Loyalty's Vision

Chapters

3) Everyone's worried about you Rainbow Dash
4) Out of Control Partial Sonic Rainbooms
5) Spitfire Breaks Out
6) Spitfire's Six-day Training Begins
7) Spitfire's Dream Transformation
8) Will Somebody Please Outdo Me!
9) Taking it easy
10) Spitfire's Six-Man Squad
11) Discord the Flirt
12) A Medical Emergency!
13) This Job Sucks! It Needs to be 20% Cooler!
14) Suspected Pregnancy
16) G is for Grandma
17) Atias Ingie
18) Eli's New Lover
19) Pick-up Lines
20) Color Rain
21) Strange Things are Happening
22) First Mother is a Threat
23) Jude's Magic gets Unlocked
24) Back to Equestria
25) Princess Rainbow Dash
1) Sonic Rainboom
2) Breakout Assignment
15) The Firewall gets an Upgrade

3) Everyone's worried about you Rainbow Dash

{Rainbow Dash}

The fact that the Sixth gives agents days off came as news to me. It happens after you get past New Agent status. You get past New Agent status after you've passed at least ten or more assignments. So I get an actual day off from my breakout assignment and my outside of AI assignment is to fight the Firewalls.

Now that I finally accepted myself as a Pegasus, I actually like flying now. On my days off, I don't do it for training, I do it for fun. That's what I was doing today. I had a feeling that Jude would be watching me fly because I was flying inside of AI. I call it a 'fun fly' when I'm flying like this.

I had just done three barrel rolls in a row and afterward doing a nose dive and shooting straight up towards the sky as fast as I could. Just as I was about to do the same thing all over again, I looked over to see Jude and he was leaning up against a nearby tree. When I saw him, I lost my flight pattern and crashed face first into the ground.

Jude seemed to find my crash landing funny, because he was laughing as he helped me get to my hooves.

"Yup, that's exactly why I got the nickname Rainbow Crash. For crying out loud, can't a girl have a fun fly on her day off?" I grumbled.

Jude raised an eyebrow. "Agents of the Sixth get a day off?"

I nodded. "Yeah I know. It came as news to me too. Apparently, it happens after you get past New Agent status by passing more than one assignment. I did this only after weeks of becoming an agent for the Sixth."

Jude whistled. "Makes sense to me, that's because-"

"If you say it's because I'm Rainbow Dash, so help me…" I growled. "And no, I'm not the definition of the word 'awesome.' Gilda's the one that started it and the 'Gilda line' is getting on my last nerve because Oliver and Finn just love to add fuel to the fire!"

Jude started laughing again and when I flicked my tail in annoyance, it made him laugh even harder.

"At least I'm not doing a sonic rainboom right now. I really don't want to do that again," I said.

Jude went from laughing to being serious like a switch had been flipped inside his head. "That's why I came to see you. Why were you so afraid of that rainbow you created in the sky during your last fight with Firewall Eli?"

"Because I'm not becoming an Alicorn anytime soon if I got something to say about it!" I growled. "Nope! No way! I just accepted myself as a Pegasus. I don't want that."

"What's an Alicorn?" Jude asked.

I sighed, "From what I can recall, they're some of the most powerful creatures in Equestria. With that power, they protect Equestria, sometimes using that power to stop wars before they begin. I think of them as the Firewalls that protect AI, but an Alicorn is much stronger."

Jude gave me a puzzled look. "Why wouldn't you want to become a powerful creature?"

"As I said before," I said, "I just accepted that I'm a Pegasus and if I become an Alicorn, I'll have to accept that too. Just like I was fine with being in the number five spot in my job category of fighting the Firewalls, but noooo, I just had to excel at that and take the number one spot."

"Wow," said Jude, "I wonder if that's why AI chose you to give birth to me?"

"Maybe, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Oh, I forgot to congratulate you on your wedding. So how does being married feel like to you?" I said.

Jude smiled. "It's almost the same thing as when I was dating Ivy. It's just a little bit different because Ivy is my co-ruler now." Then he growled. "Speaking of co-ruler, that brat Life Force Princess Twilight has been demanding that she be co-ruler with me!"

"What?" I gasped. "Has she lost her mind?"

"It looks like it," Jude responded, "according to Equestrian law, ponies do something that's called a herd. What's a herd?"

"What I know about a herd is," I said, "it's basically when a group of ponies get married to each other. The idea actually creeps me out. Applejack and Fluttershy wanted to do that with me and wanted to include Pinkie Pie. I said no to it several times and that's why Applejack broke up with me.

"It's funny, I didn't have a stable relationship until I met Oliver. If Pinkie follows me to another assignment, I'll do more than just twist her arm behind her back. I might just actually break it instead."

"What should I do about Life Force Princess Twilight?" Jude asked.

"If she's not the ruler of Equestria anymore, that's probably because of the way she acted when I escaped from AI's castle," I said.

Jude tilted his head. "How did she act?"

"She got mad when I wouldn't tell her my story about what happened. She wanted to throw me in a dungeon because of that." I explained. "She also wanted to do the same thing to Oliver and Finn because they were protecting me from her. The former ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia stepped in when she saw what was happening. Twilight claimed that Oliver and Finn were trying to kill her when that wasn't the case. Princess Celestia saw the whole thing and it was kind of comical when she dragged Twilight back to Equestria. Princess Celestia did say something to the effect that Twilight was being a 'pig headed ruler'. Now, from what I've heard Princess Celestia along with her sister Princess Luna had to take back the throne. Even if something like having a herd is done in Equestria, that's not what your culture does. Twilight needs to understand she can't make you do anything you don't want to. You've said no and she needs to respect that.

"As far as dealing with Twilight goes, I would say kill her, but I'm not the killing type. Like I didn't kill any of your guards while escaping from the castle. They weren't a threat just as much as they were annoying. The whole 'if you won't go back to your room we'll just make you go back' line was really testing me. It was tempting for me to actually kill one of them, just to get them to shut up."

Jude snorted. "I put you up against a lot of guards on purpose. Just like Oliver said, it was a joke. I had a feeling it was overkill and it was. I didn't mean for one of the guards to hut you in the process. I didn't punish him, because he was just doing his job."

"I figured as much." I said. "I thought it was annoying that I'm always the one passing out all the time, when something like that happens."

"To me, it looks like you're just bound and determined to kill yourself every time you get into a fight. I've seen you do stupid things every time you fight Firewall Eli." Jude said. "I mean I know the guy's getting on your nerves and all, but could you at least try to use your common sense when you're fighting him?"

I cracked up, "Aww that's sweet, the ruler of AI concerned about an agent that works for the Sixth. With all due respect, that's exactly the same thing Samantha tells me. I guess I can't help myself. It's in my nature and that's how I fight. If I recall correctly, that's exactly how I would fight back in Equestria. I did it that way, because I always took risks when it came down to protecting my friends. Which is what I do when I'm protecting my idiot teammates when I'm fighting the Firewalls.

"I still can't believe I stayed loyal to my so-called friends back in Equestria. I just had to get the Element of Loyalty because of tying that bridge so they could get to the Castle of the Two Sisters safely. They gave me more than enough reason not to help them. I should've just left them hanging and flew back to Cloudsdale. But noooo, I just had to tie that stupid bridge! Then we discovered the elements of harmony and I got the Element of Loyalty, just because I tied that bridge up."

"Why didn't you want to protect your friends at the time?" Jude questioned.

"Because when we discovered the Elements of Harmony, that nut Pinkie Pie decided to throw an engagement party to propose to me. I said no, and everyone was too busy consoling Pinkie Pie than bothering to hear my side of the story. Everyone took Pinkie Pie's side and humiliated me just because I wouldn't marry a fellow Element of Harmony bearer. They told me I wasn't being loyal because I said no to Pinkie. That was when I moved back to Cloudsdale and didn't think twice about it. I stayed away too. Everyone started to feel bad, not because of what they did to me, but only because of the fact that I felt the need to move back to Cloudsdale. My guess is they felt the Elements of Harmony wouldn't work if everyone didn't live in the same town.

"When I came back to Ponyville, no one cared about what they did to me. They didn't apologize for it. They just ignored what happened and wanted things to be like they were before what happened with Pinkie!" I said.

Jude's jaw dropped when he heard my story. "Yeah, they gave you plenty of reasons not to protect them, especially if they didn't apologize for what happened and wanted to act like nothing happened! If it were me, I would've left and never came back even if I was an Element of Harmony bearer!"

"Yeah and I know for a fact that Pinkie's held a grudge against me. I have no idea why she became the Element of Laughter. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it's because she laughs at everything, even when it's not funny," I said.

I would've loved to stick around and talk to Jude more, but I heard the doorbell in my ear to signal I was being summoned.

I sighed. "Well, I'd better go, it sounds like I'm being summoned."

Jude had a puzzled look on his face. "Huh? I didn't hear anything."

"The Sixth puts a doorbell behind the left ear of every agent that works for them." I replied. "Every time an agent hears the ding dong, that means they're being summoned. The doorbell will give you two warnings. After that if you don't answer your summons, you get a small electric shock to the ear. It happens even when you're asleep. The first time I got it, I was sleeping and having a memory, and that's how I discovered I fly when I'm asleep by crashing into a wall. Oliver saw it, and laughed about it. He said I looked like a cat that had just fallen over. That's not funny Jude!"

Jude was cracking up so hard that I was surprised he even heard what I just said. I sighed. "Well I'd better go."

Jude nodded. "Sure as always, I'll be watching you."

I gave Jude a hug, before I left I saw a portal open up behind him. I didn't see where the portal led to. I'm guessing that's a protection AI made for its ruler. Once Jude walked through the portal, it closed and I left before I could even get the electric shock to my ear.

* * *

Later that night I was asleep in the room that Oliver and I shared at the hotel we were at while doing our breakout assignment.

"Rainbow Dash…" I heard that voice in my dream say.

"This crap again?" I said with annoyance. "Where is that voice coming from? If you would reveal yourself sometime soon, that would be great!"

"Rainbow Dash...." The voice said again. "Rainbow Dash..."

