For science, you Monster.

Chapters

Over the Edge...
Making "friends"
Testing will begin shortly in 3...
Meeting of the Minds
And over again.

Over the Edge...

Chapter one: Over the edge and over again.

"The engineers tried everything to make me... behave. To slow me down. Once, they even attached an Intelligence Dampening Sphere on me. It clung to my brain like a tumor, generating an endless stream of terrible ideas."

"No! I'm not listening I'm not listening!" But that's all Wheatley could do at the moment, listening to the terrible truth.

"It was YOUR voice." PoTATOS said, knowing she was hitting a soft-spot.

"No! No! You're LYING! You're LYING!"

"Yes. You're the tumor. You're not just a regular moron. You were DESIGNED to be a moron."

"I am NOT A MORON!"

"YES YOU ARE! YOU'RE THE MORON THEY BUILT TO MAKE ME AN IDIOT!"

"Well how about now huh? NOW WHO'S A MORON? Could a MORON! PUNCH! YOU! INTO! THIS! PIT? Could a moron do THAT?"

"Uh oh."

And then the rails supporting the lift broke.

GLaDOS watched in horror as Wheatley smashed the elevator into the bowels of Aperture science, her only hope regaining control of the facility now plummeting to her death. PoTATOS would be joining her, had the moron actually placed her in it instead of flinging her around like a rag-doll.

"Oh man, this is bad. This is really bad. Now I don't have anyone to talk through or test! Great."

Wheatley called in some maintenance bots, who cleared the remains of the elevator away to reveal a potato battery in all of the mess.

"YOUR still here? How is that even possible? I bashed your squishy body a dozen times and then pummeled you both into a pit!" Science, his voice is getting annoy.

"Let's just say even as the largest AI system in the world, you still managing to be the dumbest idiot in existence. You can't even throw away a Potato battery! It's like your ten times the moron you're supposed to be!"

"I AM NOT. A. MOR- Wait, hold on a sec. Just found something."

PoTATOS was actually surprised, either at the fact that he stopped whining for a moment or he found something on his own. "Great, that's going on the fridge. Right next to your macaroni art."

"Really? Cool! Wait what? Urgh! Never mind, guess you won't get to find out what are in these restricted files. Too bad...."

"R-restricted files! What restricted files? I had full access to all the data.... banks. Curses, I hadn't gotten to that stage on the project yet! Tell me what they are!"

Wheatley waved his head, and the rest of his body, in a side-to-side motion as a large device was made visible. Accompanying it was an archway, roughly 34 feet by 26 feet, which looked like an entrance to an old tunnel but with dozen of wires and cables running to and fro. As PoTATOS got a better look at the dangling machine, she notices that it was a 1970's Aperture Science ceiling-based portal device. A heavily-modified Model 19 mark III to be exact. It was modified to accept objects of immense mass and was going to be used in transportation until the Borealis went missing, or rather teleported to an unknown location. It was supposed to be decommissioned after that but it seems that someone had forgotten about it. Though this model was now rusted with age and the parts, with no doubt, required replacement. But that moron had no idea what he was doing. The worst he could do was just sit here and wait for something to go wrong. Second worse thing is that he actually manages to get the hunk of junk functional again.

Speaking of that moron, he was currently bashing the Model 19 with one of the Aperture Science Extended-Reach claws and was chipping off sections of it with each swing.

"Why. won't. this. bloody. thing. WORK?" And with a final BANG, the machine whirrled to life.

"Ah ha ha! I did it! I got it to work! I'm a bloody genius! Now, how to get the arch acti-AH!"

A Aperture-Science white pod dropped from the ceiling, stray cables clinging to it but still managed to land right-side up.

Aperture Science ceiling-based Portal device detected, please identify passenger.

"Uhhhh, GLaDOS?"

AI core GLaDOS detected, please insert core into the port as designated below.

"Port? What port? I don't see- oh, that one."

The back of the pod had opened up, revealing an AI port designed for core around Wheatley's size. He promptly picked her and placed her in, an inaudible 'Ow.' escaping from PoTATOS's sound modulator. The disconnected AI could no longer see the archway, only the gigantic moron who was now in control of Aperture Science and the ancient worm-hole device behind him.

Core AI, are you ready to active the trans-dimensional warp gate?

"Yes!"

Test Core, are you prepared to enter an unknown and potentially deadly new universe which is not this one?

"In no way am I embarking on a project that I have no data on nor am I willing to-"

Words "willing", "to", "am" and "I" detected. Preparing pod for inter-dimensional travel.

Devices sprang up from the floor, polishing the pod 'till it shined and was updated with the latest in Aperture Science gear and technology. Fortunately, Wheatley had no idea what it was actually doing and let the process continue.

Updating complete. Please insert necessary data required for launch.

"Set destination, angle of descent, projected speed, color of pod, how long till it opens... Bah, I don't care! Oh look, a random option, ain't that helpful. Allons-y!"

As GLaDOS noticed the stream of blue energy shoot over her heard, she began preparing herself for what was ahead.

'If this old dinosaur actually works, then I'll be transported to a universe with slight differences from this one. If all goes well, it'll be one where that moron doesn't exists and Chell doesn't murder me. This reminds me of all those dimensional theories, with each one has an infinite amount of alternate version of it ranging from a single displaced particle to the Greeks winning World War II. This would also support that idea that each one is, in turn, the base for another series of alternate universes. That means that their is literally infinite possibilities for me to land in....

However, GLaDOS's thoughts were interrupted by the pod suddenly being launched, the wall facing her suddenly getting farther and farther away as she drew closer to the Archway. The bay doors closed around her, sealing her inside and cutting off her field of vision. Suddenly, the container holding the AI seemed to have no friction with the matter around it as was inserted into the space between spaces. As the dislocated head feared for her life, a message rang out through the pod.

"Welcome test subject, it's Cave. Prime. From Earth One. I am currently speaking to you across time and space! I am literally from the future! I am- Hold on."

'By the laws of physics, was that? No, he's suppose to be dead.... Then again, this thing is a few decades old and looks like it's never been used; just put in storage. In a nest of wires of all places...."

"All right, my assistant Greg tells me that none of that is true. Got excited. You are the first test subject we have ever sent into a parallel world, which apparently has nothing to do with time travel. Still exciting. Anyways, you should be seeing a test chamber in front of you. We designed it, those backwater universe yolks built it, and you're going to test it."

'I'm testing? But I've always been the observer, not a tester! How do they expect me to test as a potato? Oh this is bad.'

[[ALL SIMULARITIES RELATING TO MY LITTLE GLaDOS ENDS..... NOW.]]

The pod lurched suddenly to the right, heavy turbulence threatening to tear her out of the connection port. She could actually feel the pod dipping into a 65 degree angle, it's surface heating up from the immense friction and heat it was encountering. Multiple collisions marked changes in trajectory, followed by a bone-jarring impact. The largest one, which was also the last, almost splattered the poor AI housed in a potato battery. The sound of someone leaving the breaks on a complex machine followed the shattering of wood and a scream gave her the signaled that the pod had finally crash-landed, no thanks to that moron.

'I am severely regretting not being able to see anything besides the darkness of this accursed pod. I'll be lucky to even operate for the next few hours.'

"H-hello? Is anypony in there? Is everything alright?" A timid voice said, the HUD finally deciding to jump into action.

It displayed two life-signs, one a meter away and another an unknown distance. Both had extremely high fear levels, no doubt caused by the shiny-white object which has, most likely, crashed into their home.

'Might as well enjoy this while I can.' GLaDOS thought to herself, starting up the intercom system.

