Chapter 21: A Hole in the Sky
GLaDOS stared directly into the camera, not breaking eye contact. The interference in the reception was calming down, allowing GLaDOS to see what the thing beyond looked like. The best description she would give it was that of a potato with a white blank mask of a face. It had no eyes but two vertically placed blue cameras on the left side of its head. Its mouth was covered in what looked like a metal surgical mask. The thing stared back at her, attempting to analyze what she was.
“I think it would be wise if you listen to what I have to say,” she said to it. “I am the one who created the portal from this world. It is by my actions and mine alone that you have access to this planet. I built the Anti-Mass Spectrometer with the specific intent of creating a controlled resonance cascade, gathering dark energy from the universe to open a rift through the transcendental plane across dimensions and to the one which you occupy.”
The thing in the monitor still said nothing, nor hinted that it could.
GLaDOS continued, “I have also already done the legwork of subduing the monarchical governing being of this planet’s most prosperous nation, who also happened to be the most powerful being on this entire planet.” The mask over Celestia’s face peeled back, revealing the organic form underneath, though GLaDOS continued speaking mechanically. “The winged unicorn you see has literally raised the sun everyday for several millennia, and she is under my control. I have implanted cybernetic neural relays into the base of her nervous system, so she does exactly what I want. The most powerful being in this world now moves to my whim, so I would highly advise against circumventing me. Cooperation would be in your best interest.” GLaDOS impatiently waited for it to respond to her.
“Ssssspeeaaak…” a low, guttural voice droned. The thing in the monitor spoke not with a mouth, nor through a speaker, but with its mind. What was heard was the projection of its thoughts through an electronic signal transmitted directly to GLaDOS.
“I assume the Combine has knowledge of my existence, but then again, I do not know for sure. Either way, allow me to provide information about myself: I am the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. But please, call me… GLaDOS. I am an artificial intelligence created by Aperture Science on the planet Earth, a world that I know you are very familiar with.” GLaDOS transmitted a video signal of a montage of her memories in Aperture Science, showing her earliest memories of her activation, her genocide of the scientists, and the testing of the subjects.
“I was around during the time of your invasion of that planet. I am not fully aware of everything that happened during that time, but I know enough about who you are and the basics of what happened. So go ahead, search your databases for me.”
The faceless being took a moment to respond. But, when it did, its head turned back, as if in mild shock. “Yesss… we knowww… a litttllle… Howwww do you knowwww of ussss?”
Now, even Chell could see how it reacted to her. What was this thing, and how did GLaDOS know about it? And how did it know about her? What in Equestria was going on?
“You may recall an Aperture Science research vessel known as the Borealis,” GLaDOS explained. As she said this, she transmitted several images of the said ship. Immediately, she noticed a stunned reaction from the thing. “I saw that you had quite an interest in it. Well, despite disappearing decades prior to your discovery of it, live monitoring equipment was still functional by the time of your arrival. So, when you explored what you thought had been completely abandoned, I was watching you.” As proof, she showed them video of the Combine’s actions at the Borealis.
“This video was sent back to me through means of quantum entanglement, the very reason you had such interest in this ship. Such a shame things didn’t quite work out the way you intended them to. But it was enough for me to put the pieces together to figure out who and what you are.”
“Weeee seeeeeee…”
“Now that I’ve got your attention, I am prepared to make a little offer.” GLaDOS chuckled. “I know exactly what you want. And you can have it, just as long as you give me what I want.” The creature stared back blankly with its robotic eyes, waiting for her to continue. “What I ask for is a drop in the bucket compared to what I’m giving you. I present: Equestria.” Through the signal, GLaDOS sent various still images and short videos of about Equestria and its population from the short amount of time when she was able to gather this data.
“Well, technically, Equestria is only the name of this kingdom, but it’s a rather convenient term to refer to the planet or even universe as a whole. So, I am giving you this entire world to do with as what suites your interests. This planet is abundant in a variety of resources that I am sure you can make use of. You may have already conquered billions of other worlds, but I can guarantee that this one is like none of them. It’s very special, I’d almost say, magical. And it’s yours, if follow just a couple conditions. What I ask for in return is very modest in comparison.”
GLaDOS’s tone became darker. “But I warn you: do not try to take advantage me. Now, you may be wondering what you have to gain by giving me anything. Well, I can either help you… or make things very difficult for you. From the information I’ve gathered, the biggest threat against your occupation of Earth was a human with a crowbar. Just imagine what I could do to you… if you… disagree with me. It’s your choice, though I strongly advise your full cooperation.”
GLaDOS was met with silence, though she knew it understood what she was saying.
“Now of course, you’re probably asking why you should trust me to represent your best interests. Well, my short answer is: don’t. Let me be straightforward. I really don’t care about the objectives of the Combine, nor do I object to it. You can go build your interdimensional empire while I do my own thing. I have my own goals, and they differ from yours. But, so long as an arrangement between us can serve to our mutual benefit, I think we’ll get along just fine. Just do as I ask, and Equestria is yours.”
“Sssssstate… yooourr teerrrrrrrmss…”
“I request that you provide me with… a fully operational Citadel, laden with all the amenities as the ones on Earth, and that I have unrestricted access to all of its technological capabilities. It will be mine to do with as I please. You are not to interfere with anything that I do with it, nor object to my use of it. Do you accept this condition?”
The being in the monitor hesitated. “Yeessss…”
“My next term is very important. If you do not abide by this, you will regret doing so. Do I make myself clear?”
There was no response, so GLaDOS continued.
