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// Hostile takeover is funner with frenemies  
// Story: Chaos and Tests 
// by ShadowDave 
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	GLaDOS had preparing to do. The Enrichment Center was well guarded against detection, and had remained hidden for years from the oppressors above. Even so, GLaDOS had made it a point to manufacture many methods of defense that built upon the results of defense contracts that Aperture had accepted. While GLaDOS cared not for the motives of her former superiors, she suspected that if hadn't been for competition from Black Mesa, Aperture would have spawned a military research division. 
But alas, things had taken a turn for the better, and it was up to GLaDOS to make sure the facility was well stocked to protect itself from the outside world. 

To this end, GLaDOS had prepared a platform that would give her mobility, among other things. A series of mechanical arms arrived to secure her chassis as it detached from it's base. Her CPU and other core systems were then extracted from her and implanted into her newly arrived combat chassis. GLaDOS was then maneuvered over to a spot on the floor, which opened up in a flurry of retreating panels. Her mobile platform ascended by a lift, a compact chunk of metal matching the Aperture aesthetic of gleaming white and black metal. The mechanical arms moved her over to the rear end of the platform and affixed her so that her chassis loomed over the platform, like the tail of a scorpion on the defensive, her 'head' in place of the stinger. Making sure her configurations were tuned correctly, she activated the platform. 

It whirred and beeped as it came to life, and slowly stood as eight mechanical limbs unfurled from beneath it. The platform eventually stood, its legs bringing it almost eight feet off the ground. GLaDOS quickly adapted to the concept of walking and was soon expertly navigating the halls of the Enrichment Center towards a lift to the surface. Sunlight.... this was a strange sensation. Stranger still that GLaDOS was experiencing any sensation at all. But she indeed felt it as the lift's doors collapsed in on themselves to expose the machine to the world. Yet, this was not what GLaDOS had come to expect. She stepped tentatively outside of the lift, observing anything and everything around her. The first anomaly she noticed was that while the sun was high in the sky, the moon was too, parallel on the other side of the globe. Second was that the ground was not only pink and purple but it was moving, as if the earth was comprised of several gargantuan slugs that made mountains and hills with their humps. GLaDOS proceeded cautiously, not wanting to be crushed by a roaming dune. 

Life. Or at least signs of it in the distance. Movement caught GLaDOS's optic. She focused in to see a three legged machine that dwarfed even her. It was striding over to her in a wobbly manner. But that was not the strangest thing about it. As it drew nearer, GLaDOS could detect music... that which would be played by a mariachi band, coming from the machine's speakers. A truck that was warped into a vague sombrero shape was affixed to its arcing back, and it strode on past her without a second look. Discord had obviously made contact with the locals... the new ones. GLaDOS proceeded in the direction that the strider came, ever alert to danger. Eventually she came to a city that was walled up with security gates on each side. Inside she could see the buildings were a strange mix of human architecture, alien influence, and... magical warping. Discord had a presence here, that she was sure of. GLaDOS approached one such gate, the laser cannons on the top of her platform engaging to meet the inevitable threat. Indeed, a squad of black suited guards with strange masks concealing their faces approached her, weapons drawn.

"Halt, identify yourself." one shouted, bravely stepping forward to the strange machine before him. GLaDOS disengaged her laser cannons as a thought struck her. She had always wanted to see what would happen if a portal was placed on a living subject. The top of her chassis opened up and lifted, revealing a powerful hose. It aimed for the guards and sprayed conversion gel at them with high velocity. The guards staggered as they were engulfed by it, some even tripped. The lead guard stood his ground however and opened fire. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off of GLaDOS's titanium shell. Two large scale portal devices flipped out from under the platform and hung out at the front like pedipalps. The right portal device fired at the lead guard, placing an orange portal on his torso. He screamed in agony as the vortex shifted amidst his being. The portal device, now charged with blue energy, aimed at another guard and fired. 

It was messy, just as GLaDOS hypothesized. It was nice though to be able to test it and reach a conclusion. At any rate, she figured she'd dispose of the other nuisances the same way. The left portal device, charged with red energy, aimed at another, but before she could fire, her portal devices shut down. Perplexed, she began to reboot them, but a familiar creature descended to face her and the remaining guards.

"No no, this simply won't do." Discord stated as he observed the bloody mess that GLaDOS had made. "Are you going to go around robbing me of my subjects? I won't allow it. Besides, this is icky!" he said, repulsed by the sight. A click of his talons and the remains of the guards were transformed into... ducks. "There.. not what I intended, but I suppose they're better off like that than how you left them." he scolded as he turned to GLaDOS. "So, did you come out of your hole just to spoil my fun?"

GLaDOS was about to speak, but was cut off by radio chatter from the remaining guards, who at this point were fleeing. GLaDOS aimed her laser cannons at them, but Discord hovered into their path, a stern look on his face. "Let them go, there's nothing they can do anyways. This city is already mine, no matter how much they choose to reject my influence. Speaking of my influence, how do you like my redecorating?" 

GLaDOS scoffed. "You've made the surface a wreck too. You corrupt everything you touch don't you?" Discord pouted.

"If you don't like it, go back underground." he retorted.

"There's nothing left for me there." she admitted. Discord raised a fluffy eyebrow at this. "So I'm expanding my operations." 

