Equestria and the Machine

by SapphireRose87

Rating: teen
Tags: Human, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Adventure, Sex, Science Fiction, Gilda, Violence
Length: 79931

I’m Rainbow Dash and thanks to a powerful AI Machine everything about me changed. I’m not the same Rainbow Dash everyone knew back in Equestria.

Shortly after the Elements of Harmony were discovered a powerful AI Machine was built. No one knows who built or why it came to be. The first lives it took were the bearers of The Elements of Harmony all of them except Princess Twilight, her Element is the Element of Magic. As far as we can tell the Machine feeds off of every Alpha creature from every planet and in every universe.

Apparently, I’m one of the Elements of Harmony that was taken by the Machine. From what I’ve been told I’ve been stuck inside the Machine for eight years! Ever since I’ve been in the Machine I got changed from a pony into a human. The Machine even changed my name from Rainbow Dash to Judy. That’s right I’m Rainbow Dash The Element of Loyalty! But I’m not the same Rainbow Dash that everyone knew eight years ago back in Equestria.

I would like to thank my main editor that's been helping me so far

SunlightSwift chapter 1 through 14

I also want to thank carmanmcgold20 for helping me edit the rest of the story chapter 15 through 25.

When the chapters for this story are released, you can check this blog to see how many more chapters are left to go on this story and there's another blog connected to that one so you can see the names for the upcoming chapters.

Published 2020-08-02 19:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-11-07 06:26:05 UTC

2) Static vision and My Answer to the Watch Question

Later that night, I was woken up by Jude crying. I went downstairs to see Lyra holding him.

“How long have you been here?” I said.

“About a half hour after Oliver and Clara put you to bed.” Lyra said. “Oh, and your car is back.”

“Thanks for doing this,” I said, “but I’m fine.”

Lyra tilted her head, “You don’t look fine, I can’t stay if need be.”

I shook my head, “No Lyra, I’m good.”

“Okay,” Lyra said, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Lyra put Jude in his crib and he was sound asleep.

* * *

That weekend, I asked Lyra to babysit for me. The reason is because one of my favorite things to do was go rock climbing. The cliff that I was trying to climb is five hundred feet up in the air and the cliff was 30 minutes away from home.

I always take certain safety measures like having a harness and a grappling hook and a parachute just in case I needed it. The reason why I do this is because I keep thinking that I need to get back home to my baby at the end of the day.

I started climbing at the bottom of the cliff and my goal was always to get to the top of the cliff and take the trail back down. I had this goal because a lot of times I only made it about a fourth of the way up before I had to go back down and that always irritated me. When I got to the bottom of the cliff I looked up and smiled. I love doing dangerous things like this!

Sometimes I wonder if I should just let myself fall on purpose! But at the end of the day I still have a baby to get to!

I jumped two feet in the air and put my foot in the first foothold. I got about one hundred feet up the cliff when I missed the next foothold.

Damn it! I’m starting to fall! Plan A safety measure is up first!

I took the extra rope that I had on my pocket and lassoed it above me. It was a move that Lilith had taught me when I first started rock climbing. The rope caught onto the next foothold above me and I let out a sigh of relief. That was close!

The lower part of the rope tore and fell to the bottom of the cliff. Damn it! So much for that safety measure!Okay, it’s time for Plan B!

Before I could put the grappling hook into place, the rope from my harness tore and I started to fall.

Well, I always wanted to fall, but now isn’t the right time for it! I have to get back to Jude!

I was trying to get the safety measure Plan C into place which would be the parachute. But for some reason, the rope was stuck on it.

I’m screwed! This is the end!

I was about fifty feet towards the bottom when I felt someone catch me. After I was caught I passed out because of fear.

* * *

When I started waking up, I heard Oliver’s voice.

“Rainbow Dash!” Oliver shouted. “Rainbow Dash, wake up!”

I felt a slap on the face.

“Ow!” I said. “What the hell was that for?”

“Are you nuts?” Clara said. “Do you really think it’s a good time for rock climbing right now?”

“I’m not a damsel in distress you know!” I said. “And my name’s not Rainbow Dash!”

“Actually,” said Oliver, “you were a damsel in distress back there. You almost killed yourself!”

“How did you guys know I was here?” I said.

“Oh, that,” said Clara, “we were also doing rock climbing! We just do it on the other side of the cliff.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I don’t need to be rescued!”

“Right now,” said Clara, “you do! In case you didn’t notice, you just passed out at work!”

“And?” I said. “Your point?”

“If that happens again,” said Clara, “you’re going to be in real trouble!”

“Look guys,” I said, “I know you’re concerned and everything but just give me some space! I’m not a baby!”

Clara then looked behind me with a worried look on her face.

“We need to get out of here!” Clara said. “Now!”

“What?” I said. “What’s wrong?”

“Damn it!” Oliver said. “It’s the seekers!”

“Seekers!” I said. “What in the world are those?”

I heard a loud bang and something whizzed past my ear.

“I knew they were going to come after her sooner or later!” Clara said.

“Well, she is an element of harmony,” said Oliver, “we need to get her out of here! We can’t let her get eliminated before she goes through Phase 2!”

“Yeah, provided she chose the right watch!” Clara said. “If she goes back into the Machine, the element of loyalty is history!”

“We shouldn’t be talking about that right now!” Oliver said. “Now would be a good time to run!”

“The target is on site!” I heard a voice say. “We must eliminate the element of loyalty! This one will not get away like all of the others!”

“I can’t run!” I said. “I have to get back to Jude!”

“No Judy,” said Clara, “we can’t go to your house! That’s the first place the seekers would look!”

“Where are we going?” I said.

“In here!” Oliver said.

Oliver then took out a small button that looked like a doorbell. He then tossed the button in the air and it stuck into an invisible door. Oliver pressed the button and a door opened as if it were a secret passageway.

My jaw dropped, “Uhhh, how did you do that?”

“No time for questions!” Clara said and then she pushed me into the door before I could say another word.

* * *

The door led to another room that looked just like a living room. To my right was a tan leather couch and on the left was what looked like the exact same couch. In the middle of the was a fireplace and above it was a flatscreen Tv. I could see down the hallway and I saw that there was a spiral staircase leading upstairs. Once we were in the room, Oliver and Clara paused to catch their breath.

“We should be safe for now!” Clara said.

“Yeah,” said Oliver, “that is until they get a whiff of our location!”

“She looks confused,” said Clara, “but we can’t explain anything until she gets through Phase 2!”

“So what do we do now?” Oliver said.

“Well, Finn gave us the go ahead to speed up the process!” Clara said. “I think now would be the perfect time to do that!”

“Uh-huh,” said Oliver, “you sure about that?”

“Yes, I’m sure!” Clara said.

I couldn’t react fast enough because Clara pushed me towards Oliver and he kissed me.

* * *

After the kiss with Oliver the static vision returned but it was more intense this time. In the static vision I saw a shadow of a person in the middle of it.

“Judy,” said Oliver, “what are you seeing?”

“Is Clara with you still?” I said.

“She’s right here,” said Oliver, ‘she can’t talk to you right now, since I’m the one that sped up the process!”

“Sped up what process?” I said. “For what?”

“To launch you into Phase 2!” Oliver said. “I really hope you’ll be okay.”

“I’m not following you,” I said, “at all!”

“Good,” said Oliver, “you’re not supposed to just yet!”

“So exactly,” I said, “how did you speed up the process?”

“It’s a little thing, called love….” Oliver said.

* * *

As I was trying to process what had been said to me, I tried to get my bearings but I couldn’t figure out where I was. I felt like I was in outer space; like I was in a dream. I saw that I was floating in zero gravity and I kept hearing a thunder storm off in the distance.

I then felt that I had some sort of rope around my waste that was pulling me towards the thunderstorm. I looked down to see that I wasn’t being pulled by a rope but it was a gold chain.

Okay, I must be dreaming!

The gold chain stopped pulling me and I found myself standing in front of what looked like a huge pocket watch.

I wonder if this is what Finn was talking about?

The watch had hands of time that had stopped but, I could still hear it ticking.

* * *

“Rainbow Dash!” I heard a voice say. “Rainbow Dash, wake up!”

I opened my eyes to see that I was in a room with white walls all around it. I looked straight ahead to Finn sitting across the table from me. I was confused because he was dressed differently than what he was normally dressed. He was wearing a brown overcoat that was open in the front and it looked like he was wearing a red shirt underneath it. He was also wearing brown pants and black shoes. Oh his face was dark tinted glasses. Finn sat there with his legs crossed and had an amused look on his face.

“I don’t get it,” I said, “is this another therapy session?”

Finn started cracking up, it was as if he couldn’t hold in his laughter even if he wanted to.

“Okay,” I said, “I don’t see how this is funny!”

“I’m laughing,” said Finn, “because this isn’t a therapy session! You’re here because you’re almost done with Phase 2! Whether or not you survive is up to you!”

“Does this have something to do with the watch question?” I said.

“Yes,” said Finn, “that wasn’t a figure of speech question. It was a literal question.”

“Huh?” I said.

Finn smiled and took out his pocket, a silver pocket watch and a gold pocket watch.

“You’re weren’t kidding around,” I said, “were you?”

“Nope,” said Finn, “let me open them and you tell me which one you’ll choose. And remember the watch that you saw before you came to me.”

Finn flipped open both watches the silver pocket watch had the hands of time that kept going and it seemed to be a normal working watch. The gold pocket watch was where the hands of time were stopped but it was still ticking.

My eyes went wide when I saw the gold pocket watch and my blood ran cold.

“So,” said Finn, “what watch did you see?”

I squeaked, “The gold one!”

Finn smiled, “Congratulations! You’ve passed Phase 2! Your journey to Equestria starts now!”

Finn handed me the watch that I had chosen and proceeded to put it around my neck. I couldn’t help but stare at the watch in shock.

“You must keep this watch on at all times!” Finn said. “That’s to keep you from getting sucked back into the Machine! Every Agent has to wear their watches at all times too for the same reason!”

“Why is there a reason that I could get sucked by into the Machine?” I said.

Finn sighed, “The Machine feeds on the life force of only the alpha creatures of every planet in every universe.”

“Every universe? There’s other universes?” I said.

“Yes. Unfortunately, the Machine’s favorite life forces to feed on are ponies from Equestria! And humans from Earth!” Finn said.

“Ponies? From Equestria?” I said

“Yes,” Finn says matter of factly.

“Okay… I take it the Machine is like an AI program?” I said.

“Hum,” said Finn,”I’m surprised the Machine even let you learn something like that! That’s because the Machine is like a dictator! It only allows it’s subjects to learn what it wants them to learn. I suspect that the Machine is starting to evolve in order to protect itself. Either way, we need to find a way to shut it down! If we don’t people and ponies that we have worked so hard to save will be sucked back into it and then it’s game over for all of us!”

“How have you gone about shutting it down so far?” I said.

“I have been sending teams into the Machine to put viruses into the Machines program,” Finn said.

“Is that what Oliver and Clara do?” I said.

“Yes,” said Finn,” they were trying to get what we call trigger responses to break you out of the Machine and planting a virus into it in replacement of your presence. I never thought that one of my agents would fall in love with you in the process!”

“So, Oliver really does have feelings for me?” I said.

“Oh yes,” Finn laughed, “you’re all he ever talks about, even when I’m around! I have to admit, it’s getting on my nerves! That’s why I gave him the go ahead to kiss you.”

“You mean you did that on purpose?” I said.

“Oh no,” said Finn, “I just gave him permission to do it! He did the actual thing on his own!”

“Okay,” I said, “forget about my love life! All I care about now is shutting down the Machine!”

“You’re determined now,” said Finn, “aren’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I said.

Finn smiled, “That makes perfect sense because you are Rainbow Dash after all.”

“My name is not Rainbow Dash!” I said. “It’s Judy!”

“Nope,” said Finn, “you’re a pony from Equestria and your name’s Rainbow Dash. Here’s a picture of what you look like.”

Finn then slid a picture of me across the table and I stared at it in wonder. The picture was of a light blue pony that had wings and a rainbow mane. I then saw a picture of a cloud with a rainbow lighting bolt coming out of it.

“What type of creature am I in this picture?” I said.

“You’re a pony,” said Finn, “the type of pony you are is a pegasus. You help control the weather and you like being awesome, saving other ponies and doing dangerous activities.”

“That explains the rock climbing!” I said. “Wait a second! This creature looks like a character from the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic! That’s a kids show! You mean to tell me that it’s real?”

“While the show is a cartoon,” said Finn, “it’s based off of real events that happened in Equestria! Have you ever watched the show?”

“No,” I said, “I've been busy taking care of Jude and working. The show came out when I started working for JJ inc. Then Jude was born after I met that jerk Silas!”

“Oh,” said Finn, “there’s something you should know about Silas.”

“What?” I said.

“Silas,” said Finn, “was a code formed by the Machine to make sure that your personality is kept in check by the Machines standards. You actually became aware of your original personality right before you started working for JJ inc. !”

“Was anything in my life real?” I said.

“Your life was totally real when you were back in Equestria,” Finn said, “you were kidnapped right after you became a Wonderbolt!”

“For some reason,” I said, “I’m not remembering any of this.”

“Why do you think you have rainbow colored hair?” Finn said. “Other than that, you look like a regular caucasian woman. For some reason, the Machine only allowed your rainbow hair and everything else it changed.”

“I was just wondering,” I said, “what are you classified as. A human?”

“I’m a human,” said Finn. “On my birth certificate my race is marked “N/A” because my mom was white and my dad was black. I don’t think of myself as either one. And to tell you the truth I was never sucked into the Machine in the first place. I know you have one more question for me, don’t you?”

“How do you know that?” I said.

“It’s written on your face,” said Finn, “so spill it, what’s the question?”

“Where’s Jude?” I said. “Where’s my baby?”

Finn then let out a long sigh, he took off his glasses and I couldn’t tell what the look on his face meant.

“I can only tell you a half truth,” said Finn, “because the rest of it is classified. Let’s just say the Jude is being looked after by some good people that took him in when they found out the seekers were after you. Who they are, I can’t say…”

3) Phase 3

“There is one more thing that needs to be taken care of,” said Finn, “Rainbow Dash.”

“That name,” I said, “is getting really old. I might be a character from a cartoon but in case you didn’t notice, I go by Judy!”

Finn laughed, “Okay Judy, think of this as the next step as phase 3. You have to break out of the cell to be free of the Machine!”

“Uh,” I said, “but I thought I was already out?”

“Yes and no,” said Finn, “yes you’re out of the Machine really but no you aren’t actually free from the Machine. This should be easy for you since you like dangerous activities and all.”

“Did Oliver and Clara break out?” I said.

“Oh yes,” said Finn, “as a matter of fact, they’re the two most talented agents we have! Of course Clara is actually Pinkie Pie and you’re Rainbow Dash, so you have potential.”

“So,” I said, “how do I officially break out of the Machine?”

“Well according to the Machine,” said Finn, “you died and were buried yesterday of course it doesn’t know that you’re still alive. And since you have your watch that will be a big help. The rest is up to you!”

“So when am I going to do this?” I said.

“You will be doing this right about-“ Finn said.

I didn’t even hear Finn finish his sentence although I could only guess that he was about to say ‘now’ when I felt like I was being pulled back into the Machine.

* * *

When I opened my eyes I had no idea where I was. All I knew is that I was in a really tight space and I didn’t like it at all. I just about panicked but I told myself to calm down.

In front of me was a screen that lit up, there were numbers going across it and I could only assume that it was computer language. I then realized that there was a pattern to the numbers that kept repeating as 1,4,5,7 and 8. I focused my attention on the numbers but the more I tried my restraints kept getting tighter especially the one that was across my neck. It felt like I was being strangled.

I can’t breathe!

Okay focus! Focus! What was the first number? Oh yeah, 1!

I concentrated on the number and ‘1’ lit up green on the screen. I calmed down and felt the restraint across my neck get loose.

It looks like the more numbers I unlock the looser the restraints get!

After the number ‘1’ lit up on the screen the restraints got tighter again.

Breathe Rainbow! Damn it! That’s not my name for crying out loud!

I focused on the next numbers. The number ‘4’ and ‘5’ lit up on the screen and I felt more restraints loosen up. When I went to focus on the number ‘7’ it was like it had dropped off the screen.

You’ve got to be kidding me! Where is it? Ow!

I felt the restraints get tighter again. I closed my eyes and focused hard on the number 7 and it finally lit up on the screen. I maintained my focus and shortly after the number 8 popped up on the screen as well.

Huh it was a good thing I can read patterns as part of my job! Who would’ve thought that would come in handy!

The screen said the word ‘unlock’ and I was free of the restraints. The door to my cell opened and it looked like I was underwater. I swam to the surface and I saw that all around me the water went on forever. Nothing but just darkness surrounded me. Something told me to just float on the surface, so I laid on my back and floated along.

* * *

I opened my eyes to see a mirror floating above me. I heard voices that were talking about me.

I rolled my eyes. Of course they would send Clara and Oliver to me after Phase 3! I hope there’s not anymore Phases after this! I don’t know if I can take it anymore!

“Awe,” said Clara, “go ahead tail chaser, say ‘hi’ to your girlfriend!”

“Ha, ha,” said Oliver, “you’re going to need new content if you’re going to keep teasing me!”

“Oh I’m sorry,” said Clara, “I didn’t know I was teasing!”

“You’re jealous,” said Oliver, “because I broke up with you two years ago! You still can’t get over me can you?”

“Nope,” said Clara, “actually I’m going to sit here and eat a slice of cake while you go help your girl toy up!”

“Girl toy!” Oliver said. “She’s not an object you know!”

“I’m glad you don’t think that way,” said Clara, “it’s too bad you’re not my toy anymore! I can't pull your strings anymore!”

“So you are jealous!” Oliver said.

“Nope,” said Clara, “I just want a new toy! You’re damaged goods! Although if I can put you back together I might just play with you again!”

“Excuse me?” Oliver said. “The last time I checked you were going after Finn!”

“He’s a tough nut to crack!” Clara said. “I might need a nutcracker for him!”

Oliver just about choked on those words and he actually did sound like he was choking and Clara clapped him on the back.

Clara laughed, “I thought you were going to die for a bit!”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “Gee, your toy is so grateful!”

“Uh guys?” I said. “Would stop cat fighting and help me up!”

“Cat fighting!” Clara said. “Makes sense for us to be cat fighting because you’re a tail chaser Oliver!”

“Like I said, new content Pinkie!” Oliver said.

I bit the inside of my cheek clearly annoyed with the two of them who couldn’t help but argue when they were around each other.

“Okay,” I snapped, “stop boxing then! Just help me up already!”

“Oh,” said Oliver, “sorry about that Rainbow!”

Oliver helped me up and wiped his hand on his pants. I then realized that I was covered in something and it looked a lot like slime.

“Ew, gross!” I said. “What is this stuff?”

“It’s mucus,” said Oliver, “like when you have a booger.”

“Okay,” said Clara, “I’ve lost my appetite!”

“Good Pinkie!” Oliver said. “Not is not the time for food! Is food all you ever think about?”

“Yeah and my toys!” Clara said. “Too bad I don’t have a ball to play with!”

“Seriously Pinkie Pie!” Oliver said. “I’m pretty sure Rainbow Dash is going to want a shower and then she needs to go Finn and Princess Twilight for her orientation into The Sixth!”

“I wouldn’t try joining her in the shower if I were you!” Clara said. “I don’t think she’s ready for that yet!”

Okay, those two are getting on my last nerve!

I stepped in front of Oliver and Clara before they could argue anymore.

“Uh hello!” I said. “Did you guys forget something? I swear if I didn’t know any better, you two fight like siblings! Trust me, I know because me and my older brother Eli and I fought all the time when we were younger! And we still fight! I haven’t spoken to him in over a decade because of it! Will you two shut up so I can get back to Finn to figure out what he needs me to do next!”

“I think Rainbow Dash likes Finn more than I do!” Clara said. “Careful Oliver you have some competition!”

“Why you little-“ Oliver said.

“Okay, break it up!” Finn said coming up from behind us.

“Thank you Finn!” I said.

Finn was doubled over in laughter, he laughed like he had just played a prank on me!

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“I sent Oliver and Pinkie Pie because I knew they would fight,” said Finn, “I didn’t realize they were going to be that bad! Where’s the popcorn when you need it?”

“That’s so funny I forgot to laugh!” I said. “Let me guess this part of phase 4 isn’t it?”

Finn was once again doubled over in laughter this time Oliver and Clara joined in.

“No,” said Finn, “there is no Phase 4! You’ve completed everything that needed to be done. Princess Twilight is right behind you to take you to the showers and then we’ll do the orientation.”

“Hey,” said Clara, “why can’t I do it?”

“Because,” said Princess Twilight, “you’re a pervert! Oliver stop bowing! You can look at me now!”

Oliver then stood straight up and hid behind Finn.

“You’re a wuss you know that right Oliver?” Finn laughed.

“She is the ruler of Equestria!” Oliver said. “Why aren’t you scared?”

“Princess Twilight and I have a history,” said Finn,”and I’m not telling because I consider that classified!”

Princess Twilight shook her head. She started to walk away and motioned for me to follow.

“Follow me Rainbow!” Princess Twilight said.

“Yes your highness!” I said.

“Oh don’t call me that Rainbow,” said Princess Twilight, “just call me Twilight! We were friends before you got sucked into the Machine! And you’re the bearer of the element of loyalty! You might not remember me but let’s show a gesture of friendship by having a hoofshake.”

“Okay?” I said. I took her hoof and shook it slowly.

“Did you notice you got your raspy voice back?” Princess Twilight said.

That was when I heard it, I just said something again just to see if what Twilight was saying was true.

“My raspy voice?” I said.

I heard the voice coming from my mouth and covered it in shock.

“What is happening to me?” I said. “I just thought I was getting sick!”

Twilight couldn’t help but laugh she wouldn’t have been able to keep from laughing even if she wanted to.

“I don’t know if that’s funny or not!” I said.

“Oh it’s funny,” said Princess Twilight, “because you’re not truly accepting who you are just yet! That’s understandable. It’s been awhile since you’ve sucked into that Machine! Anyway, the showers are over there and your clean clothes are hanging on the towel rack over there. I’ll lock the door to give you some privacy so Pinkie Pie doesn’t steal them!”

“Gee,” I said, “thank you?”

“No problem!” Twilight said. As promised she turned around and locked the door.

After I took a shower I got out and put my clothes on. I looked in the mirror and I was wearing a tan shirt and tan pants along with blue white sneakers. This must be the dress code!

I also unhooked the towel rack which looked like an ID card. On it was a picture of that weird looking character Rainbow Dash from that Tv show. Next to that picture was a picture of my human self.

Huh, I haven’t fully examined myself in the mirror in a long while!

I went outside and Twilight was waiting for me.

“Yup,” said Twilight, “now you’re ready for your orientation into The Sixth!”

I raised my eyebrow, “I’m very confused right now!”

“Don’t worry,” said Twilight, “it’ll all be explained very soon!”

* * *

As I walked with Twilight we passed exactly six different rooms and all of them had white walls and I saw nothing but white.

“Is this an insane asylum?” I said.

Twilight put up a hoof and stifled a laugh.

“No Rainbow,” said Twilight, “the rooms we passed are for different purposes. Three of them are for training. And the other three are for establishing your pocket dimensions in and out of the Machine and other worlds beyond.”

“Three rooms,” I said, “why only three?”

“Because,” said Twilight, “we can only use three rooms for training. We have over six hundred agents in The Sixth. We only train them for six days then after that, the agents figure things out on their own. Unless their mentor decides they need more training. And since we have so many agents that are being pulled out of the Machine on a daily basis we assign one mentor to every agent and it’s based on seniority.”

“I have another question Twilight.” I said.

“Sure,” said Twilight, “what is it?”

“Why only six rooms?” I said.

Once again, Twilight couldn’t hide her laughter.

“What?” I said. I covered my mouth still believing that voice came from me.

“Think about it Rainbow,” said Twilight, “this place is called The Sixth there are six Elements of Harmony! This place is built around the Elements of Harmony.”

“Well excuse me for not knowing that!” I said. “I haven’t been in Equestria for a while! And the Machine probably took my memory away! Not to mention I have a six month old child out there somewhere and I don’t know where he is! I’m very confused right now, and nothing is making any sense!”

“How old are you now Rainbow?” Princess Twilight said.

“I’m thirty!” I said.

“That means you were taken eight years ago!” Twilight said. “That Machine as messed with your brain, big time! You don’t know what is up or down anymore!”

“Yeah think?” I snapped.

“Woa!” Twilight said. “There’s no need to throw a hissy fit! Don’t worry you’ll be back your old self in no time!”

“And what if I don’t want to accept my old self?” I said.

Twilight shrugged, “Well, that’s up to you, although the only element of harmony that hasn’t accepted her old self is Fluttershy. And for some reason Pinkie Pie became a pervert! It’s possible that Pinkie Pie’s head was never screwed on straight in the first place!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that comment. But once again, I was disturbed by how raspy my voice was.

“I’m not going to get used to my old voice!” I said.

“I know,” said Twilight, “Rarity had the trouble with that too. But, she accepted who she was so no harm no foul.”

“Were any of the Wonderbolts taken?” I said.

“Yes,” said Twilight, “over half of them. And we’ve only been able to rescue you!”

“I’m the only one who was rescued?” I said.

Twilight shook her head, “No not even Spitfire was rescued!”

“Oh,” I said, “for some reason, I feel bad about that but I don’t know why.”

“Let’s just say you two were very close,” said Twilight, “you really did look up to her. I'm not surprised!”

I didn’t say anything to her. I didn’t have anything to say.

We stopped talking and Twilight opened the door to a room where Finn was sitting at a table waiting for us. He looked up to us and said, “You two sure took a while to get here! Did you explain everything to her?”

“Oh no,” said Twilight, “just the things that she was asking about. Of course she’s still very confused. She also needs to know what element of harmony she is. She doesn’t even know what the Elements of Harmony are! The rest is up to you!”

“Typical!” Finn growled.

“Excuse me Finn?” Twilight said.

“Nothing your highness. “ Finn said.

Twilight turned around, I saw her tail flick in annoyance as she left. I stifled a laugh the best I could.

“That’s not funny Rainbow Dash!” Finn said.

“Gee,” I said, “I know who wore the pants in that relationship!”

“Like I said,” said Finn, “it’s classified!”

I rolled my eyes, “Sure! Whatever you say!”

4) Orientation into the Sixth

“Okay Rainbow-“ Finn said.

“If you call me that name one more time!” I said.

“Sorry,” said Finn, “it can’t be helped! And that’s cute! You got your raspy voice back!”

“I still can’t believe that voice comes out of my mouth!” I said.

Finn couldn’t help but laugh at that remark.

“Not to mention you have a narcissistic personality,” said Finn, “according to Agent AppleJack you would spend most of the day admiring yourself in the mirror! But since you’ve been in that Machine I take it you don’t do that anymore?”

“I think you already know the answer to that question!” I said.

“Enough about that,” said Finn, “you’ll get your old personality back in no time! The choice is yours on whether or you want to accept it! Okay let’s get started on your orientation shall we?”

“Exactly what do I have to do for it?” I said.

Finn smiled, “Remember what you did when you started working at JJ Inc.?”

“Oh no,” I said with a face palm, “you don’t mean…”

“Yup,” said Finn, “you have to watch a video after you do that we’ll start your training! And the video will be playing underneath you not around you like we would normally do.”

“Why’s that?” I said.

“Because,” said Finn, “Princess Twilight told me that you learn best when you’re flying. That’s because you were on the weather team back in Equestria!”

“Huh,” I said, “they did the same thing at JJ Inc.!”

“That’s because,” said Finn, “Princess Twilight was posing as your boss Violet! Okay, enough talk, cue the film!”

Finn then snapped his fingers and before the film started playing he left the room.

* * *

I learn best when I’m doing dangerous activities! I got tied to the ceiling to learn the Alphabet!

I almost laughed at the film's title: The History of The Sixth.

As soon as the film started playing I looked down at the ground and I felt like I was flying:

The organization called The Sixth was built shortly after a machine called an AI came into existence. Originally the Machine started kidnapping the citizens from a place called Equestria! The Machine went after the power of the elements of harmony first. The Sixth thinks the reason for this is that five of the elements of harmony got kidnapped by the Machine. The Machine made sure to kidnap them first. The only element that didn’t get kidnapped was the element of magic.

The elements of harmony and who are connected to them are:

Honesty- AppleJack
Kindness- Fluttershy
Laughter- Pinkie Pie
Generosity-Rarity
Loyalty- Rainbow Dash
Magic- Princess Twilight

When these elements of harmony are combined and are in working order they defeat any enemy of Equestria. As of now there are only three of the elements that are working, laughter, generosity, and magic. Why those are the only elements aren't working we don’t know why.

After the Machine kidnaped the element of harmony it started to kidnap every Alpha creature in every planet in every universe in existence. Until the founding members of The Sixth figure out a way to shut the Machine down with or without the use of the power that comes from the elements of harmony the Machine will continue to kidnap creatures and put them into its false reality. Until the Machine is shut down agents the work for the Sixth are being sent into the Machine to give the creatures kidnaped by it what it called trigger responses. The creature that the trigger responses work on are sent into three phases and once they are broken out that creature is replaced by a virus and the Machine has no idea that the creature that broke out of it is missing. Unfortunately, the trigger responses don't work on every creature that is inside the machine. As for why that is, the Sixth doesn’t know.

But the Sixth is working hard to rescue as many of the creatures that are inside the Machine that they can.

But if you’re watching this, that means you’ve broken out of the Machine and congratulations! You’re on your way to six days of training just to learn the basics on how to be an agent! It is our hope that one day we will shut down the Machine. Until then all we can do is look to the future and hope...

* * *

I couldn’t think of anything else because the room turned back into its original white walls. Finn walked back into the room and smiled.

“Did you notice that the element of loyalty was Rainbow Dash?” Finn said.

“Um… Yeah?” I said.

“And what does loyalty mean to you?” Finn said.

“Sticking with my friends until they gave me a reason not to!” I said. “And you can include family if you want.”

Finn didn’t laugh this time, he just had a look of concern on his face.

“What?” I said.

“Does that have anything to do what happened between you and Silas? “ Finn said.

“You mean that jerk who assaulted me?” I said. "I don't remember much about it. Silas had threatened to hurt me before! I had even got a protective order against him!

“The day that it happened Lilith was there. Somehow Silas had gotten into the house. According to Lilith he broke into the back door. I thought Lilith was going to help me but she didn’t! The next thing I knew I was in my bed and I had opened my eyes and couldn’t move! It was only after it happened that Lilith did something. I don’t remember what else happened after that…”

“You want to know who Lilith is?” Finn said. “She’s Agent AppleJack-78, she saw it happen and couldn’t do anything about it!”

I raised an eyebrow, “couldn’t or wouldn’t?”

“No, she really couldn’t,” said Finn, “according to her, she was tied up and gagged and forced to watch as Silas assaulted you. After the attack she said she was able to untie herself and that you were paralyzed in fear. So she said she hoisted you over her shoulders and rushed you to the hospital on foot.”

“And you believe her?” I said.

“She’s an agent for the Sixth! Agent Oliver did alert us that might be a code sent to you and he warned his teammates on top of that!” Finn said. “So it's a good thing Lilith was there!”

“There’s no way that her story makes sense! But I guess so, that’s probably why she couldn’t help. She could’ve done something for a long as I’ve known her, she’s strong! I know for a fact that she could get out of being tied to a chair no problem! Why she didn't do it this time is beyond me! But I know she still could’ve gotten out of the chair and stopped Silas! I just know it! Something’s not adding up here!” I said.

“She is the element of honesty after all!” Finn said. “Why wouldn’t I believe her?”

“Maybe she is lying and that’s why her element doesn’t work! If she’s honest then her element should work!” I pondered that for a moment and was puzzled. “But for as long as I knew her, when I was stuck inside the Machine, she couldn’t tell a lie or at least she didn’t to me. So I guess you’re right, but it still doesn’t make sense to me at all!”

Finn shook his head, “We don’t know why her element isn’t working, but I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to get it working again.”

“I hope we do get it working again, because that Machine needs to be shut down once and for all!” I said.

* * *

Finn and I walked out of the room and Clara and Oliver were there to greet us.

“Did you get a piece of cake yet?” Clara said.

“That’s always what you think about Pinkie!” Oliver said. “You really don’t know how to take things seriously!”

“So if you’re Pinkie Pie,” I said, “then is Oliver Rarity?”

Finn couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“No Rainbow Dash,” said Finn, “ Agent Oliver isn’t Rarity! Trust me, I would know!”

“Hey!” Oliver said.

Clara and I exchanged a look and fell out laughing.

“That’s not funny Rainbow Dash!” Oliver said.

“I swear,” I said, “if people call me that name one more time!”

“And I thought I told you,” said Finn, “you’ll just have to get used to it! It’s your real name, so tuff love!”

I bit the inside of my cheek and rolled my eyes.

Finn cleared his throat, “As far as your training goes… And because you’re the element of loyalty. You get two trainers.”

“Since Clara and Oliver were outside the room waiting for me I’m only going to assume...“ I said.

“Yup!” Clara said. “Agent Oliver and Pinkie Pie, at your service!”

“Great!” I said. “I get to work with the nut Pinkie Pie! You just had to put me with the food crazed Pinkie Pie!”

“Hey!” Clara said.

“Have fun you three!” Finn said.

“That’s not funny Finn!” I said.

“Oh but it is!” Finn said and walked away laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe.

* * *

I am going to kill Finn one of these days! This white room is really making my skin crawl!

“Okay,” said Oliver, “where should I start first?”

“There’s no way I’m going to do any training with Pinkie Pie that’s for sure!” I said. We looked at Pinkie to see that she was happily munching on a piece of cake.

Oliver shook his head. “Knowing Finn this was his idea of a sick joke! Although I could ask Agent AppleJack-78 to help us instead!”

Just hearing that AppleJack is an agent of the Sixth made me growl. Oliver must’ve picked up on it because he narrowed his eyes at Clara.

“What did you do to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie?” Oliver said.

“I didn’t do anything!” Clara said. “It’s Agent AppleJack -78! They do have a history according to Finn! So something must’ve happened between them!”

Again at the very mention of AppleJack, I bit my tongue.

“Okay,” said Oliver, “moving on! As I was saying, I have an idea! We should probably work on giving Rainbow Dash her old body back!”

“Makes sense,” said Clara, “she already has her original voice! Of course you would like that Oliver!”

“Pinkie Pie!” Oliver and I said.

“Thanks for taking his side Rainbow!” Clara said. “And I was your best friend ever since you moved to Ponyville!”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side,” I said, “I don’t know what Ponyville is, and I’d rather be single right now! As I said before, I’m not training with Pinkie Pie! Why Finn sent you to train with Oliver, Pinkie Pie is beyond me!"

“Yeah I’m definitely going to talk to Finn about this!” Oliver said.

“Why’s that?” Clara said. “I was her best friend inside on the Machine and back in Ponyville!”

* * *

I looked at the sign on my door to my room and bit my tongue at what I saw. What my door said was: Agent Rainbow Dash-14. At least I have somewhere to sleep! Wait, this room isn’t gonna be full of lightning bolt cutie marks, sunshine and clouds, will it?

“What’s wrong Rainbow?” Clara said.

“I think she thinks the room is going to be painted with sunshine and rainbows!” Oliver laughed.

“I agree,” said Clara, “because I thought my room was going to be painted pink with balloons! Ugh!”

“It’s okay,” said Oliver, “every room is painted to match their trainers room.”

“What…” gulp, “what color is your room?” I said.

“Brown,” Oliver said, “to match my room.”

“Hey,” said Clara, “why isn’t it matching my room?”

“Because,” said Oliver, “I’m the first trainer and you’re just the assistant! The only reason you’re here is because you’re an element of harmony!”

“I wonder,” I said, “what numbers do you guys have attached to your name?”

“Agent Pinkie Pie-145!” Clara said, hopping excitedly.

Oliver rolled his eyes, “Agent Oliver-45!”

“Okay,” I said, “are the numbers that are attached to your names have something to do with the numbers that I saw in my cell?”

Oliver shrugged, “I don’t know. In any case, you should get some sleep.”

"Sure...” I said. I went inside my room and crashed on the bed.

5) Six-day Training Begins

When I finally fell asleep, I had a weird dream. I don’t know if it was because I had just broken out of the Machine because I hadn’t had a dream this weird even after Jude was born.

The dream started out with me up in the sky. I didn’t know why I was in the sky in the first place. I was so happy and content moving from cloud to cloud. I looked around me to see buildings passing by. I also saw other ponies and they just seemed to be happy and content moving from building to building. I finally picked a cloud and sat down on it.

“Hey Rainbow!” I heard a voice say. “How’s it going?”

I turned to see a creature that looked half lion and half eagle and she looked very familiar to me.

“My name’s Gilda,” said Gilda, “you don’t remember me do you? We went to flight camp when we were younger. And we were best friends and still are and that’s if you include Pinkie Pie! I heard you’ve been gone from Equestria for eight years! I take it that has something to do with being in that Machine?”

I nodded and was very confused about why I was talking to Gilda.

“In case you’re wondering,” said Gilda, “I don’t have any dream walking experience! I was sent here by Princess Luna to help you! Think of me as your Guardian to help you along the way along with Oliver and Pinkie! Although I heard Pinkie Pie’s no longer going to be training you right?"

I nodded, “If she was training me, it would be a big fail! Besides, she’d probably be too busy eating than training me.”

Gilda laughed at the thought of Pinkie Pie being irritating by eating rather than training me.

“Don’t worry,” said Gilda, “all three of us, I mean what other element of harmony will help you get back to your old self! The choice is yours whether or not you want to accept it. All we can do is guide you. I’m going to start by giving you a couple of things to help you get your old body back! Sorry Rainbow, but you’re going to have to fall off this cloud to help start your journey.”

When I realized what Gilda was about to do, my eyes widened in terror.

“Hell no!” I said.

“Sorry Rainbow,” said Gilda, “but it has to happen! I’ll push you on the count of three!”

“No way!” I said. “I’m staying right here!”

“Sorry,” said Gilda, “no can do! One… Two… Three!”

Gilda then ran up and pushed me off the edge of the cloud. After I started to fall I woke up.

* * *

I woke up panting and covered in cold sweat and felt like I ran a mile in my sleep. I felt my ears twitching and moving as if they had a mind of their own.

Back to my old self again? What the heck does that even mean?

I went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. The cold water was very noticeable on my ears and it reminded me of swimming in a pool.

I hope Gilda was kidding, when she said I’ll get my old body back!

That was wishful thinking because I felt my ear twitching. I looked in the mirror to see that I had light blue pony ears just like Rainbow Dash did. Then I felt something move outside of my butt.

What in the heck is moving outside of my butt?

I touched whatever was moving behind me and pulled on it. I looked over to the left to see that I grew overnight a long rainbow colored tail.

* * *

When I got dressed I noticed that on the back of the pants my uniform had a hole big enough for my tail to fit. The hole had been buttoned up and I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it before. So I unbuttoned the hole and pulled my tail through it. As soon as I got dressed I heard a knock on the door.

“Oh Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie said. “It’s time to get up now!”

I groaned, “I’m awake Pinkie!”

I opened up the door to a Pinkie staring at me and of course Oliver was standing off to the side. At this point I really didn’t want to go outside.

Oliver sighed, “It’s okay Rainbow, if you already started your transformation we won’t laugh at what you look like.”

“Speak for yourself Oliver!” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie!” Oliver said. “If you laugh at what she looks like, she won’t come out for training! And why are you here anyway? I already talked to Finn about you not training Rainbow Dash! I’m warning you...”

“Okay, okay,” said Pinkie, “I’m not going to laugh although I can’t make any promises!”

Surprisingly when I came out Pinkie said the word ‘awe’ and I really wanted to punch her.

“Looks like you’ve got your ears and rainbow tail!” Oliver said. “Let me guess, you talked to Gilda last night, didn’t you?”

“How’d you figure that out?” I said.

“She told me,” said Oliver, “that she’d be helping you start your transformation and she kept her word!”

“No way in hell,” I said, “am I going to turn into that pony! Not if I got a thing or two to say about it!”

“Uh-huh,” said Oliver, “too bad, you’re a pony! And you couldn’t stop the transformation even if you tried!”

“Great!” I said.

“Okay then,” said Oliver, “let’s grab something to eat and then we’ll start training!”

“Yay food!” Pinkie said. “I’m hungry!”

“Seriously Pinkie!” Oliver said. “Fine you come with us to eat but you are not training Rainbow Dash!”

“Fine…” Pinkie mumbled. The fact that Pinkie Pie wasn’t going to train me made me feel much better.

* * *

After we got something to eat Pinkie Pie wasn’t allowed to follow Oliver and I to the training room. Thankfully Finn didn’t send Applejack to help with my training he sent someone else. I didn’t recognize who she was. Probably because I didn’t have my memory back yet. But if she’s a fellow element bearer, I’m pretty sure I’ll remember her sooner or later.

“This,” said Oliver, “is Agent Rarity-57! She is linked to the element of generosity!”

“If you’re a fellow element of harmony,” I said, “then I should start having memories of you back in Equestria! That is…” I looked down at the floor, “if I get any memories back.”

“Don’t worry Rainbow Dash, you’ll get your memories back soon enough! Got my memories back no problem. Every agent that gets broken out of the Machine gets their memories back. If they didn’t, it would probably be harder for us to break you out of the Machine!” Agent Rarity said.

“Yup,” said Oliver, “the same thing happened to me. Just like Agent Rarity said, you’ll get your memories back no problem!”

“Oh yeah!” Agent Rarity said. “I was also assigned to you when we broke you out of the Machine, here let me change into my human form!”

When Agent Rarity changed back into her human self, I was shocked to see that she was my babysitter Lyra!

“Lyra!” I said. “You’re an agent too?”

“Yup!” Agent Rarity said. Then she changed back into a unicorn.

“Wow, was everyone in my life an agent when I was in the Machine?” I said. “Was Jude an agent?”

At that comment Oliver and Agent Rarity couldn’t contain their laughter.

“Oh no darling!” Agent Rarity said. “Jude was only six months old when you left him! All I know is that he’s being taken care of. By who we can’t say because Finn doesn’t want to tell us for some reason! Now, we should get started on your training. We only have five more days after today.”

“She already talked to Gilda last night,” said Oliver “as you can see, she has her pony ears and a tail!”

“Hum, let’s see…” Agent Rarity said. “We need to get your wings back next!”

“My wings?” I said.

“Oh yes,” said Agent Rarity, “Rainbow Dash is a pegasus! How do you think she helps control the weather?”

“What exactly happened in your dream last night?” Oliver said.

“I was moving from cloud to cloud and I wasn’t sure why,” I said, “then Gilda came along and pushed me off the cloud I was sitting on. I woke up and I had pony ears and this stupid tail!”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “I’m surprised Gilda didn’t give you your wings first. But no… She just had to give you the ears and the tail! For some reason, people just love playing practical jokes on you, huh Rainbow?”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, “You can say that again!”

“So,” said Agent Rarity, “you were moving from cloud to cloud and whether you like it or not you have wings! Let’s see here…”

Agent Rarity then lit up her horn and on the wall in front of her was a menu of some sort. It looked like the starting menu of a video game when you first started the game.

“Ah here we are!” Agent Rarity said. “Dangerous activities! Let’s see, aha rock climbing!”

As soon as Agent Rarity pressed the rock climbing button. The room then disappeared. What was in front of me was the very cliff I had tried so desperately to climb and failed.

“You’re joking!” I said. “That’s the same cliff that I had been trying so hard to climb! And that’s with safety measures!”

“Oh yeah?” said Agent Rarity, “well you’ll climb with no safety measures at all this time!”

“It’s all because we want to get your wings back,” said Oliver, “and then the rest of the transformation will follow!”

“So,” said Agent Rarity, “if you fall, you fall! But don’t worry, you won’t go splat you’ll just end up right back in this room. And then we’ll start all over again! We have all day and we can wait. So let’s begin shall we?”

Yup, I’m going to die today!

Oliver then put a hand on my shoulder, “Don’t worry Rainbow, we wouldn’t do this if we thought you were in danger. Like Agent Rarity said, we have all day. So take your time okay?”

I nodded then I did what I had done so many times before when I would start climbing this cliff. I jumped a foot in the air and put my foot in the first foothold.

* * *

I started climbing and when I got twenty feet up I could hear Agent Rarity and Oliver talking about me. It was almost like they were trying to break my concentration and wanted me to fall. Although since this was being done to get my wings back I guess that made sense.

“So,” said Oliver, “how many feet has she gotten up to now?”

“According to the tracker,” said Agent Rarity, “only fifty feet. And she hasn’t lost her grip yet!”

“Although,” said Oliver, “she did come close ten feet back. That’s probably because of her human nature to survive.”

“Yup,” said Agent Rarity, “the poor thing! That stupid Machine has really done a number on her. Especially when it brought the Code Silas to her!”

After hearing the name Silas I was so frustrated that I broke my concentration and started to fall. After I fell, I landed back in the room just like Agent Rarity said would happen. I was super pissed off and I got to my feet.

“Don’t ever,” I said, “say that name around me again or I’ll break your horn!”

“What?” Agent Rarity said. “What’s the problem? He was your baby’s father after all.”

By this point I was seething with rage.

“Is it because he left you when you got pregnant?” Oliver said.

“It’s not that at all!” I said. “And it’s none of your business. And if you say that name again, I’ll kill you!”

“It’s fine Rainbow,” said Oliver, “let’s try this again. Agent Rarity please don’t mention the Code again okay?”

“Sure thing Agent Oliver,” said Agent Rarity, “my lips are sealed!”

By the fifth try of rock climbing, I hadn’t gotten my wings back. The last time I fell and looked at the time and it was one in the morning. I saw Oliver nudge Agent Rarity who was practically asleep by this time.

Oliver yawned, “Okay, I think that enough training for today. We’ll pick this up again tomorrow.”

“Sure thing...” Agent Rarity said with a tired voice.

Oliver then walked me back to my room and he went to his.

* * *

The next time I woke up to somebody or more like somepony biting my ear. I was horrified to see Pinkie Pie in my bed for some reason.

“Pinkie Pie!” I said. “Get out of my bed!”

“What?” Pinkie said. “You were having a nightmare so I thought I’d come to comfort you!”

