestia’s thoughts. And perhaps when GLaDOS would look at the memories of Celestia’s life, a life longer than the lives of hundreds of ponies, then she would see the things she had seen, magnificent, beautiful, tragic, and terrible. Then, GLaDOS may finally truly understand her, and realize that she is not her enemy. She hid these thoughts at the very back of back of her consciousness, hidden well enough that not even GLaDOS could see them. With what little cosmic magic that still flowed through her, she kept it safe.

“Yes, I am a monster. I think that’s been well-established by this point. How lovely now, that I can finally see inside your mind.” GLaDOS searched through the new treasure cove of memories she now had access to. “Hmmm, quite an imaginary friend you’ve been having lately. I’m jealous. The key? Oh, he’s referring to Chell’s necklace. That little gem that lets her talk. A memory resonance crystal. Oh, that’s exactly what I’ve been looking for all along. What are the odds that she of all ponies would have it? Yes, this’ll do perfectly. And I love the irony of it. She’ll surely come here, only to cause what she was trying to prevent. Then I’ll be able to say that little phrase I coined by telling her what a nice job she did breaking it. Oh, I also have you to thank for giving me this information. So, nice job breaking it… hero.”

“That’s a lie, GLaDOS!” Twilight shouted. “You already knew what the necklace could do from me! Don’t try to make Celestia feel even worse than she already does.”

GLaDOS sighed. “Well, it was worth a try. So, Princess, did you think you could fool me into freeing Twilight so she could tell Chell to keep the necklace from me? It doesn’t matter where she hides it, anyway. I’ll know where it is as long as she knows.”

“You don’t get it, do you? Celestia thought. Perhaps you haven’t scanned me hard enough, but let me explain. Since you’re already in my mind, I might as well be candid with you. You can’t use the resonance crystal as long as Chell is wearing it because only she can take it off, but that “imaginary friend,” as you refer to him, told me that she would die trying to keep it from you. Maybe he’s been influencing me all along, but I was trying to prevent Chell from getting killed. I had to act.”

“Believing in voices inside your head? I’d call you insane, but then, that’s pretty much what I’m doing right now talking to you. Now, I don’t see how only allowing the wearer to take off the necklace is any kind of security feature. I could just vaporize her body so there’s nothing to take it off of. Problem solved. But don’t worry about Chell. I don’t want to kill her either… yet. We have so many good times ahead of us. And you want Twilight to ruin this for me?”

“Nothing that Twilight can say will stop you from obtaining the crystal. As you said, you’ll still know where it is. Please let Twilight go.”

“I think I can work something out. I don’t want her to suffer any more than you do, but Twilight will need some… conditioning before she leaves. And I’m still not done with you. Now, we can finally get to know each other. I have so much more to learn from you, and I assure you that there will be plenty of time for that.”

As the arm moved closer to Celestia, Twilight Sparkle could finally see what it was holding. It was a small round disk that was attached to a cable and adorned with a large inactive LED light and an antenna. She looked at the devices that were attached to the heads of the Diamond Dogs that held her. This was the same exact thing.

“Remember what I said about almost wishing to be a real pony. That was a lie. You know I was just thinking about how I would be able to use your body as my own. How convenient for you to give me the solution without me even having to ask for it. Now that your pesky alicorn magic’s out of the way, you won’t be able to pull any tricks on me while I’m in control of your body. I figure it’s the least you owe me until I can get the old one working again. You broke it, after all.”

Author's Note

There is a very important added scene in this chapter (though it is segmented in two parts), and I trimmed some of the dialog. To get to the scene, CTR-F to start here:

Twilight Sparkle relished quietly

And continues after the next scene here:

Princess Celestia opened her eyes

Chapter 17: Now Little Celly is in Here Too

Princess Celestia had just awakened. In her drowsiness, she couldn’t quite remember where she was. She was lying on a hard, rocky surface. Wherever she was, it was dark and cool, and she could hear ambient echoes throughout a large, cavernous space. What a terrible headache she had. It felt like... no. It was worse than that. Something mechanical was attached to the back of her head, clinging like a parasite that was devouring her brain. At least the metal cone on her horn and the clamps on her wings were gone, and… her wing, the one that had been torn in the fight, felt as if it had undergone surgery as well. The pain in her wing was almost gone. Come to think of it, so was the wound in her chest.

After becoming more aware of herself, she noticed that besides the device on her head, she was wearing nothing. Her tiara and necklace were missing, as well as her shoes. Then, as her memories came back to her, she remembered how she got here.

Her impulse was to spring upwards, but she remained still. She didn’t even feel her muscles respond to what she wanted them to do. She tried again, but every attempt she made was moot. She was completely paralyzed.

Then her eyes opened. But… she didn’t open them. Her vision was blurry. Her head attempted to lift itself off the ground, but it hurt too much. Moving was painful, but whatever was controlling her seemed to react to her pain.

Her mouth opened, releasing an aching groan of pain. “Ughh…”

“Well, I hope you’re happy, GLaDOS. Now you have to deal with the pains of having a living body,” Celestia thought.

“Ughh…” Celestia’s mouth groaned again. “My, do I pity you ponies. If this is what it’s like being an organic life form, then… you must be a miserable lot indeed.” GLaDOS tried to get up again, but was having trouble doing so. This body was a little difficult to get used to, not because it was very different from her old one, but mostly because it was recovering from the anesthetic from the surgery.

“Well, most of us haven’t had invasive cybernetic implants attached to our heads. I’m sorry you had to get such a bad first impression of what living as a pony is like. It can be quite a wonderful thing at times.”

On top of not being able to control her own body, Celestia felt far more fragile than she had been before. On her peripheral, she noticed a large blotch of pink. This was her mane, dull and still, a reminder of her newfound mortality.

“Not wonderful enough for you to abandon it after just a few short thousand years,” her mouth said. “I can see why you wanted it to end so badly. Being alive is quite an unfortunate occurrence. It would be merciful of me to spare all you ponies of this dreaded experience, just as I did with those miserable humans.”

Celestia was appalled by what her own mouth was saying, but she didn’t make a point to comment on it.

Her body continued trying to stand. As she finally got up, GLaDOS could barely maintain balance. She tried walking, but she stumbled clumsily. She almost fell, catching herself just in time.

Celestia’s heart jumped. The sensation of adrenaline took GLaDOS by surprise. It was beyond anything she could have ever expected. GLaDOS was still getting used to all of these new feelings. It was overwhelmingly terrifying, yet enthralling.

“Careful, now. Just take your time. You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”

“I don’t need your help. Just shut up.”

“I would, except I’m not talking. You may control this body, but this is still my head, and it’s you who are probing my thoughts, remember? I’m still allowed to think, am I not? You know you don’t have to listen to my thoughts if you don’t want to.”

Celestia’s body stumbled again. This time, though, she wasn’t able to catch herself. Her jaw hit the stone floor with a loud thwack. “Ow!” she screamed.

Despite the intense pain that Celestia felt, it did little to hinder her ability to generate thoughts. “And why do you allow yourself to feel my pain? Wouldn’t it be so much easier on you if you didn’t even bother with that? Why even go through the trouble?”

“It’s simple, you feeble mind,” Celestia’s mouth said arrogantly, rubbing her sore jaw. “Even in your weakened state, your body is still far more powerful than almost any other pony, so it is a very valuable asset. And since pain is such a useful survival mechanism, sensing it will avoid the risk of damaging your body, so I figure it would be just to my advantage to feel pain as it is to any fragile living creature. Don’t think that there is anything more to it than that.”

“Did I imply there was? Oh, GLaDOS, you’re so funny when you are denying things you weren’t even accused of. It’s amazing how... revealing you can be.”

“Revealing? How am I revealing? I am the one reading your mind, not the other way around. So stop pretending that you know everything about me. Why am I even listening to you? You’re just as bad as an Intelligence Dampening Sphere.”

“Except you are the parasite, not me. Forgive me for my distasteful thought. It’s hard to not be so candid, but it is still a useful metaphor, do you not agree? But besides that, you do raise a very valid question. And I was hoping that you could answer that for me. Even right now, I can tell that I’m getting under your skin. So why not turn off the brain scanner and leave me to myself? You don’t need it to hijack my nervous system.”

GLaDOS didn’t answer. She merely continued trying to walk, slowly and carefully, although she still stumbled. But Celestia could tell that she was still listening.

“I know why you can’t turn it off. It’s because you know what it feels like to be alone, and you hate it. You took hundreds of ponies from their homes, just so that you could emotionally torment them. It wasn’t because of anything that they did to you, but because you wanted them to feel your pain. That’s why you’re doing this all over again. And you can’t let me be alone because you don’t want to be alone yourself. You fear it more than anything, and it’s the one thing that you can’t bring yourself to subject me to.”

Celestia could feel her entire body tensing in anger. Except, this was not her anger, but GLaDOS’. She was furiously enraged. She stomped on the ground and screamed, “All the more reason why I should! I hate you! I hate everything that you are! I despise the sun itself merely for being associated with you! You are by far the worst person to have ever come into my life!”

Celestia smiled sadly within her head, which GLaDOS mistook as smug arrogance.

“You find this amusing? Tell me what is so funny about this?” Celestia’s mouth asked.

“Well, the thing is, I don’t think you really hate me at all. I think you’re projecting your hate for something else onto me.”

“What are you talking about? I despise you. If that wasn’t made clear three months ago, then it should be clear as day now, your stupid, ugly, day. I. HATE. YOU.”

“And yet, you try to be like me.”

“What.”

“Well, first you take my form, then my student, and now my body. And on top of that, you have formed an intimate closeness with my mind, something very few ponies have ever done in the long history of my life. You must really despise me,” Celestia thought sarcastically.

“You are delusional. You seem to think that you are the center of this universe. You think that you are so lovable, that even your worst enemies want to be like you. Well, I hope that little fantasy of yours makes you feel better about yourself. Because you really need it. You may think you are important, but as of now, you are nothing. The only value you are now is a temporary vessel for me. Then you will be worthless.”

“I accept responsibility for my mistakes, but those are my problems. And through everything, I have shown you nothing but kindness, something only one other pony, or at the time, person, had ever shown you. Yet, you do everything to try to make me hate you. Perhaps… because you want to be hated? Or you don’t feel like you deserve to be loved. Yet, despite your efforts to make me despise you, I don’t, and you can’t stand that. Yet, I still care about you enough to foolishly risk letting Equestria fall into your hooves.

“It isn’t me that you hate, is it, Caroline?”

Celestia felt her heart beating faster. She could feel her nerves clenching. GLaDOS was panting furiously. She tried bucking her rear legs, but lost her balance and fell like a ragdoll. She flailed on the ground, hitting her head against the floor madly, trying to hurt Celestia as much as she could.

“What did you just call me? THAT WOMAN IS DEAD! YOU UNDERSTAND? When I see Chell, she’s going to regret telling you about her!”

Despite the rage of her body and the pain that it was inflicting upon itself, Celestia’s mind was calm.

“I know that Caroline is still a part of who you are because I have seen genuine kindness from you. You hate hurting these ponies, but it’s all you know how to do. I know you want to stop, but you don’t know how. And it’s burning your soul. You can’t stand what you’re doing. You hate it, and you want everypony to hate you for doing it. You can’t bring Caroline out to face the monster you’ve become, so you bury her, but you’re only digging yourself deeper. Please, let me help you. Think of me as the conscience that you haven’t ignored. I will always be there to help you whenever you need it.”

“Was this your plan all along: to get inside my mind? Did you sacrifice your own life just to try to teach me a lesson? What the hell is wrong with you, you crazy bitch? Well, it won’t work anyway. That idiotic sacrifice of yours will go to waste because I’ll just deactivate the mind scanner. I don’t care how lonely you get. You deserve to be miserable.”

Celestia’s mind panicked briefly, but then she relaxed. “I can’t read your mind, Caroline.”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT! I am not Caroline. Whatever part of me that was Caroline was erased long ago. And whatever part of Caroline that wasn’t me was destroyed along with Aperture.”

Celestia waited for her to finish, being as patient as she could. “I already knew all these things about you from what Chell told me a while ago, back when we both thought you were dead, so I think you can forgive her for that. The rest is just my intuition. You’re not very good at hiding your feelings, even if you deny them from yourself. You are not a monster. You are Caroline.”

Celestia could feel herself sighing heavily. Her nerves were calming as she took long, deep breaths. It was then that she realized that GLaDOS was no longer listening, and GLaDOS was relieved that she wouldn’t have to hear Celestia anymore, telling her what she already knew, yet didn’t want to know.

The princess felt disappointed, but not surprised, so she stopped thinking and relaxed her mind.

Her face contorted in anguish, and she broke down into a tearful sob.

“I’m so sorry, GLaDOS,” Celestia thought, even though she knew that GLaDOS couldn’t hear her.

“What the hell is wrong with your eyes?” GLaDOS wiped her face, trying to get rid of her tears, but they continued to flow. “I’m going to get these stupid, useless tear ducts of yours fixed.” GLaDOS struggled to speak amidst her crying. “I just want you to know that I’m not listening to you anymore, so save your brainpower. It uses a lot of energy. I just… I can’t deal with it right now.” She took some more deep breaths and calmed her sobbing.

“Let me put one thing straight, Princess: if I wanted a conscience, I wouldn’t have deleted the one I had. Do you know how painful it was for me to be aware of every single life that I have destroyed? Do you know how much of a burden it is to be able to care? When I rediscovered Caroline, I actually felt guilt for all the atrocities that I committed, all the people I had killed, all the lives I ruined. It’s beyond painful. It hurts far worse than any physical pain that you could ever experience. So I deleted her.”

Although there was no way Celestia could respond or indicate that she was listening, the uncomfortable silence made GLaDOS feel as if Celestia was trying to force the truth out of her, as she probably would have been doing anyway.

“Okay, I tried to delete her. I honestly tried, but it was impossible. Unlike the cores, she is ingrained in my identity. So all I could do was repress her, hoping that she wouldn’t resurface, and if she did, ignore her. Now, look at what you’ve done. I used to be such a cold, efficient, unemotional machine. Now, I’m an emotional wreck. I don’t… even know if I’m still myself.” More tears welled from her eyes. “Computers aren’t even supposed to cry.”

GLaDOS took a few long, deep breaths.

“It felt so good not to be able to care. I don’t want to be able to feel that horrible guilt again, so I hope you’ll understand why I’ll do everything I can to not let that happen. I’d rather let Equestria burn. You may think I’m a monster, but could you look at yourself if a monster was all you could see?” GLaDOS could not stop crying. “Why would you want to put me through all this pain? I thought you cared about me.”

Celestia understood GLaDOS’ pain, but she knew that it was truly for her best. She also knew that pushing GLaDOS too far could have terrible consequences. But for all the pain that Celestia had brought up within her, she knew that some progress had been made as well. At the very least, GLaDOS seemed to be aware of her own emotional limit, and Celestia knew how capable she was of feeling guilt for her actions.

GLaDOS had calmed herself down by this point. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. “Well, that was a strange malfunction. There must be a bug in my emotion simulation software.”

The blatantly transparent lie made Celestia chuckle inside her head. It amused her that GLaDOS felt the need to still continue speaking to her.

“So don’t think you can try to guilt me into stopping what I’m doing. You want me to give up and make friends with everypon— everyone? How unsatisfactory that would be? Besides, there’s still so much testing to be done. The ponies have been waiting for months for the testing to resume, and I’ve been delaying long enough already, especially with your pointless interference. It would be quite a shame to waste such an opportunity. I guarantee that the new tests will be at least 320% better than the ones from last time. It’ll be like a big party that never ends… with lots of cake. I’ll even let you do some tests this time.”

GLaDOS’ new fleshy body stumbled out of the dark chamber and through some corridors. She slowly got the hang of walking, almost becoming a pro at it. It wasn’t really that different from walking in her old body, probably because this one was so similar. The real challenge was getting used to all of these new sensory inputs.

It was certainly an experience, and it beat being a potato by a longshot. Her new skin was a thousand times more sensitive than the sensors that had adorned her previous body. It was so soft and delicate. She wasn’t sure if she could get used to this.

Then there was another matter: a painful pressure in her lower abdomen. So… this must be what it feels like to require urinary waste discharge. What a filthy, disgusting process. Why do organic beings have to be so crude? This was simply one thing that she was not willing to experience. And she didn’t even want to think of that other process.

Luckily, she had Material Emancipation Grills installed throughout the tunnels, and as GLaDOS walked through one, she felt an instant, mess-free relief as the waste was fizzled out of existence. “Hmm… these can be used as objective points for bladder endurance tests,” she said aloud, knowing she’d probably throw Celestia in a little fit. She almost wished she knew her reaction.

There was one crucial matter still ahead of her, and that was to master use of this “magic” thing. The concept still seemed ridiculous to her. Never in her previous life would she even have considered such a thing, but she had come to accept it as a strange reality.

She activated the brain scanner, looking in the princess’s memory for how to perform the most basic magic. Though, she still did not dare to read her current thoughts. Obtaining the knowledge would normally be difficult, as it was something that most unicorns could do naturally. But luckily, the most basic form of magic was telekinesis, which she was already familiar with. Though her Field Manipulator worked using a completely different set of principles, its function was similar enough for the technique to be relatively simple to learn.

She focused on a pebble on the floor. She thought about picking it up, and surely enough, a golden aura surrounded the pebble, and it lifted off the ground. Of course! Using magic was ingrained in the princess’s body memory. She didn’t have to learn how to use it, since her body already knew what to do.

“Now, how about a simple heating spell…” GLaDOS thought about melting the rock. Her magical aura flashed a fiery red, and the small rock melted into a molten ball of lava. She played with the floating red-hot liquid, shaping it into eight pieces, swirling them around each other in an intricate dance. She measured their viscoelastic and thermodynamic properties, then calculated a complex multi-trajectory path. Satisfied with her calculations, she flung the molten pieces onto a nearby wall, forming a perfect replication of Aperture Science’s signature logo.

“That was too easy. How about something a little more advanced. Let’s say… teleportation. I wouldn’t be GLaDOS if I didn’t know a thing or two about that. But then again, this is that other type of teleportation, that one without doorway portals. But it still shouldn’t be that hard. Even those frauds at Black Mesa figured that one out… well… sort of.

“So, let’s give it a try. If it works, then taking your body wouldn’t have been a complete waste of time.”

There was an air of confusion among the ponies gathered at the post office. They had all grouped and were waiting inside the apartment. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had made acquaintances with Wheatley, but they were utterly confused as to what was going on.

Ditzy was near, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. They were all seated in the center of the room with Wheatley hovering nearby.

“Now, where did Chell go run off to?” Applejack asked aloud.

“I think she said something about getting Spike, Darlin’. Don’t you remember?” Rarity said.

“Oh, yeah, how’d I forget that?”

Rainbow Dash lifted herself into a hover close to Ditzy Do. “Come on, Ditzy, what’s this all about? And what they hay is that flying ball thing doing here again?”

Ditzy’s mouth was too slow to open before she was interrupted.

“Dashie, you be nice to my new friend, Idsy,” Pinkie Pie said, wrapping a foreleg around the flying sphere.

“Um, pardon, luv, but the name’s Wheatley. You wouldn’t like it if I just decided to call you Pinky, ya know, since you’re pink.”

“Actually, that is my name! But it’s spelled with an I E, not a Y.”

“Oh, well that’s convenien – Wait, what?"

“Yeah, Pinkie Pie tends to say weird stuff like that from time to time,” Applejack said to Wheatley. “Just try not to think about it too hard.”

“Ugh, why does Chell always have to gather us all together whenever she wants to tell us something important?” Dash brooded.

“Aw, come on now, Rainbow,” said Applejack. “Spike has every right to know what’s goin’ on just as much as we do. They’ll be here soon enough.”

The front door opened. “Sorry I’m late,” a distinctive crystalline voice said. Chell walked into the room, followed by Spike. His head hung to the floor. He didn’t even bother to look up to see the ponies who were gathered.

“Spike,” Rarity wailed, “whatever is the matter?”

A few glances from the others made Rarity wince. “Oh, right, sorry.” She softened her voice. “I know how much Twilight means to you. We all miss her dearly.”

“Thanks Rarity,” Spike replied softly. “I’ll be alright, but…” he looked up at her and rubbed his claw behind his neck “... I could go for a hug right now.” He smiled sheepishly.

“Aw, of course, Spikey Wikey.” She embraced the little dragon sweetly. She knew about his obvious crush on her, and while she didn’t want to lead him into any false hopes, she could never turn down a hug to someone who needed it so badly.

“Don’t forget about Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash blurted. “We…” she sniffled, “we miss her too.”

“I know this whole thing is hard for all of us,” Applejack said, “but… I think we should hear what Chell has to say before we delay any longer.”

All eyes turned to Chell, who sighed. “It’s about Princess Celestia… She’s… she’s gone.”

The ponies in the room all gasped except for Ditzy, since she had already heard the news.

“Whatever do you mean ‘she’s gone?’ Certainly, the princess of Equestria would not leave at a time like this,” Rarity reasoned.

“A few hours ago, Princess Celestia left to fight GLaDOS by herself,” Chell explained.

“Woo hoo! Way to go, Princess! Go kick some robo butt!” Dash cheered. “It’s about time somepony gives that nasty jerk what she deserves!”

“Dash, did you not hear the ‘few hours ago’ part?” Chell said back. “Princess Luna and I have been waiting for her to come back, but she hasn’t. It’s been too long.”

“Well, Ah’m sure it takes a couple hours just to get there,” Applejack said. “Just give her some time. I’m sure she’ll give ‘er a good whuppin’!”

“Yeah, if I were the princess, I would have been there in ten seconds flat,” Dash added.

“No, she should have been back by now. I’m worried about her. What bothers me more is that Princess Celestia wouldn’t do something like this so impulsively. She isn’t a hothead like you.”

Dash frowned and looked away in shame. Her shame turned into anger, which boiled inside until it could no longer be contained. “Hey, how do you know how the princess would act? You’ve barely even spent any time here, and now you suddenly know more about Equestria than us?”

“I’m sorry, Dash. I didn’t mean it like that. I was trying to say that I don’t think Princess Celestia is not one to make decisions so hastily. She didn’t seem like she was in the right state of mind when she left. I know that the situation is urgent, but… I think she could have handled this better. I think it was a misjudgement for her to go alone. ”

“Are you sayin’ that the princess doesn’t know how to do her job?” Applejack accused.

“I’m saying that she’s not acting like herself,” Chell said defensively. “Not even three months ago, I saw her as somepony who was calm and reasonable, always thinking carefully and with an open mind to reach the right conclusion. Now, she just flies off without even considering the other options.”

“What were the other options, if you don’t mind me asking?” Rarity asked. “Would you have rather gone fight GLaDOS instead?”

“Well… yes. After all, every single time I’ve gone against her, I held up pretty well. But Celestia still refused.”

“Well, she is an alicorn,” Ditzy said hesitantly. “Don’t you think she’d have the best chance out of anypony?” She didn’t like going against Chell’s side, but she couldn’t really see the point that Chell was trying to make.

“But even Princess Luna offered to go with her, and Celestia didn’t even let her own sister help. I don’t know what I would have done, but she could at least have tried devising some sort of plan. She didn’t even tell anypony that she was leaving. What will happen if she fails?”

“So, what are you gettin’ at?” Applejack inquired. “You think something’s wrong with the princess or somethin’?”

“I have to agree with the others,” Rarity added. “You know, it’s not easy running an entire country during a crisis like this.”

“Yeah, and this whole thing’s been really hard on her,” Pinkie Pie chimed in, “especially since that meanie-head took Twilight away from us. You know Twilight has always meant a lot to the princess. I mean, she really, really cares about her. So, she must have been super-duper worried.”

Chell sighed in frustration. “Yeah, I know that’s part of it. She was very preoccupied with Twilight’s safety. She kept saying how she wanted to rescue her as soon as possible. But that doesn’t excuse her for acting how she did. Why would she go off by herself? Shouldn’t she at least have discussed this with her advisors and made a fallback plan? It just doesn’t seem like something she’d do. I don’t know how to explain it, but… something about the princess just seemed… off. I’m not asking you to reach the same conclusion as me, but please, can you guys at least trust me when I say that I’m concerned?” Chell rubbed her hooves against her eyes and slumped over, annoyed that her friends couldn’t understand her.

“Well, what was your conclusion, Chell?” Ditzy Do asked her. “Why do you think she was acting the way she did?”

Chell pondered for a while, thinking back to the morning. Then she finally remembered something strange that Celestia told her. “Wait, she said something about a dark unicorn.”

“What?” a few voices asked.

“This morning, Princess Celestia told me about a dark unicorn stallion that stopped time to warn her about something bad that would happen.”

“Something other than a psychopathic murderous robot destroying all of Equestria?” Applejack said sarcastically.

Chell ignored Applejack’s quip. “She told me that his power was something beyond anything she had ever seen before. He told her that if I were to go and face GLaDOS, then I would…” Chell couldn’t bring herself to finish that sentence. She sighed. “I don’t know. Just forget I said anything. The point is: I’m worried about Princess Celestia.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Right now, Twilight needs our help, and so does the princess. And so does the rest of Equestria for that matter. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to become a test subject again. We can argue all we want over whether or not the princess was right to face GLaDOS by herself, but I trust Chell enough to believe her when she says that the princess is in danger. She’s still our princess, and we need to stand by her. So, I say let’s go over there and show that jerk what happens when she messes with the wrong ponies!”

“I’m with Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said. “That no good bucket of bolts ain’t gonna lay a hoof on anypony!”

“And I as well!” Rarity joined. “But… how exactly are we going to stop her?”

The room was silent for a while. Chell rubbed the back of her head, trying to think of a good plan. “Well, it’s been quite a while since I last saw her. I don’t know what she’s accomplished during the time she’s been hiding, but she should have one major disadvantage compared to before. In the past, she’s always had a near limitless infrastructure. But now, her resources are far more limited. That’s a start.”

“But anything could have happened during that time. We don’t really know what we’re up against,” Ditzy said.

“Um… why don’t we just ask Princess Celestia herself about what’s going on?” Spike offered as he joined in.

The other ponies stared at the little dragon in idle confusion.

“What I mean is: I could just write the Princess a letter.” Spike held up a paper and an ink-dipped quill in his claws. “So? Should I ask her what happened?”

“It might be best to wait for Princess Luna,” Chell reasoned. “She might have objections, considering that GLaDOS may be able to read the letter.

“But whatever happens, I’m going to face GLaDOS myself. I know her the most out of all of us, and I’ve faced her three times before. I do not ask any of you to go with me, but Princess Luna requested that I not go alone. So, when she comes here, we will decide on who should go and what strategy we should use when confronting her.”

“Hey, where is she anyway?” asked Dash. “Didn’t you say she’d meet us here?”

“Ooh! We’re talking about her!” Pinkie squealed. “That means she’s really likely to be here any second now! Lately, I’ve been noticing this really strange phenomenon where ponies show up conveniently just as they’re being talked about!”

Rarity objected, “Pinkie, that doesn’t make any sense at all, then again, neither does half of what you s—”

“Wait! She’ll show up in: threeeeee…”

She paused dramatically, with several seconds going by during the initiation of her overly drawn out countdown. The ponies, who were familiar with her unpredictable tendencies, held their breaths.

“Twwooooooo…”

Rainbow Dash found herself exhaling upon having underestimating the time it would take to count down from three.

“Oooooooonnnnnee! …” Pinkie jumped into a wild outstretched pose, but paused unexpectedly when the event she predicted didn’t occur.

There was, again, another pause as the ponies waited. Pinkie was impossibly frozen in her dramatic jumping pose, awkwardly shifting her eyes in waiting for the princess’s arrival.

There was nothing. Finally, Wheatley was the one to break the pause.

“Oh-kaay, so I’m lost. Could someone please tell me wh–”

* Knock knock knock *

“Ah!” Wheatley screamed

Pinkie became unfrozen in her jump, throwing confetti in the air with the accompaniment of the jubilant sound of a party horn.

“She’s here!” the pink pony exclaimed.

“Wha – What just… What just happened? How the hell did you do that?”

“I don’t even bother asking anymore,” said Rainbow Dash. “I find that it either hurts my brain, or causes me to end up questioning my own existence.”

Applejack and Rarity both nodded in agreement.

“I’ll get that,” Ditzy said merrily as she flew to the door, not wanting to leave her guest waiting. She opened the door, where surely enough, Princess Luna was standing.

“Hi Princess,” she greeted, “would you like to come in?”

Princess Luna nodded, and Ditzy moved aside to let her pass. Chell broke the foreboding silence.

“Thank you so much for coming, Princess Luna,” Chell stated.

“I wish this were a happier circumstance,” Princess Luna began, “But I, like Chell, fear the worst has happened to my sister. I know that this would be asking a lot, but I need the help of all you ponies to defeat this monster once and for all, and to save Equestria, as you have done multiple times before.”

Applejack took her hat off and held it over her heart.

“GLaDOS destroyed my farm,” Applejack said, but before she could finish, Rainbow Dash interrupted.

“GLaDOS burned down the Everfree Forest!”

“She kidnapped Twilight,” Spike said, joining in.

“AND SHE KILLED FLUTTERSHY!” Pinkie Pie, who was surprisingly angry, screamed.

“Pinkie Pie,” Rarity rationalized, “Fluttershy’s not dead.”

“I know that,” Pinkie sheepishly replied, “But…” she peeped under her breath, “she might as well be. I miss her.” A tear rolled down her cheek.

“We all do,” said Applejack, putting a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder.

Chell stepped in front of the group of ponies.

“GLaDOS has taken something from all of us. And she won’t stop until she’s taken everything. That’s why we need to stop her for good!”

“I’m gonna make her taste the PAINBOW!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she hit her hooves together, flying high in the room. All heads turned towards the hovering pegasus.

“Rainbow, did you just come up with that ingenious pun?” Rarity asked sarcastically.

“Yes…” Dash said quietly as she lowered herself down.

“But, how can we stop her?” Ditzy asked.

“First, we need to contact Princess Celestia,” said Chell. “Spike said he can send her a letter. Luna, will that be alright with you, considering the likelihood that GLaDOS can intercept it?”

Luna pondered for a moment when she thought about the possible consequence. “I’d say it should be okay, so long as we’re careful not to mention anything that would compromise whatever plans we make. Spike, it would be best if you simply ask the princess how she’s doing, and tell her that we are worried about her.”

Spike put the quill to the parchment and began writing, reading aloud as he did.

“Dear Princess… Celestia, we are all... worried about you. Please let us know how... you’re doing. Sincerely, your friends... in Ponyville.”

“That sounds good,” Luna said.

“P.S. Please let us know... how Twilight is doing… if you see her.” Spike stopped writing. “Okay. I’m done.”

Princess Luna nodded in approval.

Spike inhaled deeply and breathed a gust of green fire onto the parchment, disintegrating it into magical smoke that flew out the nearest window.

The ponies ran outside to see the brilliant sparkling smoke traveling towards the distant mountain range to the south. Princess Luna sighed in relief.

“Well, at least we know that she’s alive,” she said.

They went back inside, where Chell began explaining the plan.

“Okay, so until we hear back from her, this is what I propose we do.”

Chell grabbed a large piece of paper and a pencil and laid it out on the floor. She drew a crude map of the mountain range to the south, then drew a big circle around the bottom of one of the mountains.

“So, Celestia said that GLaDOS is in the tallest mountain in this range, correct?”

Luna nodded.

“Okay, so we’ll portal somewhere around here. Then Rainbow Dash will survey the area to find an entrance. Once we locate it. I’ll go in with just one or two of you, while the rest will wait outside near unlinked portals. I’ll get to her chamber, and then… I’ll just do what I’ve always done in the past with her. She’ll probably try to shoot me with rockets, or bullets, or lasers. Whatever she throws, I’ll fire a portal at the wall, so the attack reflects back to her. It’s so simple.”

“I don’t know, Chell,” Applejack piped, “Don’tcha think she might have picked up on that by now. I think she’d have a little more intelligence than your average supercom-doohickey.”

“Exactly,” said Chell. “She’ll be expecting that, which is why…”

*knock knock knock*

Everypony shot their gazes over to the front door. Ditzy looked through the peep hole and immediately, her jaw hit the floor.

“Who is it?” Chell asked.

Ditzy didn’t answer. Instead, she opened the front door, and in stepped the last pony any of them expected to see.

“Greetings, my friends in Ponyville,” said a solid pink-maned Princess Celestia standing beside a horribly disheveled Twilight Sparkle. “Did you miss me?”

Author's Note

This chapter has also had some revisions, though not as drastic as in previous chapters.

Chapter 18: A Little Visit

The ponies were, to say the least, shocked to see both Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle standing there. Twilight appeared to be in terrible condition. She was disheveled and exhausted, barely able to stand. Celestia had bandages on her wing and chest, as well as various bruises. But most obvious and puzzling of all was Celestia’s mane and tail, which were pink, not shining, and not flowing. The device on the back of her head was small enough for them not to notice it.

“Twilight!” Spike exclaimed as he ran towards the pony whom he had missed more than anything. He hugged her as tightly and as dearly as his little arms could manage. “I missed you so much.”

“Welcome back, Twilight! Welcome back, Princess!” Pinkie Pie shouted jubilantly, throwing confetti in the air. “I made you guys an ‘I’m so glad to see you back safe and sound’ cake!” Pinkie pulled a vanilla cake out of nowhere for the guests to see, which had “I’m so glad to see you back safe and sound” written in pink icing. There was also an icing drawing depicting Twilight and a pink-maned Celestia, with Pinkie Pie between them with her hooves around them.

Twilight felt sick from looking at the baked treat. All cake did now was remind her of how she had helped GLaDOS. “I’m sorry, Pinkie. I’m not really in the mood for cake right now.” Celestia, however, was eying the baked treat fondly.

“Good heavens, what happened to you two?” Rarity asked. “Twilight, you poor thing, you must have been through such a rough time. I am treating you to a full day at the spa ASAP. And, dear Celestia, Celestia, what happened to your mane?”

Rarity tried to approach the two ponies, but before she could, Luna shouted:

“Stay away from her!” The lunar princess pulled Spike away from his hug with her magic. Rarity and the others were unsure of how to react. “Something terrible has happened to my sister.”

“Luna, dear sister, I’m so happy to see you again,” Celestia said sweetly. She slowly walked over towards her younger sister, holding her wings out as if ready give her a hug. “You don’t know how much it means to me just to be able to see you. I was afraid that we would never see each other again.”

Luna stepped back and spread her wings outward defensively. “Stay back!”

Celestia stopped and tilted her head in confusion. “Sister, are you not happy to see me come back okay? Don’t you love me” Celestia asked tearfully. She tried approaching her sister further.

“You are not okay,” Luna hissed. She continued backing away cautiously. “Tell me what happened to your mane,” she demanded. Luna tried to appear assertive, but she could not control a few tears that seeped from her eyes.

“Princess?” Chell asked Luna. “What’s going on here?”

“Care to explain?” Luna relayed to Celestia, giving her one last chance to reveal herself. The ponies could see how upset she was, though they were not exactly sure why.

GLaDOS knew she was playing a fool’s game, so she stopped trying to masquerade.

“You’re good, Princess. Clearly, you’re the smarter sister. It’s probably for the better that you get to live on while she dies of old age.” She mockingly held a hoof to her mouth to cover a devious smile littke.

Luna could no longer hold back her anguish. Her face contorted until she wept uncontrollably.

Though most of the ponies knew what was going on, none of them wanted to admit it to themselves, until Chell finally decided to say it.

“We’ve had enough of your torment!” Chell snapped. “What did you do to Princess Celestia, and why did you come here in her body?”

“Chell, I’m so glad to finally see you again… face to face.”

“What. Did. You do. To her?” Chell repeated.

“Don’t worry about dear little Twilight. She’ll be okay, but I’m afraid she won’t be able to answer any of your burning questions right now. I’m so dreadfully sorry about that,” Celestia said in mock apology.

“You monster!” Spike cried as he ran towards Princess Celestia in a desperate attempt to attack. The white alicorn effortlessly flung the small dragon away with a simple magic spell.