"Okay voice!" I shouted. "If Rainbow Dash are the only two words you can say, I'm not talking to you! You're just about as bad as Loyalty when I first met it! I'm out of here," I paused. "Wait... Where the heck am I?"

I spun around only to see that there was nothing but darkness surrounding me as far as the eye could see. It reminded me of that creepy white room that I did my training in to be an agent for the Sixth. That room made my skin crawl and wherever I was in this dream now was making my skin crawl too.

"Rainbow Dash..." The voice started to creep me out because it went from a sweet little voice to being demonic sounding like the demon Firewalls' voice Firewall Molly.

"Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash..." The voice started to sound like it was chanting my name in a demonic tone of voice.

"Okay," I said with a nervous laugh, "if this is a dream, I really need to wake up now!"

Now the voice started shouting at me. "RAINBOW DASH!"

The voice shouted with so much force that it sent me flying backwards. That's when I woke up.

* * *

When I opened up my eyes, I was flat on my back. Oliver held out a hand to help me up. Oliver hugged me and held me tightly in his arms. I looked up at him and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"You look scared silly," said Oliver, "and you're shaking."

"Huh?" I didn't know Oliver was right, until I felt myself shaking. To tell the truth, I wasn't so much as scared as I was annoyed with what I had been dreaming about lately.

"You fell off the bed pretty hard." Oliver said before frowning. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, "if I would stop having that stupid dream that says my name over and over again, that would be great. Yeah, the dream was a little bit scary this time. The voice started to sound like that demon Firewall Molly's voice. That's probably why I fell off the bed this time."

"Wow." Oliver said.

I nodded. "Good thing I'm in my human form. Or I'd probably make a hole in the wall because of crashing into it."

"That reminds me," said Oliver, "Samantha told me you did your first full sonic rainboom during your last fight with Firewall Eli! So how was it?"

"It happened so fast, I didn't know what was happening!" I answered. "Eli was laughing so hard when he saw it. It sure didn't feel like I farted the rainbow, because I know what a fart feels like."

I rolled my eyes because I knew Oliver was going to laugh judging by the amused look on his face. And cue the laughter...

Just as I expected, Oliver let go of me and went into a fit of laughter. I let out a slow breath of annoyance because of Oliver's laughter. For some reason, my stomach decided it was time for me to empty its contents so I went to the bathroom and threw up. Oliver stopped laughing and came to see if I was okay, "I'm sorry Eve, I didn't know my laughter could make you sick."

I got up from the toilet and shook my head. "I don't think that was it. You know I've been throwing up a lot off and on lately."

"Did the doctor tell you what's going on with you yet?" Oliver asked.

"Nope," I said, "Honestly, I don't want to go to the doctor again, because it's getting on my nerves!"

Oliver frowned. "Samantha's been sending you there out of concern for you. If she's concerned, I'm concerned too. You've been doing a lot of partial sonic rainbooms and it seems like they're getting out of control lately. I bet Jude's worried about it too."

"I guess you're right," I said, "he paid me a visit when he saw that I was horrified by my first sonic rainboom. I'm not becoming an Alicorn! The only reason I'm worried about it is because Loyalty and the other Elements of Harmony seem to think something big is coming down the pike concerning me."

"If Jude's worried enough to pay you a visit, then I'm even more worried now!" Oliver said.

"I wish people would stop worrying about me, I'm fine." I kept telling everyone that I was fine to get them to stop worrying about me. It was starting to get on my nerves about how much everyone was worrying about me. But the more I told people that I'm fine, it only made people worry about me even more.

4) Out of Control Partial Sonic Rainbooms

{Rainbow Dash}

"Are you sure about this, Rainbow Dash?" Gilda said, frowning.

Gilda was looking down as she was standing by the edge of the cliff. She had a look of worry and concern on her face.

Honestly, I'm getting sick and tired of that look. I know everyone's worried about me because of my out of control partial sonic rainbooms, but sheez give it a rest already!

I rolled my eyes and tapped my hoof on the ground. "Yes Gilda, I'm sure. I know why you're worried but I think I'm fine."

"Uh, no you're not!" Gilda snapped. "But fine, whatever. I know about those out of control partial sonic rainbooms. Honestly, we're not in your pocket dimension, and if you crash, you could seriously hurt yourself!"

I glared at her and then growled. "I know that! Let's do this already!"

"Okay, but it's your funeral, but I should be able to catch you if you crash. . ." Gilda gulped. "I hope."

Gilda and I dove off the cliff like we normally do when we start training. Only this time we flew through the twists and turns of the canyon and threw our daggers at each other and used our whip chains too. This is one of my favorite things to do when I'm training. The fact that we were flying through the cliff walls and not down it like we normally do, it added some danger to it. Oh how I love the thrill of dangerous activities! I loved dangerous activities when I was stuck inside AI and I love doing them even more now!

"Not bad Rainbow!" Gilda laughed. "You just keep getting better and better! Why do you want to do these practice flies again?"

I smiled ignoring Gilda's question, "Just keep going!"

I did a barrel roll and twisted my body around just in time to see Gilda's whip chain come towards me and I dodged it. Right when I dodged Gilda's whip chain, I felt a small surge of power go through me. I knew exactly what was going to happen next, a partial sonic rainboom.

This crap again! I looked down to see a small rainbow hula hoop around my waist. It went from being a hula hoop to a small rainbow tornado and it sent me flying forwards, before I could crash, I felt something yank on my tail. It didn't feel like Gilda's claw either.

Wait a second. . . I thought, This isn't Gilda's claw, it's a hand. Who on earth could be yanking on my tail? Last time I checked, Oliver can't fly and he's not here. The only other person I know that can fly is Eli during the last battle we had when I farted my so-called sonic rainboom. It can't be him. . . Can it?

I turned around and just like I thought, someone had pulled on my tail to prevent me from doing a crash landing. Floating right beside Gilda, was Eli.

* * *

As soon as I saw Eli, my ears went flat against my head and I snarled at him. "What in Equestria are you doing here?"

I flew towards him so I could push him into the cliff's wall where we were at, but all he had to do was move to the side to dodge me. When he did, he yanked on my tail again to keep me from crashing. I snarled at him again when I turned around to see Eli had an amused look on his face. He started laughing and that made me even more angry. Eli started laughing and Gilda was laughing right along with him.

"I do believe I asked you what you're doing here?" I snapped.

Eli rolled his eyes and put up his hands to say he surrendered. "Relax Rainbow. . ."

I paused when Eli said my name instead of calling me Loyalty, like he always does. "Uh, are you feeling okay, Eli?"

Eli didn't even have a hardened battle look on his face like he usually does when we fight either. "Okay am I dreaming or something?"

"No you're not dreaming Rainbow," replied Eli, "I come in peace. You really should be taking it easy right now."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything," Eli said, "I understand that you think I am, because I'm not calling you Loyalty like I usually do. If it makes you feel better, I can do that for you if you want? The Lord sent me to watch over you, he's been worried about you lately, and I kind of agree with him. Do you really think you should be doing something like this, especially after whatever you just did, and almost crashed?"

"I'm fine," I growled, "and tell the Lord that he shouldn't be sticking his nose in places where it doesn't belong!"

"Actually, it does belong here this time," Gilda stated in a matter of fact way.

Eli nodded. "I agree with your friend here Rainbow."

"My name is Gilda, Eli," Gilda said.

"So what did you just do that almost caused a crash landing Rainbow?" Eli asked. "Because you've done it in a couple of our fights and it doesn't look like it's under control."

"It's called a-" Gilda started.

"Thank you Gilda, but I can explain for myself." I cut her off. "It's called a partial sonic rainboom. And you're right they've been out of control lately and my boss wants me to go to a doctor for it. I wish people would just back off. I'm fine!"

"Uh no," said Gilda, "you're not and trust me, if a Firewall's here because his boss is worried about you, then yeah there's reason to be concerned. Oliver's been really overprotective of you lately too. Probably because he's your husband and all."

Eli nodded in agreement.

Okay, this is getting on my last nerve! I thought. I felt my right eye twitch. Normally, at this point I would flick my tail to show how annoyed I was, but that probably would make Gilda and Eli double over in laughter and I didn't feel like hearing it. My stomach suddenly decided that it was time to empty its contents. So I flew over the other side of the canyon and threw up.

When I came back to where Gilda and Eli were, Gilda rolled her eyes and said, "Uh-huh, oh yeah, you're fine, sure you are."

"Yup, the Lord has reason to be worried." Eli said with a small nod. "He has his suspicions on what might be happening, but he's not telling anyone, so yeah."

"I'm not a child and the Lord needs to lay off!" I growled. "And so does everyone else!"

At this point, I wasn't just annoyed, I was super annoyed. It made me wonder if AI decided to change it's reality.

"On top of that," said Gilda, "you've been acting like either Rainbow Angry or Rainbow Irritated!"

It was almost as if Eli could read my mind, "No Rainbow, AI did not change its reality. Trust me, I think the Lord and everyone else that works for AI would know."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you? A Predictor?"

Eli gave me a puzzled look and raised an eyebrow. "Predictor?"

"A Predictor is our boss," explained Gilda. "Her name is Samantha, she can hear our thoughts and announces them right in front of everyone. She can also see the future too. It's really annoying and sometimes we wonder if we could even have a normal conversation with her. But she does let us actually talk. So I guess that's okay."

Eli found what Gilda just said funny because he chuckled. "Wow and I'm glad she's not my boss."

"No kidding!" I said. "When I first met her, she announced my thoughts in front of everyone. I had to hold myself back from tripping her like I did to Oliver just to get her to shut up."

"What did you do that for?" Eli questioned while tilting his head to the left.

Gilda answered for me. "To stop the teasing, me and Oliver were doing while we were training Rainbow. I kept getting feathers pulled out by Rainbow and Oliver because of it."

"Yeah, makes sense you would do something like feather pulling Rainbow." Eli laughed. "You tricked me into going bungee jumping blind folded once!"

