//------------------------------// // A Day in Hell, and More to Come // Story: My Little GLaDOS // by TheApexSovereign //------------------------------// "They are loaded with prejudices, not based upon anything in reality, but based on… if something is new, I reject it immediately because it’s frightening to me. What they do instead is just stay with the familiar." -Dr. Wayne Dyer The journey to Ponyville was an uneventful one, though arduous on Glados' ears. Pinkie Pie kept insisting she'd throw a welcoming party for the new resident who in turn gave the same two-letter answer. Twilight tried helping Glados with her 'amnesia;' though, she kept saying her home was a mystery, that she couldn't remember. As Ponyville came closer into view, Glados' nose cringed at the strong scent of confectioneries and daisies. Adjusting to this abrupt odor, she blinked many times to confirm that this wasn't an illusion. Her heavy gaze slowly crawled over the pastel-colored buildings, completely contrasting with the dull whites and blacks of the Aperture Research Facility. She noted how impractical the houses looked, many of them built into obnoxious shapes and structures. Before the mare lay a wide cobblestone path that encircled what looked like a massive gingerbread house with patrons filing through the front door. Aside from this, the streets were relatively empty on this calm Thursday afternoon. Applejack stepped into the mare's field of vision, balancing an empty picnic basket on her back. "Well partner, this is Ponyville. Ah hope it comes to your liking. Ah've gotta get back to the farm and take care of some chores." She turned and slowly trotted away from the group. After a few steps she reared her head and yelled back, "Ah'll come getcha in a couple o' hours!" Rarity, wanting to make a better connection with the newly arrived mare, walked up beside her and said, "So, Glados, I apologize for our 'cold shoulder' introduction. As you know, I'm Rarity. I run the Carousel Boutique over there." She pointed at the tall building to the left, looking over the suburban area across town. Glados rose a brow at the carnival ride hitched on the top. "If you ever need a dress, whether it's for a social gathering or a trip to Canterlot, then I can offer you some of the finest apparel in all of Equestria!" The fashionista smiled contently. Glados never broke her stare from the obnoxiously colored town. "Wow. A real contributor to society." "Thank you! Finally, another pony who can appreciate the world of fashion!" Rarity chuckled softly, displaying a giddy smile. "You and I are going to be the best of friends." Glados responded with a grunt. Rarity turned to face the rest of her friends, "I must go and finish an order for tomorrow. It's been lovely, girls. I'll see you tomorrow." The ponies all waved goodbye to their departing friend as she made her way down the street. Behind Glados, Twilight Sparkle piped up, "Well, are you ready to go?" The white mare gave her a bored stare and said, "I guess so." The librarian walked beside her new friend, waving goodbye to the other three. "We'll see you tonight, everypony!" "Later, Twi!" "Bye girls!" "See ya later, alligators!" Twilight led Glados through Ponyville, taking the more scenic route. Twilight Sparkle chatted away about each and every location, even stopping at many points to go into finer detail. After ten minutes, Glados tried tuning her out, allowing her mind to slip. She even began counting the seconds inching by as the already long walk transformed into an eternity. Glados swore that she would rather relive the last four minutes before her destruction than listen to this pony's redundant drivel of pointing out every living creature that passed by. Anything but this. "And over there is Scratch's Vinyl Emporium." Twilight pointed at a neon green store with its name written in jagged lettering, reminiscent of lightning bolts. The store itself had a massive, novelty vinyl record protruding from the roof, giving the illusion of the store being sliced in half. From within the record store, a heavy techno bass accompanied by a pitched echo vibrated through the streets. For reasons Glados couldn't explain, she began to tap her hoof to the beat of the song. Twilight noticed this and chuckled softly. "You like techno?" Glados ignored the pony's groan-inducing term for the music and just ponderously nodded, "I've always had a taste for the electronic arts." The unicorn smiled, walking a few steps to the right, "And here we come to my place, the Golden Oaks Library!" Glados blinked, "That's it? We're done?" "Pretty much! Nice place, isn't it? Though I do wish Vinyl wouldn't blast her music at the crack of dawn every morning." With a disgruntled huff, Twilight looked up at the topaz orb descending behind the skyline. "Oh, no! That took