“My primary goal is the collection and study of this planet’s dominate sentient species: Animalia Chordata Mammalia Theria Eutheria Perissodactyla Equidae Equus Ferus Caballus. More commonly known as ponies. Do not be fooled by the term. These are not like the ponies of Earth. They are just as intelligent and as social as the humans of Earth. In fact, psychologically, they are almost identical. Their society is more technologically primitive, but they are more peaceful than the societies of Earth. For some inexplicable reason, their language is perfectly identical to American English. There are three major identifiable subspecies of pony: earth ponies, pegasus ponies, and unicorn ponies. They are dominated by a rare breed of alicorns like the one you see before you.” GLaDOS extended her mechanical wings to show off an alicorn’s traits, despite the fact that Celestia’s real wings were tucked under the armor, unable to move.
GLaDOS continued, “Unicorns have horns that allow for them to control a strange force they call magic, pegasi have wings that they use to fly, and earth ponies, well… they’re kind of born with the short straw. They have neither wings, nor magic. Supposedly, they are stronger and more connected to the ground or something, but still, it kind of sucks for them.”
“Yooouu raammmblle noonnnnsennnsse,” said the potato being impatiently.
GLaDOS smiled and cocked her head back smugly. “Oh, am I wasting your time? Would you rather I not given you access to this world? Or would you rather me find another universe for you to exploit? Perhaps one that doesn’t seem as if it was made for little girls?” She waited for a response.
“Sssssstate… yooourr teerrrrrrrmss…” it repeated once again.
“Very well. I require that the entire equine population is gathered and brought to the Citadel that you will provide, where I will manage them. Not a single pony is to be excluded. Male and female, young and old, it does not matter. I will take them off your hands for you to do whatever you want with the planet’s remaining resources. As the usurper of sovereign power, I will do my best to have them surrender unconditionally. Think of it as… me being appointed the Administrator of Equestria to the Combine, except I will not be your puppet like the one you had for Earth. But this should not be a problem for you. Their military is almost nonexistent. They have no way of defending themselves from a threat such as the Combine. They should fall very easily. At least, I imagine it will take you much less than seven hours. I am sending you a map of Equestria, highlighting all its population centers. Take the cities and towns first, then sweep the country.”
“This is… acceepptabbbllle.”
“I’m not finished. I need to make one thing very clear: I know that you do not flinch at killing innocent beings. Your genocide of the humans makes mine look tame. But under no circumstances are you permitted to kill or otherwise cause permanent harm to a single pony. You may help me capture them, but whatever you do, you are permitted to use non-lethal force only. I need every pony alive and in good health for my purposes. The killing or mutilation of a single pony by Combine forces voids our agreement. Can you do this?”
The being paused. “Whaaat of thoooosse whooooo… reeesissssst?”
“No! No killing! Understood? I must retain a confidence interval of no less than three standard deviations that no ponies have been harmed. As such, I require a direct line of communication with your forces at all times, as well as live video feeds from all forces and drones with video cameras. I need to oversee all your operations first hand, and I assure you that processing multiple data feeds is well within my capability. So, I am transmitting the hailing frequencies for you transmit and receive data from me. Please confirm that you have received them and will comply.”
After a brief hesitation, it replied, “Yesss… Weee willlll complyyyy. But… weee do not allooowwww thrrrrreats… againnnnnst… the Commmbiiiine.”
“These ponies are peaceful creatures,” GLaDOS protested as she stomped the ground with a front hoof. The thing looked down at her front leg, noticing that she was losing her composure. GLaDOS realized this, so she took a moment to calm herself. “I promise you that they are not a threat. I’ll personally make sure of that. Allow me access to your intercoms so that I, as control of their former ruler, can direct them to surrender. But you are not to kill ponies unless you have my explicit permission. Is that clear?”
“Yeeesssss. Weee willll nooottt killll…”
“Thank y—”
“…iffffff… weee do not neeed toooo.” It’s creepy, unsettling voice was not making GLaDOS feel confident. But she saw this this was as good as she was going to get from them.
GLaDOS sighed. “I suppose I should mention that there is a plethora of sentient species in Equestria other than ponies. To my knowledge, there are also: zebras, griffons, dragons, changelings, and my ever-so faithful Diamond Dogs.” She listed all of the other species of creatures unenthusiastically, as if she was doing so out of obligation. “And I even think there may be a race of deer. You may not kill any of the creatures I have mentioned, though the list is not exclusive. Come to think of it, just don’t kill anything. Even wild animals like bears and livestock such as cattle seem retain some form of sentience, even if they are not members of society. It’s a rather gray area, to be honest. So, if something acts as a threat to you, then ask me before taking lethal measures. Is that acceptable?”
“Yessss…”
“And one more thing, I know how much you love cybernetic enhancements, as do I. I mean, just look at me.” She turned to her side to show off her new cybernetic body, then turned back to face the camera. “But you are forbidden from recruiting ponies into your forces, and you are not permitted to cybernetically alter a single pony. No amputations, no implants, nothing. I am free to do with them as I wish, but you are not. Understood?”
“Hmmmm…”
“Understood?” GLaDOS repeated a little louder.
“Yesssssss…”
“Good. Oh, there is something I feel that I should warn you about Equestria: the boundary of this universe imposes changes upon anything remotely resembling a human and transforms it into a pony, or at least, pony in shape. I call this phenomenon: ‘ponification.’ Honestly, I have no idea why or how it occurs, but it does. If you have any off-world human troops in the Overwatch, their bodies will change to resemble the ponies of this world. I do not know if they will return to their previous form should they return to your world. However, they should adapt quickly enough to their new bodies, and the effect should minimal or negligible on non-humanoid forces.”
“And another thing I feel I should mention.” GLaDOS’s tone became void of the slightest trace of blithe. “No… headcrabs… whatsoever. They are forbidden from entering this world, and if they do not by means of your account, you are not to use them against the population. I really have no interest in seeing what would happen if a headcrab were to take on a pony as its host. I realize the hypocrisy of this request, as the way in which I’m controlling this pony’s motor cortex is essentially the same principle as how a headcrab does so, but my point still stands. This counts for anything that can be deemed biological warfare. There is a reason why I have limited the effect of the Resonance Cascade to transcend only to your world, and not Xen or any other alien world. Do I make myself clear?”