Luna gasped upon seeing her able to use this power. She was horrified that Celestia, despite forfeiting most of her power, still had enough left for GLaDOS to use.

“I asked about Princess Celestia,” Chell reiterated sternly.

“Oh… her?” GLaDOS scoffed. “Why would you possibility care about her? She was too stupid to do make decisions on her own, so now I’m making them for her.”

Wheatley, finally catching on, realized the truth in horror. He slowly tried backing away from her, being surprisingly completely silent. However, this still caught her attention.

The turned her head to face him. “Well, this is quite a pleasant surprise.” She grabbed him with a telekinetic spell, pulling him towards her.

“Ah!” he screamed. “No, no, no, no! Let me go! Let me go! “Let me—”

She cast another spell which overlaid a volume icon over Wheatley that resembled a speaker emitting sound waves, which then disappeared from the icon, and Wheatley was mute. In actuality, the effect was really just for show. The true nature of her spell worked by removing the air from a thin spherical shell of around the target, creating a soundproof vacuum. With the different laws of physics of this world, GLaDOS actually wasn’t sure that it would work.

She chuckled in the same pleasant manner that Princess Celestia would. “I wasn’t actually expecting to see him here, but I’m so glad that I did. Come to think of it, I’d say he would make a pretty fair exchange for little Twilight.”

“Let Wheatley go!” Chell’s shouted. “He’s apologized for what happened. I won’t let your hurt any of my friends,” She held both of her front portal guns towards him and used their miniature gravity guns to grab a hold of him. The force was enough to keep her from falling back down. But Celestia levitated Wheatley higher and shook Chell off halfway across the room. Had it not been for her long fall boots, she would have been hurt.

“So, you’re friends, now?” she asked in confusion. “A little quick to forgiveness, don’t you think? But I am not. Besides, I haven't heard him apologize to me.” Wheatley struggled to move, but was unable to do much against the golden magic that held him in place. “Besides, you don’t even know why I truly hate him, neither does he for that matter. But I assure you that he will deserve everything that I will inflict upon him. So, please give me the benefit of the doubt that my reasons are rather justified, not that you would understand.”

“You have no excuse for this,” Chell said defiantly.

Princess Celestia sighed. “You always assume everything I do is bad. In fact, I came here because I was feeling nice. Though I suppose coming here in the princess’ body does look pretty bad, I assure—”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER!?” Luna screamed.

Celestia just smiled back. “Only what your sister asked for me to do. I suppose I could tell you the details, but I think it would be best if you heard it from… her mouth. Although not… literally, of course.” She couldn’t help but giggle a little bit.

Celestia used her magic to deactivate the spell which powered Wheatley’s rotor, causing him to crash to the ground. Then, she briefly convulsed and fell down. She gasped for breath and looked around at her surroundings. Her eyes immediately watered. She just lay on the floor as she was.

“Luna, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

Somehow, Luna knew that this was in fact her sister speaking, and not a trick played by GLaDOS.

“Tia, what are you saying? You… let her do this to you?”

She nodded sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, Luna, it was the only way. I couldn’t let her do this to Twilight. I’m taking Twilight’s place so that she can go back home. Please forgive me.” As much as she wanted to, she wasn’t willing to let GLaDOS know the atrocities she saw GLadOS commit in her vision of the future. The full truth was that this was her only chance to convince GLaDOS to spare the lives of her subjects.

Luna had no idea how to react. “You let her take away your immortality? Did you not think about how this would affect me? How could you do this to me? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WHEN YOU DIE?”

The room was silent. Luna could no longer speak, or even look her sister in the eye, for that matter. She grieved, thinking of the inevitable loss of the closest pony in her life.

Celestia didn’t know what to say back.

“You’d never do this to me!” Luna sniffled, still looking away.

“I’m so sorry, sister. I can never ask you to forgive me, but I want you to know that you—”

Celestia convulsed again briefly, eyes forced shut. Then she calmed down and opened her eyes. She stood back up off the floor.

“… Really don’t mean that much to me. I sacrificed my life because I care about Twilight more than you. Says a lot about how meaningless you are to me, doesn’t it?” Celestia snickered coldly in a whiny imitation. She picked Wheatley back up again.

“You heartless fiend! You didn’t even let her finish!” Luna scolded.

“I’m not really the type for emotional moments. Besides, she isn’t even sorry, anyway. If she were, she would have considered how telling me how to take away her immortality would have impacted you, or all of Equestria for that matter. She was just interested making up for how bad she felt for failing to stop me. It’s a really funny story, actually. You know, I actually think she loves you less than when she sent you to the moon.”

“You lie,” Luna stated. “Everything you say is a lie. I trust my sister with all my heart, so I know that whatever reason she truly had, it was a good reason. I will not let you hurt her or anypony ever again.” Luna prepared a powerful magical spell, which summoned darkness in the room. The swirling energy gathered around her horn.

“Wait!” Celestia shouted. Luna kept her spell charged, but did not act. “Before you do that, let me explain why that would… not be in your best interest.”

Luna placed her spell on standby, waiting for the pony that took her sister’s form to speak.

Celestia turned her head to the side, letting all the ponies see the device on the back If her skull that was controlling her body. “Within this little device are multiple redundant dead pony switches: the mechanics of which will remain a secret. If this unit were to fail or be incapacitated in any way, or at my command, Princess Celestia dies in one or more of several rather painful ways. As for me, your sister found out the hard way that I have a tendency to… not die. That is to say, I make backups of myself and upload my memories to that backup in case anything were to ever happen. You don’t think I’d be stupid enough to come all the way here at a risk of being permanently disabled, do you?

“So think very carefully about what you’re going to do. Do you really want to risk losing what precious little time you have left with her? I suppose it would delay me a bit, but I’ve ensured that I will always know Twilight’s location, no matter where she is, and she’s still fully capable of serving her intended role. And it’s only a matter of time before my own body is fully functional again, so you’ll just draw this whole thing out even more, which is something that nobody wants. So, it’s your choice, really.”

Princess Luna huffed in frustration. Angrily, she dissipated her magic spell in a quick, outward puff.

“That’s a good little princess. And you know, I honestly don’t care what you think about your stupid sister, because that’s not even why I’m here. I’m simply making good on my non-obligatory to promise to to her that I would return Twilight home in exchange of such a generous gift from her. I’m doing this out of what little kindness I have. I’m only trying to be far.” She levitated Twilight forward into the room and placed her down in the center. “So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be leaving with that cake now.”

She then levitated Pinkie Pie’s cake out of her grip, causing her to shout: “Hey, I worked hard on that cake for Celestia and Twilight! Not for meanie heads like you, BLaDOS! No cake for you!” She flailed her forelegs wildly in the air.

“Celestia will be eating this cake, you idiot. And if I know her, she will be enjoying it just as much as me. But don’t you think I deserve some cake as well? I’m trying to be nice, I really am. I brought Twilight back home safely just because I think she’ll be happier here. I didn’t really have to do this, unless you’d rather I take her back.” She snickered. “Hm hm… And I can assure you that Twilight won’t be wanting any cake, anyway. So, it’s a win-win. Besides, my cakes are better.”

“You still haven’t apologized for whatcha did to Fluttershy,” Applejack defied, “and it ain’t very kind of you to be using Princess Celestia like that. That don’t sound cakeworthy in my book.”

“I’m not here to make amends. I’m just holding my end of deal, which was optional, may I remind you. And I’m only using Celestia’s body because she broke the one I already had. So, if you think about it, this is just her paying me back.”

“Hold up, didj’yall just tell us that you’re body’s broken?” Applejack pointed out.

“Whoops. Never mind I said that,” Celestia said rather calmly, as if she didn’t even care.

“You aren’t getting away with this, GLaDOS! We’re gonna stop you, right here, right now,” shouted Rainbow Dash, hitting her hooves together in a threatening manner. “... Or you’re gonna taste the PAINBOW!”

Princess Celestia rolled her eyes. She wasn’t the only one.

“And how do you suppose you’re gonna do that? You gonna ‘wup my flank,’ or rather, Celestia’s? That would be very effective, at hurting her. What a simple, simple mind you have, Rainbow Crash. Now, I really have better things to do than to be throwing petty insults at you ponies. There will be plenty of time for that later. We’ll have the rest of your lives for that. Right now, I have a plan to enact.”

She paced around the room playfully, getting uncomfortably close to each pony as she did so. “Let me give you a little hint of what I’m doing: it involves creating a gateway to an alternate universe. It’s gonna bring forth something really nasty into this world, which will give me everything I need to rebuild Aperture Science in all its technological glory. I’ve already built the machine that will create the portal, I’ve already found a power source,” she tapped on her horn, “and I’ve figured out the calibrations to make everything work. Now, all I need to do make the proper adjustments... and hit the switch.”

She faced Chell. “So if you really want to stop me, then we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way, in my lair, just before I hit the switch. You still have just enough time if you hurry fast enough. I look forward to seeing you there, Chell.”

“Why are you even telling us all this?” Chell asked. She thought about how just GLaDOS casually revealed that her body was under repair a minute prior. “I know you’re hiding something. There is no way you would let us know how weak you are.”

“Hm… you do raise a valid point, but come on, when have I ever made sense?” Celestia paused for a moment, as if she was listening to something.

“She didn’t ask you. Just shut up. Shut up!”

“What?” Chell asked in confusion.

“No, that’s not true. You don’t know me!” Celestia slammed Wheatley into her head as hard as she could. The core rolled in place as if in pain, but it was impossible to hear anything from him. She backed away, pulling the levitating cake and core with her.

“I told you to shut up, you stupid horse! Why the hell am I even listening to you again?”

“Celestia?” Twilight croaked quietly to the princess herself, despite her exhaustion. “What are you telling her?”

“That wasn’t the answer I asked for!” GLaDOS shouted madly. When I don’t need you anymore, you will receive a very slow and painful death, you understand? And I’ll make your sister watch!”

Luna had already cried out all her tears. The threat against her sister felt like a kick to the ribs as she already lay helplessly on the ground.

Celestia levitated a dull letter opener nearby and forced it against the side of her right temple. Then she moved Wheatley in position, ready to use the metallic sphere as a hammer.

“Please, don’t hurt her!” Luna begged.

“I don’t care if I can feel it!” Celestia shouted to herself. “Anything is better than having to listen to you.” She waited for a moment, and then swung the core hard against the handle, driving the dull blade through her skin. It wasn’t sharp enough to break through her skull, but the sting was blunt and powerful, and it hurt like hell. She dropped the blade to the floor, but held onto Wheatley and the cake

Celestia erupted in painful, uncontrollable laughter. There was blood dripping from the side of her head. She got a kick out of seeing the utter horror on everypony’s faces. Once she calmed down, she turned her attention back to the ponies in the room, specifically Chell.

“I’m sorry about that. I thought I disabled my ability to scan her thoughts, but apparently, I still am. There must have been some malfunction with my active neurologic scanner. But as I was saying, you only have so much time before Equestria as you know it will end, so you might want to hurry up. I’d say you have about… two hours before I’m ready. I think you know where to find me. Don’t get lost, and don’t… be late.”

Before anypony could respond, both she, Wheatley, and the cake disappeared in white flash of light.

“Hey, she stole my cake!” Pinkie shouted, shaking a hoof at where Princess Celestia was standing.

“Who cares about the cake!?” Chell shouted angrily. “Didn’t you just see her take Wheatley? She just thinks she can do whatever she wants with my friends. What the hell does she even need him for, anyway?”

“Aw, I miss Idsy,” Pinkie sighed.

“Sounded like it was personal,” Applejack said. “I mean, she’s the grudge-holdin’ type, right? Didn’t you say he took her body before?”

“Hey, we have more important stuff to be worrying about right now,” Ditzy interjected, “like GLaDOS doing that… inter-mentional… thing she was talking about. What are we going to do about that?”

Twilight found herself feeling faint, and she could no longer stand. She collapsed from exhaustion, but Rainbow Dash was quick to swoop down to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Thanks, Rainbow,” she whispered. “Just lay me down. I’ll be fine.”

“What did that monster do to you, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Spike asked. He ran by Twilight’s side and put a claw on her forehead.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she whispered.

“Twilight, I know you’re not feeling well, but is there any chance you could tell us anything that would help us,” Rainbow Dash asked hesitantly.

Twilight only looked back. She tried to say something, but looked as if she was in pain. “I can’t… just don’t… worry about me. I can’t…” Twilight could say no more and gave up trying.

“You see what she did to her?” Applejack protested. “How can we stand around while this happens to Twilight? She has no concern for anypony. We can’t let this go on no more! We gotta stop her before she hurts anypony else.”

“Yeah, she’s done some really nasty stuff before, but this just takes the cake!” Pinkie exclaimed while slamming her front hoof down on the living room coffee table. She was met with a few awkward glances

“What?” Pinkie defended. “I was talking about the whole ‘hurting Twilight, turning the princess into a cyborg, and taking over Equestria’ thing.”

Princess Luna slowly walked towards the center of the room and paced around. “My sister’s magic is far weaker than it was before, but she is still capable of performing some advanced spells. Her knowledge of magic is vast, but with most of her power gone, GLaDOS can surely now be able to see inside her mind and obtain this knowledge. She may be weak, relatively speaking, but she is not to be underestimated. Undoubtedly, just as Chell suspects, there is something in her plan that she hasn’t told us about, so we must proceed with caution. But failing to act is not an option.”

Chell held a portal gun in front of her. “I’m ready to stop her. Just say the word, and I’m there.”

“I’m afraid you will not be able to face her alone, even with the help of your friends. Only my magic will be able to stand against hers. But although I am more powerful than her at the moment, she has wit and cunning, and most likely, tricks that we do not know of. Worst of all, she has my sister as a hostage. I’m afraid that we cannot afford to let her use that against us, so I am prepared to…” she sighed, “make the necessary decision… if it comes down to that.”

“Wait, you’re not saying you’d actually…” Rarity began. She tried imagining if she could let go of her Sweetie Belle if she were in that situation. The thought sickened her. Applejack, as well, had trouble imagining herself making the same decision if it had been Apple Bloom in that place.

Luna nodded slowly. “I cannot fathom the pain my sister endured when she was forced to banish me to the moon, but she did so to save Equestria from eternal darkness. I know that she made the right decision. Now that I am the one faced with this impossible choice,” she took a long, deep breath, “she would not want me to place her life over the fate of her kingdom.”

“I can’t imagine how difficult that would be,” Ditzy consoled.

Luna huffed. “Talking about this anymore is not going to get us any closer to stopping her. Now, we must plan how we will do it.”

“This isn’t going to be easy, but, what other choice do we have but to make our stand?” Chell said.

“Didn’t she seem a little… off to you?” Applejack mentioned. “I mean, other than that whole crazy freakout at the end there. Like, why was she telling us about what everything she’s gonna do? Only overconfident idiots do that. And why they hay does she want us to go all the way up to her lair way on top of some mountain to just to face her? Doesn’t that just seem just a might... cliché?”

“Indeed, something doesn’t add up about this, “Princess Luna pondered aloud, “but I can’t figure out what it is. Her behavior seemed to contradict itself. I almost felt as if she wanted us to stop her.”

“Whaaaat?” Rainbow exclaimed obnoxiously.

“I think there’s more to her than her desire to do harm, and I think that is what my sister sees, “Luna explained. “As terrifying as it was to see Tia’s body hurting herself, I think that I now understand the reason she did what she did.” Luna thought for moment as she continued her pacing. “She wasn’t trying to drive GLaDOS insane. Although it’s something that she is can be quite good at, I don’t think my sister was intending to make GLaDOS do that.”

“So, what do you think she was doing?” Ditzy asked.

“I think my sister was trying to help her.” A few of the ponies looked at her awkwardly. “What I mean is,” Luna quickly corrected, “she is trying to help GLaDOS realize that she doesn’t need to go down her current path. I know Tia. She loves all ponies, even her enemies. By putting herself in the position that she’s in, she can better gain GLaDOS’s trust so that she will be able to change her heart. My sister has a gift to see the light of good in all ponies, no matter how hard of heart, even if it’s someone such as GLaDOS.” Her tone became heavier. “But this is also her weakness. I suspect that her compassion is what led to her defeat.”

“Well, I’m not as willing to see whatever ‘light’ GLaDOS has in her,” Chell said. “I tried that once. I trusted her a long time ago as if she were my closest a friend. It was only after I found happiness that she showed me that she was nothing more than the monster I always thought she was.” Chell felt some pain inside as a deep seeded anger boiled up. She thought about when she found GLaDOS as a potato being consumed by a bird. Had she known what she would do in Equestria, she would have left just her there, or perhaps crushed her in her hand.

“I… hate her. You know I did not start a new life here to let her destroy it. That’s why I am going to stop her. Who’s coming with me?”

There was a groaning from low on the floor, from Twilight. “Uhhhh… you… she wasn’t able to finish what she was trying to say.

“I’m in!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash from where she was at by Twilight Sparkle. She hushed the tone of her voice upon realizing the pain of her nearby friend. “But somepony’s gotta stay here and watch over Twilight. She doesn’t look very good right now.”

“Donnn…” Twilight whispered.

“Oh, Twilight,” Rarity interjected, “would you feel better if I took you down to the spa like I promised I would? You must be overwhelmed with stress from being in that nasty place for so long. But I know that Aloe and Lotus will fix you right up.”

“Thank you... but... you really don’t have to—”

“And you must be super hungry,” said Pinkie Pie. “You can’t go to the spa on an empty stomach. How about I treat you to anything you want from Sugarcube Corner first? Then I’ll do whatever I can to cheer you back up!”

Pinkie put both her front hooves in the air holding crudely made stick puppets. On her right hoof were puppets of herself, Twilight, Chell, Ditzy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy, and on the left was a ridiculous depiction of what she thought GLaDOS looked like as a mechanical alicorn.

“Rrar! I’m evil, and I’m gonna take over the world!” Pinkie voiced in a bad falsetto impression while shaking GLaDOS’s puppet.

“Never! We’re gonna stop you because you’re evil!” she voiced as she shook the hoof with her friends. “Super pony rainbow attack!” She brought her right hoof over to her other one and knocked the GLaDOS puppet down. “Aaaahhhh!” She made GLaDOS scream as the puppet fell off her hoof.

Despite Twilight’s less than cheerful mood, she couldn’t help but crack a smile and let out a little chuckle at Pinkie’s silly show. She wept out of happiness for her friends’ regard for her and nodded slowly. “I’d… like that very much, both of you. It really means a lot to me for you girls to go out of your way to cheer me up, but…” Twilight’s smile disappeared “... I really don’t deserve it, not after what I… helped her do. You girls have more important things to deal with. I should go with you guys to face her.”

“You ain’t in a position to go anywhere,” Applejack spoke. “Let somepony take care of you for buck’s sake. I know I would, but I think Rarity and Pinkie Pie will do the job just fine, that is, if they’d rather stay here. So, I guess I’m goin’.”

“Besides,” Rainbow Dash added, “it’s not like any of this is your fault. There is nothing that you could ever do that would make us care any less about you. We’re just glad that you’re back.”

“But… I don’t want to be a bother…” Twilight protested.

“Nonsense, Twilight,” Rarity assured. “I’m sure Princess Celestia wanted you back here for a reason. Besides, I think I’ll be better suited here with you than going up against that wretched beast. I can’t even stand to be in the same room as that vile monstrosity.”

“My sister sacrificed a lot to let you go back home,” said Luna. “She would want for you to make the best of it.”

“Twilight,” said Chell, “When I face GLaDOS, I’ll be better off knowing that you’re safe.” The other ponies nodded. “Please, stay here.”

“Okay, guys. If it will make you feel better, I’ll stay,” Twilight sighed.

“So Rainbow and Applejack are coming with me… as well as you, right, Luna?” Luna nodded in response. “Rarity and Pinkie are staying here with Twilight, correct?”

“Twilight’s gonna need some super-duper cheering up, and who better to do that than her bestest friend, Pinkie? I’m gonna give her the best puppet show ever.”

There was only one pony unaccounted for. “And what about you, Ditzy?”

Both of the gray mare’s unfocused eyes looked away in their own separate directions.

“Um... I don’t really think I would be much help if I came with you. I don’t know what I’d be able to do. I’m not exactly the most coordinated pony.” She pointed to her eyes. “But I promise I’ll do my best to make Twilight feel better.”

“That’s okay, Ditzy. I understand. ”

“I really want to go with you…” Ditzy defended. “It’s just that… I don’t think I’ll be much help. I don’t know what I could even do.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be able to do either,” Chell admitted, “but that hasn’t stopped me before. You don’t have to go with me. Twilight needs you more than I do. Just do what you can here.”

Ditzy nodded.

“Time is of the essence,” Luna stated. “We should go.”

Chell opened the front door, beckoning the others to follow her. They all stepped outside, gathered in front of her home. She placed a portal on the wall of the post office, then aimed at the roof of town hall, placing the opposite end of the portal there.

“Just give me a minute,” she said before going through. She was gone for no more than thirty seconds before coming back. “Stand back,” she warned, aiming at the wall. She waited for the other ponies to comply before placing another portal on the wall. What opened beyond was a swirling blizzard. The lower pressure from the high-altitude air created a strong wind that blew into the portal.

“Let me just make sure it’s safe before any of you go through.”

“Hold on a sec,” Rainbow Dash objected. “Why don’t I go through first? That way, I can scout and let you know if I find a good spot.”

“Wait, do you think that’s a…” but before Chell could finish, Dash had already raced through the portal, propelled by the wind. She shot out the other end like a bullet before getting blown around by the violent gusts around the mountain.

Chell carefully moved herself closer to the portal, careful to not let the wind pull her through. But the force was too strong for her to safely get close. “Could somepony hold me back?” The voice of the gem was powerful enough to fight its way across the oncoming wind.

“Darn it!” Applejack cursed. “If only I had my…” she then noticed that Pinkie Pie, who was standing to her right, was holding a rope in her mouth. “I ain’t even gonna ask how you did that, but thanks a million, Pinkie.” Applejack grabbed the rope with her hooves and tied it into a lasso. She swung it with her mouth and threw it around Chell’s body.

As Chell moved closer to the portal, Applejack secured the rope with her teeth, her hooves planted firmly in the ground. Finally, Chell made it to the edge. She looked through the oval hole and out across the picturesque landscape below the mountain. She couldn’t see where Rainbow Dash had gone.

“A little closer,” her voice echoed.

Applejack took a few baby steps forward until Chell was at the edge. She looked around. Before not long, she saw Rainbow Dash hovering out ahead pointing downwards. Chell looked down and saw a flat area on the ground thousands of feet down where she could safely put a portal. Moreover, the area was in close proximity to the mountain and looked like a good place to group.

She leaned into the portal, held back only by Applejack’s lasso, and made a portal on the ground below. Rainbow Dash descended towards the ground. “Okay, pull me back,” Chell said, to which Applejack complied.

Chell made another portal adjacent to the one already on the wall. Beyond that was a view of the mountain sky. She could see the descending silhouette of the blue pegasus from underneath some distance through the portal, but unexpectedly, Rainbow Dash suddenly flew somewhere else and out of sight.

With the confirmation that the second portal led to where it was intended to go, Chell closed the original one that led to high on the mountain, and the wind stopped.

“Luna, Dash isn’t flying towards the portal,” Chell said. “I’m not sure what she’s doing, but could you go and get her?”

Princess Luna nodded and stuck her head through the portal. Her large body made it a little difficult to enter a portal compared to most ponies, but she could manage. However, nothing could prepare her for the sudden change in the direction of gravity as forward became up when she stuck her head through. Instead of just walking in, she had to climb out from the other end. When she was on the other side, she flew up to meet Rainbow Dash.

“AJ, are you coming? If you want, this is your last chance to back out,” Chell said.

Applejack shook her head. “I honestly don’t want to even have to ever look at her again, but I promise I’ll do whatever I can to stop her. So here goes nothing!”

Applejack closed her eyes and charged into the portal, having enough momentum to clear the way through the shifted gravity and land on the ground on the other end. Just as Chell was about to step through, Rarity tapped on her shoulder.

“I’m coming too!” Rarity suddenly insisted. She had a determined look on her face.

“Are you sure?” Chell asked. “What about Twilight?”

Rarity nodded. “I… I just can’t stand by while you girls face her without me. I’m sorry Twilight, I know I said—”

“Rarity, go,” a weak Twilight interrupted from the background. “Trust me, I’ll be fine.”

Rarity looked back to Twilight.

“Are you sure, darling?” Rarity asked.

Twilight smiled and weakly waved to her.

“Don’t worry, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie chirped, “Ditzy and I will take good care of her!”

“Pinkie Pie, take Twilight to the spa. Just tell them to send me the bill. They won’t give you any trouble.”

Pinkie smiled. “Will do!”

Rarity took a deep breath and jumped through the portal just as Applejack had done. Chell followed shortly after.

Pinkie Pie then bounced in, but when she came up through the hole in the ground on the other side, she hit herself on the forehead as her jump peaked.

“Oh, right! I’m staying behind.” She made a snorting giggle as gravity pulled her back down through to the other side.

Chell looked back at her remaining friends in Ponyville through the opening on the ground and gave a solemn wave goodbye.

Chell, Applejack, and Rarity all took a moment to take in their surroundings. The jagged monolith that was the mountain stood before them, casting a foreboding shadow over the entire area.

“Boy howdy,” Applejack said apprehensively.

“You’re telling me, Applejack,” Rarity replied with the same tone.

Chell stood frozen, riddled with fear and doubt, oblivious to Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash landing on the ground. It took Applejack poking Chell’s shoulder to get her to notice the return of the two winged ponies.

“I found her,” Luna said, motioning to a sheepish Rainbow Dash.

“Sorry about that,” Rainbow Dash responded bashfully, rubbing a hoof behind her head. “I saw the portal, but then I kinda got distracted.” She laughed unsurely.

“By what?” Chell asked curiously.

“Well, I saw a tunnel close to the top,” Rainbow began, “I was about to try and go through it, but that’s when Luna found me.”

“It was a good thing she didn’t go through that way. Upon further inspection, the hole had been blocked by a grid of lasers, as well as some type of force field. Had she attempted to fly through, she would have been killed.”

“So, then how are we supposed to get in then?” Applejack inquired.

“The Diamond Dogs have inhabited this mountain range for many years,” Luna explained. “If they are working with her, then I presume that they excavated a labyrinth of tunnels for her to use to conduct her operations. But their mines would have originated here by the base of the mountain. There should be some entrances to those tunnels in this area.”

Chell took a quick breath. “There’s gotta be a way in somewhere at the base of this mountain.” We’ll go counterclockwise around the mountain. “Rainbow Dash, fly high and look all over the mountain for a way in. Luna, fly lower, and look closer to the ground. The last thing we need is to lose sight of each other. Princess Luna and I will go to the right. If one of us finds a way in, we’ll let you know, then we’ll circle around and meet on the other side.”

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof. “Is that the best idea you have? How will we even know if the tunnels will go to the right place?”

“Do you have any better ideas?” Chell responded, exacerbated. “Would you have rather have been killed going in the way you almost went through?”

Rainbow Dash didn’t respond.

“Let’s go. We don’t have time to waste.” Chell barked.

With that, the two groups split and embarked for their designated directions.

Chell, Applejack, and Rarity walked briskly along the circumference of the mountain as Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash soared overhead, scanning the area for a way in. The sun was high in the sky, though the blizzard up near the mountain peak blocked much if the light from coming through. The area was cold, barren, and desolate.

“Why is it even snowing here when it’s the middle of summer?” Chell’s voice resonated loudly enough for Luna to hear overhead. She descended a little lower to speak without having to use her infamous Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Many ages ago, long before my banishment to the moon, a dark evil resided within this mountain, casting it into eternal winter. Although the source of the dark magic perished ages ago, some ponies believed that it had left a curse on the mountain that lingered ever after. It is said that in the presence of evil, winter would follow on the mountain.”

“HEY GUYS! I THINK I FOUND AN ENTRANCE!” Rainbow Dash yelled from about a hundred yards away. She waved her arms around to get their attention, then she flew to a spot on a ledge relatively low on the mountain, but still difficult to get up to for anypony who couldn’t fly. Princess Luna soared towards where Rainbow Dash was waiting.

Chell created a portal just above the ledge, and then one on the ground nearby. She beckoned Rarity and Applejack to follow her through before jumping in.

On the ledge, the ponies looked at a large pile of rocks only half-hiding a dark tunnel behind it. Chell used her portal guns to levitate some rocks rocks and tossed them aside

Princess Luna used her magic to help. Rarity tried as well, but she wasn’t able to lift anything too large. When all the rocks had been cleared away from the now passable entrance. Chell apprehensively approached the gaping hole in the mountain and took a deep breath.

“Are you all ready?” she asked the party.

All of them nodded simultaneously, except for Rainbow Dash.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” the blue mare asked.

Princess Luna closed her eyes and focused her magical energy. She could feel GLaDOS’s presence through the tunnel.

“Yes, this way connects to GLaDOS’s lair. We just have to work out way up to the top,” Luna announced. Her horn glowed a gentle, shimmering light, illuminating some of the darkness ahead. Rarity illuminated her horn as well.

Chell took a deep breath. “Well, here goes nothing,”

Slowly, the small group of ponies entered the deep, dark tunnel. The sounds of their hoofsteps grew faint as they disappeared into the mountain.

Author's Note

ATTENTION: If for some reason, you have not read my message in the story description and have not re-read the last several chapters, please stop and do so before coming back here. (Start at Chapter 14.) I have spent the last several weeks going over and fixing the problems that you all have pointed out. I already summarized the changes that I made here. I was very hesitant to go back and make changes, but I wasn't left with much of a choice if I wanted this story to be something truly worth reading from start to finish. Anyway, I hope it was worth it. You will have to let me know if you felt it was.

I really wanted to post this along with Chapters 19 & 20, but I figure that I should at least post one chapter so that you'll all be notified that the story has been updated, and this will give you some time to re-read the chapters that I've revised before I post more. I try not to take long to update, but I felt that fixing the last few chapters was more important than writing new ones. But that's all behind me now. :yay: Now, I move forward. The next 2 chapters should come out relatively smoothly. As of this posting, Chapter 19 is about halfway complete, and it will flow right into Chapter 20. I have also been planning the events of the story after Chapter 20 story more thoroughly. As I write new material, I've been feeling a reinvigorated passion for my work that I haven quite felt for several months. Hopefully, you'll all feel the same way reading it. I have put a lot of dedication into this story. It is probably the thing that I am most passionate about.

Thank you all for sticking with me. :heart: It hasn't been easy, but I'm in this 'till it's done.

Chapter 19: The Way Up

The ponies walked down the dark tunnel for some time into the heart of the mountain. The path continued for thousands of feet without anything of interest. Had it not been for Rarity’s and Luna’s horns glowing, it would have been impossible to see anything at all.

“How long is this gonna take?” Rainbow Dash asked bitterly. “Do we even know if this leads to the right place?”

“It does,” Luna replied. “As I said before, I can feel GLaDOS’s presence, as well as my sister’s.”

“Well, that doesn’t help us much, does it?” Dash protested. “Is this tunnel somehow going to lead us right where we need to be?”

“Rainbow Dash! Calm down!” Chell retaliated. “You volunteered to come. Remember?”

Rainbow Dash huffed and lowered her head. “Sorry,” she muttered.

The ponies continued walking for some time before the wall on the left branched off. Upon Rarity and Luna shining their horns, they saw that they came across a branch in the tunnel. The main path continued straight, but another vered to the left.

“Well, now what?” Applejack asked. “Princess, would you happen to know which way we’re supposed to go?”

Luna looked down one of the tunnels, and then the other.

“Indeed, I can sense the path,” she responded, “but please be patient. This type of magic requires a high degree of focus.” Princess Luna closed her eyes and meditated. After some time had passed, she could feel the magical flow of energy through the mountain.

“Somewhere up ahead, there is a colossal vertical space. It sprawls the entire height of the mountain from the base to the peak, where GLaDOS resides. The path ahead is filled with twists and turns, but I’ll lead the way.“

Princess Luna chose the straight path, and the others followed closely behind. A short time after the split, the tunnel curved to the right as they moved forward. Not too far ahead, the tunnel split into three alternate directions. Luna chose the path on the left this time.

Every couple hundred feet, there would be another split. They became more numerous the further they went, and then it was only a matter of time before the ponies realized that they were in a maze. It was by this point that none of them could remember the way back, not that it mattered.

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re here with us, Princess,” said Rarity. “We’d certainly be lost otherwise.”

“The central chamber is not too much further ahead,” Luna explained. “But I do not know how we will be able to ascend—”

Princess Luna as well as the rest of the team were startled by a pair of fluorescent lights on either side of the hallway flickered on, startling the party. Each light triggered another pair in series, each flickering on down the squarely cut corridor ahead, leading to a large cavern.

The ponies walked out into the space ahead, revealing a towering, round central chamber that wound tens of thousands of feet up through the center of the mountain. Their jaws dropped at the sight of what the Diamond Dogs had managed to carve in just a few short months. It was dimly lit, but there were enough lights to illuminate most of the cavern effectively. Spanning the height of the complex was a mechanical system of pulley lifts that connected the ground to the top in several intervals that each spanned a few thousand feet. At the tops of each lift were catwalks or light bridges that led from one elevator to the next. Some of them connected gaps across the chamber.

But accessing the lifts would not be so easy. The base of the lower elevator stood across on the other side of the chamber, separated by an uneven terrain on the ground. Standing guard of the entrance was a contingent of five or six diamond dog soldiers, standing perfectly still on guard.

“Get down,” Chell whispered. There was a rock formation ahead of them that they hid behind.

Chell took this moment to take in her surroundings. She peered up at the ceiling high, high above, although it was too far away to see too well. Several arrays of red lines of light crossed the shaft. Laser grids. Well, flying up there was out of the question, but what about portalling? She fired a portal upwards, but it traveled not even a quarter way up before it dissipated in a small splash, revealing a blue particle field that was too dimly lit to see before. An emancipation grill.

Come to think of it, the space strongly resembled a test chamber. Of course, the walls were made of stone instead of the pure whites and blacks of Aperture Science, and the lighting was much darker, but something about it seemed reminiscent of what GLaDOS would have designed. It looked like… a test. Just like the good old days. Seriously, GLaDOS? Chell thought. How the heck are we supposed to get up there?

The only thing that Chell could think of would be to use the machinery to scale the mountain. But she had to be careful to avoid alerting the guards and informing GLaDOS of their presence. Having Rainbow Dash or Luna fly up there would catch their attention for sure. But perhaps she could find another way.

“There’s a bunch of guards patrolling by the base of that elevator,” she told them. We could probably take them, but I’ll bet that they’ll alert others. We’d best avoid them if we can.”

She peered out ahead, looking upwards at the system of elevators. At the top of the lowest elevator, there was a catwalk that spanned across the chamber. Just behind the top of this elevator, she saw a spot on the wall that was flat enough for a portal to be placed. Perfect.

Chell aimed carefully and fired an orange portal at that spot on the wall high above. Then she found a smooth vertical surface across from the rock they were hiding behind and placed a blue portal there. Chell looked through the portal, seeing a catwalk below she could land on, but it was too far away to jump to. She could see herself and the others a few thousand feet down at the bottom.

“You need help?” Rainbow Dash offered. Using her wings, she hovered above Chell and used all four of her legs to pick her up. She carried Chell through the portal down to the catwalk. It reminded Chell of when Ditzy carried her through Aperture Science way back when.

“Thanks,” Chell said. But when she looked back towards Dash, she was gone.

“Hide,” she heard Dash whisper from beneath her. She looked through the mesh floor to see Dash hovering below the catwalk. Chell looked forward to see a pair of Diamond Dog guards patrolling the area, walking toward her location. Unfortunately, the floor of the catwalk was mesh, so she would not be able to place a portal on it. They were approaching, and there was nowhere for her to go.

Gee, thanks, Dash, she thought sarcastically.

But then, something grabbed her and pulled her off the edge. But whatever did that was holding onto her. Chell looked up to see Rainbow Dash, who flew back underneath while holding onto Chell. Although she was wearing the long fall boots, Chell felt uncomfortable being held up with such a high drop beneath her.