way longer than I expected!" She hurriedly slammed the door open. "We've gotta write that letter to Princess Celestia!" Twilight bolted into the library with Glados tailing behind at a snail's pace. Her yellow orbs stared in awe at the hundreds of tomes stored on the shelves making up the library's circular interior. A very faint smile creased her lips. "Oh, where is that little dragon?" Twilight groaned, hopping from one hoof to the other. Glados deadpanned, "Dragon?" "Yeah, Spike's my assistant. Oh, where is he!?" The unicorn trotted up the stairs to her bedroom. Glados traveled across the spacious room, staring into the gentle flickers of the lanterns on the walls. She came across a table displaying several framed pictures of Twilight and her surprisingly young 'assistant.' One was of a filly unicorn and her recently hatched dragon, sucking the end of his tail like a pacifier, beside it was one of Twilight and Spike on Nightmare Night, and another was the duo including Rainbow Dash chugging down mugs of cider. Disgusting pigs. Glados thought with repugnance, Giving an adolescent alcohol. What would her parents say? The last picture caught the critical pony's discerning eye in particular, even though it was the least odd of them all. It was just a nice snapshot of the six ponies and Spike at Shining Armor's wedding. Dressed in the most sumptuous of bridesmaid gowns, laughing, rolling eyes, smiling like they just had the time of their lives. Without a care in the world, no responsibilities tying them down. Just life. Their perfect little carefree lives. Never having to worry about impending alien invasions, or psychotic mute humans armed to the teeth with just a portal gun, a potato, and a core with below-average I.Q. Here, everything is okay. Their all-powerful sun goddess who loves and cares for every insignificant speck in this miserable land takes care of everything with just a flick of her horn. But of course, the largest threat this land has experienced was a race weak enough and dumb enough to get defeated by the stomach-churning power of love. Glados couldn't explain the small fire burning in her chest right now, but whatever it was, she didn't like it. She set her jaw, This sorta reminds me of- CRACK! 'You've been wrong about every single thing you've ever done, including this thing! You're not smart, you're not a scientist, you're not even a full time employee! Where did your life go so wrong?’ The alabaster pony recoiled from the sudden clamorous shattering of glass. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to find evidence of what that noise was. Standing in the still silence of the library, the dialogue that followed the flash echoed in her mind loud and clear. At that moment, the balled up anger was out like a light, like it was never there. Looking back at the picture, at the ponies and their frivolous ways of life, Glados couldn't help but laugh at the sheer idiocy of these seven 'friends.' She snickered, placing a hoof over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her genuine, heartfelt laughter. CRACK! Time out for a second, there it is again. The paranoid mare backed away from the table. What is it? I don't see a broken window. What if I'm going crazy? I won't dispute that, considering this whole place looks like a child's coloring book. What about- 'Someday we'll remember this and laugh. And laugh. And laugh. Oh, boy.' Glados stood in baffled silence, her old robotic laugh replaying in her mind like a broken record. Yeah. I'm going crazy. Oh well. It can't be as bad as getting killed over and over and over again... Or going through another tour of this sugar-coated village. She rubbed her forehead, trying to force the painful memories out of her mind. Nostalgia sure can feel like a knife in your back... "Alright Glados, almost done!" Twilight shouted from the second floor, galloping down the stairs. "Spike's sending the letter now. Oh, I see you've met our little friend." She gestured to the table behind Glados, who slowly turned and shrunk away from the tiny creature hopping around the table. A tiny bird, with plumage of red and gold, looked up at the stranger with curious, beady eyes and gave a happy chirp. The mare, her eyes wide in fear, took a wide step back. "Get. Away. From me." She growled. Twilight galloped over to the table and set her back beside it, allowing the baby phoenix to hop on her back. "Oh, this is Pee Wee, Spike's pet phoenix. I apologize for the scare; you just don't meet too many ponies afraid of birds. They're quite harmless, I assure you." She nuzzled the critter's large beak, then turned to Glados. The white mare stiffened her back, prying her eyes away from the supposedly harmless creature. "Yeah, say that when the thing is gouging out your eyeballs with its murderous talons and tearing