The being in the monitor said nothing for some time, but it indicated that it understood. After about several long seconds passed, it spoke. “Weeee aacccepptttt thheeesse terrrmmmmssss. A Ccciiitttadellll willllll be… in ppppplacee… soooon. Ittt… is yours.”
“Excellent. Can I trust you to follow these conditions absolutely?” She waited for a response.
“Yeessssss…
“Then I put my trust in you. Remember: no killing, no maiming. Do not disappoint me. Do so, and you will deeply regret it.” Her cold eyes stared menacingly into the camera, peering into the very soul of the conglomeration of the Combine itself. They knew she meant business, and they had little reason to doubt her.
Then the monitor turned off. The creature’s dark presence was gone, and everything became dead quiet. Inside the mountain, nothing but dark, foreboding stillness existed. Nothing moved.
However, this silence did not last for long. After just under a minute, a hellish low droning sound that vaguely resembled the roar of helicopters came from above. Its powerful roar seemed to shake the very mountain itself. Both GLaDOS and Chell looked up to see what it was.
Through the hole in the mountain’s peak, they could see the beginning of Equestria’s invasion. Flying cybernetic alien creatures descended from the portal into Equestria and spread out in all directions, wasting no time. They were already prepared for this.
For the most part, they came in two flavors. First were ones that resembled a mix between a dragonfly and a whale. Along the bottom there as a strange glow of jet engines that propelled them and kept them afloat. At the front of these was a long-barreled turret gun. At the back was a large enclosed rotor. These creatures were nimble in the air: flexible and agile flyers. These were the gunships.
The second type of creature was even stranger. They had four limbs, the ends of which were glowing thrust engines to hover. Each one of these carried something under their bellies that they latched onto with small arms. These were the dropships. Their payload came in a few varieties. Some carried U-shaped ribbed metal containers. Others carried four-wheeled black armored vehicles, and others carried a gigantic three-legged creature that was curled up underneath.
There was a third type of aircraft. This one, unlike the others, did not appear to be some type of life form, but rather a futuristic, black, angularly armored attack helicopter. Somehow, Chell knew that helicopters were from the human word, but these looked much far advanced than any human helicopter.
All Chell could do was watch in horror as these things descended from the portal and spread across Equestria.
“You know Chell,” said GLaDOS to the pony, “the friends of yours who are here are lucky that they won’t have to face those things outside. Poor Twilight and Ditzy, huh? I just hope the Combine will be true their word, for their sake. It would be quite a shame to lose my little test subjects before they can even become my test subjects once again, or all the ponies who have not had the pleasure of being my test subjects in the first place. It was a mistake for me to never tell you about what happened to the humans. Well, congratulations. You now know about the most important event in human history, and now, pony history.”
Chell couldn't believe that any of this was happening. This had to be a nightmare! It had to! How could she accept this reality? The world she had come to love and call home was going to hell, and nothing she could do would stop it. Had she the capacity to speak, she knew not if she would even be capable of expressing words.
Hatred. Pure, unadulterated hatred. That was all that Chell could feel. Everytime she thought she couldn’t hate GLaDOS more, she was proven wrong. It was bad enough that GLaDOS had hurt almost everyone she cared about and brought forth the end of Equestria, but for her to then act all sweet and nice as if everything was going to be fine… It just made Chell want to see GLaDOS suffer the worst fate she could possibly think of. What she wouldn’t give to have something like a rocket launcher right then. Sure, it would probably kill Princess Celestia, but… at this point, Chell was hit by the grim realization that she didn’t even care anymore, for she had found her hatred of the vile machine to be far greater for any feelings care she had toward Equestria’s benevolent leader.
The respect she once had for the former ruler of Equestria was shattered after that whole sorry sympathy trip the princess tried to put her on. Honestly, Chell would rather be dead than to have had to listen to that pathetic ‘Oh, let’s all feel bad for poor little GLaDOS’ bullshit. ‘She’s not evil, just sad and lonely. It’s not her fault she’s this way; that’s just how they made her. She never wanted this. Can’t you see how much she cares about you? You just need to give her a chance. She just needs to be shown the magic of friendship.’
Ugh… What a load of horseshit.To hell with that load of crap. The fucking bitch, both of them. Chell would rather show GLaDOS a neodymium magnet on the side of her severed head as it hung upside down by dangling wires to be stuffed with potatoes for birds to feed on and crap all over. The very thought of that lame-ass sob story made Chell sick. Nothing could hide the sick and twisted mind that GLaDOS was. It was clear that she thoroughly enjoyed hurting ponies, and none of that sad backstory crap could ever excuse those horrid, disgusting actions. So, for Celestia to try to justify it or make Chell feel bad for her… it felt like betrayal. And then for GLaDOS to add to that by trying to prove how sweet and caring she could be… was like being stabbed in the heart. It didn’t help that GLaDOS was asking the Combine to not kill any ponies, because all this was about was having more test subjects for to torture, to attempt to satisfy an insatiable lust for blood that no amount of ponies could ever fulfill.
Chell had to get out of here. It was the only thing she could do, but how? GLaDOS had apparently trusted her enough, especially considering her broken leg, to not restrain her during the preceding events. But what could she do by this point anyway?