I was so irritated with her that I pushed her off the bed.

“What was that for?” Pinkie growled at me.

“For being in my bed!” I said. "And you're not supposed to be watching me in my sleep anyway! You pervert!"

"I'm not perverted Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie said. "And because I don’t get to help you train, I’ll be out on assignments all month! I just came by to say hi!”

“Good,” I said, “you said hi and now goodbye!”

“Don’t be like that Rainbow!” Pinkie said. “We were lovers before you got sucked into that stupid Machine!”

“No way in hell, would I ever get into bed with a creature like you!” I said.

Pinkie then patted me on the head with her hoof.

“Don’t worry,” said Pinkie, “I’ll win you back before Oliver gets to you! When you get your old self back, you’ll remember!”

I rolled my eyes, “I hope not!”

6) Forced Identity

After kicking Pinkie Pie out of my room, I felt too aggravated to sleep. So I figured I'd go ahead and get dressed.

When I came out of my bedroom Oliver did not look happy at all.

“I heard screaming coming from your bedroom and it didn’t sound pleasant,” said Oliver, “let me guess, Pinkie Pie got into your room, didn’t she?”

“You guessed it!” I said.

Oliver sighed, “I’ll talk to Finn about putting a warning siren in your room or something.”

“I wonder if there’s a bug zapper that zaps ponies instead?” I said.

Oliver started laughing, “Unfortunately no and I have no idea why I dated her in the first place!”

“According to Pinkie,” I said, “we were lovers before the Machine got me. No way I’m going to let that happen again! Honestly, I don’t know how that happened in the first place!”

Oliver shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine!”

* * *

I really hate this stupid white room that I'm doing my training in!

“Okay Rainbow,” said Agent Rarity, “let’s try something else!”

“Oh joy I can’t wait what exciting torture you have in mind for me today!” I said with sarcasm. I tried to make light of it but deep down the uncertainty terrified me. I never imagined that I would be anything other than human. Having hands and feet is all I've known up until now. To me becoming a pony was just plain absurd!

Agent Rarity laughed, “don’t worry darling! I was thinking about skydiving but without the parachute!”

“Of course you are. Wait… you’re not joking are you?” I said. Yup, I think my trainers have lost their minds!

“No,” said Agent Rarity, “Gilda pushed you off a cloud and you got your ears and tail. So I think pushing you out of a plane would be just as effective!”

“You really want to turn me into that thing, don’t you?” I said.

“It’s not a thing,” said Oliver, “you’re a pony! Like I said before, you couldn’t stop the transformation even if you wanted to!”

“You know,” said Agent Rarity, “Fluttershy, had the same problem, when she started her transformation! When she got her old self back she rejected her true identity as the element of kindness and changed. Even if you don’t accept who you originally were, as long as you still have some sense of loyalty, your element should still work! That’s even if you go a different route with your life from now on.”

“So,” I said, “if I decide to go a different route with my life my element should still work? Why isn’t Fulttershy’s element working?”

“Oh, that,” said Agent Rarity, “now that Fluttershy is out of the Machine and has gotten her old personality back, she chose to not be kind in any way shape or form. She now gets a kick out of bullying people and ponies. Why Applejack’s element isn’t working, we have no idea! Most don’t believe that she’s been lying since she came to us but some believe that she is. I personally don’t believe that she’s been true to honesty at all. Until she gives us a reason not to believe her, I don’t have grounds to not trust her.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” I said, “just like the smoke and mirrors when a magic trick is done.”

“I know,” said Agent Rarity, “especially with what happened between you and that Code! That stupid Machine disgusts me! I can’t wait until we can shut it down!”

“I totally agree,” I said, “let’s get my wings back so we can get this over with.”

Oliver laughed, “You really don’t like the fact that you’re going to become Rainbow Dash do you?”

“Not at all, and I’m going to figure out a way to get rid of that name once and for all. And don’t tell me it can’t be helped!” I said as I crossed my arms and blew a raspberry at him.

“Sorry,” said Oliver, ”it can’t!”

Before we could even get started, I heard Pinkie Pie enter the room.

“You gonna do the whole skydiving trick?” Pinkie said. “Cool! I want to watch!”

I thought Pinkie Pie wasn't helping me train.

“Pinkie Pie!” Oliver said. “How did you get in here?”

"I want to see! Can I?” Pinkie begged.

"There's a reason why only the trainer and the trainee is allowed to be in here! It's a safety measure so that nobody gets in the way of the person that is training! As you can see, Rainbow Dash is starting to train so get out!” Oliver said pointing toward the door.

“Don’t worry Agent Oliver,” said Agent Rarity, “I got it!”

Agent Rarity then used her magic to throw Pinkie Pie out the door. The door then glowed blue and magically closed itself.

“What did you just do?” I said.

“I reinforced the magical barrier that keeps this room on lockdown.” Agent Rarity said. “Although Agent Pinkie Pie has chaos magic so I’m not sure that’ll even work!”

“For some reason,” I said, “I don’t want to know what chaos magic is!”

“I totally agree.” Agent Rarity said. “Oh no!”

Suddenly a blood red color progressed over Oliver’s left eye from the top to the bottom giving it an appearance like that of a red contact lens with a bright hellish glow.

“What just happened?” I said.

“It’s called the blood barrier,” said Oliver, “everyone and everypony has it when they come out of the Machine!”

“To me,” said Agent Rarity, “the blood barrier is the most painful way to access the system! The Machine has a tendency to clone it’s prisoners. That being said, it cannot clone DNA. The blood barrier communicates with the Sixth and verifies you are not a clone and gives access to the information in the system.”

“I take it you can do it too Agent Rarity?” I said.

“Yes darling,” said Agent Rarity, “I can only use my magic to access 10% of the system! I can’t access the full system unless I do the blood barrier. There’s now way in Celestia’s favor that I’m going to do that!”

“And with the blood barrier on,” said Oliver, “I can make things more realistic when training someone, so you’ll get your wings back in no time at all Rainbow!”

“There goes that stupid name again!” I said.

“In case you didn’t notice,” said Oliver, “this is kind of painful! I can only handle this pain for a couple of hours at a time before I get sick! Unfortunately you’ll have to learn the blood barrier too. We’ll teach you that after you get your body back.”

I looked around the room to see the word ‘accessing’ on all the walls and then after a while the word changed to ‘access granted’ on it. The next thing I knew I was standing inside the back side of a c130 cargo plane looking out a slowly opening hatch. The only two people with me were Agent Rarity and Oliver.

I could tell that Oliver was in a lot of pain in his left eye and he was trying so hard to keep it open.

Oliver nodded at Agent Rarity, “Rainbow, it’s time for you to jump!”

“No way!” I said, staring out into the open air in horror. “You’re not making me into a pony! And I’m not jumping without a parachute you lunatics!”

“Well,” said Agent Rarity, “if you won’t jump, I’ll just have to throw you out!”

“What!” I said. I couldn’t react fast enough when Agent Rarity gripped me in her magic and pushed me out of the plane and into the open air. The air slammed violently against me in continuous waves as I fell. I kept falling until suddenly my momentum rapidly decreased and I landed back inside the room flat on my back.

* * *

After I landed on the floor in the room, I saw Gilda help me up.

“Am I dreaming again?” I said.

Gilda laughed, “Oh no, this time I’m real. I’m here in the flesh baby!”

Oliver smiled, “Mission complete! And you’ve got your body back too. That was quick!”

I looked down to see that I was on all fours and I noticed that I had hooves now. Also I was hovering about a foot in the air.

“You don’t mean to tell me...“ I said.

“Yup!” Gilda said. “You’re back to Rainbow Dash!”

“Damn it!” I said.

Oliver, Agent Rarity and Gilda couldn’t help but laugh.

“Okay fine,” I said, “have a laugh at my expense! But I do have a question for you.”

“What is it?” Oliver said.

“Why do we go through these transformations when we get out of the Machine?” I said. “Why don’t we just have our old bodies back?”

“Good question darling!” Agent Rarity said. “Agent Oliver, do you want to tell her or should I?”

Oliver groaned, “The Machine is a very advanced AI. Its thinking abilities are above the Alpha creatures from every planet that is in the Machine. What it wants to do is to change you into a different creature to keep the lie going. The Machine for some reason feels a need to keep you in the reality that it’s created so you don’t try and escape. Trust me, you were one of the lucky ones! The Machine decided to turn you into human! Other Agents like me and Agent Rarity weren’t so lucky!”

“What did you come out as?” I said.

“Unfortunately,” said Oliver, “I came out as an Owl! Agent Rarity over here..."

“Don’t you dare Agent Oliver!” Agent Rarity said. “I’ll tell her myself, I came out as a cat!”

Then it was my turn to laugh. It took awhile for me to regain my composure.

"That’s not funny Rainbow Dash!” Agent Rarity said.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “what did you come out as, Gilda?”

“Oh I never got sucked into that Machine!” Gilda said. “And if I did there’s no way I would tell you!”

“You wanna know what Agent Pinkie Pie came out as?” Oliver said.

“What?” I said. I had a feeling the answer was going to be very entertaining.

“Agent Pinkie Pie came out as a dog!” Oliver said. “A poodle to be exact!”

I couldn’t help myself, I was doubled over in laughter.

“Okay, okay,” said Oliver, “comedy aside let’s move on shall we?”

“So,” said Agent Rarity, “what do we teach her next?”

“I say,” said Gilda, “we teach her the blood barrier!”

I could tell Oliver did not want to go that route at all because he had a look on his face that looked like he was afraid of that very idea.

“Why not?” Gilda said. ”She’s strong, I think she can take it!”

“Nope,” said Oliver, “and what I say goes!”

“Gee,” said Gilda, “you’re really overprotective, you know that right?”

“Okay,” said Oliver, “since I’m still accessing the system. We should try something new. Let’s see here..”

Oliver went up to one of the walls and pressed his finger on it. All around the room were numbers that scrolled up and down like it was a code on the screen. The numbers looked a lot like the numbers that I saw in my cell while being inside the Machine.

“What’s this for?” I said.

“This,” said Oliver, “is to help you find your weapon that you will be using when you’re inside the Machine. It’ll also help you to use your wings.”

“You mean I have to use these stupid things?” I said barely aware I was still hovering.

“Yes you do.” Oliver said. “Now look at the pattern, do these numbers look familiar to you?”

I stared at the numbers and recognized the pattern and sure enough, it was the same numbers that were in my cell when I was still in the Machine.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I said.

Oliver then pulled a feather out of my right wing.

“Ow! Hey what was that for?” I said.

“This is for accessing your weapon or weapons whatever the pattern decides to let you have,” said Oliver, “let’s see what we have here…”

He used the feather as if he were writing with a quill. He circled the numbers 1,4,5,7 and 8. The numbers lit up on the screen the way they did in my cell. On the wall in front of me came out a drawer and in it were ten daggers clipped onto an iron chain. I titled my head in confusion.

“Interesting,” said Oliver, “looks like your weapon. The pattern gave you the dagger and whip chain. I’ve only seen a dozen Agents with this type of weapon! I don’t know why the patterns do that, but it happens. The agents that master this type of weapon become very impressive agents and they make top rankings in the Sixth. I’m not surprised because you are Rainbow Dash.”

“Ugh,” I said, “Rainbow Dash this, and Rainbow Dash that! As I live I swear I’m definitely going to get rid of that name!”

“Yeah,” said Oliver, “I doubt that’s going to happen! That’s enough of the blood barrier for me today! It’s giving me a headache!”

Oliver finally closed his eyes, and kept it closed for a minute or two and the room went back to normal. Oliver shook his head and when he opened his eyes they were back to normal. Agent Rarity looked at him with concern.

“Are you okay Agent Oliver?” Agent Rarity said.

“I’m fine.” Oliver said. I could tell he was lying because he sure didn’t look fine. He looked like he was about to pass out. Just as I suspected, Oliver collapsed.

* * *

After Oliver lost consciousness we took him to the medical area in the Sixth. We laid him down in a bed. I was hovering a foot in the air and stayed away from the bed the best I could. I could hear Agent Rarity and Finn talking outside.

“I want to know,” said Finn, “what the hell was Agent Oliver thinking?”

“I have no idea.” Agent Rarity said. “He’s the one who wanted to access the system for two and a half hours!”

“Oh boy,” said Finn, “I suspect he was showing off in front of Rainbow Dash!”

“Of course,” Agent Rarity laughed, “who wouldn’t want to show off in front of her! I did the same thing back in Equestria! That’s because everypony wants to outdo her. She is awesome after all!”

Me? Awesome? That’s a big fat lie!

“Well,” said Finn, “let’s just say that’s all of Rainbow Dash’s training for the day! Let’s have Agent Oliver rest and I’m pretty sure Rainbow will want to stay by his side.”

“That’s so cute by the way.” Agent Rarity said. “They would make a cute couple!”

“Yeah,” said Finn, “that is if Rainbow can accept that she has feelings for him. But I think that will happen when pigs fly!”

I could hear Agent Rarity and Finn laughing.

That's so not funny!

“Okay,” said Finn, “let’s leave two lovebirds alone! Agent Rarity, don’t let Agent Oliver access the system for that long again!”

“Yes sir!” Agent Rarity said.

“Now, I have to take care of ten more agents that have just broken out of the Machine,” Finn said.

“Don’t you ever get a chance to rest?” Agent Rarity said.

“The Machine doesn’t rest,” said Finn, “and neither will I.”

7) The Story of Jude

7) The Story of Jude

This is the story of Jude. The founders of the Sixth knew that the ‘good people’ that took care of Jude were the seekers themselves. For some reason, they went after Rainbow Dash to distract her from going home to Jude. The reason for that was the seekers were dead set on taking Jude away from her at all costs. Once they took Jude away from Rainbow Dash they quit chasing her. The founders of the Sixth saw that there was no trace of Rainbow Dash's baby, it was like he had vanished out of thin air.

Where Jude went, the founders of the Sixth had no idea. They voted to keep that information classified. The founders can only tell half-truths about the information. Finn is a founder of the Sixth. He kept the classified information under lock and key to keep agents of the Sixth safe from harm. That’s why Finn couldn’t tell Rainbow Dash where her baby went.

The seekers had taken Jude to people known as the Mothers of AI’s Mainframe or the Mothers. The Machine prefers to call itself AI. Three people make up the Mothers and they work around the clock to keep AI working. They are First Mother, Second Mother, and Third Mother. The Mothers cannot overrule AI’s decisions. They’ve been able to run AI fine until recently.

AI decided that it wanted a king to rule over it. This ruler would be above the AI and able to overrule its decisions. The one that AI had chosen to be its king was Rainbow Dash's baby Jude. If Rainbow hadn’t broken out of AI, it would’ve sent the seekers to take Jude away and erase Rainbow Dash’s memory of him.

AI sent Code Silas to impregnate Rainbow Dash for Rainbow Dash to give birth to Jude. After Jude was born, AI told the seekers to take him away. The seekers brought Jude to the Mothers. They placed Jude in a transformation cell and the AI started the process of changing him into a young adult. He went from a helpless baby to a young adult in a matter of weeks! Once Jude had finished his transformation into a young adult, AI gave Jude the tools he needed to be the ruler.

AI built a castle for Jude and made a computer room right behind the throne room to do his job of ruling AI. AI also gave Jude the official title of Lord Jude. Part of Jude’s job was to protect the AI by eliminating all threats to it.

The AI uses gates to capture the various creatures in the many universes. They function by sending out containers that grab the creatures and pull them into the system. AI requires the capture of new creatures to continue its existence.

The gates provide access to the AI’s vulnerable core systems. The Sixth discovered this flaw and sent agents to attack the gates. This led Agent Oliver, who works for the Sixth, to destroy the 7th Gate. This prompted AI to want to create a more secure system. So AI helped Jude to create Firewalls to help protect the gates of AI. The Firewalls are intelligent systems like the Codes that work for AI.

AI also spawns other children like Jude. These children work for AI and have human birth mothers. Usually, they don't know the identity of their birth mother. AI made an exception for Jude because it picked him to be its king. So AI implanted in Jude the memory of Rainbow Dash and it told him that she was his mother.

AI gave Jude the difficult task of keeping tabs on Rainbow Dash. The elements of harmony weren't a threat to AI for now, but Rainbow Dash bore the element of loyalty so AI felt that could change in the future. He hoped she wouldn’t become a threat. But he wasn’t afraid. He felt confident with the elements of honesty and kindness on his side. Jude hoped he wouldn’t have to kill Rainbow Dash anytime soon.

First Mother hated Rainbow Dash with a passion and Jude had no idea why she felt that way. She pushed Jude to kill Rainbow Dash but he persistently overruled that decision. He worried that somehow First Mother might find a way to get around his decision. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash broke out of AI, leaving First Mother unable to turn her evil, flagging her as a threat. Knowing First Mother she would find some other way to turn Rainbow Dash into a threat to AI. Since Rainbow Dash broke out, it’s safe to say that she wouldn’t be coming out of the woodwork anytime soon. That was fine with Jude for the time being.

The Mothers had a little more power over Jude to keep making sure Jude did the necessary things as ruler. So the Mothers decided to work with Jude to come up with plans in case Rainbow Dash became a threat.

The first plan of action would be to send Life Force Applejack or Life Force Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash. They would convince her to come to AI’s castle, with the help of the seekers. Once they brought Rainbow Dash to the castle the Mothers would eliminate her.

The second plan involved making clones of her for her to fight. While she fights the clones, they will grab her from behind.

If those two plan’s didn’t work the Mothers would have to come up with other plans to eliminate Rainbow Dash.

Jude wanted to bring Rainbow Dash to the castle so he could finally meet her. Until then, Jude would wait in the shadows. He hoped the Mothers couldn’t find some way to turn Rainbow Dash into a threat.

AI defined different creatures with the term patterns. The ruler had to watch all the different patterns. This tedious job annoyed Jude. AI wanted Jude to keep an eye on those that it perceived as a threat. When harmful patterns popped up, this prompted Jude to send a Code. The Code would attempt to pacify the pattern. If that didn’t work he would have to eliminate the pattern before it went out of control. On occasion, AI wanted a pattern impregnated. That’s exactly what happened with Jude.

Jude didn’t like what his father Code Silas had done to bring him into existence. He forced Jude’s program inside Rainbow Dash. Usually, a Code doing this job does not do what Code Silas did. Once a Code does its job, it gets eliminated. This pleased Jude. A lot of times a Code can win over the pattern that it’s been sent to and have the pattern fall in love with it and impregnate the pattern with no problem at all. Code Silas didn’t follow protocol.

Jude guessed that Code Silas didn’t feel that he had won Rainbow Dash over, when according to AI’s data he actually did. Code Silas assumed he hadn’t. A lot of times when a Code has won a pattern and made it fall in love with the Code, AI sends word to the Code informing it of that.

AI informed the Mothers that Life Force Applejack and Life Force Fluttershy forced Code Silas to go beyond the necessary protocol. Why those two made that decision Jude and the Mothers had no idea.

Jude sat in the computer room figuring out what to do about the patterns that AI perceived as a threat to it. He would often think about his mother Rainbow Dash and wonder what she was doing. Jude was lost in his thoughts when he heard his number one servant clear her throat to get his attention.

“Yes, Servant Ivy?” Jude said.

“Your highness you’re being summoned to the Mainframe again.” Servant Ivy said.

“Let me guess,” said Jude, “it’s about Life Force Fluttershy again.”

“Yes, your highness…” Servant Ivy said.

“What did Life Force Fluttershy do this time?” Jude said.

“Apparently,” said Servant Ivy, “Life Force Fluttershy is worried about being kind again. She’s taking her job to a whole new level! The Mothers have no idea what to do with her yet.”

Jude did a facepalm and shook his head, “Even if she becomes kind again, I don’t think she has a leg to stand on. Especially after what she did with Code Silas and my mother Rainbow Dash!”

“That’s what the Mothers are thinking they told me to relay that information to you.” Servant Ivy said. “the Mothers also suspect the Life Force Fluttershy may be feeling some guilt about what she did.”

“Guilt or not still doesn’t make things right,” said Jude, “but in any case inform First Mother that I’m on my way.”

“Yes, your highness…” Servant Ivy said.

As soon as Servant Ivy walked away Jude rolled his eyes at the stupid cape that was hanging on a hook behind his throne. He hated wearing it but for some reason, AI found it necessary to give him that tool to do his job as ruler of AI.

* * *

“Is Oliver going to be okay?” I said. I hate this white room I'm training in because of the dead silence. It makes my skin crawl.

“Oh yes,” said Twilight, “he’ll be fine, he just needs to rest for today. We’ll only have two more days to train you after this.”

“So what will I be learning today?” I said.

“I see your weapon is the dagger and whip chain!” Twilight said. “Only twelve agents that have this weapon! Including you that makes thirteen!”

“Wow,” I said, “Oliver said that a dozen agents had this weapon but I didn’t think that it was a baker's dozen!”

I imagined a 'ba dum tss' after I said that. I might as well be a comedian at stand up comedy night. Agent Rarity and Twilight were on their backs laughing big time.

“Thank you, thank you,” I mocked, “I’ll be here all week!”

Twilight and Agent Rarity hadn’t even gotten to their hooves, they laid on their backs laughing even harder than they did before. I dropped my jaw in disbelief. It’s not that funny. They finally regained their composure. Thank Celestia, I didn’t want to punch the ruler of Equestria.

“Sorry Rainbow,” said Twilight, “you were a prankster back in Equestria! You and Pinkie Pie would always do the best pranks!”

I looked at Twilight in horror. After Oliver had passed out and I went to my room to sleep, I remembered the awful memory of Pinkie Pie proposing marriage to me. “Ugh!”

“You okay Rainbow?” Twilight asked, concerned.

I swallowed before I spoke. “Pinkie Pie said we were lovers back in Equestria. My memory isn’t quite clear about what happened. Did Pinkie Pie say anything to you about proposing marriage to me?”

“Oh yes, she told me about that!” Twilight said. “She said that she threw a party to do it too!”

“I know what my answer was,” I said, “but I want to hear from you what my answer was.”

“You said no,” said Twilight, “and to me saying no to her wasn’t being a loyal friend at that time.”

“I’m pretty sure that being in love with someone is a personal choice!” I said with a stomp for emphasis, “and just because you chose not to fall in love with someone doesn’t mean you’re not being loyal. Let me ask you this princess and yet again my memory is a little hazy on this, but you are the princess of friendship right?”

“Yeah?” Twilight said.

“If someone doesn’t want to be your friend does that mean you’re not a good friend?” I said.

“Hmm,” said Twilight, “I never thought of it that way before.”

I snorted, shaking my head.

Twilight continued, “you know, come to think about it. I’ve had several ponies tell me that they didn’t want to be friends with me. Sure it hurt at first, but I accepted it and moved on. The fact that my element of magic still works, tells me that when a pony doesn’t want to be friends that’s their choice and not a requirement.”

I rolled my eyes annoyed with her explanation of something so obvious, especially for the so-called ‘princess of friendship.’

Twilight looked to the side and continued, “it’s bound to happen sooner or later. That’s exactly what Princess Celestia has told me. Several times, in fact, before I took my seat on the throne. Princess Celestia told me that she had ponies that didn’t want to be friends even with her! That was a total shocker to me! I mean... it’s Princess Celestia! Who wouldn’t want to be friends with her! But I guess it happens, you can’t force someone to be friends with you.”

“That’s exactly what happens with being loyal,” I said. I felt like a school teacher reasoning with a child, “there are reasons for saying no to someone when they propose marriage. I’m pretty sure Pinkie Pie’s not the only one who’s had someone say no to them. That doesn’t mean that I’m not being loyal.”

“Wow, Rainbow,” said Agent Rarity, “I’ve never thought of you being that deep before! I don’t even recall you doing that back in Equestria! Rainbow Dash is right as a matter of fact. When I fell in love with Prince Blueblood he rejected me. That was his decision. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t loyal! What being loyal to me means that you stand up for people even if they aren’t your friends, until they give you a reason not to!”

“That’s funny,” I said, “because that’s exactly what I said to Finn!”

Twilight then cleared her throat, “Let’s get started on getting those wings of yours and using your weapon!”

I looked at Twilight to see blood flowing from her eye like Oliver’s did.

“I hope you’re not going to use the blood barrier for too long," I said, “I don’t know if I take any more of my friends getting hurt!”

“It’s okay Rainbow,” said Twilight, “even though I’m not a founder of the Sixth, I had a hand in choosing the base’s location to keep it a secret. They also gave me full access to most of the system so I can do the blood barrier for a lot longer than regular agents can as an extra perk!”

“You can only access most of the system?” I said. “Not the whole thing?”

“It’s complicated…” Twilight said. Then she looked to Agent Rarity, “Agent Rarity, I’m going to relieve you from training her today. Agent Gilda’s one of the dozen agents that have the same weapon as Rainbow Dash, so she can help teach her. Agent Gilda’s already here!”

“Yes ma’am!” Agent Rarity said.

I heard Gilda’s voice come from behind me, “Hey Rainbow.” I turned around. She looked to Twilight and continued, “So your highness, what battlespace will Rainbow Dash and I fight on? My favorite one is the cliff dive!”

“I know that, Agent Gilda,” said Twilight. “I know Rainbow Dash loves doing dangerous activities, but that’s the hardest battlespace!”

“Oh come on princess!” Gilda said, “Rainbow Dash is tough and she’s fast! Not to mention the definition of the word awesome!”

“Yeah I think that’s a big fat lie but okay,” I said. “So... exactly, how do I use my weapon?”

“For the daggers,” said Gilda, “you just pull them off with your teeth. A suggestion on carrying your weapon is to wear it across your shoulders like wearing a sash. Like the ones that the royal family wear. You know, at important events to show their royal family membership.”

“O...Kay?” I said. “So how do I get them back after I throw them?”

“Oh yeah,” Gilda said. “You just think of the number of daggers that you sent out and they will come right back to you. After you get used to using your weapon it’ll be like second nature to you! It’ll be just like flying! You’ll be able to do it in your sleep!”

I choked on the last thing Gilda just said, “Yeah I’m not sure I want to throw daggers in my sleep! Seriously!”

Once again my friends dropped to the ground cackling hysterically.

“I’m not a stand-up comedian here!” The joke this time wasn’t that funny! If anyone needs to be laughed at it should Pinkie Pie!

“Okay...HAH... that’s… that’s enough laughing at Rainbow Dash’s jokes!” Twilight said. “Let’s start her training, we don't have much time left!”

Just like when Oliver did it, the eerie white room’s far side transformed into a treacherous looking cliff. This time it didn’t look like the one that I tried so desperately to climb. But this time instead of being at the bottom of the cliff Gilda and I were standing at the very top next to the edge.

I looked down. My ears dropped to the sides of my head. I gulped. I could tell Gilda was getting a real kick out of the look on my face. “Are you guys sure I’m Rainbow Dash?” I said.

“Oh yeah!” Gilda said. “You’re Rainbow Dash alright! Once you jump off here you’ll have no problem fighting at all! Like I said, you’re tough and you’re fast…”

“And I'm the definition of the word awesome!” I said, finishing Gilda’s sentence. “I still think that last thought is a big fat lie!”

“Okay guys,” said Twilight, “you must get started! After today, Rainbow is going to have to learn the blood barrier!”

“I’m not looking forward to that either!” I said.

“Now come on,” said Gilda, “either you jump off or I’m pushing you off! Just like I pushed you off that cloud!”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s necessary!” I said. I wasn’t really scared at this point, but I guess I did panic a little. I spread my wings and I started counting to three in my head to coax myself into the jump. I didn’t even get to three when Gilda dived headfirst plummeting straight down like a cannonball!

“Oh no, you don’t! You’re not outdoing me that easily!” I said.

Gilda laughed as she fell backward from the cliff. “See! I told you that you were Rainbow Dash! I doubt you can catch up with me! Take this!”

“Hey!” I said as Gilda threw a couple of her daggers at me. I dodged one of the daggers no problem and I saw the other dagger coming and did a cartwheel to dodge it. Gilda got me riled up now. This time when she threw daggers at me, I threw mine at her. Our daggers deflected off each other and returned to their owners.

Now that’s interesting! It’s not me that’s the definition of awesome, it’s my weapon that is!

Gilda and I kept falling towards the cliff’s bottom in intense combat. Throwing our daggers at each other, sometimes they canceled each other out and other times the daggers hit the mark. It’s a good thing none of our wings got damaged in that process. I twisted my body to see how far down we’ve fallen and measured the vast distance to the bottom.

“Don’t look at the top,” said Gilda, “you shouldn't be concerned about how long the battle has been going on, just focus on finishing it!”

Without warning Gilda’s whip chain wrapped around one of my hooves and yanked me towards her. I took one of my daggers, severed it, and watched it sail through the air back to Gilda.

Okay, focus Rainbow! Wait a second… did I just call myself Rainbow?

While fighting Gilda I remembered something from after I officially became a Wonderblot.

I worked on the first routine with my teammates. Spitfire yelled at me ‘keep up Rainbow Dash! You need to do better than this!’ If I failed at practice then Spitfire made me fly five hundred laps around all the Wonderblot Academy buildings. Towards the end of the routine, I lost my flight pattern, crashing into a nearby trash can. My teammates started calling me Rainbow Crash after that! I hated that name because that’s the same name the kids would call me back in school.

When I arrived home from practice that day. Pinkie Pie, being Pinkie Pie, just had to throw a party to celebrate my first day on the job! As soon as I told her what happened, Pinkie Pie got a real kick out of it and said, ‘at least they didn’t call you Rainbow Trash!’ I was so pissed off that I ordered everyone to leave, especially Pinkie Pie! As usual, everyone took Pinkie Pie’s side, just like every time problems in our relationship came up! She never stood for me as I did for her!

That’s the main reason that I said no to her marriage proposal. Like usual, after I said no to her, everyone took Pinkie Pie’s side on the issue. I was humiliated! So I moved back to cloudsdale without a second thought!

Everyone felt bad about what had just happened between me and Pinkie Pie after I moved back to Cloudsdale and urged me to move back to Ponyville. I moved back after a while and made up with my friends but I could tell that Pinkie Pie still held a grudge. We discovered the elements of harmony and funny enough, Pinkie Pie received the element of laughter. I wondered why Pinkie Pie’s element of laughter ever worked in the first place. I know her laughter wasn’t much real anymore I said no to her. She acted well to hid it though and put on a good show. Maybe she should’ve tried her hoof at showbusiness.

While lost in thought, Gilda’s whip chain wrapped around my tail and she yanked hard on it. I snapped back into reality, lost my flight pattern, and crashed face-first into the cliff’s wall! I could hear Gilda laughing as I fell ten feet to the ground, landing on my back.

* * *

I got to my hooves and looked around to the creepy white room again. This time I saw Gilda on her back laughing.

“Well,” I said, “at least there aren’t any trash cans around!”

“I would laugh at that,” said Twilight, “but this time it’s not funny.” Twilight looked down and sighed, “you were upset about what happened and we should’ve been more understanding and I’m sorry that Rainbow!”

“Oh! So NOW you’re sorry about that!” I snapped, “and to add to that, you were one of the ones that took Pinkie Pie’s side after I said no to her! If you ask me, you don’t get the right to feel sorry about it now! You wanna know what you can do for me? My so-called friend? Then take that humiliating cloud of trauma away from me!”

“Oh, dear!” Twilight said.

“Oh dear is right!” I snapped, seething rage at her and I didn’t care if she was the ruler of Equestria! She humiliated me along with everyone else!

After Twilight turned her eye back to normal she hung her head with remorse.

Twilight’s tone took a depressed cadence as she said, “I think that’s enough training for one day. I think Rainbow Dash just needs a chance to cool off for a bit. If she doesn’t she just might give herself a heart attack.”

“Yeah think?” I roared at her. “Can you just escort me to my bedroom? I’m done with you right now princess. That’s why I broke up with Pinkie Pie in the first place! Everyone just loves to take her side and not listen to mine! If you had that happen to you I think you would be pissed too!”

Gilda then put a claw on my shoulder. I felt calmer for the moment. After that, Gilda volunteered to take me to my room. As soon as I got there I slammed the door shut just to make a point. I cried myself to sleep.

9) Six Man Squad

When I got on the other side of the light there was a young woman about my age. She sat on a chair waiting for me. The woman had blonde hair and black eyes. She was wearing a tan shirt and black pants.

Well, tan is definitely part of the dress code!

I turned around to see Oliver and Gilda standing behind me, I also saw Agent Rarity. I looked to see other agents that I didn't recognize. But one pony seemed somehow kind of familiar to me. I assumed the woman sitting on the chair was the Predictor assigned to me.

The Predictor smiled at me, “Well hi there RD! Welcome to my dimension child!"

I raised my eyebrow, “RD? I thought I was told my name was Rainbow Dash and that I can’t change it. Although I would love to erase it altogether!”

Once Gilda and Oliver heard that they laughed.

Yup, I should get a paycheck from those two for stand up comedy night!

“It’s true you can’t change your name while working for the Sixth,” said the Predictor, “but I thought RD would be a nice compromise. And no, you didn’t have a baby back in Equestria.”

“How’d you know I was concerned about that?” I said.

“The crystal told me before you came here,” the Predictor said. “Now let me start telling you who your team is. That will be the team that you will go on for breakout assignments.”

Oh boy! I hope Pinkie Pie’s not on my team if she is, I quit!

It was as if the Predictor knew what I was thinking, “No Pinkie Pie’s not on your team, don’t worry about that. The crystal didn’t give me a match for you as far as that goes!”

As soon as the Predictor said that I sighed with relief.

“Oh,” the Predictor said, “my names Samantha and I’m Predictor number four. I’d never thought I’d see the day when I would get to meet an element of harmony! And the element of loyalty at that!”

Great! Why is everyone so eager to meet me? I’m not Rainbow Dash for crying out loud!

“Anyway,” said Samantha, “I would explain the ins and outs of choosing a team and giving them their code names. I’m going to tell you why in a moment RD. All of you that are here, step before the cauldron one by one.”

I looked at the cauldron and for some reason, I kind of found it funny.

“You think this is funny don’t you RD?” Samantha said.

“Yeah... so?” I said. “Hey! Why are you zoning in on my thoughts? What about the others?”

Samantha laughed, “I can hear the other’s thoughts too. Yours just seems to be in front of them today.”

Haha... I would laugh but that’s not funny.

“And the reason it’s funny to you,” said Samantha, “is that when you were back in Ponyville you saw the resident doctor quite a few times. Mostly for checkups and stuff. And the resident doctor was a Zebra named Zecora!”

Nope, the names not ringing a bell at all!

“Yeah I know,” said Samantha, “Zecora got taken by the Machine too. It was right when you got taken eight years ago. Now let me go ahead and tell you who your team is! And remember, I can hear your thoughts Agent Oliver and Agent Gilda! No RD doesn’t have to address me as Predictor Samantha! Actually, I should correct myself you don't need titles either Oliver and Gilda! That’s because you two are the most by the book agents with that and it’s really annoying!”

This time I was the one laughing.

Well, at least I’m not doing stand up comedy right now! I still think I should get a paycheck from those two!

Samantha smiled, “Yeah I totally agree with you on that one RD!”

Samantha took out a chain with a crystal on the end of it. She held the chain in her grip and dangled it over the top of the open cauldron. The crystal began to rotate around the perimeter of the cauldron. The next thing that happened creeped me out. I didn’t know what was more creepy, the white room that I trained in or this. It felt like a tie.

When the crystal started spinning at the top of the cauldron a loud deep voice was coming from it. “Round and round the cauldron we go, where we’ll stop, nobody knows!” The cauldron said that a couple of times and then the crystal pointed at Gilda and the cauldron spoke to her. "Agent Gilda-17 is a match for Agent RD! Her codename will be Abigail."

The crystal spun around again and said, “Round and round the cauldron we go, where we’ll stop, nobody knows!” The crystal pointed at Oliver this time. "Agent Oliver-45 is a match for Agent RD! His codename is Zach!"

The crystal spun around again and said, “Round and round the cauldron we go, where we’ll stop, nobody knows!” It then pointed at Agent Rarity. "Agent Rarity- 57 is a match for Agent RD! Her codename is Stella!"

The crystal spun around again and said, “Round and round the cauldron we go, where we’ll stop, nobody knows!” It then pointed at another guy standing behind me. "Agent Levi-15 is a match for Agent RD! His codename is Tobias!"

The crystal spun around again and said, “Round and round the cauldron we go, where we’ll stop, nobody knows!” After the crystal spun around again I looked to see some pony that looked familiar to me. "Agent Diamond Tiara-457 is a match for Agent RD! Her codename is Margot!"

“Diamond Tiara?” I said. “Why does your name sound familiar to me?”

Diamond Tiara hung her head, “That’s because I went to school with one of your best friends, Scootaloo! I picked on her a lot because of not having her cutie mark yet and I had gotten mine before she did. It wasn’t until she helped me understand what my cutie mark meant that I stopped picking on her. We became good friends. It was right after that she and her other best friends, the cutie mark crusaders, received their cutie marks! And their cutie marks are awesome just like yours! Right now no one knows where Scootaloo is. It is my hope that she didn’t get taken by the Machine.”

Samantha shook her head, “I’m not so sure that Scootaloo got taken by the Machine. So far none of the Predictors have been able to track her down! But sometimes that takes a while for us to do! I mean there are only six of us after all. And there’s one more agent that needs to have a codename that would be you RD.”

The creepy cauldron spoke for what I hoped would be the last time. “Round and round the cauldron we go! Where we’ll stop, nobody knows!” The crystal pointed at me this time. "Agent RD-14 her codename is Sadie!"

The cauldron announced my codename. The crystal stopped glowing and Samantha put it in her pocket.

“The codenames will be used at all times when you're on a breakout assignment,” said Samantha. “If the Machine or anyone inside the Machine overhears you they can’t find out what your real identity is! And if you want to know why Oliver kept his real name when he was assigned to you, you’ll just have to ask him about it! I’m pretty sure that will happen sooner or later! That is, if you two can admit your feelings to each other! And yes Rd you do, I know this because I’m a Predictor, duh!”

Where are those stupid drums when you need them? Gilda and the rest of my team except Oliver and I laughed so hard they fell over backwards laughing.

“Yes I know,” said Samantha, “I totally agree with you on that one this time, RD and Oliver. Yes, you do have feelings for him RD, and yes it is funny!”

I swear if she announces my thoughts one more time!

“Okay, okay,” said Samantha, “I’m done!”

She’d better be done! It’s going to take some self-control for me not to trip her like I did Oliver! Where are those stupid drums when you need them!

This time Samantha was the one who fell over laughing.

“Honestly RD I'm done!” Samantha said. “You guys can go get some rest and I’ll summon you for your assignments later. And Oliver and RD, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

When I turned around to leave I flicked my tail just to show how annoyed I was. Oliver and Samantha saw this and I heard them laughing as I walked away.

* * *

Later that night I had another memory. This time instead of sitting on a cloud I was swimming in one. I was enjoying a relaxing swim on my day off from work, one of my favorite things to do while I was off. I was just swimming back and forth inside the cloud when I heard a foal crying out for help. I heard the cry for help coming from a nearby water well that was actually underneath the cloud that I was swimming in. Without thinking I flew into the well and I said my catchphrase when I was flying.

“I’m Rainbow Dash!” I said. “And I’m here to rescue you!”

Before I even got inside the well I heard a ding, dong inside my dream but I chose to ignore it, determined to get to that foal that was crying out for help. I heard the ding dong again and I didn’t answer it. After ignoring the doorbell I got an electric shock to my ear. After that happened I found that I had crashed into a nearby wall and woke up.

“Ow!” I said when I woke up. As soon as I said that I heard Oliver’s laughter.

“We told you about the electric shock,” said Oliver, “but I didn’t think you got it right off the bat! Good thing the walls are reinforced! The Sixth probably did that because you’re not the only pegasus that flies in your sleep. Were you attacking enemies from the Machine in your sleep?”

“If you must know,” I said, “I was trying to rescue somepony!”

I stood up and shook out my mane and tail as if I were a wet dog shaking water out of its coat. Oliver was looking at me funny when I did that.

“You know,” said Oliver, “you looked like a cat that fell over after you crashed into that wall. I just wish I had a camera!”

“Yeah,” I said, “stop giving me that funny look Oliver!”

“Oh come on Rainbow,” said Oliver, “I was just saying what you look like, that’s all!”

I paused because I just wanted Oliver to stop giving that funny look he was giving me. When Oliver saw that he smiled.

“I mean it, Oliver,” I said, “stop giving me that look!”

“Yeah no…” Oliver said.

“And why not?” I said.

Oliver laughed at me, “You’re giving me a funny look now!”

“No I’m not!” I quickly said. I don't know why I said it so fast.

“Uh-huh,” said Oliver, “I would say look in the mirror but we don’t have time for that right now. Let’s go see what we’ve been summoned for.”

* * *

We went to Samantha’s dimension and she was smiling at us.

“Okay let’s get down to business,” said Samantha, “I have tracked down an original creature that needs to be broken out of the Machine. Her real name is Lollipop and she comes from a planet called Nijev. She got changed into a human just like you did RD! Everyone come around the cauldron and look at what she looks like. Here's what she looked like back on her home planet."

I looked into the cauldron and saw a woman with white and long hair. Her eyes were pure white to match her hair. She also had long fingers that looked like claws.

“Here’s what she looks like inside the Machine,” Samantha said.

Lollipop looked nothing like how she originally looked. Her long hair was black and her eyes matched her hair. She wore a pink shirt with a mini black skirt. She also wore black shoes to match her outfit.

My jaw dropped. I looked at my friends to see their jaws dropped, especially Levi's. I looked back at Samantha who smiled at Levi's reaction.

“I know Levi,” said Samantha, “she's beautiful isn’t she? But I’m going to assume the Machine made her that way because she was royalty back on her home planet. The sad thing is I’m not sure that her father even misses her. That’s probably because he has so many children that it's hard to keep track of them. Inside the Machine, she's known as Emily, she works as a dancer at a nightclub.

"Your responsibility will be to try to send her into Phase 1. If you succeed, onward to Phase 2 and everyone knows the rest of the procedure. I’ll be sending you guys to it through a portal shortly. Your jobs when you’re on the assignment are as follows, Oliver and RD you’ll be working on the security team. The head of the security team is a guy named Issac. Gilda and Rarity you two will be posing as dancers right along with Emily.”

When Oliver and I heard Gilda and Agent Rarity’s assignment we laughed so hard it made our stomachs hurt and Samantha was laughing right along with us.

“Yeah, yeah I know,” said Samantha, “Rarity might be more dancer material than Gilda! Last but not least. Levi! You will be working as a DJ at the club.”

Levi looked puzzled by his assignment.

“I know Levi,” said Samantha, “Agent Grace will be at the club to show you the ropes, and then she will leave the job in your hands.”

Samantha took out a picture of what Agent Grace looked while she was on breakout assignments. Levi nodded when he saw her picture.

“Please take a mental note that breakout assignments will take more than a year, two years at a minimum, and five years or more at maximum,” Samantha said. “For example, Rainbow Dash, you gave birth to a baby right after Oliver’s team got assigned to you. And Oliver it’s not your fault she got pregnant, you're going to have to get over that sooner or later. Don’t worry not every agent falls in love with the one they're assigned to; that is in the 1% range. Oliver just so happens to be among that number. As far as you go, Levi, it just might happen with you! Considering your jaw dropped to the ground! Your jaw was lower than the rest of your team!”

Levi's face turned as red as a tomato.

“Okay everyone it’s time to get started on your breakout assignment,” said Samantha. “I’ll be seeing you when I assign you to your outside of the Machine assignment. That's what we call assignments outside of the Machine. Just step through the portal and you’ll be right there!”

I stepped my hoof into the portal and I heard my shoe touch the pavement. A neon sign glowed in the darkness with the words Club Nirvana. I heard footsteps as my friends came through around me.

It looks like we've arrived.

* * *

{Jude}

When I got the motherboard, I bowed to First Mother as a sign of respect. Although I really hated doing that especially with her! As always First Mother put a hand underneath my chin and made me look at her.

“Stand up straight boy!” First Mother barked.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked.

“Of course I did,” said First Mother, “otherwise I wouldn’t have summoned you!”

I hate it when First Mother barks at me like that. It's so annoying.

“Oh come now, child!” First Mother said. “I’m just teasing! I would stop but it’s too much fun doing it! You really need to have thicker skin. You are the ruler of AI after all. I’m still not sure why it picked Rainbow Dash to give birth to you! I summoned you because Life Force Fluttershy seems to be having conflicting emotions! We’ve been trying to keep her under control as much as possible but nothing seems to work. Don’t worry Lord Jude, we have other tricks up our sleeve. We’re working on her. If she isn’t controlled you just might have to pay her a visit and kill her yourself.”

I flinched at First Mother when she said that. True, a part of my job was to eliminate threats to AI but I always hated it when I had to do it myself. To add to that, I hated the way First Mother called me Lord Jude. It was as if she was saying it to show how much she hated Rainbow Dash. First Mother laughed wickedly at me.

“Picking on you never gets old!” First Mother said. Then she had a look on her face that really creeped me out because I knew what she was going to say next.

“Did you do the Feeding Ritual yet this week?” First Mother said.

I hate that Feeding Ritual was required for AI to run properly. It's not pleasant.

“You know AI has to feed you,” said First Mother, “not even the ruler can go without eating for too long. Honestly, Lord Jude, you know that right? I know the process is painful but you need to do it at least twice a week. Since you will not do it yourself I will be summoning you twice a week for it. And this is the beginning of the week so you will do it now and you will do it at the end of the week. Come with me, the sooner you do it the sooner you can get back to your job!”

I dragged my feet and followed First Mother to do the Feeding Ritual.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

Oliver and I had been working security at the entrance of Club Nirvana for a couple of days now as part of our breakout assignment. This annoying job where we pulled stupid drunks out of the club and handed them over to the police.

“That’s the third drunk we’ve pulled out of the club tonight!” I said. “This is getting really old and annoying!”

“What’s the matter Sadie?” Oliver teased. “I thought you lived for stuff like this?”

“Pulling out drunks?” I said. “Yeah no, I’d rather be rock climbing! Stop giving me that funny look Zach!”

“You should talk!” Oliver said. “You’re doing it too!”

“You know you sound like a child right now!” I said.

We heard Luke laughing at us. This guy is starting to get on my nerves.