Gild doubled over in laughter and it looked like she might crash into the canyon wall she was laughing so hard. She finally composed herself, "Well at least you didn't have to pose as a dancer for a breakout assignment. If you ask me, since everywhere Rainbow goes half the staff that works with her develops feelings for her, she should've had the job as a dancer, not me. No, Rainbow got assigned to be on the security team."

Eli paused. "Uh, dancer?"

I groaned. "Yeah we had an assignment to break someone out of AI that worked at a Strip Club, that's not funny Eli!"

I felt my face turn red in embarrassment as Eli started laughing.

"I wouldn't be embarrassed Rainbow." Gilda said. "A job's a job trust me, I've had plenty of strange jobs before you became an agent working for the Sixth. For example, now I have to train that Zebra that got broken out of that Zoo a couple of weeks ago!"

Eli smirked and that creepy look he had on his face made my skin crawl.

This conversion started to get on my nerves, so I just started to fly away. As I did, I heard Eli call out, "Where are you going Rainbow?"

I turned around and snapped. "I'm going away from you! Once again, tell the Lord to stop sticking his nose in places where it doesn't belong and everyone else needs to lay off! So goodbye!"

As I flew off I heard Eli and Gilda talking.

"Wow she's angry!" Eli exclaimed.

"Nah, I don't think so," said Gilda. "Trust me, if she's angry, you would know. When it comes down to me, she won't talk to me for weeks if she's angry."

"Weeks! Seriously?" Eli said with surprise.

"Yup, for weeks," Gilda replied.

Eli whistled at that. As I kept flying away I was thankful that they didn't follow me because I didn't want to hear anything else they had to say.

* * *

{Jude}

Since Rainbow Dash keeps doing what she calls a partial sonic rainbooms and almost does a crash landing because of it, I've become concerned about her. At least now I know that's what it's called. I've recorded every single fight she has had with Firewall Eli and she's been doing those a lot lately. Along with the actual sonic rainboom she did that came out of nowhere, it was my suspicion that Rainbow Dash might be pregnant. She seems to be showing a lot of symptoms that Ivy did when we found out that she was pregnant, minus the out of control partial sonic rainbooms.

I sent Firewall Eli to keep an eye on Rainbow Dash, in the hopes that he could catch her before she did a crash landing by doing one of those partial out of control sonic rainbooms. Even though her crash landings are funny sometimes, I don't want her getting hurt. Not on my watch she won't!

As I did my usual work day of looking at the computer screens and paying attention to the patterns that AI wanted me to pay attention to, I heard First Mother clear her throat to get my attention. This stupid old hag is getting my last nerve! I really wish she would at least send a servant ahead of her so I can at least tell her whether or not she can show up here!

I turned around and made sure to show her how annoyed I was with her at the moment. "You know, I'm trying to get some work done here, First Mother!"

"Yes, yes I know," said First Mother giving me that creepy smile she's been giving me lately, "I just wanted to give you some intel about Life Force Princess Twilight."

I gave her a dirty look. "Uh-huh yeah, sure. . ."

First Mother seems to find my annoyance with her amusing because she kept that stupid creepy smile on her face as she continued. "Did you know Life Force Princess Twilight used to be nice before she took the throne back in Equestria?"

I gave First Mother a look of disbelief. "I'm not so sure she was actually ever nice, not with the way she's been acting."

"Yeah I know," said First Mother, "and that stupid engagement party Life Force Pinkie Pie threw for Rainbow Dash. She really didn't think that Rainbow Dash would say no to her, even though Rainbow Dash told her they were over several times before that happened. I guess she didn't want to believe that she was no longer with Rainbow Dash in a relationship anymore. All of the other elements of harmony bearers sided with Life Force Pinkie Pie and she still believes that Rainbow Dash wasn't being loyal because she said no to a marriage proposal to Life Force Pinkie Pie."

Upon hearing the same story Rainbow Dash told me, it made me angry all over again. To add to me being angry, my heart broke for Rainbow Dash at the same time.

"I know that angry look Lord Jude," said First Mother, "you've given it to me several times before. To tell the truth, I'm kind of angry about that too. If something like that happened to me, I'd probably go kill Life Force Pinkie Pie and everyone that took her side on the matter. Life Force Pinkie Pie still believes that Rainbow Dash will accept her marriage proposal sooner or later. I mean, she told me she followed Rainbow Dash to one of her assignments, wanting her to take the engagement ring and say yes. Life Force Pinkie Pie desperately wants Rainbow Dash to say yes to her.

"Now that she knows Rainbow Dash is married to Agent Oliver, she seems to think they'll say yes to marry her so they can form a herd. The idea of Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver marrying her and that's all she's been talking about at the moment. She talks about it like this, 'Oliver and Rainbow Dash are going to marry me! I just know they will! Once they do, I can plan a great big party to celebrate our wedding! I know parties! Parties are serious business!"

It was kind of comical to me the way First Mother moved her hand as if it were talking as she relayed the conversation that she had with Life Force Pinkie Pie. Then, the way she ended her rambling surprised me.

"Life Force Pinkie Pie is starting to get on my nerves!" First Mother growled.

When I heard First Mother say that, I burst into laughter.

"That's not funny Lord Jude!" First Mother snapped.

I stopped laughing and wiped the laughter tears from my eyes. "It's funny because nothing gets on your nerves! Not even me!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" First Mother said. "What really throws me for a loop is that when Life Force Princess Twilight became the Princess of Friendship it was because she and her friends opened up a box and poof, a castle came out of it!"

"Huh," I shrugged. "Well, if AI can build an instant castle for me, it doesn't surprise me that a castle can come out of a box."

"The other thing that's throwing me for a loop is how can Life Force Princess Twilight become the Princess of Friendship when wasn't a friend to all of her friends? She wasn't a friend to Rainbow Dash at that time, so how is that even possible?" First Mother said.

I paused as I thought about that comment. "You know, I actually agree with you on that one. Life Force Princess Twilight shouldn't have become the Princess of Friendship if she wasn't being a friend to all of her friends."

Once again, I paused when First Mother started laughing. "Did I just agree with you on something?"

First Mother was laughing so hard, it amazed me that she could even speak. "Yup, you did! The look on your face is priceless! Man, I wish I had a camera right now!"

Damn it! I'm never gonna live this one down! I thought, as First Mother walked away I gripped the armrest of my chair to keep myself from snarling.

5) Spitfire Breaks Out

{Rainbow Dash}

Back on my original assignment, trying to get a trigger response from Spitfire. I was in the breakroom working on my paperwork that I had to do as part of the assignment to break out Spitfire. As I worked and at my lunch, Spitfire came and sat down at the table where I was sitting.

"Hi Eve." Spitfire said.

I almost blew my cover, as I started to say her real name. "Hi, Spit-"

I caught myself from saying the rest of her name.

"What was that?" Spitfire asked.

I didn't say anything, I grabbed a glass of water, took a drink and spit it out in front of me. Or at least I thought I spit it out in front of me. I looked to see that I had actually spit out my drink on Oliver instead. After he grabbed a towel and wiped his face off with it, he glared at me. "Seriously Eve? I know you've been cranky lately, but what was that for?"

I looked down at my paperwork in embarrassment.

Spitfire rolled her eyes and smiled. "She was about to say spit and I don't know what else she was going to say because she grabbed a drink of water and spit it out on you."

Oliver paused when Spitfire said that, "Oh, I see…"

I gave a nervous laugh, "Sorry about that Julian, my bad!"

I looked behind Spitfire and smiled when I saw Maud Pie standing there. "Um, Iris?"

Spitfire groaned, "Let me guess, Hannah's right behind me?"

Oliver and I were trying so hard to hold in our laughter at Spitfire's annoyance with Maud Pie. Spitfire held up her hand and started to tick off with fingers counting down because she knew what Maud Pie was getting ready to say. "Three, two, one… Quiet on set and action!"

"Hey Iris," said Maud Pie in her usual monotone voice, "you want to hear my latest poem I wrote?"

Spitfire put her head on the table and groaned, "It's about rocks isn't it?"

"Yup!" Maud Pie answered.

At this point, Oliver and I started laughing and everyone else in the breakroom was laughing right along with us as Maud Pie recited her rock poem for the day. As Spitfire got up to walk away, Maud Pie tried to follow her, Spitfire snapped, "Would you give it a rest with the rock poems already? If I were you, I wouldn't follow me this time. I'm not putting up with any of your harassment for the day!"

After Spitfire left, Maud Pie came and sat down beside me. "I don't get it, I'm just trying to be her friend."

"I think you're trying too hard." I said. "I mean, Clara didn't have to try that hard for me. She let me choose on my own on who I wanted to be friends with. I think you should do the same. Iris is right though, what you're doing is classified as harassment. You might actually get in trouble for that if she reports you to HR. If that happens, I can't do anything to help you, even though I am your boss."

"Or you can throw paper balls in her trash can," Oliver suggested with a laugh.

"Hmm, yeah and I bet she'll probably tell you, we have coffee in the break room." I said.

Oliver grit his teeth, "Ha, ha, very funny Eve! Do you have to keep teasing me about that?"

I grit my teeth in response, "That was your bright idea when you first met me! And you opened up the door and walked right in, didn't ya?"

Before we could argue any more, I heard a familiar annoying laughter behind me, "Aww that's cute! A couple having a little squabble at work. Adorable!"

Oliver and I gasped when around and saw Eli dressed in work clothes and looked like a new employee at JJ inc.

* * *

Once I got over my entail shock, my feelings turned into anger.

"What is Eli doing here Eve?" Oliver said out one side out of his mouth.

"I don't know Julian," I said, copying Oliver.

I could tell by the tone of Oliver's voice that he was just as pissed as I was to see Eli.

Eli smirked. "What's the matter? Surprised to see me?"

"Forget about being surprised," I snapped, "I'm pissed off to see you!"

"What are you doing here Eli?" Oliver asked.

"The Lord sent me here to keep an eye on 'Eve' and take it that Eve and Julian are your fake names for whatever job you're doing now?" Eli said.

"Yes Eli," I growled. "As I said before, tell the Lord to stop sticking his nose into places where it doesn't belong! If we have another Pinkie Pie situation I swear..."

