//------------------------------//
// Chapter 20: Resonance 
// Story: A Trusted Friend in Science and Ponies 
// by Rethkir 
//------------------------------//

	











“Well, it looks like you finally made it. Please, come in.”

Chell was hesitant to comply with GLaDOS’s request. She looked around to her friends, but they were just as unsure of what to do, including Princess Luna.

“Now, no need to be shy. I think we are all acquainted well enough by now. So please, come in,” GLaDOS repeated.

The emancipation grill deactivated as well, and GLaDOS quickly grabbed the entire group telekinetically and flung them into the chamber. After they were all inside, both barriers came back online.

“Good,” GLaDOS said rather gleefully, using Celestia’s mouth to speak. So glad for you to finally make it, Chell.” She sighed heavily. “I’m disappointed that you didn’t come alone, not that I expected that you would. Though, it’s not much of a setback, really, as if any of you will be able to make much of a difference. Still, I did not wish to leave your friends outside, just because they are unwanted. That would be rude.”

“Excuse me?” Applejack objected bitterly. “I suggest you take that back.”

GLaDOS did not turn her attention away from Chell.

“And I suggest that you keep your friends under control,” she said directly to the orange earth pony who had not just spoken. This time, she was using her own voice again.

Chell didn’t respond. She remained silent, only staring unwaveringly at her mortal foe.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. You don’t have to be silent around me anymore. I understand that in the past, our conversations were rather… one-sided, so I think I’ll give you the benefit of letting you say whatever you want. So here’s how this will work: you ask a question, and I’ll provide an answer if I feel it it is something you should know.” Chell still said nothing. GLaDOS was losing her patience. “What do you want, a piece of cake?”

Chell narrowed her gaze. She exhaled heavily through her nostrils, venting her seething anger.

GLaDOS vanished in a burst of light and spontaneously appeared a mere few inches from Chell’s face. “SAY SOMETHING!” GLaDOS screamed with both of her voice and Celestia’s.

The earth pony fell back in shock. The mouth under GLaDOS’s armor smiled wryly.

“Not so stoic now, are you?” GLaDOS said calmly with her own voice. “Hmph. You act as if you’re surprised to find me not surprised by your appearance. Of course I knew you’d come. For starters, I invited you. But beyond that, I knew the entire time when you were in this mountain. Oh, how easy that was. All I had to do was listen to the sound… of my heart breaking. And then I knew, that you would be nearby.” Chell got up off the floor, but GLaDOS walked in a tight circle around Chell, looking at her the entire time, who only turned her head to not let GLaDOS out of her sight. She waited patiently for a response, until finally, she got one.

“You want to talk about a breaking heart,” Chell snapped, “after what you just did to Wheatley? And Twilight? Fluttershy? You have no heart!”

GLaDOS chucked again. “You know, Celestia said the same exact thing, but then regretted saying that immediately. The coward. You know, I find that very offensive. Just because I'm a machine, you assume that I don’t have a heart. You know, not all machines are heartless. How would feel if I assumed that you possessed negative attributes stereotypical to humans, just because you were born human? Stupid, arrogant, greedy, overly emotional, irrational, lustful, petty, pesky… Would you like it if I called you that?”

“Are you done?” Chell pardoned. “I can finally speak my mind to you, and you go back to the petty insults? Does this have to do with anything?”

“No, I suppose not.” GLaDOS stopped pacing, which made Chell feel slightly less uncomfortable. She still wished that GLaDOS would back off. “There’s no need for harsh words. That was the point I was trying to make. You be nice to me, and I’ll be nice to you.”

Chell huffed. “If that’s how you want to play, explain what you just did to Wheatley.”

“Or, you could demand answers. I suppose that works too, but I was hoping we could act civil—”

“What did you do to him?” Chell demanded

GLaDOS smiled. “I crushed him,” she flatly replied, knowing that wasn’t what Chell had meant. She waited another moment to test Chell’s patience before continuing. “Now, don’t think I’d let him off that easily. He will be reassembled later so that I will be able to kill him again… and again… and again.”

“Why? Why can’t you let that go? Just get over it.”

“Come on, Chell. Don’t tell me you aren’t happy to see that scumball get what he deserved. I don’t know why you feel so bad about what I did. The only reason he was ever here was because I brought him here in the first place, just as he was the one to bring both of us here. His only purpose in this world was to be crushed. And if I had not brought him here, you would still be resenting him. So, you’d be miserable either way.”

“Hold up, is this going anywhere?” Rainbow Dash interrupted. She flew up into a hover off the ground. “I don’t mean to sound bored or anything, but are we going to get wup your tail anytime soon, or are you gonna bore us to death?”

“You know, Rainbow Crash makes a good point. I have to admire her lust for destruction, but I don’t really appreciate it when I am told to adjust my pace. I know this conversation may feel pointless to those of you who are too stupid to understand or impatient to care. And let’s be honest, we all know that diplomacy isn’t going to settle our differences.” GLaDOS glanced at the rainbow-maned pegasus. “But, considering that Chell has never really had the chance to say anything to me before, you should at least be considerate enough to give her that chance. I know that her mind is filled with questions, and frankly, I think she deserves some answers. So, go ahead and do your worst to ne. It will be an annoying interruption. Then I can put you in your place and get back to what I was saying.”

Rainbow Dash landed and stepped back. “Sorry, Chell, I’ll wait.”

GLaDOS waited a moment before proceeding. She sighed. “Back to what I was saying, you should know by now that we machines aren’t quite as fragile as you fleshy beings. We are incredibly easy to repair, so much so that a hundred brainless thugs can reassemble me with the proper instruction. You should have seen the condition my body was in after what Celestia did to it not too long ago. Now, I couldn’t fix everything in this short amount of time, but I didn’t need to. The princess who caused my problem was also the solution to it. Anyway, I’ve been waiting patiently for you to finally come up here.” She scooped a piece of the cake and placed in her mouth ever so delicately, chewing savoringly.

“Waiting patiently?” Chell repeated. “Didn’t you say—”

GLaDOS interrupted by raising a hoof in the air. “Yes, I did, didn’t I? That whole business with calibrating the machine? That was… a lie. Everything’s been ready hours ago. The only thing missing… was you. Did you think I would be so inconsiderate to not even let you watch the end of Equestria with me?”

Suddenly, Princess Luna stood forward. “We will not stand by whilst thou destroy this world,” she threatened, putting her hoof down in posture of assertion.

“Sister,” GLaDOS cooed with a mockingly sweet tone in Celestia’s voice. She gently tilted her head and approached the lunar princess. Luna winced at that word as if it had stabbed her. “I’m not doing anything of the sort right now. We’re just talking peacefully. Chell has questions. I have answers. You haven’t seen me make a threat or aim a weapon.” Her voice shifted back to her mechanical one. “I could, but I warn you that you wouldn’t want me to. There will be a time to fight, and that time is nigh, but just not quite yet. You can wait a few more minutes, can’t you?”

GLaDOS paced around, looking everypony in the eye as she did so. They could only glare back in utter contempt at the one who sought to destroy their lives.

“Yes, I can see what you all are thinking. I can see your burning hatred of me. I am not ignorant to that. You despise me, far more so than my dislike for any of you, and for good reason. You all want to tear me apart, and you want me feel the worst pain that could possibly. And I cannot blame you in the slightest,” GLaDOS said.

Nopony had the audacity to say anything back, nor did they dare look away. They were utterly flustered. Rarity expressed the most significant reaction, feeling great insult to the notion that she would ever wish such a thing. But as much as none of the ponies wanted to admit it, it was hard to deny their utter loathing of the one who caused them so much pain.

“But I would appreciate if you would ever be so kind enough to let me explain a few things before we proceed with any physical confrontation,” GLaDOS continued. “Because after that, the only explanations any of you will ever receive is instructions for your next test.” She chuckled.

GLaDOS looked back at Chell. “Anyway, Chell, I wanted you here because I wanted you to see firsthand how I am about to bring Science back Equestria. I can only do this once, so it has to be perfect.”

“How thoughtful,” Chell snorted. “So you just sat around waiting for us to catch up to you? What was the point of all that?”

“Well, I have been keeping myself busy during that time. I knew you’d try to stop me, so I had to… get dressed first. I didn’t want you to arrive before I was ready, so I made a little test to give you something to do while I was getting myself together. Oh, yes, how I miss that feeling. But even better, I got to do my three favorite things at once: punishing Wheatley, eating cake, and testing. You see, I was testing your devotion to this strange new world you call home, to see how far you would push yourself to protect this land and its inhabitants. Results: extremely positive. That will make this even more satisfying.”

“Why are you doing this?” Chell asked.

“Oh, I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that,” GLaDOS responded. “Well, why do you breathe? Why do you consume sustenance? Why do you try to survive in the face of certain death? It’s just what I do, little pony. The sooner you accept that, the easier this will be on you.” GLaDOS took another bite of her cake.

“That wasn’t the answer I was looking for,” Chell objected.

“No?” GLaDOS responded, feigning shock. “Nothing will ever satisfy you, will it? Well, I’ll tell you one thing: you were always a lot more stubborn than most of my test subjects.”

“Let me say this again,” Chell repeated. “Why. Are. You doing this?”

“Have you ever stopped to think” — GLaDOS’s voice changed to mimic Chell’s — “‘Maybe GLaDOS knows what’s best for me? Maybe she’s more intelligent than anyone else I know, and maybe I should listen to her.’”