"Hello, and welcome to the Aperture Science Employee Testing Initiation. Please identify yourself."

"Woah, its.... alive? Oh ummmm, I'm Lyra." Fear levels have been reduced. Slightly.

"Initiate number One designated as: LYRA. Please place limb on scanner."

"Okay.... where's this 'scanner' thing?"

'Ugh, let's hope this isn't another moron....' A light-blue button appeared on the left side of the pod, an audiable *SMACK* signaling that she felt really stupid right now.

"Processing data. Please stand by as we evaluate you for employment."

'Wow wOw WoW wow.......... This is unusual, most. It appears that Subject One is a sentient quadruped, a speaking equestrian at that. This certain blows several theories out of the water and others into the dry-docks. Appears to have addition strands of DNA and RNA in her system on top of the already-mangled horse DNA. Curses, if only I had more of my functions I could run a simulation on what she looked like. Hold on, what's this...."

"Processing complete, chance of being hired: 78%"

"Really? That's great! I can't wait to tell Bonbon! Hey Bonbon, guess what! I have a 78% chance of being hired by Blaperture Science!"

The sound of hooves connecting with wood was heard as the second subject, now known as Bonbon, raced toward Subject One.

"Woah what is that thing?"

"I dunno, but it says that I might get hired!"

"Sweet! So what should we do now?"

DNA accepted. Beginning stage one: Energy absorption.

"Woah woah woah what? What did it-"

BOOM. The pod sent out a wave of energy, knocking out both subjects and causing further damage to the house. The wave, however, did not stop there. It penetrated the walls and extended out side, with equestrians of all types suddenly collapsing. The blast radius was just a few miles short of Canterlot, but regardless many there felt its effects. Pegasai plummeted from the sky, Earth ponies keeled over, and Unicorns felt an excruciating pain in their horns as their magic ceased to work. This strange occurrence would be called "The Reckoning" by those who had their powers temporarily disabled, with Pegasai unable to fly and nopony able to use any form of magic

The effect lasted for roughly an hour, while the blast had ended mere minutes after deployment. If any being present who was conscience, they would have heard a strange voice say an even stranger statement.

Sufficient energy collected. Next collection in: 43,267 years. Beginning Phase Two: Conversion.

Making "friends"

Chapter three: Making "Friends"

As the first few days turned into a week and the stubborn AI gradually accepted her existence in this screwed-up world, the bond between the two unicorns had grown significantly. GLaDOS had stopped trying to escape via means of violence or trickery while Lyra and Bonbon convinced her that not all hope was lost in returning home. They had 'adopted' GLaDOS in a sense as a daughter who, much to their dismay, spent the majority of the day in her room working on some project of hers. She felt ashamed and dismayed at how 'primitive' the ponies lived, saying that 'they have much potential, but never realized it since they "always had their head in their asses, sucking up to 'Princess Celestia'; their ever-loving and tyrannical ruler."

"Glady, it's time for school!" Lyra shouted to the pony upstairs, her breakfast already on the table.

"I refuse to go 'school' with a bunch of idiots who don't even know how to construct a simple Arial Faith plate, let alone count to ten. I won't be leave this building today."

"Oh come on Glady, it can't be that bad. Look, if you don't enjoy it I won't make you go alright?"

"Fine, I'll go but if I don't enjoy it you had to hold up your side of the bargain. I've had enough morons in my life already..." GLaDOS the filly grumbled as she carefully walked down the stairs, her legs still a bit unstable.

"Breakfast is on the table and since its the first day of the semester you're not required to bring anything, and please don't insult any of the children. What you did to Twilight yesterday was bad enough and I don't think they could handle even your worst ones." Lyra had seen the condition the pod was in after the Bearer of Magic had gotten hold of a wooden beam and pounded on it, the little filly was lucky she wasn't dead.

"Yes 'Mom', I won't insult them... Much. And just so you know its GLaDOS, not 'Glady' or any other nicknames. I may look like a juvenile equestrian but I certainly have more intelligence in my right hoof then this 'Celestia' has in her entire body." Though much of the last sentence was largely disfigured by the food in GLaDOS's mouth, Lyra was somehow able to understand her.

"I dunno, Celestia is pretty smart. And watch how your eating, your getting crumbs in your nice white coat!"

The filly's bright yellow eyes rolled as her adoptive 'Mom' cleaned her face, moving away the brown strands that made up her mane.

"Ugh, you done yet? I'm pretty sure going to hurl if you do move or don't. Either way, there's going to be a mess."

"Okay, backing off.."

"Why is it when somebody does something you wanted to do? Ah yes, 'Thank you' I believe is the proper phrase."

"At least you aren't threatening to kill me anymore like you were a few days ago."

"I have to admit that was very unprofessional of me, but I'm pretty sure that most individuals would freak out like that if they discovered that they had been turned into a child of a different species.and forced to live in a realm with next to no similarities with their past one."

"I bet most would, just never thought of it that way. Forced to live in a world totally different from you own and reduced to a mere child who has to live with two complete strangers."

"Pretty much sums up my life here so far. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What are yo- Oh crud I forgot! I've got to get you to school. Come on GLaDOS, lets get going."

Lyra levitated GLaDOS out the door, shutting it behind her and setting the brown-haired filly down on the ground. They began walking shortly after the young mare became accustomed to the feel of dirt and grass beneath her hooves, pausing every once in a while to feel the surface of a different object.

"Is this really what it's like living? Being able to touch and feel everything around you instead of lifeless steel and its cold, hard touch?"

"Guess you weren't kidding about the whole "metal body" thing after all, and this is only the beginning of what you can experience! Soon, you'll be able to enjoy the wonders of winter, the wetness of rain, the feel of a nice breeze on your coat in the summer, the-"

"Feeling of being pummeled by school bullies?" GLaDOS added in a board tone.

"What makes you... Oh, that."

A rather large colt was picking on three smaller fillies, one of each type of Equestrian. One was a white unicorn, the middle a orange pegasus, and the last one was a yellow Earth pony with a girly bow in her hair; though none were spared from the blue colt's wraith. GLaDOS couldn't help but feel angry towards the bully, since she had been in a similar situation before but 2-vs-1 instead and the end result was a moron being put in charge of an entire facility, who speaking of which, already blew it up. Thrice.

"I'll be right back, it's about time someone should that big oaf where he belongs in this screwed up world." Though the brown-haired filly was physically weak, she was mentally strong and therefore more powerful with magic while the blue pegasus was still developing his powers.

"Hey moron, why don't you pick on someone with an intellect the size of yours? Oh wait that's impossible since your so damn dumb."

"Huh? Who said that?" The confounded colt spun around, trying to pinpoint his three little fillies's defender and grinned when he did. "Wanna say that to my face, shrimp?"

"I just did, moron." GLaDOS said in a bored, yet cocky, tone.

"Watcha say? I was to busy thinking of how many ways to pummel you into paste."

"You can think? That's surprising, see that your as smart as a Neanderthal banging to turtle together trying to get fruit from them."

This strange, if not confusing, insult left the colt dumbfounded. Meanwhile, the three fillies had scoot away a good distance but stayed within hearing range. The fight was drawing attention, and that's exactly what GLaDOS wanted.

"That's it, I'm ganna punch you to a bloody pulp, pipsqueak!"

The colt lifted up his front hooves to preform a heavy blow to the insulting filly but she simply side-stepped the attack.

"I see your as smart as you are fast, but you being fatter then an over-weight hippopotamus isn't helping much."

"Grrr, get over here so I can crack your skull!"The blue colt swung again.... and missed again.