Eli tilted his head. "Uh, you talking about Life Force Pinkie Pie? What did she do?"

"She followed me to an assignment and put my team in danger because she wanted me to take an engagement ring from her!" I said.

Eli snorted. "I'm sorry 'Eve' but there's no way I would propose to you even if you paid me to!"

"Well, that's good to know," I said, "and what did you just call that nutcase Pinkie Pie?"

"It's Life Force Pinkie Pie," Eli responded. "It's the title we give to people once they've broken out of AI and decide to work with us."

"Okay, well that's what you call her and honestly I don't care what you call that nut!" I said.

I looked to see Oliver had an evil smirk on his face. "Can I make a suggestion? Maybe you can call her Poodle Pinkie Pie?"

"Poodle Pinkie Pie?" Eli repeated.

"It's what she came out of AI has." Oliver stated.

Eli snorted again. Oliver rolled his eyes. "At least you didn't have to do her six-day training."

"Huh?" Eli said.

"She barely passed her six-day training because she was too busy eating to bother with training." Oliver said.

Good thing Eli was leaning up against a wall when Oliver said that, because he went into full on hard laughter.

"Hey Eve!" Shining Armor said. "It looks like I missed another Hannah and Iris rock poem, huh?"

I laughed, "You guessed it. I think Hannah should find a boyfriend instead of creeping Iris out."

Shining Armor looked at Eli and smiled. "I see you've met the new guy. I was going to drop the paperwork off for him. But I was busy, some assistant I am."

"No, it's okay James." I mumbled.

I glared daggers at Eli and hard and he returned the favor.

"Wow, looks like we have a little bit of a glare off here." Shining Armor said. He turned to Oliver. "Uh, Julian? What's going on here? Why does Eve look like she wants to kill the new guy? Why does the new guy look like he wants to kill her?"

"My name is Eli," said Eli, "and I'm Eve's long lost big brother."

"And lost is where you should've stayed!" I snapped.

Shining Armor whistled, "A renewed sibling rivalry huh? I don't know which is more interesting, the fact that half of the coworkers around here have feelings for Eve or this."

"I think it's a tie," Oliver said.

Shining Armor tapped me on the shoulder. "Although watching this glare off is entertaining and all, here's the paperwork for Eli. I should get back to work."

"Sure. Thanks." I said. Shining Armor handed me the paperwork and I grabbed my briefcase and put the paperwork in it.

"Is the briefcase necessary?" Eli asked.

"Yeah, it is and you'll be getting one soon." I replied "Because every employee at JJ Inc has to fill out specific paperwork. I'm going to add that you have to drop the paperwork off to your boss at the end of the day. Want to guess who your boss is?"

The look on Eli's face was priceless and I wish I had a camera for it. The look on Eli's face told me that he knew what I was talking about. I pointed to myself. "That would be me, your long lost little sister!"

As I walked away laughing, before I got out of earshot, I heard Oliver talking to Eli. "Good job Eli, way to make a good impression on your boss on the first day of job."

"Hey, I think I made a good impression on her," Eli said with sarcasm.

"Yeah, glaring at your boss is a good impression, how?" Oliver said.

"I glared at her?" Eli said, keeping the same tone of sarcasm in his voice. "Whoops! My bad!"

"Good luck trying to keep an eye on Eve," said Oliver, "I have trouble keeping an eye on her and she's my wife!"

* * *

{Jude}

Firewall Eli doesn't seem to be scared of me anymore and I think it is pretty funny. He seems to be pretty annoyed with me instead. I don't blame him, because I did ask him to follow an agent from the Sixth around that gets on his last nerve.

This time when I saw Firewall Eli as he handed over the last video footage of his conversion with Rainbow Dash, I gave him an annoyed hiss just to see if he would flinch or cower in fear like he normally does. When I hissed at him, it didn't bother him, he just gave me an annoyed look instead. When I waved him away, he didn't run out of the throne room like usual either. He just walked out like nothing happened.

"Humm," Ivy laughed, "it seems that Firewall Eli has gotten thicker skin now."

"Yeah, it's weird because Firewall Molly is the one that's afraid of me now instead," I said.

"The conversation between Firewall Eli and Rainbow Dash was hilarious!" Ivy chuckled.

I snorted. "Yup! A glare off between siblings. Nice. He definitely didn't like the fact that Rainbow Dash is his boss!"

"That Hannah character with her rock poems, she's an interesting character isn't she?" Ivy said.

"Yup," I said, "I bet Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver get a real kick out of listening to Hannah's rock poems."

Ivy giggled, "I can't wait to hear another one of those! I do find it funny that Life Force Pinkie Pie came out of AI as a poodle."

"Hmm," I said, "I wonder if that's why she's such a nutcase. I do feel sorry for Oliver for having to train Life Force Pinkie Pie when she became an agent for the Sixth. Now if Life Force Princess Twilight Sparkle would stop demanding to be a co-ruler with me, that would be nice!"

"Wow, she's pretty persistent isn't she?" Ivy said with a smirk.

"I know, she's getting on my nerves and I have no idea what to do with her," I said.

Ivy yawned, "I'm sure you'll figure something out. I should probably go to sleep."

I nodded and once I took Ivy and got her settled into bed, I went back to work. Like I always do, I worked until I couldn't keep my eyes open. I wanted to keep working but AI told me that I needed to go to sleep.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

I was in Samantha's realm and I couldn't believe a word she said. My jaw was dropped. "You mean to tell me that when Oliver and I went bungee jumping with Spitfire that sent her into Phase 2?"

Oliver looked at me. "Do you remember us talking to her in your pocket dimension?"

I remembered that Oliver and I had barely escaped the seekers when we went into my pocket dimension. Spitfire was standing there, looking like she was in a daze, it almost reminded of a Zombie actually. I remembered reading some words off an index card and wishing her good luck and then she disappeared. When I told what I remembered to Oliver and Samantha, they nodded to confirm what happened. "So what happens now?"

"She just finished Phase 3, you and Oliver will be meeting Spitfire at the mirror pool," Samantha said. "You will wait for her to finish watching the orientation video and begin her training from there."

I paused. "But why does Spitfire get two trainers? I thought only the elements of harmony bearers got two? That's what Finn told me."

Samantha shook her head. "Everyone that gets broken out of the Machine gets two trainers. That's just like Finn to say something like that!"

"Finn also played a joke on Rainbow Dash to send that food crazed nut Pinkie Pie to train her with me." Oliver growled.

"Whelp, that explains why Finn is the element of laughter's new bearer now!" Samantha grinned. "I forgot how much he loves to play pranks all the time. From what I heard, when you were back in Equestria, Rainbow Dash, you and Pinkie Pie did the same thing."

"Yeah but not the type of pranks Finn does," I said, rolling my eyes. "The type of prank I would play is putting a whoopie cushion underneath someone before they sat down. Now that's a good prank! I think the type of pranks Finn does are the troll pranks. Maybe he should date Princess Celestia? Her nickname back in Equestria was Trollestia. Oh well, too bad Finn is dating Founder Mabel now! Although I don't think an Alicorn princess ruler would be his type anymore, especially after what happened between him and Twilight."

Samantha snorted and I could tell by the amused look on her face, she found the idea of Finn dating Princess Celestia funny. "Yeah, Founder Mabel's a better fit for Finn than Princess Celestia is any day. Anyway, you Rainbow Dash will start Spitfire's dream transformation right after you start her six-day training."

My jaw dropped and my eyes went wide in shock and surprise. "Me? Start Spitfires dream transformation? Isn't someone supposed to do that who isn't her trainer?"

Even Oliver seemed kind of stunned by that. That's because his jaw dropped as low as mine was.

"Every creature is different that gets broken out of the Machine, they need to have someone familiar start it. It won't work any other way." Samantha explained. "Just like when Gilda started your dream transformation."

I looked at Oliver with curiosity. "Who started your dream transformation Oliver?"

Oliver looked down with an embarrassed look. "A family member, you met here at the last family reunion. She pushed me out of a tree to start my dream transformation by giving me hands. It's too embarrassing to talk about."

Even though I wanted to laugh, I kept my composure because of not wanting to add to Oliver's embarrassment as much as I possibly could. "So how am I going to start Spitfire's dream transformation?"

"That is where I come in!" My jaw dropped again when I turned around and saw Princess Luna standing there. When we saw her, Oliver, Samantha and I bowed to her.

"It's okay guys," Princess Luna said in a gentle voice, then she looked at me with an expression of joy, "stand up straight. I'd never thought I'd get to see you again Rainbow Dash."

"It's nice to see you too princess," I said, "but why do I have to do Spitfire's dream transformation?"

"Because you were a Wonderbolt back in Equestria and Spitfire is the second Wonderbolt to be broken out," Samantha said.

Princess Luna nodded. "You will start Spitfire's dream transformation, since Spitfire has already accepted who she really is. So, you Rainbow Dash will be giving her wings and a tail. Since you weren't accepting that you used to be Pegasus, I thought it would be best to just give you ears and a tail." She rolled her eyes at Oliver. "That was not a joke, Agent Oliver!"

Oliver's face turned red and he looked away. Samantha's crystal that she had in her hand lit up. She nodded. "That's the signal, you and Oliver must go greet Spitfire. And Rainbow Dash?"

"Yes, Samantha?" I responded.

"After you greet Spitfire in your Pegasus form, make sure you turn into your human form so she can see that it was you that broke her out of the Machine." Samantha instructed.

I nodded. "Sure."

Suddenly, Loyalty decided it was time to speak, "Hi Princess Luna!"

Princess Luna giggled, "Ah, Loyalty! It's so nice to hear from you again!"

"I'm here too!" Kindness chimed in.

When Princess Luna heard Kindness speak, she looked puzzled when she saw it hanging around Oliver's neck. "Why are you in the shape of a feather around Agent Oliver's neck Kindness?"

"Didn't you hear the news about the deaths of Applejack and Fluttershy?" Loyalty asked.

Princess Luna's ears dropped in sadness as she nodded. "I know, I heard about that."