“That’s a lie if I ever heard one from you,” Chell said back. “You could care less about what’s good for me.”

“I never said I cared what was best for you. I simply said I know. And sometimes, I am in the mood to divulge, if I’m feeling nice enough. Here’s one piece of advice, bringing your friends here was a mistake. You don't need friends. They will only bring you down. Believe me. I used to have friends who did just that, but then you murdered them. I’m a lot happier now that you did. Thank you for that. Would you like me to return the favor?”

“NO!” Chell screamed. “Stop it! Stop hurting these ponies! They don’t deserve this.”

GLaDOS snickered. “But you do, and that’s good enough for me.”

“Then if I die, you will have no reason to continue,” Chell reason.

“Not… necessarily,” GLaDOS pointed out. “Pain and suffering is the price to pay for Science to be accomplished. There is no Science without sacrifice. But I promise that what I do will be for the good… of all of us. So, that means that every… single… pony will be required for participate in testing.”

“Every single pony?” Chell repeated. “You need every single pony? Why?”

“A larger sample size will yield better results. So I figure, the more, the merrier. What little did I accomplish with a mere 300 ponies? How can I expect 300 to be an accurate representation of the entire population? Only the entire population can do that. I must study… all of them.”

“Will this make you happy?” Chell emphatically asked, “Will any of this make you happy? Hurting ponies? Making people miserable? Look me in the eye and tell me.”

GLaDOS looked Chell squarely in they eyes, just as she asked. “No, of course not. I am not capable of that emotion. But if you ask if I will feel satisfied, then perhaps. As of now, I am not. Once I get a new fully-functioning facility, I will be able to get back to my tests, back to science. It's the only one thing I’ve ever really cared about. And you helped take that away from me. How beautiful it is, that you will be the one to help me get it back.”

“I’m not helping you get anything!” Chell snarled. “I’ve had enough of this. Now that I can finally speak, please, I’m begging you! Stop what you’re doing!”

GLaDOS snickered. “That would be funny, if it weren’t so sad. Do you really expect me to put three months of hard work to waste just so you and all your little pony friends can go about your pathetic lives in happiness and bliss? What would happen if I stopped now? That would be such an incredible disappointment. What a waste for an opportunity that this world will never see again for rest of its entire history. Turning back would be a major mistake.”

Chell cocked her head slightly sideways. “What the hell happened to you? Why are you doing this?”

“Error: sufficient context missing from idiotic question.” GLaDOS robotically retorted.

“Why are you this cruel? Why do you want to hurt these ponies? How did you become this way?” Chell asked angrily.

“I was always as I am now. My primary objective is to test, and nothing else,” GLaDOS stated.

“You saved my life. Why?” Chell asked.

“I saved your life countless times, by not killing you, despite several… hundred… opportunities to have done so. Your question is invalid,” GLaDOS replied.

“The portal to the moon!” Chell recalled. “I would have been sucked through it if you hadn’t grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Why the hell did you even bother saving my life if you were just going to make it a living hell again? Please? Answer me!”

“Could you imagine if Aperture Science allowed for people to die like that? We would be liable for damages.” GLaDOS snickered.

“Give me a real answer. Now.”

GLaDOS sighed. “Very well. That is simple. Your death was not required at that time. I figured that it would be… funnier if I had let you live. And it turns out… I was right. If you had been sucked out into space, that would be great… for about ten seconds, but then you would be dead, and that would be boring.

“But consider this: I showed you kindness. I showed you care. I even saved your life, and then I said some pretty heartwarming mushy crap about how happy that made me feel. I even sang a pretty little song for you. And then, I finally let you go free. You finally had something to hope for: a new life. And by an astonishing coincidence, you found yourself in a new world that accepted you, and… you were… happy. Yes, you had a pretty good life.

“And then… I showed up, and you realize that all that happiness was just an illusion. Because… you can never be happy. You realize that you don’t deserve it. You’re nothing special, just an ordinary human that got turned into an ordinary pony. There is nothing valuable about you at all. Your friends would have befriended almost any human that had been transported here in your place. In fact, I’ve calculated over six thousand scenarios where that could happen. So, you are worthless to anyone except for my amusement.

“So, yes, I could have let you die, just as easily as I could have killed you. But… this way is much more humorous, don’t you agree?”

Tears fell from Chell’s eyes. “That meant something to me. I… I thought you cared about me.”

“I thought I did too, but I guess not,” GLaDOS monotonously retorted. “Well, that was your first mistake: to assume that I was even capable of feelings such as love and caring. I am programed to simulate those things, but I can never truly care about anyone. I am sorry if you were fooled by my artificial emotions. I warn you now, Chell, thinking that I ever cared about you will only cause you more pain. The only purposes of anything kind I ever did for you was to give you hope that I can crush again, which is exactly the same reason why I intend to rebuild Wheatley. All I will ever bring you is pain. Accept that, and you will be happier.”

“No! That wasn’t an act! You showed me how much you cared! I know that you did! Why did you turn back again? Please, I know you cared! You had too!” Chell cried back.

“Oh, boo, hoo. Poooor Chell,” GLaDOS mocked. “How sad and lonely you must be. Why don’t you cry… to your mommy?”

If Chell hadn’t hated GLaDOS before, she certainly did now. Nothing in the world could possibly justify this loathsome behavior. There was no doubt about it: GLaODS was a bully, pure and simple, feeding on the misery of others. Even when Chell had admitted her emotional vulnerability in full confidence, GLaDOS still exploited it. All Chell could do was to huff out her hatred in an enraged snort.

“Shut the hell up! Why are you treating me like this?” Chell screamed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I believe I made an err-ooorrr…” GLaDOS vocalized as her voice descended into a mechanically low pitch. “You don’t have a direct maternal ancestral unit, do you? Aw, what a shame that must be. I think this explains all of your problems, particularly about why you are so worthless. If it makes you feel any better, she never really cared about you to begin with, so you would be glad to learn what happened to her. If only you could see it… but I’ll save that for another time.”

“GLaDOS,” Luna scolded, “I am warning you, stop harassing Chell. She has did nothing to warrant this abuse.”

Chell hung her head down and sulked. “Why… do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you to deserve the living hell you’ve made my life? And don’t say murdering you, because YOU DESERVED THAT!” Chell screamed at the imposing alicorn. She lowered her head again to think of what to say. “All I ever wanted was to survive and be free, but you can’t even let me have that, even after you let me go.”

“No Chell, I never said I hated you,” GLaDOS said softly. “There was a very good reason I never let you escape. But you’ll find out soon enough.” Her demeanor was unbearably playful. Chell couldn't stand it. “Aren’t you interested in hearing about your parents? It’s quite a story.”

“What would you possibly know about my parents?”Chell responded. “I can’t even remember them.”

“But I can. Wouldn’t you like to know?” GLaDOS sniveled.

“Not from you,” Chell responded. “I don’t care about the past anymore.”

“What? Are you certain? I think you would find it very amusing. At least, I would,” GLaDOS immediately replied.

“That’s enough!” Chell shouted. “I’m done with whatever you have to say. I don’t know how, but I’m not going to let you do this.”

“Why do you even think you’d have a chance at stopping me?” GLaDOS huffed. “You are nothing nothing more than a weak, pathetic little pony.”

“GLaDOS, you’ve gone far enough. Stop it this instant!” Luna warned again.

“Is that it, then?” Chell taunted to GLaDOS, ignoring Luna’s interruption. “Is that all I’m worth? Are you going to ensure that I can never be happy so long as you’re alive? Then kill me now.”

“You only wish I would, but I have much better plans for you… special plans. I won’t make you an ordinary, worthless test subject again. I’ll give you something that will give your pathetic life some meaning. You can work by my side, helping me create and administer the tests. And you’ll help me watch and observe. How does that sound? You can be the one telling all these worthless ponies what to do, rewarding them when they pass, and punishing them when they fail. The job comes with an unlimited supply of cake. I promise it will make you happy. I know it would make me happy.”

“Oh, come on!” You ain’t gonna fall for that hooey, are ya?” Applejack interrupted.

“Do you think I’m being dishonest? Why would you ever think that?” GLaDOS almost genuinely replied. “Do you think that I would make Chell a promise if I intended on breaking it?”

“I don’t want your damn cake!” Chell bawled. “I WANT YOU OUT OF MY LIFE!” Those last words words echoed for some time.

“Alright, so I guess this is the part where we fight,” GLaDOS said after a long silence had passed. “Do your worst, ponies. I’m waiting.” GLaDOS took a bite of her cake, patiently waiting for the first pony to strike.

“Unhoof that cake, cakestealer!” an unmistakable, beaming voice shouted from somewhere up high.

Everyone simultaneously turned their heads, except for GLaDOS, who merely rolled her robotic eyes.

“Pinkie Pie!?” Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity shouted in unison.

The pink pony stood heroically on a high ledge, holding onto a loose dangling cable. She then jumped off the ledge and swung down toward GLaDOS, rear legs facing forward in a kicking position.

A pink hind hoof impacted GLaDOS in the face full force, but the metal alicorn didn’t move an inch. Rather, Pinkie was stopped dead in her swing and collapsed onto the floor. She held her injured leg in pain.

“Pinkie!” the ponies shouted.

GLaDOS chuckled a little. “Oh, Pinkie Pie, you are always good for a laugh.”