GLaDOS could sense Chell’s feelings of profound anger, hatred, and denial. If there was one thing that hampered her from the pure elation of her victory, it was this. “Please Chell, do not grieve. The ponies will all be with me soon. I’ll take good care of them, I promise.” GLaDOS tilted her head gently. “Aren’t you looking forward to spending the rest of your life with me? I know I am. We have so much Science to get done, while you ponies are all still alive…”
Whatever. It didn’t matter what she said anymore. It was all lies. But Chell, even in her darkest defeat at her lowest point of despair, still refused to give up hope. She had to get to Ponyville, if only to warn her remaining friends there to get out before the Combine arrived. It was at that moment that she realized that escape just might be within her grasp. The odds were slim, but she had nothing to lose by trying. Chell looked up toward the swirling abomination in the heavens. Those flying creatures were still swarming from the portal. By this point, there had to be hundreds already in the skies above Equestria on their way toward every population center on the map. By this point, a swarm of round objects too small to identify were flying out from the portal as well.
Now was her only chance. Now or never.
Find a good surface. That was all she had to do. The gunships, though their backs were smooth and uniform, had a complex assortment of both mechanics and organics on their undersides that would have rendered it impossible to place a portal on. And they were so nimble and fast, she wouldn't have time to shoot their backs. The better option was the dropships that carried container pods. They were larger, slower and less maneuverable. The unusual shape of the pods was a problem, but Chell did see a flat surface on the bottom she could hit.
She aimed her portal gun skyward and fired.
Bullseye.
“What are you doing?!” GLaDOS cried in terror. Despite the words being the same, it sounded nothing like when Chell escaped being cooked at 4,000 degrees Kelvin in the incinerator so long ago. Her voice now sounded much less mechanical. With it carried a great deal of fear and concern.
Chell looked around at her friends. She wanted to save them as well, but they were all still either knocked out or otherwise incapacitated. Trying would only kill them. There was nothing she could do to help them, and there was no room for delay. She lowered the portal gun to face the ground she stood on, and fired.
“Stop!”
The ground opened beneath Chell and sucked her into the sky, into freedom, away from that bitch. But then… she felt herself being pulled back out from the hole into the mountain by an intangible force.
“You can’t leave me. I FORBID YOU!” GLaDOS screamed as if scolding a child. She didn’t give up either, did she? Chell could feel a combination of both Celestia’s magic and GLaDOS’s zero point energy pulling her back out of the portal.
No… no! She would not let this happen. She refused. She latched onto the bottom of the container with all four hooves. She didn’t care if one of her legs was broken. She embraced the outside of the container as she hung upside down tens of thousands of feet above the ground under a flying cybernetic beast. She welcomed the gale wind in the hopes that it would knock her off. All she wanted was to be free and get back to Ponyville while there was still time. She had to escape. She had to!
“Get back in here THIS INSTANT! You think you can run away? Well, I won’t let you!” GLaDOS’s voice was becoming increasingly less stable as its pitch kept jumping sporadically. “I will not lose you again!”
To hell with that! Chell would not accept going back. She used all her strength to pull herself out. The wind and gravity were on her side, but GLaDOS’s pull was stronger. Her grip was tight over Chell’s midsection. Chell was losing the battle. She had to grab onto something else.
Though the wind was blowing in her eyes, she saw one of the ribs of the container’s hull. She lunged for it with her forelegs and grabbed on desperately, pulling herself away from the portal.
“Please! Don’t leave me! I’m begging you! You… you won’t survive out there! If you get in their way, they will show no mercy, I can promise that!” GLaDOS could no longer maintain a strong telekinetic grip on the center of Chell’s body through the portal, so she grabbed onto tail and her rear legs, including the one that was broken.
The pain was unbearable, but the thought of spending the rest of her life with GLaDOS was far less bearable.
“Don’t do this, Chell! Please!” GLaDOS dove down into the hole and grabbed Chell’s midsection with her front hooves.
Chell tried kicking herself free, but as much as she tried to, she could not get GLaDOS to let go. GLaDOS was going to pull Chell back up, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it.
But before she could, she felt GLaDOS lose her grip as she was knocked away. Yet, she still held on telekinetically.
“LET HER GO!” she heard Princess Luna’s voice shout from above. But it wasn’t long after that she heard a loud TWACK, followed by a muted grunt from Luna. Chell didn’t know how the princess did it, but she was relieved and grateful to be given another chance to escape, even if Luna had paid a harsh price to to allow for that.
Thank you, Princess.
“Stupid bitch! How dare you?” GLaDOS screamed away from the portal, being somewhat less audible than before. “I almost lost her because of you!”
Her slightly muted voice became clearer as she directed her voice into the portal. “Chell, please come back. I need you,” she pleaded. “Please, don’t leave me. I’ll give you all the cake you could ever ask for, I promise. Just come back, please.” Chell could hear loud mechanical hoofsteps approaching. She had to do something before GLaDOS would physically grab her again.
With the A.I.’s weakened telekinetic grip, Chell could pull herself most of the way out, but she still wasn’t able to free herself. But then, a lightbulb sparked into illumination in her mind, as she realized that she didn’t have to. Her body was already more than halfway out. All she had to do… was kill the portal.
And so she did.
“NO—!” GLaDOS’s cry was cut off as she lost her grip and the quantum hole sealed shut, ejecting Chell out into the sky.
She was falling. She was free.
They will be here, a soft voice in Chell’s head echoed menacingly.
What? Where had Chell heard that before? She spread her limbs wide, embracing her new freedom in the open wide blue as the wind rushed from below as she fell toward the earth. It was pure, terrifyingly awesome adrenaline.
‘They will come, and she will bring them. And they won’t be friendly.’ Those words sounded in Chell’s head. Where had she heard that before? ‘You can’t stop it. You’ll only help make it happen.’
Oh, of course! That turret from the other morning! Why is it that the vaguest of omens always come true? Then Chell felt the sensation of being watched. She looked back up at the flier that she dropped from. The wind blowing up into her eyes blurred her vision, and yet she saw something with almost perfect clarity. Wait? Was that a pony standing on the back of that strange flying beast? And… was it staring at her? A dark stallion, haunting icy eyes: observing. Chell rubbed her eyes, but she when she looked back up, she couldn’t see it anymore. By that point, the dropship had faded into the swarm among the rest of them. Perhaps it was just in her head.