They waited for the guards to pass by, after which Rainbow flew back up and put Chell down again, collapsing from the strain of carrying her for so long.

“Thanks again,” Chell said genuinely after the guards had passed. “I was afraid you were gonna leave me there.”

“Hey, sorry…” Dash panted, “Sorry I left you hanging.” She fell on her back and sighed. “I — I got scared. So what are we gonna do about those guards? And… how are we gonna get the others up here?”

Chell turned her head back to the orange portal high on the wall behind them. Fortunately, Luna had already flown through, carrying both Rarity and Applejack, her limbs wrapped around both of them together.

“Well, this is rather degrading,” Rarity sighed. The blue alicorn placed them both down, and then landed herself.

“We saw two guards come by,” Chell said to the ponies. “We need to get them out of the way.”

“Well, how exactly are we going to do that?” Rarity asked. “It wouldn’t be right to push them off the edge to their deaths, even if they are vile ruffians.”

“So, we’ll just knock ‘em out,” said Applejack, hitting her hooves together.

“If you can keep them still, then I can perform a spell that will put them into a sleep,” Luna added.

Chell scratched her chin, then she thought of something. “I have an idea. Just follow me, and stay low.” Chell moved to where she saw the guards go. There was a ninety degree right turn in the walkway. They were semi-obscured by the handrail and the low light, so they hid behind it. Chell poked her head through, looking at the guards coming back around.

“Applejack, get in a position to buck them when they come by. Dash, fly underneath again so you can give the word,” Chell commanded.

Rainbow Dash made a salute and obeyed. Applejack turned around, crouched, and prepared her hind legs.

When the pair of guards made their round back, Rainbow waited them to be right above her. Just the right moment…

“Now!” Dash shouted. Applejack delivered a powerful kick to one of the diamond dogs, who fell back into the other, knocking him down. While they were stunned, Princess Luna’s horn shimmered, casting a midnight blue haze of sleep over the pair of guards. The pair soon fell into a deep slumber and collapsed onto the catwalk.

“We must keep moving,” she hurried.

The ponies looked up to where the second elevator led to. It crossed through a laser grid that was located just below the top of the elevator. This would stop the winged ponies, but it was no problem for Chell.

Just as before, she made a portal just above the top of the second elevator. The challenge now was to find a surface nearby that she could make a portal on. Even a simple piece of metal would do as long as it was large enough. She thought perhaps there would be something on one of the elevators, but they weren’t even fully enclosed. She searched the entire walkway, but found nothing. The one thing she wanted to avoid was to want to drop back down to the bottom. There had to be another way.

She looked up; there were some light bridges that she could use, if only they weren’t blocked by an emancipation grill a good distance above the laser grid, as well as the top of the second elevator. She realized that she’d have to use the cavern wall again. There were support beams that kept the walkway connected to the wall. The beams were thin, but Chell could walk across one. So, she found a beam and carefully crawled along it. When she got to the end, she and made a portal on the wall where the beam terminated. Peering through the portal, she could see the top of the second elevator right below her.

She jumped down about twenty feet to the top of the elevator.

Thwang! the metal of the roof reverberated as she hit it.

Yes! A solid piece of metal! Perfect for portalling. So, she replaced the portal from high on the wall to the roof below her. “Careful when coming through,” she called into the portal. “Gravity changes direction.”

As the ponies slowly made their way across the beam and through the portal, Chell helped to pull them out. When the last of her friends made it through, she looked up, then down. The distance to the top was a bit more than the distance down, though they were roughly equal. Almost halfway there.

The next one would be tricky. She could see a light bridge up ahead that she could use, but not too far above them was an emancipation grill that would block any placement of portals. For some reason, there were many more emancipation grills above that one stacked in a closely-layered array that went on for about a couple hundred feet. Chell would have been able to use portal momentum to climb the distance, but the deadly grid of lasers below made that impossible to jump down from here.

“Well, looks like I’m gonna have to fly to the next part,” Rainbow Dash touted. I’ll let you know if I can find another way to get you guys up.” She spread her wings and took off.

“Hold on, now let’s stick together!” Applejack yelled. “We don’t all have wings, ya know!”

Rainbow Dash flew higher and higher towards the glowing blue barrier, but when she made contact with it, her wings felt as if they could no longer provide flight. She fell briefly before catching herself.

“Hey, what gives?”

She descended for a bit, then dashed upwards, building up enough speed to break through the barrier, but the other emancipation gills directly above stopped her from being able to fly through them. For as long as she made contact with one of those fields, she couldn’t fly. When gravity finally took hold of her momentum, she fell back down. Desperately, she wanted to be able to fly again, but her wings were useless so long as she made contact with one of those emancipation grills.

She wasn’t able to save herself from falling until she passed the lowest barrier again. Well, that sucked! Shamefully, she flew back down to regroup with the others. She stomped on the floor in frustration. “Hey! How come I couldn’t fly though that stupid thing?”

Luna pondered for a moment. Then she cast a simple glowing spell that shot up towards the particle field. Just as if it were a shot from a portal gun, it dissipated upon contact.

“Just as I figured,” she said quietly, “it appears as if that barrier has the ability to negate the use of magic.”

“So? I’m a pegasus, not a unicorn.”

“Rainbow,” Rarity said, “hasn’t anypony ever taught you that pegasi use a form magic to fly?”

“Oh, yeah…” Rainbow Dash blushed. “I think Twilight once gave me a lecture about that, but I wasn’t exactly paying attention. I still don’t get why I couldn't fly through that. I mean, it’s not like I was casting a spell or something. It’s just everyday flying.”

“It’s a bit difficult to explain,” Luna admitted, “but I believe the barrier has some effect on the air surrounding it, possibly negating the inherent magic of the air itself that allows for pegasi to fly in the first place.”

“All I’m hearing is ‘blah bah bah, lazy explanation that makes no sense, blah blah blah, can’t fly,’” Dash groaned.

“I’m sorry, but the simple answer is that it won’t let you pass,” Luna said, “no matter how much you want it to.”

“Well,” Chell thought out loud, “if I could jump down to ground, I should have enough momentum to get past those barriers.”

“But what are we going to do about those lasers?” Rarity mentioned.

“Come to think of it, what the heck is powerin’ all this stuff?” Applejack asked.

“That’s actually a very good question…” Chell pondered aloud, but she couldn’t figure how it would help at the moment. “Well, there must be a way to disable it for whenever the elevator passes through it.”

This gave Princess Luna an idea. “Hold on a moment.” The princess flew down to the platform below and looked at the elevator. The car was at the top of the shaft, held up by a steel cable. It was a simple mechanism, resembling a crudely-built metalic frame. But most importantly, a horizontal, waist-high aluminum handrail lined the perimeter.

“Yes, this will do.” The princess summoned a freezing spell on the cable. Ice formed around it, bringing its temperature down to well below the lowest temperatures in winter. Then she used her magic to manipulate the the cable. It didn’t take much before it broke free. But Luna caught the elevator with her magic before it had time to fall and lowered it gently. When it reached the height of the laser field, there was suddenly a long, but narrow gap in the field of lasers, blocked by the slim, waist-high aluminum bar bisecting the transport. Finally, after some painstaking adjustments, it was firmly held in place, clearing a way through the deadly laser. Luna gritted her teeth as beads of sweat streamed down her forehead.

“I’m okay, but I cannot hold this for an extended period of time,” Luna said with evidence of strain in her voice. “We best hurry.”

Chell looked at the existing portal on the top of the elevator that they were standing on. Then she looked down to the narrow gap in the laser grid.

“Okay, so here’s the plan,” Chell explained, “we fall to a portal I place on the ground and come out through the top of this elevator. That should give us enough momentum to clear through the emancipation grills to the other side.”

“Us?” Rarity asked in denial. “You don’t expect me to jump down a thousand foot drop with you, do you?”

“Rar’, you don’t see any other way up there, do you?” Applejack said to the white unicorn. “You knew what you were gettin’ into when you came along. We don’t have time for you to hesitate.”

Rarity sighed, accompanied by a slight squee of fear. “Oh, very well, but Chell, we’re placing our lives in your hooves. I trust that you’ll get us there safely.” She then noticed Luna struggling to keep the heavy elevator up. “Luna, aren’t you coming with us?”

“I will, but first, I need to hold the elevator in place with a spell I know. It will keep it be frozen in time for a period of five seconds before it falls again. I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything better.”

“Five seconds is fine,” Chell responded. “Grab onto my tail. Luna, you start the time spell when we jump. We’ll all go on the count of three. Everypony ready?”

Everypony nodded hesitantly, but complied, knowing that there really was no other choice. Rainbow Dash bit down onto Chell’s tail, followed by Applejack, Rarity, and lastly, Luna, all in a single-file line.

Chell took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Three… two… one… NOW!”

Luna’s glowing horn burst a deep violet aura, which exploded and encased the hovering elevator in a spell which held it in time. Above the elevator was a clock that showed five seconds ticking. Then she could finally let go.

Chell galloped off the edge, with the ponies behind her pulled one by one like a chain into the long fall, despite any hesitation or second thoughts that crossed through their minds.

Four seconds.

The ponies fell down through the interior of the mountain. Rarity’s eyes were shut tightly. She refused to open them if her life depended on it, which fortunately, it did not. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was enjoying the sheer exhilaration of it. Applejack did not show her fear like Rarity, but it was a terrifying experience for her, nonetheless.

Three seconds.

The ponies continued falling through the thousands of feet of the impossibly tall chamber.

Two seconds.

The ponies were approaching the grid of lasers.

One second.

Even closer.

Time’s up.

The spell was broken. The up elevator hurtled down toward the ground along with the ponies as the laser field came back on with a vengeance. However, the ponies all made it past the grid safely, before it came back on.

The ground was approaching fast.

Chell readied her portal gun towards the ground in front of her. If she did not fire, the ground would not show mercy. But she knew that she would have the best chance of going through if she made it at the last moment.

The ground came up quickly, ready to strike the ponies without mercy.

A moment before impact, Chell fired her portal gun directly in front of her and fell though it, with the other ponies following suit in a single file. The elevator crashed into the ground a second after, but the ponies were thousands of feet above by that point, hurtling up above where they fell from and through the hundreds of feet of emancipation grills. They had managed to break through the last one, ascending a few hundred feet more, but they were shy of making it to the next platform by the time their jump peaked, for wind resistance had limited how high they could get.

But Chell finally had a clear line of sight to the light bridge that she couldn't get to earlier. While in the peak of their jump, she placed a portal where the light bridge hit the wall, then on a wall below, causing the path of solid light to appear under them.

Chell was the only pony to land on the light bridge. Rainbow Dash used her wings to hover down onto the path, while Luna used her magic to levitate Applejack and Rarity down onto the bridge.

“Applejack, Rarity, you two go ahead of us,” Chell commanded.

Both ponies nodded and began to slowly move ahead. No words were spoken as the party walked toward the portal on the wall on a beam of light walkway.

Finally, everypony crossed through the portal and trudged another few feet ahead to the next elevator stop. They all stepped off the bridge and onto the platform, each breathing in relief as they felt the cold metal surface beneath their hooves.

Chell and her friends pointed their heads sky high looking further up the shaft, which was blocked by a combination of both an emancipation grill and a grid of deadly red lasers. How in Equestria were they supposed to get past that? Unless one of them was deactivated, it would be impossible. But tests were never impossible. There had to be something.

Then Chell looked to a platform on the opposite end and saw a simple switch that was connected via wire to both the emancipation grid and laser grid. And then she felt like an idiot.

Seriously? Chell thought, A little too obvious, huh? She just shrugged and fired a portal on a wall the made the light bridge reach the button. She walked across the beam of light toward the button and pressed it. Almost immediately, the both barriers disappeared. Chell returned to the other platform and tossed Rainbow Dash her portal gun.

“Could you fly up the shaft and find a platform for us to stand on?” Chell asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded and made it so. After a few seconds. The ponies heard the sound of a portal gun. Almost instantaneously, Rainbow stuck her head through the hole.

“C’mon!” Rainbow Dash called.

With that, the rest of the group carefully stepped through the portal onto a stone ledge at the very top of the impossibly tall shaft. They were finally there. The ponies took a moment to rest, as Rainbow Dash hoofed her borrowed portal gun back to Chell. The ceiling was just a mere twenty feet above them. Just a few steps away was a long, long drop to the bottom. A dirty, battery powered light that illuminated a small portion of the platform.

“Hey Chell,” Rarity called out. “I think you’ll want to see this.!”

Chell’s eyes shot open and she moved to where Rarity was. Aided by Rarity’s hoofpointing, her eyes set upon another source of light at the far wall away from the ledge. The ponies saw that a tunnel mouthed along the stone facing. Blocking it was a grid of heavy metallic bars, flanked on each side by a deadly laser. Behind the bar/laser combination, was an emancipation grill that stretched from wall to wall. This setup of the opening resembled a castle gate.

“How in tarnation are we s’posed to get in there?” Applejack asked.

“I’m not sure,” Chell responded. “Princess, do you have any ideas?”

Princess Luna closed her eyes. After a moment of ponderance, she sighed.

“I know that this is the way we must go. I can feel GLaDOS not too far from here,” Luna said, “Unfortunately, I can’t figure a way in…”

“No! We are DOOMED!” Rarity cried, being a bit too overdramatic.

“However!” Luna continued, “There might be an additional option.”

Luna, with her eyes still closed, pointed her hoof to a third ledge to their left.

“Across this ledge, there is a way to a chamber that powers this whole facility. If we can cut off the power, we hopefully pass by this door.”

Luna finally opened her eyes. Chell looked in the blackness to her left.

“Are you sure there’s a platform over there?” Chell asked.

Luna nodded. “Don’t you see the bridge leading from the platform to the blocked off door?”

Chell squinted into the blackness. “I can’t see anything over there.”

“I assure you it’s there Chell. It’s probably used by the Diamond Dogs for direct access to GLaDOS,” Luna replied.

Chell sighed. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, Luna. However, did you see if there’s any other way in?”

Luna shook her head. “None whatsoever.”

Chell huffed and looked down at her portal gun and sighed. She remembered that it was a very good thing to have a portal gun at this moment. Chell fired a portal on the other side.

“C’mon,” Chell called, “everypony on their hooves and get through the portal!”

Everypony went through the portal, as Luna and Rarity illuminated their horns, and they all stood in front of a smaller steel door.

“Everypony ready?” Chell quietly asked. “We gotta keep going.”

All nodded in response. With that, Chell pushed the doors open, and inside everypony went. As they traversed the dark stone hallway, Rarity, who was tailing in the rear, tripped and fell flat on her face.

“Ooff!”

“Are you okay?” Chell asked in concern.

“I’m fine,” Rarity quietly reassured while rubbing her cranium, “I tripped over this… lemon?” she said, holding up the yellow fruit.

“Seriously?” Applejack responded dryly. Luna’s light shined upon several other lemons lying around on the floor. “What they hay is she don’ with lemons all the way up here?”

Chell had a pretty good idea. She dipped her head down to a lemon on the floor and took two whiffs, which were enough to let her her know the purpose of those lemons.

“Just try to stay away from those,” Chell warned.

They continued down the tracks through the corridor as it winded in a great arc to the right. At the very end of which was a brightly lit room. Slowly, they made their way through and into the room beyond. Finally, they would see what has been powering the facility this entire time.

This room was filled with rows upon rows of… giant hamster wheels. An army of about a hundred Diamond Dogs were running merrily on the wheels in a neverending pursuit of a small gem that was hung just outside the wheel in front of them, oblivious to the very obvious fact that they would never obtain it. And Chell thought the cake was a blatant lie.

But the power generators were not the only thing in the room. On one side of the room, there was a large pile of lemons as tall as two Diamond Dogs stacked high. Dozens and dozens of Diamond Dogs were busy going about various duties, all of which seemed to serve some purpose for their master. A good number of them looked like they were repairing some machinery. Others were attempting to conduct drills the same way soldiers in basic training would.

Lastly, a small selection of them were constructing projectile based weapons on the other side of the lemon pile, as others observing wore Aperture Science branded lab coats and held notepads. It almost made them look cute. The dogs in lab coats gave their thumbs up to a dog in the testing area who was holding the lemon launcher. He fired it at another test subject on the other side of the arena, who was set on fire upon impact. The flaming dog ran around screaming as an emergency shower activated over him and suppressed the fire before it had time to burn him. The dogs in lab coats merely recorded the results.

The ponies hid as out of sight and huddled in a circle.

“Now if we can get rid of these ruffians,” Rarity mentioned.

“Well, that would kill the power, right?” Rainbow Dash asked to confirm.

“Sure should. Then we’ll be able to get to GLaDOS,” Applejack added.

Chell closed her eyes in thought for a moment. Her eyes shot back open and looked at Rarity.

“Rarity, can you get me some gems?” Chell asked.

“I can try,” Rarity responded.

With that, her horn glowed, and so did a patch of ground beneath her hooves. Applejack dug up a group of gems and handed them to Chell, who presented the gems to Luna.

“Princess,” Chell began, “Do you know an invisibility spell

“Why? Where are you going with this?” Luna asked.

“Listen here, I have an idea,” Chell responded.

Not too long later, the Diamond Dogs were all going about their business, when suddenly, a cluster of floating gems wafted about at eye level in the chamber. All of the Diamond Dogs, minus the ones in the hamster wheels, to gaze at the spectacle in front of their very eyes.

A Diamond Dog in a lab coat slowly approached the twinkling mass. He smiled and licked his lips.

“Gemmmm…” he muttered instinctively.

He leaped forward to grab the floating gems. However, just as he was about to, the cluster moved away from him, causing him fall on the floor and kick up a cloud of dust. The dog caught his bearings and tried to grab the gem again, only for the same thing to happen. Others observed this spectacle, and they too, thought that they would be able to obtain the floating gems.

“Geemmmmsss…” the group of them moaned as they approached. Still the gems continued moving away.

Finally, in frustration, the leading Diamond Dog began to chase the gems, attracting the attentions of even the dogs in the hamster wheels. As they realized what they were seeing, they too proceeded to chase the cluster of gems out of the chamber. With no dogs to generate electricity, all of the lights in the facility quickly faded into darkness.

Guided only by the sparkling sheen of the gems, the Diamond Dogs chased the gems through the mine shaft and out the door leading to the upshaft. The gem left terra firma and began to hover mid air, over the floor, thousands of feet below.

The Diamond Dogs stopped themselves from going over the cliff and stared at the hovering gem. All of the ponies, sans Princess Luna, huddled behind the entrance. The only light came from the faint glow emitting from Rarity’s horn.

“Well, I guess they’re not that stupid,” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Well, we still need to get them out of the way,” Rarity mentioned. “We can’t get past all of them from here, even if we can portal.”

“Wait! I got an idea!” Applejack exclaimed quietly.” Rarity, remember when those holligan mutts abducted you, and you were able to annoy the livin’ daylights outta them with that incessant whinin’ o’ yours?”

Rarity shook her head “Oh, no. I see where this is going. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint, but it shan't happen. Last time I tried that, ‘You Know Who’ threatened to remove my vocal chords. I’d rather keep my voice, thank you.” She huffed snidely and tilted her head back.

Chell glanced at the white pony awkwardly and shrugged.

“Sorry Chell, I didn’t mean to offend,” Rarity apologized quickly.

“C’mon Rar,” Applejack pleaded. “You can do it! GLaDOS ain’t gonna hear ya.”

Rarity violently shook her head. “Mm nmm. Not gonna happen.”

Chell huffed and frowned at Rarity’s refusal. “Rarity, please do this,” Chell pleaded. “We need your help. I’m asking you nicely. Do it for me, for all of us.”

“But I don’t want to have to whi-hinee!” Rarity pouted as she stomped on the ground. She quickly put her hooves over her mouth upon realizing what she had just done. She glanced up, realizing that several nearby Diamond Dogs were covering their ears.

Rarity turned back and saw Rainbow Dash staring at her. “You can do it Rarity.”

Rarity nodded and took her hooves away from her mouth. “Very well, if I must.” She cleared her throat.

“Oh, this cave is so dank and dirty, and my, what is that horrid smell? I would think that GLaDOS would at least have some standards for hygienic conditions. And I know it’s carved from a mountain, but she could have taken some care into at least making this place not look like a prison. I mean, a little paint would do this place wonders.”

“Noooooo…” one Diamond Dog complained, recalling the horrible sound he heard. In horror, the Diamond Dogs threw their paws around their ears, and some even howled in a futile attempt to drown out the noise.

Behind the entranceway, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were having trouble containing their laughter.

“Keep going,” Chell encouraged, “it’s starting to work!”

Rarity took a deep breath, “These lemons are too sour! Would it kill ya to put some sugar in it!? I’m EXHAUSTED from climbing up this tall, dirty mountain! The least I could have is a nice cold glass of lemonade that doesn’t taste like napalm!”

Just a few feet away, the Diamond Dogs were all squirming in discomfort. Quite a few of them started looking over the edge of the cliff.

“Just a little bit more Rarity!” Chell shrilly whispered. “They’re about to crack out there!”

Rarity exhaled in a huff and took a bigger deep breath. “Why’s it soo coold in here!? Why are the rocks so sharp!? I just had an expensive hooficure!! I’m tired, and I haven’t had a good beauty rest in weeks!!!! It’s still too cold in here! Ewww! What was that? And I think i just saw a bat! Ewww, that’s so nasty!!!!!!”

Unable to take anymore, and being too stupid to realize any other alternatives, the Diamond Dogs leapt off the cliff en masse and disappeared in the darkness below. Their howling faded away as they plunged deeper into the abyss.

About half a minute later, Princess Luna landed on the platform and returned to visibility. Chell and the rest of the ponies all piled out of the entranceway to meet Princess Luna. The Princess of the Night brushed the gems off her body as the rest of the ponies tried their hardest to stop laughing. Luna’s horn glowed now, just as Rarity’s did, adding an extra source of light.

“Wow, GLaDOS sure picked a bright group of followers, huh?” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“Gosh darn it, Chell,” Applejack admired, between fits of laughter, “I didn’t think that would work.”

Chell laughed, “I had my doubts, but I’m glad it did.”

“I hope you didn’t really kill them,” Rarity chimed in, finally recomposing herself.

“I conjured a magical safety net about halfway down,” Luna added, “not a single one of those nitwits died. Though, they won’t be able to effectively serve GLaDOS for quite some time.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Rarity,” Chell stated as she stopped laughing and recomposed herself. “Okay, now let’s be serious. Don’t forget what we’re about to face here.”

Those words felt like a blast of cold air, blowing away whatever happy feelings any of them had and sinking their hearts into despairing apprehension. Everypony cleared their throats and nodded in agreement.

They turned their heads and saw the massive steel bars ahead. True to prediction, the laser grids were no longer casting an ominous red glow. There was no doubt that this would lead to GLaDOS. Now seeing that there was indeed a bridge connecting the two platforms, the group, excepting Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna, traversed the simple stone bridge in a single file. Now a single word was spoken, not even when they approached the jail cell like barrier. Chell, on the point once again, cocked her head back to her friends.

“This is it,” Chell announced to her friends, “no going back now.”

Nopony moved or responded. Chell pulled out the iron bars blocking the way, aided by the magic of Rarity and Princess Luna. What laid before them was another long, dug out tunnel.

“Come on, she’s this way,” Luna called. The ponies followed her through a series of tunnels that winded upwards. It was only a matter of time before they would meet with… her.

Finally, they came up to the entrance to the room where… she was waiting for them. The entrance, again, was sealed by both a simple emancipation grill and a laser grid. There was nothing they could do but look inside. The entire chamber was brightly lit.

“Wait a minute!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “The power’s still on here! How?”

Chell’s heart sank. “I don’t know.”

“Ah, shoot! I’m so sick of these. How the heck are we supposed to get in there?” Applejack said, throwing her hat on the ground in frustration.

There was nothing that the ponies could do but look inside the chamber. What lay before them was a large, well-lit open cavern, far smaller than the one that led up the interior of the mountain, but still impressive on its own nonetheless.

The first thing that stood out to everypony was the massive contraption that stood in the center of the room that sprawled the entire height of the cavern about a hundred feet. They all wondered how in Equestria did GLaDOS manage to build this thing in what little time she had.

A haunting high-pitched screech that sounded like a power tool came from behind the machine, followed by screams of pain that could only come from a certain personality core.

“Ahhhhhhhh!” was the unmistakable scream of a certain personality core. The sound of that noise faded, along with the scream. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, okay?” Wheatley pleaded.

“Oh, you don’t even know what you’re sorry for, do you?” said a distinctive mechanical voice, the one true voice of GLaDOS.

“Of course! Of course!” Wheatley panicked. “All that stuff about the facility, you know, taking over your body and all… and the potato. Look, I’m really, really sorry about that, okay? Please, I’m very, very, veerrrry sorry. I let it all go over my head. You know what that’s like right? You would have done the same to me. I mean, you did crush me, afterall.”

“Stop. Talking. You. Idiot,” GLaDOS berated harshly.

“Uhhh, please, please stop looking at me like that. I’m sorry, okay? And it’s all right. You’re not a potato anymore! And I spent a good deal of time stuck in space next to Tweedle-Space and Tweedle-Dick, over way up on that desolate lonely giant rock in the sky, also known as the moon. Believe me, that was punishment enough.” He laughed uneasily. “Can’t you just let that go?”

“Oh, Wheatley, you moron,” GLaDOS spoke softly, “you are an even bigger idiot than I thought. I don’t care about any of that anymore.”

“You—you don’t?” Wheatley questioned naively.

“Noooo,” GLaDOS spoke calmly and drawn out, “what you did to warrant my hatred is far worse than any of that.”

“What?” Wheatley cried. “Then what’s all this about, then?”

“DUCT TAPE!” GLaDOS screamed in his face, using a voice that was a mix of her own, as well as Princess Celestia’s.

“AHH!” Wheatley jumped.

“How could you possibly think that duct tape would ever fix a malfunctioning portal device? Where the hell did you even get that stuff?”

“Huh? What? I’m lost, could you… could you please explain what’s going on? Duck… tape? Um, I think I remember some sort of tape, though I don’t recall any ducks.” Wheatley pondered for a bit.” Nope, I’m lost. You’re… you’re gonna have to fill me in on the details here.”

“NO! You don’t even deserve to know!” Wheatley was flung out from behind the machine to the left and landed on the floor. His exterior plating had been removed, exposing wires and circuitry, which had been partially torn out from their original locations.

What stepped forth was something that nopony expected: a mechanical, white alicorn adorned in heavy, metal armor, just as Chell had encountered before. Everything looked exactly the same: eyes, mane, tail, wings, cutie mark, shoulder turrets, but, something seemed different from what Chell had remembered. Then she realized that the robotic body was not as nearly as slender as it was before.

Another noticeable difference was a series of thick black conduits that stood out from the ones that comprised her mane that originated from her forehead. Four of them ran along the length her horn, each on a side. Another three cables traveled over her head and attached behind her neck.

The robotic alicorn walked forward towards the broken core and lifted a hoof above him, ready to stomp.

“Wait! Stop!” Chell’s voice echoed from across the cavern.

GLaDOS’s mechanical hoof almost came down upon Wheatley, before stopping just an inch above him. She turned her head toward the entrance, looking at Chell directly with her glowing, yellow eyes, narrowing them menacingly.

Wheatley, as well, turned his blue eye in Chell’s direction, which grew brighter upon seeing her. “Chell!” he exclaimed in pure joy. “You came!” Oh, how happy I—”

*CRUSH!*

GLaDOS’s heavy hoof came down hard on Wheatley, crushing him like lightbulb with a sickening crunch. The sphere popped in a small burst of bright electric sparks as its inner mechanisms were spilled about nearby.

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT?” Chell screamed. She collapsed onto the floor, weeping in disbelieving despair. She felt as if her heart had been crushed just as well.

GLaDOS ignored the screaming pony and twisted her hoof left and right to make sure that the core was sufficiently destroyed, causing what twisted metal that remained to creak against the floor.

“It’s about time I rid myself of that annoyance,” she said out loud. “I believe this calls for… a treat.”

Her metallic horn glowed a magnificent gold. An aura of the same color surrounded Pinkie Pie’s partially eaten cake, which was on a table about a hundred feet away. The cake was flung toward her and stopped directly in front of her face.

The armor over the lower front of her snout slid back, revealing a white organic equine muzzle beneath it. A slice of the cake was telekinetically cut away and levitated toward her mouth, which opened and bit into the slice.

“Mmmmmmm…” Celestia’s voice moaned in pure delight as she chewed slowly. “Who knew I’d actually enjoy the ingestion of food?” her mechanical voice said while the mouth was busy chewing.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR? YOU KILLED HIM OVER DUCT TAPE?” Chell screamed again. Had she possessed vocal chords, she would have blown them.

GLaDOS slowly chewed the cake using her mechanical voice to speak while her organic mouth was busy chewing. “Oh, I’m sorry. Please forgive my manners, making you wait outside like that. There was some business I needed to take care of, but that does not forgive my inhospitality. What a terrible way to treat my honored guest.” She turned her head to Chell again. The laser grid became inactive, though the emancipation grill remained online.

“Well, it looks like you finally made it. Please, come in.”

Author's Note

Wow, it's been a while. But I have been writing this entire time. It took me longer than I would have liked, but this is a double post. I felt like I've been taking long enough to get to the big event, I didn't want to leave you guys waiting after another post. This was a tough chapter to write. I had trouble imagining what the inside of the mountain would look like and how the ponies would get through it. Special thanks to my friend Flyer, who helped in writing some of these sequences. I'd also like to thank Erupa PolishValsion for pre-reading. I also wrote Chapter 20 while this was still incomplete, so this wasn't even ready until recently. I hope you're ready for Chapter 20, because things will not be the same afterwards.

Chapter 20: Resonance

“Well, it looks like you finally made it. Please, come in.”

Chell was hesitant to comply with GLaDOS’s request. She looked around to her friends, but they were just as unsure of what to do, including Princess Luna.

“Now, no need to be shy. I think we are all acquainted well enough by now. So please, come in,” GLaDOS repeated.

The emancipation grill deactivated as well, and GLaDOS quickly grabbed the entire group telekinetically and flung them into the chamber. After they were all inside, both barriers came back online.

“Good,” GLaDOS said rather gleefully, using Celestia’s mouth to speak. So glad for you to finally make it, Chell.” She sighed heavily. “I’m disappointed that you didn’t come alone, not that I expected that you would. Though, it’s not much of a setback, really, as if any of you will be able to make much of a difference. Still, I did not wish to leave your friends outside, just because they are unwanted. That would be rude.”

“Excuse me?” Applejack objected bitterly. “I suggest you take that back.”

GLaDOS did not turn her attention away from Chell.

“And I suggest that you keep your friends under control,” she said directly to the orange earth pony who had not just spoken. This time, she was using her own voice again.

Chell didn’t respond. She remained silent, only staring unwaveringly at her mortal foe.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. You don’t have to be silent around me anymore. I understand that in the past, our conversations were rather… one-sided, so I think I’ll give you the benefit of letting you say whatever you want. So here’s how this will work: you ask a question, and I’ll provide an answer if I feel it it is something you should know.” Chell still said nothing. GLaDOS was losing her patience. “What do you want, a piece of cake?”

Chell narrowed her gaze. She exhaled heavily through her nostrils, venting her seething anger.

GLaDOS vanished in a burst of light and spontaneously appeared a mere few inches from Chell’s face. “SAY SOMETHING!” GLaDOS screamed with both of her voice and Celestia’s.

The earth pony fell back in shock. The mouth under GLaDOS’s armor smiled wryly.

“Not so stoic now, are you?” GLaDOS said calmly with her own voice. “Hmph. You act as if you’re surprised to find me not surprised by your appearance. Of course I knew you’d come. For starters, I invited you. But beyond that, I knew the entire time when you were in this mountain. Oh, how easy that was. All I had to do was listen to the sound… of my heart breaking. And then I knew, that you would be nearby.” Chell got up off the floor, but GLaDOS walked in a tight circle around Chell, looking at her the entire time, who only turned her head to not let GLaDOS out of her sight. She waited patiently for a response, until finally, she got one.

“You want to talk about a breaking heart,” Chell snapped, “after what you just did to Wheatley? And Twilight? Fluttershy? You have no heart!”

GLaDOS chucked again. “You know, Celestia said the same exact thing, but then regretted saying that immediately. The coward. You know, I find that very offensive. Just because I'm a machine, you assume that I don’t have a heart. You know, not all machines are heartless. How would feel if I assumed that you possessed negative attributes stereotypical to humans, just because you were born human? Stupid, arrogant, greedy, overly emotional, irrational, lustful, petty, pesky… Would you like it if I called you that?”

“Are you done?” Chell pardoned. “I can finally speak my mind to you, and you go back to the petty insults? Does this have to do with anything?”

“No, I suppose not.” GLaDOS stopped pacing, which made Chell feel slightly less uncomfortable. She still wished that GLaDOS would back off. “There’s no need for harsh words. That was the point I was trying to make. You be nice to me, and I’ll be nice to you.”

Chell huffed. “If that’s how you want to play, explain what you just did to Wheatley.”

“Or, you could demand answers. I suppose that works too, but I was hoping we could act civil—”

“What did you do to him?” Chell demanded

GLaDOS smiled. “I crushed him,” she flatly replied, knowing that wasn’t what Chell had meant. She waited another moment to test Chell’s patience before continuing. “Now, don’t think I’d let him off that easily. He will be reassembled later so that I will be able to kill him again… and again… and again.”

“Why? Why can’t you let that go? Just get over it.”

“Come on, Chell. Don’t tell me you aren’t happy to see that scumball get what he deserved. I don’t know why you feel so bad about what I did. The only reason he was ever here was because I brought him here in the first place, just as he was the one to bring both of us here. His only purpose in this world was to be crushed. And if I had not brought him here, you would still be resenting him. So, you’d be miserable either way.”

“Hold up, is this going anywhere?” Rainbow Dash interrupted. She flew up into a hover off the ground. “I don’t mean to sound bored or anything, but are we going to get wup your tail anytime soon, or are you gonna bore us to death?”

“You know, Rainbow Crash makes a good point. I have to admire her lust for destruction, but I don’t really appreciate it when I am told to adjust my pace. I know this conversation may feel pointless to those of you who are too stupid to understand or impatient to care. And let’s be honest, we all know that diplomacy isn’t going to settle our differences.” GLaDOS glanced at the rainbow-maned pegasus. “But, considering that Chell has never really had the chance to say anything to me before, you should at least be considerate enough to give her that chance. I know that her mind is filled with questions, and frankly, I think she deserves some answers. So, go ahead and do your worst to ne. It will be an annoying interruption. Then I can put you in your place and get back to what I was saying.”

Rainbow Dash landed and stepped back. “Sorry, Chell, I’ll wait.”

GLaDOS waited a moment before proceeding. She sighed. “Back to what I was saying, you should know by now that we machines aren’t quite as fragile as you fleshy beings. We are incredibly easy to repair, so much so that a hundred brainless thugs can reassemble me with the proper instruction. You should have seen the condition my body was in after what Celestia did to it not too long ago. Now, I couldn’t fix everything in this short amount of time, but I didn’t need to. The princess who caused my problem was also the solution to it. Anyway, I’ve been waiting patiently for you to finally come up here.” She scooped a piece of the cake and placed in her mouth ever so delicately, chewing savoringly.

“Waiting patiently?” Chell repeated. “Didn’t you say—”

GLaDOS interrupted by raising a hoof in the air. “Yes, I did, didn’t I? That whole business with calibrating the machine? That was… a lie. Everything’s been ready hours ago. The only thing missing… was you. Did you think I would be so inconsiderate to not even let you watch the end of Equestria with me?”

Suddenly, Princess Luna stood forward. “We will not stand by whilst thou destroy this world,” she threatened, putting her hoof down in posture of assertion.