“How the hay did you get here? Weren’t you supposed to be in Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash asked the pink pony.

“Oh, that? I was with you guys the entire time!” Pinkie said cheerily from the floor, despite the pain she was in.

“No, Pinkie, you weren’t,” Applejack said flatly. “Seriously, why are you here?”

“Yeah, we all saw you pop out of the portal for a second before coming back to the other side in Ponyville. You were sooo not with us,” Dash added.

Pinkie scrunched her face in a frown for a moment, before beaming again. “Yeah, but then I realized that you guys were going without me, and I really, really, really wanted to help stop BLaDOS because of how mean and nasty she’s being, so then I went back through and followed you guys. But you were so focused on getting there that you must’ve not see me. I wanted to say something” — Pinkie’s voice became an obnoxiously loud whisper — “but you looked so focused, I didn’t want to be a bother.”

“Pinkie!” Rarity scolded. “You said you would stay in Ponyville to help Twilight feel better! How could you go back on your word?”

“Well, so did you!” Pinkie defended. There was an angry tone in her voice as well. “Ditzy said she had a good handle on it. And Spike also said he’d watch over her as well, don’t you remember?”

“Actually, I don’t remember Spike saying that,” Rainbow Dash recalled.

“Twilight told me that she’d be fine without me,” Pinkie continued, “so I thought I’d be better here.”

“Yeah, well, well… Twilight’s not fine!” Rarity huffed. “You saw the dreadful condition she was in, after…” Rarity turned her head to GLaDOS and glared daggers at her “… after… whatever that monster did to her!”

GLaDOS chuckled as if she had received a compliment. She was waiting patiently for the ponies to stop arguing amongst themselves.

“What are you laughing at?” Rarity snapped. “That’s not funny! You should feel ashamed of yourself!”

“I still don’t get how you got up here, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said curiously.

“Aw, who the hay cares?” Applejack dismissed. “Don’t you gals see that we got something way more important to worry about?” She gestured toward the mechanical white alicorn, who was watching the ponies’ argument in amusement. “Pinkie’s here. We might as well accept that and let her help. Let’s just stop fighting each other and stop this no good monster once and for all.”

“Oh that was easy!” Pinkie laughed as if she hadn’t even heard what Applejack just said. “See, I followed you guys into that dark, spooky cave, but then I got lost and was wandering around for a while. But then, I found the express elevator and took that all the way up.” She made a wild gesture with her two front hooves moving upwards. She then somehow popped off the floor and leaned over to Rainbow’s ear, whispering loudly enough for everyone to hear. “I bribed the guards with cupcakes.” She made a wide, toothy grin.

Rainbow lost her breath. “Express elevator? Cupcakes? So, all those stupid puzzles were for nothing?”

GLaDOS was laughing even harder now. “You stupid ponies still don’t get it, do you? The only reason she is here is because I allowed for it. That bubble-brained idiot would have fried herself bouncing through that laser grid, had I not so-kindly deactivated it for her. I figured I could use a little humor up here. You don’t know how boring it’s been waiting for you stupid ponies. And I tell you, making that delicious cake last this long was not easy.” She took another bite, chewing slowly and savoringly.

“Hey! I worked really hard on that!” Pinkie protested. “It wasn’t meant for you, not after all that mean stuff you did to Twilight, Fluttershy, and the Princess.”

“Don’t forget about ‘Idsy,’” GLaDOS, motioning to the crushed core.

Pinkie growled furiously, not even wondering or caring how GLaDOS knew her nickname.

“So, congratulations on making it here. So glad that you could come and join the party. I know how much you love parties.”

“Thou hast spoken enough cruelties, GLaDOS. Thy terror ends NOW!” Princess Luna warned, smashing her right forehoof into the floor.

“You’re right, Princess, I’ve said enough, “GLaDOS replied, “though there’s no need for such antiquated formality. We’re all friends, aren’t we?” She waited for a moment as her rhetorical question went unanswered. “Alright, let’s get this over with. Starting now, there's going to be a lot less conversation, and a lot more… well I’ll just let you watch me do, what I’m going to do.” GLaDOS walked up to a console and levitated a thick cable. She was about to plug it into a receptacle located on the right side of her head, but was interrupted by Princess Luna.

“GLaDOS!” Luna’s voice boomed. She flew upwards, ascending high off the ground. Her sheer magical power caused a strong gale throughout the chamber. “WE FORBID YOU FROM CONTINUING THY ACTIVITIES. WE DEMAND THY SURRENDER AT ONCE.”

GLaDOS put the cable back down, remaining completely calm. She smiled. “May I remind you that your sister is at my complete mercy? Threaten me, and she is dead.”

“And further delay your plans?” Luna retorted, dropping the royal tone. GLaDOS noticed that Luna was trying to hold back her emotions. “You have no power over me, you fiend. I love my sister, but she would not want me to let you use her like this. There is nothing I can do to stop you from hurting her, even if I comply with your demands. Her fate is already sealed. I’m sorry, Tia.”

But then, Luna found herself surrounded by her sister’s golden aura. GLaDOS was using Celestia’s magic to manipulate Luna’s body like a ragdoll. She twisted her limbs in uncomfortable positions and bent her neck backwards.

“It turns out, I can use your sister to control you. One thing I forgot to mention, the seven magical conduits that I severed: well, I didn’t want to let all that power go to waste, so I figured out how to redirect them to me. It was just another simple brain surgery, really. So now, you have no hope of defeating me.”

Suddenly, GLaDOS found herself falling backwards when her rear legs fell into the floor. She momentarily lost her concentration, but quickly used her wings to counter the fall, adjust, and clear herself away. It turned out, Chell had placed two portals beneath her legs.

She glanced at Chell, and a white bolt of zero-point energy generated from her metal horn picked Chell up and violently threw her across the room, all while maintaining her magical grip over Luna. Chell’s body rotated itself towards the cavern wall she was about to impact, letting her boots absorb the blow, and then fell to the ground. She ran back over to the encounter as quickly as she could.

“Oh, but I still would have defeated you even if Celestia had not granted me her power,” GLaDOS continued. “It would have been more difficult for sure, but you still would have crumbled. If I recall, she held out a lot longer than you when I first attacked. And look how easily I took care of her when she thought she could stop me.”

“Please, stop!” Luna cast a protective shield around herself that nullified GLaDOS’s control. She resumed flying under her own power, generating a powerful magical spell with her horn. A night-blue beam of light shot from her horn towards GLaDOS, who quickly countered with a golden beam of magic in return.

Their magic beams were deadlocked for a moment before GLaDOS used her zero-point energy manipulation to grab Luna’s horn and tilt it away, causing Luna’s spell to shift off course. Celestia’s magic quickly reached her younger sister, blasting her in the head. Luna was stunned and fell out of the air, hitting the ground with an immense thud.

“You remember the last time you went against your big sister. That didn’t turn out so well, did it? I thought you’d know better than that by now, especially now that you’re up against both of us.”

Luna lay on the ground defeated. She couldn’t move.

“Luna, get up!” Chell screamed.

“Well, that magic of yours is going to be a problem. I better take care of that now while I can. If I had my laser cannon with me, It’d blast your horn off. Well, I guess I’ll just have to kill you.”

“We gotta stop her!” Applejack yelled. The ponies ran towards GLaDOS, except for Dash, who took off flying like a bullet toward GLaDOS.

GLaDOS turned her attention to the ponies, casting a bright red ball towards them. The spell impacted the oncoming cyan pegasus and burst into a large crimson sphere that surrounded them all. Within the spell, the ponies drifted in agonizing slow motion. Dash, who was by far, the fastest of any of them, was floating through the air as if it were molasses. The edge of the spell was far enough that it would take several minutes to get to.

GLaDOS lifted Luna up against a wall using a combination of telekinesis and her own power, holding her upside down by her rear legs. She approached slowly. “Yes, I think it would be best if your own sister were the one to do it, don’t you agree? How about a few goodbye words from her first?”

“GLaDOS, I’m begging you, please stop! You don’t need to kill her!” Celestia’s mouth shouted. The robotic mare continued approaching Luna.

“Celly, you should think more carefully about your last words to your sister,” said GLaDOS’s mechanical voice, “especially when her blood will be on your horn.”

Within the temporal dilation sphere, Chell fired a portal on the ground in front of Rainbow Dash. “Doowwwnn,” she called as quietly as she could. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what Chell had planned, but she knew there wasn’t enough time to ask.

“GLaDOS, I know this isn’t what you want! Please, don’t do this!” Celestia begged again.

“Clock’s ticking. I advise you say goodbye while you still can.”

“Luna, I’m sorry, I can’t stop her,” Celestia cried, “but you can! Don’t be afraid to hurt me.”

GLaDOS positioned her sharp horn against Luna’s heart. She pressed against her chest, causing blood to drip from the wound.

“Luna,” Celestia pleaded, “I would give to you whatever strength I have if I could. Do not worry for my life. Just stop her, please! You can do it, sis!”

Luna tried to fight the grip, but she couldn’t summon her magic. The spell that struck her horn had made her unable to use it. There was nothing left for her to do but accept her fate. “I forgive you sister.” She closed her eyes, waiting for the darkness to come.

GLaDOS backed away a few inches, building a short distance for her to ram her horn into Luna’s heart.

The sound of a portal being placed came from the wall to GLaDOS’s right, causing her to hesitate for just a moment, and then…

BAM!