at your flesh with its glutinous beak." Twilight cringed at the mental image, trying her best to accept the pony’s irrational fear of birds. "Why are you so afraid of birds?" Glados blinked, "Um...." "Alright boys, Intelligence Dampening Core Dry Run, take two." Within the booth of the Central A.I. chamber, Professor Rattmann pulled a switch hardwired into the console beside the infamous red phone. From the ceiling, hundreds of thick, black cables twitched with life. A baritone whine slowly rose into a higher pitched moan as the disks around the power generator rotated until they were but a blur. Below the cylindrical component was the massive platform of the Central A.I., slowly beginning to gently swing within the confines of the spiral staircase encircling the 'head.' Its single, yellow optic focused on the polished tile floor. One by one, several eyes of varying colors flickered to life, ranging from purple to yellow, to green to a defining blue plugged into the monitor's head. After waiting several seconds for a response, Rattmann scowled, pressing down on a small yellow button. "Disk Operating System, respond!" He barked into the microphone. All he got was white noise. He leaned forward, squinting as he saw the core with a light blue optic twitching and fidgeting in uncontrollable spasms, as well as muffled screams of horror. Without even regarding his own safety, Rattmann walked out of the booth and leaned over the railing of the walkway. The Intelligence Dampening Core let out a series of near-authentic screams, as if it was in actual pain. "Gah! It's in my eye! I'm blind! I'm blind!" The professor adjusted his glasses to find a raven digging through the core's entire chassis in an attempt to obtain food from the bounty of worm-like wires, causing the small cone of light beaming from GLaDOS' optic began to flicker on and off. Rattman swore under his breath, walking into his booth and flipping the power switch back up. The gargantuan machinery whined down, the discs slowed to a halt and the machine's rocking ceased. He picked up the red phone, giving him a direct line to the Observation Complex. Almost immediately a scientist picked up the phone, Doctor Lynn, "Doug? What's going on? Why'd you shut it down?" Doug sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Just send some repairmen down here. I think another bird got into the platform." "Again? Ugh, where do these things keep coming from?" "Beats me. All's I know this is gonna be another three hundred bucks down the drain to replace the broken parts... Again." "Okay, Doug. I'll send someone down." And with that, Lynn hung up. Doug kept the phone in hand, slumped into his chair, and scratched the stubble of black hair growing from his chin. "Ugh, stupid project. Waste of our damn time...." "... I don't remember. I just am." Glados finished, shuddering at the grim memory of the bird tearing at the sensitive wires connecting her and Wheatley; the torturous feeling of salt in a wound. She locked eyes with Twilight, who in turn let out a drawn 'O-kay?,' slightly disturbed by the pony's odd behavior and apparent hatred towards birds. Pee Wee flapped his underdeveloped wings and was able to make a small jump onto the table. An awkward silence followed, though was quickly disturbed by the sound of claws scurrying down the stairs. "Hey, Twilight!" Spike called whilst running towards his surrogate mother. "I cleaned the library, organized the shelves while you were gone, and I sent the letter. So can you tell me who..." He twiddled his thumbs, motioning his head at the deadpanned mare behind him. Twilight's face brightened up, "Oh, right! Glados, this is Spike, the best assistant Equestria could ask for!" She gave him a little noogie, instigating a childish laugh from the young dragon. Glados rolled her eyes, "Yeah, hi. Now, can we see those 'technologies' you were telling me about earlier? I'm certainly not getting any younger." "Sure thing. Spike, I'm counting on you to make dinner." "Already on it!" the dragon said, running into the kitchen. Twilight faced the red door beside the table and allured it open. She stepped beside it, allowing Glados to step in first. The pair traveled down into the basement of the library, descending the staircase carved into the wood. Glados looked to her right at engraved sections of the wall where several books sat on each ledge. Lanterns that were pre-lit were welded into the ancient bark of this massive tree. Glados couldn't help but stare at the massive roots channeling through the ceiling into the walls. That is, until, she saw the 'advanced technology' Twilight was advertising. Like a filly on Hearth's Warming Eve, Twilight giddily dashed into her 'lab,' past an utterly befuddled mare. What in Heisenberg's name is this!? Pipes that ran from a console and