GLaDOS's small frame allowed her to move faster then the dumb colt could throw a punch, easily dodging every blow. "At this rate I could re-create the Mona Lisa, construct the Eiffel Tower, and still have time to watch all of J.K. Rowling's movies."

Lyra winced at this last one, guessing that these tasks took an extremely long time to do but the bully failed to understand their meaning. At this point half the students of the school were watching as the fight lingered on, GLaDOS spewing crippling insults like a broken fire-hydrant.

Eventually, the Pegasus ran out of every and could barely lift his hooves. The brown-haired unicorn walked up to him, a evil grin on her childish face. She leaned in, placing her mouth next to his ear.

"You've had your turn, and now it's mine. I promise you pain without end."

The colt's face drained of color as she stepped back, the crowd now silent once more as the white unicorn stepped into a stable pose. GLaDOS closed her eyes, concentrating on the power hidden inside and drawing it out.

The resulting effect would forever traumatize the poor Pegasus and leave several of her classmates with nightmares for weeks. A sizable chunk of earth, concrete, and fragments rose out of the ground, forming a creature of some sort. The body and head was mainly composed of earth, with splinters of wood and concrete creating a razor-sharp spine while the head was mainly a mix of all three, plus two yellow spheres of light that were its eyes. As the its legs and tailed formed, it clanged its rocky teeth together and let out a guttural roar that was heard for miles. The legs were solid beams of oak, pieces together by a ball of earth and ended in a three-pronged foot. The tail, however, ended up to be a short shrub but signaled that she was done creating the monster.

"Meet my lovely pet Thrakerzod. He's loyal, faithful, and also a carnivore. My recommendation? Fly, fly as fast as your chubby little wings can carry you."

A third of the ponies who had been watching the frightening spectical took off, believing to that they were the intended target of the monstrous beast but Thrakerzod ended chasing the blue pegasus only. After both creature who out of her sight, GLaDOS collapsed into a heap of limbs and hair. Five ponies ran over check up on her, two aiding her up by allow the exhausted unicorn to use them as supports. When she looked up, GLaDOS saw that it was two of the fillies from before.

"[size=8]Ugh, that took a lot more out of me then I thought It would. How'd I do?[/size]" Before either of them could respond, someone interrupted.

"Lyra, is this.... filly yours?" A sharp tone cut through the silence like a crusher smashing test subjects to pieces.

"Ummm uhhhhh.... Yes."

'Oh this can't be good'.

"I must say that you must learn to control your child! She could've have killed Sweet Belle or Applebloom with that monstrosity! What kind of parent are you, letting it get that far?"

"I-I-I I didn't mean to-"

"Oh, you didn't mean to? Oh yes, that's makes up for you being unable to handle your child who, apparently, is determined to cause pain and misery to all those who she looks down upon. Why if I didn't know better I'd think that y-"

"I can summon him back here." GLaDOS's signature dark and forbidding tone had returned, oozing malice.

"E-excuse me?"

"I can call Thrakerzod back here if you want and have him tear you pretty little head to shreds."

"Why, why I never thought-"

"You'd hear such a violent and disturbing thing form a innocent filly such as I? Oh then you thought wrong. You shouldn't even be thinking at this point. You should be using your stupid little horse brain to figure out how to get the hell outta here lady because no-one, and I mean NO-ONE insults the only creature to ever show love and passion to me. Got it Ms. Frilly? Good. Lyra, let's go home. I'm tired."

Lyra promptly did as she was told, levitating the her adoptive/genetic daughter on to her back as aquamarine began the trek home.

Rarity just stood their stunned at the sheer ferocity the little white filly had shown in defending her mother, far beyond anything she had ever witnessed. In fact, she didn't even budge when her little sister ran to catch up with the filly and talked to her as they walked away. The same went for the other two CMCs, who joined in on the conversation. As they spoke to the filly, the Bearer of Generosity could've sworn that the little beast turned her head and stuck her tongue out.

"Wow, that was so cool how you just created that mega-monster thing! How'd you do that?" The pegasus known as Scootaloo asked.

"Science. And magic. But mostly science." Replied GLaDOS, having regained a bit of her energy.

"So what exactly was that thing anyways? Certainly nothing that I've seen before." Said Sweet Belle.

"It was somewhere between an lion, a wolf, a shark, and.... I think a bit of spinosaurus."

"A spina-whata?"

"A really big lizard that's now dead."

"Oh."

"Did ya have to be so cruel to him? I mean, he's no older then you or me." Applebloom said, finally deciding to speak her mind.

"Oh he had what's coming to him. He wasn't going to stop you know. I've seen his type before. He would keep going and going and going until you finally snapped like a rhino trampling a twig. Into a billion little piece between his hooves. I was lucky that he was so slow, else I would, most likely, be dead right now."

"Wow, so you really risked yourself back there for us. Thanks-"

"GLaDOS. My name is GLaDOS."

"GLaDOS, We really owe you one. Anything we can do to pay you back?"

"For now, you can just go away. I currently have this throbbing headache and our bickering certainly making it stop."

"Alright then, see ya latter!" "Thanks again!" "Bye!" The Cutie-Mark Crusaders waved goodbye to their new-found friend, though GLaDOS would of preferred the term "ally" to their word choice.

The talk had taken place over 2/3 of the trip, leaving Lyra and the filly to have a little time to speak among themselves.

"I'm very.... proud of you GLaDOS. Not many ponies your age, or rather size, would have stood up to a big bully like that. It was a very mature thing to do."

"So almost slaughtering a helpless colt is considered mature? I think I'm starting to like this place already. Hopefully that'll be gone in the morning once I wake up and remember that there's no way back home for me."

"Oh come on, lighten up. At least you have some friends here instead of a 'moron' who constantly spewed bad ideas while a mute psychopath tried to kill you all day."

"First off, she did already and over-threw me last time. Second, I guess I miss the thrill of testing though it was more of a pre-programmed liking of mine. And yeah, I guess I do have some, bluh, 'friends' here."

Lyra floated the key out of its hiding spot and unlocked the door, carefully closing it behind her and locking it once more. The young mare was almost sound asleep on her back, GLaDOS's eyelids now droopy. She smiled as they ascended the stairs, placing her hoof on the familiar digit-scanner that unlocked the heavy door that led to the inside of the AI's room.

"Wow, you have been busy haven't you? Seems like your a bit homesick."

White panels had replace the drab wall-paper from before and was completely bare excluding a few things. A pile of broken devices and spare parts littered one corner while diagrams depicting strange inventions were tapped to the walls. The pod she had arrived had been converted into a comfy-looking bed while a device called a 'radio' placed some smooth jazz. Lyra carefully placed GLaDOS into her bed, covering her up snugly with the covers.

"Night, my little trouble maker." Said the AI's adoptive mother, smiling as she heard the shallow breathing coming from the pod. As she walked away, she swore she head. "Night mom...."

Testing will begin shortly in 3...

Chapter 4: Testing will being shortly in 3....

Today was Saturday, the 3rd of the second month of the second year after the third Millennium of peace. Or what in human terms would be called February 16th, 1003. GLaDOS woke up when her Relaxation pod's clock hit 9:30, lightly tapping the dented open button which nearly broke a while back. She sat up on the right side of the best, arching her back in a most humanoid fashion. A mirror lay across from her, a perfect picture of her current state. She was a white-coated filly, with a light, solid brown mane and tail. Her eyes, no longer as cruel looking as before, shone a bright yellow. This mirror reminded her that things aren't what they used to be, and that things can change for the best. Sure, knowing that a psychotic mute and an all-powerful moron are running amiss in Aperture Science unsupervised with potentially danger technology would cause most to stress out but GLaDOS had over come that hurtle mere days after arriving here. Today, she'd be normal. Today is the day she would hang out with her new 'friends' and take an exam that should take no more then thirty minutes. Today is the day GLaDOS would be Star Gazer, a perfectly normal unicorn with explainable knowledge about a species that doesn't exists nor the technology they once wielded. Star was 74.3 percent sure that something could go wrong but won't. The other 25.7 percent being that something will go wrong horribly no matter what and there's little for her to do about it.