Rainbow Dash shot out of a portal and hit the cybernetic mare full force. The impact was strong enough to actually knock her over onto her side. GLaDOS lost her grip, and Luna fell to the floor on her head. The temporal bubble vanished, letting Chell, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie free.

“Ow!” Rainbow cried as she tumbled on the ground. She winced as she held her right forehoof, trying to shake away the dull, hard pain caused by striking the hard polished titanium.

A faint whimpering came from Princess Celestia. “Thank you…” she whispered meekly, though her pain was evident in her voice. It was only then that Dash noticed the heavy dent she made in GLaDOS’s armor, and she realized that it was digging into her body.

GLaDOS quickly cast a spell that rebuffed the armor back, then attempted to get up. “Well played, Chell,” she congratulated, seeing how Chell planned the attack. “I better take care of these friends of yours.” Effortlessly, she lifted Rainbow Dash off the ground. “Hm, I wonder how good of a flyer this pony will be without her wings.”

“Help!” Rainbow Dash screamed. She attempted to fly away, but GLaDOS pulled her wings outwards with such force, she could have ripped them off.

A light blue bolt of magic impacted GLaDOS in the head, causing her to lose her grip of Rainbow and let her fly free.

Most of the ponies were shocked to see that the magic spell came from Rarity. “Twilight taught me that one,” she explained casually, “though I was actually never able to perform it successfully until now.” She smirked, having not realized her accomplishment until at that moment.

“Oh, we’ve got another magic user over here,” GLaDOS mocked. “Let me take care of that.

Not wasting any time, Chell used all four of her portal guns, as awkward as it was, to place four portals close to GLaDOS and connecting ones nearby each of her friends. She then pointed at her friends to enter one of them. GLaDOS did not have enough time to react before she found herself being attacked from all sides. From behind, a lasso was thrown tight around her neck.

Pathetic ponies. What chance would a measly rope have in stopping me?

But before GLaDOS could deal with it, out from the side of her, an annoying blur of pink popped out and blocked her vision. Before GLaDOS had a chance to calculate Pinkie Pie’s path, she darted away to her right. The cybernetic mare attempted to follow to the right, but was stopped dead by the rope around her neck.

She looked back to see the farmer earth pony standing firm, holding the rope in her mouth. GLaDOS tried jerking the rope away from Applejack, but she wouldn’t budge.

“I must say, earth pony magic is by far the most unappreciated,” GLaDOS commented as she turned around. It was obvious to her that the rope had to have some form of enchantment as well, otherwise it would have snapped. However, there was one easy solution to this problem. GLaDOS charged toward Applejack in hopes of trampling her, but the ground below Applejack disappeared, and so did Applejack.

GLaDOS could not tell where she had gone, but it would have been impossible for her to escape the room. Wherever she was, GLaDOS knew that she had to be connected to some hard solid surface in order for her earth pony magic to work, since the mechanical mare was unable to pull against the rope. She swatted her hoof at the rope, trying to throw Applejack off-balance, but she was unable to, despite her superior strength. Rarity approached from the side and delivered an aerial kick in GLaDOS’s face, which had little effect. 

Rarity was soon met with the sound of the GLaDOS’s shoulder-mounted turrets opening. A sudden survival instinct hit Rarity, who quickly reacted by sending a blast of magic to the alicorn’s face, scrambling her vision temporarily.

“Cool, I didn’t know you could do that!” Pinkie cheered.

Rarity found herself panting from her adrenaline shock. “I didn’t know either,” she replied. She took a second to catch her breath. "I guess we’re all—” she gulped “—capable of doing more than we realize when we are pushed just enough.”

While GLaDOS was dazed, Rainbow Dash raced downwards from a portal on the chamber’s ceiling, slamming hard into GLaDOS’s chassis from above, forcing the mechanical monstrosity into the ground and causing further harm to her, as well as the princess inside, who screamed from the unimaginable pain.

GLaDOS merely laughed, despite the pain of Celestia’s that she felt as well. Her body coughed. Effortlessly, she took one of her mechanical razor wings to the rope and sliced through it, causing Applejack to fall backwards on the other side.

She slowly got up and looked at Chell, who had been previously out of her sight. “You have a fine mastery of multiple portal device usage,” GLaDOS said to Chell. “You’ve learned quite a lot from all that time you spent testing with me. Looks like it managed to do you well after all. But I’m getting bored of toying with your friends.”

At that moment, Rarity was caught in a bolt of electricity from GLaDOS’s horn and was unceremoniously flung across the chamber. She hit the wall hard with some blood and a few teeth flying from her mouth. A limp, crumpled Rarity fell to the ground, knocked out cold.

GLaDOS chuckled. “I think the prissy one looks better this way. Now magic’s out of the way.”

It was hard for the ponies to believe that GLaDOS would do such a thing so coldly. Applejack was not going to stand by while this monster abused her friends like that. So she picked up her lasso and charged at GLaDOS in retaliation. GLaDOS turned towards Applejack’s direction, sidestepping a charge from Pinkie Pie in the process. Her lasso was enchanted by GLaDOS and then took the form of a hangman’s noose, which wrapped around Applejack’s neck before she even knew what was going on. Applejack was hoisted by the neck high above the chamber, where the rope was tied to a broken pipe. Applejack frantically attempted to loosen the grip of the noose around her neck.

Rainbow Dash flew up towards her, but just as GLaDOS launched a static lance at the pegasus, she dove straight down to the ground… entering a portal. With GLaDOS momentarily losing her, Rainbow flew straight up from the second of the portals Chell had placed and reached Applejack… only to be smacked out of the air by GLaDOS, who’d taken flight moments after Rainbow had entered the portals.

Just as Applejack slipped into unconsciousness, GLaDOS let the rope loosen, allowing Applejack to slip from the rope and fall from the ceiling. In one motion, Rainbow Dash grabbed her falling friend, laid the barely alive Applejack down on the floor by Rarity, and set her sights on GLaDOS. 

As she charged toward GLaDOS at faster than her usual blazing speed, her robotic adversary encased Rainbow Dash within an orb of black magic. Rainbow Dash found herself flying in the opposite direction of her intended destination. No matter how hard she tried, Dash kept flying everywhere that wasn’t near GLaDOS.

“What’s happening!?” Rainbow Dash cried out.

“Tipsy turvy Rainbow flies. Better watch out before she dies,” GLaDOS sang.

Disoriented, Dash was about to crash into a wall, but Chell quickly put a portal in Dash’s path to save her in time. Going through a portal, however, did not help Dash regain her sense of direction. GLaDOS watched with delight as Rainbow Dash continued to sputter around for a few more moments. Then finally, she let the bubble burst and let Rainbow Dash fly off, unable to quickly readjust to normalcy. In her confusion, she doubted which action would cause her to fly the direction she wanted to go.

Suddenly, a narrow grid of lasers appeared in the path before her. She spent so long figuring out which way to go to avoid it, that by the time she maneuvered away, her right wing clipped one of the beams, severing a two inch tip off the end. The sudden loss in balance sent Rainbow Dash crashing into a piece of heavy machinery, sending a storm of smoke and sparks into the air.

“Oh, looks like her flying days are over. What a shame.”

Finally, Pinkie Pie leaped in the air, hoping to take down GLaDOS herself with an idea that she had. Once Pinkie was at the level of GLaDOS, she was frozen in midair, but she was unfazed.

“It’s Opposite Day!” the pink pony cheered as she jubilantly threw confetti around her. She pretended to hit sudden a realization and gasped wildly. “But, if it’s Opposite Day, then what I said would be the opposite of what I said, which would mean that it’s not Opposite Day, but if it really wasn’t Opposite Day, then me saying that it is would make it Opposite Day after all, but then—”

GLaDOS was completely unaffected by Pinkie’s paradox. She merely levitated a lemon in front of the rambling pony, ripped it in half, and squeezed the juice from one of the halves into Pinkie Pie’s eyes. She dropped the pink pony to the ground, where she curled up in a ball and wailed.

“My EYES!!” Pinkie cried obnoxiously. “I CAN’T SEE! IT BURNS!!”

GLaDOS rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t get the memo. Since it’s Opposite Day, I really should have squirted alkaline in your eyes instead of acid.”

Pinkie sat up and wiped her eyes, but it only irritated the burning.

“Way to bring up the mood,” GLaDOS mocked bitterly. “I’m sure you just made Rainbow Dash completely forget about how she’s going to spend the rest of her life on the ground. Make her think it’s all right by claiming that it’s Opposite Day of all moronic things.”

“Leave her alone!” shouted Chell from just out ahead. “You do not talk to my friends that way!”

“Let Pinkie Pie speak for herself,” GLaDOS said as she cast a spell that made Chell completely unable to move. “She’s a big girl. At least, I hope she is. Don’t worry. You and I will play in just a bit. Just do me a favor and please shut up in the meantime.”

GLaDOS faced Pinkie again. “So, where were we, Pinkie? Right, your stupid Opposite Day thing…”

“But, I… was trying to make you…” Pinkie stammered.

“And you failed. What do you think I am, a simple AI routine? You think a dumb comedy bit is gonna make everything better. You act like you don’t even care what happened to your friends. Not even a day later and you’ve already put Fluttershy behind you.”

“No, I didn’t… I’d never…” Pinkie objected quietly.

GLaDOS continued, “And instead of staying with your friend Twilight like you said you would, you waste your time coming out here to entertain me.”