"Anyway, on a good note," said Kindness, "Oliver is my new connection! Finn is Laughter's new connection! I changed into a feather because Oliver used to be an owl when he was inside the Machine. He protects Rainbow Dash who is a Pegasus, so it makes perfect sense that I should turn into a feather!"

Princess Luna giggled, "Well, I guess that makes sense then. So tell me, what did laughter turn into?"

Loyalty laughed, "Laughter got the bright idea to turn into a watch."

Princess Luna snorted. "That totally makes sense to me! You know, because of the watch question."

"I would love for you guys to stay and talk more," said Samantha, " and yes I will be Spitfires Predictor. Now, it's time for you and Oliver to go."

"And I'll be seeing you in the dream realm later Rainbow Dash," Princess Luna said.

I nodded, without another word, Oliver and I stepped through the portal so we could go greet Spitfire.

6) Spitfire's Six-day Training Begins

{Jude}

For some reason, I always seem to know exactly where Rainbow Dash is. Normally, when AI sends out a baby so they can be transformed into an adult and work for it, they don't know who their parents are. Not to mention once the baby is taken their memories of their parents are wiped. That didn't happen to me. I'm going to assume that because AI picked me to be its ruler, it made an exception for me.

Even though I barely knew Rainbow Dash, I still had a strong connection with her. I think it also has something to do with that strange birthmark I have on my right hand.

I can find Rainbow Dash a lot faster than the seekers because of this. The only time I can't find her is if she's in the Sixth, doing her assignments there. To be honest, I'm happy when that happens, because that means she's somewhere safe.

However, I am glad that I finally got a chance to talk to her face to face.

I'm also glad that with all of the elements of harmony broken out of AI, the Feeding Rituals have been less intense. But it still puts me out of commission for a day or two afterwards.

The funny thing is, I don't think AI is seeing Rainbow Dash as a threat to it because I think it figures that Rainbow Dash is more of a threat to herself. I couldn't agree more with AI's thinking on that one.

I keep getting lost in my thoughts off and on thinking about Rainbow Dash and when I'm going to send Firewall Eli to fight her next, when someone clears their throat to get my attention. I turned around expecting to see First Mother, but it wasn't her this time. I was surprised to see Second Mother standing there in the doorway instead.

"It's so nice to see you again, Lord Jude!" Second Mother said, "It's been ages since I've seen you!"

"Second Mother," I said, "what are you doing here?"

Even though Second Mother is more civil to me than First Mother, I've heard about the talk going around the castle about the nickname the Mothers of the Mainframe gave me: The Boy Lord Jude. Honestly, I don't like the idea of seeing any of the Mothers of the Mainframe in the computer room at the moment because of that. The reason I found out about this is because Ivy told me. Oh well AI picked me to be its ruler whether people like it or not.

"Listen Lord Jude, I know you've heard the talk around the castle about your nickname, but me and Third Mother don't feel that way about you. That stupid nickname was started by First Mother of course," Second Mother said.

The fact that she jumped so quickly into defense mode, made me not trust her even more.

I sighed, "It's fine Second mother, but I do wonder why you jumped into defense mode so quickly? It gives me more reason to assume that you actually feel that way. Oh well, it doesn't matter, like it or not, I'm the ruler here. Unless AI changes its mind about that. To tell the truth, I kind of hope it does change its mind but I doubt it will happen anytime soon."

"Well, you know something Lord Jude?" Second Mother said, "Ever since you became the ruler here, AI's power has actually increased for some reason. It's a lot stronger than when me and the other Mothers of the Mainframe were running it on our own. So, yeah I agree, I doubt AI will change its mind about you being ruler. I think it has something to do with the fact that it picked Rainbow Dash to give birth to you."

I shrugged. "Anyway, um, what are you doing here and not First Mother?"

"Oh, that ugly old hag, sent me in her place to summon you for the Feeding Ritual," Second Mother said.

I gasped, "That's today?"

Then I realized Second Mother just called First Mother an ugly old hag, and I found that funny. "Did you call First Mother an ugly old hag?"

Second Mother snorted. "Yeah that's because she's getting on mine and Third Mother's nerves! Although, she is doing her job today. I wonder what that's all about? But in any case, why AI hasn't sent out a baby to replace her is beyond me."

"She's been acting weird towards me lately too," I said.

Second Mother raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Weird? In what way?"

"She's been acting civil towards me," I answered. "And she's been giving a creepy smile, I'd rather her snarl at me like she did before instead."

Second Mother chuckled, "Yeah, that would creep me out too. I agree, First Mother's smile is creepy to me and Third Mother. She's been doing that to us a lot lately too. Well, come with me to the Feeding Ritual. The sooner you get it done, the better."

At this point in time the fact that I had no idea where Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver was, told me they were safe and I should say that since Agent Oliver is my step-dad now, I should probably start referring to him as Oliver more now. Anyway, as I followed Second Mother to the Feeding Ritual, I felt happy knowing that Rainbow Dash and Oliver were safe.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

When Oliver and I went to greet Spitfire outside of the orientation room, she had the biggest grin on her face that went from ear to ear.

I hope she's not going to be excited to meet me, but she probably will be. I thought. Everyone I meet is always excited to meet me. That's starting to get really old!

"Okay Spitfire-" Finn started to say. What Spitfire said next surprised everyone and Finn's never surprised by anything!

"I can't believe I have such a cool name!" Spitfire said with excitement. "Spitfire beats Iris any day!"

She did something that I've never seen anyone do in a while since being agent for the Sixth. It really creeped me out. She gave me a squee.

Okay, did she just squee because of her name? I thought.

Finn picked his jaw off the ground. "Wow, she's accepted her name a lot quicker than you did Agent Rainbow Dash."
"Ha, ha," I said. I blew a raspberry at him.

Finn rolled his eyes. "Real mature Rainbow! Anyway, Spitfire, these are your trainers, they will help with your transformation and your six-day training."

Oliver nudged me on the shoulder and whispered into my ear, "I think you can do the introductions."

"Me?" I whispered. "You're the main trainer!"

"Nope," Oliver whispered, "you should do it."

"Uh, you know it's not nice to whisper in front of people," Spitfire said.

"So, Spitfire, these are your trainers and I think Agent Rainbow Dash has something she wants to say to you." Finn said with a grin.

I groaned and started off by pointing a hoof at myself, "I'm Agent Rainbow Dash-14," pointed a hoof at Oliver, "this is my husband Agent Oliver-45, at your service."

As soon as I did the introductions, everyone fell flat on their backs laughing. So I tucked in my wings, sat down, crossed my arms, crossed my legs and waited for the laughter to stop.

Oliver grinned. "You know you didn't have to do the introductions that way right?"

I blew a raspberry at Oliver and Finn when they saw that they rolled their eyes.

"Real mature Agent Rainbow Dash!" Finn said.

"If people would stop laughing at every other thing I say, that would be nice!" I snapped.

"Okay fine," said Finn, "that's enough laughing at Agent Rainbow Dash. Anyway, Spitfire, these are your trainers, have fun you three!"

I blew another raspberry at Finn and he walked away laughing at it.

Yup! Just like Loyalty says, laughter material for sure! I thought.

* * *

When Finn left, Spitfire perked up.

"What is it?" I said.

"Did you announce yourself as Agent Rainbow Dash?" Spitfire said. "As in the Agent Rainbow Dash? And Agent Oliver as the Agent Oliver? You two are the elements of Loyalty bearer, and Agent Oliver, you're the new element of Kindness bearer! This is so cool!"

Spitfire smiled at me and started giving me googly eyes. "What's that look for Spitfire?"

"You sure picked a good one, didn't you, Agent Oliver?" Spitfire said. "If Agent Rainbow Dash wasn't married I'd back her up into a corner if you know what I mean."

I could feel my face turn red and I looked at Oliver to see he had burst into a fit of laughter.

Spitfire squeed again. "You are a charmer Agent Rainbow Dash, I can't believe I actually get to meet Rainbow Dash! An element of harmony bearer!"

"Actually, you've met me before," I said.

Spitfire paused. "Uh, huh? When did we meet?"

I changed into my human form. From when I posed as her boss while she was inside of AI.

Spitfire's jaw dropped. "You're my boss Eve? And you're still gorgeous in your human form. No wonder why half the workers at JJ Inc had feelings for you! I'd say that guy Eli was included in that. He was following you around a lot."

I changed back into my human form and I didn't want to reply to that.

"He's Rainbow Dash's long lost brother," Oliver said. "We have no idea what he's up to."

Spitfire frowned. "Oh I see."

She then went back to excited mode again. "Hey! My voice has already changed, cool!"

"That would be your original voice," I said. "You seem to be a little bit too excited about this."

"Oh sorry, it's just everything that's happening now, is so real," Spitfire said.

I didn't realize that we were in that creepy white room that I had trained in until I looked around. I gulped when I realized I might have to do the blood barrier to start Spitfire's training. "We wouldn't by chance have a unicorn helping us with Spitfire's training would we?"

"Oh boy!" Oliver said. His eyes went wide in terror, cause he realized what we were going to have to do. He gave a nervous laugh, "Unfortunately, no, which means one of us will have to do the blood barrier."

Spitfire tilted her head. "Blood barrier? What's that?"

I gave a nervous laugh, "It's something we'll have to teach you during your six-day training. It's so you can access your pocket dimension and the system database for the Sixth."

Oliver frowned. "It's not pleasant either, Rainbow Dash, I think since you haven't had much experience in training a new agent with this, you should probably do it."

"Why do I have to do it?" I protested. "You're the main trainer!"

"Did you hear what I just said?" Oliver replied. "You don't have experience training a new agent with this and what I say goes."

I groaned, "Fine."

I accessed the blood barrier and just like the last time I did it, it wasn't a pleasant thing to do.

"Okay then, we don't want your wings and tail, yet." Oliver said. "True, we want to get your original body back, we need to concentrate on getting your ears first and the rest of the transformation will follow."

Spitfire looked puzzled by this but didn't seem to mind it so she shrugged. "Okay, you guys are my trainers so yeah."

I groaned as the pain from accessing the blood barrier was getting intense. It felt like my eyeball was being squeezed out of its socket. "Let's get this over with! This isn't going to be a field day you know!"