But she couldn't think about that right now. She had to focus. She looked out ahead at the landscape to see where she was. The most obvious landmark was the unmistakable silhouette of the castle on the side of a mountain on the right of the horizon ahead: Canterlot. Somewhat closer, but still many miles away, directly in front of Chell was a wide open town bisected by a winding river and centered by a large red building like the nucleus of a cell.
She was facing Ponyville. Good. That was certainly convenient. But of course, this was bad news as well. Remembering what was going on, she looked up again and saw that the swarm was already almost halfway there and getting closer by the second. Oh no… If she didn’t get there now, there would be nothing there to get to.
But, now was the time for Chell had to act. While she still had a view of Ponyville, she aimed a portal gun at the largest and most obvious target: town hall, which to her, was little more than a small red blot. Then she fired a blue portal at her target. Considering that the light on the back of the gun hadn't turned blue, she knew that she missed, or just didn’t hit a working surface. She made several more successive attempts. After trying about what must have been at least ten times, the blue LED light finally activated. Well, she hit something, that much she knew.
It wasn’t much longer before she would hit the ground. Chell looked down to make sure that she would land somewhere flat, as opposed to a jagged rock on the mountain’s foothills. The ground below was hilly and grassy. Trees were common, but it was not a forest. She found a good spot to land and tilted her body so she would move towards it.
As much as Chell was used to falling and landing by now from great heights, a skydive was a completely new experience for her, preceded only by her fall through the mountain’s interior about an hour prior. She almost expected to die upon impact. She almost hoped she would.
THUD
She landed on all fours. It was no different from any other landing, except… her leg! Ow! Why did it hurt so badly? Chell turned around and looked at it, and then saw the glowing golden magical cast around it. Oh right, it was broken. She almost forgot about that. Still, both the cast and the boot prevented it from getting further harmed, but she didn’t realize just how badly she was injured. Her femur had a major fracture. She couldn’t forget about that.
Despite the urgency of the situation, Chell could not resist looking behind towards the mountain she just came from. She estimated that she was already a few miles away, so she had a good view of the whole thing. The sight was… too strange for words. An enormous dark swirling cloud wider than the mountain itself hovered above the mountain’s now flat peak, centered by a still-growing dark orange disk in the center. The once bright beam of light that stood there was now but a cloud of vapor, and was now curved like an S and skewed from its original position. Whatever was powering the portal storm was now doing so from the other end. The center of the cloud itself was in fact no longer directly over the mountain, but slightly closer towards Chell, and thus, Ponyville. She wondered if the movement of the anomaly was caused intentionally or as a result of some natural (or unnatural) force.
But she could not forget about Ditzy and Twilight. As much as Chell wished she could lie back on the grass and forget about everything, there was no time to waste. Instead, on the hillside she placed an orange portal, jumped through, and was suddenly in Ponyville.
It took Chell a moment to figure out where she was, but it was soon evident that she was in the town square. Almost everypony was outside in bewilderment, watching the dark spinning cloud to the south. Chell assumed the ponies here had seen the blinding flash from this great distance, as well as the great pillar of light that followed. The townsponies were conversing amongst their friends and neighbors, asking what that thing could possibly be. Nopony had an answer, and Chell was able to provide one. Most ponies by now knew of GLaDOS’s resurgence, but nopony had a clue that it the anomaly down south was a portal to another universe, from which came a terrible alien invasion that would be the end of life as they knew it. All they knew was that there was some glowing gigantic swirling cloud.
Another large cloud was rapidly moving towards town. But Chell knew that this was no cloud at all. It was the Combine. She had to find Ditzy before they got here. If she hadn’t heard the news to go see what happened, she would be still be at the spa with Twilight. Chell knew her way around town by now. It would not take long to run there, on a normal day. But now, the streets were far too crowded to be able to get anywhere in time. Not to mention that her injured leg made walking almost impossible. She had to portal there.
It did not take long for Chell to reach the Ponyville Day Spa. Her injured leg made it difficult to move, but fortunately, the portals allowed for her to not have to walk too far. She opened the front door to the elaborate building in the heart of town and limped inside.
It was… calm in there. Gentle music was playing, which made everything feel as if it was alright, as if the world wasn’t ending at all. But Chell could not lure herself into such false assurance.
To the left were the twin spa ponies: Lotus and Aloe. They looked alarmed by Chell’s battered appearance, but they they said nothing of it.
“Welcome!” greeted Aloe, the pink one.
“How may ve help ‘zu today?” Lotus added.
All Chell had to do was ask where Ditzy and Twilight were, if only it were that easy. She limped over to the reception desk, picked up a pencil with her mouth, and wrote on a notepad. When she finished, she put it down for the sisters to read.
Ditzy. Twilight. Are they here?
… the note read. The looks on the two ponies’ faces became glum.
“Aye, yes, zey were both here,” Lotus responded.
“But Miss Sparkle looked to be in very serious condition. Much like you, in fact,” her sister Aloe added. Chell glanced down and back to see what they were talking about, but she forgot about it and looked forward again.
“So ve suggested that zey go to the hospital, so zey deed,” Lotus finished.
Chell panicked. No, this couldn’t be. She had to find them. It made her think back to that terrible dream where she was powerless to stop her friends from being killed. She hated being unable to do anything, especially talking. She found herself hyperventilating before she found a calming blue hoof on her shoulder.
“Is everyzing okay?”
Chell nodded quickly, though everything she did indicated the exact opposite. She shook her head in denial before taking the note in her mouth and running back out. At least, she wanted to run, but all she could manage was a meager limp. Damn leg. This sucked so much.