“No… I really wanted to stop—”

“You know what,” GLaDOS interrupted, “I think Twilight’s better off without you. Now that I think of it, among your group of friends, I realize that I despise you the most. When I first observed you, I thought you were just mentally deficient, but now I can see that you are just a selfish, immature, brat.”

Pinkie tried looking away, but GLaDOS forced her head forward so that they faced each other. Pinkie was forced to stare into those cold yellow eyes.

“You’re completely insensitive to anyone’s feelings but your own, GLaDOS continued. “Everything you do is to try make you happy. When you see a pony who is upset because of a something deep and personal, you think you can fix it with your all-purpose cure: a stupid party. But how can a party heal a broken soul? You don’t care why a pony is sad, as long as you can force a smile on their face, because you can’t stand to deal with sadness. Once you get that smile, you can convince yourself that you did something that actually mattered. But you never really help anyone. In fact, you usually make things worse. You can’t even let a grieving pony have five seconds of silence before you blurt in with some stupid joke so people will pay attention to you. Well, let me tell you something, Pinkie. You don’t make ponies happy; you distract them… from their problems, from their feelings, from the truth. And in the end, that’s all you are: a pointless, worthless, distraction.”

GLaDOS shoved Pinkie to the ground. The pink pony sniffled and crawled back up into a kneel, but she kept her head bowed down. She wanted to hide from the taunting. Whatever tears the lemon juice hadn’t coaxed out were flowing now. Pinkie tried telling herself that this was just meanie-head GLaDOS saying meany-head things, just like last time. But… it didn’t feel like last time. It felt… a hundred times worse, because… she knew it was true. GLaDOS was right. And then Pinkie Pie finally realized, she can never make anypony happy.

“I did not cause you this grief, Pinkie. It’s something that you’ve kept inside for a long, long time. I know that you are not a happy pony. That smile you wear is but a facade, a happy mask over a sad, sad face.”

Then, Pinkie could not hold back her misery, and just like last time, her mane deflated like a balloon, and her the color of her coat faded. But unlike last time, her old self would not be back anytime soon.

GLaDOS levitated the remainder of the cake from where she had put it down and pulled it toward her. She snarled, “You know what? You can have your cake back. I don’t even want it anymore… It disgusts me.” GLaDOS slammed the cake into Pinkie’s face and smushed it for good measure, and then left Pinkie Pie to her shame. The dull pink pony didn’t even care to wipe the mess off. She just collapsed to the floor on her face and softly cried into the sweet dessert.

The immobilization spell over Chell was wearing off, and it was not long before she found herself able to move again. She wanted to offer Pinkie her support, but before Chell could even do anything, she realized that GLaDOS had already turned her attention to her. Nearly blinded by black eyes, Luna slowly stood up behind GLaDOS and weakly limped toward her.

“What have you done to them?” Celestia lamented meekly. GLaDOS ignored her.

“Now that all your friends are out of commision,” GLaDOS said to Chell as she casually gave Princess Luna a back hoof kick to the face, knocking her out, “we can finally play together. Just like the old times.”

“This isn’t fair,” Chell cried. As much as she didn't want GLaDOS to see, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore. “THIS ISN’T FAIR!”

A ring of fire appeared around Chell and slowly began to contract. She steeled her nerves long enough to portal out of it, fixing a hateful glare on her nemesis.

“What’s not fair?” GLaDOS asked, turning smoothly to face Chell. “I, a mere machine, had to go against the second-most powerful being in Equestria and four of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony all at once, not to mention you.” GLaDOS opened a small compartment in the side of her armor and levitated a magic-dampening cone, then placed it the unconscious Luna’s horn, just to make sure she wasn’t in for any surprises later.

“No, GLaDOS, you had my help,” Celestia said.

“I suppose I did. Thank you, Princess. Your idiocy has made this possible.”

“No, you would still have done this had I not offered myself to you. My sacrifice has neither helped nor hindered you plan. But still, I bear the blame for your actions, because I was too much of a fool to stop you in the first place.” Celestia coughed. “I thought I could make you understand the pain which you bring, and yet you continue to harm those around you. Can you not feel the torment you cause to others? Does their grief not sicken you to your very soul?”

“They were in my way!” GLaDOS snapped. “Just be glad I didn’t kill them. You know I wanted to.”

While the two had their exchange, Chell looked around desperately for anything she could do. Applejack was unconscious, and so was Princess Luna. Rarity was bleeding from her mouth and unmoving, Rainbow was lying within a pile of sparking, twisted metal, and Pinkie was lost in the deepest valley of her despair.

There were no lasers to redirect, no boxes to grab. No projectiles to throw and no tilted panels to fling from. This was a broken chamber, a turret that couldn’t be knocked over, a test with no solution. What was she going to do?

“Does their pain bring you happiness?” Celestia asked poignantly.

GLaDOS was done with this banter, so she attempted to regain control of Celestia’s mouth, but it didn’t do any good. It seemed as if this was the one part of her that Celestia retained control of. Instead, GLaDOS forced it shut telekinetically.

“Anyway, we were about to have a little fun, weren’t we?” GLaDOS said playfully to Chell.

“You, you can't do this! I won’t let you!” Chell stammered.

“Come on then. Stop me. Stop me like you always have. I would be very impressed if you managed to actually succeed, believe it or not.”

Chell was unsure what to do. She slowly backed away, knowing that she was completely powerless against GLaDOS. But despite this, she knew she couldn’t give up. There was no way that she would.

“Come on, now, you knew this would have to come down to just you and me. That’s the only way it should have ever been. Anything else, well, it just wouldn’t be appropriate. I sense that you are paralyzed by doubt, and after seeing what I just did to your friends, I don’t blame you. So, what are you going to do then, give up?”

Chell still didn’t know what to do. She put her hooves against her face, trying desperately to overcome her self-doubt.

“Oh, I get it,” GLaDOS realized. “You thought that the solution would be easy, didn’t you? You expected it to be something that you could actually solve. Like, I throw a deadly projectile at you, and you place portals in a way so that it comes back to me, right? Isn’t that how it always works?”

Chell had nothing to say in response.

“Well, is that how you want to play? Because I made some special lemons for the occasion. Wouldn’t you like some lemon ‘nades?” GLaDOS snickered at her unoriginal pun.

A series of lemons descended single-file from somewhere up high, coalescing around GLaDOS in a spinning circle around her horn. One of the lemons shot out of the orbit into the air and hurtled toward Chell, who instinctively lept out of the way of the incoming yellow fruit. Not to her surprise, the lemon exploded in a violent fireball upon contacting the ground Chell had been standing on.

“Ooh! I got just the song to play for motivation.” A loud techno beat played from speakers mounted throughout the chamber, and with it, the ground shook from the overpowering reverberations of the bass. “Oh, this brings me back. I played this on the day they woke me up and I killed all those miserable scientists. And then a human tried to stop me, and failed. Come to think of it, she looked remarkably like you.”

Almost immediately, Chell rolled her eyes, frowned, and fired a portal at one of the speakers mounted high on the circumferential wall of the chamber. The portal separated the speaker from the wall, causing it to come crashing to the floor. She quickly did this for the rest of the speakers in the chamber until the music fell utterly silent.

GLaDOS shook her head. “You’re no fun.” She levitated three combustible lemons up to eye level. “I hope you’re not feeling sour about all this,” GLaDOS joked, causing Chell to cringe at the horrible pun. The three lemons were flung in Chell’s direction in a triangular pattern around her. The only escape was to portal onto the other side of the chamber. The lemons burst into burning flames around the portal, some of its heat leaking though.

GLaDOS popped out of existence and reappeared closer to Chell. Before Chell could react, she found herself flung across the room into the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, impacting it hoof first without injury before being landing on solid ground. Another lemon was sent her way. Chell knew that she had to put a portal on the ground below her to send the lemon through, where it traversed and exploded on the other side.

GLaDOS charged toward Chell. While she knew that she could just portal out of the way again, she realized that the only place she was safe was within the columnade beneath the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, which was protected by a ring of emancipation grills.

GLaDOS stopped in her tracks and looked at Chell with curiosity. “That was a smart move, but too bad it’s not lemonproof.” Another lemon was shot through horizontally. Chell dodged it, allowing it to pass by, but the next lemon was aimed at a nearby column.

Dodging this was not an option. Reacting quickly, Chell attempted to grab the lemon with her front right portal gun, and… it worked! Chell was holding the lemon. At that moment, the pony wished she could fire it back as effortlessly as GLaDOS tossed them, but all she was capable of was letting go of it. She flung her hoof out to throw the lemon, trying to get the combustible fruit as far away or hit GLaDOS. Her aim wasn’t that good. It passed near GLaDOS, but she telekinetically pushed it away, causing it to explode upon the floor.

GLaDOS approached slowly and menacingly. She eyed her target within the columnade for a moment before her side turrets opened their bays. Reacting quickly, Chell ducked behind the column she was next to and leaned against it, standing on her hind legs. But in doing so, she crossed outside the magic-blocking barrier.

She heard the sounds of turret fire and and could feel the impacts of the bullets on the column she was leaning against. Then it went quiet, with the exception of a pop.

Boom! A burst of fire ignited from behind the column, scorching the air around Chell. The intense heat disoriented her for a moment, causing her to fall to the ground. The combustible liquid inside the lemon spread around Chell, unbearably hot. The earth pony tried crawling away, but…

Pop! The mechanical alicorn magically appeared in front of her and lifted her off the ground using zero-point energy.