Oliver smiled. "Where have I heard that line before?"

"Yeah training with Gilda on this was not fun!" I snapped. "If I hear the 'Gilda line' one more time…"

Spitfire laughed, "Gilda line? What's that?"

"Don't. You. Dare Oliver!" I snapped again.

"Sorry Spitfire," said Oliver, "I can't say it because Rainbow Dash will become Rainbow Angry!"

"I wish people would stop changing my last name just to make a pun out of it!" I growled.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Let's get started."

I accessed the blood barrier. After an hour and a half of trying to get Spitfire's ears back, nothing happened. I pulled out of the blood barrier and shook my head to turn my eye back to normal. For some reason, I had the worst headache I've ever had.

Spitfire frowned and gave me a look of concern. "Are you okay Agent Rainbow Dash? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," I lied, "I just need a break, that's all."

Oliver looked at me with concern too. "You shouldn't be feeling sick Rainbow. You haven't gone over the time limit for accessing the blood barrier."

"I'm fine Oliver!" I said.

"Well, I think that's enough training for today," Oliver said. "Rainbow should probably get some sleep. Let's show you to your room, Spitfire."

Spitfire nodded. "Okay."

When we got to Spitfire's room, on the door was Agent Spitfire-47.

"Um, why am I considered an agent?" Spitfire asked while giving the name on the door a puzzled look. "I've barely done my training!"

"The title Agent will stay on your door, because you're considered a new agent," said Oliver, "after you get past your six-day training, you'll be starting out on assignments you'll get from your Predictor."

I shifted my gaze a little, because I know exactly what happens if a new agent doesn't pass their six-day training. The way a new agent wouldn't pass is if they don't work hard and pay attention to what you're supposed to be doing, that is not getting your pocket dimension by refusing to learn the blood barrier, refusing to train with your weapon and refusing to go through with what the agents trainers are telling them to do to get their old body back.

True, I was hard headed in not wanting to get my old body back, but I did it anyway. I can't fathom to begin to understand why someone would actually refuse to do what their trainers are telling them to do. If a new agent doesn't pass their six-day training, they get sucked back into AI and there's no chance of tracking them down again. But this is Spitfire we're talking about! I'm fairly certain she'll do what needs to be done as an agent of the Sixth.

"Oh, and once you pass ten assignments or more, you'll move up from new agent status to agent," Oliver said.

Spitfire nodded. "Oh okay."

"Now, I think it's time Rainbow gets some rest," Oliver said.

Spitfire turned around and gave me a concerned look again. "I hope you feel better Agent Rainbow Dash."

I nodded and then Oliver and I parted ways with Spitfire for the night.

7) Spitfire's Dream Transformation

{Rainbow Dash}

Late that night, when I finally fell asleep, I was in the dream realm and Princess Luna greeted me.

She smiled. "Greetings Rainbow Dash! I'm so happy to see you, just like I'm happy to be able to hear Loyalty's voice again. Now, there's something I need to talk to you about before you enter Spitfire's dream."

"Yes, Princess?" I asked.

"You didn't know this at the time, but when Pinkie Pie threw you that engagement party and ponies humiliated you because you said no to a fellow element of harmony bearer there were ponies looking out for you. You weren't alone like you felt you were," Princess Luna said.

I tilted my head. "Huh? It didn't seem like it at the time. I mean no one bothered to hear my side of the story! Where were you at the time? That's why I left Ponyville in the first place!"

Princess Luna sighed, "I know and we should've told you we were looking out for you. For that, I am sorry. The main issue that we were trying to help you with was that the other Element or Harmony bearer thought you weren't being loyal because you said no to a fellow Element of Harmony bearer's marriage proposal."

"That's exactly what that spoiled brat Twilight told me," I growled. "I wasn't being loyal my butt!"

Princess Luna frowned and her ears dropped. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Twilight's been ousted from the royal family and has been stripped of her title. She is no longer the ruler of Equestria."

"Ouch," I flinched, "was that really necessary?"

Princess Luna nodded. "Sadly, yes, but all of us heard about the engagement party and that you were humiliated because of it, we were angry. For a few days after you left, we argued with the ponies who took Pinkie Pie's side to at least sit down and hear your side of the story. We even tried reasoning with Pinkie Pie herself, but she didn't want any part of it."

"I wonder if that's why everyone started urging me to come back to Ponyville?" I pondered.

"Well, did they sit down and listen to your side of the story?" Princess Luna asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, not at all. Even when Pinkie Pie was joking around, I knew for fact that was a front. I put on a brave face and stayed in Ponyville. I have no idea why I did that. They gave me plenty of reasons to stay gone."

Princess Luna's jaw dropped, then I saw by the look on her face, her shock and sadness quickly turned to anger. "Did the Princess of Friendship at least sit down and hear your story?"

I shook my head again. "That would be a negative. She didn't want any part in that either."

Princess Luna gasped, "One would think the Princess of Friendship would hear both sides of the story before making such a harsh judgement!"

I sighed, "I know that's what I thought the friendship journal was for."

Princess Luna scowled. "It seems like Celestia should've enrolled Twilight in acting classes instead. She sure put on a front didn't she?"

"Yup, she and Pinkie Pie both!" I agreed. "I think they should've their hooves in Hollywood. Funny thing is, that was right before we discovered the elements of harmony. She was the one that did the 'spark of friendship' thing. Although according to Loyalty, the whole 'spark of friendship' thing was Magic's idea."

Princess Luna laughed, "Why am I not surprised by that? When I first met Magic, it was just as arrogant as it was when it met Twilight."

I snorted, "Yeah, and I just had to tie the bridge so my so-called friends could get across safely so we could defeat Nightmare Moon."

Princess Luna gave a gentle giggle, "You do realize Nightmare Moon was me right?"

I grinned. "Yeah I knew it was you. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded it if it was nighttime all the time. It would've given me more time to sleep."

Princess Luna gave a gentle giggle again and that reminded me of how Fluttershy laughed when I first met her.

"But I heard you were the one most terrified of the thought!" Princess Luna exclaimed.

"Nah, I was acting, maybe I should try my hoof in show business?" I remarked. "I acted because I had my suspicions of Twilight from the beginning."

Princess Luna laughed at that thought. "Just so you know, I'm not laughing at your acting skills, I'm laughing at how you protected your friends back in Equestria. I'm proud of you because you're still doing that while working as an agent for the Sixth. Do you know what they're saying about you around the Sixth now?"

I rolled my eyes and said with annoyance, "You mean the 'Gilda line?'"

"Is that what you're calling it now?" Princess Luna said. She gave me a curious look. "How does it go?"

I groaned and then mumbled, "I'm tough, I'm fast and I'm the definition of the word awesome. Yeah, that's still a big fat lie!"

Princess Luna snorted. "Aww that's cute! You're in denial because you know it's true. So tell me, how is it you're not the definition of the word awesome?"

"Because I'm not!" I insisted. "I'm just doing a job, that's all. If anyone's the definition of the word awesome, it would be Spitfire!"

Princess Luna laughed and shook her head. "Nope! You're wrong on that, you didn't know this but Spitfire looks up to you. My sister and I look up to you also."

My jaw dropped when I heard this. "How is that possible? Spitfire's the Captain of the Wonderbolts! You and Princess Celestia are rulers of Equestria! Why would you look up to me? For Celestia's sake, seriously!"

Princess Luna giggled, "I wonder if my sister and I should change that term of endearment? The reason why me and my sister look up to you is because you set the bar pretty high at excelling at everything you do. True, my sister and I are Alicorns and have unlimited power, but we don't excel at everything like you do. Although before you were taken by the Machine, you were pretty cocky about that. But from what I was told about it, the reason why you were so cocky was because it helped you get the job done and be okay with it, even if you failed. The funny thing is, you don't know when you're doing a good job."

I chuckled, "That's exactly what Samantha tells me at the time! But I still don't accept it. I'm just doing my job, that's all."

"You're going to have to get past that," said Princess Luna, "believe it or not, my sister and I agree that if anypony should becomes an Alicorn, it should be you."

I did not want to become an Alicorn, there's no way I was going to accept that when I just accepted myself as a pegasus. I shook my head. "No thank you, I'm good."

Princess Luna smiled. "Okay, that's enough talking. Spitfire's having a memory as we speak. In order for you to start her dream transformation, you need to knock her out of a normal flight pattern. It doesn't matter how you do it, just as long as it gets done."

I nodded. "Yes, Princess."

Princess Luna stomped her hoof on the ground in the dream realm and the realm swirled around us. Finally, the swirling stopped and in front us was a door. I looked in awe at what Princess Luna had just done. When the door opened, Spitfire was flying around and fast too. Honestly, every time I saw Spitfire fly back in Equestria, I wondered why she didn't do a sonic rainboom herself. The funny thing was, in the dream I was looking at; it looked like she was waiting for someone.

"In case you're wondering," said Princess Luna, "Spitfire is waiting for somepony, and that somepony is you."

I gasped, "What? Why?"

Princess Luna smiled. "You'll see soon enough. It's time to enter Spitfire's dream now."

I nodded. I then went through the door and entered Spitfire's dream.

* * *

After I entered Spitfire's dream and because she was flying, I picked a cloud, sat down on it, and waited for her to notice me. I smiled as I watched her fly, because I hadn't seen her fly in a long time. I remembered back in Equestria, Spitfire and I would do these 'private flies' because she said it was to improve my flying performance. I figured since she's the Captain of the Wonderbolts if she said I needed the extra help, then I needed the extra help. I just took her word for it. I mean, why wouldn't I trust her?

What I'm still trying to figure out is why would the Captain of the Wonderbolts look up to me? The fact that the rulers of Equestria look up to me felt very startling.

Finally, when Spitfire looked behind her and noticed me, she skidded to a stop in mid air. She came over to the cloud I was sitting on. "Well it's about time you got here!"

I titled my head. "Why were you waiting for me?"

"This was a memory at first, but now I know it's a dream," Spitfire replied with a small smile. "I was flying around the Wonderbolts Academy at first and then it faded. I was wondering when you were going to show up in my fantasy!"