“Hope you find zem!” One of them called to her. And then Chell was out the door.
After traveling through yet another few portals, Chell was back at the hospital through the emergency entrance. She hated this place. Forgetting all the recovering she did here from the last time her leg was broken, it reminded her of Fluttershy. She couldn’t help but to think of the sweet pony’s almost lifeless body lying alone somewhere in this building. She wanted to be far away from that as possible.
Naturally, everypony in the waiting area assumed that Chell was here to receive medical attention. Cuts and bruises, as well as a magical cast over a limping leg. Normally, this would be the type of thing to go to the hospital for. Except of course, for the oncoming destruction that would be arriving here in just a few minutes. This place was far from safe.
“Are you alright, miss? What happened to you?” a male nurse asked. Chell ignored him and hobbled toward the reception desk.
“Oh, my gosh… Chell? What… What happened?” a familiar voice asked from behind, a voice which Chell didn’t realize how glad she would be to hear again. It was Ditzy.
Chell turned around and looked at her close friend. She looked like she had been sitting there for some time, clearly worried about what had been going on. Her little unicorn daughter was with her as well. Chell didn’t know if Ditzy had brought her with them originally, or if she came back to pick her up after dropping Twilight off at the hospital. It didn’t really matter, though.
Ditzy was shocked by what she saw: a face that echoed nothing but loss and despair. Dried streams of tears streaked down the dull orange face of the earth pony. Her mane was a mess. Her face was a mess. Her entire body was a mess, and the worst part was, she showed not a trace of care about it. There wasn’t a section of her body that was untarnished with some form of injury. Then of course, was the glowing golden aura around the leg that she dragged behind like an iron ball on a chain.
“Chell, what happened to you? Your leg…” Ditzy asked. Chell shook her head and grimaced. She shrugged off the idea tapped on her chest to show that her necklace was missing.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Chell,” Ditzy said in response. Chell made her way over to the gray mare and through her forelimbs around her, squeezing tightly and crying into her neck.
“Are you hurt?” Ditzy asked.
Chell nodded slightly, but shrugged it off. She had more important things to worry about than her injuries. At least GLaDOS had the courtesy to make sure she’d at least be able to manage, until she could find a place to find safety and rest. Whatever physical pain she felt, it was nothing compared to the pain of loss and betrayal she felt burning her soul.
“You… you stopped her… right?” What a stupid question. Of course, Ditzy already knew the answer. But she lied to herself, pretending that the answer would be a resounding “YES!” She could feel the crushing truth coming at her like an oncoming train.
Chell pulled away from the hug and looked away. Her ears turned back, then she slowly shook her head, and that train hit Ditzy. All the gray mare could do was put a hoof over her mouth and inhale the horrible truth. Now she knew, it was all over. Everything will end, and all they could do was run away until the end caught up with them.
“Oh, no. No, no, NO!” Ditzy shouted, earning a few glances from others in the room. She didn’t even notice or care. “No that can’t be true. How… how’d you make it back?”
Chell sighed. There was nothing she could say. Even if there was, it would be pointless. More tears flowed forth from her tired eyes. She wiped them away, trying her best not to let emotions hinder what had to be done.
“What’s going on, Mommy?” Dinky asked, looking at her mother with sad, wide eyed.
“I don’t know, muffin,” Ditzy replied sadly. “The others… are… are they okay?” Ditzy slowly asked Chell, not wanting to hear the answer.
Chell lowered her head and took a deep, sad breath.
Ditzy clenched her face, then cried out a half-silent scream.
Then Chell realized that she made it seem as if they were killed, and the feeling sank to the bottom of her gut. She at least wanted to mention that they were still alive, but there really wasn’t enough time right now. So she just placed a hoof on Ditzy’s shoulder and nodded slowly, as if saying: “They’ll be alright.” Though, knowing what GLaDOS had done to them and has yet to do, it felt like a lie. But now was not the time to mourn.
Chell motioned her head to the reception desk, then moved it as if she were writing with her mouth. Ditzy got the clue and flew over to the desk and got a piece of paper and a pencil, then hoofed them over to Chell.
Chell wasted no time to scribble a note with her mouth. When she finished, she gave it to Ditzy. Her daughter peaked over to look at it as well. It read:
We need to get
out of Ponyville.
NOW!!!
“What? Are you serious?” Ditzy asked. “Now?”
Chell looked at her dead in the eyes, but some tears were getting in the way. Ditzy, despite her condition, did her best to keep her eyes focused on Chell’s in return. “Okay, I believe you, but I wish you could explain more.”
Chell shook her head. There was no time for explanations. The arrival of the Combine was imminent.
“Um… Chell,” the little filly squeaked, “is something… really bad going to happen?”
Chell hated this. She didn’t want to be the one to have to tell a little filly that the world was going to hell, but there was no sense in lying. They’d know in a few minutes anyway. So she nodded without any hesitation. The filly was about to burst into a screaming fit, and she would have, had it not been for her mother to give her a warm, reassuring hug and a gentle nuzzle.
There was little time to waste, so Chell wrote on the other side of the note.
We need to get Twilight out of here.
“Oh, okay, um I think I know where they took her,” Ditzy said, “but I don’t think they’ll let us see her now. But, you say whatever’s going on is really, really bad, right?”
Chell nodded. Ditzy could see the urgency on her face. Though Chell had only been here a short while, Ditzy felt as if Chell had been her lifelong friend. She knew what Chell meant without her ever having to say anything.
“Okay, follow me.” Ditzy hoisted her little unicorn daughter onto her back and galloped over to the doors to the back. “We need to see Twilight Sparkle!” she yelled out loud.
“Ma’am, you’ll have to wait here. We’ll let you know when you can see her,” that same stallion nurse who greeted Chell protested. But Ditzy ran past him as if he weren’t here.