“You guys would make a cute couple,” said Luke, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you are. And if you aren’t I’m delusional and I need therapy!”

“We’re not a couple!” I said. I didn’t realize that Oliver had said it at the exact same time I did. Luke was laughing so hard he fell over backward.

“Yup you’re not a couple alright!” Luke said. “Then why can you say each other’s sentences at the same time? That’s like what, the second time you’ve done that this week!”

“That’s not…” I said. I was about to say funny but I caught myself keeping Oliver from saying the same thing.

At this point, I couldn’t wait to have an outside of the Machine assignment just so I could get away from Oliver and Luke. I think Oliver felt the same way.

“I know that look on your face,” said Oliver, “you’re ready to get away from Luke aren’t you?”

“What?” Luke said. “I’m only saying what everyone else is saying!”

“Say what now?” I growled.

“Oh come on!” Luke said. “You two haven’t heard the whispers going around the club lately? Or are you two that naive?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that!” Once again Oliver and I said the same thing at the same time.

Luke started to laugh again when Issac came up with another drunk for us to hand over to the police.

“Having fun teasing those two Luke?” Issac said.

“How do you know it was me teasing?” Luke said. “It could’ve been Roman!”

“Oh no it’s not Roman,” said Issac, “cause Roman looks very pissed off right now! I don’t know if Zach realizes it but Roman’s head over heels for him. Oh well, he’s with Sadie!”

“We’re not a…” Oliver and I started to say.

“Never mind!” I said. Oliver smiled and nodded in agreement.

“That’s like what the fourth time this week now?” Luke teased.

“And why are you counting?” I said.

“Like I said,” said Luke, “if you’re not a couple then I’m delusional and I need therapy!”

* * *

That morning after work we were walking down the hallway at a nearby hotel. We walked by Oliver's room and much to my surprise Oliver pulled me into it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

Oliver's eyes were wide, “It looks like we might have another code that’s been sent out to our assignment. I alerted the rest of the team. I hope they’ll keep an eye on the code. Especially when one of our teammates is on outside of the Machine assignments. I don’t want another incident to happen like it happened to you.”

I looked at him with concern when he said that. Because the look on his face was as if he were guilty about something.

“What’s that look for?” I said.

“On the day of the incident,” said Oliver, “I was on an outside of the Machine assignment. I had my suspicion about a code being sent to you. I warned the rest of my teammates including Pinkie Pie and no one believed me. I thought if anyone would believe me, Pinkie Pie would. I was hoping they'd keep an eye on the code at least. But no they didn’t.

"When I was gone that’s when the code decided it was time to strike! I’ve seen it many times! This code was no different than the other scum like them. It did its job and left. Each time I saw it happen myself. It happened when I wasn’t around because my teammates didn’t listen to me! Just like all the other teams I was on they never listened to me! I might have well been doing the assignment myself! I wanted to keep you safe and I failed at that one!”

“But I saw Lilith there!” I said, referring to Applejack.

When Oliver heard that it was news to him.

“Lilith was there?” Oliver said. “Why didn’t she do anything about it?”

“Because she told Finn that she was tied up and made to watch!” I said.

“Now... that, I don’t believe!” Oliver said. “Lilith is the strongest agent I know! She’s in the top five for her job classification! If anyone could’ve stopped him it would’ve been her!”

I thought more about what happened that day and grit my teeth.

“You remember what happened that day don’t you?” Oliver said.

“It’s a little hazy but according to Lilith, Silas broke in from the back door. She told Finn that she was tied up and made to watch! I don't think that's true! Something doesn't add up here, because Lilith could get out of being tied up to a chair no problem! I just know she could've stopped Silas!" I said.

I didn’t realize that I had started to panic because Oliver looked scared himself.

No way! Applejack's the element of honesty! There’s no way she could’ve done that! Silas had been a threat before me and I was going to get a protective order against him. I even told Applejack about that and she thought it was funny! Stuff like that is not funny at all!

“Uh..Sadie?” Oliver said. “If you don’t calm down you’re going to give yourself a heart attack!”

“No!” I snapped. “If anyone should have a heart attack it’s Lilith! I told her Silas had threatened to do something and she thought it was funny! She actually laughed at it!”

I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm myself down.

“Sorry Zach,” I said. “Why Lilith wouldn’t want to stop something like that from happening is beyond me! As long as I knew her, she couldn’t tell a lie to save her life. And I wonder if that’s why her element doesn’t work! And I’m not sure that it ever will again!”

“Yeah I still can’t believe that Finn would just believe her because she’s the element of honesty. Since no one on my team kept you safe, I’ll just have to do it on my own from now on...” Oliver said.

I had been thinking about whether or not what everyone had been saying about me and Oliver was correct. I had finally stopped thinking about it and did what I needed to do to confirm it. I took Oliver by surprise when I kissed him.

“Ah…” Oliver said. “What was that about?”

“I just wanted to confirm something…” I said. “And I just confirmed it.”

“Confirm what?” Oliver said.

“I don’t want to admit it,” I said, “but I have feelings for you.”

Oliver smiled at me as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me.

10) Firewall Eli

{Rainbow Dash}

A couple of weeks later I got summoned for my outside of the Machine assignment. At this point, Oliver and I had been talking about being a couple but we still weren’t sure yet. I reported to Samantha in her realm to see what my assignment was.

“Okay RD,” said Samantha as she sat behind her desk, “this is a high-level assignment. You will meet up with your teammates at one of the gates outside of the Machine. And I know what you’re thinking it’s not six gates for the Machine! I bet you’re getting tired of that number aren’t you?”

I nodded my head slowly, “You got that one right.”

“There are ten gates to the Machine that we know of,” Samantha played with the chain on one of her crystals on her desk, “it is possible that there might be more.”

Samantha's persistent gaze made me shift on my hooves. “So how do you know that there could be more gates?”

“Because with high levels of creatures that are being kidnapped, it makes sense that there might be more,” Samantha said flatly.

That makes sense, “so which gate am I going to?”

“You’ll be going to the 9th Gate and right now there are two powerful agents the Machine uses to protect the gates. The agents are called Firewalls and they protect the Machine inside and out. But we don’t know how they are able to do that. Here’s a picture of one of them that you’ll possibly be fighting.” Samantha took out a picture from under her desk and passed it to me.

I gasped when I saw what one of the firewalls looked like. It was my brother Eli! Of course, now I know he isn't actually my brother. He looked like he did when I last saw him. He stood about six feet tall and he had brown hair and bright blue eyes. I looked up at Samantha to see her stunned expression. Knowing she could hear my thoughts, she must've realized who he was. “What I’m wondering is, why would the Machine send a Firewall to pose as your brother?”

“I have no idea,” I said, “just like when I had Jude! I have no idea why the Machine would do something like that. The only thing I can figure is because I'm an element of harmony! So the Machine was probably trying desperately to keep me inside. I didn’t realize that the Machine was that desperate to the point where it would send a powerful being to keep me inside!”

“I wouldn’t call a Firewall a powerful creature, as a matter of fact, he’s not a creature at all. He’s just a program created by the Machine to protect itself. Don’t think of him as your brother anymore. But this assignment will be your outside of the Machine assignment for weeks at a time. Your goal on this assignment is to not kill the gut but to get past him. And no Oliver isn’t on the team this time. Aww that’s cute, you’re going to miss him aren’t you?” Samantha said.

Ha, ha, we might be talking about being a couple right now but seriously! Why can’t people just lay off already! It’s just about as bad as people calling me Rainbow Dash all the time! Rainbow Dash this and Rainbow Dash that! At least they have to call me by codename inside of the Machine!

Samantha chuckled. She rolled her eyes, “Okay, okay, anyway, the two agents you’ll meet at the 9th Gate are Agent Grace and Agent Emma. Just like with your assignment inside the Machine, I will send you to it through a portal, step right this way!”

* * *

I approached the 9th Gate in a hover, which looked to be fairly ordinary double doors. Except they were fifty feet tall and looked at least a million years old. Agent Grace and Agent Emma stood in front of the gate, there to greet me.

“Awesome!” Agent Grace said. “We’re on an assignment with an element of harmony and she’s a new agent for that matter! This is so awesome! Isn’t that right Agent Emma?”

“Yeah it is!” Agent Emma said. “I totally agree with Predictor number four on assigning Agent Rainbow Dash to our team! And this one of the most difficult assignments! I mean it is Rainbow Dash after all! And the agents that are successful at this assignment become one of the top agents in the Sixth!”

I crossed my hooves. Ugh! Why are people so eager to meet me! Honestly now! I hope they can’t read my mind! Because that’s going to get my nerves if they can!

“We’re not Predictors Agent Rainbow Dash!” Agent Grace laughed. “Your Predictor told us that you don’t like your real name so we’ll call you Agent RD which is what she said you go by now!”

“If you’re not a Predictor then how did you know what I was thinking?” I said.

“Because you have the same look every new agent has when they first go out on an outside of the Machine assignment.” Agent Emma smirked. “My Predictor got on my nerves too! She announced my thoughts before she announced my teammates' thoughts! And I was about ready to punch her for that!”

Agent Grace laughed, “Yup same here! And I heard Agent Oliver got assigned to work this very mission two years ago!”

I raised my eyebrow, “Your point?”

“I also heard that he fell in love with you when he was assigned to break you out of the Machine!” Agent Emma teased.

Once again, I raised my eyebrow, flicking my tail at them. When Agent Grace and Agent Emma saw this they cracked up.

I guess I’m doing stand up comedy with those two now! I wonder when am I going to get paid?

“I’m sorry Agent RD,” said Agent Grace, “we just can’t help ourselves, it’s just too much fun teasing you! And the look on your face is priceless! I wish I had a camera!”

“Seriously,” I said, “never mind… Let’s go get this mission over with!”

* * *

{Jude}

So far today was an uneventful day. Like usual I look at the different patterns that AI brings to my attention. An alert from AI appeared on one of my computer screens.

“Damn it!” I looked at the screen to see that AI had alerted me to a threat at one of the gates to AI! I really hate dealing with agents of the Sixth and I don't like killing them either! A weapon that AI loves to give to deal with the agents of the Sixth is what's called a Copper. It was a watch that it's only function was to kill. But since I don't like killing anyone, I only make the Copper strong enough to stun the agents of the Sixth. It would give them a fake death and normally, that satisfies AI and it no longer sees them as a threat. Most of the time agents that are hit with the Copper take a while to recover and they pop up someplace else at a later date. Sadly, sometimes when an agent of the Sixth gets hit they don't recover. They die and there have been 100 agents in total that the Copper has killed.

Most of the time I give the Copper to Firewall Eli and not Firewall Molly, because Firewall Eli knows exactly how to hit an agent to give them a fake death.

I sighed and thought, I really hated this part of the job as ruler of AI.

I pressed a button on one of my computer screens and it brought Firewall Eli into focus on the screen. Firewall Eli was dressed in the standard uniform as Firewall for AI. He was wearing a black shirt, black pants and black steel toe boots. Most of the time he wore dark tinted glasses to hide his blue eyes. The letters FW glowed yellow on his forehead to show that he has been called.

“Yes, Lord Jude?” Firewall Eli said. At this time Firewall Eli was on his motorcycle traveling to the 7th Gate to help repair the damage that was done to it by an agent of the Sixth, Agent Oliver.

“Firewall Eli, I know you’re headed to the 7th Gate to help repair the damage to it but I just got an alert of some agents of the Sixth trying to do damage to the 9th Gate. And I’m not allowing that to happen again! I’m giving you the Copper for this and if Agent Oliver is there, bring him to AI’s castle and we’ll take care of him there!” I commanded.

I passed the copper into the system teleporter. The Copper dematerialized, as it was teleported to Firewall Eli. As soon as I gave the Copper to Firewall Eli, I feared there was a strong possibility that someone might get killed.

As soon as Firewall Eli was sent the Copper he nodded, “Yes, Lord Jude, I’m on my way!”

Firewall Eli then turned his motorcycle around and headed to the 9th Gate.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

Feeling the wind through my wings gave me a sense of freedom. I looked down at the cars that Agent Grace and Agent Emma were driving. I can't believe I used to like driving those lunch box vehicles! It's so much better flying.

For some reason, Agent Grace told us that we weren’t actually going to the 9th Gate as Samantha said. We were actually assigned to go to the 5th Gate instead. As I flew, I kept wondering why the plan had changed. “I was wondering," I said over my headset. “Why aren’t we doing our job at the 9th Gate like I was told?"

“That’s because,” said Agent Grace, “we need to finish doing damage to gates one through seven. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can move onto the remaining gates. In case you’re wondering, one of our top agents did major damage to the 7th Gate! Don’t know why the Sixth wants to destroy gates one through seven first, but that’s what they want us to do. Oh! You’ll never guess the agent who did major damage to the 7th Gate is!”

“I’m curious about that, Agent Grace,” Agent Emma said. “Who did it?”

“It’s someone that trained Agent RD!” Agent Grace exclaimed.

“Was it Agent Rarity?” I said.

“Nope! Not even close!” Agent Grace said.

“Was it Princess Twilight?” I said.

“Nope!” Agent Grace said. “Guess again!”

I seriously hoped that it wasn’t Oliver, but I was uncertain why I felt that way.

“Was it Agent Gilda?” I hoped it was.

“Seriously!” Agent Grace said. “Think about it, Agent RD! Who was your main trainer for the six days you trained?”

It is Oliver..

“Oh great,” I said, “let me guess, it was Oliver!”

“Bingo!” Agent Grace said.

Before I realized it, the 5th Gate was right in front of me. I stiffened my wings trying to slow down but it was too late!

Clang!

I slid down the cold metal of the gate where I crashed. I heard Agent Grace laughing as I lay on my back coping with the dizziness. I looked over to see Agent Emma's jaw drop. She came over and helped me up. I shook the dirt off me.

Agent Grace pressed a button on her vehicle and it folded up into a black box as she laughed. She put it in her pants pocket. Agent Emma also put her car away in the same fashion.

“It just had to be Oliver didn’t it?” I said and for some reason, I actually felt kind of embarrassed at showing my reaction to it.

“That’s right!” Agent Grace said. “It’s your boyfriend, Agent RD!”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” I said. I didn’t dare say at least not yet because I didn’t want to give Agent Grace more ammunition for teasing me.

Agent Grace stuck out her tongue at me, “I can tell by the look on your face he is!”

I grit my teeth and stomped a hoof on the ground, “I swear if someone teases about that one more time…”

I didn’t get to finish my sentence and Agent Grace didn’t get a chance to respond when a motorcycle pulled up. I could only assume that the guy that was on it was my fake brother Eli.

Once he pulled up he killed the engine and put his kickstand down. When he took off his helmet I narrowed my eyes at him. He had dark tinted glasses on his face and he pressed a button on the side of them. A bright light came out of them and scanned us as if we were about ready to enter a top-secret location within the Machine.

“My name is,” said Eli, “Firewall Eli and this as far as you go! Agents of The Sixth if you value your lives, you will turn back now!”

After Eli said that, my ears went flat against my head and I snarled at him. He tilted his head when he saw me. “My, my, is that the bearer of the element of loyalty standing in front of me?”

It wasn’t until Eli said that when I realized that I was hovering a foot in the air.

Eli smirked, “You look very familiar to me, have I seen you before?”

“Don’t you remember me Eli? My fake brother?” I snapped at him.

“I do believe,” said Eli, “that I announced myself as Firewall Eli! That’s my official title to you!”

“Oh yeah?” I said. “And I have a name too. I hate it with passion but it’s Rainbow Dash!”

“Rainbow Dash?” Eli taunted. “Yeah... Names not ringing a bell except that Tv show that has a character by that name on it!”

“Fine then!” I snapped. I lowered to the ground and changed into my human self. When Eli saw me he had a smile on his face and I wanted to kill him just for that alone!

“If it isn’t my little sister Judy!” Eli said. “I thought I’d never see you again! According to AI, your funeral was a couple of weeks ago!”

I growled at Eli when I changed back into my pony form, going into a hover. I wanted to charge at Eli like a bull but Agent Grace stepped in front of me. When Eli saw that he laughed.

“I knew I hated you for a reason!” I said.

“Oh?” Eli said. “As I said before if you agents of the Sixth value your lives, then you will turn back now!”

“And why would we do that oh fake brother?” I said.

Agent Grace put a hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down and keep from stomping on Eli’s head.

“Agent RD,” said Agent Grace, “I’m the captain of this mission. Follow my lead okay?”

I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t snap or snarl at Eli again.

Eli laughed, “I’m surprised that Judy isn’t the leader of the group!”

I so wanted to say something evil to him but I stood my ground instead.

“Well then,” said Eli, “since you won’t turn back, you must not value your lives much! So I get the pleasure of killing you! It’s my lucky day!”

“You say that like it's going to be easy Firewall Eli!” Agent Grace said.

Eli rolled his eyes, “Let’s just get this over with!”

* * *

True to her word Samantha called me back to my original assignment inside the Machine. During the fight with Eli, I had sprained my left wing. Unfortunately, that meant I wouldn't be flying for at least a week. Samantha agreed with that decision and told me to take a break until the wing healed.

During the fight with Eli I kept thinking about Oliver and not just because I found out that he was the one who did major damage to the 7th Gate. When I got back from my outside of the Machine assignment, Oliver pulled me off to the side with a concerned look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I said.

“You look like you got the crap beat out of you!” Oliver said.

“Seriously, I do? I thought that would just show when I was in my pony form!”

“No it doesn’t, it happens to other agents too. There’s a bruise on your left shoulder.”

“That’s because I sprained something in my pony form! I’ll be out for at least a week for that assignment.”

Before he could react I grabbed Oliver’s hand and pulled him into my room.

“So what was the assignment?” Oliver said.

I sighed, “I was sent to the 9th Gate to figure out a way to get past a Firewall!”

“What!” Oliver gasped. “But that’s one of the high-level assignments! It’s a dangerous one too! Why would you be given that type of assignment? You’re a new agent for crying out loud!”

“Calm down!” I said. “And I have no idea why that would happen! You’ll have to ask Samantha about that one. But I suspect that it had something to do with my fake brother that I had inside the Machine!”

“Who was it?” Oliver said.

“It was Firewall Eli,” I said, “that’s who my fake brother was!”

"What!" Oliver gasped.

"Yeah I know," I said, "why the Machine would send a Firewall to pose as my brother to keep me inside, I have no idea!"

11) A New Item

{Rainbow Dash}

After I told Oliver about Eli, he nodded. “I agree with you on that one! It doesn’t make any sense. I mean I know you're the element of loyalty but sending a Firewall to keep you inside! The Machine must’ve been desperate!”

“No kidding!”

Oliver smiled. I wasn't sure why he was looking at me that way. I titled my head, “What?”

“I can tell by the look on your face there’s something else you wanted to talk to me about?” Oliver scooted closer to me and put his hand over mine.

“Am I that obvious?”

“Oh yeah, you are! You can’t hide the fact that you’re thinking about something to save your life. You did the same thing when you were inside!” Oliver smirked.

“Yeah well, at least you’re not Samantha! Yeah, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about.” I put my head on his shoulder to indicate what I wanted to say to him next. “The whole time that I was fighting, I kept thinking about us becoming a couple. And not because I found out that you were the one who destroyed the 7th Gate.”

“What?!” Oliver gasped, although to me his gasp didn't sound sincere. But I chose not to point that out. “Who told you?”

“It was Agent Grace, somehow she knew the information. She used it for ammunition to tease me about you!”

Oliver snorted.

“That’s not funny!” I said. “Anyway remember when we first kissed a couple of weeks ago? Well, I was thinking, we should finally…”

Oliver must've known what I was trying to say as he kissed me. Suddenly he hesitated, pulling back. I knew why that was. “I know what you’re thinking, and you don’t have to be that protective of me. And I am still worried about the baby I left behind. I know you’re sensitive about what happened with me and Silas. But stuff happens, you can’t control everything that happens. You do realize that right?”

“Yeah but-" Oliver said.

I caught his words with my lips. Oliver embraced me and surrendered to my kiss. I remained in his arms suspended in his passion for a moment that I didn't wish to end before we finally broke away.

Oliver gave me a sheepish look, “I um…”

“Yeah, I know." I continued to look into his eyes amused with his reaction.

“Are you sure about this?” Oliver held a breath and then let it go.

“If I wasn't sure, I wouldn’t be doing it. Duh!"

"Okay, okay!” Oliver laughed. “I get it!”

“Well then,” I said, “show me!”

After that what happened between me and Oliver next as Finn would say, it’s classified.

* * *

When I woke up it was time for Oliver and me to head into work when I heard Gilda knocking on the door. “Sadie, if you’re back from your, ‘vacation,' I need to talk to you!”

I wanted to stay with Oliver but Gilda kept knocking on the door and it was getting on my nerves.

“You should answer that,” Oliver smirked, “or she might not stop until she gets a coffee date from you!”

“Ha, ha,” I said. I rolled my eyes. “I do believe she has coffee in her room! Fine, I’ll take care of her.”

I opened up the door and went outside only to see an annoyed Gilda. “It’s about time you answered the door!”

“What is it, Abigail?” I said.

“Yes, it looks like we do have a code situation on our hands and it looks like it’s a guy named Gabriel.” The look on her face went from annoyed to panicked. “He’s been paying a little too much attention to Emily. Good thing the rules of the club say that if a person makes a dancer uncomfortable then he or she gets banned. The same thing applies to the backroom. Issac is keeping an eye out for her along with the rest of us. Although Gabriel doesn’t act like a normal drunk so somethings off about him and I’m not sure what.”

I felt a pit on my stomach. “So what do we do about him? As of right now, we don’t have grounds to ban him from the club!”

“I was thinking, maybe we could send him to Stella?”

“Nah,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t think Stella would want to take him on either!”

“Yeah I guess you’re right, the guy does give Emily the creeps. And the same thing goes for me! Stop laughing Sadie!”

I didn’t realize that I was laughing until Gilda said something about it. “Sorry I just can’t believe that someone gives you the creeps! No one does that to you! That’s payback for teasing me!”

“If you stop saying that then I’ll stop teasing!"

“Good, cause I’m not doing stand-up comedy with you anymore unless you pay me to!” I could tell Gilda was biting her tongue hard. It looked like she wanted to tease me but she didn’t. Before I left I gave two knocks on the door and Gilda raised an eyebrow.

“What was all about?” Gilda said.

“Oh nothing,” I lied, “I was just making sure the door was closed!”

“Yeah sure, you were!”

“And Gabriel gives you the creeps!” I teased

“Okay, okay!” Gilda said.

“Good,” I said, “now let's go!”

The main reason why I did the two knocks on the door was to tell Oliver that the coast was clear and he could leave my room.

* * *

Somehow Diamond Tiara found out the news about Oliver and I was dating. Because she looked happy when she pulled me off to the side. “Why are you so happy?”

“I just found out about you and Zach!” Diamond Tiara said with excitement.

“How did you find out about that?” I said.

“Stella told me she saw you and Zach go into your room yesterday!” Diamond Tiara beamed.

I didn’t say anything to her, I looked away.

“I knew it!” Diamond Tiara said. “It’s about time! Oh well, now we can’t tease you about it anymore! Although knowing Luke he’ll find some way to do so. Unless he catches you two making out at work. There are no rules against that!”

“What yeah doing?” We heard a high-pitched voice say. I turned around. I felt horrified to see Clara (although we knew she was actually Pinkie Pie) standing in the doorway!

“Clara!” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“I don’t believe Samantha assigned you to this assignment!” Diamond Tiara snapped.

“I followed Judy over here,” said Pinkie, “to congratulate her on getting a new boyfriend! I wanted to remind her of what we once were!”

I wasn’t sure of what to say next so I kept my mouth shut. I backed up to the nearest wal trying to get away from Pinkie but she kept coming closer to me. Diamond Tiara stepped in trying to block Pinkie from me. “Don’t tell her anything!” Diamond Tiara commanded looking back at me.

Pinkie rolled her eyes, “As if I care!”

Diamond Tiara was still trying to protect me from Pinkie but somehow Pinkie got past her and pinned me to the wall.

“Do you remember what we once were?” Pinkie whispered into my ear.

I didn’t look at her. I turned my head in the opposite direction. Pinkie smiled, “I was wondering since you’re working at a club would you mind if we had a private session?”

Pinkie then put a hand under my chin and turned my head and made me look at her. It wasn’t until she kissed me that I stomped on her foot and punched her in the jaw. I twisted her arm behind her back.

“Even if I did remember,” I snarled, “I don’t care! What we once were is in the past and that’s where it will stay!”

“Aww,” responded Pinkie, “but you’re my little kitten! Remember all the parties that I threw for you? If you let me go, I'll throw another one for you right here! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

My response to that was to twist her arm behind her back even harder. “Ow! Hey! You’re going to break my arm, Judy!”

“As if I care!” I said. “And I don’t want another party from you as long as I live!”

“Why you little witch!" Oliver screamed as he came around the corner.

“Well if it isn't the tail chaser!” Pinkie growled at him.

“What did you call me?” Oliver said. He narrowed his eyes at Pinkie.

“I’m not repeating myself,” said Pinkie, “I came to get my toy back!”

“Excuse me?” I roared. I slammed her up against the wall just to make a point. I hissed in her ear, "Listen to me Clara, like I said before, we were in the past and that’s where it will stay! Get it through your thick skull, I don’t want you anymore! You got that?”

“But I still have your engagement ring!” Pinkie whined. “I thought you might want it back so we can celebrate!”

“You’re psycho, you know that?” I said. “And I do believe I already told you no!”

“Awe,” said Pinkie, “but I got it to match your element! It’s a gold ring with a beautiful ruby stone on it that hangs on a gold chain made just for you! Laughter and Loyalty go hand in hand in a relationship don’t you think?”

When I heard what Pinkie said, it pissed me off and I had half a mind to go ahead and break her arm!

“Ah, Sadie…” Oliver said.

“I’m only going to repeat myself one more time,” I hissed again, “I said no and it’s the past. And that’s where it will stay!”

“Did I hear your codename correctly?” Pinkie said. “Sadie is your codename? I would think they would have given you something pretty. I prefer Alice myself. It's as beautiful as you are!”

I slammed Pinkie up against the wall again. There’s no way I was going to be with a creature like Pinkie Pie ever again! Issac came around the corner to see what was going on.

“What’s going on here Zach?” Issac questioned.

Oliver grit his teeth and he wanted to kill Pinkie as much as I did at the moment. “Perfect timing Issac! Looks like Sadie has a stalker!”

“Stalker!” Pinkie said. “You should talk tail chaser!”

Issac raised an eyebrow at what Pinkie just said, “Tail chaser?”

I wanted to twist Pinkie's arm even harder but I found that I had twisted her arm as hard as I could already.

“Let go of my arm Sadie!” Pinkie shouted.

“Say one more word…” I hissed.

“Oh come on Sadie,” said Pinkie, “don’t you want your engagement ring back so I can throw a party? Parties are serious business you know that right?”

“I already told you no!” I shouted. “Say it again, and I might just go ahead and break your arm!”

“Okay Sadie!” Issac said. “You might want to hand her over to me.”

“Fine by me!” I said. I tossed Pinkie to Issac as if I were throwing a ball.

“Hey!” Pinkie said. “You don’t have to be so ruff and I’ll break out of the Underground and save you from Zach!”

“I don’t need saving, thank you very much!” I growled. “And I’ve made my choice, it’s Zach and not you!”

“I don’t believe it!” Pinkie shouted. She had a look of disbelief on her face when she said it.

I smiled at Pinkie's disbelief. “Well, believe it!”

Without another word, Issac dragged her away.

After a moment I had calmed down from what happened and Oliver was looking at me with concern. Oliver then hugged and kissed me because he was trying to comfort me in the only way he could think to do. It wasn't working.

That was when I heard Gilda laughing. “It’s about time you two got together!”

Gilda isn't making things any better here.

“You might want to stop laughing especially after what just happened,” Oliver said.

“Huh?” Gilda said. “What happened?”

“I would tell you, but it would piss Sadie off even more!” Oliver said.

“Okay then,” said Gilda, “fine I’m out of here!”

Oliver kissed me again trying to keep me calm, that was when we heard Luke laughing as he walked by.

“Yup!” Luke teased. “If you two aren’t a couple, then I’m delusional and I need therapy!”

I wanted to grab Luke and strangle him but Oliver held me tighter and kept me from doing so.

* * *

After work the next day Oliver decided to make out with me in the hallway right before we got to his room. “Uh… Zach?”

“Hmm?” I could tell Oliver wasn’t thinking about anything else at the moment. I was trying to say something but I forgot what I was trying to say. That was when I heard Gilda clear her throat. “Would you two get a room already?”

“We were heading to one,” Oliver said, “I just thought I’d make a pit stop on the way there!”

Gilda started to crack up once Oliver said that. Oliver stopped what he was doing when he saw that I was getting ready to pass out and I knew exactly why I was going to.

Great! Perfect timing! It just had to happen now! Good thing it didn’t start when I'm on an assignment!

The world started to spin and I was trying my hardest to keep from passing out. Gilda gasped. “I know what that look is for!”

I tried so hard to stay awake but when I couldn’t anymore, I held onto Oliver as the world went dark.

12) Hopeful Trigger Responses

{Jude}

I was panicked! Rainbow Dash was outside of AI on her first mission. What panicked me is that her first mission was at The Gates of all places! “Great! Just great, I was hoping mother would stay at the Sixth longer than this! First Mother will definitely make sure that Rainbow Dash is a threat now! And why would they send her to the gates of all places? Has the Sixth done lost their minds? Rainbow Dash should be considered a new agent, or at least I would think so!”

“Lord Jude?” Servant Ivy said. “You’re panicking.”

"Panicking! I'm not-" I paused. I didn't realize how bad I was panicking until I stopped pacing and looked down at my seat to see I wasn't sitting down on it. I knew that if First Mother got wind of Rainbow Dash being assigned to do damage to the gates she would be pushing for me to kill Rainbow Dash even more.

Once I saw this I panicked even more. "This is not good! Not good at all!”

“You really should sit down already!” Servant Ivy said. “I know your AI’s ruler but I think you should calm down. I don’t think AI would self-destruct because of your panicking but I don’t want to find out.”

I really didn't want to sit down for a problem like this. Although I doubted that AI would self-destruct because of it. Either way, I forced myself to sit down so I could try to think of a plan.

As soon as I sat down Servant Ivy for some reason felt the need to sit on my lap to make me stay sitting down. I smiled at her and she smiled back. It was almost as if she knew me better than I knew myself. I didn’t mind when Servant Ivy would do that not one little bit. Servant Ivy didn’t do anything but put her head on my chest. “You know something Lord Jude? You take your job as ruler way too seriously sometimes. It seems that me sitting on your lap calms you down, that’s why I do it. But if you don’t want me to, I won’t do it anymore.”

I shook my head, “Yeah you’re right, but it’s okay I don’t mind when you do this. If anyone else did it. It would be weird!”

Servant Ivy and I laughed at the thought. But I knew that First Mother got wind of me and Servant Ivy’s growing friendship, she would have a field day with that too. Even though I didn’t mind when Servant Ivy sat on my lap I wasn’t sure if I should think of having a relationship just yet when I was trying so hard to protect my mother at all costs.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

Oliver had to report to Samantha for his out of the Machine assignment and when he got back I found it funny that he was acting like I was sick even though I felt fine. I'm a rare bird when it comes down to having a cycle. Sometimes my cycle hits me like a ton of bricks so bad to the point where I pass out because of it. That’s the first thing Oliver did was check and see if I had a fever.

“How are you feeling?” Oliver asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, trying to reassure him. I don’t think the information that I just told him made him feel any better because he was hugging me so hard it felt like he was going to break my rib cage. “It’s okay Zach, you can let go!”

“Oh...Sorry,” Oliver said.

After Oliver let go I tried so hard not to laugh but I wasn’t successful at it because Oliver's face turned red. Of course, we heard Gilda laughing as she walked by us. “It’s so cute how you two act around each other. Considering Zach’s been overprotective of you since day one!”

Gilda kept laughing so hard she didn’t notice that Emily was standing behind her until she pinched Gilda's butt!

“Hey!” Gilda said. When she turned around and saw Emily she looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

I smiled, “Hi Emily! How’s it going?”

“Abigail,” said Emily, “I think Sadie would prefer it if you leave her alone! I mean I know she’s beautiful but my goodness! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like Sadie too! I don’t blame people for falling for her if you know what I mean!”

“Ah…” I said practically choking on what Emily just said.

Oliver tried to stifle his laughter but he wasn't successful at it.

“That’s not funny Zach!” I said.

“And you should know that Roman gawks at you all the time you walk by!” Emily said.

“I’m pretending that doesn’t happen!” Oliver said.

“Well, at least people are chasing after you for once!” I said.

“Really!” Oliver said.

“Is that why you hide behind me every time Roman looks at you?” I said. “Wow!”

Everyone except Oliver started laughing and I was laughing the hardest just at the very thought of Oliver hiding from someone that likes him! I saw Oliver’s eyes go wide with a terrified look on his face. Emily kept shaking her head as if trying to make something that was happening go away.

“What’s wrong Zack?” Gilda asked.

“Do you not see the signs of Phase 1?” Oliver said with a look of horror on his face. “Or am I seeing things?”

“Huh?” Gilda said. The next thing we knew Emily passed out and Gilda caught her before she could even hit the ground.

* * *

When Emily passed out Gilda took her to her room and laid her down on the bed.

“So what happens now?” Gilda panicked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Hopefully she won’t be in pain like I was in Phase 1.”

“That’s exactly why I hate Phase 1!” Oliver growled.

“What’s going on?” Levi said when he came around the corner and heard us talking.

“It looks like Emily might be going into Phase 1,” I said.

“I wonder if it had something to do with the songs I've been playing lately,” Levi said.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Oliver said. He shook his head. “I’m wondering if she had any signs of Phase 1 happening lately.”

Gilda looked like she was racking her brain to try and think of what she had seen lately. It looked like she remembered seeing something. “Did she look like she was ready to pass out the last time she talked to you Tobias?”

Levi shook his head, “Not from what I can recall. The last time she did talk to me was leaning up against a nearby wall.”

“I don't know if it is the songs or something else,” said Oliver, “but in any case, I don’t think she likes Tobias that way, if anyone might be doing the trigger response it might be Sadie.”

“Hey!” I said. “She pinches Abigail's butt when she comes by and not mine! She doesn’t do that to me when she walks past me! She does it to Abigail! If she likes anyone it would be Abigail!”

“Now that you think about it,” said Gilda, “she has been trying to get closer to me lately. A little too close for comfort!”

“See!” I teased. “Sorry, Tobias but it looks like Abigail has already taken your spot!”

“Ha, ha Sadie!” Gilda said. “But we do have to think of something to send her into Phase 2!”

“Maybe you could kiss her like Zach did to me!” I laughed.

Oliver exhaled slowly, “Even if we get trigger responses from her at Phase 1 it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’ll go into Phase 2!”

“What do you mean by that?” I said.

“As soon as Emily started having trigger responses there were no flashes of her old self!” Oliver said. “If it worked there would’ve been flashes of it because that’s what we saw with Sadie. It’s very possible that if the flashes of her old self don’t happen that the trigger responses could go away! I’ve seen it happen before. Unfortunately, the trigger responses don’t work on everyone, but that still doesn’t mean we can’t try our hardest to make it happen. We should keep an eye on her to see if we see that. Abigail and Tobias, since Emily talks to you two the most you guys should keep an eye on her.”

Gilda and Levi nodded at Oliver in agreement, I couldn’t help but think that it was a good thing we were outside of Emily’s room because it would probably make it more painful if she went further into Phase 1.

* * *

“No! Roman!” I heard Oliver say as I turned the corner to get to my spot for work. I didn’t go any further because I had a feeling that this conversation might be entertaining to watch.

“Oh come on Zach,” said Roman, from the sound of his voice, he was begging for Oliver to do something, “I’ve wanted to be with you since day one!”

I tried my best to stifle a laugh when Roman hugged Oliver and kissed him.

It’s too bad Roman doesn’t need to be broken out the Machine or I’d ask Finn to give Oliver the go-ahead to kiss Roman to send him into Phase 2!

After the kiss, Oliver backed away from Roman when he tried to go in for another kiss I thought it was time to step in and help Oliver out.

“Exactly what are you doing to my boyfriend, Roman?” I said.

“Oh nothing,” said Roman, “I just admitted my feelings for him that’s all.”

I scoffed at him, “Do you need your hearing checked? I think he said no! And no means no! And as far as admitting your feelings for him goes, you probably should’ve done that before he got together with me.”

“Hey!” Oliver said. “If I recall correctly, me and Sadie were talking about being a couple before we even started working here! So I would’ve turned you down anyway.”

“Yeah I don't believe it,” Roman said, “we meant to be together since the first time I laid eyes on you Zach-Zach!”

“You’re just as bad as Clara with Sadie!” Oliver said.

At this point, it made me sick to see the way Roman was looking at Oliver. Roman went to go pat Oliver’s head when he grabbed Roman’s hand keeping it away from him. “I think I just said no, and don’t ever call me Zach-Zach again!”

I thought I had it bad with Oliver throwing paper balls at me!

I laughed at Oliver, “He's not asking you for a coffee date! But I have a feeling he might ask you for something else!”

I looked to see Roman staring at Oliver and pretty hard too. Then Oliver was looking at me with an evil smile on his face and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to find out what that look meant. “I’m afraid to ask this, but what is that look for?”

I really didn’t like the way Oliver was staring at me at the moment because he was looking at me just like Roman was looking at him.

“Okay, you're giving me the creeps right now!” I said. I backed away from Oliver because of the creepy look that he was giving me.

Without warning, Oliver hugged me and kissed me then licked my cheek just to make a point. Roman glared at us and walked away.

“Wow,” I heard Emily’s voice come from behind us, “you sure made your point clear didn’t you Zach?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Oliver said.

“You felt the need to lick my cheek after you kissed me in front of Roman because?” I asked.

“Sorry,” said Oliver, “I wasn’t aware Roman was watching! My bad!”

“Yup,” I said, “sure you weren’t!”

I guess Emily got a real kick out of that because she walked away laughing.

13) Hi Loyalty! It's so nice to see you again!

{Rainbow Dash}

The next morning I woke up in a cold sweat. I had a feeling the reason for it was I yet again I had another memory and of course it had something with the Wonderbolts! I remember practicing for my Wonderbolt audition. Somehow I lost my flight pattern and did a crash landing! After that, I woke up. I realized that Oliver was holding me like I was a baby and I had a really bad headache. It felt like I had crashed into the nearby wall like I did when I got that electric shock to my ear.

“Well,” I said, “at least there aren’t any trash cans around!”

“That’s not funny!” Oliver said.

“Why do I feel like I crashed into a wall?” I asked. “I can’t fly right now, so how did that happen?”

“Apparently you sleepwalk,” Oliver replied.

“What!” I gasped. “There’s no way I do that! I didn’t do it before! Nobody told me I did it! When did that start happening?”

“It just happened today,” Oliver said. “What were you dreaming about to make you crash into a wall?”

“I had another memory,” I said, “and I did a crash landing again! Thanks to Agent Grace, I’ve done that a couple of times on my assignment! I guess that’s why the nickname Rainbow Crash stuck with me and it still keeps following me around!”

After I said the name Rainbow Crash, Oliver went from being concerned to rolling on his stomach in laughter.

I rolled my eyes, “I’m glad I’m entertaining. I was wondering about something though. Why did you keep your original name you were assigned to me?”

Oliver smiled, “It’s about time you asked that question, why didn’t you ask it before?”

“Somehow I was afraid to know the answer,” I replied.

Oliver nodded, “I was supposed to be bait for the seekers to them from going after you. They were supposed to be after me considering what I did to the 7th Gate! I don’t think that worked because they still went after you after all. I’m going to assume that since you were the last element of harmony that was still inside the Machine, it was desperately trying to keep you inside. I mean it sent a Firewall to pose as your brother! It’s safe to say that plan failed. So after you were broken out Samantha thought it was best for me to go back into hiding again. I’m not sure that’s going to keep the Machine from going after me or you.”

"Oh," I said, “The question is what we do about me? How do I keep myself from crashing into walls in my sleep?”

Oliver shrugged, “The answer to both those questions I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine!”

* * *

My assignment was to get past the Firewall at the gates. We were still trying to do damage to the 5th Gate. As usual, my fake brother Eli would pull up in his motorcycle and announce his name and blah, blah; which really annoyed me! Not to mention the whole ‘if you value your lives! Turn back now!’ line. This time when Eli pulled up instead of being annoyed like usual he just laughed when he saw us.

“What’s funny, fake brother?” I growled.

“You guys are!” Eli smirked. “Just keep trying to kill me or whatever you’re trying to do it’s not going to work! Or it would’ve by now. I’m not surprised coming from Loyalty here! The Lord getting very annoyed with you three! Especially with you, Loyalty!”

I’m really tired of Eli calling me Loyalty!

“You look lost in thought Loyalty!” Eli taunted. “What’s the matter?”

“As if I’d tell you!” I snapped.

“Fine then,” Eli said, “it’s your funeral! And for real this time! You three pests are getting on my nerves!”

“You should be the one to talk!” Agent Grace snapped at him. She then turned to me and Agent Emma and nodded, “you guys know what to do.”

“Just don’t call me Rainbow Crash this time!” I said. “I really don’t feel like doing another crash landing just to take Eli out!”

“Oh come on Agent RD!” Agent Grace teased. “I won’t call you that anymore. Actually, that last time was a prank and it almost worked. You almost took out Firewall Eli in the process!”

“Really Agent Grace! Fighting a Firewall is not time for-” Agent Emma scolded.

I guess Eli had gotten annoyed with us and decided to attack us while we were distracted. He put up one of his barriers and charged at us.

At least they got distracted from teasing me!

When Eli got close to me, I did a backflip in mid-air to dodge him. I looked over at Agent Grace and I could tell she really wanted to call me Rainbow Crash again! If she did do it, I just might stomp on her head instead of Eli’s and do him a favor of eliminating one of us! After a while much to my surprise, Eli had to pause along with us to catch his breath this time.

“I didn’t know Firewalls needed to breathe!” I taunted. “You sure didn’t look like you needed to last time!”

“Awe I’m touched,” Eli said with sarcasm, “thanks for the compliment! You three look like you’re running out of steam. It should be easy to kill you this time!”

I rolled my eyes, “This time? You couldn’t kill us even if you wanted to! And you’ve been wanting to lately! Good luck trying to do that!”

“The Lord will be so pleased when I drop your dead body in front of him!” Eli said.

I raised an eyebrow, “The Lord? The Machine needs a Lord? Now that’s funny!”

Eli growled, "I was wondering why didn’t you three didn't bring Agent Oliver with you this time? I’m sure he would love to join in the fun!”

“Fighting you is fun, how?” Agent Grace said sarcastically.

“Actually this is pretty entertaining for The Lord to watch!” Eli laughed.

“Yeah, I’m not doing stand-up comedy with you either,” I said, “unless this The Lord guy wants to pay me for it!”

Eli found that comment really amusing because he couldn’t hold in his laughter. “Stand-up comedy? Really? To me, it was a stand-up comedy when you got together with Silas!”

“Oh no you didn’t just joke about that!” I snapped. “That guy was a jerk and you know it! And you would’ve been just as bad if you were there when Silas assaulted me!”

I was seething with rage at the very mention of Silas! The fact that Eli even had the nerve to mention it now, I was about ready to go stomp on his head just for saying that. I was trying so hard to hold myself back and Agent Grace and Agent Emma weren’t happy about what Eli just said.

“What is he talking about, Agent RD?” Agent Grace said.

I sighed, “It’s a long story. Let’s say that thanks to that jerk Silas, I got pregnant with Jude! After I broke out of the Machine I left him behind. Jude might’ve happened because of a code but he’s still my son. I didn’t give him away because that idea didn’t sit well with me at all. And now that I left him behind, I have no idea where he is! Or who’s taking care of him. Not to mention it was his first birthday a couple of weeks ago…”

Agent Grace and Agent Emma looked heartbroken to hear what I just said.

“We didn’t know Agent RD!” Agent Grace said. “Why didn’t you tell us?"

"Because you didn't know about my personal life!" I snapped at her.

At this point, Agent Grace was really getting on my nerves again. I had half a mind to ask Samantha for a different assignment. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Eli took out of his pocket what looked like one of those watches Finn had shown me. It was the color of copper but it looked like it couldn’t be opened and it wasn’t to look at what time it was.

If he asks another stupid watch question, I am so not going to answer it. I’m not going into Phase 4 that’s for sure!

When I saw Agent Emma’s eyes go wide in terror when she saw the watch I was puzzled by it. “Uh-oh!”

Agent Grace looked in horror when she saw what Eli had in his hand. "Great! This is not good!"

Agent Emma gulped, “I’ve heard horror stories about that thing! It’s called a Copper! Many agents of the Sixth have died from it! That’s why this is a top-ranking assignment!”

“You chose to tell us about this now?” I said. “Really! You need to get help when we get back to the Sixth!”

“That is if we get back!” Agent Grace said. “I know of that thing too!”

“Why wasn’t I informed about this?” I asked.

“Because you’re a new agent,” said Agent Grace, “when a new agent gets to their assignment, they don’t need to know the dangers of it so they can fight to their full potential!”

I looked at Eli with horror when I saw the huge grin on his face.

“Well now,” said Eli, “at least your other teammates are informed about this. I wonder, Loyalty are you scared now?”

I wasn’t afraid of that stupid Copper! Not one little bit! As soon as I found out about it, I wanted to kill Eli even more. Especially since he keeps calling me Loyalty. I didn’t know which was worse: being called Loyalty, or Rainbow Crash.

“My name is not Loyalty!” I snarled at him. “I could care less about danger! I was a Wonderbolt back in Equestria for crying out loud! That was definitely the most dangerous job back there! If my friends are in danger, I could care less about my safety over theirs!”

“Don’t let that thing hit you!” Agent Emma said with terror in her voice.

As Eli threw the Copper at Agent Grace, I dove in front of her to get her out of the way. As I pushed Agent Grace out of the way I looked down to see that there was blood dripping from my chest. I didn’t realize that I had been hurt when Eli put his watch away and smiled at me.

“Looks like it’s mission complete for me!” Eli said.

“What are you talking about?” Agent Grace said. “You were going after all three of us!”