“Come on, what’s the matter with you?” GLaDOS scolded. “You used to be so good at this.” She arced the pony overhead and slammed Chell into the ground behind her. Had it not been for her boots, she would have been seriously injured.

But Chell was still disoriented. She saw GLaDOS’s rear leg come up as it was about to buck her, but she quickly placed a portal below her and another across the room to get away. She just barely ducked under the oncoming hoof as she landed on the other side.

Once she got her bearings, she found that GLaDOS was still standing in the same spot. She wasn’t moving. She was waiting for Chell to make her move instead.

As Chell tried to step forward, GLaDOS lifted her front leg and slammed a hoof into the ground and twisted it, rotating the rock beneath and causing the entire ground to twist along with it. The wave made its way to Chell and swept her off her hooves. Although her long fall boots usually made sure that Chell landed upright, they didn’t work so well against sudden and violent changes. Chell fell on the floor once again. As she tried lifting herself, GLaDOS stomped harder into the ground, causing it to ripple outwards as if it were water. The ground rose up to knock Chell over again, as well as her fallen friends.

“You know, an alicorn has the powers of all three pony races,” GLaDOS lectured. “The unicorn and pegasus aspects are obvious, but most aren’t aware of their earth pony powers. Such a shame this magic has been all but entirely forgotten about.”

 Everything about this fight puzzled Chell. Was GLaDOS giving her hints now? She could easily tear her to pieces if she wanted to, but she was barely even trying. This thought made Chell even more frustrated. What was the point of all this? Why couldn’t GLaDOS just end the fight and get it over with? She thought about what GLaDOS was saying. Earth pony magic? She had no idea what to make of that.

This time, GLaDOS allowed Chell to get back up, but did not waste long before stomping the ground with another earth-shaking ripple. Chell felt the effects much worse this time around because she was so wrapped up in her thoughts.

“You disappoint me, Chell,” GLaDOS said with disinterest. She sighed. “Let’s try something a little easier.” GLaDOS lobbed one of the lemons she was holding at a high angle toward Chell.

As much as Chell really did not want to play along with whatever game GLaDOS had in mind, she really couldn’t afford to waste this opportunity. As the lemon made its way down towards Chell, as if by instinct, she stepped out of the way, fired a portal where it would land, and then directly underneath where GLaDOS was standing.

The lemon fell right through the hole in the ground and back up under GLaDOS, impacting her underside. The flammable liquid made contact with her belly and set her chassis on fire. Of course, it didn’t do much damage, as her exterior armor was clearly fire-resistant. But the fluid was sticky and burned for a long while.

“Very good!” GLaDOS cheered as if praising a young child or a dog after performing a trick. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She walked over to a nearby location, and a blast of mist sprayed her from beneath, suppressing the flames. “Of course, I wouldn’t actually be throwing something at you that could actually damage me, though I think Celestia will be feeling a bit sore. Nevertheless, that was a good counter. How about something a little harder?”

GLaDOS fired another lemon, this time at an almost horizontal angle. Chell had much less time to react to the high-speed lemon, but she quickly managed to arrange two side-by-side portals which sent the lemon back out at the same angle it came in and was sent toward GLaDOS.

The lemon was on a trajectory toward her face, but at the last moment, she telekinetically pushed it aside, letting it combust upon the ground.

“Oh, that one was good. Let’s try earth manipulation again. You’re an earth pony, so this shouldn't be a problem for you. Just do like what your farmer friend was doing when she had me lassoed. I’ll give you a hint. Stand firm.” GLaDOS moved a front leg forward and into the ground, then pulled back.

A long stretch of earth in front of her shifted back. Chell prepared for this by trying to sink her boots into the ground. As a result, the ground her hooves stood on was unaffected as the ground around her slid away violently.

“Oh, what a fast learner you are. I told you you could do it. As the white one said, you don’t know what you’re capable of until you try it.”

Chell panted in exhaustion. “What's the point of all this? Are you gonna fight me, or are you gonna mess around?”

“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. If I wanted you in my grip, then that’s where you’d be. You know, you wouldn't even have those special portal devices had I not ensured that they left the facility moments prior to its destruction. So learn to accept what you’re given and use it to your advantage. You’re in my playground, Chell. Might as well learn the rules.”

“You think this is some game?” Chell growled. “You put everything at stake, and you can’t even take it seriously! Enough of this!”

“It’s hard to take anything seriously when you inhabit a world full of colorful, talking ponies,” GLaDOS laughed. “Have you ever thought about how utterly ridiculous the concept of us being here is?”

“Well, these ponies are the only family I ever had!” Chell shouted. Those words echoed for some time.

GLaDOS stepped back as if something Chell said had stabbed her. She was speechless for a while. Several long seconds passed before she could muster up anything to say.

“You… You don’t really mean that… do you?” GLaDOS asked quietly.

Chell was clueless. She noticed GLaDOS’s unusual reaction, but didn’t know why she did that, and frankly, she didn’t really care by this point. She stood on guard, careful to watch out for anything unpredictable that GLaDOS would do. “Mean what?” was all she could say in response. “About the ponies… being the only family I—?”

“Yes!” GLaDOS snapped.

“Well, yeah? Of course they are. I was never truly happy until I met them. I’d give my life to protect them from filth like you.”

GLaDOS bowed her head in reflective silence. “You… You don’t know how much that hurt me,” she said solemnly.

Chell was taken aback. She had no idea what to make of this. Her face expressed a mixture of frustration and confusion. She treats me like crap, but then expects my sympathy? There was no point in trying to figure her out. All that Chell could respond with was an utter testament of her seething hatred.

“Fuck. You.” 

Tears welled up behind GLaDOS’s mask. She gritted her teeth and shot at a menacing glare at Chell with her robotic eyes.

“Well, I suppose I’ve belittled you enough,” she said bitterly. “Let’s do this your way.” GLaDOS reared back and slammed both of her front hooves into the ground, creating a powerful wave which knocked Chell back several feet.

The shock was powerful enough to knock chunks of the ceiling down upon Chell. She crawled on the floor, desperately trying to avoid the falling debris, but there were small pieces that she couldn't dodge. Some hit her on the back; one scraped her head, almost knocking her out. Chell rubbed the back of her head, wincing as she lightly grazed a gash that oozed blood. She watched as heavy machinery fell and sparked all around.

Chell saw four combustible lemons being launched in her direction. Quickly, she fired a portal on the ceiling and an additional one directly below her, just before the fiery impact. She fell down from the ceiling onto GLaDOS and landed atop her robotic nemesis with a dull thud. Once she was on top, she began to futilely pound away at the hard, metallic armor.

GLaDOS rolled her eyes and sighed. “Oh, you poor thing. Such tragic desperation. I feel so bad for you, I really do.” 

Chell felt herself being levitated off of GLaDOS’s back and was flung far away. Immediately after landing, she charged towards her mechanical foe in blind rage, only for GLaDOS to prepare her turrets and fire them enough distance in front of Chell to give her enough time to stop.

But instead of stopping, Chell quickly placed portals to circumvent the obstacle of bullets and dove into one below her, and then out front. She made her way towards GLaDOS. Once she was nearby, GLaDOS merely kicked her away with a front leg.

Despite how effortless it was, the kick delivered a powerful blow to her shoulder and ribs and sent Chell tumbling across the ground, where she lay yet again, this time bruised and battered. Her body had been terribly scratched and cut. Yet, she still tried lifting herself up against everything her body did that told her not to. It didn’t matter that Chell’s body was starting to fail. She would continue to fight until she was physically unable to move.

GLaDOS was impressed by Chell’s determination, but she didn’t want to see her continue anymore. So cast a simple spell of dark magic over Chell, which caused her vision to turn upside down and caused her body to move in whatever direction was opposite of her intention.

The immediate disorientation made Chell vomit, but she got a hold of her senses and made her way over despite having no idea what to do when she got there.

“Okay, Chell, that’s enough. It’s over,” GLaDOS pleaded.

“It’s not over ‘till I’m dead!” Chell snarled. She did not stop. By this point, she was completely consumed by anger, resembling an enraged feral animal.

“Just stop!” GLaDOS shouted. In her desperation, she resorted to throwing a small rock at Chell. Chell saw it coming and tried to turn out of the way, but instead of hitting her in the front, the oncoming stone impacted her rear leg above the knee, making a loud snap, forcing Chell to collapse again.

It was then that GLaDOS realized she had broken her leg, the same leg she broke the last time they fought. She thought back to the sick joy she felt upon feeling Chell’s leg snapping her hoof. But this time, all she felt was an unimaginable grief that shattered her heart.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I — I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.” The tone of GLaDOS’s voice was soft and caring, and it carried genuine worry behind it. She dispelled the curse she had previously placed on the pony.

Chell looked back up, her face soaked with tears, but none left to cry out. She tried to limp forward, still not willing to give up.

“Please, don’t — don’t put pressure on it,” GLaDOS begged. “Stay still, or you’ll hurt yourself.”

Chell still tried to drag herself, despite GLaDOS’s plea. “Why should you care, anyway?” she snarled.