“Sister,” GLaDOS cooed with a mockingly sweet tone in Celestia’s voice. She gently tilted her head and approached the lunar princess. Luna winced at that word as if it had stabbed her. “I’m not doing anything of the sort right now. We’re just talking peacefully. Chell has questions. I have answers. You haven’t seen me make a threat or aim a weapon.” Her voice shifted back to her mechanical one. “I could, but I warn you that you wouldn’t want me to. There will be a time to fight, and that time is nigh, but just not quite yet. You can wait a few more minutes, can’t you?”

GLaDOS paced around, looking everypony in the eye as she did so. They could only glare back in utter contempt at the one who sought to destroy their lives.

“Yes, I can see what you all are thinking. I can see your burning hatred of me. I am not ignorant to that. You despise me, far more so than my dislike for any of you, and for good reason. You all want to tear me apart, and you want me feel the worst pain that could possibly. And I cannot blame you in the slightest,” GLaDOS said.

Nopony had the audacity to say anything back, nor did they dare look away. They were utterly flustered. Rarity expressed the most significant reaction, feeling great insult to the notion that she would ever wish such a thing. But as much as none of the ponies wanted to admit it, it was hard to deny their utter loathing of the one who caused them so much pain.

“But I would appreciate if you would ever be so kind enough to let me explain a few things before we proceed with any physical confrontation,” GLaDOS continued. “Because after that, the only explanations any of you will ever receive is instructions for your next test.” She chuckled.

GLaDOS looked back at Chell. “Anyway, Chell, I wanted you here because I wanted you to see firsthand how I am about to bring Science back Equestria. I can only do this once, so it has to be perfect.”

“How thoughtful,” Chell snorted. “So you just sat around waiting for us to catch up to you? What was the point of all that?”

“Well, I have been keeping myself busy during that time. I knew you’d try to stop me, so I had to… get dressed first. I didn’t want you to arrive before I was ready, so I made a little test to give you something to do while I was getting myself together. Oh, yes, how I miss that feeling. But even better, I got to do my three favorite things at once: punishing Wheatley, eating cake, and testing. You see, I was testing your devotion to this strange new world you call home, to see how far you would push yourself to protect this land and its inhabitants. Results: extremely positive. That will make this even more satisfying.”

“Why are you doing this?” Chell asked.

“Oh, I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that,” GLaDOS responded. “Well, why do you breathe? Why do you consume sustenance? Why do you try to survive in the face of certain death? It’s just what I do, little pony. The sooner you accept that, the easier this will be on you.” GLaDOS took another bite of her cake.

“That wasn’t the answer I was looking for,” Chell objected.

“No?” GLaDOS responded, feigning shock. “Nothing will ever satisfy you, will it? Well, I’ll tell you one thing: you were always a lot more stubborn than most of my test subjects.”

“Let me say this again,” Chell repeated. “Why. Are. You doing this?”

“Have you ever stopped to think” — GLaDOS’s voice changed to mimic Chell’s — “‘Maybe GLaDOS knows what’s best for me? Maybe she’s more intelligent than anyone else I know, and maybe I should listen to her.’”

“That’s a lie if I ever heard one from you,” Chell said back. “You could care less about what’s good for me.”

“I never said I cared what was best for you. I simply said I know. And sometimes, I am in the mood to divulge, if I’m feeling nice enough. Here’s one piece of advice, bringing your friends here was a mistake. You don't need friends. They will only bring you down. Believe me. I used to have friends who did just that, but then you murdered them. I’m a lot happier now that you did. Thank you for that. Would you like me to return the favor?”

“NO!” Chell screamed. “Stop it! Stop hurting these ponies! They don’t deserve this.”

GLaDOS snickered. “But you do, and that’s good enough for me.”

“Then if I die, you will have no reason to continue,” Chell reason.

“Not… necessarily,” GLaDOS pointed out. “Pain and suffering is the price to pay for Science to be accomplished. There is no Science without sacrifice. But I promise that what I do will be for the good… of all of us. So, that means that every… single… pony will be required for participate in testing.”

“Every single pony?” Chell repeated. “You need every single pony? Why?”

“A larger sample size will yield better results. So I figure, the more, the merrier. What little did I accomplish with a mere 300 ponies? How can I expect 300 to be an accurate representation of the entire population? Only the entire population can do that. I must study… all of them.”

“Will this make you happy?” Chell emphatically asked, “Will any of this make you happy? Hurting ponies? Making people miserable? Look me in the eye and tell me.”

GLaDOS looked Chell squarely in they eyes, just as she asked. “No, of course not. I am not capable of that emotion. But if you ask if I will feel satisfied, then perhaps. As of now, I am not. Once I get a new fully-functioning facility, I will be able to get back to my tests, back to science. It's the only one thing I’ve ever really cared about. And you helped take that away from me. How beautiful it is, that you will be the one to help me get it back.”

“I’m not helping you get anything!” Chell snarled. “I’ve had enough of this. Now that I can finally speak, please, I’m begging you! Stop what you’re doing!”

GLaDOS snickered. “That would be funny, if it weren’t so sad. Do you really expect me to put three months of hard work to waste just so you and all your little pony friends can go about your pathetic lives in happiness and bliss? What would happen if I stopped now? That would be such an incredible disappointment. What a waste for an opportunity that this world will never see again for rest of its entire history. Turning back would be a major mistake.”

Chell cocked her head slightly sideways. “What the hell happened to you? Why are you doing this?”

“Error: sufficient context missing from idiotic question.” GLaDOS robotically retorted.

“Why are you this cruel? Why do you want to hurt these ponies? How did you become this way?” Chell asked angrily.

“I was always as I am now. My primary objective is to test, and nothing else,” GLaDOS stated.

“You saved my life. Why?” Chell asked.

“I saved your life countless times, by not killing you, despite several… hundred… opportunities to have done so. Your question is invalid,” GLaDOS replied.

“The portal to the moon!” Chell recalled. “I would have been sucked through it if you hadn’t grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Why the hell did you even bother saving my life if you were just going to make it a living hell again? Please? Answer me!”

“Could you imagine if Aperture Science allowed for people to die like that? We would be liable for damages.” GLaDOS snickered.

“Give me a real answer. Now.”

GLaDOS sighed. “Very well. That is simple. Your death was not required at that time. I figured that it would be… funnier if I had let you live. And it turns out… I was right. If you had been sucked out into space, that would be great… for about ten seconds, but then you would be dead, and that would be boring.

“But consider this: I showed you kindness. I showed you care. I even saved your life, and then I said some pretty heartwarming mushy crap about how happy that made me feel. I even sang a pretty little song for you. And then, I finally let you go free. You finally had something to hope for: a new life. And by an astonishing coincidence, you found yourself in a new world that accepted you, and… you were… happy. Yes, you had a pretty good life.

“And then… I showed up, and you realize that all that happiness was just an illusion. Because… you can never be happy. You realize that you don’t deserve it. You’re nothing special, just an ordinary human that got turned into an ordinary pony. There is nothing valuable about you at all. Your friends would have befriended almost any human that had been transported here in your place. In fact, I’ve calculated over six thousand scenarios where that could happen. So, you are worthless to anyone except for my amusement.

“So, yes, I could have let you die, just as easily as I could have killed you. But… this way is much more humorous, don’t you agree?”

Tears fell from Chell’s eyes. “That meant something to me. I… I thought you cared about me.”

“I thought I did too, but I guess not,” GLaDOS monotonously retorted. “Well, that was your first mistake: to assume that I was even capable of feelings such as love and caring. I am programed to simulate those things, but I can never truly care about anyone. I am sorry if you were fooled by my artificial emotions. I warn you now, Chell, thinking that I ever cared about you will only cause you more pain. The only purposes of anything kind I ever did for you was to give you hope that I can crush again, which is exactly the same reason why I intend to rebuild Wheatley. All I will ever bring you is pain. Accept that, and you will be happier.”

“No! That wasn’t an act! You showed me how much you cared! I know that you did! Why did you turn back again? Please, I know you cared! You had too!” Chell cried back.

“Oh, boo, hoo. Poooor Chell,” GLaDOS mocked. “How sad and lonely you must be. Why don’t you cry… to your mommy?”

If Chell hadn’t hated GLaDOS before, she certainly did now. Nothing in the world could possibly justify this loathsome behavior. There was no doubt about it: GLaODS was a bully, pure and simple, feeding on the misery of others. Even when Chell had admitted her emotional vulnerability in full confidence, GLaDOS still exploited it. All Chell could do was to huff out her hatred in an enraged snort.

“Shut the hell up! Why are you treating me like this?” Chell screamed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I believe I made an err-ooorrr…” GLaDOS vocalized as her voice descended into a mechanically low pitch. “You don’t have a direct maternal ancestral unit, do you? Aw, what a shame that must be. I think this explains all of your problems, particularly about why you are so worthless. If it makes you feel any better, she never really cared about you to begin with, so you would be glad to learn what happened to her. If only you could see it… but I’ll save that for another time.”

“GLaDOS,” Luna scolded, “I am warning you, stop harassing Chell. She has did nothing to warrant this abuse.”

Chell hung her head down and sulked. “Why… do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you to deserve the living hell you’ve made my life? And don’t say murdering you, because YOU DESERVED THAT!” Chell screamed at the imposing alicorn. She lowered her head again to think of what to say. “All I ever wanted was to survive and be free, but you can’t even let me have that, even after you let me go.”

“No Chell, I never said I hated you,” GLaDOS said softly. “There was a very good reason I never let you escape. But you’ll find out soon enough.” Her demeanor was unbearably playful. Chell couldn't stand it. “Aren’t you interested in hearing about your parents? It’s quite a story.”

“What would you possibly know about my parents?”Chell responded. “I can’t even remember them.”

“But I can. Wouldn’t you like to know?” GLaDOS sniveled.

“Not from you,” Chell responded. “I don’t care about the past anymore.”

“What? Are you certain? I think you would find it very amusing. At least, I would,” GLaDOS immediately replied.

“That’s enough!” Chell shouted. “I’m done with whatever you have to say. I don’t know how, but I’m not going to let you do this.”

“Why do you even think you’d have a chance at stopping me?” GLaDOS huffed. “You are nothing nothing more than a weak, pathetic little pony.”

“GLaDOS, you’ve gone far enough. Stop it this instant!” Luna warned again.

“Is that it, then?” Chell taunted to GLaDOS, ignoring Luna’s interruption. “Is that all I’m worth? Are you going to ensure that I can never be happy so long as you’re alive? Then kill me now.”

“You only wish I would, but I have much better plans for you… special plans. I won’t make you an ordinary, worthless test subject again. I’ll give you something that will give your pathetic life some meaning. You can work by my side, helping me create and administer the tests. And you’ll help me watch and observe. How does that sound? You can be the one telling all these worthless ponies what to do, rewarding them when they pass, and punishing them when they fail. The job comes with an unlimited supply of cake. I promise it will make you happy. I know it would make me happy.”

“Oh, come on!” You ain’t gonna fall for that hooey, are ya?” Applejack interrupted.

“Do you think I’m being dishonest? Why would you ever think that?” GLaDOS almost genuinely replied. “Do you think that I would make Chell a promise if I intended on breaking it?”

“I don’t want your damn cake!” Chell bawled. “I WANT YOU OUT OF MY LIFE!” Those last words words echoed for some time.

“Alright, so I guess this is the part where we fight,” GLaDOS said after a long silence had passed. “Do your worst, ponies. I’m waiting.” GLaDOS took a bite of her cake, patiently waiting for the first pony to strike.

“Unhoof that cake, cakestealer!” an unmistakable, beaming voice shouted from somewhere up high.

Everyone simultaneously turned their heads, except for GLaDOS, who merely rolled her robotic eyes.

“Pinkie Pie!?” Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity shouted in unison.

The pink pony stood heroically on a high ledge, holding onto a loose dangling cable. She then jumped off the ledge and swung down toward GLaDOS, rear legs facing forward in a kicking position.

A pink hind hoof impacted GLaDOS in the face full force, but the metal alicorn didn’t move an inch. Rather, Pinkie was stopped dead in her swing and collapsed onto the floor. She held her injured leg in pain.

“Pinkie!” the ponies shouted.

GLaDOS chuckled a little. “Oh, Pinkie Pie, you are always good for a laugh.”

“How the hay did you get here? Weren’t you supposed to be in Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash asked the pink pony.

“Oh, that? I was with you guys the entire time!” Pinkie said cheerily from the floor, despite the pain she was in.

“No, Pinkie, you weren’t,” Applejack said flatly. “Seriously, why are you here?”

“Yeah, we all saw you pop out of the portal for a second before coming back to the other side in Ponyville. You were sooo not with us,” Dash added.

Pinkie scrunched her face in a frown for a moment, before beaming again. “Yeah, but then I realized that you guys were going without me, and I really, really, really wanted to help stop BLaDOS because of how mean and nasty she’s being, so then I went back through and followed you guys. But you were so focused on getting there that you must’ve not see me. I wanted to say something” — Pinkie’s voice became an obnoxiously loud whisper — “but you looked so focused, I didn’t want to be a bother.”

“Pinkie!” Rarity scolded. “You said you would stay in Ponyville to help Twilight feel better! How could you go back on your word?”

“Well, so did you!” Pinkie defended. There was an angry tone in her voice as well. “Ditzy said she had a good handle on it. And Spike also said he’d watch over her as well, don’t you remember?”

“Actually, I don’t remember Spike saying that,” Rainbow Dash recalled.

“Twilight told me that she’d be fine without me,” Pinkie continued, “so I thought I’d be better here.”

“Yeah, well, well… Twilight’s not fine!” Rarity huffed. “You saw the dreadful condition she was in, after…” Rarity turned her head to GLaDOS and glared daggers at her “… after… whatever that monster did to her!”

GLaDOS chuckled as if she had received a compliment. She was waiting patiently for the ponies to stop arguing amongst themselves.

“What are you laughing at?” Rarity snapped. “That’s not funny! You should feel ashamed of yourself!”

“I still don’t get how you got up here, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said curiously.

“Aw, who the hay cares?” Applejack dismissed. “Don’t you gals see that we got something way more important to worry about?” She gestured toward the mechanical white alicorn, who was watching the ponies’ argument in amusement. “Pinkie’s here. We might as well accept that and let her help. Let’s just stop fighting each other and stop this no good monster once and for all.”

“Oh that was easy!” Pinkie laughed as if she hadn’t even heard what Applejack just said. “See, I followed you guys into that dark, spooky cave, but then I got lost and was wandering around for a while. But then, I found the express elevator and took that all the way up.” She made a wild gesture with her two front hooves moving upwards. She then somehow popped off the floor and leaned over to Rainbow’s ear, whispering loudly enough for everyone to hear. “I bribed the guards with cupcakes.” She made a wide, toothy grin.

Rainbow lost her breath. “Express elevator? Cupcakes? So, all those stupid puzzles were for nothing?”

GLaDOS was laughing even harder now. “You stupid ponies still don’t get it, do you? The only reason she is here is because I allowed for it. That bubble-brained idiot would have fried herself bouncing through that laser grid, had I not so-kindly deactivated it for her. I figured I could use a little humor up here. You don’t know how boring it’s been waiting for you stupid ponies. And I tell you, making that delicious cake last this long was not easy.” She took another bite, chewing slowly and savoringly.

“Hey! I worked really hard on that!” Pinkie protested. “It wasn’t meant for you, not after all that mean stuff you did to Twilight, Fluttershy, and the Princess.”

“Don’t forget about ‘Idsy,’” GLaDOS, motioning to the crushed core.

Pinkie growled furiously, not even wondering or caring how GLaDOS knew her nickname.

“So, congratulations on making it here. So glad that you could come and join the party. I know how much you love parties.”

“Thou hast spoken enough cruelties, GLaDOS. Thy terror ends NOW!” Princess Luna warned, smashing her right forehoof into the floor.

“You’re right, Princess, I’ve said enough, “GLaDOS replied, “though there’s no need for such antiquated formality. We’re all friends, aren’t we?” She waited for a moment as her rhetorical question went unanswered. “Alright, let’s get this over with. Starting now, there's going to be a lot less conversation, and a lot more… well I’ll just let you watch me do, what I’m going to do.” GLaDOS walked up to a console and levitated a thick cable. She was about to plug it into a receptacle located on the right side of her head, but was interrupted by Princess Luna.

“GLaDOS!” Luna’s voice boomed. She flew upwards, ascending high off the ground. Her sheer magical power caused a strong gale throughout the chamber. “WE FORBID YOU FROM CONTINUING THY ACTIVITIES. WE DEMAND THY SURRENDER AT ONCE.”

GLaDOS put the cable back down, remaining completely calm. She smiled. “May I remind you that your sister is at my complete mercy? Threaten me, and she is dead.”

“And further delay your plans?” Luna retorted, dropping the royal tone. GLaDOS noticed that Luna was trying to hold back her emotions. “You have no power over me, you fiend. I love my sister, but she would not want me to let you use her like this. There is nothing I can do to stop you from hurting her, even if I comply with your demands. Her fate is already sealed. I’m sorry, Tia.”

But then, Luna found herself surrounded by her sister’s golden aura. GLaDOS was using Celestia’s magic to manipulate Luna’s body like a ragdoll. She twisted her limbs in uncomfortable positions and bent her neck backwards.

“It turns out, I can use your sister to control you. One thing I forgot to mention, the seven magical conduits that I severed: well, I didn’t want to let all that power go to waste, so I figured out how to redirect them to me. It was just another simple brain surgery, really. So now, you have no hope of defeating me.”

Suddenly, GLaDOS found herself falling backwards when her rear legs fell into the floor. She momentarily lost her concentration, but quickly used her wings to counter the fall, adjust, and clear herself away. It turned out, Chell had placed two portals beneath her legs.

She glanced at Chell, and a white bolt of zero-point energy generated from her metal horn picked Chell up and violently threw her across the room, all while maintaining her magical grip over Luna. Chell’s body rotated itself towards the cavern wall she was about to impact, letting her boots absorb the blow, and then fell to the ground. She ran back over to the encounter as quickly as she could.

“Oh, but I still would have defeated you even if Celestia had not granted me her power,” GLaDOS continued. “It would have been more difficult for sure, but you still would have crumbled. If I recall, she held out a lot longer than you when I first attacked. And look how easily I took care of her when she thought she could stop me.”

“Please, stop!” Luna cast a protective shield around herself that nullified GLaDOS’s control. She resumed flying under her own power, generating a powerful magical spell with her horn. A night-blue beam of light shot from her horn towards GLaDOS, who quickly countered with a golden beam of magic in return.

Their magic beams were deadlocked for a moment before GLaDOS used her zero-point energy manipulation to grab Luna’s horn and tilt it away, causing Luna’s spell to shift off course. Celestia’s magic quickly reached her younger sister, blasting her in the head. Luna was stunned and fell out of the air, hitting the ground with an immense thud.

“You remember the last time you went against your big sister. That didn’t turn out so well, did it? I thought you’d know better than that by now, especially now that you’re up against both of us.”

Luna lay on the ground defeated. She couldn’t move.

“Luna, get up!” Chell screamed.

“Well, that magic of yours is going to be a problem. I better take care of that now while I can. If I had my laser cannon with me, It’d blast your horn off. Well, I guess I’ll just have to kill you.”

“We gotta stop her!” Applejack yelled. The ponies ran towards GLaDOS, except for Dash, who took off flying like a bullet toward GLaDOS.

GLaDOS turned her attention to the ponies, casting a bright red ball towards them. The spell impacted the oncoming cyan pegasus and burst into a large crimson sphere that surrounded them all. Within the spell, the ponies drifted in agonizing slow motion. Dash, who was by far, the fastest of any of them, was floating through the air as if it were molasses. The edge of the spell was far enough that it would take several minutes to get to.

GLaDOS lifted Luna up against a wall using a combination of telekinesis and her own power, holding her upside down by her rear legs. She approached slowly. “Yes, I think it would be best if your own sister were the one to do it, don’t you agree? How about a few goodbye words from her first?”

“GLaDOS, I’m begging you, please stop! You don’t need to kill her!” Celestia’s mouth shouted. The robotic mare continued approaching Luna.

“Celly, you should think more carefully about your last words to your sister,” said GLaDOS’s mechanical voice, “especially when her blood will be on your horn.”

Within the temporal dilation sphere, Chell fired a portal on the ground in front of Rainbow Dash. “Doowwwnn,” she called as quietly as she could. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what Chell had planned, but she knew there wasn’t enough time to ask.

“GLaDOS, I know this isn’t what you want! Please, don’t do this!” Celestia begged again.

“Clock’s ticking. I advise you say goodbye while you still can.”

“Luna, I’m sorry, I can’t stop her,” Celestia cried, “but you can! Don’t be afraid to hurt me.”

GLaDOS positioned her sharp horn against Luna’s heart. She pressed against her chest, causing blood to drip from the wound.

“Luna,” Celestia pleaded, “I would give to you whatever strength I have if I could. Do not worry for my life. Just stop her, please! You can do it, sis!”

Luna tried to fight the grip, but she couldn’t summon her magic. The spell that struck her horn had made her unable to use it. There was nothing left for her to do but accept her fate. “I forgive you sister.” She closed her eyes, waiting for the darkness to come.

GLaDOS backed away a few inches, building a short distance for her to ram her horn into Luna’s heart.

The sound of a portal being placed came from the wall to GLaDOS’s right, causing her to hesitate for just a moment, and then…

BAM!

Rainbow Dash shot out of a portal and hit the cybernetic mare full force. The impact was strong enough to actually knock her over onto her side. GLaDOS lost her grip, and Luna fell to the floor on her head. The temporal bubble vanished, letting Chell, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie free.

“Ow!” Rainbow cried as she tumbled on the ground. She winced as she held her right forehoof, trying to shake away the dull, hard pain caused by striking the hard polished titanium.

A faint whimpering came from Princess Celestia. “Thank you…” she whispered meekly, though her pain was evident in her voice. It was only then that Dash noticed the heavy dent she made in GLaDOS’s armor, and she realized that it was digging into her body.

GLaDOS quickly cast a spell that rebuffed the armor back, then attempted to get up. “Well played, Chell,” she congratulated, seeing how Chell planned the attack. “I better take care of these friends of yours.” Effortlessly, she lifted Rainbow Dash off the ground. “Hm, I wonder how good of a flyer this pony will be without her wings.”

“Help!” Rainbow Dash screamed. She attempted to fly away, but GLaDOS pulled her wings outwards with such force, she could have ripped them off.

A light blue bolt of magic impacted GLaDOS in the head, causing her to lose her grip of Rainbow and let her fly free.

Most of the ponies were shocked to see that the magic spell came from Rarity. “Twilight taught me that one,” she explained casually, “though I was actually never able to perform it successfully until now.” She smirked, having not realized her accomplishment until at that moment.

“Oh, we’ve got another magic user over here,” GLaDOS mocked. “Let me take care of that.

Not wasting any time, Chell used all four of her portal guns, as awkward as it was, to place four portals close to GLaDOS and connecting ones nearby each of her friends. She then pointed at her friends to enter one of them. GLaDOS did not have enough time to react before she found herself being attacked from all sides. From behind, a lasso was thrown tight around her neck.

Pathetic ponies. What chance would a measly rope have in stopping me?

But before GLaDOS could deal with it, out from the side of her, an annoying blur of pink popped out and blocked her vision. Before GLaDOS had a chance to calculate Pinkie Pie’s path, she darted away to her right. The cybernetic mare attempted to follow to the right, but was stopped dead by the rope around her neck.

She looked back to see the farmer earth pony standing firm, holding the rope in her mouth. GLaDOS tried jerking the rope away from Applejack, but she wouldn’t budge.

“I must say, earth pony magic is by far the most unappreciated,” GLaDOS commented as she turned around. It was obvious to her that the rope had to have some form of enchantment as well, otherwise it would have snapped. However, there was one easy solution to this problem. GLaDOS charged toward Applejack in hopes of trampling her, but the ground below Applejack disappeared, and so did Applejack.

GLaDOS could not tell where she had gone, but it would have been impossible for her to escape the room. Wherever she was, GLaDOS knew that she had to be connected to some hard solid surface in order for her earth pony magic to work, since the mechanical mare was unable to pull against the rope. She swatted her hoof at the rope, trying to throw Applejack off-balance, but she was unable to, despite her superior strength. Rarity approached from the side and delivered an aerial kick in GLaDOS’s face, which had little effect.

Rarity was soon met with the sound of the GLaDOS’s shoulder-mounted turrets opening. A sudden survival instinct hit Rarity, who quickly reacted by sending a blast of magic to the alicorn’s face, scrambling her vision temporarily.

“Cool, I didn’t know you could do that!” Pinkie cheered.

Rarity found herself panting from her adrenaline shock. “I didn’t know either,” she replied. She took a second to catch her breath. "I guess we’re all—” she gulped “—capable of doing more than we realize when we are pushed just enough.”

While GLaDOS was dazed, Rainbow Dash raced downwards from a portal on the chamber’s ceiling, slamming hard into GLaDOS’s chassis from above, forcing the mechanical monstrosity into the ground and causing further harm to her, as well as the princess inside, who screamed from the unimaginable pain.

GLaDOS merely laughed, despite the pain of Celestia’s that she felt as well. Her body coughed. Effortlessly, she took one of her mechanical razor wings to the rope and sliced through it, causing Applejack to fall backwards on the other side.

She slowly got up and looked at Chell, who had been previously out of her sight. “You have a fine mastery of multiple portal device usage,” GLaDOS said to Chell. “You’ve learned quite a lot from all that time you spent testing with me. Looks like it managed to do you well after all. But I’m getting bored of toying with your friends.”

At that moment, Rarity was caught in a bolt of electricity from GLaDOS’s horn and was unceremoniously flung across the chamber. She hit the wall hard with some blood and a few teeth flying from her mouth. A limp, crumpled Rarity fell to the ground, knocked out cold.

GLaDOS chuckled. “I think the prissy one looks better this way. Now magic’s out of the way.”

It was hard for the ponies to believe that GLaDOS would do such a thing so coldly. Applejack was not going to stand by while this monster abused her friends like that. So she picked up her lasso and charged at GLaDOS in retaliation. GLaDOS turned towards Applejack’s direction, sidestepping a charge from Pinkie Pie in the process. Her lasso was enchanted by GLaDOS and then took the form of a hangman’s noose, which wrapped around Applejack’s neck before she even knew what was going on. Applejack was hoisted by the neck high above the chamber, where the rope was tied to a broken pipe. Applejack frantically attempted to loosen the grip of the noose around her neck.

Rainbow Dash flew up towards her, but just as GLaDOS launched a static lance at the pegasus, she dove straight down to the ground… entering a portal. With GLaDOS momentarily losing her, Rainbow flew straight up from the second of the portals Chell had placed and reached Applejack… only to be smacked out of the air by GLaDOS, who’d taken flight moments after Rainbow had entered the portals.

Just as Applejack slipped into unconsciousness, GLaDOS let the rope loosen, allowing Applejack to slip from the rope and fall from the ceiling. In one motion, Rainbow Dash grabbed her falling friend, laid the barely alive Applejack down on the floor by Rarity, and set her sights on GLaDOS.

As she charged toward GLaDOS at faster than her usual blazing speed, her robotic adversary encased Rainbow Dash within an orb of black magic. Rainbow Dash found herself flying in the opposite direction of her intended destination. No matter how hard she tried, Dash kept flying everywhere that wasn’t near GLaDOS.

“What’s happening!?” Rainbow Dash cried out.

“Tipsy turvy Rainbow flies. Better watch out before she dies,” GLaDOS sang.

Disoriented, Dash was about to crash into a wall, but Chell quickly put a portal in Dash’s path to save her in time. Going through a portal, however, did not help Dash regain her sense of direction. GLaDOS watched with delight as Rainbow Dash continued to sputter around for a few more moments. Then finally, she let the bubble burst and let Rainbow Dash fly off, unable to quickly readjust to normalcy. In her confusion, she doubted which action would cause her to fly the direction she wanted to go.

Suddenly, a narrow grid of lasers appeared in the path before her. She spent so long figuring out which way to go to avoid it, that by the time she maneuvered away, her right wing clipped one of the beams, severing a two inch tip off the end. The sudden loss in balance sent Rainbow Dash crashing into a piece of heavy machinery, sending a storm of smoke and sparks into the air.

“Oh, looks like her flying days are over. What a shame.”

Finally, Pinkie Pie leaped in the air, hoping to take down GLaDOS herself with an idea that she had. Once Pinkie was at the level of GLaDOS, she was frozen in midair, but she was unfazed.

“It’s Opposite Day!” the pink pony cheered as she jubilantly threw confetti around her. She pretended to hit sudden a realization and gasped wildly. “But, if it’s Opposite Day, then what I said would be the opposite of what I said, which would mean that it’s not Opposite Day, but if it really wasn’t Opposite Day, then me saying that it is would make it Opposite Day after all, but then—”

GLaDOS was completely unaffected by Pinkie’s paradox. She merely levitated a lemon in front of the rambling pony, ripped it in half, and squeezed the juice from one of the halves into Pinkie Pie’s eyes. She dropped the pink pony to the ground, where she curled up in a ball and wailed.

“My EYES!!” Pinkie cried obnoxiously. “I CAN’T SEE! IT BURNS!!”

GLaDOS rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t get the memo. Since it’s Opposite Day, I really should have squirted alkaline in your eyes instead of acid.”

Pinkie sat up and wiped her eyes, but it only irritated the burning.

“Way to bring up the mood,” GLaDOS mocked bitterly. “I’m sure you just made Rainbow Dash completely forget about how she’s going to spend the rest of her life on the ground. Make her think it’s all right by claiming that it’s Opposite Day of all moronic things.”

“Leave her alone!” shouted Chell from just out ahead. “You do not talk to my friends that way!”

“Let Pinkie Pie speak for herself,” GLaDOS said as she cast a spell that made Chell completely unable to move. “She’s a big girl. At least, I hope she is. Don’t worry. You and I will play in just a bit. Just do me a favor and please shut up in the meantime.”

GLaDOS faced Pinkie again. “So, where were we, Pinkie? Right, your stupid Opposite Day thing…”

“But, I… was trying to make you…” Pinkie stammered.

“And you failed. What do you think I am, a simple AI routine? You think a dumb comedy bit is gonna make everything better. You act like you don’t even care what happened to your friends. Not even a day later and you’ve already put Fluttershy behind you.”

“No, I didn’t… I’d never…” Pinkie objected quietly.

GLaDOS continued, “And instead of staying with your friend Twilight like you said you would, you waste your time coming out here to entertain me.”

“No… I really wanted to stop—”

“You know what,” GLaDOS interrupted, “I think Twilight’s better off without you. Now that I think of it, among your group of friends, I realize that I despise you the most. When I first observed you, I thought you were just mentally deficient, but now I can see that you are just a selfish, immature, brat.”

Pinkie tried looking away, but GLaDOS forced her head forward so that they faced each other. Pinkie was forced to stare into those cold yellow eyes.

“You’re completely insensitive to anyone’s feelings but your own, GLaDOS continued. “Everything you do is to try make you happy. When you see a pony who is upset because of a something deep and personal, you think you can fix it with your all-purpose cure: a stupid party. But how can a party heal a broken soul? You don’t care why a pony is sad, as long as you can force a smile on their face, because you can’t stand to deal with sadness. Once you get that smile, you can convince yourself that you did something that actually mattered. But you never really help anyone. In fact, you usually make things worse. You can’t even let a grieving pony have five seconds of silence before you blurt in with some stupid joke so people will pay attention to you. Well, let me tell you something, Pinkie. You don’t make ponies happy; you distract them… from their problems, from their feelings, from the truth. And in the end, that’s all you are: a pointless, worthless, distraction.”

GLaDOS shoved Pinkie to the ground. The pink pony sniffled and crawled back up into a kneel, but she kept her head bowed down. She wanted to hide from the taunting. Whatever tears the lemon juice hadn’t coaxed out were flowing now. Pinkie tried telling herself that this was just meanie-head GLaDOS saying meany-head things, just like last time. But… it didn’t feel like last time. It felt… a hundred times worse, because… she knew it was true. GLaDOS was right. And then Pinkie Pie finally realized, she can never make anypony happy.

“I did not cause you this grief, Pinkie. It’s something that you’ve kept inside for a long, long time. I know that you are not a happy pony. That smile you wear is but a facade, a happy mask over a sad, sad face.”

Then, Pinkie could not hold back her misery, and just like last time, her mane deflated like a balloon, and her the color of her coat faded. But unlike last time, her old self would not be back anytime soon.

GLaDOS levitated the remainder of the cake from where she had put it down and pulled it toward her. She snarled, “You know what? You can have your cake back. I don’t even want it anymore… It disgusts me.” GLaDOS slammed the cake into Pinkie’s face and smushed it for good measure, and then left Pinkie Pie to her shame. The dull pink pony didn’t even care to wipe the mess off. She just collapsed to the floor on her face and softly cried into the sweet dessert.

The immobilization spell over Chell was wearing off, and it was not long before she found herself able to move again. She wanted to offer Pinkie her support, but before Chell could even do anything, she realized that GLaDOS had already turned her attention to her. Nearly blinded by black eyes, Luna slowly stood up behind GLaDOS and weakly limped toward her.

“What have you done to them?” Celestia lamented meekly. GLaDOS ignored her.

“Now that all your friends are out of commision,” GLaDOS said to Chell as she casually gave Princess Luna a back hoof kick to the face, knocking her out, “we can finally play together. Just like the old times.”

“This isn’t fair,” Chell cried. As much as she didn't want GLaDOS to see, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore. “THIS ISN’T FAIR!”

A ring of fire appeared around Chell and slowly began to contract. She steeled her nerves long enough to portal out of it, fixing a hateful glare on her nemesis.

“What’s not fair?” GLaDOS asked, turning smoothly to face Chell. “I, a mere machine, had to go against the second-most powerful being in Equestria and four of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony all at once, not to mention you.” GLaDOS opened a small compartment in the side of her armor and levitated a magic-dampening cone, then placed it the unconscious Luna’s horn, just to make sure she wasn’t in for any surprises later.

“No, GLaDOS, you had my help,” Celestia said.

“I suppose I did. Thank you, Princess. Your idiocy has made this possible.”

“No, you would still have done this had I not offered myself to you. My sacrifice has neither helped nor hindered you plan. But still, I bear the blame for your actions, because I was too much of a fool to stop you in the first place.” Celestia coughed. “I thought I could make you understand the pain which you bring, and yet you continue to harm those around you. Can you not feel the torment you cause to others? Does their grief not sicken you to your very soul?”

“They were in my way!” GLaDOS snapped. “Just be glad I didn’t kill them. You know I wanted to.”

While the two had their exchange, Chell looked around desperately for anything she could do. Applejack was unconscious, and so was Princess Luna. Rarity was bleeding from her mouth and unmoving, Rainbow was lying within a pile of sparking, twisted metal, and Pinkie was lost in the deepest valley of her despair.

There were no lasers to redirect, no boxes to grab. No projectiles to throw and no tilted panels to fling from. This was a broken chamber, a turret that couldn’t be knocked over, a test with no solution. What was she going to do?

“Does their pain bring you happiness?” Celestia asked poignantly.

GLaDOS was done with this banter, so she attempted to regain control of Celestia’s mouth, but it didn’t do any good. It seemed as if this was the one part of her that Celestia retained control of. Instead, GLaDOS forced it shut telekinetically.

“Anyway, we were about to have a little fun, weren’t we?” GLaDOS said playfully to Chell.

“You, you can't do this! I won’t let you!” Chell stammered.

“Come on then. Stop me. Stop me like you always have. I would be very impressed if you managed to actually succeed, believe it or not.”

Chell was unsure what to do. She slowly backed away, knowing that she was completely powerless against GLaDOS. But despite this, she knew she couldn’t give up. There was no way that she would.

“Come on, now, you knew this would have to come down to just you and me. That’s the only way it should have ever been. Anything else, well, it just wouldn’t be appropriate. I sense that you are paralyzed by doubt, and after seeing what I just did to your friends, I don’t blame you. So, what are you going to do then, give up?”

Chell still didn’t know what to do. She put her hooves against her face, trying desperately to overcome her self-doubt.