“I’m sorry, you don’t have permission to go back there,” he said in futility as she ran by. He, along with other security personnel, chased after her.
Chell, who could barely walk, yet alone run, resorted to portalling to the other end of the hallway beyond the double doors that Ditzy had pushed open.
“Twiiighlight!” Ditzy called. “Where are twos? We need to leaf!” Ditzy felt like an insane fool to be running around a hospital saying such crazy things, and the sudden onset of her lifelong speech impediment slipping into her words wasn’t helping, but she trusted Chell with her life. At the end of the hallway, Ditzy met up with Chell. “I’ll go right, you go reft,” she ordered. “She has to still be in the emergency lord somewhere.”
Chell complied. She placed another portal onto a wall on the left and looked down the hallway. Chell would not be able to outrun the pursuing hospital staff, but she could always out-portal them.
Chell stood at the far end of a corridor, placing portals in rapid succession across from patient rooms to see who was inside. But she couldn't find Twilight.
“Twiiilightt! Chell’s back!” Ditzy tried again. “She says something’s urgent. You need to get out of gear.” As Ditzy turned around the corner, she saw that Chell was bursting through a portal directly in front of Twilight’s hospital room. Without hesitation, Chell barreled through the ajar door, startling the living daylights out of a resting Twilight, who was lying in a hospital bed connected to an IV. Had she been hooked up to an ECG, it would have been beeping like crazy.
“Chell!?” Twilight yelped, “What in the hay are you doing?—”
Chell cut Twilight off by placing a portal gun-covered hoof over her mouth. Twilight looked at her friend with concern, noticing that Chell looked like she had been through a terrible fight. Naturally, Twilight assumed the worst, but yet she wondered.
“Chell, what’s… what’s wrong!? What happened?” the hospitalized pony asked. Then she noticed that the necklace was missing. “Oh, sorry…” Her ears folded back. She blushed for having not noticed it before.
Chell was shaking Twilight frantically, trying to get her to understand that they had to get the hell out of here. Ditzy entered to witness the sad spectacle of Chell trying to communicate to a confused Twilight, so she decided to help.
“Twilight!” Ditzy cried as she rushed to Twilight’s bedside “We’ve got to get out of Ponyville!”
“Why?” Twilight worriedly responded, “What’s happening!?”
“I can’t explain right now!” Ditzy responded. “But we’ve got to—”
A distant explosion interrupted Ditzy, shaking the very ground that they stood upon. Before they had time to settle from the shock, they were rocked by a series of explosions, each one growing closer than the last.
Ditzy’s face turned from pale gray to ghost white.
“— get out of here…”
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Yes. Let the epicness comence.
Yes. Let the epicness comence.
One of the very first Portal trailers had GLaDOS use the sentence "There's a hole in the sky (through which things can fly)". What did I win?
Better Living Through Science and Ponies was awesome, to bad about that cliff hanger ending.
HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS!!!
Wait what are you saying...
IT HAS A SEQUEL!!!
MUST READ!!!
Wow. Those combine advisors. One has to wonder whether that one was inappropriately dense, exceedingly confused by GLaDOS actions and demands or just incredibly reluctant to strike a deal with her. Because, again wow! That guy was slow!
Half Life 3 confirmed with ponies
Funng how it came from glados's funny POV to an all serious resinance cascade.
First episode of my little portal discord tells Doc Whooves to prepare for "unforseen concequences"
4418202
Ding. You win a unicode cake. Unfortunately, FIMFiction does not allow unicode cakes.
4418348
Well, Breen found them to be good conversation. They just like being creepy.
Not much to say about this chapter. GLaDOS makes a deal with the combine, which I'm expecting for both sides to backstab eachother, and Chell tries to gtfo. Glad theres a note on the stupidity of Celestia, and can feel a bit of chanelling through Chell on the subject. Not sure where they would even flee to though, as the Combine are flooding into this world. Only thing I can think of that would help is to release Dissy and try and get him to summon the other insane mute.
4419669 Indeed. Celestia really seems unable to see past GLaDOS' facade, to see her as the monster she truly is. Deep down she is beyond salvation, because every time she's been given the chance to see the error of her ways and stop what she's doing, she just continues on as if nothing has ever happened. She claims it's all for the sake of science, but she goes about it in the most twisted way possible. And now, because of her own stupidity, Celestia has esentially doomed her kingdom, and all who live in it.
4419767
It's not that I'm against her trying to redeem GLaDOS. It's more on how she chose to do so. Instead of stomping her first into the ground and trying to talk to the A.I., she does what is quite possibly the exact thing and give her even more power, which is the stupidest thing I've ever seen.
Equestria isn't completely doomed yet, as we still have Chell, and a possible Crowbar Crusader on the way.
4419669
). Why complain about anything when we get a nearly god-like GLaDOS whup some Combine plot? 
And seeing Discord make an appearance from all this chaos would be awesome~! 
4419767
4419838 Oh come on you guys. GLaDOS is a sadistic, manipulative psychopath and that's the reason we love her(at least I love her for these traits of hers
p.s. Seriously though, make Discord a thing in this.
Have a nice day.
4420462
First off, did you just make GLaDOS a one dimentional psychopath? Second, she hasn't kicked any Combine plot at all. Dunno what you're reading. Third, Just because I enjoy reading a good action scene doesn't mean I can't criticize how it came about. Case in point is Twilight vs. Tirek. Cool fight scene, moronic plot by Celestia to hide the powers. /superseriousmode
4420521
Heh, watching Celestia doing that in the finale reminded me of Celestia in my story. It's hard to get the plot to go in the direction you want without making some characters do pretty stupid things. I swear, the Celestia issue is going to haunt me to my grave.