I paused. "Uh, fantasy?"

Spitfire smiled and nodded. "I've always loved flying with my star student! You were the best flyer in the Academy! You made me want to put more heart into my flying. You always put a lot of heart in your flying. However, even the star student could use some improvement on their flying. So you wanna go for a 'private fly?'"

I nodded. "Sure!"

The private fly started with both of us standing on the same cloud getting our flying stances ready.

"Ready...Set….Go!" Spitfire said. I let her jump off the cloud first, and then I followed.

At first we started with a couple of barrel rolls and then we circled each other by doing backflips. I was very happy and having fun flying with her. Although I wanted this dream to last forever, I knew I had to start Spitfire's dream transformation. I looked over my shoulder to see that a random building popped up out of nowhere. I saw Princess Luna's face on the building. "I know you're having fun, Rainbow. But it's time for this dream to come to a close."

I sighed and stopped flying and stayed at a hover, "Fine."

Spitfire skidded to a stop when she saw me hovering. "What's wrong Rainbow?"

"You do realize you're not a Pegasus in real life just yet right?" I asked.

Spitfire nodded and rolled her eyes. "Well duh! I know this is a dream. I'm going to have to wake up soon." She frowned. "I don't want to wake up yet."

"Yeah I know," I said, "but before you wake up, I'm going to give you two things to help you to start getting your old body back."

Spitfire tilted her head. "What are they?"

"You'll find out when you wake up," I responded.

I took Spitfire by surprise and bucked her into the nearby building Princess Luna made pop up for me. She crashed into the wall pretty hard. That's when I got knocked out of the dream because I knew that she had just woken up.

* * *

When I woke up, I didn't know why but I was anxious to see Spitfire's transformation start. I noticed that Oliver was holding me in his arms while he slept. He was holding me as if he were worried about me. I couldn't tell if that was the case because it looked like he was sleeping soundly. As soon as I moved, Oliver woke up right away.

"Did you even sleep at all?" I asked.

Oliver yawned, "Yes, but barely. I can't help it, I'm worried about you and everyone else is."

"Oh."

"You look nervous," Oliver said after raising an eyebrow. "You want to see Spitfire's transformation start, don't you?"

"Yes, I am," I said quickly, "and I should apologize for bucking her into a nearby building, that was Princess Luna's idea. But I still feel bad about it."

Oliver gave a puzzled look. "Why do you feel you need to apologize for something that happened in a dream?"

"Because she's going to be mad at me!" I panicked. "She'll probably never speak to me again!"

Oliver laughed, "Okay Rainbow, calm down. It was a dream and not real life, so you didn't hurt her."

Once again I panicked, "Fine, but I'm not taking any chances!"

Oliver got dressed quickly, but before he could finish getting dressed, I zoomed out the door faster than you could count to three. "Slow down, Rainbow! My goodness!"

When I got to Spitfire's room, I hesitated. I knocked on the door and stammered. "S-Spitfire, are you awake? I'm sorry about bucking you into a nearby building to start your transformation."

I heard Spitfire laughing as she opened the door. "Are you kidding me Rainbow Dash?"

When Spitfire came out of the room mine and Oliver's jaw dropped, she had gotten her old body back already. She was fully transformed into Spitfire!

* * *

"Y-Y-You what, uh?" I stammered.

Oliver looked at me. "I thought you were only supposed to give her wings and a tail."

"That's what I thought!" I was floored by what happened.

"Please, I can explain," We heard Princess Luna say from behind us.

"Okay," I said.

"The dream transformation thing can be partial or whole," Princess Luna explained. "It depends on how much a person has accepted themselves. I've seen a full transformation only a handful of times. And now Spitfire's full transformation adds to the twenty-one agents that have done this!"

Spitfire was on her back laughing pretty hard. I didn't know what she thought was funny about this. "You should see the looks on your faces! And your jaw is dropped the most Rainbow Dash!"

Spitfire put a hoof underneath my chin to pick my jaw off the floor. Oliver and Princess Luna started laughing at my reaction. Normally I would've said it's not funny, but because I was so speechless at the moment, I didn't say a word. Spitfire tapped a hoof on my shoulder and that snapped me out of it.

Princess Luna grinned and nodded. "Well, now that's taken care of, I shall take my leave now."

After Princess Luna left, Spitfire gave me a look of concern.

I groaned. "I wish people would stop giving me that concerned look. I'm fine."

"Agent Oliver, are you going to let Rainbow Dash access that blood barrier thingy again?" Spitfire asked. "She seemed like she was really sick the last time she did it. Is it that painful?"

"It is painful, but Rainbow Dash didn't do it for that long," Oliver answered. "It was only for an hour and a half. She didn't do the two and a half hours like I did when I first met her."

Spitfire snorted and Oliver's face turned red in embarrassment.

"Let me guess, you were trying to show off in front of her, weren't you?" Spitfire said. "It's okay Agent Oliver, in the memory I had last night, I was showing off in front of her while I was doing a complicated flying routine. I asked her to do it for me as I pretended I failed to accomplish it. She took everyone by surprise by outdoing everyone on the team! Then I did it for real in front of her and then she outdid me! Everyone was shocked because she outdid the Captain of the Wonderbolts Military!"

Oliver gave Spitfire a look of disbelief. "Rainbow Dash outdid you? And you were the Captain of the Wonderbolts Military?"

"Yup!" Spitfire beamed proudly.

I paused. "Wait a minute! I remember doing a complicated routine but I don't remember ponies jaws dropping. However, I did remember ponies cheering and I just had to do a victory dance afterwards."

Spitfire fell over on her back laughing.

"Did you by chance make the routine in such a way that it looked like Rainbow outdid you?" Oliver asked.

"Hello! I was trying to show off in front of her!" Spitfire said after she got to her hooves. "What part of that don't you understand?"

"Why does everyone want to show off in front of me?" I said with annoyance. "I'm not awesome! I just do what I need to to get the job done and that's it. I'm good at all sorts of things but I must've failed at something back in Equestria."

"Well, the victory dance did show your cockiness, so I guess you failed at being humble at the time?" Spitfire chuckled. "But you deserved that one."

"Okay, but I haven't been doing that lately, I just do my job and protect my friends and that's that," I said in a matter of fact way.

"Wow," Spitfire said.

"Okay moving on!" I said. "Can we get started with Spitfire's training Oliver?"

Oliver shook his head. "Not yet, we just woke up, so I think we should grab a bite to eat."

Right on cue, my stomach growled. "Well, sounds good to me!"

As we walked to the café at the Sixth, I wondered how Spitfire's training was going to progress from now on.

8) Will Somebody Please Outdo Me!

{Rainbow Dash}

Once we got to the café at the Sixth, we grabbed our food and sat down. As soon as we sat down, I started eating like I had never eaten before. I couldn't help it! I felt a lot hungrier than when my stomach first started growling for some reason. Spitfire and Oliver were looking at me with amusement when I looked up at them.

"Wow Rainbow," teased Spitfire, "You're really packing it in there aren't you? Are you even chewing your food?"

"Huh?" I said, I went back to eating my food. I took an apple and put the whole entire thing in my mouth. I chewed on it a couple of times before I swallowed it.

Oliver raised an eyebrow and had a look of concern on his face at the same time. "You might want to slow down, the food's not going to disappear anytime soon!"

"What are you talking about?" This time I picked up an orange, peeled it, chomped on it a couple times and swallowed it whole.

Before I knew it, I had eaten all of my food. I licked my hooves and dried them with a towel. I waited for Oliver and Spitfire to finish their food. They ate a little slower than I did and I was thinking about going back for seconds but I chose not to.

"You've been eating a lot more than usual Rainbow," Oliver said, "aren't you concerned about gaining weight?"

"Excuse me?" Normally that would give a woman license to slap a guy when they say something like that, but I actually found that question amusing. Just because a girl's eating a lot lately doesn't mean she's going to gain weight. That question was just another way for Oliver to show his overprotectiveness of me.

I was even more amused when I saw Spitfire's shocked expression. "Uh, Agent Oliver, I don't think that's a good thing to say to your wife, unless you have a death wish."

I snorted. "I'm fine Oliver, and no I'm not concerned about gaining weight because fighting the Firewalls burns a lot of calories."

"But you're not fighting the Firewalls this week," Oliver objected, "you're training Spitfire."

"I don't think not fighting Firewalls for a week is gonna make me gain a pound or two. If it does I'll just work it off," I said. "I'll just train on the cliff training inside of AI or in my pocket dimension."

"Gilda told me about your little fly through a couple of days ago." Oliver said scowling. "What on earth were you thinking? Especially with those partial out of control sonic rainbooms that have been out of control lately. I have no idea why Firewall Eli was there to catch you, but I'm glad he did."

Spitfire tilted her head. "What's a Firewall?"

"It's a very powerful agent that protects every square inch of the Machine and it's called AI by the way," Oliver explained. "The two strongest Firewalls are Firewall Eli and Firewall Molly. I doubt you'll run into any Firewalls unless you're on a high-level assignment. But before you can go on official assignments and figure out what your specialty job will be you'll have a test assignment first. No one knows what their test assignment will be; it can be either a high-level assignment or a low- level assignment."

"My test assignment was a high-level assignment to go to the gates and get past a Firewall," I said, "and the Firewall that I fought just so happens to be the guy that's getting on my nerves, Firewall Eli. I just about died fighting him but that's how I retrieved my element of harmony and I almost destroyed a gate on top of that. So I passed the assignment. That's when I got the job of fighting the Firewalls. According to Samantha, that's a high-level job category. For some reason I got the number one spot for the job and to me, that spot is up for grabs! I'd be happy to give it to you, Spitfire!"

Spitfire chuckled and shook her head. "I don't think so, you're probably going to have that job for a long time Rainbow. What spot are you in for your job Agent Oliver?"

"Well my job category is the Breakout Assignments," said Oliver, "I'm at spot number two and I'm fine where I am in the ranks. As long as I don't go to the bottom, I'm good. I just do my job to the best of my ability. The main reason why an agent would get to the bottom of the job category is if they could care less about it. There's been a couple of agents that have been moved to the bottom at the tenth and eleventh spot lately. That's because they don't care to get trigger responses from the person they're trying to breakout. Most of the time it happens because the agents throw a hissy fit because of not being the team captain."