connected to the ceiling seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever. Vats filled with different colored mixtures, pressure gauges attached to consoles with pointless buttons and...and... "Is that a seismograph?" She pointed a trembling hoof at an odd piece of hardware Twilight activated for demonstration, rolls of paper spilled from the slot into a bucket. "And didn't they retire that in the eighties?" The unicorn turned the machine off and shook her head, "No, it's just a little device used to read the magic levels of a pony. You just put this on the subject," She held up a metal helmet bedazzled with dozens of bulbs and lights. "And this does the rest." She patted the top of the graphing machine. "And don't you mean, 'it was retired in the neighties?'" Glados' eyelid twitched. "That's it. I'm done." She turned and made her way back up the staircase. A befuddled Twilight ran to the bottom step and shouted, "Wait! Glados, what's wrong?" "There's nothing to talk about. We're done here." she replied, her voice eerily calm. When Glados made it to the top of the stairs, the basement door swung open and Spike entered. "Twilight, Applejack's here!" he called down, then faced the white pony brushing past him. "Oh, hey Glados." "Get your 'generousness' out of my way." She pushed past the chubby dragon. Spike rose a brow and scratched his forehead, puzzled by the mare's odd statement. "You think I'm...what?" Glados ignored him and approached Applejack in the library's main archives. "Go. Now. Please." She didn't even wait for an answer as she brushed past the cowpony and went out the front door. Applejack was puzzled at the pony's fervent desire to leave and quickly followed her out the door. Twilight teleported at the doorway and called out, "Uh, I'm sorry Glados! I guess....I-I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Applejack waved back at her friend, "Don't worry, Twi! I'll take good care of her!" The cowpony quickly caught up with the mare walking at an unusually quick pace. "You okay, partner? Y'all was runnin' out there like a cattle gettin' branded. An' slow down! The night's still young!" As Glados slowed her pace, she noticed that it was, indeed, nightfall. Darkness cast over Equestria, with the thousands of stars blanketed across the blackened sky, accompanied by the full moon casting it's comforting white glow, though it didn't provide a sufficient source of light. Fortunately for Applejack, she knew this town like the bottom of her hoof. Glados slowed her trot to a walk, allowing Applejack to take the lead. "Let's just say my taste of science is vastly different from your friend's." The blonde pony laughed, "Heh, ah never understood that science-y stuff Twilight's always yappin' about. But don't fret. Ah'm sure this whole mess'll be fixed by tomorrow." A silence ensued as the pair traveled through the relatively empty Ponyville, smoke bellowing from dozens of chimneys. Glados silently relished the scent of charred timber as opposed to the town's 'daytime smell' of sugar and confectioneries. Once they merged onto the dirt path leading to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack decided to make friendly conversation; get to know the pony staying at her place a little better. "So Gladis, whadda ya do for a livin'?" "We're doing small talk now?" she said coldly, "Trade cards, exchange emails? Well, look elsewhere. I'm not your 'buddy.'" Applejack flustered, not expecting such a hostile response. "C-Come on, sugarcube. Is somethin' bothering you?" For reasons she couldn't explain, the earth pony's hospitality was starting to rub off on Glados, generating a 'not-so-hostile-but-still-pretty-rude' response. "I hate this place and I hate being here. I never asked for this, and I just wake up in the middle of nowhere. But apart from that, I'm doing just fine. I'm kidding of course." At the last second she added, "I'm kidding about kidding, by the way." Applejack was none the wiser. "Well, ah can understand yer antsy, but ah jus' wanna lay down some ground rules." She stepped in the pale mare's path, just outside of the main entrance to the orchard. "One: ah don't want ya spewin' this depressing stuff to mah lil' sis. Okay? Two: Everypony who lives here does their part. Now ah ain't askin' fer much, but this place is hard enough to take care of with four mouths to feed, an' ah don't like slackers. Ah just want you to do the dishes, take out the trash, feed the pigs-" "Let me get this straight." Glados said, holding up a hoof to silence the pony. "You want me, your guest, to do farm labor. Even knowing that I didn't even want to be here to begin with so now I'm technically a slave?" Applejack stuttered, mortified at the pony's accusation and, even worse, she was right. "Oh mah, ah didn't think about it that-" "I like