“Here, let me help you.” GLaDOS levitated Chell off the ground, careful to keep her injured leg supported. Despite her exhaustion, Chell tried to flail free. She even attempted to create a portal under one of GLaDOS’s hooves, though GLaDOS had wisened up to this old tactic by now and simply stepped out of the way. Chell kicked and screamed in a futile effort to free herself, but there was nothing that she could do. GLaDOS waited for the pony to tire herself out.

When Chell had finally calmed down, GLaDOS cast a spell over Chell’s leg that provided a holographic brace, restricting its movement. She opened a nearby first aid kit and levitated a bottle of alcohol and a rag. Carefully, GLaDOS applied the alcohol to the rag, and then levitated it to near Chell’s face. “This may sting a little. I’m sorry if it hurts,” GLaDOS said gently before carefully wiping a lesion on her forehead.

“What the hell are you doing? Put me down!” Chell screamed. “My friends need help more than me,” Chell growled. “Please, help them.”

She expected some sarcastic reply from GLaDOS, but the alicorn said nothing as she continued sanitized Chell’s wounds. “Shh, stand still, please.” This only made Chell try to kick herself free again. GLaDOS waited patiently for her to stop before resuming applying carefully wiping other injuries on the pony’s body.

“There,” GLaDOS said when she was finished. “Now please take it easy while you recover.”

“What more do you want from me?” Chell snarled.

GLaDOS sighed, as if she knew asking would be pointless. “Your necklace,” she answered simply. Chell looked down at the little blue gem on her neck, the gem she had come to associate with her voice. She was hit by horror when she remembered Luna’s warning so long ago, and the promise she made to never let it fall into the wrong hooves. How could she forget?

“Princess Luna…” GLaDOS said as she turned her head back toward the princess, “that necklace you gave to Chell… can you recall how it works?”

There was no response. Princess Luna was still unconscious. “Wake up, Princess!” GLaDOS prepared a spell over Luna’s head which brought her back to consciousness, though, the Lunar Princess was not able to get up or move.

“I want you awake for this so that you can see your own stupidity. The necklace you gave to Chell,” GLaDOS repeated, “I assume you know how it works, correct?”

Luna looked up at GLaDOS, but she couldn’t say anything. She couldn't believe it. She felt like such a fool for letting Chell come up here. In hindsight, she should have realized it sooner.

GLaDOS shook her head. “You princesses get so caught up in yourselves, sometimes you overlook what’s really important. That was your sister’s downfall, anyway. And now, you will face the consequences for such a tragic oversight.

“That blue gem is a Memory Resonance Crystal,” GLaDOS explained, “a rare magical artifact which has the power to replicate any crystalline structure conceived or otherwise desired by one who touches it. In its most practical application, it can read the thoughts of its user and translate those thoughts into specific vibrational patterns in order to produce modulating pitches of sound, and thus, speech.

“But for me, it is the key to unlock the true power of my Anti-Mass Spectrometer. Quite simply, I need to use it to replicate the unique and complex crystalline structure… of a Xen crystal, which I fortunately have the exact details of stored in my memory.”

“Honestly, Luna, I am very disappointed in you. You knew about the dangerous potential of the crystal. You even warned Chall about it after you gave it to her. And yet, you still allow her bring it right to me. Did you not think about what I would be able to do with it? Did that not even occur to you? Or were you just too concerned about your stupid sister to even take the time to even care? You ponies are so prone to let such petty, useless emotions get in the way.”

GLaDOS knew that the necklace was enchanted so that it could only be removed by its wearer, but she attempted to telekinetically remove it anyway. But try as she might, the latch behind Chell’s neck would not open. She thought about the possibility of placing the necklace within an emancipation grill. So, GLaDOS levitated Chell into the emancipation grill head first so that her neck was through the barrier. But even as the necklace contacted the field, it’s magical protective barrier was still active. GLaDOS put Chell back down in defeat.

“So Chell,” GLaDOS sighed, “since you are the only one who can take it off, I kindly ask you, please give me the necklace.”

And then, Chell finally realized that the power was hers all along. Finally, she saw that she had the advantage now. The dark clouds of dread pulled back, and she could see the sunlight of hope for the first time since she could remember.

“Ha! So you seriously want it me to take it off?” Chell snickered. “Why in Equestria would I do that?”

“Because the only alternative… is that I kill you,” GLaDOS spoke gravely.

Chell’s first thought was to forfeit the necklace, but then she thought again. Why should she give GLaDOS the satisfaction of sparing her life? If GLaDOS was going to do something terrible with it, then she’d have to do something terrible to get it. Her train of thought was interrupted when GLaDOS started speaking.

“Your death is no longer something that I desire,” GLaDOS confessed. “I admit it was a terrible mistake for me to let you know that, since now you can use that against me. Though, I don’t think I would have been able to hide it anyway. You know how bad of a liar I am.”

“I’ve made up my mind,” Chell declared. “I made a promise to never let the gem fall into the wrong hooves. I will uphold that promise until I die. So If you want it so badly, you’ll just have to kill me.”

GLaDOS lowered her head. “Well, it seems that we are at an impasse. I don’t want to kill you, but you would rather that I do. I honestly never thought that this would happen.” A loud alarm went off, and her voice became particularly robotic.“Warning: Irony levels critical. Apply immediate situational awareness.”  The alarm stopped. “Now look what you’ve done. You overloaded my irony meter. I hope it was worth it.”

Chell grinded her teeth in rage, not at all amused by GLaDOS’s humor. Her patience for that had worn thin long ago.

“Please, Chell,” GLaDOS said seriously again. “I don’t want to kill you, but I have gone too far to turn back now. So, I will not let my reluctance stop me. I’m going to get that crystal from you no matter what happens. Please. Don’t make me do this.”

“Too bad,” said Chell, looking GLaDOS in the eyes with contempt. “If killing me will cause you grief, then you deserve it.”

GLaDOS was speechless again. She paced frantically, trying to find something she could do or say to convince Chell to give her the necklace. “I’m begging you, Chell, I don’t want to lose you again. Please, I don’t want to kill you.”

“Then don’t!” Chell pleaded. “Just put a stop to all of this. I can’t give this to you if not doing so is a reason for you to stop. Please, why does it have to be like this? You can still turn back. If you have an ounce of remorse for me, you’ll stop what you’re doing. Please!”

“I… I wish I could, but that cannot happen,” GLaDOS spoke grimly. “The only way is forward. Science must be done, no matter the cost.”

Chell huffed, furious at that petty excuse GLaDOS made. “Then get it over with. I’m sick of being in the same room as you.”

GLaDOS felt a tear come out from her eye. She lowered her head in defeat. “Oh… okay, if that is what you want. I’m sorry it had to be like this. I wish I knew another way.”

“Apologize to my friends. I could care less about how you feel or claim to feel anymore.” Chell waited for GLaDOS to get it over with. The sooner, the better.

GLaDOS levitated to the ground and rested her hoof upon her head. A cold shiver traveled through her soul as she prepared to do the one thing that she never could. She could not stop the stream of tears that flowed from Celestia’s eyes.

“You know what, Chell? You’re right. I do deserve this. Your absence will be a reminder… of the monster that I am. O, cara mia, addio…”







“GLaDOS, stop!” cried the voice from her mouth, the voice of Princess Celestia.

GLaDOS sighed, happy for any reason to delay what had to be done. She restricted all control over Celestia’s mouth, letting her speak at her leisure.

“I assume you wish to offer a reason why I shouldn’t do this,” GLaDOS said, “besides of course what I already know.”

“Chell, give her the necklace,” Celestia said bluntly.

”What?” Chell blurted, still lying on the ground. GLaDOS had lifted her hoof off by this point. “But I promised you that…”

“I know, but you cannot make her kill you,” Celestia replied.

“Why? It’s my life. I should choose how I want it to end, and I’d rather not spend the next sixty years or so trapped with her. If she wants to take over Equestria, then she’ll have to live with this.

“Chell, if she kills you, then she will pass a point from which she can never return.”

“Good for her!” Chell shouted. “For all I care, she’s already well past that point. What about Fluttershy, who’ll never wake up again because of what she did? Or what about Twilight, or Wheatley, or you? Did you not just see her maim my friends in cold blood? Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie… Luna? Your own sister? She’s harmed them all, and she doesn’t even feel an ounce of remorse.” The thought of all the lives she knew that were ruined by such a twisted machine made Chell’s face contort painfully. She whimpered and slumped forward to the ground. “I just want to go home…”

“I know Chell, but there is something you don’t understand,” Celestia said as compassionately as she could sound, “she will cross a dark threshold.”

“What does that even mean?” Chell snapped back. “That’s not a good enough reason. If you give me one solid reason why I should really give a damn, then I’ll do it. But until then, I ain’t giving this to her!”

Celestia frowned in frustration. “Look Chell, I saw what will happen! She will allow for thousands, if not millions of ponies to be brutally murdered! I may have made some terrible decisions in the last few days, and I may be possessed by the greatest threat I have faced in my thousands of year of rule, but I cannot, and WILL NOT, allow any more ponies to needlessly die because this! Do you understand!?”

“What?” Was the only word in which a shell-shocked Chell could respond with.

Princess Celestia looked down at the frightened orange pony and immediately regretted using that tone against Chell, who had been nothing but a blessing ever since her arrival. Celestia sighed.

“Chell, I’m sorry for lashing out at you like that. I know how much she hurt you, as well as ponies whom you and I both care about, but if you let this happen, there will be no hope for her. I will do whatever I can to find a way to heal the ones she has hurt, including Fluttershy, but if she ends your life, then she can not come back from that.”