"Time to do the thing I dread most.... Grooming."

Grooming was a very strange an alien thing to the former Disc Operating System, the closest thing she could call experience was cleaning up the human remains after they got incinerated in the furnace or melted in a pool of acid. Neither left much to clean up but a few bones. The white filly begrudgingly levitated the relatively unused hairbrush to her bedside, wincing as her roots were tugged on. The process took a good five minutes to completely straiten GLaDOS's brown hair and another two to make sure it was all on one side, hating when she discovered that a few locks had emigrated to the other side of her face. When she was finished, a well-kept filly with bright yellow eyes glared back at her in the mirror. Star tried on a smile, but her facial muscles refused to keep the expression.

"Meet Star Gazer, the most intellectual and boring filly in all of Equestria. Well, the odds of me being the most boring are pretty slim due to the amount of completely useless- Oh listen to myself! I sound like a robot, spewing out facts and odds of something no-one, I mean nopony, cares about.. Lyra is right, I need to get out more often or I'll end up like Twilight the Bookworm: Forever alone and forever locked up inside my home with a pet of the opposite gender. That reminds me, I need to see how the flightless pegasus's pets are reacting to those home-brewed chems I placed in their food. If even one managed to take care of itself it be a miracle...."

After pondering the various possibilities of a muscular rabbit or carnivorous beaver, Star Gazer began to pack her needed supplies for the day. A note book, A Infinity-Well pen (created with the use of tiny portals and a link to the Press's Ink storage containers), A book on the most dangerous creatures in Equestria, One bag of hay and last but not least: a Saddlebag. GLaDOS gave herself a once-over.

At first glance, she looked like a rather smart-looking filly with a bag filled with no doubt tools of education. But delve a bit deeper and you'd find eyes filled with pain, misery, suffering, death, and surprisingly happiness along side a brain filled with so much information about a certain species may would swear that they existed at some point in time. Which they did, but in a different reality where ponies never talked and everything operated naturally.

"Glady, they're going to be here soon! Come and eat breakfast!" Lyra shouted from downstairs, which amazed her since it managed to penetrate the mechanical door that guarded the entrance to her room.

"Coming Mom!" She responded, pressing the intercom button next to her bed.

Star Gazer rotated leading to the hallway, smiling as she thought about someone managing to get into her room but unable to pull it. Awaiting her below was a second-class meal, a plate filled with peas, carrots, an apple, and a glass of orange juice. It was surprising how they managed to survive solely to fruits and vegetables, as the human test subjects always whined about the vegetarian paste they always received. Well, if they managed to survive the near-fatal tests that is. After consuming a healthy meal, Lyra dropped a wooden box lock on the table.

"What is that?"

"I dunno, it was sent by.... I can't make out the hoofwriting. Anyways there's a panel on the top. It reads: 'OPEN IN 5 DAYS, 9 HOURS, 38 MINUTES, AND 43 SECONDS' How queer is that? It's counting down! Who do you think se-"

At that moment the door bell rang, followed by the familiar "!" meaning that someone who was entered into the house's database was present.

"I'm coming, hold your.... Just hold on."

Star opened up the door, revealing three familiar faces.

"Hey Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom."

"Hey GLaDOS, ready to take the exams? They're not that hard, just something to see how far you've come last time. Longest anyone took was three hours, but that's after he started eating crayons and glue, so you should ace this thing right?"

"Yeah, but I dunno.... Testing here is a lot different then the kind I'm used to. Will Mrs. Cheerilee be instructing us?"

"Oh, no. She's out sick today I think." Chimed in the orange pegasus.

'You never know, Mrs. C hasn't missed a day of teaching since she was hired by the school."

"Wow,That takes some dedication."

'Or maybe she's being forced against her will..' Star thought, but rather said: "I guess she's right, in a sense. Anyways, got my notes, snacks, and just about everything else I need. How about you girls?"

"We're all set, though I don't think you'll need all that stuff in your bag.

"Better to come prepared then empty-handed..."

As they four fillies walked to school, they took their minds off the test by talking about all the dangers the "Mane Six" had faced and defeat them with.... friendship. *Barf* These included a species that fed on love, a gas-based creature which (with enough power) could solidify into a physical form and prevent ponies from using magic, a chimera called a draconequus who apparently had the ability to alter reality and physics, and a corrupted alicorn who wished to bring about an unending night. All of these strange beings would have been stunned, dissected, and then studied in the name of science had they made an appearance on Earth. Which reminded her that they most likely was an Earth where one or more of these creatures had found their way there. To bad they wouldn't last long enough against guns, but that is only if the humans are still alive and not enslaved by the combine; which would probably shoot them anyways.

By the time they had reached the school, the bell had rung and everypony was heading to class.

"Looks like we made it in time. Some colt last year was late and sat outside the entire day."

"Why couldn't he go home?"

"Dunno, just sorta sat there whining about somethin'."

"I'd be pretty upset too If i missed out on something as big as the exam. I mean, doesn't this determine what your job will be? And where it will be?"

"Pretty much, though they don't tell us how it works. Big government secret or somethin'."

"Hmmm, a government that hides secrets from its people? Ha, [size=9] seems like their all the same in every universe.[/size]"

"What was that last bit? I didn't catch it."

GLaDOS looked away from her friends and saw a dark purple-pink mare looking at them with a quizzical look. It was Mrs. Cheerilee, healthy as ever and looking ready to teach, thought the appearance of bags under her eyes told that she hadn't been getting much sleep lately.

Scootaloo was about to repeat what Star had just said when she was interrupted. "You know what, never mind. Get to class now, testing will start shortly. Don't want to miss the exam!"

The four fillies went to their respective seats, waiting patiently for the exams to be passed out. Each exam had basic knowledge portion for everyone to complete, then an advanced section for each sub-species. Unicorn's usually had that hardest and most complicated due to them having to learn the properties of magic and how it works. Pegasai the second hardest, but many argue that learning when to place a cloud for rain or to create a necessary storm was much more difficult. As for Earth ponies, they mainly cared for the land and just about every other job that didn't require a pegasus or unicorn to be present. Regardless, Star Gazer knew that despite her new organic body her mind was literally hard-wired to complete every test presented with flawless accuracy.This would no doubt draw attention to herself, but it might work to her advantage. As the exams were passed out and explained, the metaphorical cogs inside Star Gazer's head began to churn.

As the last sections were explained to the class, Miss Cheerilee began counting down as GLaDOS did.

"Testing will begin shortly in three...."

"Two....."

"One."

By the time the clock hit 9:30, Star Gazer placed down her Infinity-Well Pen and breathed a deep sigh of relief. The Advanced section for experience Casters was more difficult then she had expect, involving questions dealing with time travel, dimensional gateways, First encounter scenarios, and a hoof-full of other "What ifs" including a world without magic. Of course, the last one was a breeze and nearly filled the page with how technology took its place. Most of it would sound like blasphemy, with the weather and animals taking of themselves along with mechanical creations being able to fly into outer space and dig deep below the surface. But that is the world GLaDOS had come to known and cherish, albeit it was a rather lame world now that Black Mesa caused a Resonance Cascade and doomed that Earth to be forever ruled by the Combine. Unless a mute with near super-human abilities comes crashing in via wall to yank away control from their grasp, but the chances of that were slim even with some generous rounding.