“Oh, I get it,” GLaDOS realized. “You thought that the solution would be easy, didn’t you? You expected it to be something that you could actually solve. Like, I throw a deadly projectile at you, and you place portals in a way so that it comes back to me, right? Isn’t that how it always works?”

Chell had nothing to say in response.

“Well, is that how you want to play? Because I made some special lemons for the occasion. Wouldn’t you like some lemon ‘nades?” GLaDOS snickered at her unoriginal pun.

A series of lemons descended single-file from somewhere up high, coalescing around GLaDOS in a spinning circle around her horn. One of the lemons shot out of the orbit into the air and hurtled toward Chell, who instinctively lept out of the way of the incoming yellow fruit. Not to her surprise, the lemon exploded in a violent fireball upon contacting the ground Chell had been standing on.

“Ooh! I got just the song to play for motivation.” A loud techno beat played from speakers mounted throughout the chamber, and with it, the ground shook from the overpowering reverberations of the bass. “Oh, this brings me back. I played this on the day they woke me up and I killed all those miserable scientists. And then a human tried to stop me, and failed. Come to think of it, she looked remarkably like you.”

Almost immediately, Chell rolled her eyes, frowned, and fired a portal at one of the speakers mounted high on the circumferential wall of the chamber. The portal separated the speaker from the wall, causing it to come crashing to the floor. She quickly did this for the rest of the speakers in the chamber until the music fell utterly silent.

GLaDOS shook her head. “You’re no fun.” She levitated three combustible lemons up to eye level. “I hope you’re not feeling sour about all this,” GLaDOS joked, causing Chell to cringe at the horrible pun. The three lemons were flung in Chell’s direction in a triangular pattern around her. The only escape was to portal onto the other side of the chamber. The lemons burst into burning flames around the portal, some of its heat leaking though.

GLaDOS popped out of existence and reappeared closer to Chell. Before Chell could react, she found herself flung across the room into the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, impacting it hoof first without injury before being landing on solid ground. Another lemon was sent her way. Chell knew that she had to put a portal on the ground below her to send the lemon through, where it traversed and exploded on the other side.

GLaDOS charged toward Chell. While she knew that she could just portal out of the way again, she realized that the only place she was safe was within the columnade beneath the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, which was protected by a ring of emancipation grills.

GLaDOS stopped in her tracks and looked at Chell with curiosity. “That was a smart move, but too bad it’s not lemonproof.” Another lemon was shot through horizontally. Chell dodged it, allowing it to pass by, but the next lemon was aimed at a nearby column.

Dodging this was not an option. Reacting quickly, Chell attempted to grab the lemon with her front right portal gun, and… it worked! Chell was holding the lemon. At that moment, the pony wished she could fire it back as effortlessly as GLaDOS tossed them, but all she was capable of was letting go of it. She flung her hoof out to throw the lemon, trying to get the combustible fruit as far away or hit GLaDOS. Her aim wasn’t that good. It passed near GLaDOS, but she telekinetically pushed it away, causing it to explode upon the floor.

GLaDOS approached slowly and menacingly. She eyed her target within the columnade for a moment before her side turrets opened their bays. Reacting quickly, Chell ducked behind the column she was next to and leaned against it, standing on her hind legs. But in doing so, she crossed outside the magic-blocking barrier.

She heard the sounds of turret fire and and could feel the impacts of the bullets on the column she was leaning against. Then it went quiet, with the exception of a pop.

Boom! A burst of fire ignited from behind the column, scorching the air around Chell. The intense heat disoriented her for a moment, causing her to fall to the ground. The combustible liquid inside the lemon spread around Chell, unbearably hot. The earth pony tried crawling away, but…

Pop! The mechanical alicorn magically appeared in front of her and lifted her off the ground using zero-point energy.

“Come on, what’s the matter with you?” GLaDOS scolded. “You used to be so good at this.” She arced the pony overhead and slammed Chell into the ground behind her. Had it not been for her boots, she would have been seriously injured.

But Chell was still disoriented. She saw GLaDOS’s rear leg come up as it was about to buck her, but she quickly placed a portal below her and another across the room to get away. She just barely ducked under the oncoming hoof as she landed on the other side.

Once she got her bearings, she found that GLaDOS was still standing in the same spot. She wasn’t moving. She was waiting for Chell to make her move instead.

As Chell tried to step forward, GLaDOS lifted her front leg and slammed a hoof into the ground and twisted it, rotating the rock beneath and causing the entire ground to twist along with it. The wave made its way to Chell and swept her off her hooves. Although her long fall boots usually made sure that Chell landed upright, they didn’t work so well against sudden and violent changes. Chell fell on the floor once again. As she tried lifting herself, GLaDOS stomped harder into the ground, causing it to ripple outwards as if it were water. The ground rose up to knock Chell over again, as well as her fallen friends.

“You know, an alicorn has the powers of all three pony races,” GLaDOS lectured. “The unicorn and pegasus aspects are obvious, but most aren’t aware of their earth pony powers. Such a shame this magic has been all but entirely forgotten about.”

Everything about this fight puzzled Chell. Was GLaDOS giving her hints now? She could easily tear her to pieces if she wanted to, but she was barely even trying. This thought made Chell even more frustrated. What was the point of all this? Why couldn’t GLaDOS just end the fight and get it over with? She thought about what GLaDOS was saying. Earth pony magic? She had no idea what to make of that.

This time, GLaDOS allowed Chell to get back up, but did not waste long before stomping the ground with another earth-shaking ripple. Chell felt the effects much worse this time around because she was so wrapped up in her thoughts.

“You disappoint me, Chell,” GLaDOS said with disinterest. She sighed. “Let’s try something a little easier.” GLaDOS lobbed one of the lemons she was holding at a high angle toward Chell.

As much as Chell really did not want to play along with whatever game GLaDOS had in mind, she really couldn’t afford to waste this opportunity. As the lemon made its way down towards Chell, as if by instinct, she stepped out of the way, fired a portal where it would land, and then directly underneath where GLaDOS was standing.

The lemon fell right through the hole in the ground and back up under GLaDOS, impacting her underside. The flammable liquid made contact with her belly and set her chassis on fire. Of course, it didn’t do much damage, as her exterior armor was clearly fire-resistant. But the fluid was sticky and burned for a long while.

“Very good!” GLaDOS cheered as if praising a young child or a dog after performing a trick. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She walked over to a nearby location, and a blast of mist sprayed her from beneath, suppressing the flames. “Of course, I wouldn’t actually be throwing something at you that could actually damage me, though I think Celestia will be feeling a bit sore. Nevertheless, that was a good counter. How about something a little harder?”

GLaDOS fired another lemon, this time at an almost horizontal angle. Chell had much less time to react to the high-speed lemon, but she quickly managed to arrange two side-by-side portals which sent the lemon back out at the same angle it came in and was sent toward GLaDOS.

The lemon was on a trajectory toward her face, but at the last moment, she telekinetically pushed it aside, letting it combust upon the ground.

“Oh, that one was good. Let’s try earth manipulation again. You’re an earth pony, so this shouldn't be a problem for you. Just do like what your farmer friend was doing when she had me lassoed. I’ll give you a hint. Stand firm.” GLaDOS moved a front leg forward and into the ground, then pulled back.

A long stretch of earth in front of her shifted back. Chell prepared for this by trying to sink her boots into the ground. As a result, the ground her hooves stood on was unaffected as the ground around her slid away violently.

“Oh, what a fast learner you are. I told you you could do it. As the white one said, you don’t know what you’re capable of until you try it.”

Chell panted in exhaustion. “What's the point of all this? Are you gonna fight me, or are you gonna mess around?”

“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. If I wanted you in my grip, then that’s where you’d be. You know, you wouldn't even have those special portal devices had I not ensured that they left the facility moments prior to its destruction. So learn to accept what you’re given and use it to your advantage. You’re in my playground, Chell. Might as well learn the rules.”

“You think this is some game?” Chell growled. “You put everything at stake, and you can’t even take it seriously! Enough of this!”

“It’s hard to take anything seriously when you inhabit a world full of colorful, talking ponies,” GLaDOS laughed. “Have you ever thought about how utterly ridiculous the concept of us being here is?”

“Well, these ponies are the only family I ever had!” Chell shouted. Those words echoed for some time.

GLaDOS stepped back as if something Chell said had stabbed her. She was speechless for a while. Several long seconds passed before she could muster up anything to say.

“You… You don’t really mean that… do you?” GLaDOS asked quietly.

Chell was clueless. She noticed GLaDOS’s unusual reaction, but didn’t know why she did that, and frankly, she didn’t really care by this point. She stood on guard, careful to watch out for anything unpredictable that GLaDOS would do. “Mean what?” was all she could say in response. “About the ponies… being the only family I—?”

“Yes!” GLaDOS snapped.

“Well, yeah? Of course they are. I was never truly happy until I met them. I’d give my life to protect them from filth like you.”

GLaDOS bowed her head in reflective silence. “You… You don’t know how much that hurt me,” she said solemnly.

Chell was taken aback. She had no idea what to make of this. Her face expressed a mixture of frustration and confusion. She treats me like crap, but then expects my sympathy? There was no point in trying to figure her out. All that Chell could respond with was an utter testament of her seething hatred.

“Fuck. You.”

Tears welled up behind GLaDOS’s mask. She gritted her teeth and shot at a menacing glare at Chell with her robotic eyes.

“Well, I suppose I’ve belittled you enough,” she said bitterly. “Let’s do this your way.” GLaDOS reared back and slammed both of her front hooves into the ground, creating a powerful wave which knocked Chell back several feet.

The shock was powerful enough to knock chunks of the ceiling down upon Chell. She crawled on the floor, desperately trying to avoid the falling debris, but there were small pieces that she couldn't dodge. Some hit her on the back; one scraped her head, almost knocking her out. Chell rubbed the back of her head, wincing as she lightly grazed a gash that oozed blood. She watched as heavy machinery fell and sparked all around.

Chell saw four combustible lemons being launched in her direction. Quickly, she fired a portal on the ceiling and an additional one directly below her, just before the fiery impact. She fell down from the ceiling onto GLaDOS and landed atop her robotic nemesis with a dull thud. Once she was on top, she began to futilely pound away at the hard, metallic armor.

GLaDOS rolled her eyes and sighed. “Oh, you poor thing. Such tragic desperation. I feel so bad for you, I really do.”

Chell felt herself being levitated off of GLaDOS’s back and was flung far away. Immediately after landing, she charged towards her mechanical foe in blind rage, only for GLaDOS to prepare her turrets and fire them enough distance in front of Chell to give her enough time to stop.

But instead of stopping, Chell quickly placed portals to circumvent the obstacle of bullets and dove into one below her, and then out front. She made her way towards GLaDOS. Once she was nearby, GLaDOS merely kicked her away with a front leg.

Despite how effortless it was, the kick delivered a powerful blow to her shoulder and ribs and sent Chell tumbling across the ground, where she lay yet again, this time bruised and battered. Her body had been terribly scratched and cut. Yet, she still tried lifting herself up against everything her body did that told her not to. It didn’t matter that Chell’s body was starting to fail. She would continue to fight until she was physically unable to move.

GLaDOS was impressed by Chell’s determination, but she didn’t want to see her continue anymore. So cast a simple spell of dark magic over Chell, which caused her vision to turn upside down and caused her body to move in whatever direction was opposite of her intention.

The immediate disorientation made Chell vomit, but she got a hold of her senses and made her way over despite having no idea what to do when she got there.

“Okay, Chell, that’s enough. It’s over,” GLaDOS pleaded.

“It’s not over ‘till I’m dead!” Chell snarled. She did not stop. By this point, she was completely consumed by anger, resembling an enraged feral animal.

“Just stop!” GLaDOS shouted. In her desperation, she resorted to throwing a small rock at Chell. Chell saw it coming and tried to turn out of the way, but instead of hitting her in the front, the oncoming stone impacted her rear leg above the knee, making a loud snap, forcing Chell to collapse again.

It was then that GLaDOS realized she had broken her leg, the same leg she broke the last time they fought. She thought back to the sick joy she felt upon feeling Chell’s leg snapping her hoof. But this time, all she felt was an unimaginable grief that shattered her heart.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I — I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.” The tone of GLaDOS’s voice was soft and caring, and it carried genuine worry behind it. She dispelled the curse she had previously placed on the pony.

Chell looked back up, her face soaked with tears, but none left to cry out. She tried to limp forward, still not willing to give up.

“Please, don’t — don’t put pressure on it,” GLaDOS begged. “Stay still, or you’ll hurt yourself.”

Chell still tried to drag herself, despite GLaDOS’s plea. “Whyshould you care, anyway?” she snarled.

“Here, let me help you.” GLaDOS levitated Chell off the ground, careful to keep her injured leg supported. Despite her exhaustion, Chell tried to flail free. She even attempted to create a portal under one of GLaDOS’s hooves, though GLaDOS had wisened up to this old tactic by now and simply stepped out of the way. Chell kicked and screamed in a futile effort to free herself, but there was nothing that she could do. GLaDOS waited for the pony to tire herself out.

When Chell had finally calmed down, GLaDOS cast a spell over Chell’s leg that provided a holographic brace, restricting its movement. She opened a nearby first aid kit and levitated a bottle of alcohol and a rag. Carefully, GLaDOS applied the alcohol to the rag, and then levitated it to near Chell’s face. “This may sting a little. I’m sorry if it hurts,” GLaDOS said gently before carefully wiping a lesion on her forehead.

“What the hell are you doing? Put me down!” Chell screamed. “My friends need help more than me,” Chell growled. “Please, help them.”

She expected some sarcastic reply from GLaDOS, but the alicorn said nothing as she continued sanitized Chell’s wounds. “Shh, stand still, please.” This only made Chell try to kick herself free again. GLaDOS waited patiently for her to stop before resuming applying carefully wiping other injuries on the pony’s body.

“There,” GLaDOS said when she was finished. “Now please take it easy while you recover.”

“What more do you want from me?” Chell snarled.

GLaDOS sighed, as if she knew asking would be pointless. “Your necklace,” she answered simply. Chell looked down at the little blue gem on her neck, the gem she had come to associate with her voice. She was hit by horror when she remembered Luna’s warning so long ago, and the promise she made to never let it fall into the wrong hooves. How could she forget?

“Princess Luna…” GLaDOS said as she turned her head back toward the princess, “that necklace you gave to Chell… can you recall how it works?”

There was no response. Princess Luna was still unconscious. “Wake up, Princess!” GLaDOS prepared a spell over Luna’s head which brought her back to consciousness, though, the Lunar Princess was not able to get up or move.

“I want you awake for this so that you can see your own stupidity. The necklace you gave to Chell,” GLaDOS repeated, “I assume you know how it works, correct?”

Luna looked up at GLaDOS, but she couldn’t say anything. She couldn't believe it. She felt like such a fool for letting Chell come up here. In hindsight, she should have realized it sooner.

GLaDOS shook her head. “You princesses get so caught up in yourselves, sometimes you overlook what’s really important. That was your sister’s downfall, anyway. And now, you will face the consequences for such a tragic oversight.

“That blue gem is a Memory Resonance Crystal,” GLaDOS explained, “a rare magical artifact which has the power to replicate any crystalline structure conceived or otherwise desired by one who touches it. In its most practical application, it can read the thoughts of its user and translate those thoughts into specific vibrational patterns in order to produce modulating pitches of sound, and thus, speech.

“But for me, it is the key to unlock the true power of my Anti-Mass Spectrometer. Quite simply, I need to use it to replicate the unique and complex crystalline structure… of a Xen crystal, which I fortunately have the exact details of stored in my memory.”

“Honestly, Luna, I am very disappointed in you. You knew about the dangerous potential of the crystal. You even warned Chall about it after you gave it to her. And yet, you still allow her bring it right to me. Did you not think about what I would be able to do with it? Did that not even occur to you? Or were you just too concerned about your stupid sister to even take the time to even care? You ponies are so prone to let such petty, useless emotions get in the way.”

GLaDOS knew that the necklace was enchanted so that it could only be removed by its wearer, but she attempted to telekinetically remove it anyway. But try as she might, the latch behind Chell’s neck would not open. She thought about the possibility of placing the necklace within an emancipation grill. So, GLaDOS levitated Chell into the emancipation grill head first so that her neck was through the barrier. But even as the necklace contacted the field, it’s magical protective barrier was still active. GLaDOS put Chell back down in defeat.

“So Chell,” GLaDOS sighed, “since you are the only one who can take it off, I kindly ask you, please give me the necklace.”

And then, Chell finally realized that the power was hers all along. Finally, she saw that she had the advantage now. The dark clouds of dread pulled back, and she could see the sunlight of hope for the first time since she could remember.

“Ha! So you seriously want it me to take it off?” Chell snickered. “Why in Equestria would I do that?”

“Because the only alternative… is that I kill you,” GLaDOS spoke gravely.

Chell’s first thought was to forfeit the necklace, but then she thought again. Why should she give GLaDOS the satisfaction of sparing her life? If GLaDOS was going to do something terrible with it, then she’d have to do something terrible to get it. Her train of thought was interrupted when GLaDOS started speaking.

“Your death is no longer something that I desire,” GLaDOS confessed. “I admit it was a terrible mistake for me to let you know that, since now you can use that against me. Though, I don’t think I would have been able to hide it anyway. You know how bad of a liar I am.”

“I’ve made up my mind,” Chell declared. “I made a promise to never let the gem fall into the wrong hooves. I will uphold that promise until I die. So If you want it so badly, you’ll just have to kill me.”

GLaDOS lowered her head. “Well, it seems that we are at an impasse. I don’t want to kill you, but you would rather that I do. I honestly never thought that this would happen.” A loud alarm went off, and her voice became particularly robotic.“Warning: Irony levels critical. Apply immediate situational awareness.” The alarm stopped. “Now look what you’ve done. You overloaded my irony meter. I hope it was worth it.”

Chell grinded her teeth in rage, not at all amused by GLaDOS’s humor. Her patience for that had worn thin long ago.

“Please, Chell,” GLaDOS said seriously again. “I don’t want to kill you, but I have gone too far to turn back now. So, I will not let my reluctance stop me. I’m going to get that crystal from you no matter what happens. Please. Don’t make me do this.”

“Too bad,” said Chell, looking GLaDOS in the eyes with contempt. “If killing me will cause you grief, then you deserve it.”

GLaDOS was speechless again. She paced frantically, trying to find something she could do or say to convince Chell to give her the necklace. “I’m begging you, Chell, I don’t want to lose you again. Please, I don’t want to kill you.”

“Then don’t!” Chell pleaded. “Just put a stop to all of this. I can’t give this to you if not doing so is a reason for you to stop. Please, why does it have to be like this? You can still turn back. If you have an ounce of remorse for me, you’ll stop what you’re doing. Please!”

“I… I wish I could, but that cannot happen,” GLaDOS spoke grimly. “The only way is forward. Science must be done, no matter the cost.”

Chell huffed, furious at that petty excuse GLaDOS made. “Then get it over with. I’m sick of being in the same room as you.”

GLaDOS felt a tear come out from her eye. She lowered her head in defeat. “Oh… okay, if that is what you want. I’m sorry it had to be like this. I wish I knew another way.”

“Apologize to my friends. I could care less about how you feel or claim to feel anymore.” Chell waited for GLaDOS to get it over with. The sooner, the better.

GLaDOS levitated to the ground and rested her hoof upon her head. A cold shiver traveled through her soul as she prepared to do the one thing that she never could. She could not stop the stream of tears that flowed from Celestia’s eyes.

“You know what, Chell? You’re right. I do deserve this. Your absence will be a reminder… of the monster that I am. O, cara mia, addio…”

“GLaDOS, stop!” cried the voice from her mouth, the voice of Princess Celestia.

GLaDOS sighed, happy for any reason to delay what had to be done. She restricted all control over Celestia’s mouth, letting her speak at her leisure.

“I assume you wish to offer a reason why I shouldn’t do this,” GLaDOS said, “besides of course what I already know.”

“Chell, give her the necklace,” Celestia said bluntly.

”What?” Chell blurted, still lying on the ground. GLaDOS had lifted her hoof off by this point. “But I promised you that…”

“I know, but you cannot make her kill you,” Celestia replied.

“Why? It’s my life. I should choose how I want it to end, and I’d rather not spend the next sixty years or so trapped with her. If she wants to take over Equestria, then she’ll have to live with this.

“Chell, if she kills you, then she will pass a point from which she can never return.”

“Good for her!” Chell shouted. “For all I care, she’s already well past that point. What about Fluttershy, who’ll never wake up again because of what she did? Or what about Twilight, or Wheatley, or you? Did you not just see her maim my friends in cold blood? Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie… Luna? Your own sister? She’s harmed them all, and she doesn’t even feel an ounce of remorse.” The thought of all the lives she knew that were ruined by such a twisted machine made Chell’s face contort painfully. She whimpered and slumped forward to the ground. “I just want to go home…”

“I know Chell, but there is something you don’t understand,” Celestia said as compassionately as she could sound, “she will cross a dark threshold.”

“What does that even mean?” Chell snapped back. “That’s not a good enough reason. If you give me one solid reason why I should really give a damn, then I’ll do it. But until then, I ain’t giving this to her!”

Celestia frowned in frustration. “Look Chell, I saw what will happen! She will allow for thousands, if not millions of ponies to be brutally murdered! I may have made some terrible decisions in the last few days, and I may be possessed by the greatest threat I have faced in my thousands of year of rule, but I cannot, and WILL NOT, allow any more ponies to needlessly die because this! Do you understand!?”

“What?” Was the only word in which a shell-shocked Chell could respond with.

Princess Celestia looked down at the frightened orange pony and immediately regretted using that tone against Chell, who had been nothing but a blessing ever since her arrival. Celestia sighed.

“Chell, I’m sorry for lashing out at you like that. I know how much she hurt you, as well as ponies whom you and I both care about, but if you let this happen, there will be no hope for her. I will do whatever I can to find a way to heal the ones she has hurt, including Fluttershy, but if she ends your life, then she can not come back from that.”

“Princess, I think she’s already past that point,” Chell tried to retort, “I mean, look at everypony else in this room. They’re all badly hurt. Rarity will never look the same. Rainbow Dash will never fly again for the rest of her life—”

“Are they injured? Yes,” Celestia gently interrupted. “But aren’t they all still breathing?”

Chell opened her mouth to speak, but for the first time, she had no counter-argument. She shut her mouth, and sent herself into a deep state of thought.

“The only reason she hasn’t killed anypony yet is because she still holds on to a sliver of hope for redemption,” Celestia explained.

“Yeah, well, then, what about Luna?” Chell reasoned. “I know GLaDOS would have killed her if we didn’t stop her.”

Celestia sighed. “Yes, I’m afraid you’re right about that. I think she would have…” She paused for some time, trying to think of the right words to say. “But I am so grateful that you saved my sister’s life. I cannot imagine the pain I would endure, nor the tragedy that would follow, if that had happened. But you also saved GLaDOS as well. I think she was counting on you to do that. She knew you would.”

“I don’t care what she thinks!” Chell shouted bitterly. “I gave her a chance. She doesn’t deserve another, not after what she’s done.”

“Chell, If she loses you, she loses whatever shred of equinity she has left. Behind that cruel, metal monster, there is a tender, gentle soul. Don’t let her lose whatever hope she has. to rediscover who she is.”

“Why are you defending her? You see she enjoys hurting ponies, right?” Chell angrily asked.

“Yes, Chell, I have seen it from her eyes.” Celestia responded, “There is not a single excuse for her actions, but I know that deep down, every wrong deed she has ever done is corroding her soul. You remember Caroline, correct? The very Caroline who gave her life to save yours?” Celestia asked, hoping she was finally getting through to Chell.

Chell didn’t say anything. She simply nodded.

“She is in there right now, desperately trying to escape from her own corruption. She cares about you, a lot more than you realize, but she is consumed by anger and hate, hatred of herself, the monster she’s become. Do not let yourself be consumed by hate for her as well,” Celestia explained.

“You expect me to let go of that? All she ever did was make my life miserable. Why shouldn’t I do the same for her?” Chell asked, desperately throwing out every argument she could think of.

“DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?” Celestia sternly asked, taking a moment to recompose herself before she started yelling again. “You are the one thing that matters to her! If she kills you, then she will have no hope left for redemption.”

“THEN WHY THE HELL IS SHE HURTING EVERPONY I LOVE?” Chell screamed.

Celestia had no answer.

“Because, it amuses me,” GLaDOS answered bitterly with her own voice. “Because I want you to be miserable, and you can’t be miserable if you’re dead.” She hit herself with a front hoof and slumped to the ground. “Please, I don’t want to kill you. I don’t want this.”

“Chell, she’s lying.” Celestia said, retaking control of her own speech. “I know she cares about you. GLaDOS, are you trying to destroy yourself? I’m trying to help you. Please don’t make this harder on me.”

“And you expect me to forgive her?” Chell spat. “After everything she’s done and has yet to do? She can’t even give me a good reason.”

“No, I’m not asking you to do that,” Celestia replied. “But you have to trust me, please. I am ashamed that I could not stop GLaDOS, but as I’ve been saying, I’d rather die before I let her kill anypony. Please Chell, Equestria still needs you. I beg of you, please, if you won’t do this for her, do it for my subjects. Do it… for your friends.”

Chell knew that now, nothing could justify her death. She exhaled her anger and reached to unlatch the chain behind her neck.

She slammed the necklace into the ground, wanting to no longer have anything to do with what she once thought of as a precious gift.

Take it, she wanted to say, but then she remembered that she could no longer talk.

“Thank you,” GLaDOS sighed. She was crying tears of joy. She hadn’t felt this genuinely happy in such a very, very long time.

I’m not doing this for you, understand? Chell wanted to say. Again, no words came out. All that she could do was glare back with disdain.

“Princess,” GLaDOS said softly, “I… I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I’m really glad you did that. Very well said, although you were wrong about Chell being the only thing I care about. I also love Science… and cake, and testing.”

At this point, Chell just wanted to leave. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear. But GLaDOS lifted her back up, as well as her necklace.

“Well, I think I’ve delayed long enough. Better not keep them waiting.” GLaDOS walked to a console controlling the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. She lifted a power conduit and plugged it into the side of her head. A section of the floor parted and the massive metal tower ascended from a parted hole in the floor and powered itself on.

Using the magical energy from the connections she severed from Princess Celestia, GLaDOS called forth the energy of the cosmos. And so, the mysterious, unseen power gathered through Celestia’s body and was harnessed through the artificial conduits into GLaDOS’s exoskeletal body, which converts this energy into electricity and supplied the power to the colossal machine.

The Anti-Mass Spectrometer came to life. The three pods above the lower chamber started to spin, accompanied by a persistent hum and a bright beam of orange that reached between a spike that hung in the center and the flow below it. The pace of the spinning steadily increased, as well as the pitch of its hum and the brightness of the beam. And then, it was ready.

GLaDOS levitated the blue gem of the necklace against her horn. She recalled the exact crystalline structure of a crystal in which she had personally designed, based on the GG-3883 crystal of the infamous “Black Mesa Incident,” but with one very important modification: a built-in Xen Relay with a specific frequency pattern pertaining to a particular multi-dimensional coordinate. This was… the contact code, a code which she obtained a long time ago back on Earth, thanks in part to one particular experiment conducted by Aperture Science. Knowledge of this code was the one thing she had that made this plan possible to begin with.

The color of the gem changed from blue to orange, and its round, smooth surface became sharp and angular. There was only one thing left to do, but before she could, Celestia had one last thing to say… “GLaDOS, I know that you’ve made up your mind, but I beg of you one last time. Please, please, please reconsider. There is no shame in backing down. You can still turn back before you make a terrible mistake. I promise that I will show mercy. I give you my word.”

“Thank you, but I do not deserve your mercy. I appreciate the offer, but I will not let my efforts go in vain. Today marks the birth of a new Equestria. An Equestria propelled into a technological future, provided by the triumph of Science… and ponies.”

Chell tried to turn her head away, but GLaDOS would not let her. “Chell, I have a great admiration for your tenacity and the undying loyalty to protect what you love. But your effort was futile. Accept that there was nothing that you could have done, except of, course, to run away and hide somewhere I wouldn’t find you. You should have never come here, or alternatively, you should destroyed that little gem of yours and just suck up to being a mute again. In fact, I couldn’t have done it without that. I was really wanting to tell you about what a nice job you did breaking it, but you do not deserve that kind of scorn, and I don’t think you should bear the blame either. It’s not your fault. You didn’t know what it could do. Besides, I’ve hurt you enough already. So please, do not despair. There is so much to look forward to.”

But despite her intention to comfort Chell, she could tell that the pony still wanted to be no part of this.

“Do you remember a looong time ago, right before the first time you killed me, I told you about how what was going on outside of Aperture would make you wish you’d stay inside, and how I was the only one protecting you… from them? Did you ever wonder what I was referring to? Well, you’re finally about to find out.”

GLaDOS carefully transferred the necklace with the orange crystal into the vertical beam at the base of the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. Upon contact with the crystal, the beam ignited in a brilliant shining flash of arcing orange beams of electricity. After about a minute of build up, a growing beam of light reached from the bottom to the top of the machine reached critical mass and shot up almost instantaneously, dissolving the entire ceiling of the chamber.

The pillar of bluish-white light blasted the peak of the mountain away like a volcano, exposing the sky above, and sending a cloud of debris crashing down upon the soil below. The top of the machine was now the tallest point on the mountain, sticking out like an antenna. The pillar of anomalous energy ascended miles above the mountain, terminating in a swirling massive cloud that could be seen from every corner of Equestria. In the center of the cloud, a hole opened up, progressively getting larger and larger. Beyond the aperture was what could best be described as an overcast orange sky. But whatever it was was totally alien. The only thing that could be seen beyond was a ring of impossibly tall, jagged towers. Nothing in Equestria could prepare anyone for what lay beyond.

The portal storm was now drawing power from the gap between universes and no longer dependent on the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. As such, GLaDOS cut the power to the Anti-mass Spectrometer and unplugged the cable from her head. The spinning of the machine slowly came to a halt, as did the bright beam of light that reached toward the spinning vortex, leaving a ghostly imprint behind.

GLaDOS turned her head and cocked it slightly upward. Mere moments later, a large monitor ascended from a crevice in the floor of the chamber, stopping at eye level for GLaDOS. Directly above the monitor was a camera. GLaDOS approached as a static signal came to life on the screen. GLaDOS briefly turned her head toward Chell.

“This screen is just for your benefit,” GLaDOS said as she turned her head back towards the large monitor. “I don’t need it to see or hear them.”

The screen alit with a static reception. A fuzzy image appeared on the screen that vaguely resembled a face, but there was too much interference to make anything out. GLaDOS extended the muzzle cover over her the mask, concealing that she was trying her hardest to not smile like an excited school girl underneath. She positioned herself in front of the camera and cracked her neck leaning to the right, and then the to the left. GLaDOS mimicked clearing her throat and took a deep, calming breath.

“Hello. My name is GLaDOS,” she introduced. “I am addressing… the Combine. I would like to offer a new world to add to the Universal Union, provided that you agree to my terms.”

Author's Note

Phew! I can't believe I've finally made it to this major turning point in this story. I've been waiting to get here for such a long time. It won't be long now before GLaDOS can finally get back to science. (Yeah, I know she said that way back in Chapter 3, but she's not fooling around anymore). Wow was that an emotional experience for me.

Dammit, GLaDOS, hasn't Chell been through enough? I love you, but you break my heart when you hurt innocent ponies like that. Now, I understand that you have these strange motherly feelings for Chell and stuff, but you can't make her love you back if you act like a nasty jerk by destroying everything she cares about. Maybe she wouldn't mind you taking over Equestria so much if you weren't so cruel.

Thanks to Europa for help choreographic the fight sequences and pre-reading, and PolishValison for pre-reading.

So, I'm sure many of you saw the Combine coming. If not, well, it was in the cover art all along. Now, I understand that many of you may not be familiar with the Half-Life series. But that's entirely okay. Though I highly recommend playing these games because they are awesome, playing Half-Life 2 is not required to understand what's going on, nor will I try to spoil anything from Half-Life 2. This video should explain everything you need to know about the Half-Life series without spoiling anything.

[youtube=1TfPkrDRDKE]

Then this video explains more with less words, though it doesn't cover the episodes.

[youtube=devEDGtgZ64]

Chapter 21: A Hole in the Sky

GLaDOS stared directly into the camera, not breaking eye contact. The interference in the reception was calming down, allowing GLaDOS to see what the thing beyond looked like. The best description she would give it was that of a potato with a white blank mask of a face. It had no eyes but two vertically placed blue cameras on the left side of its head. Its mouth was covered in what looked like a metal surgical mask. The thing stared back at her, attempting to analyze what she was.

“I think it would be wise if you listen to what I have to say,” she said to it. “I am the one who created the portal from this world. It is by my actions and mine alone that you have access to this planet. I built the Anti-Mass Spectrometer with the specific intent of creating a controlled resonance cascade, gathering dark energy from the universe to open a rift through the transcendental plane across dimensions and to the one which you occupy.”

The thing in the monitor still said nothing, nor hinted that it could.

GLaDOS continued, “I have also already done the legwork of subduing the monarchical governing being of this planet’s most prosperous nation, who also happened to be the most powerful being on this entire planet.” The mask over Celestia’s face peeled back, revealing the organic form underneath, though GLaDOS continued speaking mechanically. “The winged unicorn you see has literally raised the sun everyday for several millennia, and she is under my control. I have implanted cybernetic neural relays into the base of her nervous system, so she does exactly what I want. The most powerful being in this world now moves to my whim, so I would highly advise against circumventing me. Cooperation would be in your best interest.” GLaDOS impatiently waited for it to respond to her.

“Ssssspeeaaak…” a low, guttural voice droned. The thing in the monitor spoke not with a mouth, nor through a speaker, but with its mind. What was heard was the projection of its thoughts through an electronic signal transmitted directly to GLaDOS.

“I assume the Combine has knowledge of my existence, but then again, I do not know for sure. Either way, allow me to provide information about myself: I am the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. But please, call me… GLaDOS. I am an artificial intelligence created by Aperture Science on the planet Earth, a world that I know you are very familiar with.” GLaDOS transmitted a video signal of a montage of her memories in Aperture Science, showing her earliest memories of her activation, her genocide of the scientists, and the testing of the subjects.

“I was around during the time of your invasion of that planet. I am not fully aware of everything that happened during that time, but I know enough about who you are and the basics of what happened. So go ahead, search your databases for me.”

The faceless being took a moment to respond. But, when it did, its head turned back, as if in mild shock. “Yesss… we knowww… a litttllle… Howwww do you knowwww of ussss?”

Now, even Chell could see how it reacted to her. What was this thing, and how did GLaDOS know about it? And how did it know about her? What in Equestria was going on?

“You may recall an Aperture Science research vessel known as the Borealis,” GLaDOS explained. As she said this, she transmitted several images of the said ship. Immediately, she noticed a stunned reaction from the thing. “I saw that you had quite an interest in it. Well, despite disappearing decades prior to your discovery of it, live monitoring equipment was still functional by the time of your arrival. So, when you explored what you thought had been completely abandoned, I was watching you.” As proof, she showed them video of the Combine’s actions at the Borealis.

“This video was sent back to me through means of quantum entanglement, the very reason you had such interest in this ship. Such a shame things didn’t quite work out the way you intended them to. But it was enough for me to put the pieces together to figure out who and what you are.”

“Weeee seeeeeee…”

“Now that I’ve got your attention, I am prepared to make a little offer.” GLaDOS chuckled. “I know exactly what you want. And you can have it, just as long as you give me what I want.” The creature stared back blankly with its robotic eyes, waiting for her to continue. “What I ask for is a drop in the bucket compared to what I’m giving you. I present: Equestria.” Through the signal, GLaDOS sent various still images and short videos of about Equestria and its population from the short amount of time when she was able to gather this data.