you." Glados alleged with the most invisible of smiles. She walked past the befuddled earth pony and silently thought to herself, She reminds me of myself. The farm pony shook her head and caught up with her companion. "Well, if yer up for it. Anyway, mah family's a pretty well rounded bunch. Ah'm sure you'll get along with 'em jus' fine." The pair approached the farmhouse, walking under the plant-covered arch adorned with a wooden silhouette of an apple. The home itself had several lights on, indicated by the glow emitting from each window. Glados wasn't at all interested in how big the orchard was. She was more intrigued by the Apple Family's infatuation with apples. Seriously. I've counted at least seven apples on the house alone. This is, in all honesty, very unsettling. As they strode ever closer to the house, a small pony with soft yellow fur and big amber eyes sprinted out the door, her large pink bow bouncing with each quickened step. The duo stopped halfway and met the filly. "Hey there, Apple Bloom." her older sister chortled, rubbing a hoof into her sibling's once well-groomed mane. "Is Big Mac and Granny still up?" Apple Bloom ignored the question and began to bolt around Glados like a hyped puppy, taking in a deep breath and blurting out a dozen questions at once. "Ohmahgosh! A new member of the family! What's yer name? What's yer cutie mark? How'd ya get it? Can ya tell me how to get it? Are ya from-" Applejack stuffed her hoof into her sister's mouth, effectively silencing her. Glados felt a sharp pain shoot through her skull. Ugh, a headache. The first of many. "Come on, Apple Bloom." the older mare scolded, "A visitor comes to our home an yer manners just go right out the window? The hay's wrong with you?" The filly turned her eyes to the ground and shamefully kicked a small rock embedded in the dirt. "Ah'm sorry." she apologized sincerely. Her eyes rose to meet Glados. "So, what's yer cutie mark?" she asked, more enthusiastically. The white pony rose a brow, "A cutie....mark?" She craned her head and shifted her flank to the right and caught sight of a pale jagged diaphragm of Aperture's logo. "I just assumed those were tribal markings." Apple Bloom laughed, as did Applejack. "Aw, now ah now yer just pullin' mah leg. C'mon, yer talent! What're ya good at?" Glados blinked for a moment, mulling over the possible choices this 'cutie mark' represented. All powerful automaton? Neurotoxin specialist? No.... "Testing." she finally said. "Testin'?" Applejack echoed. "Well, that could come in real handy." She turned to her younger sister, who was uncomfortably leering at Glados' cutie mark. "Hay Apple Bloom, can ya go in an' tell Big Mac n' Granny Smith that we're here?" "Yes ma'am!" The filly turned with an eager bounce and dashed back into the house. The other ponies casually trekked along the dirt path towards the Apple Family's home. Glados cringed, seeing the humble establishment as homely and rustic. Applejack passed the time with more incessant questions. "So, Gladis, got any family back home? That is, if ya'll remember 'em." She added with a joking grin. Glados' mind raced, back to a time where she had the closest thing resembling a 'family.' 'Kill 'em all! Kill 'em all! I want to see the light fade from their eyes!' 'One cup of flour. Three eggs. Rat poison. Three quarters of bleach.' 'Ooh! Ooh! There's that lady from the test! I wonder what she's doing here. What are those things on her legs? What's she holding?' '...' 'Here's an idea: how about we not fill the place with neurotoxin, and instead we send these humans to the incinerator. Eh? Eh? Come on, you know it's a good idea. Sure, we won't be able to threaten them to test, but we save some neurotoxin, and we still get to take pleasure in seeing the filthy humans suffer. At least let me have that. Fair is fair, right? Come on, I'm getting decommissioned to rail management next week.’ "....I don't like talking about them." She said coldly. Applejack's shoulders sagged in disappointment, "Well, at least ya'll remember yer own family. Oh look, we're here." Glados watched the earth pony open the weathered storm door, allowing her friend to enter first. The mare did so without giving thanks. Inside the house was quite possibly the tackiest place Glados had ever laid eyes on. Everything was related to apples in one way or another. Green and red apples patterned the wallpaper, there were several knickknacks related to the fruit in a...china cabinet? On the right was a staircase with the side adorned with, you guessed it, apples. To the left was a fireplace with a few smoldering embers still lit, and on the mantle was a picture of the family: Applejack, Apple Bloom, a hardy crimson stallion Glados could only assume was Big Mac and a withered elderly pony who was obviously the one they referred