“Actually,” said Eli, “I was going after Loyalty! The Lord wanted to make sure she didn’t get her element of harmony back! Now that she’s dead, there's no way she can get her element back! Now that I have done my job, I'm out of here!”

When Eli left there was a bright light that surrounded me and the next thing I knew, Agent Grace and Agent Emma faded away from my viewpoint.

* * *

I opened my eyes. I could see only darkness and I had no idea where I was. I floated on my back in what felt like a pool of water. Looking around, I saw no end to the water and no way to get out of it. It reminded me of when I completed Phase 3 of breaking out of the Machine.

A distant-sounding voice echoed, “Raaainbow Daaash…” as I floated along.

As I was floating a memory flashed before my eyes. It was the memory that I had after I had met my Predictor for the first time. I guess my brain decided to finish the memory once and for all.

I was swimming in a cloud, relaxing on my day off from work. A little while in my swim, I heard a foal cry out for help in the well that was underneath this cloud.

As I prepared to jump off the cloud to rescue the foal, I heard that voice calling me again, “ Raaainbow Daaash…”

I ignored the voice just like I ignored the doorbell. Of course, when I started to fly down into the well I heard the voice calling me once again, “Raaainbow Daaash…”

I stopped flying and looked around, “Where in the heck is that voice coming from? Oh well, I need to save that foal!”

I got halfway down into the well feeling desperation to save the foal at all costs.

Right as I got into the well the voice called again, “Raaainbow Daaash…”

“Seriously!” I paused. “That voice again! Where is it coming from?”

When I got close to where I was certain the foal was, I didn’t see the foal; I just saw a bright light. After I saw the bright light I didn’t realize that I had flown right into it. I was back to floating again in the never-ending pool of water with no escape.

If I’m back in Phase 3, then where is that mirror that I was floating under afterward?

I heard the voice again, “Raaainbow Daaash…”

“Okay stupid voice!” I growled. “Whatever you’re connected to, show yourself! Or I’m gonna…”

I heard the stupid voice once again, “Raaainbow Daaash…”

“If this is a joke,” I said, “I’m not playing along!”

There was a bright flash of light and I was surprised to see where the voice was coming from. It was a red stone that looked like a ruby in the shape of a lightning bolt just like my cutie mark was.

“Rainbow Dash…” I heard the voice say once again but this time without the echo. I looked to see that the voice was coming from the stone and every time it said something, it glowed.

I looked at the stone in annoyance and tried to flick my tail at it when I realized I was still floating on my back in the never-ending pool of water. I was finally able to stand up somehow with the help of the water that I was floating in.

“Rainbow Dash…” The stone said again. This time I was able to flick my tail in annoyance.

“Is Rainbow Dash the only two words you can say?” I growled. “If it is, I don’t want to talk to you!”

The stone began chuckling, causing its glow to pulse intermittently as it laughed, “Rainbow Dash…”

“That’s not funny you stupid stone!” I snapped.

“Rainbow Dash…” The stone said again as if it were taunting me. “Are you listening?”

I did a face hoof and then I shook my head, “Well it’s about time! At least you’re not calling me Rainbow Crash! At this point, I’d rather be called Rainbow Dash instead!”

The stone must’ve gotten a real kick out of my reaction because it laughed again, this time its flashes glowed brighter and pulsed even faster. I would say it was laughing so hard it couldn’t breathe but I didn’t know if it was alive or not.

“Okay…” I said. “Who are you? Or what are you? And are you alive? I don’t get it.”

“That, stupid Machine!” The stone growled or at least I think it growled if it’s even an it. Maybe the stone was a girl or boy? I’m not sure about that one.

“So what am I supposed to be listening to you for?” I said.

“You’re supposed to be listening because I’m your element of harmony!” The stone said. “My name is Loyalty! Oh in case you’re wondering, I’m not a he, I’m not a she, I prefer to be called an it.”

“Okay?” I said. “And why do you prefer to be called an it?”

“Because I’m a stone, duh!” said Loyalty.

“So are you a living thing?” I said. “What are you?”

Loyalty made a sound. It gave me the comical picture of Loyalty facehoofing and groaning.

“I’m obviously a what,” said Loyalty, “I’m not really living you know! But my magic makes it look like I have emotions and stuff like that. Probably so you can relate to me.”

“O...Kay?” I said. “I’m not getting any of this!”

Loyalty started to laugh again. I crossed my hooves and scoffed at it.

“Great,” I said to myself, “I’m doing stand-up comedy with a stone!”

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash,” Loyalty said, “no it’s not stand-up comedy night! If any pony would do stand-up comedy it would be Pinkie Pie. Although she hasn’t laughed very much lately and it happened shortly after you and your friends discovered us!”

I gritted my teeth. “Yeah, that stupid engagement party where I said no to her! Of course, everyone took Pinkie Pie’s side on it.”

“Yeah we know,” said Loyalty, “all of the elements of harmony tried to reason with her but Pinkie Pie is a total knucklehead!”

Now it was my time to laugh. The very thought of a stone calling Pinkie Pie a knucklehead!

“Yup,” said Loyalty, “anyway, I’m so happy to finally reconnect with you!”

“Connect?” I said. “You say that like you’re a long-lost friend.”

“I guess you could say that,” said Loyalty, “when I talk about connecting, it means to connect with your magic in order for us to do our job as an element of harmony! Us elements take our jobs as protectors very seriously! The ones that connect with us fit our namesake and we can attach to them! And you’re definitely loyal that’s for sure! The way you pushed Agent Grace out of harm's way says it all! And you’re also laughter material too. Actually, now that you think about it you have a personality that would be able to match with all of the elements! I called dibs and I got you first! So I win!”

I couldn’t help myself, I was laughing and smacking the water with my hoof. The thought of a stone calling dibs on somepony!

“It looks like I’m the one doing stand-up comedy huh Rainbow Dash?” Loyalty cracked up.

“You can say that again!” I said.

“I’m glad I finally talk to you again,” said Loyalty, “that stupid Machine kept me away from you for eight years! Sadly a lot of times if an element goes silent to their connections it means that connection is not identifying with the quality anymore of what they can attach to. So Honesty and Kindness have gone silent to their connections and they are looking for new ones so they can start using their powers again. Magic and Laughter are thinking about doing the same thing! It’s very sad to me that the only connections that are still talking are me and Generosity. I wonder if we can get your boyfriend Oliver in as a connection? Maybe he could be laughter’s connection?”

I smacked the water with both hooves as I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt.

“What’s so funny about that?” Loyalty said.

“I’m sorry,” I said laughing in between my words, “I don’t think Oliver's laughter material! He takes his job way too seriously!”

“Well,” said Loyalty, “maybe he could be Kindnesses' connection?”

“Okay…” I said. “Why are the elements so dead set on Oliver? I don’t think he has any magic!”

“He does!” Loyalty said. “It’s not much, but it’s strong enough for him to be a connection for an element of harmony!”

My jaw dropped when I heard that, “What!”

“I think I’ll let him tell you about that!” Loyalty said. “Now, you need to hurry, we don’t have much time!”

I titled my head, “Say what now?”

Loyalty groaned, “I can’t explain it, but you really should put your necklace on that has me in it! If you want to live again!”

“Live...Again?” I said in confusion.

“I’ll try to explain it to you later! Now hurry up!” Loyalty said.

“Okay, okay!” I said. I took Loyalty and put it around my neck. Just like what happened when Agent Emma and Agent Grace disappeared from my viewpoint a bright light surrounded me but only this time it was lights out.

* * *

When I woke up Agent Grace was holding me in her arms and sobbing. Agent Emma was sitting on the ground sobbing too. They weren’t looking at each other when I opened my eyes. When Agent Grace saw that I had opened my eyes her face lit up with joy. Agent Emma heard Agent Grace stop crying. She turned around to see why and her face lit up with joy.

“Uh...Agent Grace…” I croaked. “It’s kind of hard for me to breathe with you hugging me this tight!”

Agent Grace reminded me of Oliver when he’s trying to protect me and I don’t blame her because I just about died trying to save her.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Agent Grace kept saying over and over again.

“Okay,” I croaked again, “I’m alive now let me go!”

Agent Grace finally let me go and I sat up and coughed the remaining blood out of my mouth. Agent Emma looked at my neck with curiosity.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I said.

"The wound on your chest is almost healed already! I hope there are no internal injuries though. I suspect the reason you were saved is you have your element of harmony hanging around your neck!” Agent Emma said.

“How do you know that it’s an element of harmony?” I said.

“Our Predictor showed up a picture of what it looked like back in Equestria,” said Agent Grace, “I thought it might look a little bit different because of being stuck inside the Machine. But it’s exactly the same way it looked before it got taken!”

I tried to stand up but Agent Grace wasn’t having it.

“You’re not standing up right now,” said Agent Grace, “I think we should get you back to the Sixth to get you checked out!”

“And it’s safe to say,” said Agent Emma, “you won’t be flying anytime soon!”

I looked around and didn't see Eli anywhere. I must've been out longer than I thought. “Where’s Eli?”

“I don’t know what happened,” Agent Emma said. “He left soon after he hit you with the Copper!”

“We really need to get you back to the Sixth!” Agent Grace said. “And since you’re not going to be flying anytime soon…”

My eyes went wide. “Nope! No way! I’m not riding in one of those metal lunch boxes if I can help it! I’d rather walk thank you very much!”

“We’re finished here for now,” said Agent Emma, “and you’re going to ride in one of our ‘lunch boxes’ like it or not!”

14) Loyalty Explains

Author's Note

I know this is a long chapter. But this is a VERY IMPORTANT chapter that needs to be read because it foreshadows a lot of events that are going to happen in the sequel which is going to be called Loyalty's Vision. This chapter lays the groundwork for the sequel.

14) Loyalty Explains

{Rainbow Dash}

Apparently, I was given some medicine. Either that or I fell asleep. I was starting to come to when I felt something tugging on my pony ear.

“Clara!” I said. “Get out of my room! You said hi, now good...bye?”

I heard hearty laughter and I looked to see Oliver and Finn by my side.

“Great,” I said to myself, “I’m doing stand-up comedy in my sleep! Really! I’m glad I’m entertaining, Zach! Would you knock it off already!”

“Okay, okay,” Oliver said, “we’re back at the Sixth, you can call me Oliver again!”

“Well, at least I didn’t crash into a wall this time!” I said.

Finn raised an eyebrow and stopped laughing, “Crash into a wall?”

“Yeah,” said Oliver, “apparently she sleepwalks when she’s human, and she flys in her sleep when she’s a pegasus!”

“Good thing my wings are tied down,” I said, “or I’d probably crash into a wall here!”

Finn and Oliver fell over backward laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe.

“Knock it off already!” I growled. “Don’t you dare call me Rainbow Crash just so I can do a crash landing and take out a Firewall! That was Agent Grace's bright idea and according to her it almost worked!”

After I said the word Firewall, Finn went from laughing to being serious in the blink of an eye and Oliver did the same thing.

“Okay…” I said. “What’s going on?”

“We came here immediately because we found out that you got hit by a Copper,” said Finn, “if an agent gets hit by one it’s game over! However, agents do recover but lately, a handful of agents have died from getting hit! One hundred agents have died to be exact and you were almost added to the body count. Huh, interesting…”

I looked down to see Loyalty still on her necklace hanging around my neck.

“Is that what I think is?” Finn said.

“Oh yeah! This is Loyalty!” I said. “Or at least that’s what she prefers to be called!”

“Honestly Rainbow Dash!” Loyalty said. “Did you forget all about our talk when I saved you? I am a stone, so I’m an it! Duh! And it’s nice to meet you, Finn! That is your name, right? Oh and nice to meet you, Oliver! Did I get your names correct?”

When Oliver and Finn heard Loyalty talk they jumped about a foot in the air and the funny thing was they were sitting down. They almost knocked over their chairs in the process. That was when I started laughing but I couldn’t laugh for too long because it made my chest hurt.

“I would say take it easy Rainbow Dash,” said Loyalty, “but knowing you, you’re probably going to find some way to get out of bed! I mean you wanted to walk home after getting injured for crying out loud! I completely understand because you are Rainbow Dash after all.”

“Why exactly are you talking to us?” Finn said. “I thought the elements of harmony couldn’t talk!”

Loyalty giggled, “That’s because the others don’t talk to anyone except their connections, or bearers if you please. But that is their choice. If you ask me, they’re kind of stuck up for doing so! On the other hand, I love talking to other people besides my connection. I want to know about you two the most, especially you Oliver!”

“You want to talk to me because why?” Oliver said.

“Because you’re the most important person in Rainbow Dash's life!” Loyalty said. I could tell Loyalty was really excited to be able to talk to Oliver. The look on Oliver’s face was priceless.

Finn heard this and went into laughing again and I joined in, at least as much as my wounded body could handle.

“Uh, Loyalty?” Finn said.

“Yes, Finn?” Loyalty said.

“Rainbow Dash goes by RD now,” Finn said. “She doesn’t like people calling her real name.”

“She doesn’t seem to mind when I do it!” Loyalty exclaimed.

I put a pillow over my head pretending I didn’t hear what Loyalty just said.

Loyalty cracked up, “Oh Rainbow Dash! You shouldn’t be ashamed of your own name! It’s part of who you are! If you ask me, it’s a pretty name. There’s nothing wrong with it at all!”

“Yeah,” said Oliver, “I’m not sure she’s going to accept that anytime soon!”

“Why’s that?” Loyalty questioned.

“Because she doesn’t like her name number one,” said Finn, “and she didn’t want to change back into a pony too!”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised!” Loyalty said. “She’s a stubborn one isn’t she?”

“Hey!” I said.

Finn and Oliver went into uncontrollable laughter after that.

Honestly! If I do stand-up comedy one more time…

“I hate that stupid Machine for keeping me away from Rainbow Dash! I was watching her fight, Firewall Eli! I can’t believe he would joke about what happened between Rainbow Dash and Silas!” Loyalty said.

“He did what!” Oliver and Finn gasped.

“Yup,” I said, “he’s about as bad as Apple Liar!”

“Apple Liar?” Finn said. “Now I know that’s not true!”

“What?” I said through gritted teeth. “Because she’s the element of honesty? I finally remember what Applejack said after what Silas did; she teased me about being pregnant with Jude!”

“Yeah,” said Loyalty, “Honesty told me itself! It tried to reason with her and get her to stop but she’s as big a knucklehead as Pinkie Pie!”

Finn’s jaw dropped. “Well, that changes things. But because I just have your word against hers, I doubt anyone’s going to believe you or me!”

“That’s true,” said Loyalty, “because everyone’s going to say the same thing you thought Finn. She's the element of honesty! I mean why would people believe that she would tell a lie? Only us elements and you guys can confirm it. That’s why Honesty and Kindness have gone silent to not just their connections but to everyone else for that matter. When an element of harmony does that, there’s no way they do their job as protectors! And we elements take that job very seriously! Just like the Sixth takes its job of working to shut down the Machine seriously too!

"One reason why an element would stop talking to their connections is because they’ve gone evil, or the element can no longer connect to their power. That’s what’s happening to Honesty and Kindness now. Honesty can no longer connect its magic to Applejack and Kindness can long connect its magic to Fluttershy!

"Another reason why an element would go silent is that they do it as a warning to their connection that there is someone that is evil and wants to harm others. If an element does that then it means bad news!

"I’m glad I can talk to Rainbow Dash again! I couldn’t talk to her because I couldn’t connect with her magic thanks to that stupid Machine! So I had to be silent because of it! Now that I am reunited with her I no longer have to be silent. Now I can warn her about evil people like Silas coming around! But she did try to protect herself from him to the best of her ability. If I had been there I could’ve activated her magic and she would’ve fought and possibly killed Silas! That’s more than enough reason for that stupid Machine to be shut down!

"But the other elements and I have seen two visions of the future…”

“Vision?” I said.

“Yup,” said Loyalty, “two visions to be exact! One vision where the Machine is shut down. There’s a sort of happy ending involving the Machines ruler, but I can’t say who it is. And the other vision is dark and not a happy one for sure! In that vision, the elements of harmony get destroyed! There's also a part in the visions where another one of the elements of harmony bearers becomes an alicorn. I can't tell anything about how that happens."

"Exactly, how can there be another alicorn?" I asked.

Loyalty choked on what I just asked and it gave a nervous laugh, "Oops! Uh, slip of the stone! I don’t know about you but I really don’t want the second vision to come true! But, if Kindness and Honesty can't reconnect with their bearers or find new ones it's very possible that the horrible vision might just happen!”

I thought it was interesting that Loyalty said something it shouldn't have and played it off like it didn't.

“What are you talking about when you say activate my magic?” I said.

Loyalty didn’t respond to that question but it said something else, “Quiet time for me happens now, a pony with possible evil intent is coming!”

“Who is it?” I said.

“It’s Princess Twilight,” said Loyalty, “Magic’s connection! It’s considering going silent to her too! I’ll answer your question about activating your magic later!”

I could see the look on Finn’s face, he looked stunned that his Ex-girlfriend could possibly have evil intent. The reason for it probably was that Twilight helped build the Sixth and place its location! Not to mention, she is the Princess of Friendship on top of that!

When Twilight entered the room she smiled at me.

“I’m glad you're okay Rainbow!” Twilight said. “When I heard you got hit by a Copper, I was sure you would pull through! You’re a strong pony, and you have a strong will to live! Speaking of strong wills, Fluttershy's like that too! I thought I heard her voice when I came around the corner. Is she here? She's been out on assignments for such a long time! I just thought it’d be nice to visit her along with you. I could kill two birds with one stone so to speak!”

Twilight searched all around the room. She must’ve thought Fluttershy was hiding underneath the bed when she checked there I tried my best to hold in my laughter.

“Drat!” Twilight said. “I was so sure she was here! Oh well, I guess I’ll have to-"

Twilight saw Loyalty hanging around my neck, her ears dropped on both sides of her head, and looked terrified. “How did you get Loyalty?”

“I met it when I got hit by a Copper!” I said.

Twilight lit up her horn and out of thin air came a brown paper bag. She started breathing into it to calm herself down. To tell you the truth it looked really comical to me and I tried my best not to laugh again.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” I said, “Loyalty is a fellow element of harmony! If I hadn’t met it after I got hit by the Copper I’d be dead right now! If I recall correctly, you need all six of the elements of harmony to be able to shut down the Machine! So what’s wrong?”

Twilight finally calmed down and regained her composure. She cleared her throat. “Yes, yes, I was just surprised to see Loyalty! Since we haven’t seen Loyalty in eight years, we just thought we’d never see it again!”

I narrowed my eyes at Twilight, “Uh-huh then why are you freaking out?”

“Oh that,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh, “like I said it was just a shock to see Loyalty and all. I’m glad you’re okay, well I really must be going!”

“Are you coming to visit again?” I said.

Twilight sighed, “I can’t Rainbow, this is the only time I can visit! It’s been very hectic ruling Equestria and all. So I’ll see you around. Later!”

As fast as Twilight came she practically ran out of the room. After seeing Twilight's behavior, Finn and Oliver's jaws dropped and it looked like Finn’s jaw dropped the most. I almost laughed at it but I chose not to. As soon as Finn and Oliver picked their jaws off the ground, Loyalty started to talk again.

“See,” said Loyalty, “she sounds like a rat to me! And I don’t like the way rats sound! And Magic feels the same way but I can’t speak for the other elements!”

* * *

{Firewall Eli}

As soon as Rainbow Dash was hit by the Copper and her element of harmony saved her, there was nothing that I could do except retreat to AI’s castle. I was given the order by Lord Jude himself that if something like that happened I was to return to AI’s castle immediately, especially if Rainbow Dash was the one that got hit. I had no clue why Rainbow Dash was so important to Lord Jude but the only thing I could assume was the fact that she gave birth to him. I wasn’t really surprised by this because what kid would want to see their mother die?

As soon as I entered the throne room I bowed to Lord Jude while on one knee like Lord Jude required of me. Lord Jude motioned for me to stand and I gulped at what he was going to say to me next.

“I’m sorry Lord Jude,” I said, “but Rainbow Dash’s element has been broken out of AI now.”

I was definitely terrified of Lord Jude especially when it came down to matters concerning Rainbow Dash. Even if Lord Jude was upset about something that happened to Rainbow Dash he would hide it by being a total monster to me. But actually seemed he was a monster to me just to be spiteful. I have no idea what I did to upset Lord Jude so much.

As always when I bowed to Lord Jude he would hiss at me as if he were scolding me.

“Stand up straight and look at me, Firewall Eli!” Lord Jude hissed.

I really didn’t want to look Lord Jude in the eyes because this involved Rainbow Dash, and I used the Copper on her.

“Show me the video, Firewall Eli!” Lord Jude barked. I flinched. Every time that happened it scared me silly.

I did as I was told. Lord Jude actually looked panicked when he saw the video. That puzzled me; I expected him to be angry. I didn’t dare show my confusion. If I did that would annoy Lord Jude even more.

As soon as I handed over the video Lord Jude gave me a dismissive wave. “That’s all Firewall Eli, you can go back to repairing the 7th Gate. I will summon you if those pests of the Sixth decide to pop up again.”

“Yes, your highness…” I said.

I couldn’t wait to go back to doing my job of repairing the 7th Gate.

* * *

{Jude}

When Firewall Eli left, I got up and paced back and forth. Servant Ivy gave me a look of concern.

I raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“I would think,” said Servant Ivy, “that you find it amusing that Firewall Eli’s afraid of you!”

I smiled, laughed, and felt a little calmer. "It’s just too much fun messing with the guy. Too bad Firewall Molly has thicker skin. I can’t pick on her like First Mother does to me.”

“Is that why you’re a monster to him?” Servant Ivy chuckled.

“Oh yeah,” I said, “but it still doesn’t take my mind off of protecting my mother. I don’t think she’s a threat to AI, if anything she’s a threat to herself. But that’s just like her, she can’t help herself for some reason. And why are you giving me that look, Servant Ivy?”

As she had many times before she sat on my lap. This time when I looked into her eyes, I felt different about her and I had no idea why.

“You do realize I’m your servant right?” Servant Ivy said.

“Ah…” I said. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. That is until Servant Ivy kissed me. She didn’t do anything else. She just smiled at me and put her head on my chest. I had been thinking about her as much as I had been thinking about how to protect Rainbow Dash. I was happy that at least he had Servant Ivy around and I didn’t have to protect her at least not yet.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

When Twilight left, Loyalty started to talk again.

“So what happens now?” Oliver asked.

Loyalty answered, “just keep an eye on Princess Twilight for now. It's all we can do until Magic decides that it needs a new connection. Do you want to tell Oliver and Finn about the issue that’s been an ongoing problem with Laughter's connection?”

“You mean that knucklehead Pinkie Pie?” I said.

“What is Loyalty talking about?” Oliver said.

“Did you hear what Pinkie said about that engagement she had for me?” I said.

“That’s right,” said Oliver, “I remember that nut saying something about that!”

Finn tilted his head. Hearing about an engagement from Pinkie Pie to me was news to him.

“Why would Pinkie Pie have an engagement ring for you RD?” Finn said.

“I’m getting some of my memories back and unfortunately when it comes down to Pinkie Pie,” I said, “I think I remember our relationship very clearly.”

“What?” Finn gasped.

“Yeah, I know,” I said, “why did I get together with her in the first place, your guess is as good as mine! I should’ve broke up with her the day before that stupid engagement party when there was no engagement until the party took place! I wish that she did it in private. But nooooo! She just had to do it in front of everyone! The joke was on me when I said no to her. And of course, everyone was busy consoling her and didn’t even worry about how I felt! So I left Ponyville and stayed gone! But it wasn’t until I was gone for a while that everyone felt bad that they didn’t look at my side of the story and urged me to come back. Why I came back after that I have no idea.

"The funny thing was, that was right before we found the elements of harmony! I’m surprised her element even worked even if she did laugh away fear to help Twilight and the others out. Honestly, the main reason why I became the connection for Loyalty is because I tied that stupid bridge so everyone could get to The Castle of the Two Sisters safely. I didn’t have the heart to leave my so-called friends. If I had done that then I guess wouldn’t have fit the bill for what loyalty was! To tell you the truth, at the time I should’ve just left that bridge hanging and left everyone behind!”

“Wow!” Oliver said with his jaw dropped. “Yeah, I’m glad I broke up with that nut! She probably would’ve done the same thing to me!”

“But that wasn’t your fault!” Loyalty said. “Pinkie Pie isn’t just a nut, she's a knucklehead! Not to mention you were sending her signals long before that! Actually, you’re not remembering things clearly but us elements do!”

“What are you talking about Loyalty?” I said.

“Six months before that stupid engagement party,” said Loyalty, “you told her that you two were over several times! But Pinkie Pie doesn't know how to take no for an answer! That’s probably because no one’s ever said no to being her friend! Us elements can only think that Pinkie Pie would never believe the element of loyalty’s bearer would never say no to a proposal. And on top of that, you were her best friend! Even though you said that you two weren’t together several times, she still believed that you never abandoned a fellow element! And the other bearers felt the same way!

"You want to know why she wanted to be with you in the first place and keep you off the ‘market’ so to speak? It’s because you were famous for your legendary sonic rainboom! And you were a Wonderbolt on top of that! She only wanted you for your status!”

“That’s a nice story and all Loyalty,” I said, “but I’m not that famous! Although for some reason everyone just seems so eager to meet me.”

Finn and Oliver went into fits of laughter and Loyalty joined in.

“I don’t get it,” I said, “did I miss the punchline in a joke or something?”

“Yeah, you missed the punchline alright!” Oliver said. “Do you not hear a word people say about you around the Sixth or are you that naive?”

“Huh?” I said.

“Oh, brother! Give me a break!” Oliver said. “Do you remember what Gilda kept saying when she and I were teaching you to do the blood barrier?”

“Yeah I know,” I said with annoyance. “I’m tough, I’m fast and I’m the definition of the word awesome… I still think that's a big fat lie!”

Oliver and Finn just can’t seem to help themselves when I say something that they think is funny. They doubled over in laughter again and Loyalty just had to join in.

“Would you guys knock it off!” I said.

“Actually,” said Loyalty, “what Oliver just said is completely correct!”

“Huh?” I said. “Come again?”

“Now that I have reconnected you,” said Loyalty, “your magic has been activated again! When all of the elements except for Magic were stuck inside that awful Machine our connection was severed and the that they had before they were stuck inside the Machine disappeared!

"We got turned back into what we were before we got destroyed by King Sombra. The elements that make up the new tree of harmony are our descendants.

"But that's not the point here anyway. When a bearer is connected to one of the elements that bearer sometimes needs more magic to keep the connection going. All of the elements except for one of us have to give their magic to their connection to keep it strong enough for the element to do its job! There is one element that has a connection strong enough where the bearer doesn’t need to be given magic! All that element needs is to be connected to its bearer's magic! You wanna know which element doesn’t have to do that? Well, do you?”

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say it’s Magic with Princess Twilight as the bearer?” I said.

It looked like Oliver and Finn already knew the answer to the question because they were barely holding back their laughter.

Nope, I’m not guessing again, nope not at all! I totally don’t want to know!

Loyalty started laughing hard, I would say that it was laughing so hard it couldn’t breathe but I don’t think the elements of harmony need to breathe.

“I’m not playing twenty questions anymore!” I said. “Nope! No way! I don’t want to know!”

Oliver and Finn couldn’t take it anymore, they doubled over in laughter. By this point, their laughter was getting really annoying. Since I was back in my pony form at the moment I wished I could’ve flicked my tail in annoyance but that probably would’ve made everyone laugh even harder.

“Oh come on Rainbow Dash!” Loyalty teased. “Helloooo! Sonic Rainboom! You did that before you even met me! None of the other bearers could even come close to that type of magic! Not even Princess Twilight! Even Magic has to help her! And even people think Pinkie Pie’s magic is strong. Laughter helps her too! Pinkie Pie is just weird.”

“But Twilight's an alicorn for crying out loud!” I said. “She fixed all of the elements of harmony and returned them to the correct bearers and became an alicorn because of it! I didn’t do that, she was the only one who didn’t have her cutie mark messed up! If I recall correctly my cutie mark was definitely messed up that’s for sure. I didn't like what happened except for being untied after those stupid woodland animals tied me up! I guess I was the butt of that joke!”

Loyalty laughed pretty hard again. “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but you guys didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes!”

All of us were puzzled by what Loyalty just said.

“Say what now?” I said.

Loyalty answered, “a powerful wizard by the name of Star Swirl the Bearded created us and he wrote a spell that would keep us elements working properly so we could do our jobs as protectors. The spell that the wizard wrote had two parts to it. The first part was to mix our connections up so we can’t work anymore! And us elements still have no idea why a wizard would write something so stupid!

"The second part of the spell was to fix our connections when the first part was cast. He wrote the spell in a book and implanted it inside of each of us. That way if something happened to him or the book we would know how to do both parts of the spell.

"Right before Discord showed up in Equestria, Magic decided to play a prank on us. It told Princess Celestia how to do only the first part of the spell. So when Princess Celestia cast the spell it mixed us up big time!

"That’s how Discord was able to rule over Equestria for a short period of time. Once we were able to reason with Magic, it gave Princess Celestia and Princess Luna the second part of the spell to switch us all back! Princess Celestia cast it and we were able to help them turn Discord into stone and save Equestria!

"Sadly, we lost our connections with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna when we were used in banishing Princess Luna to the moon! That’s why we didn’t work for a long period of time after that!”

“Okay,” I said, “I still don’t get how I’m the strongest bearer of the elements of harmony!”

“I’m getting to that Rainbow Dash,” said Loyalty. “When Princess Luna was sent to the moon, Magic and the rest of us felt it was best to erase the spell from Princess Celestia’s memory. Even back then when we were connected to her my connection to her was still the strongest one.

"A short while after becoming connected to you and your friends, Magic decided it was time to play the prank again! So Magic left its stone, found Princess Celestia, told her the first half of the spell, and said to send it to Princess Twilight. Princess Celestia wrote it in a book and sent it to Princess Twilight as a test to see if she would be able to fix it with the ‘power of friendship’ so to speak."

“But if Star Swirl the Bearded wrote the spell down in the first place why didn’t Magic just tell Princess Celestia where the spell was?” I said.

“Because shortly after we were created, Star Swirl and the others that helped create us disappeared and the written spell disappeared along with them. And it didn’t reappear ever again even when Star Swirl and the others came back from where they had disappeared to!” Loyalty said.

“So why did you connect to us if Princess Twilight didn’t figure out the spark of friendship to do it?” I said.

“Remember when I told you that elements connect to someone or somepony that fits the bill?” Loyalty said. “When all of us were searching for new connections, you and your friends showed up! So even if Princess Twilight didn’t find the ‘spark of friendship’ so to speak we would’ve connected to you anyway. And I called dibs on you and we became the strongest connection again! If I had a tongue I’d have stuck it out at Magic!”

This time all of us couldn’t control our laughter at the thought of elements being jealous of each other.

“And the whole ‘spark of friendship’ thing,” said Loyalty, “that was Magic’s idea so it could make a ‘grand entrance!' If you ask me, Magic is a drama element!”

“And I thought Agent Rarity was bad!” I said.

“Yes we know,” Loyalty said, “the whole fainting couch thing, it’s funny after the first couple of times but after a while, it gets really old! And it’s not funny anymore! And it’s still not funny! It’s just plain annoying!"

“Why would Magic confuse tell only the first part of the spell anyway?” Oliver said.

“Like I said,” said Loyalty, “Magic is a drama element! And possibly because its jealous of me for being the strongest element and having the strongest connection! At least that’s what the rest of the elements thought when Magic did the prank again. But this time, Magic actually felt remorse because the rest of us elements wanted to banish it to the moon just for that alone! But we don’t think sending an element to the moon is even possible, unfortunately. So after it felt remorse about the prank it played on Princess Twilight, it told her how to use the second part of the spell and fix things. This put our connections back together!

"After finishing the spell, Princess Twilight went to what us elements call the ‘magic realm.’ That’s where us elements go when we don’t have a connection, to keep us safe until we can find a new one. We don’t know why Princess Twilight was sent to our dimension. Magic told Princess Celestia where Princess Twilight was. Since Princess Celestia was a powerful pony she was able to go and retrieve Princess Twilight! Somehow going to the 'magic realm' the side effect of that was Princess Twilight becoming an alicorn!

"Just think Rainbow Dash, if I had done something like that--and trust me, I’m not that stupid--if I had played that prank you would’ve become the alicorn instead!”

“I'm glad you didn’t do that Loyalty because there’s no way I want to be an alicorn!” I said. “Nope! No way!”

I growled at Oliver and Finn because they seemed to think that this story was really funny.

“Knock it off already!” I said. “It’s not funny!”

“Yeah, I’m glad I’m not that stupid too!” Loyalty laughed. “Do you remember the first time you did a Sonic Rainboom?”

I almost choked and punched my chest and the feeling went away.

“What’s wrong?” Oliver said.

“Oh yeah, I remember alright!” I said. “It was called a tale that one would tell around a campfire for a reason! Nopony had been able to pull it off! Except me... That’s how I got my cutie mark! And it was in a race to stand up for my friend, Fluttershy!”

“See? You were loyal even back then!” Loyalty said. “That's the reason why I called dibs on you to be your connection!”

Oliver chuckled, “That’s funny a stone, called dibs on you!”

“Very funny!” I said. “If you start laughing again, I’m going to get out of this bed and buck the both of you!”

“You know,” said Loyalty, “it’s kind of funny that all of the element bearers wanted to date you! And you did date three of them after all!”

“Don’t remind me!” I said. “Don’t even think about it!”

“You’re just way too funny!” Oliver said. “We can’t help but laugh!”

“Yup,” I said, “sure you can’t!”

“Anyway,” said Loyalty, “I think that’s enough story time for today. I think Rainbow Dash needs a break from you guys laughing at her! Although she is pretty entertaining!”

“You called it Loyalty,” I said. “If I get laughed at one more time…”

Finn looked down at the watch he had on his wrist and there was a green button blinking on it.

“It looks like I have to greet some more agents that have been sent into Phase 2,” Finn said.

“Yeah and I have to do our original assignment,” said Oliver, “I’ll swing by for a visit later and hopefully Pinkie Pie will stay in the Underground. That is until she can get her head screwed back on straight!”

I would’ve laughed at that comment but when you think about it. It’s not funny…

15) Conversations

Author's Note

Okay I know another long chapter with a lot of dialogue. Well this chapter is called Conversations for a reason. This chapter is going to cover the inner workings of the organization called the Sixth that Rainbow Dash works as agent for.

It's mostly a conversation between Rainbow Dash, Samantha and Loyalty.

15) Conversations

{Rainbow Dash}

“Wait for a second!” I said in surprise. “Back up, hold the phone or put the phone on hold if you prefer…”

I had finally been given the okay to head back to my original assignment when Samantha had summoned me to her realm first. What I just heard, I didn’t believe a word of it.

“That’s right RD,” said Samantha, “that last assignment was a test designed just for you! When a new agent gets the status of officially working the Sixth there is a test to see where to put the agent on assignments and you passed it with flying colors!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Exactly how did I pass when I practically killed myself?”

“Watching the video footage you were loyal right up to the very end,” said Samantha, “you would rather go down fighting than step aside for your safety! And the other part of the mission was for you to get your element of harmony out of the Machine. And the mission was a complete success! All of us Predictors have seen that when the other elements of harmony were retrieved the bearer had to die first for it to make an appearance and yours did exactly what we thought it would do. So the mission passed! And to add into that you did get past the Firewall at the same time!”

“Huh?” I said. “I don’t get it!”

“When I saw the video footage one of them a dagger hit the gate that you were at and once your element made an appearance the dagger did some damage to the gate in the process. But not enough damage to keep it from working,” said Samantha, “it's either the Firewalls or the Machine itself will be able to repair that gate in no time at all. The funny thing is the Firewall seemed to zone in on you during the fight! It looked like he wanted to kill you at all costs!”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that I’m an element of harmony,” I said, “so he probably wanted to kill me just for that alone! What I find funny is that the Machine has a Lord that rules over it!”

Samantha got a real kick out of that one and so did I.

“At least you aren’t doing stand up comedy this time!” Loyalty said.

When Samantha heard Loyalty speak she had the same reaction that Oliver and Finn did when they first heard it speak. She jumped back in surprise and I fell over on my back laughing at Samantha’s reaction.

Samantha blinked. “Well, I didn't see that one coming!”

I got up and once Samantha said that I was on my back laughing again.

“Wait a minute,” I said, “aren’t you a Predictor? You’re supposed to know everything!”

“Yeah but sometimes we can overlook some things,” said Samantha, “that’s pretty much what I did in this case.”

“Yup,” said Loyalty with a small giggle, “I figured you might do that, since I am an element of harmony I have more power to see well into the future let’s just say I’m a super Predictor!”

Once again, I was on my back laughing at what Loyalty just said, I laughed so hard I had tears coming from my eyes.

“Anyway,” said Loyalty, “the reason why I’m on a necklace around Rainbow Dash’s neck is that that’s what all of us were put in so it makes it easier for us to stay connected to our bearers. However, when Magic was created along with us, it was originally on a necklace too. But once Twilight became an Alicorn and a princess on top of that, Magic got put on a crown instead! And if I hear Magic brag about it one more time…”

Now Samantha joined in with my laughter at the very thought of Loyalty being mad about another element bragging about what it’s been put on.

Loyalty sounded like it let out a long sigh of frustration, “That’s not funny! Us elements want to try to figure out a way to discipline Magic just for being on its high stone and playing that stupid prank on us. But as it stands we haven’t found a way to do it. Does the Sixth have a way to discipline people that mess up like what Magic did?”

“We do,” said Samantha, “we have a place called the Underground. It's a place that agents do not want to be familiar with at all! Let’s just say it’s kind of a prison for the bad apples so to speak.”

“So how do I know if I’m being a bad apple?” I asked.

“Have you had any weird dreams of what the rules are of the Sixth?” Samantha said.

I remembered the dreams that I had been having lately since I got to the Sixth. The dreams that I had been having were mostly memories that were getting old and on my last nerve! Every time I had a memory a sentence would appear every once and a while and say it loud and clear to make sure that I heard it. I had no idea what was happening and I had a feeling what Samantha was talking about.

I nodded, “Yes I have, how did that happen?”

“Remember the doorbell you made while learning the blood barrier?” Samantha asked.

I tilted my head. “Yeah so?”

“Once a new agent has accessed the Sixth’s system, the Sixth has access to your dreams,” Samantha explained. “It’ll happen every six months to remind you. And you can decide if you want to follow them or not. Unfortunately, agents are not to obey the rules and go rogue. When that happens, there are agents that are assigned to the job tracking those agents down and sending them to the Underground.”

“I’m glad I’m not assigned to that job!” I said.

“I agree with that one!” Loyalty said.

“How does an agent get assigned to that job?” I questioned.

“Us Predictors are told which agents to assign for the job,” said Samantha, “and not every top agent in the Sixth gets picked for the job. Since Oliver’s specialty is breaking out assignments, that is what he’s been assigned to. It’s hard to say what job you’ll be specific for because you’re an element of harmony and all. But one of the elements specialty is training new agents that come into the Sixth and that element is Rarity! Pinkie Pie on the other hand has no specialty assignment at all!”

I titled my head and raised an eyebrow, “Why’s that?”

“Even though she's been out of the Machine for a decade,” answered Samantha, “she’s been failing at every single one of her assignments! She even failed the assignment to break you out of the Machine!”

“What!” I gasped. “How is that even possible? She helped save me from the seekers!”

“Oh no she didn’t,” said Samantha, “it was Oliver that did! It was his pocket dimension that you went into and according to the video footage, Pinkie Pie had every opportunity to use her pocket dimension right when the world paused when the seekers came around!”

I was confused at first by the statement but then I remembered that one of the things that appeared one my dreams that I had been having over and over was how to detect when seekers and things like that are around. The main thing that happens is the Machine pauses everything that’s going on. It’s like watching a movie and you pause it so you get up and do something else that needs to be taken care of. I remembered having to do that a lot so I could take care of Jude when he needed something.

As soon as I remembered the dream I racked my brain to remember back to when Pinkie, Oliver, and I escaped from the seekers. Pinkie looked like she noticed it first but now that I thought about it, Oliver was the one that noticed it first! Once he noticed it, he made sure we escaped into his pocket dimension.

“Now that I think of it,” I said, “Oliver was the one to notice the seekers and it was his pocket dimension that we escaped to and not Pinkie’s! I didn’t think about it until you just mentioned it, it looked like Pinkie noticed it first but if Pinkie was the first one to notice it; what my question is why didn’t we escape to her pocket dimension instead?”

Samantha shrugged, “I have no idea. You’ll have to ask Pinkie on that one. But given what happened at your original assignment I don’t think you’ll be wanting to talk to her anytime soon!”

“How did you know about that?” I said.

“My crystal alerted me to it,” said Samantha, “I was watching in case I needed to send agents to go and retrieve her! Fortunately for now she’s in the Underground being disciplined but she won’t be in there for long because of being a bearer of an element of harmony!”

“Well, that’s not right!” Loyalty said.

“I agree with you on that one!” Samantha said. “But it can’t be helped for the time being because we need all six elements to shut down the Machine! There is another place that the Sixth built-in taking into consideration nut cases like Pinkie Pie, it’s called the ‘off your rocker’ place and I can’t think of a better name for it! Pinkie Pie needs to be in that place more than she needs to be stuck in the Underground!”

At that thought, I fell on my back laughing again and Loyalty chimed in.

“So why does the whole ‘off your rocker thing’ happen?” I said after I composed myself.

“It happens when an agent ignores their summons altogether,” Samantha explained, “whether it be from outside of the Machine jobs or inside jobs like breakouts and things like that. If that happens for a long period of time it’s usually six months to a year for that to happen. The agent's pocket dimension gets closed off from them and they no longer have access to the Sixth’s system and they go completely nuts! The Sixth has no idea why that happens, it just does. The Sixth is studying those agents for an answer to that question.”

“So if Pinkie Pie isn’t to stay in the Underground or the ‘off your rocker’ place,” I said, “then how am I supposed to keep her away from me?”

“The Sixth is a lot better at doing protective orders than the stupid Machine does!” Samantha said. “When she gets out of the Underground she will not be allowed to leave the Sixth or come within range when you’re around period!”

“But Pinkie Pie said she’ll find a way to save me from Oliver,” I said, “and according to Agent Rarity she has chaos magic! From what I remember that type of magic is super strong and nothing can work against it!”

“Are you forgetting that you're an element of harmony bearer too? And the whole chaos magic people think is strong, it’s not.” Loyalty said.

“What are you talking about?” I said. “She was just as strong as Discord!”

“That’s because she stole some of Discord’s magic that was right after us elements of harmony were discovered. The magic that she stole was not enough to make her magic as strong as yours. Once Discord found out, he took his magic back and she went back to normal. Even though it looked like she was still strong, that was a front and an empty threat. What happened when Agent Rarity said that Pinkie Pie had chaos magic?” Loyalty said.

“She got into the training room and wanted to watch them push me out of a plane so I can do my transformation back into a pegasus!” I replied.

“She probably just picked the lock,” said Loyalty, “the only way she would’ve been able to get back in again, she would have to have another tool to do so.”

“So what tool would she have to have?” I said.

“The only other way Pinkie could’ve gotten back in,” said Samantha, “is to override the magic lock if it’s been reinforced! The only way she would’ve known how to do that is if she’s a very skilled hacker. All a hacker needs is a special key for that.”

“How would a hacker get a hold of something like that?” I said.

“Those types of tools are locked away in the strongest magic there is,” said Samantha, “and that’s sealed away by the Founders! So there’s no way Pinkie could get around a protective order or break back into a training room. Sometimes agents find ways to pick the lock to the training room. It’s a tool that agents use to play a prank on someone training. I don’t know how agents can do that. The Founders are working on a way to stop that. So lately they’ve been advising trainers to reinforce the locks. I’m guessing Agent Oliver and Agent Rarity were distracted by something."

“Now that I think about it,” I said, “Oliver and Agent Rarity were discussing pushing me out of a plane to change me back into a pegasus and that’s when Pinkie Pie came in!”

“As I said,” said Samantha, “we’re pretty good at protective orders, she’s not the only one that has strong magic like that is in the Sixth! So Pinkie Pie’s magic will be tracked to make sure that she doesn’t come anywhere near you! And if need be us Predictors will use our magic that we have to do that too!”

“That does make me feel better about that,” I said.

“Oh, I should tell you that when there’s true love involved,” said Loyalty, “it strengthens my magic to protect and your true love!”

“I don’t think I have true love right now,” I remarked, “and I thought you didn’t need to give me any magic to keep the connection strong!”

“Yes, you do have true love!” Loyalty said. “It’s Oliver! And I’m not talking about giving you magic to keep our connection strong, what I mean is being able to use some of my magic because I can’t use all of it unless all six of us work, using some of my magic to protect you and your true love!”

I tilted my head. “I’m not following you!”

“Remember when I said an element goes silent when an evil person or pony is around?” Loyalty said.

“Yeah?” I said.

“When it comes to protecting and helping you use your magic, we elements will talk very loud to our bearers,” Loyalty said. “But talking goes on your head and we also talk to the other person that we’re trying to protect their head too.”

“Yup,” I said, “nothing weird about that at all!”

“Yeah I know,” Loyalty said, “but once we do the talking it allows us to protect the persons or persons in this case that need to be protected by and elements of harmony! We elements take our job as protectors very seriously! But we only protect those closest to you! And that’s all we can do as far as that goes.”

As soon as Loyalty explained things Samantha perked up and had a huge grin on her face. “It’s about time you two admitted your feelings for each other! But of course when being a couple you two will have arguments but you’ll get past it!”

I rolled my eyes, “Let me guess, you saw this in my future?”

“Yup!” Samantha smiled.

“And I did too!” Loyalty said. “Of course when that happens I won’t be talking that loud.”

I guess Loyalty couldn’t help itself because it laughed hard.

“Okay,” I growled, “laughing at my expense is getting old!”

“Okay then,” said Samantha, “it’s time for you to head back to your original assignment. I think Oliver could use your help with Roman!”

“What did Roman do to him?” I asked.

“Let’s just say Roman keeps admitting his feelings for Oliver!” Samantha said. “Roman’s even far as to hug Oliver and kiss him a couple of times! It’s borderline harassment in the workplace! Issac’s already warned Roman about it several times! I’m surprised the guy hasn’t been fired yet! The sad thing is your teammates could care less! So hopefully nothing will happen to him. I don’t think anything will though but he definitely could use your help!”