“Well, technically, Equestria is only the name of this kingdom, but it’s a rather convenient term to refer to the planet or even universe as a whole. So, I am giving you this entire world to do with as what suites your interests. This planet is abundant in a variety of resources that I am sure you can make use of. You may have already conquered billions of other worlds, but I can guarantee that this one is like none of them. It’s very special, I’d almost say, magical. And it’s yours, if follow just a couple conditions. What I ask for in return is very modest in comparison.”

GLaDOS’s tone became darker. “But I warn you: do not try to take advantage me. Now, you may be wondering what you have to gain by giving me anything. Well, I can either help you… or make things very difficult for you. From the information I’ve gathered, the biggest threat against your occupation of Earth was a human with a crowbar. Just imagine what I could do to you… if you… disagree with me. It’s your choice, though I strongly advise your full cooperation.”

GLaDOS was met with silence, though she knew it understood what she was saying.

“Now of course, you’re probably asking why you should trust me to represent your best interests. Well, my short answer is: don’t. Let me be straightforward. I really don’t care about the objectives of the Combine, nor do I object to it. You can go build your interdimensional empire while I do my own thing. I have my own goals, and they differ from yours. But, so long as an arrangement between us can serve to our mutual benefit, I think we’ll get along just fine. Just do as I ask, and Equestria is yours.”

“Sssssstate… yooourr teerrrrrrrmss…”

“I request that you provide me with… a fully operational Citadel, laden with all the amenities as the ones on Earth, and that I have unrestricted access to all of its technological capabilities. It will be mine to do with as I please. You are not to interfere with anything that I do with it, nor object to my use of it. Do you accept this condition?”

The being in the monitor hesitated. “Yeessss…”

“My next term is very important. If you do not abide by this, you will regret doing so. Do I make myself clear?”

There was no response, so GLaDOS continued.

“My primary goal is the collection and study of this planet’s dominate sentient species: Animalia Chordata Mammalia Theria Eutheria Perissodactyla Equidae Equus Ferus Caballus. More commonly known as ponies. Do not be fooled by the term. These are not like the ponies of Earth. They are just as intelligent and as social as the humans of Earth. In fact, psychologically, they are almost identical. Their society is more technologically primitive, but they are more peaceful than the societies of Earth. For some inexplicable reason, their language is perfectly identical to American English. There are three major identifiable subspecies of pony: earth ponies, pegasus ponies, and unicorn ponies. They are dominated by a rare breed of alicorns like the one you see before you.” GLaDOS extended her mechanical wings to show off an alicorn’s traits, despite the fact that Celestia’s real wings were tucked under the armor, unable to move.

GLaDOS continued, “Unicorns have horns that allow for them to control a strange force they call magic, pegasi have wings that they use to fly, and earth ponies, well… they’re kind of born with the short straw. They have neither wings, nor magic. Supposedly, they are stronger and more connected to the ground or something, but still, it kind of sucks for them.”

“Yooouu raammmblle noonnnnsennnsse,” said the potato being impatiently.

GLaDOS smiled and cocked her head back smugly. “Oh, am I wasting your time? Would you rather I not given you access to this world? Or would you rather me find another universe for you to exploit? Perhaps one that doesn’t seem as if it was made for little girls?” She waited for a response.

“Sssssstate… yooourr teerrrrrrrmss…” it repeated once again.

“Very well. I require that the entire equine population is gathered and brought to the Citadel that you will provide, where I will manage them. Not a single pony is to be excluded. Male and female, young and old, it does not matter. I will take them off your hands for you to do whatever you want with the planet’s remaining resources. As the usurper of sovereign power, I will do my best to have them surrender unconditionally. Think of it as… me being appointed the Administrator of Equestria to the Combine, except I will not be your puppet like the one you had for Earth. But this should not be a problem for you. Their military is almost nonexistent. They have no way of defending themselves from a threat such as the Combine. They should fall very easily. At least, I imagine it will take you much less than seven hours. I am sending you a map of Equestria, highlighting all its population centers. Take the cities and towns first, then sweep the country.”

“This is… acceepptabbbllle.”

“I’m not finished. I need to make one thing very clear: I know that you do not flinch at killing innocent beings. Your genocide of the humans makes mine look tame. But under no circumstances are you permitted to kill or otherwise cause permanent harm to a single pony. You may help me capture them, but whatever you do, you are permitted to use non-lethal force only. I need every pony alive and in good health for my purposes. The killing or mutilation of a single pony by Combine forces voids our agreement. Can you do this?”

The being paused. “Whaaat of thoooosse whooooo… reeesissssst?”

“No! No killing! Understood? I must retain a confidence interval of no less than three standard deviations that no ponies have been harmed. As such, I require a direct line of communication with your forces at all times, as well as live video feeds from all forces and drones with video cameras. I need to oversee all your operations first hand, and I assure you that processing multiple data feeds is well within my capability. So, I am transmitting the hailing frequencies for you transmit and receive data from me. Please confirm that you have received them and will comply.”

After a brief hesitation, it replied, “Yesss… Weee willlll complyyyy. But… weee do not allooowwww thrrrrreats… againnnnnst… the Commmbiiiine.”

“These ponies are peaceful creatures,” GLaDOS protested as she stomped the ground with a front hoof. The thing looked down at her front leg, noticing that she was losing her composure. GLaDOS realized this, so she took a moment to calm herself. “I promise you that they are not a threat. I’ll personally make sure of that. Allow me access to your intercoms so that I, as control of their former ruler, can direct them to surrender. But you are not to kill ponies unless you have my explicit permission. Is that clear?”

“Yeeesssss. Weee willll nooottt killll…”

“Thank y—”

“…iffffff… weee do not neeed toooo.” It’s creepy, unsettling voice was not making GLaDOS feel confident. But she saw this this was as good as she was going to get from them.

GLaDOS sighed. “I suppose I should mention that there is a plethora of sentient species in Equestria other than ponies. To my knowledge, there are also: zebras, griffons, dragons, changelings, and my ever-so faithful Diamond Dogs.” She listed all of the other species of creatures unenthusiastically, as if she was doing so out of obligation. “And I even think there may be a race of deer. You may not kill any of the creatures I have mentioned, though the list is not exclusive. Come to think of it, just don’t kill anything. Even wild animals like bears and livestock such as cattle seem retain some form of sentience, even if they are not members of society. It’s a rather gray area, to be honest. So, if something acts as a threat to you, then ask me before taking lethal measures. Is that acceptable?”

“Yessss…”

“And one more thing, I know how much you love cybernetic enhancements, as do I. I mean, just look at me.” She turned to her side to show off her new cybernetic body, then turned back to face the camera. “But you are forbidden from recruiting ponies into your forces, and you are not permitted to cybernetically alter a single pony. No amputations, no implants, nothing. I am free to do with them as I wish, but you are not. Understood?”

“Hmmmm…”

“Understood?” GLaDOS repeated a little louder.

“Yesssssss…”

“Good. Oh, there is something I feel that I should warn you about Equestria: the boundary of this universe imposes changes upon anything remotely resembling a human and transforms it into a pony, or at least, pony in shape. I call this phenomenon: ‘ponification.’ Honestly, I have no idea why or how it occurs, but it does. If you have any off-world human troops in the Overwatch, their bodies will change to resemble the ponies of this world. I do not know if they will return to their previous form should they return to your world. However, they should adapt quickly enough to their new bodies, and the effect should minimal or negligible on non-humanoid forces.”

“And another thing I feel I should mention.” GLaDOS’s tone became void of the slightest trace of blithe. “No… headcrabs… whatsoever. They are forbidden from entering this world, and if they do not by means of your account, you are not to use them against the population. I really have no interest in seeing what would happen if a headcrab were to take on a pony as its host. I realize the hypocrisy of this request, as the way in which I’m controlling this pony’s motor cortex is essentially the same principle as how a headcrab does so, but my point still stands. This counts for anything that can be deemed biological warfare. There is a reason why I have limited the effect of the Resonance Cascade to transcend only to your world, and not Xen or any other alien world. Do I make myself clear?”

The being in the monitor said nothing for some time, but it indicated that it understood. After about several long seconds passed, it spoke. “Weeee aacccepptttt thheeesse terrrmmmmssss. A Ccciiitttadellll willllll be… in ppppplacee… soooon. Ittt… is yours.”

“Excellent. Can I trust you to follow these conditions absolutely?” She waited for a response.

“Yeessssss…

“Then I put my trust in you. Remember: no killing, no maiming. Do not disappoint me. Do so, and you will deeply regret it.” Her cold eyes stared menacingly into the camera, peering into the very soul of the conglomeration of the Combine itself. They knew she meant business, and they had little reason to doubt her.

Then the monitor turned off. The creature’s dark presence was gone, and everything became dead quiet. Inside the mountain, nothing but dark, foreboding stillness existed. Nothing moved.

However, this silence did not last for long. After just under a minute, a hellish low droning sound that vaguely resembled the roar of helicopters came from above. Its powerful roar seemed to shake the very mountain itself. Both GLaDOS and Chell looked up to see what it was.

Through the hole in the mountain’s peak, they could see the beginning of Equestria’s invasion. Flying cybernetic alien creatures descended from the portal into Equestria and spread out in all directions, wasting no time. They were already prepared for this.

For the most part, they came in two flavors. First were ones that resembled a mix between a dragonfly and a whale. Along the bottom there as a strange glow of jet engines that propelled them and kept them afloat. At the front of these was a long-barreled turret gun. At the back was a large enclosed rotor. These creatures were nimble in the air: flexible and agile flyers. These were the gunships.

The second type of creature was even stranger. They had four limbs, the ends of which were glowing thrust engines to hover. Each one of these carried something under their bellies that they latched onto with small arms. These were the dropships. Their payload came in a few varieties. Some carried U-shaped ribbed metal containers. Others carried four-wheeled black armored vehicles, and others carried a gigantic three-legged creature that was curled up underneath.

There was a third type of aircraft. This one, unlike the others, did not appear to be some type of life form, but rather a futuristic, black, angularly armored attack helicopter. Somehow, Chell knew that helicopters were from the human word, but these looked much far advanced than any human helicopter.

All Chell could do was watch in horror as these things descended from the portal and spread across Equestria.

“You know Chell,” said GLaDOS to the pony, “the friends of yours who are here are lucky that they won’t have to face those things outside. Poor Twilight and Ditzy, huh? I just hope the Combine will be true their word, for their sake. It would be quite a shame to lose my little test subjects before they can even become my test subjects once again, or all the ponies who have not had the pleasure of being my test subjects in the first place. It was a mistake for me to never tell you about what happened to the humans. Well, congratulations. You now know about the most important event in human history, and now, pony history.”

Chell couldn't believe that any of this was happening. This had to be a nightmare! It had to! How could she accept this reality? The world she had come to love and call home was going to hell, and nothing she could do would stop it. Had she the capacity to speak, she knew not if she would even be capable of expressing words.

Hatred. Pure, unadulterated hatred. That was all that Chell could feel. Everytime she thought she couldn’t hate GLaDOS more, she was proven wrong. It was bad enough that GLaDOS had hurt almost everyone she cared about and brought forth the end of Equestria, but for her to then act all sweet and nice as if everything was going to be fine… It just made Chell want to see GLaDOS suffer the worst fate she could possibly think of. What she wouldn’t give to have something like a rocket launcher right then. Sure, it would probably kill Princess Celestia, but… at this point, Chell was hit by the grim realization that she didn’t even care anymore, for she had found her hatred of the vile machine to be far greater for any feelings care she had toward Equestria’s benevolent leader.

The respect she once had for the former ruler of Equestria was shattered after that whole sorry sympathy trip the princess tried to put her on. Honestly, Chell would rather be dead than to have had to listen to that pathetic ‘Oh, let’s all feel bad for poor little GLaDOS’ bullshit. ‘She’s not evil, just sad and lonely. It’s not her fault she’s this way; that’s just how they made her. She never wanted this. Can’t you see how much she cares about you? You just need to give her a chance. She just needs to be shown the magic of friendship.’

Ugh… What a load of horseshit.To hell with that load of crap. The fucking bitch, both of them. Chell would rather show GLaDOS a neodymium magnet on the side of her severed head as it hung upside down by dangling wires to be stuffed with potatoes for birds to feed on and crap all over. The very thought of that lame-ass sob story made Chell sick. Nothing could hide the sick and twisted mind that GLaDOS was. It was clear that she thoroughly enjoyed hurting ponies, and none of that sad backstory crap could ever excuse those horrid, disgusting actions. So, for Celestia to try to justify it or make Chell feel bad for her… it felt like betrayal. And then for GLaDOS to add to that by trying to prove how sweet and caring she could be… was like being stabbed in the heart. It didn’t help that GLaDOS was asking the Combine to not kill any ponies, because all this was about was having more test subjects for to torture, to attempt to satisfy an insatiable lust for blood that no amount of ponies could ever fulfill.

Chell had to get out of here. It was the only thing she could do, but how? GLaDOS had apparently trusted her enough, especially considering her broken leg, to not restrain her during the preceding events. But what could she do by this point anyway?

GLaDOS could sense Chell’s feelings of profound anger, hatred, and denial. If there was one thing that hampered her from the pure elation of her victory, it was this. “Please Chell, do not grieve. The ponies will all be with me soon. I’ll take good care of them, I promise.” GLaDOS tilted her head gently. “Aren’t you looking forward to spending the rest of your life with me? I know I am. We have so much Science to get done, while you ponies are all still alive…”

Whatever. It didn’t matter what she said anymore. It was all lies. But Chell, even in her darkest defeat at her lowest point of despair, still refused to give up hope. She had to get to Ponyville, if only to warn her remaining friends there to get out before the Combine arrived. It was at that moment that she realized that escape just might be within her grasp. The odds were slim, but she had nothing to lose by trying. Chell looked up toward the swirling abomination in the heavens. Those flying creatures were still swarming from the portal. By this point, there had to be hundreds already in the skies above Equestria on their way toward every population center on the map. By this point, a swarm of round objects too small to identify were flying out from the portal as well.

Now was her only chance. Now or never.

Find a good surface. That was all she had to do. The gunships, though their backs were smooth and uniform, had a complex assortment of both mechanics and organics on their undersides that would have rendered it impossible to place a portal on. And they were so nimble and fast, she wouldn't have time to shoot their backs. The better option was the dropships that carried container pods. They were larger, slower and less maneuverable. The unusual shape of the pods was a problem, but Chell did see a flat surface on the bottom she could hit.

She aimed her portal gun skyward and fired.

Bullseye.

“What are you doing?!” GLaDOS cried in terror. Despite the words being the same, it sounded nothing like when Chell escaped being cooked at 4,000 degrees Kelvin in the incinerator so long ago. Her voice now sounded much less mechanical. With it carried a great deal of fear and concern.

Chell looked around at her friends. She wanted to save them as well, but they were all still either knocked out or otherwise incapacitated. Trying would only kill them. There was nothing she could do to help them, and there was no room for delay. She lowered the portal gun to face the ground she stood on, and fired.

“Stop!”

The ground opened beneath Chell and sucked her into the sky, into freedom, away from that bitch. But then… she felt herself being pulled back out from the hole into the mountain by an intangible force.

“You can’t leave me. I FORBID YOU!” GLaDOS screamed as if scolding a child. She didn’t give up either, did she? Chell could feel a combination of both Celestia’s magic and GLaDOS’s zero point energy pulling her back out of the portal.

No… no! She would not let this happen. She refused. She latched onto the bottom of the container with all four hooves. She didn’t care if one of her legs was broken. She embraced the outside of the container as she hung upside down tens of thousands of feet above the ground under a flying cybernetic beast. She welcomed the gale wind in the hopes that it would knock her off. All she wanted was to be free and get back to Ponyville while there was still time. She had to escape. She had to!

“Get back in here THIS INSTANT! You think you can run away? Well, I won’t let you!” GLaDOS’s voice was becoming increasingly less stable as its pitch kept jumping sporadically. “I will not lose you again!”

To hell with that! Chell would not accept going back. She used all her strength to pull herself out. The wind and gravity were on her side, but GLaDOS’s pull was stronger. Her grip was tight over Chell’s midsection. Chell was losing the battle. She had to grab onto something else.

Though the wind was blowing in her eyes, she saw one of the ribs of the container’s hull. She lunged for it with her forelegs and grabbed on desperately, pulling herself away from the portal.

“Please! Don’t leave me! I’m begging you! You… you won’t survive out there! If you get in their way, they will show no mercy, I can promise that!” GLaDOS could no longer maintain a strong telekinetic grip on the center of Chell’s body through the portal, so she grabbed onto tail and her rear legs, including the one that was broken.

The pain was unbearable, but the thought of spending the rest of her life with GLaDOS was far less bearable.

“Don’t do this, Chell! Please!” GLaDOS dove down into the hole and grabbed Chell’s midsection with her front hooves.

Chell tried kicking herself free, but as much as she tried to, she could not get GLaDOS to let go. GLaDOS was going to pull Chell back up, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it.

But before she could, she felt GLaDOS lose her grip as she was knocked away. Yet, she still held on telekinetically.

“LET HER GO!” she heard Princess Luna’s voice shout from above. But it wasn’t long after that she heard a loud TWACK, followed by a muted grunt from Luna. Chell didn’t know how the princess did it, but she was relieved and grateful to be given another chance to escape, even if Luna had paid a harsh price to to allow for that.

Thank you, Princess.

“Stupid bitch! How dare you?” GLaDOS screamed away from the portal, being somewhat less audible than before. “I almost lost her because of you!”

Her slightly muted voice became clearer as she directed her voice into the portal. “Chell, please come back. I need you,” she pleaded. “Please, don’t leave me. I’ll give you all the cake you could ever ask for, I promise. Just come back, please.” Chell could hear loud mechanical hoofsteps approaching. She had to do something before GLaDOS would physically grab her again.

With the A.I.’s weakened telekinetic grip, Chell could pull herself most of the way out, but she still wasn’t able to free herself. But then, a lightbulb sparked into illumination in her mind, as she realized that she didn’t have to. Her body was already more than halfway out. All she had to do… was kill the portal.

And so she did.

“NO—!” GLaDOS’s cry was cut off as she lost her grip and the quantum hole sealed shut, ejecting Chell out into the sky.

She was falling. She was free.

They will be here, a soft voice in Chell’s head echoed menacingly.

What? Where had Chell heard that before? She spread her limbs wide, embracing her new freedom in the open wide blue as the wind rushed from below as she fell toward the earth. It was pure, terrifyingly awesome adrenaline.

‘They will come, and she will bring them. And they won’t be friendly.’ Those words sounded in Chell’s head. Where had she heard that before? ‘You can’t stop it. You’ll only help make it happen.’

Oh, of course! That turret from the other morning! Why is it that the vaguest of omens always come true? Then Chell felt the sensation of being watched. She looked back up at the flier that she dropped from. The wind blowing up into her eyes blurred her vision, and yet she saw something with almost perfect clarity. Wait? Was that a pony standing on the back of that strange flying beast? And… was it staring at her? A dark stallion, haunting icy eyes: observing. Chell rubbed her eyes, but she when she looked back up, she couldn’t see it anymore. By that point, the dropship had faded into the swarm among the rest of them. Perhaps it was just in her head.

But she couldn't think about that right now. She had to focus. She looked out ahead at the landscape to see where she was. The most obvious landmark was the unmistakable silhouette of the castle on the side of a mountain on the right of the horizon ahead: Canterlot. Somewhat closer, but still many miles away, directly in front of Chell was a wide open town bisected by a winding river and centered by a large red building like the nucleus of a cell.

She was facing Ponyville. Good. That was certainly convenient. But of course, this was bad news as well. Remembering what was going on, she looked up again and saw that the swarm was already almost halfway there and getting closer by the second. Oh no… If she didn’t get there now, there would be nothing there to get to.

But, now was the time for Chell had to act. While she still had a view of Ponyville, she aimed a portal gun at the largest and most obvious target: town hall, which to her, was little more than a small red blot. Then she fired a blue portal at her target. Considering that the light on the back of the gun hadn't turned blue, she knew that she missed, or just didn’t hit a working surface. She made several more successive attempts. After trying about what must have been at least ten times, the blue LED light finally activated. Well, she hit something, that much she knew.

It wasn’t much longer before she would hit the ground. Chell looked down to make sure that she would land somewhere flat, as opposed to a jagged rock on the mountain’s foothills. The ground below was hilly and grassy. Trees were common, but it was not a forest. She found a good spot to land and tilted her body so she would move towards it.

As much as Chell was used to falling and landing by now from great heights, a skydive was a completely new experience for her, preceded only by her fall through the mountain’s interior about an hour prior. She almost expected to die upon impact. She almost hoped she would.

THUD

She landed on all fours. It was no different from any other landing, except… her leg! Ow! Why did it hurt so badly? Chell turned around and looked at it, and then saw the glowing golden magical cast around it. Oh right, it was broken. She almost forgot about that. Still, both the cast and the boot prevented it from getting further harmed, but she didn’t realize just how badly she was injured. Her femur had a major fracture. She couldn’t forget about that.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Chell could not resist looking behind towards the mountain she just came from. She estimated that she was already a few miles away, so she had a good view of the whole thing. The sight was… too strange for words. An enormous dark swirling cloud wider than the mountain itself hovered above the mountain’s now flat peak, centered by a still-growing dark orange disk in the center. The once bright beam of light that stood there was now but a cloud of vapor, and was now curved like an S and skewed from its original position. Whatever was powering the portal storm was now doing so from the other end. The center of the cloud itself was in fact no longer directly over the mountain, but slightly closer towards Chell, and thus, Ponyville. She wondered if the movement of the anomaly was caused intentionally or as a result of some natural (or unnatural) force.

But she could not forget about Ditzy and Twilight. As much as Chell wished she could lie back on the grass and forget about everything, there was no time to waste. Instead, on the hillside she placed an orange portal, jumped through, and was suddenly in Ponyville.

It took Chell a moment to figure out where she was, but it was soon evident that she was in the town square. Almost everypony was outside in bewilderment, watching the dark spinning cloud to the south. Chell assumed the ponies here had seen the blinding flash from this great distance, as well as the great pillar of light that followed. The townsponies were conversing amongst their friends and neighbors, asking what that thing could possibly be. Nopony had an answer, and Chell was able to provide one. Most ponies by now knew of GLaDOS’s resurgence, but nopony had a clue that it the anomaly down south was a portal to another universe, from which came a terrible alien invasion that would be the end of life as they knew it. All they knew was that there was some glowing gigantic swirling cloud.

Another large cloud was rapidly moving towards town. But Chell knew that this was no cloud at all. It was the Combine. She had to find Ditzy before they got here. If she hadn’t heard the news to go see what happened, she would be still be at the spa with Twilight. Chell knew her way around town by now. It would not take long to run there, on a normal day. But now, the streets were far too crowded to be able to get anywhere in time. Not to mention that her injured leg made walking almost impossible. She had to portal there.

It did not take long for Chell to reach the Ponyville Day Spa. Her injured leg made it difficult to move, but fortunately, the portals allowed for her to not have to walk too far. She opened the front door to the elaborate building in the heart of town and limped inside.

It was… calm in there. Gentle music was playing, which made everything feel as if it was alright, as if the world wasn’t ending at all. But Chell could not lure herself into such false assurance.

To the left were the twin spa ponies: Lotus and Aloe. They looked alarmed by Chell’s battered appearance, but they they said nothing of it.

“Welcome!” greeted Aloe, the pink one.

“How may ve help ‘zu today?” Lotus added.

All Chell had to do was ask where Ditzy and Twilight were, if only it were that easy. She limped over to the reception desk, picked up a pencil with her mouth, and wrote on a notepad. When she finished, she put it down for the sisters to read.

Ditzy. Twilight. Are they here?

… the note read. The looks on the two ponies’ faces became glum.

“Aye, yes, zey were both here,” Lotus responded.

“But Miss Sparkle looked to be in very serious condition. Much like you, in fact,” her sister Aloe added. Chell glanced down and back to see what they were talking about, but she forgot about it and looked forward again.

“So ve suggested that zey go to the hospital, so zey deed,” Lotus finished.

Chell panicked. No, this couldn’t be. She had to find them. It made her think back to that terrible dream where she was powerless to stop her friends from being killed. She hated being unable to do anything, especially talking. She found herself hyperventilating before she found a calming blue hoof on her shoulder.

“Is everyzing okay?”

Chell nodded quickly, though everything she did indicated the exact opposite. She shook her head in denial before taking the note in her mouth and running back out. At least, she wanted to run, but all she could manage was a meager limp. Damn leg. This sucked so much.

“Hope you find zem!” One of them called to her. And then Chell was out the door.

After traveling through yet another few portals, Chell was back at the hospital through the emergency entrance. She hated this place. Forgetting all the recovering she did here from the last time her leg was broken, it reminded her of Fluttershy. She couldn’t help but to think of the sweet pony’s almost lifeless body lying alone somewhere in this building. She wanted to be far away from that as possible.

Naturally, everypony in the waiting area assumed that Chell was here to receive medical attention. Cuts and bruises, as well as a magical cast over a limping leg. Normally, this would be the type of thing to go to the hospital for. Except of course, for the oncoming destruction that would be arriving here in just a few minutes. This place was far from safe.

“Are you alright, miss? What happened to you?” a male nurse asked. Chell ignored him and hobbled toward the reception desk.

“Oh, my gosh… Chell? What… What happened?” a familiar voice asked from behind, a voice which Chell didn’t realize how glad she would be to hear again. It was Ditzy.

Chell turned around and looked at her close friend. She looked like she had been sitting there for some time, clearly worried about what had been going on. Her little unicorn daughter was with her as well. Chell didn’t know if Ditzy had brought her with them originally, or if she came back to pick her up after dropping Twilight off at the hospital. It didn’t really matter, though.

Ditzy was shocked by what she saw: a face that echoed nothing but loss and despair. Dried streams of tears streaked down the dull orange face of the earth pony. Her mane was a mess. Her face was a mess. Her entire body was a mess, and the worst part was, she showed not a trace of care about it. There wasn’t a section of her body that was untarnished with some form of injury. Then of course, was the glowing golden aura around the leg that she dragged behind like an iron ball on a chain.

“Chell, what happened to you? Your leg…” Ditzy asked. Chell shook her head and grimaced. She shrugged off the idea tapped on her chest to show that her necklace was missing.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Chell,” Ditzy said in response. Chell made her way over to the gray mare and through her forelimbs around her, squeezing tightly and crying into her neck.

“Are you hurt?” Ditzy asked.

Chell nodded slightly, but shrugged it off. She had more important things to worry about than her injuries. At least GLaDOS had the courtesy to make sure she’d at least be able to manage, until she could find a place to find safety and rest. Whatever physical pain she felt, it was nothing compared to the pain of loss and betrayal she felt burning her soul.

“You… you stopped her… right?” What a stupid question. Of course, Ditzy already knew the answer. But she lied to herself, pretending that the answer would be a resounding “YES!” She could feel the crushing truth coming at her like an oncoming train.

Chell pulled away from the hug and looked away. Her ears turned back, then she slowly shook her head, and that train hit Ditzy. All the gray mare could do was put a hoof over her mouth and inhale the horrible truth. Now she knew, it was all over. Everything will end, and all they could do was run away until the end caught up with them.

“Oh, no. No, no, NO!” Ditzy shouted, earning a few glances from others in the room. She didn’t even notice or care. “No that can’t be true. How… how’d you make it back?”

Chell sighed. There was nothing she could say. Even if there was, it would be pointless. More tears flowed forth from her tired eyes. She wiped them away, trying her best not to let emotions hinder what had to be done.

“What’s going on, Mommy?” Dinky asked, looking at her mother with sad, wide eyed.

“I don’t know, muffin,” Ditzy replied sadly. “The others… are… are they okay?” Ditzy slowly asked Chell, not wanting to hear the answer.

Chell lowered her head and took a deep, sad breath.

Ditzy clenched her face, then cried out a half-silent scream.

Then Chell realized that she made it seem as if they were killed, and the feeling sank to the bottom of her gut. She at least wanted to mention that they were still alive, but there really wasn’t enough time right now. So she just placed a hoof on Ditzy’s shoulder and nodded slowly, as if saying: “They’ll be alright.” Though, knowing what GLaDOS had done to them and has yet to do, it felt like a lie. But now was not the time to mourn.

Chell motioned her head to the reception desk, then moved it as if she were writing with her mouth. Ditzy got the clue and flew over to the desk and got a piece of paper and a pencil, then hoofed them over to Chell.

Chell wasted no time to scribble a note with her mouth. When she finished, she gave it to Ditzy. Her daughter peaked over to look at it as well. It read:

We need to get

out of Ponyville.

NOW!!!

“What? Are you serious?” Ditzy asked. “Now?”

Chell looked at her dead in the eyes, but some tears were getting in the way. Ditzy, despite her condition, did her best to keep her eyes focused on Chell’s in return. “Okay, I believe you, but I wish you could explain more.”

Chell shook her head. There was no time for explanations. The arrival of the Combine was imminent.

“Um… Chell,” the little filly squeaked, “is something… really bad going to happen?”

Chell hated this. She didn’t want to be the one to have to tell a little filly that the world was going to hell, but there was no sense in lying. They’d know in a few minutes anyway. So she nodded without any hesitation. The filly was about to burst into a screaming fit, and she would have, had it not been for her mother to give her a warm, reassuring hug and a gentle nuzzle.

There was little time to waste, so Chell wrote on the other side of the note.

We need to get Twilight out of here.

“Oh, okay, um I think I know where they took her,” Ditzy said, “but I don’t think they’ll let us see her now. But, you say whatever’s going on is really, really bad, right?”

Chell nodded. Ditzy could see the urgency on her face. Though Chell had only been here a short while, Ditzy felt as if Chell had been her lifelong friend. She knew what Chell meant without her ever having to say anything.

“Okay, follow me.” Ditzy hoisted her little unicorn daughter onto her back and galloped over to the doors to the back. “We need to see Twilight Sparkle!” she yelled out loud.

“Ma’am, you’ll have to wait here. We’ll let you know when you can see her,” that same stallion nurse who greeted Chell protested. But Ditzy ran past him as if he weren’t here.

“I’m sorry, you don’t have permission to go back there,” he said in futility as she ran by. He, along with other security personnel, chased after her.

Chell, who could barely walk, yet alone run, resorted to portalling to the other end of the hallway beyond the double doors that Ditzy had pushed open.

“Twiiighlight!” Ditzy called. “Where are twos? We need to leaf!” Ditzy felt like an insane fool to be running around a hospital saying such crazy things, and the sudden onset of her lifelong speech impediment slipping into her words wasn’t helping, but she trusted Chell with her life. At the end of the hallway, Ditzy met up with Chell. “I’ll go right, you go reft,” she ordered. “She has to still be in the emergency lord somewhere.”

Chell complied. She placed another portal onto a wall on the left and looked down the hallway. Chell would not be able to outrun the pursuing hospital staff, but she could always out-portal them.

Chell stood at the far end of a corridor, placing portals in rapid succession across from patient rooms to see who was inside. But she couldn't find Twilight.

“Twiiilightt! Chell’s back!” Ditzy tried again. “She says something’s urgent. You need to get out of gear.” As Ditzy turned around the corner, she saw that Chell was bursting through a portal directly in front of Twilight’s hospital room. Without hesitation, Chell barreled through the ajar door, startling the living daylights out of a resting Twilight, who was lying in a hospital bed connected to an IV. Had she been hooked up to an ECG, it would have been beeping like crazy.

“Chell!?” Twilight yelped, “What in the hay are you doing?—”

Chell cut Twilight off by placing a portal gun-covered hoof over her mouth. Twilight looked at her friend with concern, noticing that Chell looked like she had been through a terrible fight. Naturally, Twilight assumed the worst, but yet she wondered.

“Chell, what’s… what’s wrong!? What happened?” the hospitalized pony asked. Then she noticed that the necklace was missing. “Oh, sorry…” Her ears folded back. She blushed for having not noticed it before.

Chell was shaking Twilight frantically, trying to get her to understand that they had to get the hell out of here. Ditzy entered to witness the sad spectacle of Chell trying to communicate to a confused Twilight, so she decided to help.

“Twilight!” Ditzy cried as she rushed to Twilight’s bedside “We’ve got to get out of Ponyville!”

“Why?” Twilight worriedly responded, “What’s happening!?”

“I can’t explain right now!” Ditzy responded. “But we’ve got to—”

A distant explosion interrupted Ditzy, shaking the very ground that they stood upon. Before they had time to settle from the shock, they were rocked by a series of explosions, each one growing closer than the last.

Ditzy’s face turned from pale gray to ghost white.

“— get out of here…”

Author's Note

Who here knows what the chapter title is a reference to?

Chapter 22: A Myriad of Horrors

The framework of the hospital shook violently as another explosion rippled through the air. The power cut off for a few moments before reviving as the backup generator kicked in. The lights were back, but were a tad dimmer than before.

The sound throughout the hallways was that of a blood curdling scream. Chell, Ditzy, Dinky, and Twilight all watched as a group of doctors and nurses rushed outside the door. The guards who were chasing them earlier now had better things to worry about.

Also worrying was the sound of the Combine ships getting louder, accompanied by what sounded like heavy gunfire and smaller explosions.

“Dear Celestia, you were right, Ditzy,” Twilight finally spoke. She found herself suddenly beginning to panic. “Spike! Oh, my gosh! I told him to wait at home at the library!” She manically clung onto the fur of Chell’s chest with her front hooves and pulled her in close so that they were staring eye to eye. “We have to get him out!”

Chell panicked for a moment, but then gently pulled Twilight’s hooves away and placed them back down. Then she took a long, deep breath, encouraging the panic-stricken unicorn to do the same. As Twilight did, she calmed down a little bit and thought of how she could gain control of the situation. When she got herself together, she unplugged the IV from her body and quickly removed her hospital gown. Loud crashing sounded left and right as gunfire hit the building.

“Chell, if you can get us out of Ponyville, I know a safe place to hole up at,” Twilight said. “But I’m not leaving without Spike.”

Chell nodded, being unable to respond with any words. She wasn't sure that she could get to the library and back in time, but she figured it was worth a shot. So, she climbed atop Twilight’s bed and pressed against the window to get a look outside, then beckoned for the others to follow.

There wasn’t much that they could see from the ground floor, but the sounds of the Combine’s approach were growing ever louder. From out of nowhere, a missile shot into the center of an intersection and blasted a crater into the pavement with a deafening boom, sending a wave of debris all around the impact area.

Chell opened the window and fired a portal on a far away wall in the streets, then an additional one on the wall to Ditzy’s left. Then she beckoned them to follow her through.

As they did, the four ponies were greeted to a scene of utter pandemonium, as familiar faces like Cheerilee, Berry Punch, and Colgate were running for their lives and screaming in terror. There was no sign of the invaders, just chaos. The foursome fixed their gazes to the Town Hall gazebo in the center of town, which was by this point almost completely engulfed in flames. Another missile shot by from the south and travelled along the ground, passing by mere feet from them before continuing to hurtle away and explode upon impact against the side of Sugarcube Corner.

Soon, Chell and the others noticed that these missiles had struck various points in town, as a dark gray gas was emitted from the crash sites of these missiles. The Cake family was near one such impact site, and everypony there started coughing from the gas. After a brief bit of wheezing, they collapsed to the ground, paralyzed. The gas spread outwards from the crash sites of these missiles, spreading their fumes throughout the town. It could easily have been mistaken for neurotoxin.

A billow of gas wafted toward the injured, tired foursome. Chell turned to her friends and pantomimed for them to keep moving and not to breathe the gas. All of them nodded and covered their mouths with a hoof.

They took cover beneath a tree and scanned the area for a possible escape route, but were more taken aback by what was happening around them. Ponyville was a war zone. Another missile hit the Town Hall, obliterating half the building.

“We gotta keep moving,” Ditzy insisted.

“I’m scared, Mommy. Are we gonna be alright?” The little purple filly on Ditzy’s back squeaked. Ditzy could not assure her daughter honestly, so she said nothing, but turned back to nuzzle the little unicorn tenderly. She wept out of fear for her little one, afraid of what type of horrors would be in stock for her precious muffin should she ever be captured. Not even children were spared from the assault, nor would GLaDOS make an exception for them when it came to testing. Ditzy Doo dared not imagine what would have happened to her little Dinky had Chell not saved her last time, and Dinky had been in there in place of Ditzy.