to as 'Granny Smith.' A lime-green couch faced the fireplace several feet away with an even darker-green blanket already set up. Applejack slammed the door shut and stepped beside the guest. "Nice place, ain't it? Y'all don't have ta worry, Sugarcube. We'll make sure ya feel right at home." Glados refused to admit it, but there was a certain quality this house had that she couldn't quite understand. It was welcoming, homey. Nothing at all like the strange stiffness of the atmosphere in the library or the nauseating light-headed sense of peace and tranquility in Ponyville. There was an unusually sweet scent originating from the kitchen as well. At that moment, little Apple Bloom came sprinting into the living room. She said with her voice barely containing pent-up excitement, "They're here! They're here! Big Mac! Granny! They're here!" From the room the filly came from, a tall, robust stallion calmly strolled in. Chewing on a wheat stalk, his half-closed eyes silently judged the stranger his sister had only given a hasty description of. She seemed nice enough, calm, passive, and oddly curious. She was studying the workhorse just as much as he studied her. "So you must be the one mah sister's were talkin' about." he spoke in a gentle, baritone voice. "Name's Big Macintosh." He held up a massive, dirt-etched hoof. "GLaDOS." The mare replied just as softly, actually bumping her hoof to his. "I must say, you're quite an interesting subject that requires.... further study." If Big Mac's coat wasn't already a brilliant shade of crimson, his face would be as red as a strawberry. All he could utter was a choked, "Eeyup." Glados still marveled over this subject, even after their meeting. What an interesting specimen. It seems that even equines can have overdeveloped pituitary glands. Fascinating. After a minute of waiting in awkward silence, Applejack yelled out, "Granny! Are ya almost here?!" "Ah'm just gettin' past the stove now!" the senior yelled from the kitchen. The blonde earth pony chuckled, "Heh, maybe we should go in and meet her." The four ponies trotted into the kitchen where Granny Smith was using every ounce of energy to make one step. "Confounded modern do-hickeys." she muttered, cursing her aged bones. "Granny!" Applejack snapped, gaining her attention. "Da-wha?" AJ motioned to Glados who gazed at the elder with tired eyes. "This's Gladis. The one ah was tellin' ya'll about earlier?" "Ah know, ah know. Ya didn't think ah'd forget, did ya?" Applejack flustered for a second, rubbing the back of her head and tripping over her words. "Well-ah, uh-" "Yes." Glados blurted out. Big Mac rose a brow and Applejack shot a glare at the overly critical pony. Granny, on the other hand, gave a wheezy laugh. "Ah appreciate honesty in this household, sugar plum. Welcome to the family. Here, ah even baked you a pie." She lazily waved a hoof at the dinner table beside her, where a steaming golden apple pie sat. Granny Smith slowly marched past the siblings, making her way to the staircase in the living room. "Ah'm gonna get the bath ready. Big Mac? It's yer turn to scrub mah back!" Said stallion felt a cold shiver run up his spine. Glados tried her hardest to resist the baked cinnamon and apple treat, but her stomach furiously grumbled from not eating anything since Pinkie's disastrous cake. "C'mon, it's really good." Apple Bloom pressed, lightly tugging at Glados' planted hoof, "Granny Smith makes the best pies in Equestria, an' that's a fact." "Now Apple Bloom, what'd ah tell ya about modesty?" her older sister lectured. Of her own accord, Glados walked up to the pastry on the table, inhaling it's sweet aroma. Then she came across a small problem. "How am I supposed to eat this?" Behind her, the family exchanged looks and then burst out laughing. "C'mon, Sugarcube," Applejack said in between abating laughs. "We don' really have table manners." "Oh! Oh!" the filly piped up, "Sweetie Belle has a word for that. Uncut, uncoth...." "Uncouth." Big Mac corrected. That's an understatement. More like barbaric... Glados sulked, looking off to the right. "Anyway," The cowpony said, "If ya really don' wanna get messy, use a fork." In one swift motion, Applejack kicked the wall that inexplicably opened a drawer on it's own. Glados could care less. I've seen enough violations of the Laws of Physics to fill an entire report. She trotted towards the now open drawer and looked inside. Sure enough, there were forks, spoons, and knives ranging from different sizes and shapes. A new problem was encountered. "How am I supposed to hold this?" Next Time: Tyrants, Slavers, and other Proud Equestrians - The ponies take Glados to meet Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and it is there that her true nature is revealed. How will the ponies react? About as well as you'd expect.