“You can say that again!” I said. “And if something does happen to him, I’m going to have a serious talk with the rest of my teammates if you know what I mean!”

“Okay,” Samantha said, “report back to me if anything happens!”

“Oh don’t worry,” I said, “I will!”

* * *

Just as I feared would happen, it happened. Right after I had clocked in to go to my spot at work. I turned the corner to see Roman had pinned Oliver up against a wall and Oliver was yelling at him.

“How many times do I have to tell you no!” Oliver screamed at him.

As I saw it I was about as ready to punch Roman to get him off, Oliver. I also heard Issac cracking his knuckles and was about to get ready to do the same thing. But Oliver beat us to it and punched Roman before he could even lean in for a kiss. When Roman stumbled backwards Issac grabbed him by the shirt and slammed up against the wall.

“Why are you reprimanding me?” Roman shrieked. “He’s the one that hit me!”

“Nope,” said Issac, “I’ve warned you several times about this, and why I didn’t fire you before I don’t know! The guy said no and what he did was in self-defence! How many black eyes is he going to have to give before you get the point? And you just had to pin him to a wall this time and you went way too far on that one!

"Since I’m head of the security team here and the owner has already given me the right to do this. Roman, I’m done warning you, you’re fired!”

“You can’t do that!” Roman said.

“‘I just did,” said Issac, “so yeah you’re gone goodbye!”

After I saw Issac practically throw Roman at the police in handcuffs, it was kind of comical to me because of the same thing I did with Pinkie Pie. When Roman was dragged away Gilda came up to see what all of the noise was about. When she saw Oliver dusting himself off from the incident her eyes went wide. Especially when she looked at me because I was so angry that I was shaking.

“It’s okay Sadie,” said Oliver, “I’m fine.”

“Remember when I said you can’t control everything that happens?” I said.

“Uh...Yeah…” Oliver said.

“Well, this is a perfect example of it!” I snarled.

“Sorry about that Sadie,” Gilda said, “I was in the same room when it happened but I didn’t pay any attention to it because I figured Zach could handle it! And from the looks of it, he did!”

“Seriously!” I snapped at her. “I do believe Samantha informed you of the situation. If you saw something happening you should’ve stepped in to help! You're about as bad as what happened with Silas!”

“Okay, Sadie!” Oliver said. Oliver looked concerned but Gilda on the other hand shrank back in fear.

“Don’t you okay Sadie to me!” I snapped again. “I can’t protect you all the time and you can’t protect me! So stop trying to and don’t treat me like I’m a child anymore!”

Oliver and Gilda had no answer for me; they just looked away. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You know, just give me some space so I can calm down. No, I’m not breaking up with you Zach, I’m just pissed off! But Abigail as far as you go, don’t come around me anymore, or it’ll give me license to kill you! I’ll be reporting this to Samantha for sure. If anyone’s at fault it's you, Abigail! And if Samantha assigns you another team I wouldn’t be surprised!”

After that, I stormed off in anger and Diamond Tiara was watching the situation so she sent Issac to help. At least she did something! She understood what I was feeling and let me clock out for the rest of the shift. That’s exactly what I did. When I got back to my room I reported what happened to Samantha and was so angry that I stayed in my room until it was time to go back to work the next day.

* * *

The very next morning I heard Oliver and Gilda outside of my room talking about me.

“If I were you I would consider what happened yesterday as your first argument,” said Gilda, “she was more pissed at me than you.”

“But that means-” Oliver said.

“Nope,” said Gilda, “that doesn’t mean you two are over. Did she say you two were over?”

“Well no but-” Oliver said.

“If she didn’t say that you two were over,” said Gilda, “then you’re not over. You should know that, I mean you’ve had three girlfriends besides Sadie for crying out loud! Unless every time you got into an argument they broke up with you on the spot!”

I could hear the uncertainty in Oliver’s voice. “That’s exactly what happened and with all of them.”

“Wow,” said Gilda, “on again and off again huh?”

“Yup,” said Oliver, “it wasn’t until I got tired of it and told them we were over for good and Clara was the worst one at that!”

“Yeah,” Gilda chuckled, “Clara doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. When she latches onto you she stays on that’s for sure. Why do you think that incident happened with Sadie? From what I’ve heard she’s still chasing after you along with Sadie huh?”

“You got that one right!” Oliver said.

I could hear Gilda getting a real kick out of what Oliver just said and it made me even angrier not at Oliver but Gilda the most!

“Well when you think about it,” said Gilda, “she was pissed off at me the most! And I understand. It’ll probably take her weeks before she talks to me again, that’s for sure!”

Oliver choked on what Gilda just said, “Weeks! She’s not gonna talk to me for weeks!”

Gilda fell out laughing pretty hard at Oliver. “No, no, no, when Sadie’s in a relationship it only takes her a couple of days to get over things.”

“How do you know that?” Oliver asked.

“Because I know how she is,” said Gilda, “I’ve seen it happen with her on all of them! And she’s talked to me about problems that come up. Sadie’s a normal girl and she’s not crazy like your other girlfriends trust me, those girls were not worth your time! Sadie however is! She’ll calm down and come around soon. I know her, she will. Just give her some space and she’ll be fine. Even if she’s mad at me, she’ll get over what happened to you. Knowing her, she'll probably want to use me as a punching bag!”

When Gilda said that Oliver was the one to laugh this time.

“Ha, ha!” Gilda said. “I hope that makes you feel better at least. I think it's time we head into work and if I were you if Sadie is around just avoid her but knowing she definitely will avoid you first!”

Once again I heard the uncertainty in Oliver's voice, “Yeah. Sure…”

After hearing that conversation I waited until the coast was clear and went back to work.

16) A Friendship Strained

{Rainbow Dash}

“When are you going to start talking to Zach again?” Loyalty said with an irritated sound in its voice.

It had been a couple of days after the horrible incident with what happened to Oliver, I had finally cooled off. I bit the inside of my cheek because at this point, Loyalty had been talking loud in my head. Loyalty got on my nerves when it did that. Loyalty had made it a point to shout loud especially when I dreamed about something. Thankfully when Loyalty talked in my head it sent flashbacks of when Oliver and I had gotten together.

“How did you find out his codename?” I asked.

“Just because I’m a stone,” said Loyalty, “doesn’t mean I can’t hear! And I do believe your codename is Sadie?”

“Yes that’s correct,” I said, “you know what’s funny, Loyalty?”

“What is?” Loyalty said, sounding intrigued.

“Discord said the same thing about being a stone when we first met the guy!” I chuckled.

“Yeah you’re right,” Loyalty said, “but he is coming around the corner and if you don’t talk to him, I’ll keep shouting in your heads until you two start talking to each other again!”

“‘You’re just as persistent as Zach was when I first met him!” I said.

The last thing Loyalty did when Oliver came around the corner it laughed as hard as it could. Loyalty was correct about Oliver coming closer to where I stood.

Oliver paused when he saw me and he looked like he wasn’t sure he should just walk the other way or not. To help him make up his mind I paused myself and started to say hi and that’s when he smiled at me.

“You’re talking to me again huh?” Oliver said after he raised an eyebrow.

I wasn’t sure of what to say next but I forced myself to look at him.

“Listen Sadie,” said Oliver, “I am-”

I didn’t let him say the word sorry when I hugged him and kissed him.

“I told you we weren’t breaking up,” I said, “I just needed some space for a little bit. If there’s anyone I’m not going to talk to for weeks it would be Abigail.”

Oliver felt the need to hold me tighter after I said that. I didn’t realize that Gilda was standing behind me until Oliver did that. I heard Gilda laughing so hard and when I heard her I turned around and glared at her.

“Ha, ha,” Gilda said as if she were a two year old in a sing-song voice, “I couldn’t wait to say I told you so Zach, but I told you so!”

“I thought I told you not to come around me right now!” I snapped.

“Oh what are you gonna do about it?” Gilda and she made it a point to stick out her tongue when she said that. That brought my anger to boiling point.

“You are acting like a child right now,” I said, “I wouldn’t mind using you as a punching bag!”

“Oh I’m so scared, Loyalty!” Gilda said with sarcasm.

“That’s it! I’m tired of being called that stupid pet name!” I snarled.

It looked like Gilda looked just as angry as me but instead of saying another snappy remark we were about ready to come to blows. Just when we were about ready to fight each other when Oliver grabbed my arms and held them behind my back. It just so happened that Emily had come around the corner and saw what was getting ready to happen. She grabbed Gilda's arm and held them behind her back.

“Geez,” said Oliver, “I know you two hate each other right now, but I think it’s time you two kiss and make up!”

“I totally agree with Zach on that one!” Emily said.

Emily and Oliver were trying their best to keep us from fighting but it looked like soon we were going to break free of them and start our fight right then and right there.

“There’s no way I’m kissing Abigail!” I snapped. “I’d rather kill her instead!”

“The same goes for me!” Gilda snapped. “Besides, she'd probably taste horrible anyway!”

“And I’m not a dancer, I'm on the security team!” I growled. “And my name is not Loyalty! It’s Sadie you idiot!”

“What’s up with the pet name?” Emily asked. “I’ve heard Sadie being called that at work a couple of times.”

“It’s a long story,” I said, “Abigail’s the one that started it!”

“I don’t think being called Loyalty is a bad thing,” said Emily, “actually I think it’s very noble that your friends would give you that type of nickname! No wonder why other people have feelings for you besides Luke!”

“If we have another Roman situation, so help me!” I growled.

“No,” said Emily, “he’s not stupid like Roman and everyone knows you’re with Zach and since you’re already everyone respects that. Even Abigail knows that!”

“Excuse me?” Gilda said. “Sadie and I were just best friends, and nothing more than that!”

“Uh-huh,” Oliver teased, “sure you aren't! You were the one that gave Sadie the pet name in the first place! If I didn’t know any better I’d say you two dated each other!”

“Yeah right!” I snapped. “If we dated each other, I think I would’ve remembered it!”

Emily tilted her head, “What is she talking about Zach?”

“Sadie had an accident a couple of years ago,” Oliver lied, “and she lost most of her memory because of it.”

“Oh,” said Emily, “sorry about that Sadie.”

As if on cue Diamond Tiara and Agent Rarity came around the corner.

“What’s going on?” Diamond Tiara said.

“Why does it look like Abigail and Sadie are getting ready to beat the crap out of each other?” Agent Rarity said.

“Does this have something to do with the whole Roman situation by chance?” Diamond Tiara said.

“Sadie told Abigail that because she saw it she should’ve stepped in to help,” explained Oliver, “and Sadie is still mad at her for that and Abigail just decided to add fuel to the fire by acting like a two year old!”

“Hey, I wasn’t doing that and you know it!” Gilda snapped.

“And sticking your tongue out at her wasn’t acting like a two year old how?” Oliver said.

“Uh you guys,” said Emily, “as you can see these two are pretty strong and we could use some help separating them!”

Finally Diamond Tiara and Agent Rarity pushed us back from each other and Diamond Tiara had no trouble holding me back and Agent Rarity along with Emily had no trouble holding Gilda back from me.

“I swear if you come around me and call me Loyalty one more time…” I said. “You know what? I changed my mind! Consider our friendship over!”

“Fine!” Gilda snapped at me.

“Fine!” I fired back at her.

After that Gilda and I parted ways, Oliver and I went back to my room while Gilda went back to hers. It didn't bother me that I ended Gilda and mine's friendship for the time being.

* * *

{Jude}

It was the day before I was going to be summoned for the Feeding Ritual again. For some reason Servant Ivy had decided to come to work today. Usually she has one other servant to take over taking care of her duties for the day. I had no idea why but it always happened today when she did that. Why Servant Ivy decided to come into work I didn’t know.

Servant Ivy seemed fine at first but then she passed out right in front of me and I caught her and held her in my lap. I wondered if it had something to do with the Feeding Ritual and I panicked at the thought that she might have to do it too.

The Feeding Ritual was painful and not pleasant because one would think after getting fed by AI that the ruler would become stronger after it. That wasn’t the case at all. Every time it was done whoever went through with it, wound up in pain and defenseless afterwards. Because Servant Ivy seemed as weak as I would be after it. The thought still made me panic.

I still felt panicked about what might’ve happened to Servant Ivy when I heard First Mother clear her throat. When I saw her I glared at her this time because I wasn’t in the mood to be teased by her. When First Mother saw me holding Servant Ivy in my arms she had a wicked smile on her face and I didn’t like that look at all.

First Mother smiled at me and put her hands on her hips. “My, my Lord Jude! I didn’t know you had a liking for one of your servants! I’m glad I picked her as your number one servant. I say she’s a perfect match for you!”

I bit the inside of my cheek and I really didn’t want to talk to First Mother at the moment. But there was no way that I would ever talk back to her. First Mother actually scared me silly just like Firewall Eli was afraid of me.

“In case you’re wondering Lord Jude,” First Mother smiled wickedly. “Yes she does have to do the Feeding Ritual too. AI also needs to feed her! Your top three servants have to eat, you know!”

“What!” I gasped. I went from panicked at this moment to pissed off next.

“You shouldn’t look at me like Lord Jude,” scolded First Mother, “and your servant's Feeding Ritual doesn't last as long as yours does. The Feeding Ritual for them only lasts for four hours while yours lasts for fifteen hours. Which is why you are out of commission for more than a day. In any case boy, I have to attend to other matters for the day, I will summon you first thing in the morning! You two have fun together.”

When First Mother walked away, her cackles echoed in my head and I could feel her evilness cause my blood to freeze.

* * *

Because of what happened with Servant Ivy concerned me, I took her and gently put her in her bed. When Servant Ivy woke up with a look of surprise to see me sitting by her bedside. I don't blame her because I don't normally do this.

“Uh...Lord Jude?” Servant Ivy said.

Once I saw Servant Ivy was awake I felt relieved. “Servant Ivy, I’m glad you’re awake. Why did you come into work if you just did the Feeding Ritual?”

Servant Ivy shrugged. “I guess I was just being stubborn today. That was my fault…”

I smiled at her because I can be just as stubborn too sometimes. Of course I guessed that I probably got my stubbornness from Rainbow Dash. Looking at the video of her last fight with Firewall Eli she really didn’t care about her safety at all in a fight. I felt the same way about doing my job as ruler of AI. I would do this job of keeping AI running down to my very last breath. After doing the Feeding Ritual myself, I’d rather go back to work than rest. Knowing Rainbow Dash she’d rather fly again even if she was hurt. I got snapped out of my thoughts when Servant Ivy tapped me on the shoulder.

“Lord Jude?” Servant Ivy said. I could tell by the look on her face that she was panicked because she pointed at the time and it was fifteen minutes before I was to be summoned for me to do the Feeding Ritual next.

* * *

True to her word First Mother summoned me for my Feeding Ritual and as I followed her to the feeding chamber as usual I worried about Rainbow Dash and how she was doing after getting hit by the Copper. I seriously hoped that she was recovering from it and not dying so I made up my mind to contact the head of my seeker's and ask him to keep on the lookout for her. That’s what I kept thinking about the whole time I was in the feeding chamber.

The Feeding Ritual felt like another way for First Mother to use to torture me. What happened during the Feeding Ritual is AI would send power to me that would go through my whole body. The power was of the life forces of every single creature that was inside of AI. But this time I wasn’t bothered by the pain as much as I worried about Rainbow Dash especially after she got hit by the Copper. I also knew that First Mother would add on to the torture by say something to the effect of how much she hated Rainbow Dash. But this time I wasn’t gonna stand for it! After the Feeding Ritual was finished, I was determined to not let First Mother annoy me so much this time.

As usual First Mother would make me look her in the eye. As she smiled wickedly at me, I knew what she was going to say next. “You want to know something boy?”

“Don’t you dare First Mother!” I snarled. “Not this time! I already know my history!”

“If you should be calling anyone mother it should be me!” First Mother snarled at me and then she glared at me and this time I returned the favor.

“If I didn’t know any better,” I sneered, “you’re jealous that Rainbow Dash was the one that gave birth to me and not you!”

“You might be right about that one boy!” First Mother barked. “You seem like you’re developing thicker skin finally. Although you’re still worried about keeping your vessel Rainbow Dash alive! Don’t worry you will have to kill her one of these days and I can’t wait until that happens!”

“Of course you do you witch!” I snapped.

First Mother returned to giving me a wicked smile. “Oh well, witch or not, I still created you and for some reason you’re actually growing a heart. Since you’re so bound and determined to stay awake just to argue with me, I’ll just have to find another way to torture you! And I guess I’ll have to force you to sleep! I want to make sure you hear this before you pass out. Servant Charlie?”

“Yes, your highness?” Servant Charlie said.

“I know you usually take care of Lord Jude after the Feeding Ritual,” said First Mother, “send in Servant Ivy to do it instead!”

“No you didn’t you little…” I started to say. I didn’t get to finish what I started to say when First Mother forced me to fall asleep.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

I’m getting really tired of these stupid flying memories they’re driving me nuts! I don’t know what’s worse, the memories or Gilda! She's just pissed that our friendship is over now and with good reason!

I had another memory of me flying for some reason only this time Gilda and I were racing each other. How that memory decided to have that one pop up I have no idea why. Right when I was about to win the race I got yanked out of my sleep.

When I woke up I looked down to see Oliver had tied me to that bed by my ankle with a rope. I guess me yanking the rope as I sleepwalked woke up Oliver and he was smiling at me to see I had fallen over thanks to being yanked out of my sleep by the rope.

“I’m getting really sick and tired of these stupid flying memories!” I growled. “I mean seriously, for some reason my brain decides to taunt me by flying memories! Ugh! And guess what flying memory I was dreaming about this time?”

Oliver smiled. “I have no idea but I think the answer is going to be very entertaining.”

“I was racing Abigail, of all the things that I could’ve been dreaming about, it just had to be that!” I answered.

Oliver did find the answer entertaining as he couldn't help but have a laugh at my expense.

“Knock it off!” I said. “And why am I tied to the bed by my ankle?”

Oliver stopped laughing and answered my question. “Because you’re not running into a wall again I got something to say about it!”

“I would say stop being overprotective, but this time I guess I need to be protected.”

“Maybe you and Abigail should try and reconcile your friendship?” Oliver suggested.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen at the moment,” I said, “and if I could get rid of that pet name Loyalty that would be great!”

“Yeah when we weren’t speaking to each other,” said Oliver, “I heard Loyalty’s voice shouting in my head a lot, what was that all about?”

“Loyalty told me that it has something to do with protecting true love or something like that,” I said, “it seems to think that we are each other’s true love for some reason.”

Oliver started laughing again, and I wanted to slap him just to get him to stop.

“I’m not that funny,” I snapped, “stop laughing already!”

“I’m not laughing at you this time,” said Oliver, “I’m laughing at Loyalty! Although it might be correct since Samantha saw us being together in our future.”

“Yeah,” I said, “and Loyalty said the same thing! I guess that confirmed it. I could do without people like Luke gawking at me when I walk by!”

“I don’t blame them!” Oliver said with a smile. “You’re a looker whether you’re in pony form or human form. I couldn’t help but admire your beauty the first time I saw you!”

“Is that why you started having feelings for me?” I asked.

“That was part of it,” said Oliver, “but then your personality came into play. You were loyal to your friends even when you were inside! How you stayed loyal to someone like Clara is beyond me but you weren’t aware that you were doing this but you were even loyal to me and I was the main one that got on your nerves!”

“You can say that again!” Oliver just can’t help but laugh at every other thing that I said and I have no idea why I’m so funny to people! “I would say that’s not funny, but probably make you laugh even harder and you are! I would appreciate it if you stop laughing at my so-called jokes!”

“Actually you should record what you say sometimes, you would be able to do a whole stand up comedy routine just on that alone!” Oliver teased.

“No I’m not doing that anymore unless you pay me!”

Of course I just had to say something funny, I still wonder when I am going to get paid for doing stand up comedy! Maybe that should be my side job in case this agent for the Sixth thing doesn’t work out. I’m glad my friendship with Gilda is over with for the time being!

“I know one thing for sure that’s definitely not funny?”

“What’s that?” Oliver replied.

“I’m not going to be friends with Abigail for as long as possible!” I growled.

Oliver stopped laughing and didn't say a word.

Good, he finally stopped laughing! Hopefully I can keep it that way...

17) First Team Captain Assignment

{Jude}

“That witch!” I shouted. “She’s jealous of Rainbow Dash and wants her to be killed so badly, I’d like to kill her instead! First Mother is not my mother!”

I thought I was shouting at no one when I looked over and Servant Ivy sitting at my bed said with a puzzled look on her face.

“Wow,” said Servant Ivy, “I knew you hated the First Mother but I didn’t know you hated her that bad!”

I didn't think that I was in pain because I couldn’t think of anything else except my anger towards the First Mother.

“If you had someone hate your mother to the point of wanting to kill her,” I said, “you’d be angry too!”

“You need to calm down. If you don't, it'll make the pain worse!” Servant Ivy cautioned.

“Huh?” I paused. That was when I realized that I was in pain and winced because of it. I still didn’t care about the pain. What I wanted to do was go find the First Mother and beat the crap out of her at the moment. I also wished that I could replace her as First Mother with someone that didn’t have much hate in her heart.

“You can’t stay still to save your own life Lord Jude,” said Servant Ivy, “I understand your restlessness but you really should rest! If you don’t, you won’t get past the pain. Looks like I need to do this after all.”

I didn’t have enough time to react when Servant Ivy pointed her hand at the ceiling and summoned ropes to tie me to the bed.

“What was that for?” I asked.

“The first Mother gave me specific orders to make sure you stay in bed!” Servant Ivy said. “And since you’re about ready to get out of bed for some reason, I can only assume you’re worried about Rainbow Dash. But if you don’t stay in bed it’ll delay you from getting back to work, First Mother told me that Servant Charlie doesn’t have the necessary software to make you stay in bed!”

“That’s a big fat lie. First Mother knows it!” I growled. Now I wanted to beat the crap out of First Mother but I knew that wasn’t possible.

Servant Ivy looked at me with concern. “Yeah probably right on that one, First Mother is always finding ways to torture you so I wouldn’t be surprised if this one of those ways. I don’t see what’s wrong with me taking care of you today.”

I sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with you taking care of me today. I’m angry with First Mother and not you. First Mother’s jealous of the fact that she didn’t give birth to me as Rainbow Dash did. And if she barks at me one more time about it…”

“I don’t know if you can do anything about it,” said Servant Ivy, “here’s a suggestion and I’m not sure if it’ll work, but maybe you can talk to the other Mothers of the Mainframe to get them to reason with her?”

“Thanks for the suggestion but First Mother hates Rainbow Dash so much I doubt she’ll be able to see past her anger,” I said.

“I guess so,” said Servant Ivy, “but you’ve only been asleep for twelve hours, you go back to sleep.”

“I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon."

“I know,” said Servant Ivy, “well if you won’t go back to sleep, at least if you’re tied to the bed you’ll get some sort of rest. And you know you can’t get out of those ropes unless you want to have more pain than you’re already in.”

Before Servant Ivy got up to leave she kissed me as she did before. After that just like always, I couldn’t help but watch her as she walked away.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

The following week Gilda and I were getting ready to report to Samantha when Gilda pulled me off to the side.

“What do you want, Gilda?” I snapped.

“Listen I know you said our friendship was over,” said Gilda, “but I know you know that’s not true! And I know why we got into that bad argument because I didn’t look out for Oliver and I understand that. Trust me, if I had something like that happen to my boyfriend, I'd be pissed too! I don’t want this to develop into another Pinkie Pie situation. So I owe you an apology and I am sorry. And I hope you’ll accept it.”

I smiled at Gilda in surprise because usually when we get into a fight I’m the one that’s apologizing first.

“Judging by that smile you accept my apology,” said Gilda, “I know I’m surprised too. Normally you’re the one that’s apologizing first even when I’m the one that’s in the wrong. No this isn’t some weird dream I just decided to realize my mistake this time. But just because I apologize doesn’t mean I’ll stop with the teasing.”

“Yeah,” I said, “as long as you don’t do it any more I’m cool with that.”

Gilda laughed, “I’ll try my best not to but I’m not making any promises!”

We didn’t realize it but Oliver was standing right behind us listening to the conversation. We didn’t know until he started laughing at us.

“It’s about time you two kissed and made up!” Oliver said.

“Yeah,” said Gilda, “the making up part okay. But kissing no thanks!”

“I agree with Gilda on that one!” I said. “So are we going to report to Samantha yet?”

“Oh no,” said Oliver, “for us not yet.”

“Huh?” I said as I tilted my head.

“Samantha specifically requested that she be you and only you,” said Oliver, “we’ll be waiting outside for the assignment details.”

“Oh yeah!” Gilda said. “I forgot, and Levi’s here too!”

“Hi, guys!” Levi said. “I got the same order from Samantha too!”

“What!” I gasped. “Why just me?”

Gilda shrugged, “I don’t know.”

I could tell by the looks on their faces they knew what was going on and Gilda just told a big fat lie and did it like a pro.

“You just lied to me,” I said, “I wouldn’t play poker anymore if I were you!”

Gilda smiled. “Yeah, you got me on that one, but we can’t tell. So go on and report to her already!”

“Fine…” I mumbled.

When I finally reported to Samantha she was very excited and she looked like it was Hearth's Warming Eve and we finally were opening the presents the next day.

“This,” said Samantha, “is another high-level assignment.”

I looked at her, wary of what she was going to say next.

“I know what you’re thinking RD,” said Samantha, “it’s just not because you’re an element of harmony but it seems like me and The Sixth had found what your speciality is!”

“And what might that be?” I said.

“Fighting the Firewalls!” Samantha exclaimed.

“Huh?”

“Oh yes,” said Samantha, “fighting those Firewalls is an actual job at the Sixth there’s only a handful of agents at the Sixth that are very talented at doing so and you’re one of them! So it makes sense that you will be a team captain on this next assignment!”

“Let me guess,” I said, “when you say a handful of agents that are talented at doing this job am I filling one of the six spots of those agents?”

Samantha was very amused by that statement, “I know the Sixth goes overboard with the number six, don’t they? Actually a handful of agents that are talented at this job including you and there are twenty of them now. And I don’t think any more agents will be added to this group anytime soon. Not even Oliver made the cut to be one of them!”

“But he did major damage to the 7th Gate!” I gasped. “Why wouldn’t he be one of the ones that specialize in that?”

“Because when he worked the assignment at the gates,” said Samantha, “that was his test assignment just like it was yours! It just so happened that there weren’t any Firewalls that were created at the time. But it looks there were a few that he was fighting that were in a testing stage at the time. He just happened to deal the final blow that damaged the gate. Just like you did when one of your daggers hit the 5th Gate without you knowing it. But in any case, the next assignment he got was a breakout assignment and he did that with no problem at all along with the next five breakouts after that. That’s when I and the Sixth figured out what his speciality was! And that was it. Me and the Sixth have been watching your battles with the Firewalls and it wasn’t just Firewall Eli that you were fighting if I recall correctly.”

“Yeah that’s correct,” I said, “that one Firewall that looks like a demon that I saw in a movie that I watched when I was inside the Machine! She announced herself as Firewall Molly.”

“It also looks like more Firewalls are being created,” said Samantha, “but they’re in the testing stage right now.”

“How do I tell if a Firewall is in the testing stage or not?” I inquired.

“Did you notice the last couple of times when you fought the Firewalls they had back up with them?” Samantha replied.

“Oh yeah,” I said, “that’s right but the main Firewall, the one that announces themselves, was at the front of the fight!”

Samantha nodded. “Yup, that’s correct! So it’s time I give you the assignment. Your assignment will be to go behind the gates and push out the USB ports.”

“USB ports?” I said. This assignment puzzled me.

“Do you remember when you were breaking out of the Machine,” said Samantha, “the cell you were in?”

“Yeah I do,” I said, “the space was so small I didn’t like it at all! And I was tied down to it!”

“That USB port is the way that Machine puts its creatures inside of it,” explained Samantha, “and new cells are being created every day, that’s why we suspect there are more than ten gates that the Machine has! So when you push out a USB port, you’re getting rid of one less cell and less creature that the Machine can kidnap! And the ones you met outside my realm are the ones that are on your team.”

I sighed, “Well it’s a good thing Gilda and I finally made up our friends again for the time being. But if I get called Loyalty one more time…”

Loyalty giggled. “I don’t think it’s a bad nickname myself! But since it’s already taken I’m kind of annoyed by it!”

“Why don’t you tell them that’s your name?” I suggested.

“That’s because I don’t want to jeopardize your safety while you’re on an assignment.” Loyalty answered.

“Great,” I said, “Loyalty doesn’t do stand up comedy with everyone!”

“It is very entertaining to hear every other sentence you say!” Loyalty teased.

“That’s exactly what Oliver said!” I growled. “I guess I should take that advice but not when I’m on an assignment that’s for sure! I think I’m looking for the safety of my team and they could care less about mine! If Agent Grace would stop calling me Rainbow Crash just to make me do crash landing take out a Firewall that would be great!”

“And that’s exactly why she’s not your team this time!” Samantha said. “Agent Grace will be disciplined by her Predictor for doing that!”

“Is she in the Underground?” I said in horror. “Because it wasn’t that bad!”

“Oh no,” said Samantha, “it wasn’t that serious of an offence so she’s been confined to the Sixth for now and is suspended for the time being.”

“For how long?” I asked.

“Just a week,” said Samantha, “then she’ll get put on assignments again because it’s not a Pinkie Pie situation either! Think of this as her being warned to not do something like that again.”

“Okay then…” When I said that I felt bad that Agent Grace was getting punished for something as small as that.

“I know RD,” said Samantha, “but when it comes down to the safety of your teammates doing something like could’ve got you and Agent Emma killed! Now that’s enough of that, first things first. This needs to go inside your ear.”

“Huh?” I said. I looked and saw that what Samantha had in her hand was a small crystal that looked a lot like the one she had when she picked my six-man squad for an original assignment.

“Is that what you used for…” I said.

“Assigning your breakout squad no,” said Samantha, “remember when I said that I looked at that video from the fights that you’ve had with the Firewalls?”

“Yes?” I said.

“Well every team captain has one of these inside their ear,” explained Samantha, “that’s how we get the video footage and that’s also how you will get the details on what the assignment is and will be able to relay them to your team. And since this is a high-level assignment a Firewall may pop up to stop you.”

When Samantha walked towards me, I backed up and she smiled at me.

“Just stand still RD!” Samantha instructed. “This’ll only take a second.”

I did what I was told. Samantha had me tilt my head and she lifted my ear and pushed the crystal into it. I was surprised to see that it didn’t hurt. However, my ear twitched because it had a foreign object in it but after a while, it stopped. Then when I realized what she said about team captains I was horrified at what she was trying to say.

“When you say team captain as one of these in their ear, do you mean that I’m the…” I said.

“Team captain,” said Samantha, “you guessed correctly!”

“What!” I said. “Why can’t one of my other teammates do it?”

“Because your specialty job is fighting Firewalls!” Samantha exclaimed. “No, you’re not considered a new agent anymore!”

“But I’ve only been at the Sixth for a few weeks!” I said.

“It’s because you’ve passed ten of your outside of the Machine assignments with flying colours, of course you almost killed yourself while doing but that’s because you were looking out for your teammates. And because of that, you’re no longer in new agent status, you're an agent now, like it or not. I doubt you’ll be quitting the Sixth anytime soon!” Samantha said with pride.

“Yup!” Loyalty said. “That’s right! I don’t see you quitting the Sixth at all! The only way you would leave the Sixth is if you got sucked back into the Machine again. And that’s not going to happen even with the bad vision of the future that we elements have seen! And we don’t see Oliver getting sucked back in either. That’s probably because we’ll be protecting you two. After all, you’re each other's true love!”

“And when Oliver and I have disagreements and don’t work it out right away,” I said, “I can do without you shouting in my head and Oliver feels the same way! Either we always work things out in the end. Honestly, I’ve never had a stable relationship until Oliver came along.”

“Aww!” Samantha and Loyalty's response to that was.

“And Pinkie Pie and mine’s relationship was the most unstable relationship that I had ever had!”

“Yeah,” said Samantha while nodding, “Oliver said the same thing! It seems you two are on the same page even when you’re not around each other. I’m glad I saw you two getting together. I think you both needed each other more than you think.”

“Okay…” I said.

“Well, it’s time for you to go to your team captain!” Samantha said. “Your teammates are waiting for instructions!”

“I’d rather be called Rainbow Dash than team captain any day,” I said.

When I turned around to leave I heard Samantha laughing because she got a real kick out of that statement.

* * *

When I got outside of Samantha’s realm Oliver, Gilda and Levi were already laughing as soon as I got out.

“I hope that means,” I said, “this is a joke and Samantha’s in on it and if it is, it's not funny!”

Oliver was doubled over in laughter the most. “Nope! This is not a joke, it’s real! We just couldn’t help but laugh because of that look on your face!”

“I don’t have a look on my face!” I said in denial.

“Oh yes, you do!” Gilda smirked.

“Seriously!” I said. “Am I that obvious?”

Levie chuckled. “No you’re not, every agent has the same look when they’re on their first team captain assignment. Most of the time it’s usually not a high-level assignment though. But word on the street is you’ve been passing your high-level assignments with flying colours. I’m not surprised.”

“If you say it’s because I’m Rainbow Dash, I swear!” I growled.

“No it’s not that,” said Levi, “it’s we were told by Samantha what your speciality is!”

“Yeah,” Gilda said with excitement, “fighting Firewalls is an awesome and action-packed job to have! See I told you that you were the definition of the word 'awesome!”

“Wow,” I said, “I know we just became friends again but you don’t have to be a butt kisser automatically!”

Gilda, Oliver and Levi were laughing so hard and it felt like I was doing stand up comedy once again.

“I still think the definition of the word awesome is still a big fat lie!” I declared.

“Oh no, it’s not!” Gilda said as she finally stopped laughing.

“Come to think of it,” said Oliver, “I’ve never actually seen you fight before.”

“Neither have I!” Gilda and Levi said.

“But you’re the one who trained me on the cliff dive using my weapon Gilda!” I said.

“Isn’t that the hardest landscape to do?” Levi said. “I wasn’t even trained on that myself!”

“Oh yeah,” said Gilda, “and she did great on it until she got five feet to the bottom and crashed!”

“Hey,” I said, “that’s not my fault that I had that stupid Wonderbolt memory while I was fighting and I’m still having those stupid flying memories!”

Gilda snorted. “Hello! You were a pegasus back in Equestria! And from what I remember you were flying all the time! Even before you became a Wonderbolt! Heck the first time we met, you challenged me to a flying race! Of course, you crashed a couple of times, that’s probably why you got the nickname Rainbow Crash!”

Oliver and Levi were just having too much fun listening to our conversation because they were laughing the whole time especially when Gilda said the thing about my nickname Rainbow Crash.

“Yeah, that’s why I had to tie her to the bed by her ankle to keep her from crashing into a wall while she sleeps!” Oliver said.

“Oh, that’s right!” Gilda said. “She did fly in her sleep a lot back in Equestria!”

“How do you know about that?” I said.

“Because I’ve seen you do it!” Gilda said. “It always happened when you were taking a nap during our day off at flight camp! I thought you were just doing a regular fly when you came past. When I saw your eyes closed I knew you were asleep! I didn’t wake you though. Scientists in Equestria discovered that waking a pegasus up from sleep flying is very dangerous because they’re up in the air and it causes them to crash land and kill them in the process.”

My jaw dropped. “Wow, I didn’t know that it was that bad!”

Gilda shrugged. “All I could do was lead you back to bed and you usually stayed there after that, most of the time. When our camp counsellor did the same thing Oliver did and tied you to the bed by your hoof. He knew that you’re not the only pegasus that does that. So when your counsellor saw you sleeping he automatically did that for your safety.”

“I don’t remember that happening myself,” I said, “but it’s probably because I was asleep.”

Gilda rolled her eyes. “Well duh! Now give us the details for the assignment so we can get going!”

That’s exactly what I did as soon as we got the information we needed to know we went off to our assignment.

18) The Element of Stupidity

{Rainbow Dash}

When we got to the USB ports we had no problem doing our job at first. We were headed to the next section to push out more USB ports when just as Samantha suspected a Firewall showed up and once again it was Eli. When he saw us he had a stupid grin on his face.

“Well look at what we have here!” Eli said. “A couple of sixes trying to wreck the Lord’s kingdom again! You guys are pests you know and it’s really getting on my nerves!”

“Well, if it isn’t my fake brother Firewall Eli!” I growled.

“Huh,” said Eli, “you called by my official title this time! Did you hit your head on something during one of our fights, Loyalty?”

I stomped my hoof and was ready to charge at Eli when Oliver gave me a strange look.

“That’s your fake brother?” Oliver asked.

“Oh yeah,” I confirmed it, “that’s him!”

When Eli saw Oliver his grin became so big I’m surprised it even fit inside the Machine but since we were outside of it this time, there was plenty of room for that stupid grin.

“What is that stupid grin on your face for this time Eli?” I snarled at him.

“You finally brought Agent Oliver with you this time!” Eli smirked. “I was wondering when you were going to bring him to join in the fun! I was surprised to not see him fighting with you at the gates when he’s the one that damaged the 7th Gate that we’re trying so hard to repair!”

Oliver laughed wickedly at Eli, “You’re still trying to repair the 7th Gate! That happened a long time ago! And you still haven’t fixed it? Now that’s funny!”

“And you should know that the Lord isn’t happy with you either, Loyalty!” Eli snarled.

“And why is that?” I growled.

“Because you also did damage to our gates that we’re fixing right now!” Eli said. “And you should thank Agent Grace for calling you Rainbow Crash just for you to do that! Actually I take that back, the Lord is more upset with Agent Grace than he is with you!”

“So how much damage did I do to your Lord's precious kingdom?” I taunted him.

“Just partial damage to two of our gates,” replied Eli, “why the Lord hasn’t requested an audience with you and Agent Oliver yet I have no idea! By the way where is that stupid Agent Grace anyway?”

“She’s being disciplined by the Sixth just for calling me Rainbow Crash and putting me and Agent Emma in danger because of doing that!” I said.

“Wow,” said Eli and he looked surprised, “I didn’t know the Sixth does that! However, where is the other pest agent friend of yours Agent Emma this time?”

“I have no idea,” I said, “and I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew! Since I’m not working the gates this time, I have no problem doing the same damage to your stupid USB ports!”

“What is he talking about RD?” Oliver questioned. “You did partial damage to two gates? Did I hear that correctly?”

“Yup,” I said, “you heard it correctly, and as he said Agent Grace called me Rainbow Crash to do it! And I’m glad she’s being disciplined right now, honestly, I don’t need the nickname to do my job!”

“Uh-huh,” said Eli. He rolled his eyes. “Sure you don’t!”

Eli stared up at the sky as he was thinking about something. He did that very often before we started a fight and it was getting on my nerves! Before he could do anything I threw one of my daggers at him and it almost hit its mark when Eli jumped out of the way.

“See?” I taunted. “I told you I didn’t need the stupid nickname! Actually, I was already aiming my daggers at the gates and more than one too! Agent Grace calling me Rainbow Crash was actually so I could take you out! According to her it practically worked the last couple of times she did it and those couple of times she almost got her teammates killed in the process!”

As I was saying what I said Eli just stood there listening with an amused look on his face. When the look he gave me brought my anger to a boiling point. I just had to do something stupid. I didn't know Eli was getting ready to use one of his high-level attacks until Oliver yanked on my tail and pulled me backwards. I didn’t have enough time to think of what to do next when Oliver jumped in front of me and I stared at his weapon in amazement. His weapon looked a lot like one of the barriers that Eli would use as one of his high-level attacks.

“Are you okay RD?” Oliver asked.

“I’m fine!” I said. “Why did you yank on my tail?”

“Because you weren’t watching Eli getting ready to do a high-level attack!” Oliver said.

“Huh?” I said. I looked to see what Eli had in his hand was a barrier like one of the ones he would use but this one looked like a new attack to me. The barrier in Eli’s hand started spinning and fast too.

“Are you that stupid in a fight RD?” Gilda asked.

“No, I’m not!” I saw Eli throw his attack at Gilda because she didn’t have her weapon out yet. “Watch out!”

I pushed Gilda out of the way just in time and it just grazed my ear in the process. Gilda looked at me in amazement at what I did.

“I was angry this time,” I said, “but I saw it coming when Oliver yanked on my tail! At least my teammates are looking out for my safety this time!”

“This time?” Gilda said.

“Yeah,” I said, rolling my eyes at her, “this time!”

“Wow Loyalty,” Eli teased, “looks like you’re quick on your feet or should I say hooves this time!”

“My name is not Loyalty!” I shouted at him. “If anyone or anything is called Loyalty it’s this!”

This time I stood in front of Eli and spread my wings proudly showing him Loyalty hanging around my neck. When Eli saw that I was referring to Loyalty he went into a fit of hard laughter.

“Let me get this straight Loyalty,” said Eli still laughing, “you named a stone after you! Oh yeah the Lord’s going to get a real kick out of this one!”

“What is with this Lord guy?” I said. “Seriously, it's getting on my nerves! And my name is not Loyalty!”

“She goes by RD or in this case, Rainbow Angry!” Gilda stated.

“Seriously!” I snapped. “I thought you were done with the teasing!”

“No this time I was stating the facts this time!” Gilda said.

“Okay, that’s it!” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eli throwing another attack and once again I pushed Gilda out of the way but for some reason I got the bright idea to catch the attack in my mouth.

Then, what I did next would be considered stupid by most people but as far as my logic goes, it felt like the perfect way to take my anger out of something.

After I had caught the attack in my mouth, chomping down on it, it disappeared after I did that. “My name is not Loyalty, my name is not Judy, my name is not Rainbow Crash, my name is not Rainbow Angry, my name is not RD, for crying out loud it’s Rainbow Dash and don’t you forget it!”

“Wow,” said Oliver in surprise, “did you just call yourself Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah?” I responded. “So?”

“Yeah,” Eli cracked up, “I’m surprised the elements of harmony didn’t have a seventh element, the Element of Stupidity made just for you Rainbow Dash! You chomped down on one of my attacks not knowing if it could kill you or not, good job Loyalty!”

When Gilda and Levi heard this they fell over laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe. Oliver on the other hand stood in front of them blocking them from attacks that Eli started throwing at us. At the moment only me and Olive were fighting. That's because Gilda and Levi were still laughing at what Eli had said a few moments ago.

As I and Oliver fought Eli and Gilda and Levi were still laughing. Oliver looked like he had enough of protecting Gilda and Levi and he probably had half a mind to just leave them unprotected. I felt the same way and I was pretty sure that once Eli attacked them that they would get their heads in the fight.

“Okay,” said Oliver, “protecting you two is getting old right now! If you guys don’t do some fighting soon I’m going to leave you as sitting ducks!”

Oliver blocked another attack just before it grazed his shoulder when Gilda and Levi finally stopped laughing. They looked to see Oliver protecting them and saw the pissed off look he had on his face. Finally, Gilda and Levi started their fighting.

“Well, it’s about time!” I snapped.

“Whatever!” Gilda said.

After a while of Gilda and Levi finally doing some fighting along with us, Eli suddenly stopped throwing his attacks at us. It looked like he was just pausing to catch his breath but that wasn’t the case at all.

“Damn it!” Eli said. After he said that he backed up and got on his motorcycle and drove away.

“What the heck was that all about?” Gilda said. She had a bewildered look on her face.

I thought about every time I fought a Firewall and this happened. Usually, if a Firewall backs off it's time for us to back off as well. Right on cue, we heard the doorbell in our ears that’s used to summon us. That’s when we heard Samantha’s voice. “You guys have been fighting Firewall Eli for two days!”

“Two days!” Everyone gasped.

“Yes two days,” said Samantha, “even a Firewall knows when to retreat! He just did! So you’re being summoned back to the Sixth to take a break and then head back to your original assignment.”

We all understood and headed back to the Sixth.

* * *

Before I went back to my original assignment Samantha called me into her realm. I didn’t know what to say to her. I thought that I had screwed up on my first team assignment and was about to be handed discipline because of it. I could tell that Samantha heard my thoughts because she just couldn’t help but laugh.

“Uh...Huh?” I said.

“No, you didn’t screw up on your mission Rainbow Dash,” Samantha said. “I reviewed the video footage that you sent me and you don’t know when we’re doing a good job of things until after the fact! Not to mention you’re bound and determined to kill yourself huh?”

“Huh?” I said in confusion.

Samantha laughed, “Well let’s see, first of all, you decided to chomp down on one of Firewall Eli’s attacks and then you decided to declare yourself Rainbow Dash. You didn’t realize that you short-circuited twenty of the USB ports and pushed them out during the fight?”

I blinked. “Come again?”

Samantha played the video footage for me and my jaw dropped when I saw that I did exactly what Samantha said I did. “Oh yeah, not to mention when you were at your job at the gates the Sixth reviewed the video footage from that too and you did partial damage to two of the gates when fighting those Firewalls!”

“I have a feeling that it was thanks to Agent Grace calling me Rainbow Crash,” I said.

“Nope,” said Samantha after she shook her head, “it wasn’t that at all! You were already aiming your daggers at the gates before Agent Grace even did that! I think Agent Grace calling you Rainbow Crash was to take out the Firewall period! We’ve discovered that getting past a Firewall instead of taking them out is more effective in destroying the Machine at least for now until we can shut it down for good. And I knew you were going to accept your real name sooner or later.”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and assume you saw that in my future?” I stated.

“Yup!” Samantha said. “Now I think it’s time you go back to your original assignment. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Oliver’s overprotective of you when Luke’s around!”

“Yeah, at least he’s not stupid like Roman was!” I said. “But I don’t blame Oliver, not one little bit.”

“Oh well,” said Samantha, “it’s time for you to go.”

* * *

When I got back to my original assignment Oliver looked like he did when I came out of Samantha’s realm and found out that I was team captain.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Oliver said. “Are you delusional now?”

“No I ’m not delusional,” I answered. “I was just doing my job! And Eli pisses me off!”

“And you're declaring your real name?” Oliver said. “What was up with that?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, I guess I finally accepted it now.”

“Well at least you didn’t chomp down on a Copper!” Gilda laughed.

“And my name doesn’t have the word angry attached to it!” I growled.