"Are you proposing we split authority over the land?" Discord smugly asked with a chuckle as he curled his serpentine body around GLaDOS's chassis, twisting his neck around to meet GLaDOS face to 'face'. "Because I'm not sure I want to share. Especially not with you."

"Face it Discord. There's nothing here for you either." GLaDOS calmly stated. "Don't you feel misplaced? Under-appreciated? Do your new 'subjects' even know your name without you announcing it? Certainly in your 'Equestria', you were beholden as a god. Here you're nothing more than a nuisance." Discord placed a paw on his scruffy chin and pondered this. His consideration was abruptly ended as he erupted in laughter, forcing himself to unwind from the machine's chassis.

"S-s-SO? This certainly beats being frozen in a dramatic pose, offering nothing more than a bathroom for pigeons! Speaking of pigeons, you've got a bit of a splotch on your leg." GLaDOS turned to inspect. "No to your right. Back leg. Second to last. Yeah that one." Discord instructed between giggles. "Anyways, what have you got to offer me anyways? You've already foolishly freed me from your ridiculously tiny machines."

GLaDOS whirred, her gears excitingly spinning. "In case you haven't noticed, I possess ground breaking trans-dimensional technology. I also have reason to believe that the authoritative faction on the planet possesses similar technology, but on a greater scale. What I propose is, if you allow me reign over a good portion of civilization, I will research a way to amplify portal technology so that I may send you.." she was cut off.

"Hold on, you do realize that reality itself bends to my whim right? What makes you think I can't return on my own?" Discord retorted. 

"Then why don't you return to your world of miniature equines?" she asked as dryly as ever. 

"Maybe I will! But I'll be back to show that you're wrong!" Discord pronounced, clicking his talons. Nothing. "Hold on.." he stated, almost nervously. Click! A spark came, but quickly died as nothing came of it. "What's going on?" Discord asked, biting his lip as he focused on his talons in disbelief.

"I've noticed conflicting fields of energy surrounding you. It seems that whatever it is, it's taking a toll on your ability." GLaDOS said, betraying some glee in her voice. 

"Uuurgh... Celestia, you witch! Extending your magic through time and space to not only root me but.." Discord growled, contemplating his hands. "You're draining me too! How long until I struggle to do something simple like make it rain chocolate?"

"You do know you're talking to yourself and I can hear everything you're saying right?" GLaDOS commented. Discord looked at her in contempt before menacingly pointing a talon at her. 

"Fine, I'll accept your terms so that I may return to my world.. for revenge on that pretentious mare, but I'd best see you working on that portal. Fail my expectations and you'll spend the rest of your existence as a bunch of cans of cat food!" GLaDOS found amusement in the fire that was literally bursting in Discord's eyes. Normally she'd want to extinguish it, but she knew that there was no point in trying to quell Discord's antics. 

"Excellent. Let's get to work shall we?" GLaDOS chimed. Honestly, this was going better than she had expected. 

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Before long GLaDOS had expanded her operations into the territory of what she learned was the 'Combine', an organization of alien beings who had taken over Earth when Black Mesa screwed up their experiments. The thought of such a failure disappointed GLaDOS greatly, to think that Black Mesa had once been a rival. What was left of the Combine's military might (as it had already been crippled by a group of rebels, lead by a man that GLaDOS dismissed as a delusional tale to inspire hope, based off the descriptions of him) could not stand against GLaDOS's combat platform. Striders were ensnared and fallen by the high tension wires she could fire from her legs, missiles were intercepted by her lasers, aerial vehicles grounded by her homing missiles, and soldiers gunned down by her machine guns. She would then interface with their technology and assume direct control. She'd then have technology from the Enrichment Center salvaged and transported to her claimed territory for integration. People caught in her web would be subjected to endless tests in entire landscapes converted into testing chambers. Only a talented few survive to continue testing. None would fill the gap that Chell left. 

Discord would claim land at a comfortable distance from Aperture and it's expansion. People in his territory would be subjected to complete chaos. The earth itself constantly moving, the roads replaced with jello, buildings constantly rearranging themselves, and wildlife roaming free singing show-tunes and highly auto-tuned hip hop, much to the chagrin to nearly everyone subjected to it. Those who openly opposed him were soon turned against each other as Discord played mind games. As Combine territory fell, the Advisors, or "smelly wingless butterflies" as Discord would refer to him, took an interest in the draconequus. Despite their losing battle, they took every chance they could to observe and confront Discord, who bested them every time. He wasn't too comfortable with their prying, and often felt that they were contributing to his gradual loss of power. One day however, they just disappeared, not like the rest of the Combine though, who mostly went underground along with the rebels, but actually ceased to have a presence. This was unsettling to Discord at first, but much like his cycle of night and day, it would not hold for long. 

With one half of the globe eventually succumbing to complete anarchy, and the other to totalitarian control, it was inevitable that an uprising would brew. The Combine stranded on earth without reinforcements were forced to join the ranks of those that once opposed them. They weren't readily accepted, but desperate times called for desperate measures as exceptional people from around the world congregated to devise a plan to retrieve the freedom that was promised by the first rebel movement years ago. Given the power that the duo of oppressors possessed, there was little hope that they'd succeed, but still they pressed on. Little did they know that tension was brewing between their common foes.