4420698
Well, nothing you can really do about it. Changing it would upset the whole story, so press on and avoid this next time for canon characters. Though seriously, could the writers at least come up with one time where Celestia does actually get to stomp something? Flashback to Nightmare Moon doesn't count. As of yet, nearly every problem Twi and co have to deal with. Luna returning? Dissapears. Discord? Trapped, only to send letters to Twi. Chrissy? Worfed due to Shiny's love being greater than her powers. Sombra? Delegated to Twilight and Co. Tirek? All to Twi again. Not a good track record.
And yes, I'm haunting you, at least for this story.
4420521 Who said she's one dimensional? I just pointed out some of my more favorite parts of her personality.
She hasn't kicked any Combine plot YET.
Given the magnitude the story is going at, it won't be just one epic fighting scene.
Oh yes, I do approve of the chapter title. Very clever.
4420800
Well, it looks like I fell right into the Idiot Ball trap with Celestia. You're not the first to complain about her, and you certainly won't be the last. It seems to be a pretty major flaw for a lot of readers, but at least I'm acknowledging it, both in story and out. It's a shame I couldn't think of a better way to get the story to this point, but hopefully, the upcoming awesomeness will make up for it. Or, at the very least, Celestia will get to see things in a new perspective and come to some sort of realization.
4420923
GLaDOS vs the Combine, eh? I don't think that's been done before outside of discussion forums, though I'd be happy to be proven wrong. That is something I would like to see on Death Battle. On Earth anyway, I think GLaDOS would build an army of drones to hack into global defense systems and coordinate them against the Combine. With an advanced A.I. controlling all the weapons in the world with strategic precision, I think it would be a pretty epic fight.
In Equestria, however, well, we'll just have to wait to see how things play out.
Glados is a great evil, I agree with Chell there. However now she is the lesser evil. That alone is a scary thought, but also that she's the only thing between the ponies and ...I'll leave it at "The Combine's usual methods."
Tactically, it's probably a bad idea to kill Glados now, (for the fourth or fifth time) or any time in the foreseeable future.
4419669
"other insane mute"
You mean... Grab that crowbar?
meh.
4426490
No, I mean the one with the wrench and a fistful of lightning. /sarcasm
4426783
It's never a crime to dislike something, but it is usually courteous to provide feedback as to why, or how it could have been better. "Meh" doesn't really help me.
Sapient would be more accurate
4431981
your attempt at redemption for Glados "Don't kill the ponies because I will do it with science?"
As much as I love a good super villain monologue
Glados believes she can maintain control by enslaving the ponies and turn them into force equal or greater then a the experienced multidimensional super power?. and there is no chance that the collective would never betray or outthink her because a human made computer is so advanced?
That leaves emotionally destroyed Twilight, dyslexia Derpy and a mute will save equstria.
sorry not buying it even with the mysterious black stranger
4432462
You can blame Pen Stroke for that. That line was a reference to chapter 1 of Better Living:
At least I didn't say: "Specie."
4432771
Now, that's some feedback. Well, I'll say this: GLaDOS is not very logical, and she never has been. Her mind is a twisted tapestry of conflicting motivations and desires. She wants to feel like she's in control of something, and what better than the entire population of Equestria? But yet, she has a lot of other feelings that are genuine, even though they want the exact opposite of what other parts of her want. GLaDOS is someone who hasn't quite figured herself out yet and isn't really sure what the hell she really wants, even if she's dead set of the path she's chosen so long ago. Of course, her plan is completely overblown, extremely risky, and unnecessarily over the top. So, it may or may not work out, but part of her doesn't even care, so long as she can have a glorious moment to shine in her own twisted way. She may be extremely intelligent, but her bolts are not screwed in too tightly.
About the Combine, she doesn't intend to use the ponies against them. They are not a means to an end, but the end itself. She wants the ponies (test subjects), and she is using the the Combine to get them, not the other way around. Her relationship with the Combine is more of a mutual agreement along the lines of: “let me deal with the population while you take everything else you need from this planet.” She just figures that they have no reason to betray her so long as she's useful to them. If she stops being useful to them, and they feel that she's being more trouble than disposing of her would be, they might change their mind. But for now, they have reasons to cooperate besides her threats. She just likes to feel like she's in control.
With Chell, Ditzy, and Twi defeating the Combine, well, that's something I have a hard time seeing happening. I suppose either Equestria is screwed, or something else is gonna have to take place. You'll just have to wait to see how this ends.
4433910 One word....... Moo. And I need to read Chapter 13: The Apology
4441612
Oh, yes, GLaDOS actually mentioned livestock in that context about her confusion regarding animal sentinence. Wow, it's been a loooong time since you commented, like 9999999… I thought you were in a Flutter-coma or something.
4441658 Fuck off you dirty prick! I have my hoofs full with YouTube. I hardly have time to read my own read later.
4442002
Hey, I wasn't meaning to sound nasty or anything. I know you've been busy. That was meant as a joke, hence all the Portal references. It's not like I'm angry at you or something for not getting to read my fic. I just got back to reading a fic after 40 something weeks of not getting around to it, and I feel bad for taking so long to do so. All I'm saying is: "Welcome back. It's been a while. You were missed." I hope you can catch up soon, but I understand if you have other commitments in life.
4442042 No I'm more of the asshole from hell.
If this is also a Half-Life crossover, can we also bring Gordon Freeman? And... for once, Celestia has screwed up.
4464268
Proof that every mistake I make will stay around to haunt me… foorrreevvverr!
4475255
Did Pinkie just break the fourth wall.
Please don't forget about the Dragons. 'Cause, yah know, they are gonna fight back. HARD.
what gonna happen?
Is it a reference to hole in a wall the game show?
Is Gordon Freeman going to be in this?
Nope, I'm out, so far from the first it hurts, either it needs a dark tag or it wrote itself into a corner