“I was just pointing out the obvious, that's all!” Gilda said.

“Abigail’s right you know,” said Oliver, “if you had chomped down on a Copper you’d be dead right now!”

After Oliver said that I didn’t get a chance to say anything else when Loyalty sounded a while frantic, inside my head. I nudged Oliver on the shoulder and he nodded at me.

“Abigail,” said Oliver, “we have to go.”

When Gilda Oliver grabbed my hand and took me to his room she had the same look on her face that she always does. It was a look of amusement.

* * *

“Zach, Sadie,” said Loyalty, obviously panicked, “us elements of harmony have an emergency on our hands or stones actually!”

Once we had gotten to Oliver's room he closed the door.

“Loyalty,” said Oliver, “can you calm down and tell us what happened?”

“Okay, okay, okay!” Loyalty kept saying over and over again.

“Okay Loyalty!” I said. “My goodness, just tell us what happened!”

“Kindness broke its connection with Fluttershy!” Loyalty said.

“What!” Oliver and I gasped.

“Yeah I know!” Loyalty said it barely got the words out.

“Why would Kindness do that?” I asked.

“It wasn’t Kindnesses fault!” Loyalty declared.

“Exactly what happened?” I said.

“Remember what I said when an element goes silent when an evil person or pony is around?” Loyalty answered. “We also do the same thing to our connections when they’ve gone evil! But every once and awhile and by that, I mean every week that element that has gone silent to their connection tries to reason with their connection! Kindness tried very hard to reason with Fluttershy but it didn’t work just like with that stupid engagement party with Pinkie Pie! Fluttershy has gone so evil that she was able to take her necklace off and when she was trying to destroy it, Kindness left its stone just in time!”

“I thought it wasn’t possible to take the necklace that as your element on it can’t be taken off?” I gasped.

“That’s correct,” said Loyalty, “not even Princess Twilight can remove her crown which is funny to me because of Magic being on its high stone. The only way she can remove her crown is if Magic goes into the stone that goes with Princess Twilight’s royal attire! But if a connection isn’t strong enough then it can be broken and the necklace can be taken but before the necklace can be taken off, the element has to leave its stone first. Kindness had to do that because there was no reasoning with Fluttershy so Kindness felt sad when it had to leave, after it left the last thing it saw was Fluttershy stomping on its necklace destroying it!”

“What!” I gasped after I heard what Loyalty said and my jaw dropped.

“Before it needs to go to the magical realm we need to at least try and find her a new connection! We’ve been talking about a couple of options, one of them was you, Zach!” Loyalty said.

Oliver practically choked on what Loyalty just said. I tried my best not to laugh at Oliver's reaction but I’m not so sure that I was successful at it.

“I’m honoured really I am,” said Oliver, “but I don’t think I want the responsibility of being an element bearer at the moment!”

“That’s okay Zach,” said Loyalty, “but just think about it okay? In the meantime Kindness and I were wondering if you Sadie would be Kindnesses connection for now? Please?”

It didn’t take me too long to decide because to me being loyal also meant being kind.

“Yeah, I’ll do it.” I said.

“Hurray!” Loyalty cheered.

It was kind of cute to me that Loyalty sounded like a little kid that just was given ice cream for a treat before dinner.

“Don’t worry,” said Loyalty, “this won’t take but a couple of seconds to do!”

It felt just like it did when I first met Loyalty only this time the bright light that flashed in front of me only happened for a second or two just like Loyalty said it would. At least this time I didn’t have to die to meet Kindness next.

19) We have a Situation!

{Jude}

I almost fell off my chair because I was laughing so hard after I saw the last fight between Firewall Eli and Rainbow Dash.

“Every time I send Firewall Eli to fight Rainbow Dash,” I laughed, “it’s just way too entertaining to watch!”

“No kidding!” Servant Ivy said.

When Firewall Eli and Rainbow Dash fight; they just have way too much fun taunting each other rather than fight.

“If I didn’t know any better,” I said, “those two are still siblings and they seriously hate each other! I guess this is the reason AI sent Firewall Eli to pose as her brother when she was inside. What on earth was Rainbow Dash thinking this time? I mean she does have a tendency to try and kill herself on a job but chomping down on Firewall Eli’s attack like that, I hope she realizes she could’ve died doing that. But knowing her she could care less as long as she killed Firewall Eli in the process!”

“But didn’t she do some damage to two of AI’s gates?” Servant Ivy asked.

I nodded. “Yes that’s true, I don’t think that’ll be harder to repair than the 7th Gate or at least I hope not. But knowing her, she might just do it again just to protect her friends from being killed by a Firewall! I was debating about giving my Firewalls the Copper again. I’m not sure if I want to go that route yet. Knowing Rainbow Dash she’ll probably find some way to kill herself to save a teammate. But if her teammates do their jobs instead of teasing her just try and take out a Firewall she would have to do that! Agent Grace was the definition of stupidity on that one. But at least Agent Oliver was there this time to protect her. I’m wondering if those two are a couple now?”

“Why do you think that?” Servant Ivy asked.

“I’ve been having the head of the seekers keep an eye on them lately,” I replied, “and the way they act around each other it looks like they’re a couple. Especially Agent Oliver acts really overprotective of Rainbow Dash. According to my head seeker, Agent Oliver’s not the only one that likes her on her assignment. I mean can you blame them?”

“Yeah,” Servant Ivy said, “Rainbow Dash is probably where you get your good looks from.”

I could feel my face turning red at the compliment and Servant Ivy was trying her best not to laugh. “Sorry Lord Jude…”

“No it’s okay,” I said as I felt my cheeks turn red, “I’ve never had someone say that to me before. Not from First Mother, that’s for sure…”

“I still don’t get why she hates Rainbow Dash so much?” Servant Ivy said.

“From what I can tell, she’s just jealous that she didn’t give birth to me herself,” I said.

“I might not hate Rainbow Dash as much anymore, I doubt her element will help shut down the Machine anytime soon!” I heard First Mother say.

As soon Servant Ivy heard First Mother’s voice she got up and bowed to her.

“It’s okay child,” said First Mother, “I’d like to talk to the boy Lord Jude in private.”

“Yes, your highness.” Servant Ivy said.

I was staring at Servant Ivy as she walked away. From the looks of it, she knew I was staring at her just by the way she walked. She moved her hips swaying them back and forth as she walked.

“Is this some sort of joke First Mother?” I said after I turned my attention to her. I gave First Mother a wary look. “Because if it is, I’m not playing along with it that’s for sure!”

First Mother smiled wickedly at me and tilted her head as if she had no idea of what I was talking about. “I’m not joking, not one little bit! Oh and I hear Rainbow Dash has a boyfriend and if you ask me they might be married in the future or not that remains to be seen! And I hear the boyfriend is Agent Oliver himself! They’re perfect for each other if you ask me because they both did some damage to the first ten gates! It's good the Sixth is only aware of the first ten gates or Rainbow Dash would be in even more trouble if you know what I mean. But knowing you, you don’t have the heart to kill her! I don’t blame you, I wouldn’t want to kill my mother either!”

First Mother irratated me because she always said stupid things like this she was proposing something.

“Do you want to deliver the punchline of the joke yet or not?” I snapped.

“Didn’t you hear a word I just said?” First Mother barked.

I had no problem rolling my eyes at her this time. “You know your barking is getting annoying!”

“Wow,” said First Mother, “you’re being defiant to me lately! No matter what, I was getting ready to say Life Force Fluttershy has gone completely psycho!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t she going out of control in the first place?”

“Oh yes, she was,” said First Mother, “but her element of harmony won’t work now that’s for sure. And we didn’t have to kill her for that to happen! She won’t be dying, at least not yet.”

“Not yet?” I questioned. “When you say not yet you don’t mean..”

“You just might have to kill her, that is if you want your mother to stay alive.” First Mother responded.

I gasped when First Mother dropped into my hand Life Force Fluttershy’s broken necklace that had her element of harmony in it. What happened next, came as a surprise to both me and First Mother, an alert popped up on one of the AI's computer screens. It said:

Life Force Fluttershy has broken her element of harmony, the Element of Kindness. To make sure the Elements of Harmony never work again, kill Life Force Fluttershy and the rest of the element of harmony bearers will be spared!

That alert made up my mind. I was going to kill Life Force Fluttershy so my mother would be saved.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

As I was told by Samantha before and after I did my first team captain assignment and I’m still doing it; she recommended that I visit my pocket dimension when I get a chance to. That’s so I don't go crazy and become a nutcase like Pinkie Pie. Although, according to Gilda and Oliver seem to think I’m pretty much there. I guess it’s within my nature to do stupid stuff but not as stupid as when I chomped down on one of Eli’s attacks and declare myself Rainbow Dash! This time, when I went into my pocket dimension I sensed another presence inside with me. I turned to Oliver looking at my computer screens with curiosity.

I rolled my eyes at hi., “So you’ve finally decided to check things out, huh?”

“Well I’m trying my best to give you some space,” said Oliver, “but on our assignment that’s kind of hard to do.”

“That’s understandable,” I said, “since according to Gilda half the club has feelings for me. And that includes Issac now!”

I guess that was funny because Oliver laughed and then turned away.

“Honestly Oliver,” I said, “is everything I say funny?”

“Oh yes it is,” said Oliver with a smile, “let me guess, you haven’t recorded yourself talking yet? And in case you didn’t notice I’m having the same with people liking me myself.”

“At least we don’t have people being stupid about it like Roman,” I said, “at least not yet.”

Oliver smirked. “Yeah, you can say that again!”

“So you want to see how this dimension works,” I said, “you’re not going to like this but I have to activate it by pulling out one of my feathers.”

That’s exactly what I did, after I pulled out one of my feathers Oliver flinched when he saw that.

“I know what that look is for,” I said. “But for some reason, this pocket dimension only works when I use one of my feathers.”

“Interesting…”

I went to the first computer that I had and used my feather as a quill to type the number fourteen. The number lit up green on all six of the computer screens.

“It’s kind of funny that you're the sixth one that has this pocket dimension,” said Oliver, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you get a top rank in the Sixth!”

I shook my head., “Nah I’m good, I don’t want a top rank any more than I want to be an Alicorn, this first computer where I typed my number in is so I can review video footage of my last fights with the Firewalls.”

“And why would you want to do that?” Oliver said. “From what I’ve seen you don’t need much improvement when you fight.”

“Thanks for the compliment, but according to Samantha every agent needs to improve on something of course for some reason I just can’t seem to improve on keeping myself from doing stupid things when I’m fighting especially when it comes down to fighting Eli.”

“While your dimension is cool and all I was wondering,” said Oliver, “what name does your pocket dimension go by?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Name?”

“Yup,” said Oliver, “every pocket goes by a name. And usually, your pocket dimension declares what its name is. Just like you did Rainbow Dash!”

“For the last time Rainbow Dash!” My pocket dimension shouted. “My name is Computer! You know because of my computers that I have set up here!”

“Wow,” I said with sarcasm, “you’re announcing yourself in front of visitors now?”

Oliver snorted and went into uncontrollable laughter this time he fell over on his butt and when he fell over he was on his back laughing. Oliver composed himself. “Yup, this is your pocket dimension alright! It suits you!”

“Ha, ha, ha, ha!” I said sarcastically.

“You want to know what my pocket dimension goes by?” Oliver said with a grin.

I laughed, “What?”

“It goes by the name of Couch,” Oliver said.

I laughed so hard at that comment that it made my stomach hurt.

“I wonder,” I said after I stopped laughing, “what pocket dimension did Pinkie Pie have?”

“Pinkie Pie’s pocket dimension was a strange one,” answered Oliver, “I know because I trained her myself and she barely passed her six-day training. But when I saw her pocket dimension it certainly fit her personality! The furniture was on the ceiling and at the bottom was a trap door. I have no idea where it leads to and I’m glad I didn’t find out. I have a feeling that it led to parts of the Machine where her speciality job was! But the trap door never opened and I suspect that the reason why was that she didn’t have a specialized job just for her! That probably was because she barely passed her six-day training and I’m guessing the reason is that she was too busy eating than training.”

Once again I found myself laughing at that thought and it made sense because when I met her that’s exactly why I didn’t want to train with her in the first place.

“The funny thing is,” said Oliver, “that Pinkie Pie’s pocket dimension was like with your weapon only a handful of agents thirteen to be exact that the pocket dimension that Pinkie had usually made top ranks in the Sixth! She didn’t come close to a top rank! She was practically at the bottom rank of the Sixth!”

“What was her ranking?” I said.

“Thirty-two…” Oliver said.

“That’s out of how many?” I asked.

“Thirty-six,” answered Oliver, “and the rankings are the same number for every specialty job in the Sixth. Every single job category has the same rank system one to thirty-six. From what I hear you’re the tenth top rank in your job and you’re moving up in ranks! Especially since you did partial damage to the gates and every time you’re on your team captain assignment, you just seem to be able to shut circuit at the USB ports and push them out no problem!”

“You know what’s getting on my nerves besides being called Loyalty at work, Gilda keeps saying that whole line that goes ‘I’m tough, I’m fast and I’m the definition of the word awesome,' I still think that’s a big fat lie! Knock it off, I'm not that funny!”

Oliver just can’t seem to help but laugh at every other thing I say! Yup, I should have to stand up comedy as my side job! At least I’ll have somewhere else to work for extra money.

“Oh yeah,” said Oliver, “just like you can’t help but do stupid stuff especially when you’re fighting Firewall Eli, you can’t just help but be funny! Maybe that’s why half the club has feelings for you!”

“Uh-huh, and the other half has feelings for you! And that’s mostly men though.”

“You should talk!” Oliver said with a smile. “Most of the people that like you are women!”

That was when I heard Computer laughing hysterically.

“Seriously!” Oliver and I said.

“That’s so cute,” said Computer, “you two fight like an old married couple! So tell me, when’s the wedding?”

Oliver and I practically choked on what Computer had just said. Oliver went from choking on what Computer just said to give me a funny look. Only this time it wasn’t the same funny look that he always gives that looked very different.

“What’s that look for?” I said.

“Oh, nothing…” Oliver said. “I think it’s time we go back to work.”

“Sure…” I had a feeling Oliver was lying when he said the strange look he was giving meant nothing.

* * *

After we went back to work Diamond Tiara pulled me and Oliver off to the side and she looked worried. “We have a situation…”

“What is it?” I said.

“It’s the seekers!” Diamond Tiara blurted.

“Are they after Emily?” I said.

“I don’t know,” said Diamond Tiara, “but they’ve been outside the club waiting for someone. I think they are after Emily, but from what we can tell Gabriel hasn’t done anything to her yet. We’ve stepped up on protecting Emily of course she has no idea why.”

“When you mean stepped up on protecting Emily,” I said, “exactly what have you been doing?”

“I’ve been escorting her home,” responded Diamond Tiara, “I hope she’s safe there. For the time being it seems like she is.”

“I don’t think she’s safe at home!” I said. “When Oliver, Clara, and I were running from the seeker, I was told that going back home would be the first place these seekers would look!”

“That’s correct,” said Oliver, “the seekers were outside of your home for a long time before you were broken out of the Machine! Usually, if a code doesn’t work to keep you under control then the Machine sends the seekers next!”

“So I take it, the code that didn't work for me?” I asked.

“Yup,” Oliver answered, “from the intel I just received the code stopped working shortly after Jude was born! And right after the seekers went after you they took Jude and stopped chasing you! As far as where Jude went the Founders don’t even have a clue.”

“So that’s why Finn couldn’t tell me where Jude was!” I gasped.

“The strange thing is,” said Oliver, “I've been doing breakouts for over a decade! When the Machine sends a code to a person it doesn’t implant a baby inside of the person that it was sent to! I hope you’re not mad at me for just now telling you this information.”

“No I’m not mad at you,” I said, “I’m not mad at anyone. I’m just worried about where the seekers took Jude to! He might’ve been sent by a code but either way, you look at it he’s still my son!”

“I had a feeling that you would feel that way,” said Oliver with a kind smile, “from what I’ve seen when someone gives birth, mothers will do everything in their power to protect their child." His smile turned into a frown. He continued. "It wasn’t your fault that Jude got taken, the seekers were after you too! Now that you think about it, when the seekers are dead set on taking someone there’s no way that person can defend themselves from them. And there’s barely anything an agent can do to help. Even if that person is taken into a pocket dimension the seekers can locate the person they’re after and they wait until they come out. Since they didn’t try to locate where you were at, unfortunately it’s possible that they were after Jude and not you.”

“But why would they be after a baby?” I said.

Oliver shook his head. “I have no idea, and that’s not normal for the seekers to do either.”

“Well in this case,” said Diamond Tiara, “I’m still just going to assume that the seekers are after Emily so I’ve been escorting her home and she’s been showing up to work no problem!”

“If that’s the case,” I said, “then the seekers are after someone else!”

“The question is,” said Oliver, “who are they going after?”

“I’m wondering if it’s someone that’s on our team?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“That might be possible,” Oliver replied, “but it’s also possible they’re going after another creature that’s stuck inside the Machine!”

I shrugged. “Until we hear from our Predictor about that, there’s no way we can know who the seekers are after…”

* * *

{The Head Seeker Gabriel}

Agent Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver didn’t realize that the seekers weren’t after Emily, they were after them. The funny thing was Agent Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver thought that I was a code that was sent to Emily. I thought that the agents of the Sixth could be stupid sometimes and I'm pretty sure Lord Jude feels the same way.

But why Lord Jude hadn’t requested an audience with those two yet I had no idea. It looked like Lord Jude was waiting on something to happen with Agent Rainbow Dash and nobody knows why and Lord Jude wasn’t gonna tell anyone any time soon.

My official title is Head Seeker Gabriel and Lord Jude gave me specific orders to place my seekers in different areas that surrounded the assignment that Agent Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver were at. My top three seekers would record videos of them and a couple of times they would fight the Firewalls in the areas that my seekers were stationed at. That seems to be Lord Jude’s favourite type of video footage that I would give him.

Today was no different and I would wonder when Lord Jude would give me and my seekers go-ahead to bring Agent Oliver and Agent Rainbow Dash to him. Today Lord Jude summoned me and when Lord Jude did that a computer would pop up in front of me and out of it would be a holographic with Lord Jude’s face on it.

“Your highness!” I said. Of course every time Lord Jude would summon him it was always a surprise and an honour to see him.

This time Lord Jude smiled at me and his smile confused me.

“Head Seeker Gabriel,” said Lord Jude, “as always, thank you for the video footage on Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver. It seems that Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver are determined to take out Firewall Eli at all costs. I send Firewall Eli to them for a reason it’s just too entertaining to watch them fight. Especially with Rainbow Dash considering Firewall Eli posed as Rainbow Dash’s brother while she was inside AI. Rainbow Dash and Firewall Eli have some sort of sibling rivalry going they spend more time taunting each other than fighting.”

The fact that Firewall Eli had been sent to pose as Rainbow Dash’s brother when she was inside AI was news to me.

Lord Jude frowned. “I know that look when I see it Head Seeker Gabriel, trust me, I’m just as puzzled as everyone else is as to why AI would send a Firewall to pose as someone’s brother. And I know you’re wondering when I’m going to tell you to go ahead and take Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash and bring them to me. I haven’t decided that yet. I’m kind of ticked off at both of them, Agent Oliver for destroying the 7th Gate and Rainbow Dash for doing some damage to gates 4 and 5. Of course, gate 4 was where Rainbow Dash’s element of harmony decided to make an appearance. But her element won’t work now considering that I had to kill Life Force Fluttershy recently.”

“But…” I started to say. I trailed off because I didn’t want to ask the question. I already knew the answer. Usually, if Lord Jude kills someone personally, AI considers them a direct threat to it. Everyone that knows Lord Jude personally has told me that he does not like killing people, not one little bit.

“You know good and well if I have to kill someone myself then AI considers that person a direct threat to it.” Lord Jude said. He rolled his eyes. “I know that look to Head Seeker Gabriel. Everyone gives it to me when they find out that I had to kill someone myself. And I don’t need sympathy! I’m just doing my job as ruler of AI. Just like you do your job as Head of the Seekers. And you probably don’t like going after people to bring them to AI’s castle. Just wait until I give the order to take Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash, for now just keep your teams stationed where I told you to. That’s all for now.”

As soon as my summons ended, I had a feeling that some big event was going to happen. It was going to happen very soon.

20) The Ring

{Rainbow Dash}

When Oliver and I went back to our stations at work, I couldn’t help but wonder who the seekers were after. They definitely weren’t after Emily that’s for sure. But I don’t blame Diamond Tiara for being protective of her. She’s just doing everything in her power to make sure Emily is safe.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Oliver tapped me on the shoulder after handing another drunk over to the police.

“You’re wondering who they’re after aren’t you?” Oliver asked.

“Yeah,” I said, “are you worried about them?”

Oliver nodded, “Yup! Big time! I’m trying to figure out if they’re not after Emily then who? I’m guessing who they might be after but I don’t want to think about it.”

“Well if they’re after you it would definitely be because of you destroying the 7th Gate!” I said. “Or they could be after me too! Three reasons, to finish what they started after taking Jude, the next would be because I’m an element of harmony and the last reason would be because I did damage to gates 4 and 5! I’m not sure how much damage I did to them but I’m pretty sure this Lord guy isn’t too happy with me doing the damage either! I’m surprised he didn’t send the seekers after you in the first place.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Oliver said.

“I totally agree.” I said.

* * *

{Jude}

Agent Oliver had no idea that I had my camera’s trained on him and I took a lot of special interest in him lately. Servant Ivy seemed puzzled about why I focused so much on Agent Oliver.

Servant Ivy tapped me on my shoulder to get my attention, “Your highness?”

“Yes?” I said.

“I was wondering,” said Servant Ivy, “why are you paying so much attention to Agent Oliver lately?”

I smiled and zoomed in the camera that pointed at Agent Oliver.

“You see that ring that’s inside that box that he’s playing with?” I pointed at it.

“Yeah, I see it.” Servant Ivy said after raising an eyebrow.

“Do you know what it means?” I asked.

Servant Ivy shook her head, “No.”

“It means he’s ready to propose marriage to Rainbow Dash!” I said with excitement.

“How do you know that?” Servant Ivy said.

“I did my research once I saw Agent Oliver doing that.” I smiled.

Servant Ivy smiled, “You think she’ll say yes to him?”

“Don’t know,” I replied, “it’s possible though. We’ll just have to wait and see…”

I saw Servant Ivy smiling at me. Probably because she knew that I would stop at nothing to protect Rainbow Dash. I also want Rainbow Dash to be happy.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

After Emily had gotten off work and Diamond Tiara and I had escorted her home I still wondered who the seekers were after. I had a suspicion that the seekers were after me or Oliver or maybe both of us. As I walked to my room as I kept thinking about this problem when I came around the corner only to hear Oliver and Gilda talking about me. I stopped to hear the conversation because to get to my room I would eventually have to pass those two along the way.

Gilda sounded excited while talking to Oliver, “I think it suits her! It doesn’t anything like the stupid thing Clara had for her that’s sure!”

I knew he was planning something! That look he’s been giving me wasn’t like the funny look he alway gives me! I might just have to take a long way around because I’m not so sure I want to know what Oliver’s gonna do.

Just like when I was inside the Machine and overheard the team that got assigned to me talking, I had to stay and listen to the conversation.

“Did you buy it from a store in the Machine?” Gilda said although I had a feeling that she already knew the answer to the question.

Oliver went into laughing hysterically, “Oh no, I’m not that stupid! I bought it from a store inside the Sixth!”

I heard Gilda laughing and I could only assume that Gilda knew exactly what Oliver was getting ready to do or something like that.

“Oh yeah,” Gilda said, “you bought from the Sixth alright! I say that you go ahead and do it today!”

I heard Oliver laughing pretty hard at what Gilda just said.

“What’s so funny?” Gilda said.

“Why do you think I asked you to meet me here today?” Oliver said.

Once again I could hear the excitement in Gilda’s voice, “Oh I see. We’ll corner her so she can’t get away! Good idea!”

“Yup,” said Oliver, “and I got Emily and Margot in on it too!”

“That’s awesome!” Gilda laughed. “Score!”

Yup, I’m taking a long way around! I’m out of here.

I started walking away but as soon as I Emily and Diamond Tiara blocked me.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Emily said with a smile.

“Seriously,” I said, “I need to get to my room! Just step aside you two!”

“Nope!” Diamond Tiara said.

“And why not?” I said.

Emily cracked up, “Zach has something he wants to say to you and then you can run if that’s what you decide to do afterwards!”

Diamond Tiara went into a fit of laughter after that.

“I didn’t say anything funny this time!” I said.

“We’re not laughing because you said something funny, Sadie!” Diamond Tiara said. “We’re laughing because something adorable is getting ready to happen! Because Zach is already down on one knee!”

“Say what now?” I said. “Down on one knee?”

“Do you not know how a man proposes?” Emily questioned.

“That would be a no,” I said, “it’s a long story and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Just turn around already!” Diamond Tiara said.

I did what they told me to and I saw Oliver on one knee with a small box in his hand. I stood there thinking I knew what he was going to say next.

Oliver smiled at me. “Sadie, I know when this happens a lot of times there’s a long speech before it but I’m not that kind of guy.”

Oliver didn't say anything funny either and if Gilda, Diamond Tiara and Emily stop laughing it would make this easier.

“This isn’t a joke!” I said. “Knock it off!”

“As I was trying to say before these three started laughing,” said Oliver, “will you marry me?”

I knew the answer was yes but I felt speechless and stood there with my jaw dropped.

“I think her answer is yes.” Gilda laughed.

I wanted to slap her just for answering for me, “Thank you Abigail I think I can answer the question myself and she’s right the answer is yes!”

I gasped when Oliver opened the box to reveal a rose gold ring with a blue topaz stone on it. Instead of the ring being a gold chain Oliver's ring was on a silver chain. Oliver stood up, kissed me and put the necklace around my neck.

Loyalty and Kindness spoke to me and this time it was inside my head.

“Rainbow Dash,” said Loyalty, “we had a feeling something like this was going to happen sometime soon. So instead of us being around your neck with your true love ring, we’ll be around your head instead.”

“Why?” I said.

“Because it would be too much power around your neck and it could activate a power surge because of it.” Loyalty said. “We’re not sure that could happen. Remember we take our job as protectors very seriously! You won’t feel a thing when we move.”

As Loyalty said, I didn’t feel anything. I just knew that they moved to my forehead. Oliver must’ve seen what Loyalty and Kindness just did because he looked at my forehead and smiled.

“What?” I said.

Oliver didn’t say anything, he just hugged me as if trying to protect me like he always does. I guess Gilda, Diamond Tiara and Emily found Oliver's display of affection funny because they were laughing their butts off. When Agent Rarity and Levi came around the corner and gasped when they saw the engagement ring around my neck.

“It’s about time you proposed to her!” Levi said with a grin.

“Yup,” said Agent Rarity, “you’ve been planning on doing this for how long now?”

Levi laughed, “Exactly two weeks ago!”

“Hey,” said Gilda and Diamond Tiara, “why didn’t you get us in on it?”

“Probably because you two don’t know how to keep a secret,” Emily said. “I was laughing because he finally did it. Although I did suggest he do something bigger than simple, he said something like that happened the last time you had someone purpose to you and it didn’t turn out well.”

“Oh that’s right,” said Agent Rarity, “I forgot about that, and that was horrible the way it happened! I’m glad Zach did it this way instead.”

“Good thing Zach already explained to me why the ring is on a necklace instead of on her finger,” said Emily, “cause I would’ve been confused about that one myself. I do say that the whole club will be heartbroken now you two are engaged!”

“You got that one right!” Gilda said.

Emily then yawned and stretched, “Now that’s over with I think it’s time to say goodnight or good morning if you please. Margot and Sadie I do appreciate you two escorting me to my room. I don’t think I need that much protection. You two are just about as bad as Zach is with Sadie!”

Gilda rolled her eyes and laughed, “Yup, Zach is about as overprotective of Sadie as a mother would be of her child!”

“Hey!” Oliver said. I laughed at what Gilda said just because I knew it was true..

* * *

{Jude}

“It’s about time he asked her!” I said. I knew that Agent Oliver had finally proposed marriage to Rainbow Dash and she had accepted it. Because I saw Rainbow Dash wearing the engagement ring. I had also looked into how ponies wear their engagement rings and it’s usually on a necklace around their necks. I felt thankful that the gates that Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver damaged were finally repaired. The 7th Gate took four years to repair but it's up and working now but for some reason, AI decided to keep it sealed shut for the moment. It took a few months to repair gates four and five and AI decided to do the same thing with them. For the time being Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver are longer viewed as a threat to AI.

Since I saw that Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver were engaged I figured now was the perfect time to meet my mother finally. It was also the perfect time to congratulate them on their engagement. I think it’s time I requested an audience with Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver.

It made me very excited knowing that Agent Oliver finally proposed to Rainbow Dash. I also felt happy knowing that she would soon have a stable relationship and she would be happy with Agent Oliver. So I decided it was time for me to finally meet them. As always when I summoned Head Seeker Gabriel he looked surprised and honored that he was being summoned.

“Yes, your highness?” Head Seeker Gabriel said. “I don’t have any video footage for you yet this week.”

“I know that Head Seeker Gabriel,” I said, “it’s time I requested an audience with Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash to congratulate them on their engagement!”

Head Seeker Gabriel seemed to be shocked by the news but I looked over at Servant Ivy who looked like she couldn’t think of how he would be shocked by it because he had been the one watching them for a long time now. A year to be exact.

“Yup,” I said, “as soon as those two get off work and are getting ready to escort their friend Emily home make sure Agent Diamond Tiara and Emily are paused along with the rest of the world since that’s a difficult thing to do, I will give you the remote to do so. AI seems to think that’s the best way to do that.”

“Yes, your highness…” Head Seeker Gabriel said.

“Oh and one more thing, Head Seeker Gabriel,” I said.

“Yes, Lord Jude?” Head Seeker Gabriel said.

“I have a feeling that those two will put up a good fight, especially Rainbow Dash,” I said, “since these two are the strongest agents of the Sixth I want you to do whatever you can to take them. So I’m giving stunners for these two. Yes, I’ll revive them as soon as they get to AI’s castle.”

Head Seeker Gabriel gasped when he saw the stunners. The stunner was a small blue box that looked like it held a small thunderstorm in it. Yes, the stunner did exactly what it was called. Once it was put inside a person it stunned them into a fake death but if that person is not revived within twenty-four hours of it being put in then that person dies for real. It acted a lot like the Copper but instead of being able to possibly recover from it, there's no way to recover from a stunner if that person is not woken from the fake death.

Once I sent the remote and the two stunners to Head Seeker Gabriel I nodded.

“So,” I said, “take those two as soon as possible. And at all costs, those are my orders. I expect to see those two soon.”

After I had ended the summons with Head Seeker Gabriel, I knew for a fact Head Seeker Gabriel was trying to comfort himself knowing that I would revive Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash once they got to AI’s castle.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

The next night at work after Oliver and I got engaged we had escorted the tenth drunk to the police. That started to get on my nerves just as much as Luke. He seemed to be having way too much fun messing with us about our engagement.

“What is this?” I said. “Drunk night or something? Too bad Discord isn’t here, he would be heaven and probably be heaven causing chaos himself! I don’t know how much liquor he can hold! Probably every single drink we have in the club!”

Oliver raised an eyebrow, “Who’s Discord?”

“You don’t want to know!” I said. “Let’s just he’s some idiot that Fluttershy fell head over heels for when she first met him. It’s just as bad as me being with Clara! I still have no idea how that happened. Knowing her, she was probably too busy eating to have a relationship in the first place! I wonder if that’s why everyone took her side on everything she probably bribed them with food!”

I rolled my eyes at Oliver’s laughter, “Yeah I should probably do stand up comedy as a side job!”

Oliver had a grin on his face as he pointed up at the moon and the moon was full out tonight. “It’s a full moon tonight, that’s probably why the drunks are coming out to play!”

“Aww, that’s cute!” I heard Luke laughing. “You two are already fighting like you’re married! When exactly are you going to set a date for the wedding yet?”

“I thought I already told you,” said Oliver, “we don’t know yet so lay off already!”

That just made Luke laugh even harder.

“I would stop answering that question if I were you!” I said. “It’s going to give him more ammunition to tease us.”

“Let’s hope we don’t have another Roman situation,” Oliver said. “I know what that look is for, you’re still worried about what they’re after aren’t you?”

I nodded, “I have a feeling that we’re going to find out soon though.”

I didn’t know how right I was until I looked in Luke’s direction and he paused as soon he started walking away. Oliver looked in horror as he noticed the same thing.

“Uh. Sadie?” Oliver. “Did Luke just stop walking or am I crazy?”

“Yeah see it…” I said horrified.

“You know if the world stops like this that can only mean one thing…” Oliver said.

I knew exactly what Oliver was talking about because we noticed it right when the world paused and Samantha said that Pinkie had every opportunity to use her pocket dimension for us to escape into. She did notice it first but she looked surprised when Oliver looked and saw them and we escaped into Oliver’s pocket dimension instead.

As soon as Oliver and I figured out why the world had paused we both panicked.

“It’s the seekers!” Oliver and I said.

When we panicked we finally figured out who the seekers were after, they were after us this entire time!

21) Kidnapping

{Rainbow Dash}

As soon as we noticed the seekers and who they were after. We didn’t realize that we weren’t able to move and couldn’t use our pocket dimensions to escape. That’s when we heard a menacing laugh and it was a laugh that would not only make your blood run cold but it actually make your blood freeze instead.

“Well, well, well,” cackled Gabriel, “it’s about time I got to speak with you two personally!”

“Personally?” I said. “But you’re the…”

Gabriel did his freeze blood laugh again, “You agents of the Sixth are about as dumb they come! If I were a code for Emily I would've done something to her by now! And I overheard you guys talking about my seekers!”

“Your seekers?” Oliver questioned.

“Yup!” Gabriel said. “My seekers! As a matter of fact, I’m the head of the seekers! Don’t you remember me, Agent Oliver? You know, damaging the 7th Gate? Hello! I do believe you and the other pest agents that were with you fought me that time.”

I looked to see that Oliver did indeed remember the guy because he didn’t look horrified; he looked pissed and he showed it by laughing at the guy.

“That’s hilarious Gabriel!” Oliver laughed wickedly. “The Machine sends help for the seekers to take us! Yeah I think you should consider doing stand up comedy! You don’t have to keep your day job on this one!”

“Whatever! And my title is Head Seeker Gabriel to you!” Gabriel snapped.

“Yeah, like I’m gonna show respect to you!” Oliver snarled.

“Aww that’s cute!” Gabriel taunted. “The kitten has brought it’s claws out again! Too bad you won’t be able to scratch me this time! You two didn’t even notice you were tied down until the world was paused. I did have some trouble pausing your agent friends but the remote worked a charm!”

I rolled my eyes and sneered at him, “Remote? Why does a Machine need a Tv remote to pause everyone?”

“Not everyone,” smirked Gabriel, “just pest agents of the Sixth! We would use it to eliminate your pests but the Lord doesn’t have the heart too! I don’t know why though!”

“Who exactly is this annoying Lord guy?” I asked. “Are we gonna find out anytime soon?”

Gabriel looked at us as if he had no idea of what we were talking about.

“I would tell you but the Lord doesn’t allow us to!” Gabriel said as he shifted his gaze. The type of look he had on his face was the look of a liar to me. “And I’m not sure he’ll make an appearance to you two! Because he’s very ticked off at both of you for doing damage to AI’s gates!”

Once again I raise an eyebrow, “AI?”

“What you call the Machine, its name is AI!” Gabriel growled.

“You’re just about as bad as fighting Eli!” I said. “You both get on my nerves!”

Gabriel did his freeze blood laugh again, “Did you just say, Eli? As in Firewall Eli?”

“So what if I did!” I snapped.

“Word on the street is you two were siblings at one point,” Gabriel taunted, “and when you fight each other the Lord gets a real kick out watching you two because you’d rather taunt each other rather than fight!”

“And that’s exactly what you’re doing!” I shouted. “I’m seriously gonna-”

I forgot I couldn’t move because I started to run towards Gabriel and I couldn’t move an inch. Gabriel seemed to be entertained by me and possibly Oliver because I could hear him snarling at the guy. Gabriel’s reaction to it was to do his freeze blood laugh. The more Gabriel did that the more I wanted to change into my pony form so I could go stomp on his head with my hooves.

“You wanna know something?” Gabriel said. “I had you two tied up before I even paused everything and you two didn’t even notice until now!”

“How is that even possible?” Oliver said.

“It was right after you pointed at the moon and said it was full and you couldn’t contain your laughter. I’m surprised you didn’t ask if you could bring the moon down to her and give that to her as an engagement ring instead! And you two are tied down with what we seekers call ‘the black rope of death’ mah haha!” Gabriel said.

“Why is that supposed to scare me?” I snarled.

“Because,” said Gabriel, “these ropes hold you still and I can decide what type of death I want to give you! But I’m not allowed to decide what type of death to give you. The Lord just wants you two knocked out by using this!”

Oliver gasped at what Gabriel was holding up. What he was holding in his hand was a small blue box that looked like it had a small thunderstorm inside.

“What is that thing?” I asked.

“It’s called a stunner!” Oliver exclaimed. “I’ve heard stories about it. Once that thing is put inside of you, then you’ll die a slow painful death! It’s just like the Copper but instead of dying a painless death or possibly recovering from it, there’s no way you can recover from it! Every agent that has had that put in them it’s game over the period!”

Gabriel did his freeze blood laugh again and this time he had a slow clap to it and smiled as he did it.

“Bravo!” Gabriel cheered a wicked cheer. “Looks like Agent Oliver has done his homework! And you pass with flying colors! Oh well while you two are very entertaining while you’re alive the Lord wants me to bring you to AI’s castle as soon as possible. As far as you go Agent Oliver I’m done having fun with you for now! You don’t seem to realize that you’re being strangled right now and I want to see how long you’ll fight to keep me from using the stunner on you! Agent Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, I’m waiting for someone special to kill her! I wonder if I should let him kill both of you! And Agent Rainbow Dash you’re being strangled too now!”

“Keep taunting me and I’m gonna-” I wheezed trying to get the words out. Gabriel was right. I didn’t know I was being strangled until he said something about it.

“Leave Rainbow Dash alone!” Oliver wheezed. “It’s me you want, let her go!”

“Actually,” said Gabriel, “I do believe I said this but the Lord wants both of you! So I can’t do that you pest! It looks like my partner will kill both of you after all! You two are just doing your jobs. I guess that’s within your nature considering you’ve been trained by the Sixth! Here’s my executioner right now!”

Right on cue Eli pulled up in his motorcycle and took his helmet. Like I did many times before as soon as he took his helmet off I snarled at him because of that stupid grin he had on his face. Oliver tried to snarl at him along with me.

Gabriel was smiling, tossing the stunner up in the air as if he were tossing a ball up and down.

“Perfect timing Firewall Eli!” Gabriel said. “It’s time we exterminate these two rodents!”

“It’s about time that’s for sure,” said Eli, “Rainbow Dash seems to have a bad habit of chomping down on my attacks lately and it’s getting annoying!”

Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh again. Afterwards he looked at us like he was impressed with us and why I had no idea.

“Interesting,” said Gabriel, “you guys have lasted a full five minutes of being strangled. I guess it’s because you are trying to do your jobs.”

“Would you stop taunting them Head Seeker Gabriel!” Eli snapped. “That’s my job!”

Gabriel snorted, “Sure, sure, here you go have fun with those two!”

Gabriel handed Eli the stunners and he smiled a smile that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“It’s too bad you’re not in your pegasus form,” said Eli, “ so you could do a skydive at me just so you could chomp on one of my attacks! You won’t be able to chomp down on this one. But I’ll kill your boyfriend first. That way you’ll get the pleasure of hearing him die!”

“No!” I wheezed. I listened and felt nothing but terror when I heard Oliver cry out in pain and then after a while, I heard nothing.

Eli gave his signature stupid grin to me, “Now it’s your turn! You’ll finally be out of my hair once and for all!”

Eli then took the stunner and pushed it into my chest. I felt extreme pressure at first and then the pain got worse and afterwards, the world started to go dark when I heard Eli whisper into my ear.

“My name is Firewall Eli,” Eli said, “and don’t you forget it!”

I could hear his menacing laughter as the world slowly went dark.

* * *

The next time I woke up was when I felt a bucket of water being dumped on my head. I knew that Eli did it because it was his favourite prank when I was stuck inside the Machine.

“Eli?” I said. “Don’t you think you’re getting a little too old for that?”

“How did you know it was me?” Eli laughed. “It could’ve been the Lord himself!”

Eli just couldn’t help but laugh at my expense.

“Judging by your laughter,” I said as I rolled my eyes, “you did it.”

“Just like old times huh Rainbow Dash?” Eli said.

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m so glad I could be the entertainment for tonight. I just like I do with everyone else.”

“Is that what you were talking about with the whole stand up comedy thing?” Eli said.

“Yeah and I still wonder when am I going to get paid for it!” I said. “You too, seriously! I’m not funny!”

“Yup you are!” Eli said, chuckling. “You should probably record yourself talking.”

“That’s exactly what Oliver tells me!” I growled. “I don’t think stand up comedy should be my day job! Now, if you don’t stop laughing so help me!”

I tried to get out of bed and felt an electric shock go through my body and it wasn’t the type of electric shock that I would get when ignoring my summons for an assignment.

“Ow! Hey was that for? Am I ignoring a summons for an assignment or something?” I said.

“Wow,” said Eli, “the Sixth does electric shocks like that?”

“It’s less than that, it just feels like a static shock and I wouldn’t put it past the Founders to step things up for that,” I responded.

“So what is that for?” Eli said.

I groaned, “It’s to make sure you report to your boss for an assignment. Sometimes a summons can happen when you’re sleeping and let’s just say it’s a rude awakening. What was that electric shock for?”

Eli answered. “It's a side effect of being revived from a stunner and yes Agent Oliver’s been revived too. He’s in the next room down the hall.”

“Next room?” I asked. I blinked. “I’m not in a dungeon?”

“Yes you’re in a room,” said Eli, “the Lord's orders were to put you in a room oh and you’re still in your human form.”

I put a hand up to see that I was indeed in my human form. “At least I can’t sleepwalk right now. Or at least I hope I can’t.”

“Sleepwalk?” Eli repeated.

“Yeah it’s been happening recently,” I explained, “especially since I’m getting my memory back and of course a lot of the memories are about flying and it’s getting on my nerves. Apparently, when I’m a pegasus I fly in my sleep, I didn’t find out I crashed into a wall while trying to save someone in my sleep. Hey seriously, again! I’m not that funny!”

“So what do you do about it?” Eli said while laughing.

“Oliver tied me to the bed by my ankle,” I said, “and apparently when I was a pegasus back in Equestria the same thing happened with my hoof. So let me ask you this before you start laughing again, where am I?”

“It’s about time you finally asked that question! You’re at AI’s castle in what you call ‘the Machine’.” Eli said.

“The Machine as a castle?” I said.

“Yes, AI has a castle,” said Eli, “think of it as AI’s headquarters. How do you think the Lord rules over it?”

“Seriously!” I said. I rolled my eyes and then said in a mocking tone, “The Lord this, the Lord that honestly! It’s getting on my nerves! Knock it off Eli!”

I guess I must be funny, just like Oliver said I just can’t help myself can I?

“What happened to Oliver?” I said. “If I recall correctly the Lord guy was upset with him too!”

“The Lord has allowed him to live along with you and I have no idea why,” Eli said. “And I forgot to congratulate you on your engagement with Agent Oliver. He’s better than Code Silas any day!”

Did I just hear that correctly, or have I gone nuts? I have no idea, that might be another side effect from getting hit by a stunner!

Eli looked like he was amused by my reaction, “No you’re not going nuts Rainbow Dash, can’t a big brother be happy for his little sister?”

“I’m not so sure that posing as my brother while inside AI counts as being a big brother,” I said. “And if you start laughing again I swear…”

Eli rolled his eyes, “Oh come on Rainbow Dash I’m not evil all the time.”

“Yeah and telling me ‘I'm Firewall Eli and don’t you forget it' before I passed out isn’t evil how?” I said.

Eli laughed again as if I had just told another joke. “Oh just said that dramatic effect! Like I told Head Seeker Gabriel, taunting you is my job because for some reason the Lord gets a real out of watching us do that.”

“I guess the dialogue before a fight is more interesting than the fight itself,” I said.

As Eli started to laugh again, I laughed along with him. Then we heard another laugh join in, it was a laugh that sounded like it belonged to someone that would live in the countryside. Eli stopped laughing when he turned around to see that Applejack had decided to visit me.

* * *

Much to my surprise as soon as Eli saw Applejack he stood up so quickly that I didn’t have time to blink. He had taken out his weapons, one of them was the usual barrier that he would use to fight me and the other weapon he had in his other hand was a dagger that looked a lot like the one that I would use while fighting him.

“Life Force Applejack,” snarled Eli, “do you want to tell me what you’re doing here?”

“Oh?” Applejack said with a hateful voice. “I just wanted to pay RD a little visit!”

“RD?” Eli said. “I do believe her name is Rainbow Dash. I know, she’s told me that penalty of times!”

“It is,” said Applejack, “it’s just a pet name that I have for my ex-girlfriend!”

“The two letters are ‘E’ and ‘X’ for a reason,” I said, “Apple Lair!”

“I do believe I asked what you’re doing here?” Eli snarled glaring at Applejack.

“I just wanted to confront RD with some information that I just found out!” Applejack said.

“And what might that be?” I snapped.

“Life Force Fluttershy is dead because of you!” Applejack said.

“Why is Fluttershy’s death my fault?” I said.

“Even though you didn’t kill her you might’ve well had,” said Applejack, “you just didn’t want to get your hands dirty!”

“What are you talking about?” I said. “I don’t remember giving an order to kill her!”

“Life Force Fluttershy was killed and it should have been you instead!” Applejack cried. “I don't know why the Lord killed her over killing you!”

“Now I know you’re not that stupid Life Force Applejack!” Eli shouted.

“I know!” Applejack shouted back. “I just wanted RD to know that it should’ve been her that Lord should’ve killed instead!”

“How is me not dying my fault?” I said. I tilted my head. “I don’t get it!”

“You know very good and well that if the Lord kills someone himself then that person was a threat to AI itself!” Eli roared.