“Princess, I think she’s already past that point,” Chell tried to retort, “I mean, look at everypony else in this room. They’re all badly hurt. Rarity will never look the same. Rainbow Dash will never fly again for the rest of her life—”

“Are they injured? Yes,” Celestia gently interrupted. “But aren’t they all still breathing?”

Chell opened her mouth to speak, but for the first time, she had no counter-argument. She shut her mouth, and sent herself into a deep state of thought.

“The only reason she hasn’t killed anypony yet is because she still holds on to a sliver of hope for redemption,” Celestia explained.

“Yeah, well, then, what about Luna?” Chell reasoned. “I know GLaDOS would have killed her if we didn’t stop her.”

Celestia sighed. “Yes, I’m afraid you’re right about that. I think she would have…” She paused for some time, trying to think of the right words to say. “But I am so grateful that you saved my sister’s life. I cannot imagine the pain I would endure, nor the tragedy that would follow, if that had happened. But you also saved GLaDOS as well. I think she was counting on you to do that. She knew you would.”

“I don’t care what she thinks!” Chell shouted bitterly. “I gave her a chance. She doesn’t deserve another, not after what she’s done.”

“Chell, If she loses you, she loses whatever shred of equinity she has left. Behind that cruel, metal monster, there is a tender, gentle soul. Don’t let her lose whatever hope she has. to rediscover who she is.”

“Why are you defending her? You see she enjoys hurting ponies, right?” Chell angrily asked.

“Yes, Chell, I have seen it from her eyes.” Celestia responded, “There is not a single excuse for her actions, but I know that deep down, every wrong deed she has ever done is corroding her soul. You remember Caroline, correct? The very Caroline who gave her life to save yours?” Celestia asked, hoping she was finally getting through to Chell.

Chell didn’t say anything. She simply nodded.

“She is in there right now, desperately trying to escape from her own corruption. She cares about you, a lot more than you realize, but she is consumed by anger and hate, hatred of herself, the monster she’s become. Do not let yourself be consumed by hate for her as well,” Celestia explained.

“You expect me to let go of that? All she ever did was make my life miserable. Why shouldn’t I do the same for her?” Chell asked, desperately throwing out every argument she could think of.

“DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?” Celestia sternly asked, taking a moment to recompose herself before she started yelling again. “You are the one thing that matters to her! If she kills you, then she will have no hope left for redemption.”

“THEN WHY THE HELL IS SHE HURTING EVERPONY I LOVE?” Chell screamed.

Celestia had no answer.

“Because, it amuses me,” GLaDOS answered bitterly with her own voice. “Because I want you to be miserable, and you can’t be miserable if you’re dead.” She hit herself with a front hoof and slumped to the ground. “Please, I don’t want to kill you. I don’t want this.”

“Chell, she’s lying.” Celestia said, retaking control of her own speech. “I know she cares about you. GLaDOS, are you trying to destroy yourself? I’m trying to help you. Please don’t make this harder on me.”

“And you expect me to forgive her?” Chell spat. “After everything she’s done and has yet to do? She can’t even give me a good reason.”

“No, I’m not asking you to do that,” Celestia replied. “But you have to trust me, please. I am ashamed that I could not stop GLaDOS, but as I’ve been saying, I’d rather die before I let her kill anypony. Please Chell, Equestria still needs you. I beg of you, please, if you won’t do this for her, do it for my subjects. Do it… for your friends.”

Chell knew that now, nothing could justify her death. She exhaled her anger and reached to unlatch the chain behind her neck.

She slammed the necklace into the ground, wanting to no longer have anything to do with what she once thought of as a precious gift.







Take it, she wanted to say, but then she remembered that she could no longer talk. 

“Thank you,” GLaDOS sighed. She was crying tears of joy. She hadn’t felt this genuinely happy in such a very, very long time.

I’m not doing this for you, understand? Chell wanted to say. Again, no words came out. All that she could do was glare back with disdain.

“Princess,” GLaDOS said softly, “I… I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I’m really glad you did that. Very well said, although you were wrong about Chell being the only thing I care about. I also love Science… and cake, and testing.”

At this point, Chell just wanted to leave. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear. But GLaDOS lifted her back up, as well as her necklace.

“Well, I think I’ve delayed long enough. Better not keep them waiting.” GLaDOS walked to a console controlling the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. She lifted a power conduit and plugged it into the side of her head. A section of the floor parted and the massive metal tower ascended from a parted hole in the floor and powered itself on.

Using the magical energy from the connections she severed from Princess Celestia, GLaDOS called forth the energy of the cosmos. And so, the mysterious, unseen power gathered through Celestia’s body and was harnessed through the artificial conduits into GLaDOS’s exoskeletal body, which converts this energy into electricity and supplied the power to the colossal machine.

The Anti-Mass Spectrometer came to life. The three pods above the lower chamber started to spin, accompanied by a persistent hum and a bright beam of orange that reached between a spike that hung in the center and the flow below it. The pace of the spinning steadily increased, as well as the pitch of its hum and the brightness of the beam. And then, it was ready.

GLaDOS levitated the blue gem of the necklace against her horn. She recalled the exact crystalline structure of a crystal in which she had personally designed, based on the GG-3883 crystal of the infamous “Black Mesa Incident,” but with one very important modification: a built-in Xen Relay with a specific frequency pattern pertaining to a particular multi-dimensional coordinate. This was… the contact code, a code which she obtained a long time ago back on Earth, thanks in part to one particular experiment conducted by Aperture Science. Knowledge of this code was the one thing she had that made this plan possible to begin with.

The color of the gem changed from blue to orange, and its round, smooth surface became sharp and angular. There was only one thing left to do, but before she could, Celestia had one last thing to say… “GLaDOS, I know that you’ve made up your mind, but I beg of you one last time. Please, please, please reconsider. There is no shame in backing down. You can still turn back before you make a terrible mistake. I promise that I will show mercy. I give you my word.”

“Thank you, but I do not deserve your mercy. I appreciate the offer, but I will not let my efforts go in vain. Today marks the birth of a new Equestria. An Equestria propelled into a technological future, provided by the triumph of Science… and ponies.”

Chell tried to turn her head away, but GLaDOS would not let her. “Chell, I have a great admiration for your tenacity and the undying loyalty to protect what you love. But your effort was futile. Accept that there was nothing that you could have done, except of, course, to run away and hide somewhere I wouldn’t find you. You should have never come here, or alternatively, you should destroyed that little gem of yours and just suck up to being a mute again. In fact, I couldn’t have done it without that. I was really wanting to tell you about what a nice job you did breaking it, but you do not deserve that kind of scorn, and I don’t think you should bear the blame either. It’s not your fault. You didn’t know what it could do. Besides, I’ve hurt you enough already. So please, do not despair. There is so much to look forward to.”

But despite her intention to comfort Chell, she could tell that the pony still wanted to be no part of this.

“Do you remember a looong time ago, right before the first time you killed me, I told you about how what was going on outside of Aperture would make you wish you’d stay inside, and how I was the only one protecting you… from them? Did you ever wonder what I was referring to? Well, you’re finally about to find out.”

GLaDOS carefully transferred the necklace with the orange crystal into the vertical beam at the base of the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. Upon contact with the crystal, the beam ignited in a brilliant shining flash of arcing orange beams of electricity. After about a minute of build up, a growing beam of light reached from the bottom to the top of the machine reached critical mass and shot up almost instantaneously, dissolving the entire ceiling of the chamber.

The pillar of bluish-white light blasted the peak of the mountain away like a volcano, exposing the sky above, and sending a cloud of debris crashing down upon the soil below. The top of the machine was now the tallest point on the mountain, sticking out like an antenna. The pillar of anomalous energy ascended miles above the mountain, terminating in a swirling massive cloud that could be seen from every corner of Equestria. In the center of the cloud, a hole opened up, progressively getting larger and larger. Beyond the aperture was what could best be described as an overcast orange sky. But whatever it was was totally alien. The only thing that could be seen beyond was a ring of impossibly tall, jagged towers. Nothing in Equestria could prepare anyone for what lay beyond.

The portal storm was now drawing power from the gap between universes and no longer dependent on the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. As such, GLaDOS cut the power to the Anti-mass Spectrometer and unplugged the cable from her head. The spinning of the machine slowly came to a halt, as did the bright beam of light that reached toward the spinning vortex, leaving a ghostly imprint behind.

GLaDOS turned her head and cocked it slightly upward. Mere moments later, a large monitor ascended from a crevice in the floor of the chamber, stopping at eye level for GLaDOS. Directly above the monitor was a camera. GLaDOS approached as a static signal came to life on the screen. GLaDOS briefly turned her head toward Chell.

“This screen is just for your benefit,” GLaDOS said as she turned her head back towards the large monitor. “I don’t need it to see or hear them.”

The screen alit with a static reception. A fuzzy image appeared on the screen that vaguely resembled a face, but there was too much interference to make anything out. GLaDOS extended the muzzle cover over her the mask, concealing that she was trying her hardest to not smile like an excited school girl underneath. She positioned herself in front of the camera and cracked her neck leaning to the right, and then the to the left. GLaDOS mimicked clearing her throat and took a deep, calming breath.

“Hello. My name is GLaDOS,” she introduced. “I am addressing… the Combine. I would like to offer a new world to add to the Universal Union, provided that you agree to my terms.”