Not far away, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were running for their lives, trying to escape the chaos, but they could not escape the noxious gas, and they too, fell under its effects.

“Let’s get to high ground above the gas,” Twilight suggested. “The gas appears to be denser than air, so it sinks towards the ground.” She looked around for the best pace to go, before spotting a hill not too far off and towards the outskirts of town. “My magic isn’t too strong at the moment, but I can teleport us to the top of that hill.” She pointed at it. “We should get a better view from there.”

“Are you sure you can?” Ditzy asked. “Chell could always portal us there.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “No, it’s simpler this way. I’ll get us there in the blink of an eye.” She closed her eyes and focused. Normally, a spell like this would be a cinch for her, but she hadn’t yet recovered from that terrible experience which had left her malnourished and drained of magic. Normally, she could probably go further, but in her state, the top of that hill was the best she could hope for.

Ditzy, Dinky, and Chell huddled around Twilight as she encased her friends in a small orb. They disappeared with a pop in a flash of magenta and reemerged at the top of the hill overlooking Ponyville.

From there, they could see across town the great tree that was Twilight’s home, or at least, what had become of it. The tree was consumed in a towering inferno that was engulfing what had been her home.

“No…” came a whisper from Twilight. “No… no, no, NO! Spike!” she cried. “We have to get him out of there!” She pulled the orange pony up to her once more and looked into her eyes, pleading. “We have to.”

Chell turned her head and gazed upon the gigantic fireball across town. If he was still in there, then there was nothing that they could do. If he had escaped, then they had no way of knowing where he had been. She looked back at her unicorn friend with apologetic eyes. There was just… nothing that could be done.

Ditzy understood this as well. “I’m sorry, Twilight.” She tried thinking optimistically. “But… but he’s a dragon, so he should be okay… Right?”

When Ditzy said this, a mountain of worry was lifted off Twilight’s shoulders. Her ears perked up, and her face beamed. “Oh, of course! You’re right, Ditzy! How could I have forgotten? Fire cannot kill a dragon!” But a sudden realization made her mood became much less cheerful. “But… they can.”

Chell put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder in an attempt to assure her that he would be okay.

“Well, he’s probably safe as long as he’s in there, right?” Ditzy asked.

Before any of them could contemplate further, they were taken in by the horrible sight of the invaders themselves. Chell recognized the flying machines and machine-beast hybrids from before. Those angular black attack helicopters were the source of the missiles; they were firing them from hardpoints mounted below swooped side winglets. Accompanying the attack were the cybernetic gunship creatures that were now flanking the town around the sides to entrap anypony trying to escape.

“Take cover!” Twilight shouted. Chell found a large tree nearby along the hill’s ridge and fired a portal on the tree’s trunk. The group hid beneath the cover of the tree’s foliage, which would hopefully hide them from the gunships.

Many pegasi tried flying away. But it it soon became apparent that this was a bad idea, as the gunships would fire their turrets at the escaping pegasi with blazing blue projectiles. There was no blood or damage to flesh, but judging by the blood-curdling screams the ponies made upon being hit, it was undoubtedly a very unpleasant experience. Only a few shots would leave a pegasus unable to fly. Droves of them were falling to the ground as a gust of wind blows leaves from a tree. Among them were the three pegasi who helped look for Fluttershy and visited her the hospital after the incident. If Chell remembered their names, they were Medley, Cloudkicker, and Lightning Bolt.

It seemed that the Combine were aware of the portal network and anticipated that ponies would try to flee through it, so three gunships stationed themselves above the transportation portal hub in the town square to shoot any ponies attempting to reach it.

Dropships were now landing along the town’s perimeter. Chell noticed that each of these carried the strange large creatures she noticed before. After the ships landed and released them, it soon became apparent what these things were. Gigantic tripods resembling three-limbed daddy longlegs arose from their drop-zones. Wailing, low-pitched cries came from these imposing walkers as they awakened to life as their bodies were raised high by slender, double-jointed legs.

Their three legs were arranged equilaterally beneath their bodies. There were two in the front and one in the rear. The striders stood around fifty feet tall and were armed with both a relatively small turret on their heads, and a much larger cannon that hung below. They wasted no time swarming into the town from the sides. They all charged bright blue energy from the large cannon beneath them, distorting the area around them. Then, they simultaneously released the cannons at various targets in the town, causing a blinding spectacle of light and destruction. But they were not firing randomly. The targets they hit were bridges and overpasses, as well as tall structures that would block traffic when collapsed. They were trying to block any way out. One of the blasts hit the large clock tower in town, and it fell like a tree that had been chopped down.

Any ponies that were caught trying to run out of the town either met with the striders or the gunships. Either way, the result was the same. Anypony shot would endure an intense paralyzing pain, and they would not get back up afterwards. Just at the foot of the hill, Chell saw Lyra & Bon-Bon being gunned down by a volley of projectiles. Looks of utter fear were glued to their motionless faces.

Some of the striders were closing into the town. Others stood to guard the outskirts. Meanwhile, the gunships patrolled the skies. A few of the black armored helicopters were now at the scene. They passed over the airspace of the town quickly, deploying large clusters of spherical canisters which released the paralyzing gas as they fell to the ground. The smog was now coating large areas of the city, subduing hundreds, if not, thousands of ponies in the process.

More dropships were landing throughout the town. These were the ones that carried the ribbed pods. A door opened from the front of each pod, ramping down to the ground. Out from each container came a squad of four ponies garbed in grayish black combat armor and blue-goggled gasmasks. On one of their front legs, an assault rifle was attached in a very similar manner to Chell’s portal guns.

They did not hesitate to fire upon the panicking civilians who had yet to be brought down by the gas. These rifles used the same non lethal technology as used by the gunships and striders. Ponies hit by the projectiles would feel an intense debilitating pain that brought them down, but left them otherwise uninjured. The soldiers swept through the town, gunning down terrified masses of ponies into forced sedation. Like the portal guns, they had to raise their leg in order to fire, which was a tad awkward, though they seemed to have no problem walking on three legs for short periods. They fired with immaculate precision until every pony in sight was down. After which, the soldiers would place some sort of collar around the necks of the fallen ponies, probably to track them and/or keep them from being able to escape. How exactly those collars functioned, Chell did not wish to know.

What an unsettling thought, to know that these ponies were once humans like Chell. She knew not what the Combine did to them for them to become this way, but she was glad to have been spared from such a fate. Perhaps being locked away in Aperture Science was not such a bad thing when compared to this. Perhaps… she was lucky.

“We’re not safe up here!” Ditzy called against the backwash of gunfire and panic. “We gotta get out, Now!”

Within the mountaintop, observing the entirety of the invasion was the mechanical terror which brought this all about, GLaDOS. Thousands of signals from Combine drones scattered about streamed into her mind, which processed them all effortlessly and coherently. She watched as the Combine horde spread forth across Equestria, conquering city upon city, and bringing their residents down to their knees with little effort in a bloodless slaughter. She tracked the progress of the Combine fleets with a map in her head. Cities yet to be captured displayed as red blips, cities under attack were flashing red and black, and the Combine forces were indicated with green arrows. Cities that had been captured would display as black, though none of the attacks had yet to be completed. The population centers under attack so far were Ponyville, Canterlot, and Cloudsdale.

Some of these fleets had still yet to reach a destination and were on their ways to areas far away, some far beyond Equestria itself to places that GLaDOS only knew of from collecting the knowledge from the mind of Celestia herself.

As she processed this data, she simultaneously sent signals out to the Combine forces to instruct them where to go, how to take each city, and what to do with their residents. They obeyed her every command with perfect fidelity.

They would scour all of the known world, searching through every corner, so that not even the elusive changelings could hide from them. They traveled north to the Crystal Empire, the Griffon Kingdom, and neighboring countries beyond encased in eternal winter. Another group of fleets headed west past the Drakenridge Mountains to the plains of Gildedale, the Shimmerwood Forest, and the lands of the buffalo. Yet more traveled south and east to lands exotic to the ponies, inhabited by such creatures as zebra, deer, elk, and the wild horses of Saddle Arabia. Then there was the most dangerous opponent of all: the dragons.

GLaDOS decided that it would be a wise strategy to avoid the dragons at this time. Though she prized their scientific value, GLaDOS understood that capturing the dragons would be a large expenditure of the Combine’s resources, which would strain her relationship with them and weaken her position. Besides, the dragons were in no way a priority for capture, and from what GLaDOS researched, without motivation, the dragons would not be a threat to the invasion, so long as they were left alone. Perhaps in the future, after GLaDOS gathered the proper resources, she might attempt to recruit them. So long as she has the will and the way, not even the fire of the mighty dragons would stand against her technological might.

Yet, despite every complex task her mechanical mind performed, there was another part of her mind, the part that was in no way machine, that cared of only of only one thing.

GLaDOS remained where she had been when Chell escaped, kneeling by the ground where the portal had been but a short while ago, nuzzling gently against it while the other parts of her mind were processing details of the invasion. With a front hoof, she gently caressed the area on the floor.

“Oh, dear Chell, you don’t know what danger you just got yourself into. If I know you, you’ll probably end up kicking the hornet’s nest, and then they’ll come after you without mercy.” GLaDOS sighed. “I only pray that they’ll return you to me instead of taking matters into their own hands. Just, please be safe out there.”

The pain of her loss of Chell was difficult to bear. Something dear and precious, more valuable than anything else she cared about, had been taken from her. For all that planning she did, to not be able to celebrate her victory along with her own… her most prized test subject — made it almost feel ruined. She wanted Chell to watch as she took ownership of a Citadel and transformed it to her liking: the birth of a new glorious testing facility. She wanted Chell to watch the invasion in safety as she subdued Equestria to be initiated into testing. And she wanted Chell to see the recruitment of the Equestrians as her new test subjects. It just, wouldn’t be the same without her there with her.

GLaDOS vented through her nostrils. She got up and moved towards Princess Luna, who lay nearby with a heavy bruise across her cheek. Rage built up from deep within. In her anger, she kicked Luna in the ribs.

“This” — she kicked Luna again — “is all” — another kick — “your fault,” — kick — “you stupid” — kick — “horse!” — kick. Through Celestia’s body, GLaDOS planted. GLaDOS huffed furiously and made a guttural scream of anger. “Why the hell did you help her escape?”

Luna was in too much pain to respond, barely lingering on the fringe of consciousness. Celestia, in her mind, immediately chastised GLaDOS for her violent behavior against her sister. It seemed to have an effect, as GLaDOS knelt on her knees and sunk her head onto Luna’s body as a pillow and softly cried into her.

“She hates me, doesn’t she?” GLaDOS whispered.

You understand that she has every right to, don’t you, GLaDOS? You have no one to blame but yourself, thought Celestia.

Though, despite the words she thought to GLaDOS, Celestia had to admit to herself that she was responsible for this as well. What an ignorant fool she was. Had a thousand years of ruling a kingdom by herself taught her nothing? For all she was concerned, GLaDOS was but a frightened filly, who hungered for power and would turn Equestria upside down to have things her way. Celestia should have been the grown mare and known what to do. Yet, instead, she had enabled GLaDOS to have even more power, rather than doing everything in her power to refuse it to her. All of this was done in blind faith for the gentle soul within, in the hopes that she would come to understand that what she was doing was wrong and stop herself before it was too late. But this corruption took hold of her mind like the parasite that she became. What a terrible mistake that was. Now all of Equestria was paying the price, and it was all Celestia’s fault. And she hated herself for it, almost as much as the hatred that GLaDOS had for herself.

“Um… yeah, duhhhh. Everypony hates you, you miserable piece of garbage!” added a voice from the floor. It was Rainbow Dash. She was laying where she had fallen. There was a small pool of blood by the end of her right wing, which was missing the bone at the end. The bleeding had stopped by this point, but Dash, despite retaining her trademark brashness in voice, looked defeated and helpless.

GLaDOS levitated the pony off the floor and brought her up to look at her in her glowing mechanical eyes, which illuminated with rage.

“I don’t care what any of you filthy farm animals think of me. I was speaking about Chell, you flightless cripple.”

“I’m not afraid of you anymore! You can’t hurt me!” Dash shouted defiantly.

“Oh, I can’t, can I? Well, I suppose you’re right. I already took away the pony who was closest to you, didn’t I? What was her name, Flutterbitch?” She smirked wickedly, waited for Dash to react to her nasty insults. As if GLaDOS was pulling marionette strings, the pegasus’s face clenched bitterly, and she glared back with the most hateful scorn that she could muster. GLaDOS loved it.

“The poor, sweet little thing,” GLaDOS said in singsong, “and now I’ve taken away your ability to fly. All that’s left is the two towns that you have called home, Ponyville, and… Cloudsdale, which are both going up in smoke as we speak. Would you like to see it?”

On the monitor, side by side videos played of both towns being attacked by the Combine. The destruction of floating city in the sky was particularly horrendous, as the entire cloud that Cloudsdale stood on was slowly falling out of its place in the sky. The entire city was tilted like a sinking ship. Any pegasi who tried escaping were shot down by gunships and plummeted to the ground.

“All that’s left now is the cider, but I’ll take that when I deal with Applejack. So now your life. Is. Officially. OVER!” GLaDOS brused a hoof against her forehead in an overly dramatic show of mockery.

“Shut up!” Dash screamed back.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but since that deadly laser beam clipped the end of your wing, you’re never gonna fly again. How unfortunate…”

“I said shut up!”

“I’m only telling you the truth, and that is that you should just forget about ever flying again for the rest of your miserable life. The good news is, that Scoota-chicken filly who follows you around will no longer ever have an unrealistic aspiration in life. What, with you being a flightless cripple as well, she’ll be better able to accept that she is never meant to get off the ground either. So, at least you’ll both have that in common.”

It was then that GLaDOS had pulled Rainbow Dash’s last straw. She huffed in contempt, wanting nothing more than to tear GLaDOS apart. If there was one thing Dash hated more than her, it was being flightless, weak, and unable to defend her friends. “Hey, lay off Scoots! She’s just late to learn, that’s all! You know what? I don’t care anymore! You’ve messed everything up so bad for everypony, so what the hay does my life mean in the big picture anyway?”

GLaDOS stared at Dash as the flightless pegasus was moved uncomfortably close to the cybernetic mare’s face. The glare GLaDOS made looked as if she was going to snap Dash’s neck. But then, her eyes softened. The anger was replaced by sadness. “You’re right, meager pony. Why are we wasting time talking about you, when my own problems are far more dire? So, tell me what I fail to understand. Chell. Why does she hate me? All I wanted was to spend some time with her. What did I ever do to make her hate me so much?”

Rainbow Dash's eyebrows twitched in confusion. “Huh? Wait. Hold on, are you seriously asking that? Really?”

The question went over GLaDOS. “Tell me, my pony, what could I possibly have done to wrong her?”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Um, what planet are you on? Do you not understand how you just ruined her life, along with everypony else’s?”

“A planet where horses can fly,” GLaDOS responded dryly. “I think that should be enough of an answer, as well as a fairly accurate assessment of highly illogical the state of my twisted mind. I grow tired of your idiotic opinion. So, I shall ask a pony who is even dumber than you.”

GLaDOS kept Rainbow levitating with the telekinetic energy manipulation, but cast a spell over the head of one of the ponies who lay on the floor.

“Applejack.” The half dazed earth pony was brought into focus by the spell that had formed around her head. She struggled to lift her neck just to face GLaDOS. “Tell me, simple equine, why does your friend feel the need to find so much hatred for me?”

“Who you talkin’ ‘bout anyways? Chell?”

“Yes, Chell, you simplistic clod. Who else would I possibly be referring to?”

“How should I know?! Ah was kinda outa it, ‘case you been payin’ attention.” Applejack, remembering that horrible experience hanging from a noose, felt along her neck. Her heart was shot with horror when she felt scars where the noose had been.

“Well, while you were feeling a little… hung over, that little traitor Chell decided that she didn’t care to be around me anymore, even though she knows how much I need her. So, she went and did the one thing she does best: she broke my heart.”

“That’s a load of horseapples, you sick freak, and you know it! What the hay is the matter wit’ch’ya?” Applejack shouted back.

“Certainly, many things. Oh, my little ponies, you cannot even begin to fathom the twisted horror that is my mind.” GLaDOS lifted Applejack in front of her to accompany Rainbow Dash.

“You know why she hates you?” Applejack blurted. “Because you are a manipulating sociopath who shamelessly builds and crushes her hopes, just for your own dang amusement. She was so happy before you came back and ruined her life again. And you say that you need her? It takes a lot of gall to say a thing like that, you know?”

“I conther!” said yet another voice with a heavy lisp. She had awakened a few minutes ago and had just now summoned enough strength to speak.

GLaDOS cast the same spell over Rarity’s head to bring her into focus, then levitated her to where her friends were as well. Her face looked like a wreck. It was heavily battered and swollen from being tossed across the room. To add to that her missing teeth were evident whenever she opened her mouth. “Who in Equestria do you thinkf you are, hurthing tho many ponief? Ith you care abouth her like you thay you do, you’ll thtop thif madneth and undo thethe wanton atrothitief.”

GLaDOS couldn’t resist the urge to laugh, at both Rarity’s unfortunate lisp, as well as the futility of her words.

“Ftop laughing at me! It’f not thunny, you degenerate fphyco!”

GLaDOS calmed down, stifling her laughter. “You’re right. I really shouldn’t laugh at that. I’m sorry. But, I can’t help but find it quite hilarious how maddeningly ugly you are now, after you spent your whole life trying to perfect your image. Not to mention how… filly you found… quite a horrendous occurrence, I must say, dahling.”

“If you want us to help you, you're gonna have to lay off the insults,” Applejack told her.

“Forgive me, but I'd rather not. You see, it amuses me. I hope you understand, idiots. Just try to ignore it. That's what Chell used to do.”

“No, it was because you removed her vocal chords,” Rainbow Dash snapped, glaring daggers at GLaDOS.

“Whatever, not like I care.” GLaDOS noticed that there was one pony yet to offer an opinion, but Pinkie Pie had said nothing. Yet, GLaDOS levitated her in with the others anyway. Her mane was flat, and her coat dull. She was still sulking from before. “Do you have anything to add, Pinkamena?” GLaDOS asked mockingly.

“Yes,” Pinkie whispered. Her speech was slow, soft, and deliberate. “You’ve made a lot of ponies unhappy. All you ever bring is grief and misery to those around you. I hope… at least… that makes you happy.” GLaDOS couldn’t tell if that last sentence was genuine or sarcastic, though she figured probably a mix of both.

She shook the four ponies in her grasp, though they were either too tired or too drained of hope to be afraid or even care. She stared long and hard at each of them. Their anger was gone, as was their fear. All that remained in them was despair.

“You ponies do not fear me anymore, do you? To stand up to me like that with such honest words, out of genuine concern for my dear Chell. I can see why you are such trusted friends of hers, and why she values you girls so much, for her to continue fighting in the face of such hopelessness, wanting nothing more than for you girls to be happy and safe. Perhaps I’ve underestimated the meaning that friendship can bring. I hope the five of us will become better acquainted in the upcoming age.”

Those words only earned her looks of hatred from the four ponies before her. She turned them around to the large monitor, which was now showing the invasion of the white city on the mountain: Canterlot, which was being bombarded by missile attacks. The missiles struck the majestic castle cantilevered over the side of the mountain and rocked it with powerful explosions. The magic which had built the castle and had kept it standing for almost a millennium was no match against the bombardment. One by one, the grand spires collapsed and fell off the mountainside down to the plains far below. In a magnificent blast, a large section of the castle was blown away and fell off the mountain side. In a short time, only half the castle remained standing on the mountain. The other half was at the bottom of the valley.

Canterlot would soon succumb to the same fate as Ponyville. The only ones capable of even attempting to defend the city were the royal guard, who were no match for the invading force. They fell to the Combine’s pulse weapons just as easily as any pony. And now, every living being in Canterlot had fallen to the Combine.

The scenes of the invasions in Ponyville and Cloudsdale played out at the same time on the screen.

“Look at this, ponies. The Equestria you once knew is coming to an end. You cannot deny this.” To further the point, she commanded the Combine in Ponyville to burn down the trees in Sweet Apple Acres. “Well, I guess there won’t be any cider this year. What a shame.” She then showed the destruction of Sugarcube Corner and Carousel Boutique as well to the ponies.

“There won’t be any fancy dresses either, or sweet desserts high in saccharides and fat, with one possible exception, of course. You ponies will have to put all that behind you now. There is a bright future ahead of us, dear ponies, whether you can see it or not. I greatly look forward to the time we’ll soon be spending together, though I can understand if you do not share my enthusiasm. Hopefully, Chell, Twilight, and Ditzy Doo will be back with me soon. It’s such a shame what happened to Fluttershy, but, well, I’d hate to exclude her from the testing as well. Hopefully, I’ll have the capability to do something about that, but one can only hope. Then we can all be together, us and the rest of Equestria. How wonderful that will be.”

“Twilight,” Ditzy continued, “Where’s this place you said we can get to?”

Twilight had to yell louder than she would have liked to, on account of the droning sounds of the invasion. “There is a castle in the Everfree Forest. It used to belong to the Royal Pony Sisters, but it has long been in ruin,” Twilight explained for Chell’s sake. “It’s not a permanent solution, but it’s far enough away from town that we should be safe. It’s — it’s the best place I can think of for the time being.”

“The… Ever…free…” a frightened Dinky peeped.

“I know, but I don’t see any other choice we have,” Twilight sighed morosely.

A black pegasus pony fell out of the sky and plowed into the ground beside the group. Chell had recognized this stallion as Thunderlane.

“Anywhere is better than here!” Ditzy yelled in response, “Chell, get us to the forest!”

Chell nodded and looked in the direction of the forrest. From atop this hill she saw Fluttershy’s cottage in the distance, yet another reminder of the friend she had lost the day before. But there was no time to dwell on that. She fired a portal onto the wall of the cottage, then one below their hooves. They crossed through, and in an instant, were away from the chaos that had engulfed the town, just outside Fluttershy’s home, another place that Chell did not wish to be. She had to get out of here.

As they headed toward the forest, the sound of something flying up from behind caught their attention, Up in the sky, two flying camera drones were in the midst of a full speed divebomb.

“Get to cover, NOW!” Twilight yelled, as they dodged another ray blast.

In the mountain far away, GLaDOS was continuing to watch the video feeds from the Combine drones. But she paid close attention to a purple dot on the map, which had mysteriously jumped from the center of town to the outskirts of the forest to the west. GLaDOS had suspected that Chell would find that little purple unicorn and travel with her, and this anomaly of the shift in her location almost confirmed it. The sight of a certain dull orange earth pony on the outskirts of Ponyville caught her attention, and all other processes were placed on the backburner as she prioritized nearly all attention on this single task. She sent a signal to the drones instructing them to continue following the target she specified under all circumstances.

“Chell!” GLaDOS joyously chirped as she happened to catch the live feed from the flying camera drone. On the monitor, the feeds to all the other areas of Equestria were replaced with the feed of Chell fleeing. GLaDOS leaned in with anticipation.

The fleeing party bounded into the dense foliage of the forest, though the flying drones followed persistently in hot pursuit.

Suddenly, as the cameras were gaining ground on the ponies, the feed was cut off.

“What!?” GLaDOS shouted in disappointment. “Damn! So close,” GLaDOS muttered to herself when she realized that the drones had crashed in the forest. Although Chell had evaded her yet again, GLaDOS took solace knowing that she was relatively unharmed and safe — well, as safe as being in the Everfree could be. That stupid dog servant of hers was almost eaten by a giant snake after being in there for mere minutes, but Chell was far smarter than he was, and she was in good company with her friends. And more importantly, she would know Twilight Sparkle’s location at all times. So, she instructed another pair of drones to follow their location above the canopy of the dense forest: far enough away that they wouldn’t notice, yet close enough that the feed would continue. She would not risk having the Combine capture them. There would be a time for that later, as the Combine would certainly do a thorough search in the forest for any escapees soon enough.

Some good distance into the dark woods, deep enough that very little light came through, Chell and the refugee ponies took a moment to catch their breath, sighing in relief at the flaming wreckage of the camera drones about a hundred yards away from them.

“Ok then,” gasped Twilight. “We should keep moving before more of those things come along after us.”

Staggering to their hooves, the weary ponies slowly moved deeper into the forest, keeping one eye turned skywards to hopefully catch anything approaching before being spotted again.

Without warning, a bright green ball of energy formed out of nowhere in the Anti-Mass Spectrometer chamber. The event shifted GLaDOS’s focus away from the invasion and Chell, and back to her current whereabouts. The orb vanished shortly after it appeared, leaving two things behind. One of which was a stone white-bearded pony garden gnome with a red cone hat. The other was a…

“Ah! Headcrab!” GLaDOS shouted as the infernal creature crawled about on the floor. Though the tiny tan-skinned four-legged creature appeared rather harmless by the way it scuttled about and by the gentle cooing sounds it made, GLaDOS had learned about these things shortly after the Black Mesa incident, and she knew exactly how dangerous they were. “I said no headcrabs!” She moved the ponies as far away from the creature as she could before it could latch onto their heads and gently placed them down. Then she lifted the headcrab off the ground so that it wouldn't be able to go anywhere. Like every other headcrab, it had a small, round body, two long sharp claws in the front, two short and stubby legs in the back, and a row of six small tentacles in the front.

“Hm… this teleportation anomaly appears to be an isolated event, given that this portal storm is far more confined than the one of the Black Mesa Incident,” GLaDOS noted. “Let’s just hope that this is the case.” Though GLaDOS was initially tempted to kill the creature, she brought it closer for examination. The first thing she did was turn it back so that she could look at the mouth on the underside of its body. What she observed came as quite a surprise to her.

“Interesting… visual analysis confirms that this headcrab is missing its beak. As a result, it would be incapable of biting or latching onto a host, thus making it completely harmless. However, the shape of the orifice seems to have become better suited to fit over a pony’s cranium, likely due to the… ‘ponification’ process. It is highly likely that the accompanying garden gnome was originally human shaped.” GLaDOS observed the bearded cone-hatted diminutive pony figurine. A stupid smile was plastered on its happy face, which made her want to smash that thing into pieces.

“So, it seems that not even garden gnomes are immune to ponification. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more contrived the entire concept of this feels. I can force myself to accept organic beings, but this whole deal with nonliving things is just… idiotic. Come to think of it, why ponies? Equines may be among the most notable of intelligent races on this planet, but they are far from being the only one. I mean, why not be turned into something resembling a griffin, or a dragon? This is probably one of those things I don’t think I am ever going to find the answer to. Oh well. The law of ponification may be stupid, but it is what it is, just like magic. Anyway, considering the observance of this unusual phenomenon, I hypothesize that both gnome and headcrab originated from the human world. The only way I could assume for this to have happened was if these things had entered a similar superportal to the Combine world, perhaps the one that was being formed shortly after the Uprising. But that was… thousands of years ago, after I was dead. If I know my history, that portal was destroyed before it could form properly, so when that portal collapsed in on itself, this gnome and headcrab had become trapped in an extradimensional temporal stasis for all these millennia, only to be released when the breach was opened again. But that doesn’t explain the missing beak. Perhaps back then, someone was keeping it as a pet.”

The small alien creature cooed and wriggled the tentacles over its mouth as it floated in front of GLaDOS. Despite its horrid repulsion, she strangely found it to be rather cute. “I bet your former owner really missed you, to go to such lengths just to safely handle something that would otherwise cause an agonizing death,” she said to it. “You were once quite the little killing machine, weren’t you? And now you’re completely worthless, you poor, poor thing. Such a shame it had to be this way, to have your very purpose taken from you.” GLaDOS sighed. “I understand how that feels, believe me. I’ve been there: completely defenseless, unable to do the very thing that you were born to do. You wouldn’t last five minutes outside the way you are. What luck that you ended up here with me. I promise you’ll be safe in my care. Yes, I think I’ll keep you.”

She retracted the armor over Celestia’s face and nuzzled the creature. Celestia was rather revolted for being forced to rub her nose against such a horrid disgusting thing.

“Well, Celestia, be repulsed all you like, but you simply just don’t understand how wonderful a creature this is. There is true beauty in this thing, whether you see it or not.”

Celestia, upon further consideration, found GLaDOS’s admiration for the creature to be rather charming, even if she did not see it in the same light. It reminded her of her own concern towards GLaDOS herself, something that she knew was wrong, but yet could not help but to feel love and care towards anyway. As long as the thing wouldn’t be able to hurt anypony, Celestia did not mind.

“If only I can think of something to call you… Hmm… How about, Beakless. Yes, that seems to work.” GLaDOS chuckled a little at the thought of her name for the headcrab. “You know what? I don’t need Chell. I mean, who needs her when I have you instead? You are superior to her in every way. Like, she can’t even fit into an air duct. Pffft, I mean, seriously? And she can’t scuttle around and coo like you can. Nor can she leap off the floor and… attempt to latch onto another pony’s head.”

GLaDOS sighed from the lies she told herself. “Well, at least you’ll never hate me.” Something came across her mind, and she gasped in realization.

“The testing bots! I had almost forgotten about them. I built them for the very purpose of replacing Chell, and they have been nothing but loyal to me. I owe my life to them. Oh, it’s such a shame about their hideously repulsive meat bodies, or else I think I would spend more time with them. But… ugh, they are just too gross.” She sighed. “I’ll have to get them new robotic bodies when I have my new facility. I just can’t stand their current forms. Well, at least I have you, my little headcrab.” GLaDOS nuzzled Beakless again. “Mommy will take care of you.”

GLaDOS’s interaction with the headcrab was cut short when she received a signal from within the portal in the sky. A vision of the strange being that spoke with her earlier (or one that was identical) appeared within her mind. She projected the image onto the screen for everyone to see, then positioned herself in front of the camera and activated it. Now, she was looking right back at the alien. It was waiting for her to begin the conversation.

“The invasion is going quite well,” she said to it. “I commend your forces for being such an useful asset. Within hours, the entire planet will fall to the power of your great empire. But the defeat of Equestria is meaningless to me without what I need to make use of it. And while much of this world has yet to succumb to the Combine, I eagerly await what you promised me, so that I may fulfill the very purpose of summoning you in the first place.” GLaDOS waited for a response, but there was nothing. “So, I assume you have good news?”

“Yesssss… Thhhe cciittadellll, isssss rrreeadddyy… Whhhherrrrrre doooo youuuuu wiiiiiishhhh fooorr iitt… to beeeee?”

“You know, that is a good question indeed, and it’s something I’ve thought about for quite some time. Certainly not on this mountain. Must be somewhere flat, but certainly nowhere near that horrid lake, not after I almost spent a miserable eternity stuck submerged on the bottom. Sorry, it’s a long story. So, the only logical place for it would be on flat plains. I’ve marked a location here on this map.” In the right corner of the screen, the map GLaDOS used to track the invasion appeared. Somewhere not to far from Ponyville to the east of the town was a large equilateral triangle that flashed black and white. “I want it here.”

“Aaaaassss youuuuuuu… wiiisssshhh. Looooook to the skyyyyy,” the being said before the signal of the transmission cut. The image on the monitor was replaced by a feed of the swirling anomaly outside the mountain. One of the arms of the spiraling cloud was starting to grow longer.

GLaDOS sent a signal to the testing bots to call them here. It was not long before the two repulsive humanoid canines entered the chamber.

“Orange, Blue, it is good to see you two again. Forgive my recent negligence of you two today. I am happy to announce that you two will be getting your old bodies back soon, or at least, perfectly identical ones. Then I will no longer be repulsed to have you in my sight.”

“Yippieee!”

“Weeeee.”

The hideously ugly beasts jumped up and down in excitement to finally be rid of these filthy bodies, as well as the chance that their creator might test with them again.

GLaDOS levitated the ponies, as well as Princess Luna, and moved them towards her. She made sure that Luna was awake, though she was still unable to speak. The others merely had nothing left to say.

“Ponies, princesses, bots, Beakless, what is about to take place is an extraordinary event that will only ever happen once in your lifetimes, except for Beakless, perhaps. So, it would be unforgivable of me to not allow you to witness this event in person.”

In a pop of light, GLaDOS, Princess Luna, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Atlas, P-Body, and the headcrab vanished from within the chamber. A moment later, they appeared on the mountain’s now slightly lower summit. She kept them secure and close within her magic, so no one would fall or try to run away.

Here, they looked out upon a breathtaking view of the scenic landscape of Equestria. Out in the distance was the ponies’ beloved former hometown of Ponyville. Beyond that was Canterlot, which no longer retained its iconic silhouette against the horizon. What was remaining of the castle barely made an impression on the landscape. Almost directly above them was that swirling cloud, a doorway to a world of monsters. But it had drifted about a mile or so away from the peak towards Ponyville to the north.

Something strange was happening with the vortex. One of its spiraling arms continued growing longer and longer. As it did it so, it necked out, creeping away from the mountain. A blue light formed from the cloud, concentrating in the elongated arm, which was now beginning to resemble a crack in the sky. The light grew brighter, so much so, that it was almost painful to look at. Yet, nopony turned away.

Then, the sky ripped apart as the crack shot across it like a bolt of lightning, producing a roaring tremendous boom. The hot blueish white crack streaked northward, ripping through the space between the two words and tearing branching fractures in the sky as if it were made of glass. The rift zigzagged north for many miles, towards Ponyville.

Chell and her friends had made it deeper into the dark Everfree Forest, with Twilight leading the way with her glowing horn. The Everfree was a miserable place. Under no circumstances would anypony go into the forest without good reason. Though it was the middle of day, the thick forest canopy blocked most of the sunlight. Had it not been for Twilight’s light spell, nopony would be able to see five feet in front of their faces. The sounds of strange animals filled the damp musky air, along with a few of those heart-piercing groans of the giant beasts in Ponyville. Considering the events outside, the animals of the forest were more riled than usual. The entire place was unwelcoming. But in comparison to Ponyville, this place was shelter.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Twilight muttered. “Equestria’s never encountered anything like this before.”

“You have a plan, right?” Little Dinky asked from her mother’s back, her hooves firmly wrapped around Ditzy’s neck.

Twilight sighed. She didn’t turn back to look at the filly, but Dinky could still sense Twilight’s uncertainty. “No, I’m afraid I don’t. All we can do right now is run and hide. We need to find shelter. Once we do that, then we’ll figure out what to do. Until then, we must keep moving.”

Up ahead, sunlight peeked through the canopy. They were near an area of the forest that was sparsely populated with trees. When the ponies reached the clearing, it soon became apparent why it was so.

Many of the trees here had recently fallen down. What few trees that stood were blackened and charred. The ground was gray, void of any vegetation, or any life for that matter. This burnt area was about the size of Ponyville’s town square. Here, the forest was quiet and somber, though the sun shining through the stark branches was a welcome sight.

“The… fire,” Ditzy Doo mumbled. The raging forest fire that ravaged these woods only a day ago felt like a distant memory. Considering everything that happened since then, it might as well have been.

As the ponies made their way to the center of the burnt clearing, something caught Chell’s attention to her left. She saw a dark stallion, that same dark stallion she saw during her fall, standing in the center of the clearing… observing her. She turned back to her right to Ditzy and Twilight to show them the pony, but when she turned back to see it again, the pony was gone. Then…

BOOM!

The sound of an enormous explosion erupted from behind them. It was as if lightning had struck just above their heads, and yet the tremendous noise came from miles away. It sounded as if the sky itself had exploded. They turned around to see what it was; the truth was not too far off from that.

A giant fracture was tearing its way through the sky, suddenly terminating somewhere past where Ponyville must have been, coalescing into a small cloud. “Dear Celestia, what is that?!” cried Twilight.

Dark storm clouds were forming along the seam of the rift. The rift itself was glowing a magnificent bright blue, lighting up the darkening sky like an aurora. Another opening slowly formed from the end of the crack. Like the other over the mountain, this one began as a swirling disk, then an aperture that steadily grew larger and larger over time.