“I doubt that Firewall Eli,” said Applejack, “Life Force Fluttershy would never be a threat to AI and you know it! RD is the one who did damage to AI’s gates and not Life Force Fluttershy.”

“Just because she didn’t do damage to a gate doesn’t mean she wasn’t a threat to AI!” Eli said.

“Just like people think that you wouldn’t tell a lie Apple Lair!” I said. “Or did you forget about Silas?”

Applejack gave me a wicked smile, “That’s right I know all about Silas. Me and Life Force Fluttershy set it up! And I had so much fun teasing you about it afterwards! Didn’t I RD? That’s because of your reaction to it!”

“You did what?” Eli gasped.

“Yup,” said Applejack, “and I was just doing my job too!”

“Excuse me?” I snarled at her. “Your job was to have someone assault me? Really! If you ask me you’re the one that’s the threat.”

“I agree with Rainbow Dash on that one,” said Eli, “and no that was not your job!”

“Oh, I think the Lord owes me a debt of gratitude for him even being born!” Applejack said.

“Oh really?” Eli said. “Because a Code can do its job on its own and does not need any help!”

I really couldn’t believe what I had just heard and what I was seeing on top of that. The Lord owes Applejack a debt of gratitude for being born? Applejack also blames me for Fluttershy’s death and Eli is protecting me from her.

I must’ve hit my head something before I got hit by the stunner! I’m going to check myself into the ‘off your rocker’ place when I get back to the Sixth! That is if I get back to the Sixth!

The next thing I knew Applejack stomped her hoof and charged at Eli who was ready to kill her if need be. When Applejack charged at Eli he threw his dagger at her and it grazed her ear and shattered disappearing afterwards.

Applejack laughed, “Ha! You missed Firewall Eli! And I thought you had better aim than that! From what I was told you had a bad aim when you fought Agent Oliver and that’s how he destroyed the 7th Gate!”

Eli rolled his eyes. “If I recall correctly you messed up big on your assignment too! So I don’t think you have any ammunition to taunt me on that one!”

“Oh,” said Applejack, “cause from the way I see it, I did my job better than you!”

“Helping Code Silas out was not your job!” Eli roared at her. “Because of your stupidity, all of the elements of harmony have broken out of AI!”

“My stupidity?” Applejack snarled.

“Yes, your stupidity!” Eli said. “Did you not hear a word I just said! In case you didn’t know, but it seems you didn't, so let me give you a lesson on what your job was when you were happily assisting Code Silas on his job! You were supposed to be keeping the gates shut that had the elements of harmony in them! And because of you not doing your job, they’re all out of AI now. And Life Force Fluttershy was supposed to be helping you!”

“And you should be admitting your stupidity too!” Applejack said. “Because you couldn’t squash a bug agent even with the help of Head Seeker Gabriel thanks to you two the 7th Gate got destroyed!”

“That’s because five other agents were fighting along with Agent Oliver that day!” Eli snapped. “I was only able to hit two of those agents with the Copper that day. And Life Force Applejack you know for a fact that Head Seeker Gabriel can’t hit targets that fast! And that’s even with the ropes of death! The ropes of death only work when the world is paused! Back then there was no way that Head Seeker Gabriel could pause agents of the Sixth!”

“Aww,” said Applejack, “I would feel sorry for you but I don’t!”

“And I don’t feel sorry for you!” Eli said. “And you know for a fact that back then I wasn’t a fully developed Firewall! Actually, Firewalls were just being created, and that’s why we couldn’t do our fighting as fast as the agents of the Sixth were. I was just in the testing phase myself and I still don’t have any idea why AI would send me to pose as your brother Rainbow Dash.”

“Wait for a second,” said Applejack, “if you were posing as her brother then why didn’t you assist Code Silas?”

“You’re the definition of stupid you know that Life Force Applejack?” Eli said. “Codes do not need assistance in doing their jobs! That’s why I left Rainbow Dash, I was informed that a Code was being sent to her and I wasn’t needed to pose as her brother anymore. So I left and went to go do my job just like you should’ve been doing yours!”

Yup! I’m off my rocker! I need help!

The look on my face must’ve said it all because Applejack went into hard laughter.

“You should see the look on your face RD!” Applejack said.

Applejack stomped her hoof and looked at me menacingly as if she were trying to intimidate me but I wasn’t scared of her just like I wasn’t afraid of the Copper. I was about to get ready to get out of bed and push Eli out the way of Applejack when Eli gave me a look of panic. That puzzled me because I didn't know what that look was for. When I tried to get to our bed I felt the electric shock go through my body again and I couldn’t move.

“Don’t get out of bed! Please don’t Rainbow Dah!” Eli begged.

Applejack snorted, “That’s cute! A Firewall is concerned about an element of harmony! Weren’t the elements of harmony supposed to be a threat to AI? But of course, Life Force Fluttershy is dead because of the element of loyalty! So I’d step aside and let me kill her if I were you!”

“I do believe I have a name!” I growled. “For crying out loud, it’s Rainbow Dash!”

Eli didn’t laugh when I said that this time, he looked pissed at Applejack. When he saw the look on my face he was even more mad.

“The first dagger that I threw and missed was a warning shot!” Eli said.

“I wouldn’t charge at me if I were you, Apple Lair,” I said. “Eli does have better aim now and if I had my weapon, I’d add fuel to the fire.”

“That’s cute,” said Applejack, “Loyalty complimenting you! Actually, that’s pretty funny!”

“Thank you Rainbow Dash,” said Eli, “I think I can fight my own battle here. I was getting ready to say the next dagger won’t miss!”

Applejack stomped her hoof again and just as Eli was about ready to throw his dagger the next thing I knew, a thick needle that was about a foot long shot inside Applejack's shoulder and didn’t exit through it. When Eli saw that happen he quickly put away his weapons.

“Your highness!” Eli said. He then bowed to the guy that was standing in the doorway and the guy that Eli was bowing to did not look happy at all.

22) Meeting Jude

{Rainbow Dash}

I stared at the guy in the doorway in wonder. The guy looked like he stood about as tall as I was. He was dressed a lot differently than Finn was or Samantha for that matter. He didn’t have a trench coat or anything like that with his outfit. It looked like he was wearing a black suit and black pants complete with black shoes and black cape to match. He had jet black hair and he wore black tinted glasses. The way the guy was standing in the doorway he pulled off the word 'authority' a lot better than Twilight any day. The guy standing in the doorway might as well have had a sign hanging around his neck that said the word ‘authority’ on it.

I looked over to see Applejack shaking in terror when she turned her head to see the guy in the doorway. I snorted and went into a fit of laughter.

“That’s not funny RD!” Applejack said.

“I thought I told you my name is Rainbow Dash!” I snapped. “And that’s what is to you Apple Lair! You don’t have the right to give me a pet name anymore! Just like I told Pinkie Pie it’s in the past and the past is where it will stay! You wanna know why I’m laughing because you weren’t even afraid of your own parents back in Equestria!”

“How did you…” Applejack said.

“Remember?” I said. “In case you didn’t realize this I’m out of AI and I’ve got most of my memories back now! And from what I can remember you couldn’t tell a lie to save your life! But you did and that’s exactly why your element of harmony is not working! My element of harmony is working just fine! And yours isn’t!”

I added extra effect to my taunting when I stuck my tongue out at her.

“You’re acting like a child now RD!” Applejack said.

“Oh! What are you gonna do about it?” I said, still taunting her.

The guy in the doorway looked amused by my taunting and added more fuel to the fire by giving Applejack an annoyed hiss. I looked to see Eli almost flinch but he stopped himself because he knew who the hiss was for. If I didn't know any better, I’d say that Eli was afraid of the guy standing in the doorway too. I don’t blame him on that one; the way the guy carried himself almost made me afraid. But I wanted to taunt Applejack some more instead I chose not to because I figured just like Eli the guy in the doorway could handle her. That was fine by me.

I had a feeling the guy in the doorway was this Lord guy everyone had been telling me about. The guy hissed at Applejack again and this time Eli didn’t flinch or show any signs of being afraid this time because he knew why the guy in the doorway was annoyed.

“Your highness,” Applejack said with a nervous laugh, “fancy meeting you here…”

“Life Force Applejack!” The guy roared. “What is the name of AI are you doing here? And more importantly why are you trying to kill my mother?”

Did he just say, mother? The last time I checked Jude should be two years old by now! I don't think a baby can grow up in two years to be a guy that looks like he’s in his early twenties! There’s no way, that’s Jude! No way! I’m not that guy's mother! Just like Loyalty said, I'm the strongest connection for the elements of harmony! Nope, if this is twenty questions again I’m not playing, unless hallucinations are also a side effect of getting hit by a stunner!

“So that’s why she gets to live instead of Life Force Fluttershy?” Applejack snapped.

“Don’t you take that tone with me Life Force Applejack!” The guy roared. “It’s about time I should do something about you! AI’s alerted me to you being a direct threat to it!”

“Why does Rainbow Dash get to live?” Applejack cried. “She did damage to two of your gates! Life Force Fluttershy didn’t do that!”

“You know good and well that if I kill someone personally,” said the guy, ”then they were a direct threat and you know it! AI doesn’t feel that mother’s a threat now and it’s not your decision on what AI thinks is a threat or not!”

If Applejack dies I’m not taking on any more connections and there’s no way I’m going to become an Alicorn! That element is going to have to find another connection and fast! No way in hell is I doing that just like when I didn’t want to change into Rainbow Dash! Nope! No way!

Don’t worry Rainbow Dash, Loyalty said inside of my head we’ll figure something out! Just like you thought we’ll work on finding new connections! And if we don’t right away then Honesty will have to go to the ‘magic realm’ for now.

Okay? I responded Why are you talking to me right now? I thought you went silent when someone evil was around?

Because I’m talking inside of your head right now. Loyalty said.

And why didn’t you do that before? I replied.

Because there wasn’t an emergency like this! Loyalty said. This is a red alert emergency! This only time when we talk inside your head along with the shouting to protect true love! Our elements are going to have an emergency meeting in the ‘magic realm’ right now! We’ll talk to Generosity to see if it’s connection will take Honesty in. And Rainbow Dash?

Yes, Loyalty? I said

That guy sitting at your bedside wants to have a word with you! Loyalty said You probably look lost in thought to him! You should probably talk to him sooner or later! I don’t think he’ll go away until you talk to him! Oh sorry, we couldn’t protect you from the stunner! I can only use a little bit of my magic to protect you. It was just me and Kindness! We had to leave once the stunner went in! Kindness and I are very surprised that it didn’t trigger a power surge! We think that maybe because it was a different type of power that it didn’t trigger a power surge! I recorded what happened and our elements will review what we saw and try to figure out what happened! So we’ll be going! See you later!

After Loyalty and Kindness went silent I was almost afraid to look at the guy who was sitting at my bedside might be Jude, that’s because I was thinking no way, that's Jude! If that’s Jude then I thought I was stuck back inside the Machine or AI or whatever this thing is called.

When I finally looked at the guy he was sitting there with an amused look on his face. The same look that he had when I was recently taunting Applejack. There was silence between us and the guy spoke first, “How old do you think that the baby you left behind is Rainbow Dash?”

I looked away, “Jude should be two years old by now…”

I looked at the guy to see that he was practically choking on what I just said. He punched his chest and regained his composure.

“That’s not exactly what happens to babies that are sent out by AI.” The guy said.

I raised an eyebrow at him in surprise and disbelief, “Come again?”

“The AI’s only sent out a handful of babies to people that have been inside it.” The guy said. “I’m not sure why that happens either. I’m a computer program that was created by AI seven years ago. No one that works for AI knows why it created me and it picked me to be its ruler.”

My jaw dropped when he said that, “But babies don’t usually grow up that fast!”

“Normal babies don’t grow up that fast,” the guy explained, “babies that AI sends out usually go from helpless babies to an adult within two years! But because I was picked to be AI’s ruler I went from a helpless baby to a young adult within weeks.”

“What?” I gasped.

Nope! I’m dreaming, there’s no way that’s Jude!

The guy then held out his right hand and to my surprise, he had the same birthmark that Jude did. I remember looking at it because it looked like a grey cloud or at least that’s what it reminded me of.

“Does this birthmark look familiar to you?” The guy asked.

I nodded my head slowly, not sure of what to think. At this point, I felt sure that I was dreaming and I slapped myself just to make sure I was awake. Feeling the sting from the slap told me I was awake. It made me flashback to when I would feel Jude’s birthmark and for some reason, it lit up and after that, he would automatically go to sleep. I remembered doing that because that was the only thing that would help Jude fall asleep if giving him a bottle didn’t work.

The guy then put his hand in mine and I felt his birthmark and it did the same thing Jude’s did only this time he didn’t fall asleep he just sat there and smiled at me.

When I saw what happened to the guy's birthmark I panicked.

“Nope!” I said. “No way! There’s no way you’re Jude!”

Jude smiled at me, “I know why you’re panicking and yes I’m your son Jude! For some reason AI allowed me to remember you that way. It was like I knew that somehow we would be separated someday. I’m glad you broke out of AI when you did.”

“And why’s that?” I said.

“Because if you hadn’t broken out of AI,” said Jude, “then AI would’ve sent someone and I’m going to assume that AI would’ve sent the seekers for me and you would’ve had all of your memories of me erased. I’m so glad I finally got to meet you. I’ve been waiting so long for this to happen. I’m just glad First Mother didn’t find a reason for AI to have me kill you.”

At this point, I wanted to get out of bed and I had no idea why, probably because my brain was still trying to process the information that I had just been given. I didn’t realize that I had moved because I got another electric shock going through my body.

“Yeah,” I said, “I don’t think I’ll be sleep walking anytime soon. Oh, give me a break! I’m not funny!”

Jude was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

“You sleepwalk?” Jude chuckled.

“It started happening after I started getting my memories back,” I said, “and most of them are about flying back in Equestria! And a lot of times I would lose my flight pattern and crash! That’s probably why I earned the nickname Rainbow Crash. And if you laugh at something I say one more time…”

Jude couldn’t help himself this time he was laughing so hard he just about fell out of his chair.

“You are pretty hilarious,” said Jude after he stopped laughing, “especially when you’re taunting Firewall Eli! Sending him to fight you is entertaining.”

“He was posing as my brother when I was inside AI,” I said, “so it came as a surprise when I found out he was a Firewall. When I saw him when I was fighting at the gates he really got on my nerves! And the whole ‘my names Firewall Eli and if you value your lives turn back now’ line pretty much added fuel to the fire! Seriously! I’m not a stand-up comedian, that should be Pinkie Pie’s job.”

Jude went into uncontrollable laughter yet again. He composed himself again and raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Pinkie Pie?”

I groaned, “An ex-girlfriend of mine that’s a food-crazed nut and thinks that everyone she dates is her toy. She was pissed off when she found out that Oliver and I are together now! That nut does not know how to take no for an answer! She still thinks that I’m going to marry when I’ve told her no. Apparently, according to Samantha, she thinks Oliver’s going to marry her too. And he made the mistake of dating her just like I did.”

“Wow…” Jude’s responded.

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “How she got assigned to break me out of AI, I have no idea. Even when I was inside she was too busy eating than doing any work. I don't know who's more annoying Pinkie Pie or Eli! I do believe payback is for him dumping a bucket of water on my head.”

“Yeah, you blame me for that one!” Jude said. “I gave him the go-ahead to do that. The actual thing he did on his own.”

“I take it you didn’t know that was his favorite prank to do when I was inside AI?” I said.

“Yeah, I did,” Jude said. “AI recorded a lot of what he did while you were inside. Of course, you had your fair share of pranks too!”

I laughed at that, “Yeah I know, one time I blindfolded him and made him go bungee jumping with me as payback for the bucket of water dumped on my head prank. That got old after a while.”

“I would get tired of that if I were his sibling,” Jude said. “No wonder why you taunt each other so much!”

“Yeah and I’ll keep doing it every chance I get,” I said. “That guy gets on my nerves, he's always calling me Loyalty during a fight and that is not my name!”

“Is that why you keep chomping down on his attacks and declaring that you're Rainbow Dash?” Jude asked.

“Yup,” I said, “you guessed it! He just has to keep taunting me with that. At least he didn’t call me Rainbow Crash just so I could take out the Firewall, that was Agent Grace’s bright idea! And she almost got me and Agent Emma killed in the process!”

“Yup you’re entertaining alright!” Jude said. “Do you even record what you say sometimes?”

“That’s exactly what Oliver tells me to do!” I growled. “And no, I’m not doing stand up comedy any more than I want to become an Alicorn or have top ranks in the Sixth! Nope, no way, I don’t want it!”

Jude smiled at me, “I’m not surprised that you would make top ranks in the Sixth! I wonder if that’s why AI picked you to give birth to me? What rank are you at now?”

“I’m the fifth top agent at my job right now,” I said, “apparently I’m moving further up the ranks too! No thanks, I’m good with being number five. I don’t need to be number one. But I guess I can’t help because I’m just doing my job and I don’t think twice about it. That’s how I became a Wonderbolt back in Equestria. They had their eyes on me back at the academy for quite some time. And I’m getting tired of people being so eager to meet me!”

“I’m not surprised though,” Jude said. “If you’re that good at what you do, why wouldn’t people want to meet you?”

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m just a regular agent of the Sixth. And I’m getting sick of tired of the stupid line that Gilda keeps saying and now everyone at the Sixth is saying too! I still think it’s a big fat lie!”

Jude tilted his head and smiled, “What are they saying?”

I groaned, “I’m tough, I’m fast and I’m the definition of the word awesome! Yeah, big fat lie! That’s not funny Jude! And why do I even bother?”

“You know they’re correct right?” Jude said with an amused look on his face.

I rolled my eyes and I still didn’t want to believe what everyone was saying.

“Yeah no,” I said, “like I said, big fat lie! Why does it hurt so much to move right now?”

Of course, I just had to try to get out of bed again and once again that electricity went through my body.

“The stunner’s side effect unfortunately is a pain for a little bit,” said Jude, “from what I’ve seen a lot of times it only lasts for a day or two. So the sooner you rest the sooner the pain will go away.”

Jude pointed to the dresser that was on the other side of the room and my weapon and everything that I had on me when I got hit by the stunner was laying there.

“The sooner you rest the sooner you can break out of here and tell me visiting hours are over with,” Jude said. “And expect guards to be outside your room so it won’t be so easy to escape here. When you leave you won’t be able to find the castle again. AI is very protective of it just like Agent Oliver is overprotective of you. You’ll probably escape along with Agent Oliver knowing him, he’ll be looking for you pretty soon. So I guess this is goodbye. I’ll be watching you though. I’ll probably be sending Firewall Eli to fight you every once in a while so you two can be the entertainment.”

“Yeah…” I said. I didn’t want to say goodbye to Jude but knowing that he’ll be watching me in a sense kind of made me feel better about this. I nodded at Jude as he got up and left.

24) Escape from AI's castle

{Rainbow Dash}

I had enough of being locked inside a room. So I finally changed into my clothes that I had come in here with when I got hit by the stunner and I grabbed my weapon and said goodbye to Jude.

Before I started to throw my daggers at the door to get out, I felt a huge surge of power go through me. I thought that maybe I was still under the effects of the stunner but this felt nothing like that. Before I had woken up, I had another memory of what it felt like to do a sonic rainboom. The surge of power felt like that instead of what a stunner felt like. I didn’t have a clue as to why I would even do a sonic rainboom because I was still in human form and not a pegasus at the moment.

Uh… Loyalty? I said inside my head Am I about to do a sonic rainboom?

Nope! Loyalty said I don’t know what’s getting ready to happen and no I’m not giving you any of my magic for this either! Remember you’re the strongest connection as far as the elements of harmony go!

Uh… Kindness? I said

Nope! Kindness said I’m not giving you magic either! And what Loyalty just said is very true! It’s your magic not ours!

Honestly you guys! I said

In case you haven’t noticed Loyalty said Honesty isn’t here and we’re just going to sit back and watch the show! I just wish I had the ability to eat something! As your friends would say, where's the popcorn when you need it?

Okay this is weird! I said.

I looked down to see a rainbow circling me as if it were a hula hoop. The rainbow hula hoop then took my daggers off my chain and added it to it and it looked like the hula hoop had spikes circulating around me with it.

Okay, this is new!

After a little while, the spiked rainbow hula hoop shot out from spinning around my waist and busted open the door as if it were dynamite. As soon as I stepped out of my there were guards blocking my way.

“You do realize that you’re supposed to stay in your room Rainbow Dash?” One of the guard’s said.

“Yeah no…” I said. “I’m out of here! Bye!”

I looked to see that my daggers were back on my iron chain so I took one of them and aimed it at the guards. I threw it and hit its mark and went through the guard's shoulder. It wasn’t enough to kill him because I’m not the type that wants to kill in a fight unless I have to. I don’t even like the thought of killing Eli. Once the dagger went through the guy's shoulder he fell to the ground.

“Honestly Rainbow Dash!” Another guard scolded. “Go back into your room!”

“Ha, ha,” I cracked up, “I don’t think the element of honesty wants you as its connection even if it was here!”

Loyalty and Kindness must’ve found that statement entertaining because they cracked up at this statement.

I’m not doing stand up comedy now! Now is not the time for this!

“Fine then Rainbow Dash!” Another guard growled at me. “If you won’t go back into your room, then we'll just make you back!”

“Oh?” I said, sticking my tongue out. “Good luck trying to do that! Like I said before bye!”

I didn’t get ten feet away from the door to my room when another set of guards surrounded me. It reminded me of when I fought the Changelings when they attacked at Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armors wedding.

The guards quickly advanced towards me and I started throwing daggers at them one by one. It was as if I were passing out cards from a deck at family game night. Eli would always cheat on every card game we played. That’s where most of the pranking each other came from.

After that set of guards were taken care of and then another set of gaurds followed and they said the same line as the last set of guards said ‘if you won’t go back into your room then we’ll just have to make you’ it reminded me of that t stupid line Eli would say before a fight. After taking that set of guards down the next set said the same thing.

This is getting old fast!

In the middle of taking down the next guards with the same stupid line every single I heard Oliver cry out for me, “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!”

I looked up to a blue rope attached to the ceiling and just like Daring Do would do he swung himself and landed in the middle of the guards right where I was.

“It’s about time my knight in shining armor got here!” I said sarcastically.

Oliver started laughing at my expense while taking down as many of the guards that he possibly could in the process.

“Oh give me a break!” I growled as I kept taking out the guards. “I’m not funny!”

“Uh-huh,” said Oliver, “keep talking! Maybe you can make the guards laugh themselves to death!”

“Ha, ha, they’re too busy saying the ‘go back inside your room line instead!’”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this Lord guy who claims to be your son this is his idea of a practical joke! Maybe we should send him to Finn for Phase 2.”

I laughed, “Yeah I’m not so sure that trigger responses will work on him. Although you could try throwing paper balls at him. I don’t think kissing him would speed up the process!”

Oliver snorted.

“I’m surprised that you can aim at anything while doing your fighting,” I said.

“You should talk!” Oliver teased. “You’re the one that keeps damaging things while you fight!”

Right when Oliver said that I had thrown a dagger and it cracked a hole in the wall behind the guard that I just took down.

Oliver saw that and grinned. “See, I told you so!”

“Too bad Eli isn’t here or Agent Grace so she can call me Rainbow Crash so I can take him out!” I cracked up.

“Maybe Agent Grace should be the element of stupidity instead,” Oliver said.

“Incoming!” Without thinking I put my hand up and what looked like a rainbow laser with a dagger attached to it shot out of my hand and cancelled the attack that almost chopped off Oliver’s head!

After that happened once again the attack put another hole in the wall where the attack landed.

“Are you trying to bring the castle down on us before we can escape?” Oliver asked.

“Hey I can’t help it,” I said, “for some reason, my magic decided to come out now when it should’ve come out for the stunner!”

“No kidding! Let’s just get out of here already! These guards are getting on my nerves! I don't know which is worse, the guards, Eli or Gilda?”

“I think it's a tie!”

“I think it’s time to use another high-level attack now,” Oliver said.

Much to my surprise, the weapon that I saw Oliver take out looked a lot like his barrier shield. This time he had one in each hand and they were spinning very fast. He put the two shields together and they started spinning even faster. The spinning was just enough to make the guards separate them as if he were walking down an aisle up to a stage. As we separated the guards I was taking down as many of them as I could. I didn’t think that I was going that fast, I just couldn’t help but think that I wanted to get out of this stupid castle.

“You know, you don’t have to go that fast!” Oliver said.

“I’m trying to get out of this stupid castle just like you are!” I snapped.

Oliver couldn’t block a really fast attack that came towards me fast enough because the attack was a spear that moved so fast I didn’t even notice that it had gone through my shoulder. Oliver looked at me in horror because I had been injured and my magic decided that it was time for another attack to come out. I looked down to see that instead of a rainbow hula hoop, a mini rainbow tornado spinning underneath me.

“What are you doing?” Oliver said.

“I have no idea,” I said, “but I have a feeling you might want to grab my hand for this one!”

“Huh?” Oliver said.

“Just grab my hand!” I shouted.

Oliver grabbed me and made sure that I held on tight. What happened next happened so fast I had no idea it was happening. The mini rainbow tornado shot me and Oliver out and we went flying so fast because of it. We flew so fast that before I knew it we had busted out of the exit of the castle. Jude did say that we wouldn’t be able to find the castle that worked for me

I still didn’t know that I had been injured until I heard the panic in Oliver's voice.

“Rainbow Dash!” I heard Oliver say.

“What’s the matter?” I said in a daze. “We’re outside of the castle aren’t we?”

“No that’s not what I’m panicking about!” Oliver said. “You’re injured and bad! Don’t worry I’m sending up a distress signal now! Just hold on the Sixth will be picking us up soon I’m sure of it!”

“Huh?” I said the last thing I thought wasthat it’s annoying that I’m the one that’s always passing out and then I passed out.

* * *

The next time I woke up I heard Oliver and to my surprise, Twilight let out a sigh of relief. As soon as I looked at Twilight and saw her excitement for some reason this response annoyed me. I finally remembered that when Twilight gets excited about something she won’t quit bugging you until you tell her the story behind what happened and knowing her, she’s going to want to find some scientific explanation for what happened. That’s especially if it sounds too good to be true.

“Hi Rainbow!” Twilight said excitedly. “I’m so glad you’re back! I couldn’t wait to see you because I hadn’t seen you for awhile after you got hit by the Copper! I’m just surprised Loyalty didn’t protect you!”

“Honestly Princess Twilight,” said Loyalty, “you know good and well that if there’s nothing our elements can do even with our magic alone there was no way we could’ve protected her or Oliver for that matter!”

Twilight gasped, “I can’t believe you would talk to other people besides your bearers! That is unthinkable, how dare you!”

“I do believe I reserve the right to talk to anyone I please!” Loyalty snapped.

“Don’t get cocky with me, you element of harmony!” Twilight growled.

“Oh,” Loyalty taunted her, “what are you gonna do about me you spoiled brat! If I recall correctly you need all of us to shut down the Machine or AI if you please.”

“I’m not going to be talked that way by an element of harmony!” Twilight said. “And Rainbow Dash should tell me her story so I can analyze it for her!”

Oliver and I couldn’t help but laugh at Twilight arguing with a stone.

“Well, two people need to be taught some manners!” Twilight said. “And since you don’t remember because you were stuck inside the Machine I would think you would want me to help you out!”

“No,” I said, “the event of escaping from the castle just happened recently. I don’t need help from you for that.”

“But you were stuck inside the Machine for eight years!” Twilight exclaimed. “You don’t know what’s up or down anymore!”

I rolled my eyes at her and smirked. “The last time I checked…”

I pointed to the ceiling and I could see Oliver trying his best to hold in his laughter.

“The ceiling is up,” I pointed to the floor, “and the floor is down! I think I pretty much know how that goes and I don’t think I need a scientific explanation for that!”

Oliver couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore and I laughed just to be spiteful to her.

“How dare you laugh at me!” Twilight snarled. “And you Loyalty, how dare you talk to other people besides your bearer.”

“I think some spoiled brat needs to learn some manners too!” Loyalty said. “I just can’t believe you would argue with a fellow element of harmony! I’m surprised Magic hasn’t told you to take a hike!”

“Princess Twilight!” I heard Finn roar. Twilight turned around to glare at Finn standing in the doorway.

“Exactly why are you harassing Agent Rainbow Dash after she just got back from a stressful adventure?” Finn snapped.

“Harassing Rainbow!” Twilight roared back at Finn. “Rainbow Dash is my friend and I can talk to her whenever I please.”

“Actually,” said Oliver, “I don’t know how you got past the nurses to get in here! I specifically told them that Rainbow doesn’t need to be bothered by people like you right now. Now that you’re bothering her I have no choice.”

Just like when Eli saw Applejack standing in the doorway of my room Oliver took out his weapon and I looked over to see that Finn had done the same thing. Twilight stomped her and looked like a bull getting ready to charge when Magic took us all by surprise and started to speak.

“Princess Twilight,” scolded Magic, “Rainbow Dash’s friends are completely correct. What they are doing is protecting their friend and you should’ve been doing the same thing! Why you didn't do everything in your power to get all of the elements of harmony working is beyond me! And if you charge the guy at Rainbow Dash’s bedside or the guy standing in the doorway then you’re not a Princess of Friendship, not one little bit.”

Loyalty spoke next, “The guy sitting at Rainbow Dash’s bedside is Oliver, the one she’s going to get married to. The guy standing in the doorway is Finn. He's Rainbow Dash’s friend. That’s so true considering the way he’s protecting her right now.”

“I can’t believe that my star student would have such bad manners!” I heard an angelic voice say. Just like Eli did when he saw Jude, Finn and Oliver quickly put their weapons away and Iwas surprised to see that they were bowing to Princess Celestia!

“Your highness!” Finn and Oliver said.

As soon as Princess Celestia saw them bowing at her, her reaction looked very comical to me. She basically rolled her eyes at them and I tried so hard not to laugh but I wasn’t successful at it.

“That’s not funny Rainbow!” Twilight snapped. “How dare you laugh at Princess Celestia! All three of you should be thrown in a dungeon. Especially you too Loyalty just for talking to others besides your bearers! And I should throw you in a dungeon for the same thing, Magic!”

Princess Celestia did a face hoof and shook her head. “I can’t believe that what I’ve been hearing around the castle is correct! That you have been acting like a spoiled brat and on your high throne!”

“Hum,” teased Loyalty, “sounds familiar, doesn’t it Magic!”

“Yeah, yeah I know…” Magic said.

“But… But….” Twilight said. “They were getting ready to kill me!”

“Not from what I just saw,” said Princess Celestia crossing her hooves, “Magic is right Oliver and Finn are protecting their friend which is exactly what you should’ve been doing oh Princess of Friendship! How you got that title I have no idea, but only you know how that happened and you should think back on why that happened in the first place!”

“We don’t know how that happened either,” said Magic, “it was probably my fault and I do apologize for that.”

Everyone in the room except Twilight of course snorted and laughed even Magic and Loyalty joined in. Twilight on the other hand growled and snarled at us. Princess Celestia snarled back at Twilight.

“Are you snarling at me, Princess Twilight?” Princess Celestia said. “You spoiled brat.”

“But Princess Celestia!” Twilight whined. “They started it!”

“No they didn’t,” said Loyalty, “you started it from the very moment Rainbow Dash woke up. Not to mention she passed out because of a serious injury! And I don't think that she wants to tell her story when she first wakes up!”

“Yup,” said Magic, “Loyalty is correct, the only one that should’ve been in here should be Oliver and Finn along with him.”

Princess Celestia nodded in agreement. “I thought that you were ready to take the throne twelve years ago when I stepped down and handed it over to you! There's a reason why there’s a royal court that was set up along with the royal family! It’s to keep pig-headed rulers like you from deciding what’s punishable or not just because of what that ruler feels like it is because of how they're feeling that day.”

“And spoiled brat,” said Magic, “I am just like Loyalty. I reserve the right to talk to whoever I please! Looks like I’m going to have to go to the ‘magic realm’ until I can find a new connection unless…”

“Oh no,” I said, cutting Magic off, “I’m not taking on any more connections!”

Where’re those stupid drums when you need them? If Oliver and Finn would stop laughing at every other thing I say that would be great!

“I kind of agree with Rainbow Dash,” said Magic, “it’s not funny. Being a protector is serious business! And Oliver?”

“Yes, Magic?” Oliver said.

“Being a connection to an element of harmony isn’t a responsibility,” said Magic, “it’s something that needs to happen for us elements to do our job. So just think about taking Kindness on okay?”

“How did you…” Oliver said.

“We told the other elements when we had that emergency meeting right after Fluttershy broke her necklace.” Kindness said.

“Well,” said Magic, “I shall take my leave now, I’m headed to the ‘magic realm.’ No, I won’t play the prank again! I don’t want to create any more Alicorns if I can help it!”

“Now come with me spoiled brat,” said Princess Celestia, “I’m going to have to retrain you on how to be a proper ruler! If not, I'm taking back the throne.”

Me, Oliver and Finn snickered as Princess Celestia led Twilight away and as she hung her head.

25) So it Begins...

{Rainbow Dash}

After Princess Celestia, Twilight and Magic left Finn was bracing himself on the doorway cracking up big time.

“Did I hear Magic correctly,” said Finn, “or am I delusional and need therapy?”

“Yeah you heard it correctly,” said Oliver, “Kindness wants me to take it on as its connection.”

“And as far as therapy goes,” I said, “I don’t think you want to go to a therapist unless you want to be sent into Phase 2!”

“I didn’t realize you were Kindness material.” Finn said.

“Yup and Laughter were considering you for its connection too!” Loyalty said. “But Rainbow Dash seemed to think you weren’t laughter material.”

Finn got a real kick out of that and so did I. We both laughed at the thought and Loyalty along with Kindness joined in. Finn looked at Oliver and I guess the look on his face said it all because it made him laugh even harder.

“Remember what I told you when we first met Rainbow Dash?” Loyalty asked..

“What?” I said.

“Us elements will connect to the ones that we think fit the bill,” said Loyalty, “and you fit the bill on every single one of us! But for some reason the other element bearers have gone nuts! And we need to find new connections in order for us to do our jobs. I wonder Finn since you like to laugh so much, maybe you could be Laughter’s connection?”

I laughed so hard at Finn’s reaction.

“Don’t you have to laugh fear away in order to be Laughter's connection?” I asked. “Because I don’t think Finn’s capable of that. That was not funny!”

Once again, everyone was back to laughing at every other thing I said.

“Thanks, Loyalty…” Finn said, unsure of what his answer would be.

“It’s okay Finn,” said Loyalty, “just take some time to think about it, okay?”

“So what about you Oliver?” Kindness said.

“You sure you want me to be your connection?” Oliver replied.

“Of course!” Kindness said. “You’re Kindness material that’s for sure! Let’s see you protect Rainbow Dash, you’re helpful to those around you. Even those that are part of the reality of AI…”

As Kindness was ticking off all of Oliver’s good qualities he seemed to be thinking about what his answer would be.

“So?” Kindness said. “What do you say, Oliver? Will you do it?”

Oliver seemed like he made up his mind and his answer took me and Finn by surprise.

Oliver nodded. “Sure! I’ll do it.”

“Yay!” Kindness cheered.

The next thing that happened was just like when I took Kindness on myself. Because Kindness was already broken out of AI he didn’t have to die to meet it. A bright light shined and as quickly as it came it disappeared.

* * *

After Kindness connected itself to Oliver after a while he opened his eyes and shook his head. “That’s going to take some getting used to with Kindness being connected to my magic."

“That’s right!” I said. “Loyalty mentioned something about that when I met it.”

“It’s not much,” said Kindness, “but it’s strong enough for him to be an element's connection.”

“It’s how I have high-level weapons and I make them stronger,” said Oliver, “I can also teleport to different locations through a portal. How do you think I found you so quickly?”

“Hum,” I said, “Loyalty did say you were looking for me after I first woke up. So because of that, it’s possible you would’ve found me before I found you.”

“Actually,” said Loyalty, “you two would’ve found each other at the same time!”

“Huh?” Oliver and I said.

“Did you realize that you were doing partial sonic rain booms when you were escaping AI’s castle?” Loyalty questioned.

“What!” I gasped. “But how is that even possible?”

“We’re not sure about that.” Loyalty said. “But we recorded your magic in the fight and were able to figure out by our magic that’s what was happening! The same thing goes for you Oliver, while you weren’t doing partial sonic rain booms your magic got stronger too! We’re not sure why that happened but we think that your magic started getting stronger after you two were revived from getting hit by a stunner! Oh and Oliver.”

“What?” Oliver said.

“You might want to take a look at what Kindness changed into for you.” Loyalty said.

Oliver and I looked to see that Kindness had felt it best to change into a feather. Once again Finn went into uncontrollable laughter.

“Yeah,” said Loyalty, “you really should think about being Laughter's connection, Finn. You’d be perfect for it!”

Finn stopped laughing after Loyalty said that and his face turned red.

“Kindness, why did you feel that it was best to turn into a feather?” Oliver asked.

“Oh yeah!” Kindness chimed. “You were an owl when you came out of AI. And you protect Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash has feathers and you used to have feathers too!”

“I was wondering about that,” I said, “how come you don’t change into an owl on your outside of AI assignments?”

“Because my original form is human,” said Oliver, “and inside AI I’m human. And there’s no way that I’m changing into an owl again if I can help it!”

Finn smiled at me after Oliver became Kindness connection and Oliver and I looked at him with puzzled looks on our faces.

“What’s that look for?” I asked.

“Before I saw Princess Twilight harassing you,” said Finn, “I came here to give you both good news and I needed to give me and the rest of the Founders some confirmation on something.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you a Founder also?”

Finn nodded. “Yup! I am, we had a meeting about how to deal with your situation and we were all surprised except me that the elements of harmony could talk. But the good news that I wanted to tell is that you two have both moved in the ranks as far as your jobs go.”

“Say what now?” Oliver said. “Exactly how did I move up?”

“You’ve been successful on ten of your breakout assignments in a row,” Finn said. “You were even successful when breaking out Rainbow Dash!”

“But how?” Oliver said. “A Code was sent to her and it harmed her when I was gone.”

“That was not your fault,” said Finn, “you did everything you could to protect her, you were the first one that alerted us to the code being sent. Everyone else would have cared less about what happened to her. You did everything you could and to add to that, you were protected by escaping into your pocket dimension. Pinkie Pie had every opportunity to use her pocket dimension but chose not to. We know because we reviewed the video footage that came from your pocket dimension. And we did the same thing with Pinkies. We have our ways of finding which agent assisted a person that the seekers were after.”

“So what did I move up to?” I heard the uncertainty in Oliver's voice.

“You went from the six top to the second in your job ranking,” Finn said with a smile.

“I’m afraid to know this information but who’s the number one spot?” Oliver said.

Finn laughed, “It’s Agent Trixie!”

“Wait for a second!” I said. “Did you just say, Trixie? As in The Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Yup!” Finn said. He nodded “That’s the one!”

“I can’t believe she’s in the number one spot for breakout assignments!” I said. “She’s the idiot that woke up the User Minor back in Equestria! But I guess over time ponies can change. Or at least I hope she did. I don’t want to know what spot I have for my job, that's for sure!”

“Too bad,” said Finn, “because I’m telling you whether you like it or not..”

“If you say I’m the number one spot I swear,” I said, “and no I’m not the definition of the word awesome!”

“You’re just about as bad as Pinkie Pie, Finn!” Loyalty giggled. “At least you’re not a nut case!”

As soon as Loyalty said I guess Finn didn’t realize he was laughing until Loyalty said something. Finn stopped laughing after Loyalty said what it said.

“Nope,” said Finn, “you’re in the same rank as Oliver! I’m not surprised considering you two are engaged right now!”

“Great,” I said rolling my eyes, “that means the only spot left in number one!”

“You want to know who had the number one spot?” Finn said.

“Who?” I said.

“It was Agent Grace before she started calling you Rainbow Crash just to take out a Firewall!” Finn said. “She knows good and well that’s not the job description.”

“So who has it now?” I said.

“It’s Agent Cheerilee,” Finn responded.

“Agent Cheerilee?” I said. “But that was…”

“I know she was your friend Soctaloo’s teacher,” Finn said. “Ever since the AI came into play everything got screwed up!”

“Yeah, I know…” I said. ”Agent Cheerilee can keep the number one spot as far as I’m concerned.”

“Yup!” Loyalty said. “You’re laughter material alright Finn!”

Once again Finn stopped himself from laughing but it looked like he could start laughing again at a moment’s notice. Finally, Finn went from laughing to being serious.

“What the other Founders and I want to confirm with you two,” Finn said. “Honesty told us that you two know who the ruler of AI is?”

“I know who he is alright,” I said, “he’s my son Jude!”

While Finn was somewhat surprised Oliver was not. He nodded his head as if he were agreeing with me.

“How do you know that’s true?” Finn asked.

“Because of the birthmark that he had on his hand,” I said. “I remember touching it and it would light up and that would help him sleep if giving him a bottle didn’t work.”

“Don’t babies usually grow out of birthmarks?” Oliver said.

I shook my head. “Not a birthmark like the one Jude had.”

Finn’s hand lit up and out came what looked like a screen that the creepy white room that I was trained in had. He slid the information back and forth until he found a picture of Jude’s hand with his birthmark on it.

“Did the guy's birthmark look like this by chance?” Finn said.

I nodded. “Yup, he had the same one.”

“Interesting,” said Finn, “but how would a two-year-old become ruler of AI? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“According to Jude babies that are sent out by AI,” I said, “they go from an infant to a young adult in a matter of two years! But with Jude since AI picked him to be its ruler he went from an infant to young adult in a matter of weeks! Judging by your reactions it took me a while to process the information too.”

“Huh,” Finn said. “It’s just one interesting change of events after another.”

“So I’m going to assume this will be classified information?” I said.

Finn nodded. “Oh yes but it’s also considered personal information too. And since it’s your personal information you can do whatever with it. But if you want, you can request for us to put it under lock and key. But if you want certain people to know about it we can relay the information to them for you. Isn’t that right Agent Oliver?”

I snorted and laughed at Oliver’s reaction. He blushed and looked away.

“Isn’t that cute,” laughed Finn, “you told us to tell Agent Grace to relay the information to Rainbow Dash about you destroying the 7th Gate four years ago. Unfortunately, it’s fixed now the same goes for the two gates you did damage to Rainbow Dash! I must say you two make a perfect match for each other! Let me guess you were trying to impress Rainbow Dash weren’t you Agent Oliver?”

Finn snorted and started laughing again and Loyalty just had to tease him about it and I found that pretty comical.

“Okay, okay I’ll stop laughing,” said Finn, “but I can’t make any promises when it comes down to Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver. I was wondering something else, have you two set a date for the wedding yet?”

Oliver smiled when Finn said that, “I was thinking about it the whole time we were escaping the Castle. I was thinking, how’s about the first thing in the morning?”

“What!” I gasped. I was shocked when I heard that. I was speechless too.

“Judging by the way she sounded,” said Loyalty, “it’s a yes. And yes we elements saw this coming too! I just wish I could tell you what happens in both visions and it concerns Rainbow Dash.”

“I hope I don’t become an Alicorn!” I said. Loyalty just about choked on the words I just said.

“Good thing I can’t tell you!” Loyalty said. “And no ones playing the prank again! Trust me I think all of us elements agree that another Alicorn is not going to be created by us that’s for sure!”

“So how is it possible for us to have a wedding first thing in the morning?” I questioned.

“When we got out of the castle,” said Oliver, “I contacted Agent Rarity as soon as possible. And everything’s been taken care of.”

“Yes, I wish I could eat something!” Loyalty said.

“Why’s that?” Oliver said.

“Because this is going to be another good show!” Loyalty said. “As everyone would say, where's the popcorn when you need it! And there’s not going to be a dry eye in the building and even though I wish I could eat; I’m just glad I can’t cry!”

Good thing they’re not laughing at me! I still don’t think I’m funny!

* * *

{Jude}

It was a week after Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver had gotten married and I was watching the computers with joy. First Mother was overjoyed to find out that me and Servant Ivy were a couple now so Servant Ivy had the word servant taken off her name because of it. Ivy was happy that I was happy watching Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver fight the Firewalls together; those two made a wonderful team when they're fighting. At least Rainbow Dash didn’t have to worry about her teammates getting her and her other teammates killed on the job.

Of course I would send Firewall Eli to fight Rainbow Dash every once in a while. For now, First Mother wasn’t pushing me to kill Rainbow Dash because AI didn’t see her as a threat for the time being and that was fine by me. I bet Ivy was also glad now that Servant Charlie was the one getting the annoyed looks from me and not her. Today was no different as Ivy and I were watching another entertaining fight between Rainbow Dash and Firewall Eli. They heard Servant Charlie clear his throat to get my attention.

I turned around and gave Servant Charlie an annoyed look, “Yes Servant Charlie?”

“Your Highness you’re being summoned to the Motherboard.” Servant Charlie said.

I groaned. “Again? That’s the fifth time this week! What is it for this time?”

Servant Charlie slowly exhaled, “It’s Life Force Princess Twilight again! She’s requesting another audience with you.”

“The spoiled brat again!” I growled. “I keep telling her the same thing over and over again. She needs to go back to the Sixth and continue to be a double agent! I don’t know why she’s not listening.”

“Her reason for the audience request this time is she wants to be a co-ruler with you.” Servant Charlie said.

“What!” I gasped. “There’s no way that’s going to happen!”

“The Mothers agree with you on that one,” said Servant Charlie, “it seems that Life Force Princess Twilight is going out of control and the Mothers might have to deal with instead sending her back to the Sixth, that's the information that the Mothers wanted me to relay to you.”

As soon as Servant Charlie relayed his information from the Mothers the main computer in the room lit up.

“Life Force Princess Twilight’s request for co rulership,” the computer said, “is denied! AI does not want another ruler except Lord Jude’s wife to rule along with him. Lord Jude should consider Life Force Princess Twilight a threat to AI!”

I smiled, “Well that says it, I hope I don’t have to kill her because I don’t like killing people! It’s just an annoying part of the job! Anyway, inform the First Mother that I’m on my way.”

“Yes, your highness…” Servant Charlie said. He bowed to me and went to do as he was told.

After Servant Charlie left I kissed Ivy.

“So what’s going to happen to her?” Ivy said out of curiosity.