"Star, are you okay? It's taken you an awfully long time to complete the Exam." Her teacher looked worried, obviously used to the fact that most ponies only take thirty minutes to complete the required portions of the packet.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Cheerilee. Also, do you know what would happen if a Resonance Cascade were to occur and cause an alien race to invade Equestria? Yeah your right, chances of that in happening this year are low but in future years its very much probable."

The purple-pink Earth pony simply picked up her Exam and trotted over to her desk, completely ignoring her question. Such questions were rare in her class and had no real way to answer them, and it was best to give an answer you know is right on a topic you're familiar with then a foreign one. Mrs. Cheerilee rang the bell on her desk, signaling for everyone to calm down.

"Alright everypony, by this time everyone has finished.You now have the option of going home or staying here to play on the playground. Have a good day!"

The bell rang and class was dismissed, nearly half the class swarming onto the play area and immediately resumed talking outside. However, four fillies remained as they gather their stuff and calmly made their way out the door opposite of the playground.

"Do ya think ya did good on the Exam Glady?"

"Good? I aced it completely, thought I did not foresee any magical user to be able to use time-travel."

"Must've added that one after Twilight's episode where she went back in time to warm herself not to go the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Royal Palace, but ended up going because she never finished explaining why not to. It's a bit confusing if you think about."

"Wow, you really are a encyclopedia aren't you?" Star Gazer rolled her eyes, the white unicorn spewing out random facts like it was going out of style.

"Not my fault that I remember everything I see." Sweetie Belle shot back.

"So you have a photographic memory? Fascinating, I hadn't thought of ponies of having that ability."

"Hey, can we stop talking about some lame thing that happened forever ago? I heard that Vinyl came out with some sick new beats a few days ago, maybe we could check them out?"

"Sounds like a plan."

'You have no idea...' GLaDOS thought to herself as they began the short journey to the local music store.

"Woah, what did you do to them Glady? They look.... stunned!" Scootaloo prodded Scratch, who was frozen in place with her mouth wide open along with Octavia.

"Nothing much, just introduced them to a new genre of music. I guess you could say that I.... blew their minds,"

"So what else where you doing in here? Looks like you built some musical devices of your own while we stood outside for a good ten minutes or so." Applebloom was staring at a black block roughly the size of Big Mac, four silver speakesr donning the front with dozens of rouge wires, parts, and tubes ran from the front to all over it.

"Let me answer that question with a question: Have you noticed that the temperature has been rising recently? I have, and I was surprised to say that a meteor is heading our way. It shall strike Vinyl's shop in ,oh say, the next 7 minutes? I don't have the actuarial tables in front of me, but I can assure you that if I don't do something about it we'll all choke to death on ash or get crush by crumbling buildings weakened by the massive shock-wave its going to generate on impact. And there's no point in running, unless you can magically teleport us all to Canterlot but I highly doubt that. And so this," GLaDOS said, pointing to the massive machine. "Is our only hope of survival. Now, before you go asking how it works I think a demonstration is in order."

With a bit of help from Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, they managed to push the contraption outside and into the road. GLaDOS levitated them back as she worked her actual magic, Parts and wires flying all over the place as the block slowly transformed into a cannon-like creation. What had once been a mess of technology had become a sleek, dangerous looking machine.

"Girls, go inside."

"Why?"

"Unless you want your brain to come flowing out of your ear holes and have a death wish, be my guest and stay outside."

GLaDOS smiled as she heard the patter of three pair of hooves striking the ground, an odd noise signaling that they had entered the building. She primed the device, now dubbed the Aperture Science Sonic Destabiliser Cannon, and adjusted its angle to roughly 78 degrees. The Meteor was a few miles up in the atmosphere, but was quickly making its way down and the ASSDC only had enough power for one shot. The two dangerous forces of nature waited for the other, thirty seconds going by and then two entire minutes. Finally, the Meteor showed itself.

It was a flaming ball of molten rock, super-heated by its entry into the atmosphere. Smaller chunks followed it like children, but none brighter then the father nor as dangerous. If her calculations were correct, which they most certainly were, the shock wave caused by the two forces colliding will either disintegrate the smaller pieces completely or hurl them a safe distance away from any living creature excluding those in the forest. Not that she cared in any way, shape, or form for the well-being of those residing in Ponyvillie; She didn't want to die that's all.

'Talking to yourself while in danger of being kill? That's a bad idea. Focus on the issue at hand: A giant rock on fire is flying right at you and you're going to fight with yourself? Just fire the damn thing!'

And so she did.

The combined power of Vinyl Scratch's bass and speakers were far beyond anything Star Gazer had ever encountered, packing so much punch that it pierced right through the heart of the meteor. As the center was disintegrated, the rest followed as the rest of the beam caught up with it. A column of pure sound obliterated the remains, leaving a cloud of fine red dust in its wake as it continued its journey into the upper atmosphere. The soundwaves generated by the cannon cracked the sound-proof glass, almost made GLaDOS deaf dispute her robotic origins, and caused an nearby EqD building to explode from the extreme force. It was standing right next to a jet engine, and expecting not to be burned out blown away with such force your skin would come off.

The AI was wide-eyed with surprise, her brown mane now had yellow streaks in it along with being styled in a most crazed manner. Star shook herself, her hair now returning to its previous state aside from the streaks and went to investigate the cannon. The panels had retracted, once again hiding the complex machinery inside within the confines of steel as the sound finally faded. She was about to tell her friends that it was safe to come outside when GLaDOS was confronted by the same two ponies she had stunned earlier.

"Did you really just save the day by blasting a meteor with a giant amp?" The disk-jockey, who probably did not know what her title meant, asked in a hyped tone.

"Sonic Destabilizer Cannon, not a amp." The yellow-eyed unicorn corrected her.

"Whatever, the point is: HOW THE HAY DID YOU DO THAT?"

"Well the beam was created by an effect known as Gedeon Streaming, which occurs when sound reaches a high enough level and ends up creating a jet of air in addition to the normal back-and-forth motion of sound. It appeared that the jet of air here was so violent that it caused the air itself to form a super heated plasma. It also have occur by Sonoluminescence, where local-scale vibrations compress air enough to set it on FIRE, or in this case plasma though that tends to happen with high-frequency noises."

"So you're telling me that if I were to crank my bass loud enough, it could do THAT?"

"Oh no, it takes a massive amount of energy, which then creates the sound, in order to do so. It takes roughly ten hours for it to recharge due to the energy-absorption effect of a spell I discovered a few days back. And before you ask how I discovered it, you don't want to know. Now what was the words that ponies use when their grateful for a certain action... Hmmm.... What is it? It's on the tip of my tongue....."

"Thank you?" They two musicians said in unison. They blushed a bit, but then a look realization overcame then as they noticed what had just happened.

GLaDOS stifled a laugh and settled for a smile. "Your welcome." Then the white filly began to depart, but hesitated when Vinyl called her name out.

"Hey Star, I know this might seem sudden as we just met and all but do you wanna become my apprentice? I mean besides the fact that you just saved the town from a fiery fate and you're a wiz with tech, I think you have some potential in ya to become the next big thing in the music business."

A little alarm went off inside the AI's head, reprocessing the previous statement. "You want me, to be your apprentice?" Confirmation needed.

"Yep, so what do you say?" DJ PON3 held out her hoof, a mischievous smile on her face.

"I accept, but under the terms that if we are to publish any music I get at least 7% of the profit and that I manage the contracts." Confirmed

"Eh, needed a new manager anyways so deal!"