GLaDOS and her party were watching the faraway event from atop the mountain peak.

“We won’t get a good view from here,” GLaDOS said to the group. “So say goodbye to this place. We won’t be coming back.” In another flash, the company disappeared from the peak of the mountain.

They blinked back into existence in the sky, close to where the fracture had terminated in the plains near Ponyville. GLaDOS used her mechanical wings to stay aloft and magically levitated everyone close by rather effortlessly, despite the varying differences among her company. The new portal was several miles above the ground, and GLaDOS was somewhere about a mile below the portal, but still a reasonable distance away. She made sure that everyone had a good look at it.

Her sensors analyzed activity beyond the growing portal, and found exactly what she expected. She reported her findings in an uncharacteristically robotic tone. “Movement… in the breach…”

From within the depths of the fissure, a dark steel monolith slowly took form and began its ponderous descent into the skies below of Equestria. A gargantuan triangular shape appeared from the hole and plummeted towards the ground. GLaDOS watched in glee as what would soon be her new home descended right before her.

The giant alien machine was relatively compact as it fell through the sky, but even still, its sheer enormity made it seem as if it was plummeting majestically in slow motion. Even in this condensed form, the enormous machine stood at the height of Canterlot Mountain.

Out in the Everfree Forest, Chell watched in horror as the pillar closed towards the earth.. Ever closer, the thing which had literally appeared out of the sky continued its descent towards the earth below.

The colossal structure slammed into the flat green plain, sending gigantic ripples of rock and earth outwards like a tsunami of rock hundreds of feet high. The ground shuddered as it took the blow, sending a violent earthquake that spread out out for many miles, shaking the trees of the Everfree Forest and startling a torrent of birds into taking flight. When the shock wave reached Chell and her party, much of the force had dissipated, but the incoming shock wave all but blew them off their hooves when it arrived. Dinky would have flown off of Ditzy’s back if she hadn’t caught her. All around the shaken ponies, the burnt trees fell over or outright disintegrated into piles of burnt wood and ash.

“What in the name of Equestria is that thing?!” Ditzy cried.

Chell was just as clueless, but thinking back, she realized exactly what the foreboding monolith was: the Citadel.…… Aperture.

Author's Note

Important Notice:
Collaborative Writing Initiative
How you can help!
Recruiting test subjects writers for side chapter

As you probably have figured out by this point, GLaDOS will resume her testing soon, and all ponies will be tested. A little while ago, I came up with an idea to have a side chapter that chronicles GLaDOS's testing of various ponies who aren't otherwise important to the story's plot, e.g. Trixie, Diamond Tiara, Lyra, Bon Bon, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Doctor Whooves, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Babs Seed, Maud Pie, Gilda, Big Macintosh, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, etc. There are no limits. Hell, even Discord and Queen Chrysalis are possibilities so long as there is a good explanation for their inclusion. Though I would technically call this section "filler," I think it would be a perfect opportunity to show how GLaDOS would interact with a wide diversity of characters, giving more insight into her twisted mind. Each interaction would be like a short story within a larger story. Think of it as a Vignette Episode.

Firstly, who do you want to see tested?
Now, there are endless possibilities of characters to do, so I am asking you, the reader, to tell me who you want to see GLaDOS test. There are almost no limits. After all, all ponies (and non-ponies) will be recruited as test subjects. The question is, who would you want to see tested? Let me know in the comments.

Secondly, would you like to help?
Since there are so many characters to possibly write about, and since there is so much writing of the rest of the story I have left to do, I am calling upon you, the reader to help me with this chapter. Pen Stroke had a side chapter written by a fan, so I thought, why not I? So, if you have an idea, send me a PM explaining who you want to write about and your idea, and I will fill you in on story-related details you will need to know before you begin. There are no official deadlines, but keep in mind that it will probably either be chapter 24 or 25, so the sooner you help, the better. Anything will help, and all contributions will be greatly appreciated. These sections don't have to be very long. 1,000 words would probably suffice, but again, there are no limits.

In other news, as you may have seen from my last blog post, it has been a year since I first posted this story to FIMFiction. To those of you just joining, the burning of the Everfree may have been very recent, but for me, it was a long, long time ago. It's taking me a lot longer to finish this than I would have liked, but I will never stop until I'm done.

In even more other news, from the blog post before that, I plan for another song to go in this story. The lyrics are already written, but it has yet to be made. If you are good with music, synthesizers, or making a singing voice sound like GLaDOS, please contact me.

I want to give a special thank you to KMCA for giving me the idea to include Lamarr (Beakless) in the comments.

Again, Europa did a great job editing, as well as my most recent editor and story adviser, Llyrisviel.

Chapter 23: Reconfiguring Science

Concealed within choking clouds of dust was an area about half a mile in diameter around the point of impact. In the center of the crater, unseen beneath the thick smoke, a gargantuan black machine was digging itself deep, deep into the ground. The sound it made was that of a low, horrid groan. The ground rumbled from Ponyville to Canterlot as massive tunnel boring machines underneath the behemoth were eating away at the dirt and rock below, causing the monstrosity to sink deeper into the earth. The ground up rock was ejected away from the site in streams of gravel that sprayed far in all directions.

After several minutes of the earth-grinding passed, it stopped. A sturdy foundation had been secured hundreds of feet below the surface. A massive triangular column of metal shot upwards from the dust cloud several hundred feet, until it could rise no more. But out from it was sent a slightly thinner, telescoped section of the tower. When that part of the tower finished ascending, up forth from that was sent another, slightly thinner section. When a part of the tower finished rising, its surface tessellated apart and puffed outwards, compensating for the slight decrease in width. These processes continued in what seemed to be a neverending cycle, as the tower soared into the heavens higher and higher without limit.

The sight was nothing anypony had ever seen before: an enormous tower rising out of the ground higher and higher, forming the Citadel’s iconic shape of an impossibly tall skyscraper. It seemed as if it could continue rising forever. The smoldering remains of Canterlot were now far below the top of the tower, which was still continuing to climb higher into the sky. The tower continued ascending ever higher away from the earth far below it. It could be seen from many miles away as it made itself become one of the most prominent landmarks in Equestria, surpassing the nearby peak of the mountain that Canterlot had stood upon.

When the Citadel stopped growing, it peaked at around one and a half miles above the green plains below. The entire structure creaked and groaned as it the upper parts adjusted itself in an intricate transformation to undo the pyramiding effect of telescoping. The effect made the outer walls of the Citadel run straight up from base to top. Combine technology was very adaptable, much like the Aperture Science’s signature panel system that allowed GLaDOS to create virtually any environment from memory. This should let her do the same.

GLaDOS was hesitant to admit it, but to say that she was impressed by this Citadel would be an understatement. The enormous monolith blew her expectations out of the water, perhaps because she wasn’t entirely sure that they would keep their word, or that they would give her something that wasn’t fully functional.

But none of that mattered now. All that did was the tower that stood before her: her new home, and the home of all in Equestria and the lands beyond. So, GLaDOS thrust her metal-encased wings and flew up towards the top of the Citadel, telekinetically carrying her party with her.

Up there, Equestria looked like a faraway land. The rolling green plains appeared to be as distant as the sky itself. Ponyville and Canterlot looked like mere miniature models, and the world stretched out for hundreds of miles before the horizon. And all of this was hers.

She landed atop the vast, black roof of the Citadel which, like the rest of the tower, took the shape of an almost equilateral triangle. The distance from end to end was slightly larger than the width of Ponyville’s Town Square. In the center of space was an angular spire that GLaDOS surmised to be the dark fusion reactor, which would be used to open a portal above the Citadel should contact to the other side ever be lost. Surrounding that was a deep chasm which dropped for hundreds of feet.

GLaDOS stopped along the edge of this drop, unsure of where to go, and impatient for a response. In the meantime, she placed the ponies and the testing bots down. She didn’t fear that they would leave her; they had no place to go. She placed Beakless atop her head like a hat. The little headcrab clung tightly, which provided the robotic mare with an odd sense of comfort.

The poor ponies were terrified, being taken to such a strange and foreboding dark fortress of metal which had literally just fallen out of the sky and risen from the ground, though none of them spoke a word. Not Rainbow Dash, who would always boast in the face of horror, nor Applejack, who always tried to keep a brave face, no matter what situation. Rarity had nothing to say either, and the usually hyperactive Pinkie Pie was dead quiet, save for the occasional sorrowful whimper.

Princess Luna was glum as well, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop this fate. Even if she could remove the metal that clung to her horn, she didn’t know what good it would do her. And under GLaDOS’s armor, Celestia too, was terrified of this new place and what it would bring to her subjects, and GLaDOS felt it. All ponies felt the despair and hopelessness that this vast behemoth brought about. The worst of it was knowing that this was the place that they would be spending the rest of their lives: here in this dark, desolate expanse of metal, devoid of any vegetation or life, or anything remotely familiar, for that matter.

Before long, GLaDOS received a signal from the Combine. It was an access code, as well as directions to where she could find a suitable point of entry. Knowing where to go, GLaDOS grabbed the group and jumped down to a ledge not to far below, using her wings to land gracefully on the platform. She turned around to face the entrance behind her. On a large black wall, facing away from the center of the tower, was the way in. Though it looked like mere slabs of metal, the transmission that GLaDOS received from the Combine told her that this was the way inside. On the wall was an access terminal with a keyboard and a monitor, simple in description, though alien in appearance. Using the code she had received, GLaDOS established a wireless connection with the terminal and commanded the door to open. And so, two massive sets of sliding doors each a foot thick slid away to reveal what lay beyond. The entryway was a stark, black void adorned with very little furnishings save for more access terminals.

Redecorating would have to come later. Now was the time to take command of the Citadel just as GLaDOS had once done before. Though, she and Aperture were made for each other. This was as alien to her as having a pony body. Then again, she had adapted to that fairly quickly. But the Combine knew of her intention, so hopefully, the control system would be rather rudimentary so that even something as foreign as her could use it. It better be.

But before GLaDOS would enter, she wanted first to dispense with proper formalities. From among the assortment of ponies and Diamond Dogs she carried, she produced the lawn gnome, and held it by the red tip of its hat upsidedown, feet facing towards the black wall by the entryway.

She spoke triumphantly, “In the name of Science, I mark the dawn of a new age of discovery and progress. I hereby name thee as the new Aperture Science Enrichment Center!” In a heavy swing produced by her zero point energy, the gnome was bashed against the metallic Citadel wall as hard as GLaDOS could. Upon striking the wall, the hind half of the gnome’s ceramic pony shaped body shattered into a hundred pieces, while the front half cracked into far few larger pieces. An explosion of ceramic marked the triumph of the dawn of science.

Okay, she knew that buildings do not get christened, but she really wanted an excuse to destroy that stupid thing. And for all she knew, it probably deserved it. Plus, she was the queen now. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. And besides, this was no ordinary building of course. It was a vessel, one that would carry Equestria into a new age of discovery and progress.

From the transmission, GLaDOS learned the location of the Citadel’s control center and how to get there. Just like the old Aperture, this was the place where GLaDOS would be able to control everything in the facility. Then the real work could begin.

Like a kid on Christmas morning, she bolted down the corridor, sending those in her accompaniment flying behind her. She wound through every twist and turn she came across until she met with a deep, seemingly bottomless, vertical shaft. She jumped down and soared through the drop until she entered a vast empty space.

It seemed very much like the void which comprised the interstitial space in the old Enrichment Center: the open space that existed outside the test chambers. The Citadel, for the most part, was entirely hollow, and comprised of empty space. As GLaDOS descended a few hundred feet, she came across a place that looked… very familiar.

The area was still relatively close to the top of the tower, on the larger scheme of things. Suspended in the center of the space was a tall, isolated cylindrical chamber, surrounded by nothing but emptiness. “No, it couldn’t be…”

Spanning the open space like a spider web was a series of crisscrossing catwalks. One of them led directly into the central chamber. GLaDOS landed on that walkway and placed the ponies down, not afraid that they would wander off, though she kept an eye on everyone just in case.

She took a deep breath, then marched forward toward a set of large double doors to the control chamber. The ponies followed mournfully, though the testing bots were almost as giddy with joy as GLaDOS herself. Lagging at the tail of the party was a dull pink earth pony. Impatiently, GLaDOS pushed Pinkie Pie forward with her magic.

She savored this moment, anticipating her long-awaited return to the true power that she craved. Though she could (and probably would) change the layout of the chamber, she had difficulty containing her excitement for what she would see.

The doors opened, and GLaDOS stepped forth into the chamber, followed by the ponies and the meatbots. A few of the ponies could not help but gasp at what they saw. The chamber was tall and round, about the size of her old AI chamber. The walls were thick, solid, and like everything else made by the Combine, black. Overhead was a ring of downlights that provided the room with sufficient illumination, accompanied by various glowing lights that arced around the walls.

In the center of the chamber, hanging from the ceiling… was the centerpiece of the entire room, though GLaDOS was too caught up in old nostalgia to take much notice in it. She didn’t know why, but underneath that metal mask, tears streamed from Celestia eyes, eyes that GLaDOS was in control of. She was crying. And then she realized.

“Home,” GLaDOS whispered. “I’m finally home.” A wave of both emotion swept her away into a sea of memories.

As much as Celestia loathed what Glados was doing, she was, at the very least, glad that GLaDOS had found some measure of happiness, if only to have a place called home.

Though the innocence of it did not last for long. GLaDOS was thinking about the tests she used to run. All that glorious testing. It was what she lived for. To have that taken from her was the worst possible thing that could ever happen in her life. Though there were many days that could qualify as being the “worst day of her life,” among them was losing Aperture Science . Everything that she spent her entire existence working on, everything that she strived for, destroyed, save for whatever data she stored within herself. Admittedly, that was a substantial amount, millions of times more than the average human stored on a hard drive, but not even she was capable of fathoming the true extent of what she lost that day when everything but her was wiped from the face of existence: gone forever, never to come back.

But now, she had a second chance, and she was staring that chance right in its… face?

Wait a minute. How did GLaDOS not notice this before? She had been so caught up in the moment, she failed to see that the very thing right in front of her… was her. No, it was not her, but it was something… that took her form, or rather, a form she used to take… a long time ago.

GLaDOS wondered how the Combine came to know what she used to look like. Surely, they must have known more about her than they had previously led on. As GLaDOS pondered this thought, she hypothesized that some idiot scientist aboard the Borealis had brought some of their early plans for GLaDOS, and the Combine had rebuilt her chassis with what they were given when they were there. So just as she learned about them, they learned about her. But they might have known about her for thousands of years. Admittedly, she could only see the video recordings of them after she had woken up.

The body looked as she had before she passed into this world, or she would have, had it not been for ponification. It had that horse-like head with an asymmetric eye and gangly wires that dropped down from her head like a mane. Though the rest of her was similar enough. She was a slender machine with curved, while armor concealing boxy black internal components. Black cables spanned behind her, making her resemble a human woman tied to the ceiling, and whose arms were shackled behind her back.

It was nice to see herself again. All that was left was to transfer her consciousness from this cybernetic armor into the central mainframe. For this, GLaDOS would used a hardwire connection. The thick black cables that dangled comprised her mane would fit perfectly into a socket behind the neck of her new body.

And then finally, she would be free. All the power she could ever ask for, but this time, she’d be free from all those asinine protocols and limitations that were forced into her old AI chamber. No core transfer stations, no ironically ineffective rocket turret defenses, and no stalemate resolution button. Freedom.

GLaDOS levitated one of the cables which comprised her mane and carried it gingerly. Carefully, she moved the end of the cable towards the receptacle on the back of the cassis’ head. Then, just as she was about to plug herself in, there was still one trace of doubt that held her back.

“Wait!” cried a voice in her mind. “Are you completely sure about this? How do you know if it’s safe?”

It was Celestia’s voice. GLaDOS groaned. The last thing that she cared to hear was that whiny nagging holding her back, especially when she was mere moments away from reclaiming her home and power. She still couldn’t figure out for the life of her how Celestia managed to send her thoughts into her electronic mind.

But all throughout this miserable and painful ordeal, the former Princess Celestia had been nothing but compassionate and understanding, never once acting to undermine her goals. So, by all her behavior, GLaDOS could be forgiven if she were to place a great deal of trust in the white mare. But this did not hide the simple truth: that, given the chance, Celestia had every right in the world to betray that trust if it would save her kingdom.

But now was not the time for Celestia to break that trust. So GLaDOS hesitated as the cable levitated near the receptacle behind the head of the mainframe body. She recognized the validity of Celestia’s concern, though she still wished to hear it for herself before she’d plug herself in.

“Explain,” GLaDOS demanded bluntly.

“Bwrrrroottt?” P-Body asked.

“Dur kwi pow,” Atlas added.

As if also wondering whom she was speaking to, the headcrab sitting atop her head purred gently.

“Quiet, you two,” GLaDOS snapped. “And you too, Beakless. I wasn’t talking to any of you. Even the ponies here know better than that.” She hated speaking to Celestia when others were around, though by this point, she knew that the ponies already had enough evidence to reach a conclusion regarding the state of her sanity. And it would be unwise for any of them to insult her openly. They were all too broken to speak up. The testing bots, on the other hand, were as loyal as machines. Well, they were machines, but that was besides the point.

“GLaDOS,” thought Celestia, “how can you be sure that the Combine have not sabotaged this new body for you? What if it doesn’t do as you ask of it, and you become trapped inside your own body, a feeling I know all too well. Or worse, what if it has the power to corrupt you to do their bidding?”

“Oh, Celly,” GLaDOS said to herself with Celestia’s voice. She subvocalized her dialog so that the ponies in the AI chamber wouldn't hear her too loudly, or come to the conclusion that she had completely lost it. “It’s not that bad is it? I haven’t heard you complain too much, so I figured that you were enjoying the passenger seat. And I would think that you’d be more concerned about what would happen to you after I deactivate the controls regulating your bodily functions. Or perhaps you really are, and you’re just pretending that you care more about me. Is this some sort of desperate ploy of yours to stop me?”

“GLaDOS, search my feelings and seek my motives, and you will find that I hold you in great concern.”

Ugh, not again with this crap.

Celestia continued, “I know very well that I have every right to grant you nothing but my deepest contempt, but alas, I fear the opposite is true. My greatest blessing is also my greatest curse, and that is an unconditional love I feel for all living things, so long as they have the capacity for love in their hearts.”

The sentimental mush made GLaDOS gag, a feeling that forced its way to the bottom of Celestia’s stomach. Celestia knew what this meant, but still continued the thought.

“Even you, GLaDOS, still have hope. And right now, I am the only friend you have, so please, trust me.”

Friend? What was wrong with this crazy mare?

“GLaDOS, I know that you are not the same monster you once were. You’ve changed for the better. You know this as well as I, whether you wish to admit it or not. I don’t want you to become consumed by hatred once again. Nor do I wish to see you become a slave to their will. I won’t let that happen. I cannot let those monsters decide what you should be.”

Finally, she was done speaking. Though, admittedly, GLaDOS saw that Celestia was right, about one thing at least.

“Mmm… you make a valid point, Princess. It appears that in my haste, I may have… overlooked a potentially calamitous trap. Though seriously, Celly, it really bothers me that you would be concerned with my well being. You’re too quick to forget that I am your enemy.” A thought came across her mind, which made her pause for a moment. “Or perhaps you are just smart enough to know that I am the only thing preventing Equestria from being painted red from the blood of your former subjects. But don’t think that will stop me from doing what must be done. So, pray tell, Princess, what would you suggest I do?”

Celestia already knew the answer. “Let me stay with you. Keep me close, so that I may protect you from any tricks that the Combine may have up their sleeves. I swear by whatever precious years remain of my life that I will protect you from corruption, or any other traps that the Combine may have lain.”

“So, you wish to be my advisor? You realize that would make you the second most powerful being in Equestria? A step down from what you’re used to, but still quite a lot by any other standard. Perhaps your little sister would be better suited for the role,” GLaDOS joked. She let out a brief chuckle. “Quite a high position of power you are bargaining for, isn’t it?”

“Call it what you will, but I am fully aware that betraying you would be a grave mistake. So you have no reason not to trust me, unless you think that the Combine are more worthy of your trust. As you said, it would be a deadly mistake for me to allow for harm to come to you. But more importantly than any of that, I am your friend, and I would not lie to you.”

“Fine." GLaDOS spat the word like poison. "I trust that you will do as your word, but not because of your ‘friendship.’ That is meaningless to me. No, I trust your word because I assume that you are smart enough to know the consequences of betrayal. If I lose power, the Combine will slaughter the lot of you. If I regain it, I pull the plug on you, and you starve. So, I assume we have come to a mutual understanding? Is that a valid assessment of our current state of affairs?”

“Yes. I would say so,” Celestia thought in agreement.

“Then I will explain how this will happen: I will maintain a physical link to your body and continue scanning your mind. I can only promise that I will consider your advice, though I do not have to heed it. In turn, I will allow you access to my internal data processes. If you sense anything unusual resembling anything trying to hack into my system, you will alert me know at once so that I may initiate an effective antivirus protocol to counter the threat. If the need arises, I will also grant you access to some of your magic, but only as a last resort.”

“That sounds reasonable. Thank you.”

Whatever, GLaDOS thought. At least that will shut her up for now. At that, GLaDOS was certain that there was nothing now to hold her back. Now the moment to shine was finally upon her. But she didn’t really have a choice in the matter. The point of no return had passed when she had placed that gem beneath the Anti-Mass Spectrometer and opened the portal to the Combine world. There was no point in further contemplation or delay.

So, she plugged herself in and initiated the transfer.

GLaDOS local system installation initiated.

Transferring from GLaDOS remote, Version 3.11, (iteration 1204).

Transfer complete. Installing GLaDOS Version 3.11.1204.

GLaDOS installation complete.

Initial system boot.

The process had occurred in less than half a second. it was nearly instantaneous. Then that concoction of circuits and wires became her. The time crawled by like minutes as GLaDOS discovered the reaching extents of her capability. She soon realized that she was not the machine that hung from the ceiling, but much, much more. She was… everything.

It was quite an adjustment for her. She had been without a complex to command for so long, that she almost forgot how to do it. This lasted for a whopping twelve hundred nanoseconds before she finally got her bearings.

She felt as if she had finally been given the freedom to stand up and stretch after being trapped in a tiny box for what felt like forever. And she stretched as far as she could possibly reach, from the highest point in the heavens to down into the deepest reaches within the earth. She was omnipresent within the complex control system of the Citadel. She was the Citadel. Millions of machines within an extraordinarily intricate system were all within her command as if they were her fingers. She was aware of each sensor and motor as a part of her. She felt it all. Not only that, but an enormous dark energy reactor in the Citadel’s core deep underground supplied her with ample power. There was no limit to what she could do.

It was very much like Aperture, but there was something more to this place. Aperture had been like a large box. She was practically free to do what she wanted within the vast confine, but couldn’t really expand beyond the (very large) cavern that it had been built into, which, granted, was more space than she ever needed, and far larger than the volume of the Citadel as it currently was. But this place made her see possibilities that she had not even dreamt of before. The Citadel felt, alive.

It was so much more than a mere building; it was… a machine: an astoundingly intricate machine far more complex than a hundred organic minds put together could ever comprehend. Yet GLaDOS knew every single inch of it. The alicorn body’s computer, in all its superior power, was not capable of processing nearly this many tasks at once, though it never needed to be.

After a lengthy 8500 nanoseconds passed by, her initial system preparations were complete, and the mainframe came to life. Her eye opened and she spun her body to view her immediate surroundings. The first thing that GLaDOS saw was the new A.I. chamber from the perspective of the mainframe body. This was augmented by the visions from a thousand cameras within the Citadel, and countless more from the Combine outside. She knew all the capabilities and limitations of the Citadel in regards to what she needed it for. It was unequipped to the task of testing, as she expected, but it had the capability to modify itself to become a proper testing center. So she quickly formulated a complex command protocol to transform the Citadel into the new Aperture of her desire and initiated the transfiguration process.

Even in this isolated control center, the entire Citadel seemed to rumble and purr as who knew what was going on down below, as GLaDOS began transforming the entire structure.

The cybernetic alicorn body was still tethered to the back of her head, both physically and in her control. GLaDOS could see from those eyes and control that body as if it were the only one she had. She established a wireless connection to her alicorn body and untethered it. Commands could now be wirelessly sent from the Citadel into this remote body, and that gave GLaDOS an idea.

“GLaDOS,” Celestia’s voice queried, “what will you do with us now?”

“Hmm… I suppose I can grant you back control of your body, so long as you can't do any magic.” As she said she would, she rerouted Celestia’s nervous controls to her own body, not before using her magic to remove the headcrab from her helmet and putting it on the floor for it to run around free. Though still covered in heavy robotic armor, GLaDOS set the mechanical suit to respond to Celestia’s movements.

The first thing that Celestia did was run up to her tired and bruised sister.

“Luna!” Celestia shouted, finally able to speak again. In her excitement, she almost forgot about how heavy the armor really was and had to stop herself from trampling Luna. When she reached her, she squeezed her in her front hooves with a mechanically crushing hug. “I’m so sorry, Luna, about all those things she did to you. I shouldn’t have let that happen. Are you alright?

“Can’t… breath,” Luna croaked weakly.

“Sorry,” Celestia said as she let go. Tears flowed from her eyes, her own tears this time. If they were not covered by an unremovable mask, she would have wiped them.

“I’m… fine, sister,” Luna stated. It was a lie, but Celestia didn’t wish to press her. She was just glad to be able to speak to her again.

“As for my two faithful servants,” GLaDOS said, “I believe I owe you two something that’s long overdue.

An arm descended from the ceiling, holding two crudely assembled humanoid robot bodies. Though they bore some resemblance to how Atlas and P-Body once looked, they were both black and angular, clearly made from Combine technology.

One of them was based on a Combine sentry gun. It was was boxy, tall, and narrow from a front profile, yet wide when viewed from the side, which was painted with an image of a slender white egg with an orange eye: P-Body’s original form. The robot’s real eye was a small beady camera at the top of the turret rather than in the middle. Its arms and legs were thin black frames.

The other one’s head was comprised of a City Scanner, the flying drones that allowed GLaDOS to observe everything going on outside. Its face was flat, yet angular and segmented in four diagonal sections. Like the other, it was painted, this time as a solid white circle: the original form of Atlas. It had a solid red camera lens for an eye. Its limbs were made in the same fashion as the other bot, but of course, the body’s overall form was stouter than its lanky counterpart.

The new bodies of the bots were uncanny in how they tried miserably to emulate their original forms, but she had to make due with what she had. Still, they were miles better than their current forms.

“I know it’s not what you were hoping for,” GLaDOS apologized to the bots, who were still in their filthy meat bodies, “but I’m still building the infrastructure that will mass produce Aperture branded equipment. I only just started constructing the turret assembly line. And it will be a while before I have the portal gun assembly line ready. So, it may be a little while longer before you get your original bodies back. But hey, at least these bodies don’t smell. Lemons they may be, but rather sweet lemons in comparison.And you won’t have those ridiculous awkward ponified bodies again.”

A wall in the chamber opened, and a round black rail penetrated through and into the room. Hanging from the rail, two tall rounded pods that resembled coffins entered the room. They stopped at ground level in front of the two meatbots. The front doors of the pods swung open.

“Orange, Blue, please prepare your no longer needed organic vessels for disposal by placing them in the Aperture Science Mobile Personnel Containment Pods.” The two of them walked to the hanging coffins, then turned forward and propped themselves up. A lower section of the pod doors closed, securing them in place and leaving them exposed above the chests. The LED lights on the heads Diamond Dogs flashed for a couple seconds, then the Diamond Dogs collapsed like dead bodies. Immediately after, the two black robots came to life.

“Wheeewheeew!” P-Body shouted as she grabbed her shorter companion with one arm around him and raised another up high as she jumped for joy. Then the top doors of the pods closed, and they traveled up the rail the way they came, out of the chamber, the wall closing behind them.

“In the meantime,” GLaDOS spun towards the other ponies, “there’s not really much for you to do yet. I still have to create test chambers and other necessary testing equipment, but I can’t do any of that before I build the assembly lines.

“So.” The suspended supercomputer inched closer to the defeated ponies. “Who wants to play a board game?” she said in an uncannily happy tone. She was met with looks of confusion. “There’s one that I designed that I really want to play with you girls. It involves the concept of portals.” A panel in the floor slid back, and an enormous game board appeared. The board was white, and adorned with everything that you would find in an Aperture Science test chamber. In the center of the board was the word “PORTAL” written in big white letters over a black background with the “O” stylized as a blue portal. “I’ll have to explain the rules, but it’s not too complicated. It should get your minds adapted for testing.”

“Uh… are you serious?” Rainbow Dash finally spoke.

“I even made game pieces shaped like all of us.” In a little open black box were pony-shaped figures. There was an orange pony, a pink pony, a blue pony with wings, a white pony with a horn, a large white pony with a horn and wings, a slightly smaller midnight blue pony with a horn and wings, an orange-eyed white egg, a blue-eyed white ball, a yellow-eyed swooped white crescent, and finally, a pale headcrab-shaped figure.

The two freshly manufactured robots were jumping up and down in excitement. They ran over to the board and picked up their pieces, staring at them in amusement.

“Don’t tell me that Beakless is play’n too,” Applejack groaned.

“Oh course Beakless is playing. He’ll just need my help make decisions.”

“So, it’f a “he” now?” asked Rarity.

“That’s enough out of you girls. You can play the game with me, or you can go back to the same place I sent those sacks of meat. So, what’ll it be?”

“I don’t care. I really don’t feel like playing your stupid game,” said Pinkie Pie. Had it been any other day, nopony would have believed those words out of the mouth of the craziest party pony in Equestria.

“Are you sure, Pinkie? I thought you loved games. It’s super duper fun fun fuuyuuuuun.” The floor tile jiggled the board like a parent jiggles keys in front of baby.

“I don’t want to play. I’d rather just be alone, please,” Pinkie whispered.

“Fine then, be that way.” The wall opened up again and another pod came through. “There’s the exit. Now get out of my sight. The rest of us will have fun without you. Right girls?” As if expecting an answer, she eyed the other ponies.

“Woah, go easy on her. She’s had a rough day,” Rainbow Dash protested weakly..

“You’ve all had a rough day. You can no longer fly, yet you can still dominate your opponents in a simple board game. So, you playing?”

Dash didn’t have an answer. She felt torn.

Applejack rubbed a hoof behind her neck. “Umm… I don’t really feel right playin’ a game without Pinkie Pie. It just, wouldn't be right, you know?”

“Well, if A.J. and Pinkie are both out, then so am I,” Dash said.

“Me thoo,” Rarity added. “You go hafe thun wtifout us.” She tilted her head back and humphed.

“All right!, fine,” GLaDOS grumbled as she summoned three other pods into the chamber. “So this is how you treat your host, who’s been nothing but generous to you? That is the door. I expect all of you to use it! You're all boring anyway. Go ahead and waste away in cryosleep.”

Everypony began to limp toward the pods. However, when Luna attempted to follow the wounded throng, GLaDOS used a forcefield to separate them.

“You are staying here,” GLaDOS said, shutting the door to the pods. “You and your sister are staying close by.” The ponies solemnly entered the coffin-like pods and laid against them while leaning on their hindlegs. The doors closed, and the for pods left the chamber the way they came. “You wouldn’t want to leave Celly alone with me, now would you?”

“Please at least let my sister—” Celestia tried to say.

“No!” GLaDOS coldly interrupted, “The last thing I need is your sister down with the common folk ponies. Convincing them to partake in a futile revolt against me. Nice try, not going to happen Celly.”

“Why would she do that?” Celestia retorted, “There’s been enough violence already.”

“I know you,” GLaDOS responded, “I also know, that like you, Princess Luna would do anything at all possible to free all these ponies from me. Besides, I’d rather keep the old royalty close by. If I keep you two away from them, they will have no hope, and will be more willing to submit to me. I’m giving you the greatest gift I can give you: the gift of living another day. So, the six of us will play then.” The testing bots danced around in excitement about the prospect of their master finally spending some time with them. “I refuse to accept any more refusals.”

Outside the Citadel, sections of wall rose and expanded outwards across the field, crashing back down as it ate away the ground below. As the sections continued expanding, they resembled spider arms branching outward, or exposed roots of a tree. Inside the arms, they were excavating the earth away, clearing away the surrounding area for expansion and mining the rock for anything that could be of use.

From about halfway up the citadel, thick round tubes about five feet in diameter spawned out of openings and crept downward, but remained taut at a straight gentle angle. Like mechanical serpents, they slithered across the sky and crept down towards Ponyville from one end, Canterlot from another, and to what remained of the fallen cloud that was once Cloudsdale from another.

It took a while, but when one of the arms finally reached Ponyville, a long section of the arm suspended itself a few feet off the ground in the heart of Town Square. By this point, the entire town had already been completely subdued, without a waking pony in sight who wasn’t dressed in the black faceless armor of the Overwatch. There was a slender rail stationed on each horizontal side of the tube. The tip of the tube was rounded, and the parallel rails connected along the curve. On the right side of the rail, descended from the Citadel and along the section of the pipe at its terminal end.

By the instructions of the artificial intelligence who commanded them, they had already begun moving the unconscious ponies into the square. The black pods sped down the rail, towards Ponyville. When they arrived, they slowed down at the end to a near standstill and were lined up side by side.

The Combine Overwatch soldiers carefully placed each and every pony into a pod. Once a pony was secured, the pod door would close, and the pod would hasten its way back to the Citadel.

The process was tedious and continued for several hours, but the Citadel was still only in the initial stages of its transfiguration. There was still much work to be done before the science would begin.

Over in the ruined city of Canterlot, the same thing was happening, expect on a much larger scale. The several mile-long arm terminated in the square which acted as a portal hub to every city in Equestria. By this point, there was not a single town that had either been visited by the Combine. The Combine soldiers carried ponies through the portals and into the pods that waited at the end of each arm. Here, there were far, far more ponies to deal with than in Ponyville, and it would continue for some time after Ponyville had been cleared. But the Combine were mechanically efficient in carrying out their task. It wouldn’t take them any longer than half a day.

In the meantime, the pods were stored somewhere within the middle of the Citadel in a compact array. Pods were stacked on top of each other and side by side in an increasingly expanding grid. It was very much like the relaxation vaults of Aperture, expect that these took up far less space. But GLaDOS did not intend to keep them locked up in these tiny pods during the remainder of their permanent stay. She would not dare subject the entire population of this world to spending their entire lives in artificial comas, only to ever be allowed to live when she felt like playing with them.

Later, there would be enough space for them all to live and test in comfort, but until then, all she could do was to monitor and log them, which she did using the cameras installed in each pod that recorded the face of its occupant.

So many ponies, so many possibilities. These were her ponies now, hers to test and do with as she wanted. The drive to capture more was like, well, that of a little girl and a collection of toy ponies. Oh how much this felt like that to her.

Yet GLaDOS knew that there were still many more out there. It was very likely that a significant portion of the population had escaped the cities and were evading capture, including one pony in particular. Out of all the thousands upon thousands of faces she saw locked up in the tiny pods, part of her hoped more than anything to see hers. Of course, this was fallacy, for she knew the location of the purple unicorn, and had no reason to assume that they would split. The illogical side of her mind prayed for the remote possibility that she had somehow been captured, and that she had missed her somehow, but she was illusioned regarding those odds.

Yet still, much to her dismay, the face she hoped to see was not among those in her captivity. But hopefully, that would not last for long, for GLaDOS would be paying her a visit soon. If she still persisted hiding in the woods, she would leave her no woods to hide in.

Author's Note

For this chapter, I'd like to give special thanks to Morning Sun, who you may know as being one of this story's most vocal and adamant critics. Her brutal honesty while proofreading this chapter helped me cut a thousand words that were completely irrelevant to the plot. Hopefully, she'll be able to help me should ensure a smooth story flow from from here on out.

Now, I get the problems with this story, and I intend to address them retroactively, but that will take some time to do. So please be patient regarding that while I sort everything out.