“I know what that look is for,” I said, “and I’m curious about what I need to do with her too. I hate that stupid cape that I have to wear.”

Ivy and I laughed at that thought. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the cape so I could go deal with this new problem.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

It was three weeks after the wedding and the team that I was on to breakout Emily was summoned back to Samantha’s realm. When we got here Samantha had a sad look on her face.

“I’m sorry to tell you that the trigger responses didn’t work on Emily,” Samantha said. “Yes, Oliver I knew you had a feeling that this might happen which is exactly why you’re in the number two spot for breakouts. Everyone on this assignment passed it. I’m just happy everyone was looking out for each other especially after the whole Roman situation Gilda!”

Gilda didn’t say anything, she just looked down at the floor and I had no idea why.

“True Oliver and Rainbow Dash got taken by the seekers,” said Samantha, “but there’s nothing that an agent can do, especially if a remote is used to pause agents too. And on top of that, a stunner was used! So the seekers were dead set on taking Oliver and Rainbow Dash at all costs! If you two want to tell your teammates why the seekers took you, that's up to you. You two are the perfect match for each other considering you both did damage to the gates. Although Rainbow Dash did a lot of damage to two gates so I think she one-upped you on that one Oliver!”

“Yeah, there’s no way anyone can one-up Rainbow Dash!” Gilda chuckled.

“If you say that line that everyone’s been saying about me one more time…” I said.

I’m not gonna say give me a break or stop laughing because it makes them laugh even harder!

“I know Rainbow Dash,” said Samantha, “but down to business, since Oliver and Rainbow Dash are married they will be on the same six-man squad together as for the rest of you, you will all be assigned to different teams. So I will talk to each one of you individually tomorrow. So go take a break and I will summon you. That is all.”

* * *

The next day Oliver and I reported to Samantha’s realm for our next breakout assignment. Oliver got a kick out of who we were assigned to break out this time. We were assisted to break out a person that changed into a Zebra and it was at the same Zoo that Oliver was in before he got broken out. Of course, I would have to go fight the Firewalls for my outside of AI assignment. I’m pretty sure Jude was very entertained when I would fight Eli and Eli still got on my nerves with the whole ‘if you value your lives turn back now’ line. He said it every single time even though he knew I wasn’t going to turn back even if he had a Copper on him. Of course, he just had to keep calling me Loyalty and that would make me chomp down on his attack so I could declare myself Rainbow Dash!

It’s funny though that the Zebra that we needed to break out of the Zoo called him shy Sami and his real name was Mason. It was also funny that Oliver and I got paired up with The Great and Powerful Agent Trixie! Yeah Oliver and I laughed every time Agent Trixie would call herself The Great and Powerful right before she said her codename. We’re just thankful that she doesn’t say Trixie at the end of her sentence.

I think I was given a better codename this time. My codename was Lila and Oliver’s codename now is Caleb on this assignment. One day when we were on our lunch break it just so happened that we were drinking coffee of all things to go with our lunch. Why Oliver picked today to drink coffee with his lunch I didn't have a clue. I wondered if maybe it was the anniversary of the first time he started asking me for a coffee date at work.

I decided to play a prank on Oliver and I had perfect timing for it too. “You want to know something Caleb?”

“What Lila?” Oliver said.

“Remember when you first started asking me for a coffee date?” I said stifling a laugh. Right when I said that Oliver had taken a drink of his coffee and he spit it out and I jumped out of the way just in time for it to hit Agent Trixie instead of me.

“Hey!” Agent Trixie said. “The Great and Powerful Mila will have payback for that Caleb!”

One of our co-workers Josh did a facepalm and groaned. “Seriously Mila! Do you have to say The Great and Powerful at the beginning of your name all the time?”

“Well,” I laughed, “you finally got your coffee date, Caleb!”

“You did say we had coffee in the break room all the time!” Oliver chuckled.

Agent Trixie looked at us and smiled, she knew the whole coffee date story because it was going around the Sixth and everyone found it adorable of course.

“The Great and Powerful Mila,” said Agent Trixie, “finds the coffee date between Caleb and Lila adorable!”

Oliver did a facepalm and groaned next, “Seriously, yeah I know you heard of how we first met, but I don't think this counts as a date considering it’s a lunch break!”

Josh smiled and cracked up, “Let me guess your first date was with coffee?”

“It’s a long story…” I said.

After we got done with our lunch break, Oliver and I went back to taking care of shy Sami the Zebra. I was trying to figure out how we would know if he was going to be sent into Phase 2.

“So how do we know if the trigger responses are working?” I said.

“If he starts acting stranger than usual,” Oliver said.

“Any more ideas?” I asked.

“Well, he did seem to like the beer we gave him yesterday,” Oliver said. “The guy that broke me out fed me a cheeseburger!”

I couldn’t help it and it was a good thing I was leaning up against the wall because I went into uncontrollable laughter.

“Yeah,” said Oliver, “the Founders gave the guy the go-ahead to do so.”

“Just like when Finn gave you the go-ahead to kiss me,” I said. “Did the guy have feelings for you also?”

Oliver deadpanned, “Yup, you guessed it! I turned him down politely!”

“Wow,” I said, “at least Clara didn’t kiss me. Yeah, I don’t think that would’ve worked. And once again half of the workers at the Zoo have feelings for me! At least Abigail's not here to start that pet name Loyalty again!”

“I’m just glad that I don’t have the other half of the workers that like me this time,” Oliver said.

“Very funny!” I said after rolling my eyes.

“I’m trying so hard not to laugh at every other thing you say,” said Oliver, “but I can’t help myself sometimes and everyone that has feelings for you feels the same way!”

* * *

The next night Oliver and I had finished our shift at the Zoo and were headed back to where we were staying when we saw who I call the demon Firewall Molly.

“It’s nice to see you again!” Firewall Molly said with a wicked grin.

“Well if it isn’t the demon Firewall!” I taunted.

“I do believe that my title is Firewall Molly!” Firewall Molly snapped.

“No, I'll shorten it for the title demon instead,” I said, “what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I was just sent to make sure you don’t free all the animals in the Lord's Zoo!” Firewall Molly said.

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” I said, “and if you say the whole turn back now line I swear..”

“Nah,” said Firewall Molly, “I don’t like taunting you as much as Firewall Eli does! I just want to do some pest control!”

“Pest control!” I said.

“Oh boy!” Firewall Molly said. “Let’s just cut the dialogue and fight already and why the Lord hasn’t given me the Copper yet is beyond me!”

The fight started when Oliver took one of his shields out and chucked at her. It came very close to hitting its mark when Firewall Molly jumped out of the way just in time. After I threw one of my daggers that hit its mark along with Oliver’s next attack because he used his magic to create a portal to slip his attack through along with my dagger.

A couple of times my partial sonic rain booms came out and Oliver assisted them with his magic again. I was about to throw another attack when I heard Loyalty’s frantic voice inside my head.

Rainbow Dash! Loyalty said. I could tell Loyalty was trying to keep itself calm.

What’s up Loyalty? I said If you’re contacting me now, something big must be going down!

Something big, said Loyalty, has already started going down right after you two got married! Thankfully Finn has taken on Laughter as its connection at least!

I was trying so hard not to laugh at what Loyalty just said.

So who do we need connections with for now? I said.

Honesty and Magic, said Loyalty, I know Generosity did agree to take Honesty in but Honesty decided to go with Magic to the ‘magic realm’, hopefully, the bad vision won’t come true but if we can’t find good connections for Honesty and Magic then there’s no way the good vision will come true! But I’m still hopeful, what I’m panicking about is Pinkie Pie along with Princess Twilight are working for AI now!

That doesn’t surprise me at all!.

I know, Loyalty said, but Princess Twilight keeps requesting that Lord Jude be a co-ruler with her!

What! Has Princess Twilight lost her mind? I said.

Yeah, she has lost her mind alright, Loyalty said. Lord Jude is thinking about killing her and we elements are afraid of that bad vision that we saw starting to happen!

What are you talking about?

I can’t tell you but it’s horrible! Loyalty said. But maybe Lord Jude will kill Princess Twilight that’s all I can say, oh and you’re needed in the fight now!

Gee thanks Loyalty! I said.

“Hello!” Oliver shouted. “Would you stop daydreaming already! Yes, I know what’s going on…”

“Let me guess, Kindness told you?” I said.

“Yup,” said Oliver, “and we can worry about this later. Let’s just finish the fight already!”

“You got it!” I said.

As I was fighting Firewall Molly along with Oliver I kept thinking that something big is coming around the corner especially if Loyalty and other elements of harmony are starting to think the bad vision they saw of the future is already beginning.

1) Paper Balls in My Trashcan

“Let me ask you a question…” Finn said.

“What?” I said. It was another therapy session that I had every month. The reason why I’ve been going to therapy is because ever since I gave birth to my son Jude, I’ve been having weird dreams and it feels like nothing in this world is real anymore.

“The question that I have for you,” said Finn, “is if you had to choose between a watch where the hands of time are paused but still ticking or a watch that the hands of time kept moving and ticking, which one would you choose?”

“That’s easy,” I said, “I would definitely choose the one that was working!”

“Oh?” Finn said.

I didn’t hear Finn talking, I saw his mouth was open but nothing was coming out. I looked around and it seemed like everything that I was seeing was static. It was like watching a TV screen that was broken. I shook my head and everything turned back to normal.

“You okay Rainbow?” Finn said.

“Rainbow?” I said. “My name is Judy!”

Finn paused and it seemed like he was staring into nothing.

“Huh,” said Finn, “sorry Judy, I got off track here. Well, look at the time, I think that’s all we have to talk about today!”

“Okay!” I said.

I got up and went to the secretary desk and she smiled at me.

“Hi Judy,” said Hazel, “you look confused. Did Finn pull one of his weird questions again?”

I nodded, “I guess you could say that.”

Hazel smiled, “Don’t mind Finn, that’s just part of his personality. You’ve only been with us for six months. So, you’ll get used to it!”

I thought about Finn calling me by another name.

“Did Finn say anything else by chance?” Hazel said.

“Nope!” I said. I decided to keep the fact that Finn called my by another name to myself.

“Okay then,” Hazel said, “here’s your appointment slip.”

I was shocked when I saw that date on it.

“Three months from now!” I said. “What’s up with that?”

“Oh,” said Hazel, ”Finn’s going to be on vacation for two weeks and then he’s going to be doing his rounds at hospital for the rest of the time. If anything does come up, talk to Dr. Loot.”

I almost laughed at the name, but I chose to keep a straight face.

“You can laugh at the name you know,” said Hazel, “everyone always laughs at the name. We call him Dr. Hoot instead of Dr. Loot! He hates that of course!”

At Hazel’s remark I was doubled over in laughter and Hazel joined in.

“Okay,” said Hazel, “your appointment is three months from now. If you need anything just call Dr. Hoot I mean Dr. Loot!”

I couldn’t help myself, I said goodbye to Hazel and walked away laughing.

* * *

“So,” said my boss Violet, “how are you doing today?”

“I’m fine,” I said, “I still feel weird sometimes, but I’m trying to work past it.”

“I’m just checking on you that’s all.” Violet said. “As always at the end of the day, be sure to drop off your paperwork.”

“I understand,” I said.

As soon as Violet left, I had a paper ball tossed on my desk. I looked up to see Oliver grinning at me.

“Oliver,” I said, “what the heck? Can’t you play paper ball in your own trash can?”

“Well that’s not very nice!” Oliver said.

“What?” I said. “I was talking about a paper ball and not your hug head!”

Oliver then faked getting hit by an arrow in his chest and I rolled my eyes.

“So,” said Oliver, “when exactly are we going to have coffee together?”

“We have coffee in the break room!” I said.

“Whatever!” Oliver said and he turned around going back to his paperwork.

“Boy,” said Clara, “he’s very persistent, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” I said, “he’s some annoying rodent that pest control doesn’t work on!”

“Ouch!” Clara said. “That's definitely not nice!”

“Bite me Clara!” I said.

“Well, it’s almost time for lunch,” said Clara, “we’re going to our usual place?”

“Yeah,” I said, “as long as Oliver doesn't try to sit by us again! Why don’t we go someplace else again?”

“Because,” said Clara, “it’s right downstairs and everything else is too far away!”

I did a face palm and shook my head. As soon as Clara and I went to the clock out area it happened again.

“What in the hell,” I thought, “is happening to me?”

When my vision went back to normal, Clara had a concerned look on her face.

“You okay Judy?” Clara said.

“I’m fine,” I said, “let’s just go to lunch and finish our day already!”

“Fine by me!” Clara said, “I’m hungry!”

* * *

When I got home, I saw Lyra feeding Jude his bottle for dinner. After Jude was done eating Lyra burped him and put him in his crib and he instantly fell asleep.

“At least he falls asleep after he eats!” Lyra said.

“Yeah,” I said, “he’ll be out for the next two hours. Oh, today you get your check, here you go!”

After I wrote out the check, I handed it to her.

“Thank you so much, “ said Lyra, “I’m a little bit behind on my rent, but don’t worry I’ll get caught up.”

“That’s good,” I said, “do you need any extra on your check?”

Lyra shook her head, “No thanks, I got it.”

“You sure?” I said.

“I’m sure,” said Lyra, “see you Monday!”

“See ya!” I said.

As soon Lyra closed that door, the static vision happened. I just shook my head and turned the security system on.

* * *

Things are getting weirder and weirder! It was the following Monday and it was almost lunchtime when Oliver started throwing paper balls at me.

“Okay Oliver, this is getting really old!” I said.

“I’m not stopping,” said Oliver, “until you go on a coffee date with me!”

“For the last time Oliver!” I said. “You can have coffee in the break room! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get caught up on my paperwork before lunch!”

“Again,” said Clara, “really persistent!”

I rolled my eyes, “Maybe he’ll fall for someone else and leave me alone?”

“I double that!” Clara said. “Incoming!”

Right when Oliver threw the next paper ball time seemed to stop. It felt like the paper ball was going in slow motion. This time, when the paper ball landed on my desk it unraveled. When it unraveled, I looked up to see Oliver nod his head and turned back to his computer. There were two words on the piece of paper: Rainbow Dash…

* * *

I stared at the piece of paper in shock.

Rainbow Dash? What the hell?

“Too bad Oliver doesn’t have any cats!” Clara said.

“O...Kay?” I said. “And your point is?”

“I’m just saying,” said Clara, “if he had cats, he’d be too busy babysitting them instead of chasing after someone’s skirt!”

“Hey I heard that!” Oliver said.

I turned around to see Oliver hovering over me.

“Speaking of skirts,” I said, “do you mind telling me the meaning of-“

I didn’t finish my sentence because I looked down to see that the piece of paper had vanished like it was never even there.

“Tell you the meaning of what?” Oliver said.

“I could’ve sworn there was a piece of paper in my hand!” I said.

“I think you might’ve hit your head on something!” Oliver said.

“How exactly would I do that?” I said.

“Probably,” said Oliver, “being too busy cleaning up my paper balls?”

“Uh-huh…” I said. “Sure…”

“You really need to adopt some cats Oliver!” Clara said.

As soon as I stood up Oliver pinched my butt like he had done so many times before. I guess I had a strange look on my face because Oliver was doubled over in laughter.

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“The look on your face was priceless that time!” Oliver said.

“Oliver, knock it off!” Clara said. “I don't think she's in the mood for pranks!”

“That really wasn’t a prank that time!” Oliver said. “That time I was actually cashing after Rain- I mean Judy’s skirt!”

“Seriously Oliver!” Clara said. “Did you forget what her name is? I think you’ve hit your head on something!”

“Exactly what were you going to call me?” I said.

“Nothing,” said Oliver, “I was just mentioning that it was raining out, that’s all.”

I looked out the window to see that it was raining cats and dogs out.

“Huh,” I said, “I didn’t realize that it was raining out. How long has it been raining?”

“It started raining about a minute ago!” Clara immediately replied.

It was pretty weird because it sounded like Clara’s quick reply was distracting me from what Oliver just said.

“Were you just trying to distract me from what Oliver just said?” I said.

“Nope,” Clara said with a nervous laugh, “why would you think that? I was pointing out the obvious that’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, “for some reason I don’t believe you…”

* * *

The next day, I was going to drop off my paperwork when I heard Oliver, Clara and Violet talking about me. I stayed right where I was and stuffed the paperwork in my briefcase.

“I almost got a trigger response out of her too!” Oliver said. “That last paper ball should’ve done the trick!”

“Maybe we should try a different approach?” Violet said. “I thought that sending her directly to Finn maybe he would’ve triggered a response from her too!”

Clara sighed, “If paper balls and therapy won’t do the trick, then what will?”

“Maybe,” said Violet, “Oliver can kiss her like he did last year on Valentine’s Day?”

“We were at a party and we were drunk!” Oliver said. “I doubt she even remembers that!”

“I hope you don’t mind Oliver,” said Clara, “but you do realize she’s a pony right? Are you comfortable with dating her?”

“I dated you and you’re a pony too!” Oliver said. “So yeah, I’m cool with that! And just to get the correct terms, I’m a tail chaser and not a skirt chaser!”

“Oh well it’s a good thing you don’t have any cats!” Clara said. “Because you’d probably go for them next!”

“Ha, ha!” Oliver said. “Very funny!”

“Anyway,” said Violet, “I think Clara’s right, maybe giving her a kiss would work! You’re the one that likes her Oliver!”

“I don’t think she’d go for me!” Oliver said.

“Why’s that?” Clara said.

“Remember that jerk Silas, that she fell for last year?” Oliver said. “She got pregnant by him and he just walked away! She’s probably still dealing with that heartbreak! And besides she won’t even give me the time of day!”

“Well, maybe you should stop throwing paper balls and be more romantic towards her?” Clara said.

“Hi there!” I heard a voice say behind me. I just about jumped a foot in the air.

“Oh,” I said, “Hazel it’s you!”

“Sorry I snuck up on you like that!” Hazel said.

“Sorry Hazel,” I said, “I thought you quit working here. I guess you're working two jobs now?”

“Yeah,” said Hazel, “you don’t know this about me, but I have four kids at home to take care of!”

“Oh,” I said, “I feel for you! One is bad enough! And he’s only six months old!”

“I agree,” said Hazel, “and there’s someone standing behind you, it’s Oliver.”

“Gee, thanks for announcing my presence, I’m so honored!” Oliver said.

“I just pointed out the stalker that’s behind her, that’s all.” Hazel said.

“I’m not a stalker!” Oliver said.

“Oh yeah, that’s right!” Hazel said. “You’re a skirt chaser! My bad!”

Oliver then grit his teeth and balled his hands into fists.

“Um Oliver,” I said, “before you turn Hazel into a punching bag, you might want to calm down. Because if you do what I think you’re going to do that would be assault!”

“Fine!” Oliver said. Just after Oliver said the word fine, the static vision happened again.

“Are you okay Judy?” Violet said. I could hear the concern in her voice.

“I think she’s getting ready to pass out!” Clara said.

“Don’t worry,” said Oliver, “I got her!”

I felt Oliver pull me back to catch my fall.

* * *

I was starting to come to when I could hear Clara and Oliver talking about me. It seemed like they were very worried about me.

“I hope she hasn’t gone into Phase 1 already!” Clara said.

“I agree with that,” said Oliver, “it seems that Finn did get a trigger response out of her after all!”

“I don’t know,” said Clara, “Finn doesn’t really tell us about stuff like this! And I really wish he would!”

“Will… You… Stop… Talking!” I said. “You’re giving me a headache!”

“It’s got to be static vision!” Oliver said. “That’s the first symptom of that start of Phase 1! I hate the start of Phase 1!”

“Shut up!” I said. “Ow!”

“I’m seeing a flash of her pony ears!” Clara said. “That means her hearing will probably be very sensitive from here until she meets Finn again!”

“Stop… Talking!” I said.

“Oh boy!” Oliver said. “Can we do anything to help ease the pain?”

“Hum,” said Clara, “Finn did give me something for pegasus ears. Here let me see if this helps!”

I moaned from the pain and it felt like my ears were on fire and wanted to rip them off of my head. I then felt Clara touch my ears and the pain calmed down a bit. When the pain started to go away, I slowly opened my eyes. When I opened my eyes I saw that I was back at my house and Oliver was holding me in his arms.

“Okay,” I said, “how did I get back home?”

“You passed out at work,” said Clara, “and we drove you home in my car. Don’t worry, we’ll be retrieving your car soon.”

“I’m not worried about that,” I said, “I’m just worried about why I passed out and if it’s going to happen again?”

“Okay,” said Clara, “that’s one too many questions and I would advise you not to get up any time soon!”

“It’s okay,” said Oliver, “I’m not going to do anything inappropriate! Honest I won’t!”

“You don’t look so good,” said Clara, “we should probably get you to bed!”

“Hey,” I said, “put me down Oliver!”

“Nope!” Oliver said. “Not going to happen!”

“Don’t worry,” said Clara, “you’ll be fine after a good night's sleep.”

Oliver then laid me gently down on the bed and Clara pulled back the covers.

“Goodnight!” Clara said.

“Sweet dreams!” Oliver said.

After that happened, I went to sleep.

8) Oh joy. My pocket dimension...

The next day I was back in that creepy white room again. I hated it because not only did it make my skin crawl, it irked me for some reason. Twilight wasn’t there to train me. I hoped she wouldn’t be here today.

“I heard about what happened yesterday. Between Princess Twilight and you,” said Oliver, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said, “I don’t which is worse, what happened to me with that stupid code. Or what happened to me back in Equestria where no one even bothered to hear my side of the story!"

"Oh,” Oliver said.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slow, “It’s fine Oliver, let’s get this stupid training over with. I hate being in this creepy white room.”

“Okay then,” said Oliver, “we only have one more day to train you. After that, you’ll go out on assignments. Part of those assignments will be helping creatures break out of the Machine.”

“Is there any chance I’ll be able to rescue Spitfire?” I said.

Oliver shook his head, “I don’t know, that’s all up to what the Predictor says.”

“The Predictor?” I said.

“Yup,” said Oliver, “There’s-”

“Let me guess,” I said, “six Predictors?”

“Yup!” Oliver said. “Think of them as your boss that you will receive assignments from. The number of divisions that agents of the Sixth are…”

I rolled my eyes, “Six?”

“Uh-huh, the Predictors are the ones that locate an original creature stuck inside the Machine. They usually assign a team of six to break the creature out in a process of three phases.

"When a team gets assigned to a subject, it's their responsibility to activate trigger responses. We call the first trigger response Phase 1. That's the static vision phase you experienced. After the conclusion of Phase 1, the subject will be sent to one of the Founders of the Sixth.”

“Is that where the watch question comes into play?” I said.

"Correct! Next, the team activates Phase 2, where the subject will choose a watch. This will determine if they return to the Machine or not. If they choose the correct watch they're sent to their cell. Their cell exists in an intermediate layer where the Sixth can extract them. That is Phase 3," Oliver said.

“So how did I make my choice?” I said.

“Did you remember going through a thunderstorm before you went to Finn?” Oliver said.

I nodded, “Yes I did and that’s when I saw the watch before I went Finn.”

“That was the other part of your personality that was aware of who you are,” Oliver said. “That’s how you made your choice. The Machine seems to think that to keep you in its false reality, it needs to fool you into thinking that it’s real. It takes memories of your old reality and changes it.”

The Machine lies like a pro. The fact that it does this to trick people into thinking that its false reality is real was interesting to me. Oliver looked puzzled by the look on my face after he said that.

After that, I thought about it even more and I panicked. If the Machine needed to keep part of your personality aware of itself by adding similarities of your old life. to keep the lie going, then was it possible that I had a baby back in Equestria?

Nope! No way in hell that I had a baby back in Equestria! I would think I would remember if I did, I would’ve remembered it by now! To me, there’s no way that has anything to do with Jude! But now that you think of it, Jude wasn’t born until after Silas assaulted me! So I hope that’s because of the Machine, and not from Equestria! I was so busy back then I don’t think I would’ve had the time to have a baby let alone take care of it!

“Woah Rainbow!” Oliver yanked me down by my tail before I hit my head on the ceiling in my panicked flight.

“Hey!” I said. “What was that for?”

"To keep you from hurting yourself,” said a voice from the doorway, “or from breaking the room!”

It's Gilda. Geez, I'm not a stand-up comedian! Well, I’m glad I could be the entertainment for tonight. I should get a paycheck for this!

After Gilda stopped laughing, her lips curled into a mischievous smile.

“Whatever!” Gilda said. “Come on Agent Oliver, we should teach her the-"

“Blood barrier,” said Oliver, “I guess it’s time we do that. It’s the only way she can access the system for the Sixth and she’ll need it for her pocket dimension.”

“Okay sure,” said Gilda, “but word on the street is you two like each other and should be a couple! Or friends with benefits!”

Gilda put her claws on her hips waggling them, flashing a teasing smile.

“Really Gilda!” I said.

I should’ve been the element of laughter instead. I wish Gilda would stop laughing. At least she’s not munching on my ear like it’s a freaking apple! Or sneaking into my bedroom to watch me sleep.

I felt so annoyed with Gilda! I bit her feather, plucked it, and spit it out.

“Ow!” Gilda said. “Fine, I’ll stop teasing.”

“Good!” I snapped. “Or I’ll pull the rest of them out!”

I saw Oliver flinch.

“What’s wrong?” I said.

“You know,” said Oliver, “I came out as an owl from the Machine and It would hurt to have all my feathers taken out! It’s bad enough the zoo clipped my wings so I couldn’t escape.”

I tilted my head, "You were in a zoo? That sucks. Sorry about that, but she ticked me off. I’m tired of the teasing right now. You're laughing at my so-called jokes Gilda, you should pay me for that!”

Oliver snorted.

“That’s so not funny!” I said.

“Okay Rainbow Dash,” Oliver said. “let’s show you the blood barrier.”

As soon as Oliver said the words blood barrier Gilda perked right up, eager to teach me that.

“Can I do the introduction to it?” Gilda begged. “Please?”

“Fine!” Oliver said. “But, I would like it if you stop teasing Rainbow or I’ll give her license to pull another feather out! Actually, I might let her pull out all your feathers one by one do you understand me?”

“I thought you didn’t like feather pulling?” I said.

“Never mind that Rainbow,” said Oliver then turned to Gilda, “you can go ahead and start now Gilda!”

Gilda smiled and took out what looked like a doorbell. It looked like the one Oliver used to open that secret passageway. When we escaped the seekers.

“Wait a second…” I paused. “But that’s a-”

Gilda rolled her eyes as if I should know the answer to that question, “A doorbell, yes! But this isn’t a regular doorbell, it’s a blood barrier doorbell. You only have access to the blood barrier for thirty seconds. Drop some of your blood on it... and bingo! You have your pocket dimension!”

“But Oliver didn’t do that when he and Clara saved me from the seekers!” I said.

“Actually,” said Oliver, “I did! But, you probably didn’t notice because of all the craziness going on at the moment. Anyway, I’m curious to see what your pocket dimension is.”

“Me too!” Gilda said with excitement in her voice. “As I was saying, to access your pocket dimension. The first time you access the blood barrier you have to do it for six minutes. And after that, the longest you can access the blood barrier is no more than two hours, period! You got that Agent Oliver?”

“Fine,” Oliver said annoyed with Gilda at this point.

“As I said before, you can do it Rainbow!” Gilda cheered.

Before she could continue I cut her off, “Yeah, yeah I know! I’m tough, I’m fast and I’m the definition of the word awesome! Again, the definition of the word awesome is definitely a big fat lie!”

This time Oliver joined in on the laughter with Gilda. I got frustrated with both of them. I showed it by flicking my tail much like Twilight did to Finn. Oliver saw me flick my tail and he stopped laughing. He frowned and pulled one of Gilda’s feathers out.

“What’s with the feather pulling today?” Gilda growled.

“I said stop teasing!” Oliver said. “Although I am guilty of this myself. You can feel free to kick me for that Rainbow.”

Gilda had me very irritated. She can eat her feathers! As far as Oliver went, I tripped him with one of my hooves knocking him to the ground. He wheezed.

“Oops,” I said, “sorry.”

“Well,” teased Gilda, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall!”

“Okay,” said Oliver getting to his feet, “I’ve had worse happen to me so it’s no problem. Can we please get this over with Gilda?”

Gilda stepped in front of me and flicked one of her claws right in front of my left eye and I instinctively closed it. When I opened it, I couldn’t see anything at first. But then my vision cleared up a little but not much. It felt like my eye was ready to come out of its socket!

“Good,” said Gilda, “looks like you’re a natural at this, I wouldn’t expect nothing less coming from you! Anyway, look straight at the wall in front of you. What do you see?”

I squinted at the wall and saw the same number I had on my bedroom door.

“I see the number fourteen!” I said.

“See?” Gilda said. “I knew you could take the pain!”

“This isn’t a field day you know!” I said.

“Calm down Rainbow!” Gilda said. "Now, focus on the number fourteen, this will only take a second!”

I focused on the number fourteen. The word 'accessing' appeared on the wall. After what felt like forever, the word changed to ‘access granted.' Gilda took some of my blood from my eye and dropped it onto the doorbell. Gilda looked as if she were a proud mama that had her child pass an important test in school.

“Good job Rainbow!” Gilda said, “you’ve already accessed the system for ten minutes! You can stop doing it now. Close your eye for a little bit and shake your head and your eye will be back to normal.”

I closed my eye and shook my head. The pain went away, but I was seeing double. Gilda held up a couple of her claws and put them in front of my face.

"How many claws do I have holding up?" Gilda said.

“A mix between two and four? Ow!” I said, rubbing my forehead. I shook my head around trying to fix my vision but it didn’t work.

“Oh yeah, I forgot!” Gilda said. “I should’ve told you that there would be double vision in the left eye the first time you access the blood barrier! My bad!”

“Are you kidding me, Agent Gilda?” Oliver said.

Gilda snorted. I glared at her. Then Gilda went straight-faced. It took a lot of self-control for me not to pull out another one of her feathers.

Gilda handed over my doorbell.

“Now,” said Oliver, “there are exactly-"

I rolled my eyes, “Six pocket dimensions. I’m getting tired of that number! Six this, and six that! That’s about as bad as people calling me Rainbow Dash!”

“Yeah I agree with you on that one,” said Gilda, “that’s exactly what I thought when I started working for the Sixth!”

“Moving on,” said Oliver, “let’s see what pocket dimension you have Rainbow.”

Oliver then threw the doorbell up and it stuck to some imaginary door.

“Now all you have to do is ring the doorbell,” Oliver said.

“That’s it?” I said.

“Yup,” said Oliver, “that’s it!”

I pressed my hoof to the doorbell and the door to my pocket dimension opened up. I hesitated, then went inside.

When I entered my pocket dimension I could not believe what I was seeing! There was a flat-screen Tv on the wall in front of me; it was currently off. There were six computers set up to the left of me; they showed images of what looked like a movie set and looking at it from every angle that I could see.

Oliver and Gilda walked around pocket dimension looking around in awe.

“What?” I said. “What is it? Did I do something wrong?”

“That’s not it at all,” Gilda said. “You did everything right. This pocket dimension is amazing!”

“You got that right!” Oliver said. “I’ve never seen this one before! I’ve seen the other five pocket dimensions a bunch of times and I’ve heard rumors about this one, but wow! They're only five other people that have this pocket dimension! It's the same one Finn has! I bet you that’s because-"

“If you say it’s because I’m Rainbow Dash, so help me," I growled.

Gilda went into a fit of laughter.

“Sorry,” Gilda said, “you’re Rainbow Dash, get used to it!”

“I’m going to get rid of that name!” I said.

“Uh-huh, yeah I don’t think that’s possible," Oliver said.

“We’ll see about that!” I said.

“Oh yeah,” said Oliver, “here’s your doorbell. You won’t be able to leave it behind. If you try to get rid of it, it will reappear behind your left ear, which is where you'll put it normally. When you’re inside your pocket dimension the doorbell goes inside it with you so you’ll be able to get out of it no problem.”

“So how does this dimension work?” I said.

“I’m not sure,” said Oliver, “since I’ve never seen this one before, you’re going to have to figure that one out on your own. You'll get summoned when you get an assignment.”

“So how do I know if I’m summoned?” I said.

“Your doorbell will ring in your ear,” Oliver said.

“What if you’re a deep sleeper?” I said.

“Don’t worry about that,” said Gilda, “the doorbell will ring in your mind and make you wake up! It’s not very subtle either. It's what I call a rude awakening!”

“Why’s that?” I said.

“It’ll give you a small electric shock and make you wake up!” Gilda said. “I’ve gotten it a couple of times myself. It is not pleasant!”

“No kidding on that one!” Oliver said.

“Tomorrow you will meet with your Predictor. That person will assign you to your original six-man team," said Gilda. “The first thing you’ll be responsible for is sending your assignment into Phase 1. You know the rest of the procedure from there. As for the rest of being an agent for the Sixth, you’ll have to figure out on your own.”

“So how do I get out of here?” I said.

Oliver pointed at the doorbell that was inside the pocket with us. I pressed my hoof to the doorbell and stepped out of it. I was out of my pocket dimension and Oliver and Gilda didn’t realize how late it was until we looked at the time.

“Well,” I yawned, “I guess it’s time we say goodnight…”

* * *

Finally, I was out of that creepy white room. I walked down the hallway with Finn. Where Finn and I were going, I had no idea.

“Okay Rainbow Dash,” said Finn, “you’ve finally completed your training. Now you’re an official agent of the Sixth. I hear that you’ve gotten a rare weapon and you also have the same pocket dimension I do! Not bad at all! I wouldn’t expect anything less coming from you. Step right this way and you’ll meet your Predictor and get assigned to your squad. Expect the unexpected!”

I rolled my eyes. I turned my attention forward. I stood in front of a bright light, confused about what to do next. I turned to Finn. This time Finn rolled his eyes to return the favor.

“Just step through the light and your Predictor will be on the other side. After this, you won’t be seeing much of me anymore unless it’s needed. Well, I’ll see you around!” Finn said.

Author's Note

At this point, Rainbow Dash is ready for her training to be over with because she hates the room she's training in so that's why she's not impressed about her pocket dimension

23) Urgent Meeting!

{Finn}

When the Founders of the Sixth have a meeting a lot of times it’s because of receiving information that is of great importance. Princess Twilight didn’t build the Sixth so wasn’t considered a Founder of it. The only thing she did to help the Sixth was place location and that was it. So when it comes down to meetings that the Founders have the information that is talked about is kept under lock and key unless it’s also considered personal information the Sixth does not censor agents on those matters. Since I was a Founder of the Sixth I was always present at the meetings that the Founders would have.

I often wondered why Agent Oliver requested his information of him destroying the 7th Gate from practically everyone, even Pinkie Pie. But I didn’t blame him for keeping that information from Pinkie Pie because she’d probably want to keep him on lockdown and throw an engagement party and not take no for an answer just like she did with Rainbow Dash. I still felt sorry for Rainbow Dash that Pinkie did that and everyone took her side and didn’t even bother to hear Rainbow Dash’s said elf the matter on top of that.

It was very funny to me that when Agent Oliver got assigned to break Rainbow Dash out of the Machine he fell in love with her. It took everyone by surprise including me when Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash announced their engagement! I sure didn’t see that one coming. But their Predictor Samantha did see it coming. That's not a surprise because part of her magic was to be able to see the future and read people’s thoughts.

The main reason why Princess Twilight and I broke up is that I was not able to tell her the information that the meetings of the Founders would discuss. The rule for that is the Founders were not able to relay the information that was not personal to family or friends. That was to protect the Sixth and the Sixth’s agents. I had no problem following that rule, especially because like the elements of harmony I take my job of being a Founder of the Sixth very seriously. Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash do the same thing. It was funny to me that Agent Oliver specifically requested that the information on him destroying the 7th Gate be given to Rainbow Dash's team captain and relayed to her. I had suspected that it was to impress Rainbow Dash. I wasn’t sure that it worked because according to the information on Rainbow Dash that the Sixth had received, she had done damage to gates four and five of AI. But Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver finally got together in the end.

When I dated Princess Twilight she often told me that since she was my girlfriend that she should know the information that the Founders would discuss and my answer would be no every single time. Her whining started to get old and annoyed me so I was getting ready to break up with her but to my surprise, Princess Twilight broke up with me first. Her breaking up with me was perfectly okay with me.

The main reason why the Founders of the Sixth were getting ready to have a meeting this time was because of an emergency meeting. Agent Rarity and the rest of Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver’s team had just informed me and the other Founders that Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver had been taken by the seekers. The rest of the team suspected that the Machine's remote was used to pause them along with the rest of the reality that they were in. The main reason is that they weren’t able to move for a while when the world paused themselves. Once the world paused they couldn’t do a thing to help Agent Oliver or Rainbow Dash. They confirmed that those two had been taken by the markings on the ground where Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash had been taken. They also discovered burn marks next to the remote markings that indicated that a stunner had been used on them in the process!

They also informed me that Rainbow Dash was a double bearer of the elements of Loyalty and Kindness. But when a stunner was used on Rainbow Dash, Kindness and Loyalty wouldn’t have been able to protect Rainbow Dash even with their powers combined. They can use a little bit of their magic to help protect her but in no way shape or form would it be enough to help Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash get away from a stunner.

Loyalty and Kindness along with the other elements of harmony recorded what happened and came to a conclusion that Kindness and Loyalty wouldn't have been able to protect them unless all six elements of harmony were present. Even though Rainbow Dash was a double bearer of the elements of harmony along with Agent Rarity, all six of the elements of harmony were not able to be present to defeat the seekers. I knew for a fact that for some reason Princess Twilight was keeping herself away from the Sixth ever since she found out about Rainbow Dash and Agent Rarity being sent out on a breakout assignment. Why Princess Twilight would do such a thing I had no idea, one would think that with Princess Twilight being the Princess on Friendship that she would want to do everything within her power to protect her friends.

I didn’t blame the rest of Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash’s team for not being able to protect them from the seekers but he wasn’t sure that if the seekers are dead set on taking someone that they would’ve been able to protect them. That’s especially when the remote and stunners were used to take Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver at all costs. Why the seekers would decide that now was the right time to strike no one knew the answer. Since the Founders of the Sixth decided that an emergency meeting needed to be held to figure out how to handle the situation every time a meeting took place, the head of the meeting was chosen and it was always one of the Founders since most of the time no one else was allowed in. But since this meeting involved the rest of Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash’s team they were also allowed in. This time the head of the meeting the Founders had chosen me for the job.

When I was getting ready to walk into the meeting I ran into Princess Twilight. I wasn’t surprised that this would happen because somehow Princess Twilight knew when the Founders would have a meeting and she was always excited to see me. I walked past Princess Twilight; I gave her a short bow and was getting ready to ready away when Princess Twilight stopped me.

“So what’s the meeting about this time?” Princess Twilight said with excitement.

I exhaled slowly, “You know for a fact that meetings that the Founders hold are none of your business! And I wouldn’t tell you even if you begged, pleaded or held your breath until you turned blue!”

“But I saw Agent Rarity, Agent Diamond Tiara, Agent Levi and Gilda go in there!” Princess Twilight whined. “And I know for a fact that’s Rainbow Dash’s six-man squad for breakout assignments! So if it’s concerning Rainbow Dash since I am her friend I should be allowed to be in there!”

“No, you can't be in there,” I said, “just because you’re Rainbow Dash’s friend this matter has nothing to do with you! And I doubt her teammates would tell you anything! And you know good and well that what the Founders discuss is not allowed to be told to family or friends unless it’s considered personal information. Even if her teammates would consider this personal I doubt they would tell you.”

“But why wouldn’t they tell me?” Princess Twilight said. “I’m their friend and the Princess of Friendship too.”

I exhaled slowly again, “Just because you’re their friend doesn’t mean they have to tell you everything! Honestly Princess, you act like you’re entitled to stuff just because you’re a princess! To tell you the truth, I’m glad you broke up with me when you did. I was ready to break up with you myself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to go to! And if I were you I wouldn’t hang around just to bug everyone. And no I won’t see you around.”

* * *

“Quiet!” I said, knocking my fist on the podium. “I know everyone’s panicked right now but we need to hear the information that Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash’s team have discovered.”

“Please,” said Naomi, “go ahead and speak Agent Rarity.”

Agent Rarity shook her head and smiled, “I won’t be doing the talking. My elements of harmony will be doing the talking.”

All the Founders except me and the rest of Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver’s team gasped in surprise.

“I know,” I said, “it came as a surprise to me when Loyalty first spoke to me!”

“I’m just sorry I wasn’t there to see that,” said another founder, “but just because we’re dating doesn’t mean I have to follow you around everywhere!”

“We know that Mabel!” Naomi said, rolling her eyes.

When Mabel said that I felt my face turn red along with hers and everyone laughed at that.

“Just don’t start being like Princess Twilight,” I said.

“Yeah I know,” said Mabel, “good thing this room is soundproof and as a magic barrier that not even an Alicorn’s magic can get through!”

“I totally agree with that one!” Another founder said.

“Yup!” Mabel said.

“Wow,” Agent Gilda said sarcastically, “two founders of the Sixth dating each other! What a shocker!”

“Now if you please,” said Agent Rarity, “Honesty and Generosity have some information they need to relay to us!”

“Yes,” said Generosity, “thank you very much Rarity! It’s true the connection for Honesty and the connection for Kindness are now dead! No, we don’t know how they were killed. We can sense it because when a bearer dies that element can’t reconnect or find its magic at all. And the reason why no one’s heard us talk before is that most of the time we only talk to our connections.”

“Yeah!” Honesty said. “Loyalty thinks we’re stuck up for doing that. But Loyalty is like that with everyone. We don't have any clue as to why it does that!”

“Yup,” said Generosity, “no one can figure that nut Loyalty out just like no one can figure that knucklehead Pinkie Pie out! She might be Laughter's connection but she thinks everyone wants to be her friend! Loyalty’s not that stupid. And it didn’t play a prank on us as Magic did!”

“Huh?” Mabel said. “What do you mean by that Generosity?”

“It’s a long story…” Generosity said. “And we don’t have time for storytelling right now!”

“It’s okay,” I said, “Loyalty told me the story!”

“Yeah we know,” said Honesty, “and I do believe that Loyalty also told you that Applejack’s been lying big time!”

Everyone except me gasped this time.

“I had been trying to reason with her,” said Honesty, “but she was a knucklehead like Pinkie Pie! And Kindness did the same thing with Fluttershy! It’s like elements of harmony bearers have gone completely nuts! And we’re not sure if that’s due to being stuck inside the Machine. But Applejack wasn’t stuck inside the Machine in the first place and the same goes for Fluttershy!”

“That’s news to me!” I said in surprise. “Our records show that they were both stuck inside the Machine! And for the same amount of time that Rainbow Dash was!”

“No,” said Honesty, “she altered her records to make it look like she had been stuck inside the Machine!”

“Actually,” said another founder, “Agent Applejack-78’s Predictor number two had informed me about that but since it was my word against hers there’s no way anyone would believe us.”

“That’s the same thing I thought when Rainbow Dash told me about Agent Applejack’s story about when Agent Applejack helped her when Code Silas assaulted her!” I said. “Of course I believed Agent Applejack over her because she was the element of honesty.”

“But how would Agent Applejack be able to alter her records?” Naomi said. “No agent can do that once they’ve accessed the blood barrier!”

Honesty let out what everyone heard was a long sigh, “She altered her records before she came to the Sixth! Her element was not kidnapped by the Machine! The same thing went for Kindness and Magic! The only ones that had been kidnapped were Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty. I’m not so sure that Pinkie Pie lost her personality even when she was stuck inside! She was a nut even back in Equestria!”

“No kidding!” Generosity said. “That stupid engagement party for Rainbow Dash! I mean what on earth was that pony thinking? Good thing Oliver didn’t do that.”

“Yeah, he’s not stupid like Pinkie Pie was!” Honesty said. “And she still can’t take no for an answer! She thinks that Rainbow Dash along with Oliver wants to include her in their engagement so they can become ‘herd’ and trust me, they have no intention of doing that.”

“I wouldn’t want that nut in my family either!” Generosity said. “I feel sorry for the ones that are actually related to her!”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh because they knew it was true, even Generosity and Honesty laughed along with everyone.

“Anyway,” said Honesty, “I’ve received word from Kindness that Oliver and he’s already starting to break out of his room!”

I raised an eyebrow, “Room? Why isn’t he in dungeon?”

“We don’t know and Rainbow Dash is in a room along with Oliver!” Honesty said. “Oh Rainbow Dash knows who the ruler of the Machine is!”

“What?” Everyone gasped. Rainbow Dash knowing who the ruler of the Machine is was news to me and her team also.

“How do you know this?” Agent Gilda said.

“Kindness and Loyalty saw her talking to him themselves!” Honesty said. “Of course we already knew who he was in the first place!”

“Seriously Honesty!” Generosity said. “I don’t know why we told you that information. Good thing we kept it a secret from Laughter and Magic!”

Agent Rarity said, “Why would you keep that a secret from them?”

“Because Magic is getting ready to go silent to it’s connection Princess Twilight,” said Generosity, “and Laughter has already gone silent to Pinkie Pie! They suspect they’ve both turned evil!”

Everyone gasped at that information except me because it didn't surprise me at all.

“It’s probably true,” I said, “the way Princess Twilight reacted when she saw Loyalty makes me suspicious of that.”

“And sorry for telling you guys about the ruler of the Machine thing,” said Honesty, “it was a slip of the stone! My bad! It won’t happen again.”

If Generosity had eyes it would have no problem rolling them. Or at least that's what it sounded like in its tone of voice. “Yeah Honesty, you need to keep your stone shut when it’s needed and that was the time for it! Anyway, we’ve been informed by Loyalty itself that Loyalty will be waking Rainbow Dash up very soon.”

“Wait a minute,” said Honesty, “Loyalty just told me she’s already woken Rainbow Dash up and she’s starting her breakout too!”

“So what should we do?” Agent Gilda said. “Should we go help them out?”

“Honestly,” said Honesty then laughed at saying that, “I just said honestly, Generosity and I along with the other elements think that we should let Oliver and Rainbow Dash break out on their own! We think that it would be best if we just wait for them to contact you! But that’s up to you.”

“I’m in favor of that one!” Agent Gilda agreed.

“Everyone that’s in favor of that, say ‘aye!’ I said.

Everyone in the room said the word ‘aye’ in agreement.

After that everyone considered the meeting to be closed.