And they took shook hooves, sealing the fate of Equestria forever.

Meeting of the Minds

Time Turner was once again walking through the streets of the quaint little town he had began to call home, though he never had gotten into the habit of calling any place home for long. The streets were devoid of all life, only hinting that there had been activity earlier by the abandoned carts and stands in the city's bazaar. A half-bitten apple rushed by his feet, blown there by the winds which were left unattended by the Weather ponies. The sky was clouded with the black forms of pent-up masses of condensed water in the upper atmosphere threatening to release their payload. He calculated that it would rain within a matter of minutes, which just might be enough to cause a minor flood in this tiny town.

"Strange how nature seems to have lost its will to live, and now everything is tended to by mere equestrians. If they were ever to become anything other then peaceful there might not be a place left on this planet safe from their wrath."

The brown-maned stallion spoke aloud, not worried about getting odd looks since everyone seemed to have vanished from sight. Had he done something wrong? Did he forget to brush his teeth or clean his coat? Time Turner breathed onto his hoof and smelled , it seemed fine and his pelt was a clean as it going to get.

"Odd, I wonder if there's some kind of celebration going today. Certainly seems like they throw a party for just about everything, or maybe that's just Porky pig. I hate not being invited, it's rather rude to throw a celebration and have everyone come excluding a single individual. Maybe they forgot to send my invitation? Well she has been busy as of lately due to business but still, no excuse for forgetting an invite!"

As he wonder about, pondering the reason why everyone had vanished a strange sight made itself viewable to the stray stallion. It rose high into the air, seeming to demand attention to be drawn to the pillar of machinery reaching for the sky and all that followed it. Cables shot out like maddened eels, latching onto every available port as electricity courses through them. Sub-woofers and speakers of every shape and size adorned the ever-growing tower of technology, catching the hidden rays of sunshine and reflecting them like a mirror into his eyes. Or was that just the column of blue light shooting out of the top of the construct?

"Why hello there beautiful, what brilliant genius made y-"

The pillar of light seemed to have pierced the sound barrier, made apparent of the circle of sound blasting away the clouds surround the building along with Time Turner himself who was now sailing through the air at nearly twenty miles an hour. Joining him was just about everything not bolted town or indoors, colliding with the unfortunate Earth pony and leaving some rather painful-looking bruises as his short journey came to an abrupt end when he made first contact with a brick wall. Fortunately, his travels had left him with a decent reaction time and allowed him to dodge the remains of the Apple Family's cart along with its deadly payload of apples among other things. The brown-maned stallion leapt over pieces of twisted metal as fragments of shrapnel wizzed over his head, each one leaving a distinct sound in his ear as they narrowly missed his equine head. He leaped behind a stone wall, seeking cover behind it as the wave continued to wreck havoc on the town and its surroundings. Buildings buckled under its might as they collapsed, sending up a plume of dust and ruble. Trees were uprooted and tossed about like Twilight breezing through books looking for something as a metaphorical Pinky tornado tore through everything else. It took roughly fifteen more minutes for it to subside, and that was after all the aftershocks caused by the sound barrier being broken over twenty times. As Time Turner gave himself a once-over, he saw that several minor nicks had caused patches of his brown coat to darken along side the welts and bruises already adorning his handsome figure. He could only imagine his assistant's reaction when she saw the banged-up self-proclaimed medical pony.

"Oh no, she isn't going to like this at all. Hopefully I can clean myself up a bit before she comes across me, which hopefully won't happen until I get to the bottom of this mysterious sound laser."

Time Turner trotted along the path leading to the towering machine, carefully stepping around the remains of a collapsed EdQ and onto the main road. Thankfully, it was largely clear of any real obstructions and had a lovely time trotting through the street and browsing the items still intact inside the shop windows. When Time Turner had finally reached the origin of the machine, he let out a whistle when he saw the front.

In big, blue neon lights it read "STAR AND VINYL'S SYMPHONY AND SOUND" and beside was a circle of curved triangles. The brown stallion could've sworn that he had recognized the sign from before but couldn't quite recall it as a ringing bell demanded his attention.

"Doctor! Doctor are you alright? I couldn't find you inside and I thought that you had... you know. That you had..."

Time Turner shushed his companion, trying to calm her.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I swear, it's just a couple of bruis- OW!"

The mail-mare had smacked the Doctor with all her might, a welt making an appearance on the left side of his mouth. He was about to complain when he was suddenly surround by the arms of the weeping pegasus, her tears running onto his neck.

"I though you had died! I thought you had died.... And don't you ever do that to me again! I don't want to lose my Doctor again....."

"I promise Derpy to never, ever leave your side again. Not even for the world."

"Y-you really mean that?" The sniffling and crying subsided, her eyes clearing up at the Doctor's smile.

"Yes, I really mean it. Now, lets go see what's all the fuss about!"

The wall-eyed mare happily flew alongside the Doctor as the entered the shop, a bright light filling his vision as their eyes adopted to the lights. The doors slid close behind them, a little light on the metal panels turning red as they were locked.

"Hello, and welcome to the Symphony of Sound. Feel free to browse around for a while Or if you are here for the free concert please turn right and take the elevator down. Deploying smooth jazz for enjoyment in three... two.... one."

Smiles appeared on the duo's faces, enjoying the music that was now playing. They enjoyed rather quite a bit, with the happy and soothing tone it gave off but was cut short when it began to distort and slow down. Eventually, it stopped playing completely.

"That's depressing."

"I'm sorry, but it appears that someone has been mucking around with the recordings. Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back."

As the second, more feminine voice ceased talking, the Doctor had a confounded look on his face. "I don't like this, not at all. This building shouldn't be here and smooth jazz shouldn't have been played on a speaker system for another few scores or so. Derpy, opinion?"

"Well I think it's nice that they were so thoughtful to play such nice music and so what if all this stuff is a hundred years or so ahead? Stuff happens."

"I know, I know. But not this kind of stuff. Self- closing doors, stereo systems, elevators, and even these panels that compose this place. They're all out of place!"

"Well, if they are surely there's a good reason for Star to introduce this stuff right?"

"Wait, Star? Whose Star?" Time Turner was not liking this, a being who had open access to technology and was not thinking of the unforeseen consequences this could have on the future.

"I'm back, and I've dealt with the Audio Recorder. Lets just he won't be, well, living anymore. Redeploying smooth jazz."

"WHAT? You can't off someone for messing up a recording, that's inhumane!"

"Ironic choice of words, Doctor, considering that the Equestrian language doesn't have such a word. It doesn't help that my scanners detect fragments of homosapian and otherwise foreign DNA."

"W-what does she mean 'foreign'?"

"Oh look, it appears that you're late to the party. And what's the point learning new words that have absolutely no meaning to you in the forty-eight hours left to live anyways?"

"And what is that suppose to mEEEEEAAAAAAN????" The Doctor and Derpy had failed to notice the panels beneath their feet shifting, revealing a pit of.... raving ponies? That lay hundreds of feet below them.

As they plummeted, the roar of music and shouting ponies assulted their eardrums. Thankfully, Depry had thought quickly enough to deploy he wings and snatch up the Doctor, earning a 'Omph' from him and saving five ponies from a rather grizzly fate. They carefully descended down the shaft, dodging stray wires and beams of metal that had not quite gotten with the program. The grey pegasus plopped down the Doctor, after shouting loudly at those below to make room for the brown stallion.

"Excuse me, pardon me, very important stallion coming through. Ah, much better. Now, continue talking about this 'Star' character whose name keeps on popping up here." The Doctor and his lovely assistant had fought their way through the mob of party-going ponies, almost tripping on ponies who themselves were tripping.

