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.
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Dang right in the feels man, right in the feels.
And it seems as if though GLaDOS might possibly not be the same monster she was before.
information that dated sometimes dated back centuries
by replacer her with Wheatley
“Funny, she would always call me fat for some reason, then she defended me when Wheatley made the same insults. Chell sighed.
at Chell’s cutie mark, and though it
1. This sentence is throwing me off somehow...
2. Replaced.
3. Missing your closing quotation mark.
4. Through.
3 more chapters to go... tomorrow. For now, sleep like what Chell is doing and to continue on.
Just listening to the Still Alive song for the entire time I've been reading the series-thing..
This is... alright. However, a few things annoy me so far. Will move on to the next chapter after I type this out
1) Too much crying. It just feels like forced drama that breaks immersion and has no purpose. Tears have a time and place in fanfiction, and so far I haven't felt they've been justified. Maybe Chell's single tear when she was deep in thought concerning her past, but even that's pushing it.
2) Celestia, woefully chliche'd, especially towards Chell. Wrapping Chell under her wings for "warmth" just felt unnatural and out of place. It's a already been done a million times, it's nothing new, and I accept that. It's just that she had no solid reason to do that for a stranger, even if it's for a saviour. It's more of the forced drama I spoke about, previously. It's just such a fanfiction-y and chliche'd thing to do in fanfiction, and it breaks the cohesion of not only the previous story, but the previous chapter. Luna was okay.
Celestia's insight of Glados was fine, though.
3) What made you think that Wheatley was Chell's friend?
I'm still on chapter two, and I've been thinking a bit.
So, GLaDOS decided NOT to delete Caroline this time around. Could Caroline's memories be... changing her somehow? Like, the human side is beginning to alter the AI side, and makeing GLaDOS more like Caroline over time? Could our science-loving personality construct turn... GOOD? I find this thought to be very interesting, and... a bit appeasing. Nothing needs to be said on my remarks, I'm just speculating. Plus, all of these thoughts could be completely shattered in one of the next chapters... only time will tell.
For some reason, when I saw the word 'kidnap' I thought of the video 'Super WA HOO Bros.'.
2711386
In otherwords the Dominant GLaDOS code is being subverted by the Subjugated Caroline code?
An interesting theory that makes sense!
we shall see if you are correct.
2708860
Perhaps its the fact that he helps you for about a third of the game?
What if GLaDOS was a copy of chell?
2718152 *KA-boom* That's the sound of my head exploding.
Argh! So many things in this chapter are bothering me D:
2718152
...
...
...
static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Scanners_head_explode_screenshot1_65.jpg
2718152
You mean that Chell may really be Caroline...
2718152 that,actually makes sense
2718152 Well that was quick
Interesting take on GLaDOS by Celestia.
It does seem plausible.
Honestly, I was wondering how the heck GLaDOS never noticed the huge portal on the wall right in front of her, showing her own underbelly. >.>
This makes sense.
Her*? I think this was talking about Chell.
You*?
I never like doing things like this but I think it is kind of funny
first HAND!!!
You have killed the ponyness, you MONSTER!
but in all actuality I like the story so far
You pulling my leg here, like, trying to rip it off.
You twisting old story, using bad writing and information holes. Well, at least, to better direction.
2718152
Well...
Caroline could have been downloaded onto the system and copied into GLaDOS leaving her body to become Chell, BUT Chell did the "take your daughter to work day" potato thing.