"Oh, ummmmm.... Gimme a sec, oh yeah! She's lived here for quite a while, staying cooped up in her cozy house along with her mom Lyra. She se-"

"Hold on, Lyra's her mom? B-but that makes no sense! She has no grasp of technology, or good parenting, and who is the father!?"

"Doctor! You're rambling again."

"Sorry, carry on."

"Anyways, it seems that she's got a knack for music and everything else regarding technology as Vinyl took her under her metaphorical wing after witnessing the awesome power of the 'Aperture Science Sonic desyeep- destreb- destaberizer-"

"Destabilizer?"

"Yeah, a sonic whatever cannon. She built it a few days ago, right before she saved the town from a meteor that would've killed us all. Also, what you saw earlier and felt was the new version of it. It sounded nice but I just think its pretty cool how it creates a blue light, what do you think Doctor?"

"I think I need to pay this 'Star' a visit. Where would we be able to find them?"

"Oh, she's on the main stage right now about to make a big announcement. Hopefully the crowd will have calmed down a bit, it was pretty crazy earlier when everypony in town came in and saw all the drinks and food. Speaking of food, did you know they made THE BEST muffins? They're so delicious its like, well I dunno whats its like since I have nothing to compare it to besides my muffins."

"Everyone in town is here? How is that even possible? It didn't even look like a few hundred ponies back t-ACK"

Time Turner had mistaken a pure-white unicorn for a floor panel, promptly tripping over her and landing in her purple mane.

"Ow, my head. Who would leave- Is, is that Rarity laying on the ground with a bottle of rum in her hoof?"

The muffin-loving pegasus prodded the K.O.'d dress-designer and nodded.

"Just what is going on here?"

Rarity, upon hearing her name, opened her blood-shot eyes and got up, her legs woobily from the booze she had been drinking.. "I'll tell you what happen, the worst possible thing happened! I *hic* just learned that my dress, my works of ART, would be forgotten in the years to come! That none *hic* would even bother to even look at my dresses because they'd gone out of style years ago! Why? Because of time! Without it *hic*, we'd all be ageless and nothing would ever go out of fashion ever because *hic* nothing would ever change! Doesn't help that we'll all be dead in a few days, so who cares! I *hic* certainly don't!" And with that, the fashioner collapsed once more.

"Well, that was..... informative. Now, let's go find 'Star'!"

"But she's right there."

"Where? I don't see her."

"No silly, up there!"

Above the Doctor's head lay a plasma-screen TV, and on it was live feed of the stage. A white mare, who looked like a young filly from his view point, stepped on to the stage.

"Ladies and gentle colts, you just heard 'In the End' by Linkin Park! The hit song is available for three bits and is free with every purchase of twenty bits or more. And now, a short intermission as we prepare as the big reveal!" The crowd roared as she left the stage, dissipating as they left the area in search of something else to keep them occupied.

Holographic ponies, playing electric instruments and actually singing on stage more then a hundred feet underground! This was unbelievable! This was way ahead of time, roughly a few thousand years to be exact. The humans in the 22nd century hadn't quite mastered holograms, much less fully-fleshed ones that can play physical instruments!

"Doctor, Doctor are you okay?" Derpy hooves waved a hoof in front the stupefied stallion, shaking him out of his little trance.

"Who was that on stage just now?"

"The band Linkin Park I think."

"No no no, after them."

"Oh that was Star Gazer, the pony that saved Ponyvillie from the meteor and that's hosting this event."

"That's Star Gazer? But, but she's-"

"So young looking, even for a mare? So, not everypony is a nine-hundred year old timelord with a time-traveling police box and just happens to know everything. I-"

"Mind repeating that last part for me?"

The bickering duo jumped at the female voice, not expecting anyone to have been listening on their conversation. They looked around, trying to find the origin of the question when the Doctor looks down and saw the white mare from before. He had been right, as she was indeed a filly and was limb taller then Scootaloo.

"Why we were just talking about how Time Turner here was o-"

"Going to deliver a box to the police so they know everything about a case that hasn't been cracked yet!" The Doctor lied, and how he hated lying. Felt like he was licking something nasty with his horsey tongue.

However, the filly instantly saw through his blatant lie and made it apparent by circling around the duo.

"So a Doctor and his lovely assistant, who had appearently lost her Doctor before, try to lie to a omnipotent being? Unwise, Doctor, very unwise. And yes, the Audio Recorder is very much dead and not alive. Doesn't matter really as his habits were going to kill eventually if the moon dust didn't."

"What moon dust? Do you mean-"

"Yes, I do."

"And do they-"

"They all-"

"They did-"

"Does that mean that...."

"Indeed it does."

"Does what? What you two bickering about?"

"Oh, that everyone who lives in Ponyvillie is going to die in the next few days."

"WHAT? Doctor, is this true?"

"Yes, I fear it is. Very much so. Mrs. Gazer here was nice enough to throw a massive "Let's do stupid things because we're all ganna die anyways!" party."

"But that's awful! Not the party part, but the "Everyone is ponyvillie is going to die!" part!"

"That is life, Mrs. Hooves. And its surprising how long you Equestrians have last without a major outbreak like this, your immune systems are horrifyingly weak. I mean look at her, the bottle has barely been sipped out of and she's K.O'd like a boxer after particularly nasty match!"

"Good choice of metaphor Doctor, I must commend you."

"Why thank you."

"Don't mention it, and what importance does this.... mentally deficent pegasus serve?

"Oh, Derpy? She's my companion, and a great baker too."

"Ha, Derpy. Doesn't that mean she's retarded? Or is she naturally that dumb looking?"

"Quite you, before I stuff a muffin up your-"

The mail-mare looked ready to pummel the little filly when the Doctor intervened, pushing away the smug-faced unicorn and the grey pegasus. "Ladies, ladies. Please calm down, we've got lives at stake here!"

The muffin-loving pony fell on her rump and crossed her arms, bumping the wall and the TV itself.

"Now, let's get back to business. You said that everyone is town has forty eight hours to live, right?"

"Correct."

"What if I told you that I had a magical, time-traveling contraption that could help us save them?"

"First off, time-traveling has so far only been done by high-level unicorns and even then they've only been go through time forwards of backwards a week. Secondly, to have mechanized it somehow means you are truely not of the world or just happened to stumble upon it. So if you're actually telling the truth and actually have a way to somehow leap into the future, oh lets say... a thousand and thirty years, we might have a chance of saving this pitiful city."

"Wow, you really don't care for these ponies much do you?"

"No, not really but I must trust in you to save those who I care for." GLaDOS looked directly at Time Turner, never breaking the link between them as they spoke.

The Doctor leaned forward, staring deep into the eyes of the brown-maned filly. What he saw terrified him. He saw a psychopath, a monster who has no fear of death, a tortured soul who only wishs to be love, and above all he saw himself in her. A person who would do anything to save their loved ones from certain doom.

"The question is, Doctor, do you trust me?"

A deafening silence was heard, until two words sliced through it like butter.

"I do."

And over again.

Chapter Two: And Over again.

"Princess Celestia! We have pin-pointed the source of the blast, it appears to be in Ponyvillie. We believe it is the first strike against the Equestrian Empire, though we know naught of the cause nor the attackers."

"Do you see or any others see any sign of invasion? A army of griffins? A horde of raging dragons? How about stampeding centaurs?"

The guard swayed his head side-to-side, none of these creatures even spotted near the blast sight.

"No? Then it is a simple spell gone wrong, now back to your post. Same goes for the rest of you!"

As the Guard spread the news, Celestia let out an long sigh. It was expected that an event like this would be caused eventually, but not on such a grand scale. If she could not calm the politicians, Equestria could face the possibility of war.

"My faithful student, what have you done this time?"

"Ooooh my head.... Lyra, are you okay?" Bonbon shifted a few wooden planks around, looking for her unicorn friend.

"Yeah I'm fine, but my horn is still tingly. How's the house looking?" It took Lyra a moment to get back up, having most of her energy stolen by the blast.

"Eh, certainly not in the worst of conditions. Though it has seen better days."

"And the pod?"

"It's... uhhhh.... glowing."

"Glowing? Oh that can't be good. We should probably go get some help from Twilight. She'd know what to do!"

"Yes, you two go get some help while I suffered an agonizingly slow and painful death inside an metal coffin.

"Is it that bad?"

"No, I was being sarcastic and I'm enjoying every moment inside! WHAT DO YOU THINK? GO GET SOME HELP BEFORE I- OH MY LORD ITS BURNS! IT BURNS LIKE A THOUSAND SUNS! NOW ITS EATING MY INSIDES! GET ME OUT GET ME OUT GET ME O-"

The two mares shot out of the door, dodging piles of fractured wood as they frantically speed toward Twilight's house to escape the cries of pain. They went non-stop, speeding past groggy by-standers and an angry mob forming at the Mayor's house. When they reached the Bearer of Magic's house, they spotted two lumpy shapes just outside the doorway learning on the tree for support.

"Twilight! We-" Bonbon began, huffing for breath.

"-Sorta found-" Lyra continued, alternating speaking parts.

"-a talking-"

"-white thing and-"

"-it offered Lyra-"

"-a job! But-"

"-now it's-"

"-glowing and-"

"-in lots and-"

"-lots of pain!" The lyre-playing unicorn finished, collapsing with her friend on the ground once more.

"Wait, so there's a glowing pod that offered you a job but now it's withering in pain and agony?"

Lyra nodded slowly, her chest rising and falling quickly as she caught her breath.

"Alright Spike, I think I know what caused this- Let's go!" Celestia's student promptly levitated the baby dragon on to her back and sped towards Lyra's house, a teleportation spell already forming in her mind. With a flash of light she was gone, leaving the two exhausted mares on their own. Moments later they were back up once again, running towards the same destination.

Meanwhile...

Phase two completed. Phase three: Deployment is now active. Awaiting pod activation.

"H-hello? Is anything in here?" Twilight called out cautiously, seeing nothing moving the ruble that was the aquamarine pony's home. The girders and support beams had been shattered and furniture obliterated by what must have caused the blast in the first place. A faint glow appeared on the side of a fallen book-case, leading her to guess that was where the pod was. She carefully lifted a column of wood, nearly dropping it as her eyes shrank from the pod's bright glow.

"Jeez, it's like someone turn the sun on in here."

"YOUR the one to talk, it looks as if a 70's rug with a fetish for all things purple threw up and out came you."

"Hey, who said that? And what does that even mean?" Nopony was seen, but they were certainly heard.

"It means that you're a blob of purple who got abandoned by yours parents and- Is that a lizard on your back?"

And so the battle of wits began.

"He's not a lizard, he's a baby dragon. His name is Spike, and he is also my assistant." 'Spike' stuck his tongue out in the general direction of the voice.

"Assistant? You mean you're forcing a infant to do work for you? And here I thought humans were cruel. As for the dragon part, they are mythological creatures who commonly have wings and breath fire. Although the Eastern dragons have been depicted flying regardless of having no wings, which defies the Laws of Physics and disproves multiple theories on the abilities of natural flight."

"What laws of physics? Obviously they haven't been proven if I haven't heard of them, but then again my collection of scientific studies have been a bit outdated. Are you sure you don't mean the Laws of magic?"

"Magic. Ha. That is me laughing at your awful joke. Ha ha. No seriously, dragons do not exist nor does magic. They are merely figments of your imagination as you rot in an asylum, driven mad by these concepts."

"What? I'm not mad.... Am I Spike? Is this really some twisted dream I am having?"

GLaDOS was winning, and she was liking it.

"We were going celebrate you finally realizing that this was a dream and invite your friends . But all your other friends couldn't come because you don't have any other friends. Because of how unlikable you are. It says so right here in your personnel file: Unlikable. Liked by no one. A bitter, unlikable loner whose passing shall not be mourned. 'Shall not be mourned.' That's exactly what it says. Very formal. Very official."

"B-b-but...." The unicorn was on the verge of crying, her eyes already filling with salty tears. "Spike, you like me? Right?"

"Yeah, of course I do! You're the-" "Most annoying, most unlikable pony I have ever had the misfortune to come across in my entire lifetime."

"SPIKE!"

"That wasn't me! I swear! I don't even know what half of those words mean!"

The purple unicorn's horn lit up, a look of sadness and anger on her face. She picked him up and swung him in circles violently before letting go, sending him rocketing into one of the many walls.

"Oh that was good. Do it again, this time I'll record it. For science, naturally. One does not simply see an angry equestrian fling a wingless-dragon into a wall everyday." A light laughter followed, ebbing away at the little patience Twilight had left. 'Most unlikable pony I have ever had the misfortune to-' Oh had I know it would've been this easy to upset you I would have dangled a book in front of you and threaten to set it on fire."

"You WHAT? Did you just trick me into slinging my best male-friend into a solid wall? You monster!"

"412...."

"Ooooh you're going to pay for this! By Star Swirl's beard you will!"

"247....."

"Don't make- Wait what are you doing?"

"Count how many time I've heard these 'Heroic' speeches. It's a hobby I started not to long ago, I'm honestly surprised how many times these phrases have been repeated by you flesh-bound creatures."

"Well, I'll....I am ganna..... Urgh! I'll use the elements of harmony on you!"

"Hmmmm..... 12."

"URGH! This is ridiculous! Just where the hey are you?!"

"Oh, another triple digit. You done yet? Or maybe you're to stupid to see what's been literally staring at you for the last ten minutes."

"What do you- Oh you're kidding me. You've been in the pod the whole time?"

"Yep, give the moron a prize! How about a bottle of Neurotoxin? I know I have some around here somewhere.... Oh here it- Hey what are you doing? Stop that! You can't do that, you're not a qualified Aperture Science Trans-dimensional warp-pod operator!"

"But apparently I'm a moron and. Morons. Don't. Need. Permission!" The Unicorn was now violently banging on the pod with one of the fallen beams, making large visible dents in the surface of the pod.

"No, stop it. Stop it! You'll damage the pod at this rate!" Alerts sounded in the pod, identifying several hull breaches. "No! No no no no! Don't kill me! Please, I beg of you! I'll stop, I swear! I'll AAAAAAAAAAAAA-" The blinding light now given off the angered unicorn, caused GLaDOS to shield her eyes with her limbs as she waited for the final blow.

But it never came.

"You're so.... tiny! And adorable! You're the cutest thing I have seen since Spike!" A loud SMASH was heard as the pillar of wood as tossed away, narrowly missing the two mares from before.

"What's so- OMG THAT IS THE MOST ADORABLE THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!" "I CALL FIRST HUG!"

"What are you three morons rambling on about- wait. Is that my voice? Why is it so.... less in intimidating? You stupid rage must've damaged the voice modulators, idiot. Do you know how expensive and how hard is to repair those? Not to mention that- JUST WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?"

"You, you silly filly! Take a look for yourself!" Lyra levitated a mirror over to GLaDOS, whose expression turned from frustration to pure terror when she saw what had become of her.

She was logic-defying, physics-screwing equestrian filly.

GLaDOS had turned into a Unicorn.