"And Agent Great and Powerful Trixie is getting ready to lose the number one spot." I heard Finn say as he sat down next to Oliver.

"How's it going?" Oliver asked.

"It's going pretty good," Finn replied, "at least I get a lunch break today. Most of the time I grab a bite to eat in between assignments. Wow, it looks like Spitfire's already made a full transformation! Who did it?"

"That would be me," I said proudly, "Princess Luna gave me the ability to dream walk and start Spitfire's transformation. I was only supposed to give her wings and a tail but for some reason she came out fully transformed."

"Yeah," said Spitfire, "and it's awesome to have my old body back and now I have Rainbow Dash as a flying partner. I wonder what I'm going to be trained on today? As long as Agent Oliver doesn't let Rainbow Dash do that blood barrier thing again, I'm good."

Finn raised an eyebrow and looked at Oliver. "Did she go over the time limit?"

Oliver shook his head. "Nope, she didn't even get close to it." He pointed at my empty plate of food. "You should've seen the mountain of food she just ate."

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Yup, she just shoveled her food in like she's never eaten before."

Finn gave me a curious look. "I've heard the things that have been happening with you lately Rainbow Dash. Trust me, if your Predictor is concerned, then The Founders are concerned too."

When Finn finished his food his watch beeped and a green button on it lit up. "Well that break was short-lived. See you around."

After Finn left, it was time for us to start training Spitfire for today.

* * *

As Oliver and I were taking Spitfire to the training room, I saw Gilda pull Spitfire off to the side. "Hey Spitfire, it's nice to finally see you again. You probably don't remember me but I'm Rainbow Dash's best friend Gilda. I just wanted to inform you on what everyone calls the 'Gilda line' around here."

I gave Gilda a bewildered look and thought, What on earth is Gilda up to?

I saw Gilda whispering into Spitfire's ear and her ear perked up at whatever Gild told her. Gilda pointed at herself while puffing out her chest and said with pride, "And I'm the one that started it!"

Spitfire laughed and came up to us.

I raised an eyebrow. "What was that all about?"

Oliver chuckled, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say Gilda just told Spitfire the 'Gilda line!"

Spitfire grinned. "Yup!"

Don't say it, please don't say it… I thought.

To my surprise Spitfire and Oliver said the line at the same time, "She's tough, she's fast and she's the definition of the word awesome!"

I did a facehoof and growled, "I'm so going to pay Gilda back for that in full one of these days."

Spitfire giggled, "Good luck with that."

I paused. "Did you just giggle at me?"

Before Spitfire giggled again, Oliver covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. Spitfire squeed at me and I raised an eyebrow. "Wow Spitfire, I've never known you to be this girly before."

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't always a tough tomboy all the time," responded Spitfire, "just like you probably weren't crashing into things all the time either."

"How do you remember that?" I asked. "You've only been at the Sixth for a few days now!"

"After I had that dream of you bucking me into a wall," said Spitfire, "I went back to sleep and had another memory. It was when you first became a Wonderbolt and got a spot on the main team, it was your first routine. Somehow you lost your flight pattern and crashed into a nearby trash can. I remember the rest of the team calling you Rainbow Crash after that."

"Yeah and Pinkie Pie just had to tell me at least they didn't call me Rainbow Trash!" I growled.

Spitfire went from giggling to pissed off after hearing that. "I can't believe somepony would say something so insulting!"

She stomped her hoof on the ground in anger.

"It's okay calm down Spitfire," I said, "I never thought I'd say this, but let's go into the creepy white room that makes my skin crawl and start your training already."

* * *

When we went into the white room for Spitfire's training, she looked around the room confused. "So why is this creepy?"

"Because it reminds me of the white room in an insane asylum that I used to work at before I started working for JJ Inc. I was happy to help those that needed the help, of course there were some patients that I wasn't sure if they needed the help. But there were some people that I was happy with when they got well enough to be sent home," I responded.

"Why did you stop working there?" Oliver asked.

"I got tired of it," I replied, "I decided I needed a change of pace and that's when I started working at JJ Inc."

"What didn't you tell me about that?" Oliver said, raising an eyebrow.

"Like I told Pinkie Pie it's in the past and in the past is where it will stay," I answered. "Just because you're my husband doesn't mean you have to know my history. Now we please change this room into something else?"

"Hmm," said Oliver staring up at the ceiling, "let's see here, Spitfire, you've already gotten your full body back, we should probably get your wings working."

"How do we get my wings working?" Spitfire asked. "Shouldn't I be able to fly automatically?"

Oliver shook his head. "Nope, just because you can fly in a dream doesn't mean you can fly in real life. I've seen this happen with a couple of ponies that have been broken out of AI. Did you notice you're not even using your wings yet?"

Spitfire craned her neck behind her back only to see that her wings were tucked in and not flapping. "Huh, I didn't notice that."

"Maybe you should show her the basics Rainbow?" Oliver suggested.

I nodded. "Okay sure," I turned to Spitfire, "so to start you need to untuck your wings like this."

I forced myself to stop hovering and tucked my wings back in and then untucked them. Spitfire copied what I did and before we knew it, she was hovering just like me.

I looked at Oliver, "Exactly how are we going to help her use her wings?"

"Here's a couple of landscapes that can be turned into obstacle courses," Oliver said.

"Like?" I prompted.

"Let's see," said Oliver, "there is the cloud landscape, that's probably the easiest one."

Spitfire shook her head rapidly. "Oh no, Agent Oliver, I'm not starting on an easy level. Na-uh!"

"Okay," said Oliver, he paused and looked at her thoughtful gaze, "there's the fly through landscape which is what Rainbow was doing a couple of days ago." He frowned at me. "I don't know what you were thinking Rainbow or why Gilda let you go through with it. Anyway, there's the cliff dive which is the hardest one to do."

"Wait!" I felt my ears perk up as I looked at him. "Did you say cliff dive?"

Oliver nodded slowly. "Yeah so?"

"That's the landscape Gilda trained me with my weapon on!" I exclaimed with excitement.

"She did what?" Oliver gasped.

"Hey Princess Twilight let her," I said defensively, "and I was doing fine until I had another memory and no I don't want to talk about it. Anyway, I was doing fine until about five feet from the bottom until I lost my flight pattern and crashed."

Spitfire snorted. "Yup, Rainbow Crash is a good pet name for you alright!"

Spitfire went into a fit of laughter and Oliver joined in. After a while Oliver cleared his throat, "I think we should do the Fly Through Landscape then. We'll train on that for an hour and then we'll see what type of weapon your pattern gives you."

"Rainbow?" Spitfire said as she turned to me.

"Yes?" I replied.

Spitfire had a mischievous smile on her face. "How's about a race?"

"Okay, what are the rules for it?" I asked.

"No rules," said Spitfire, "just bragging rights."

I titled my head. "Bragging rights for what?"

"It's about time somepony outdid you," said Spitfire, "and I'm going to be that somepony!"

I beamed and said in agreement, "It's about time somepony outdid me, you're on!"

When I turned around to see that Oliver had accessed the blood barrier and the room changed into a Fly Through Obstacle Course. Spitfire was all too eager to start the race; she flew off the cliff so fast I didn't get a chance to count to three. I thought for sure she was going to beat me. But I guess since she hadn't flown in real life for a while of course I won the first race.

Spitfire wanted to do best out of four. Spitfire won the first two races and I won the other two. "Darn! I thought for sure I was going to win on that last one." Spitfire said while panting. Then she shrugged. "Oh well, I guess it's a tie."

I sat down and bit my tongue in frustration when we got back to the edge of the cliff where we started. I couldn't believe that Spitfire, the one pony who wanted to outdo me would shrug this off so casually. Spitfire looked at me confused. "What's the matter, Rainbow?"

"I was hoping someone would outdo me for a change!" I sulked. "I mean, Gilda can't even outdo me anymore!"

Spitfire laughed and gave me an amused look. "Wow, I've never seen somepony sulking because they didn't lose!"

I heard Oliver laughing and I wondered how he could do that considering how painful the blood barrier was. "Okay Spitfire, let's see what weapon your pattern gives you."

Without warning just like he did to me when I was training, Oliver went over to Spitfire and plucked out one of her feathers. She jumped back in surprise when he did that. The room changed and had numbers scrolling across all four walls.

"Those are the numbers that look like the numbers that were in my cell!" Spitfire gasped.

Oliver nodded. "Uh-huh, every agent has a pattern when they break out of AI."

Oliver then circled the numbers on the walls of Spitfire's pattern and after that the numbers stopped moving. A drawer opened up and Spitfire's weapon looked just as unique as mine or so I thought.

The weapon looked like a round metal disc and it was a medium sized weapon. It also had a line going down the middle of it. "What type of weapon is that?"

"It's a breakaway shield," said Oliver, "it's actually a very common weapon used by agents in the Sixth."

"Isn't that like the shield you use, Oliver?" I asked.

Oliver shook his head. "Nope my shield is a high-level weapon like yours. There's no way I can train her in using this. When it comes down to training someone to use their weapon it has to be an agent that has the same weapon in order to train them. However, there are some agents that master using this weapon and can make top rankings at whatever job category they get assigned to."

"Is there a chance Spitfire can make high rankings in the Sixth?" I pondered.

"I don't know," said Oliver, "some agents do and some agents don't. That goes for training with any type of weapon in the Sixth. It's up to the agent to develop their skills. But since it's Spitfire we're talking about she just might make top ranks."

I looked at Spitfire and smiled. "Let's hope your specialty job is fighting the Firewalls. Like I said, the number one spot is up for grabs! I would rather be right in the middle back at the number five spot thankyou very much."

Oliver pulled out of the blood barrier and handed Spitfire her weapon. Spitfire gave him a wary look. "That blood barrier thing does not look pleasant."

"It's not," I sighed, "but you're going to have to learn it before the end of your six-day training."

"Not looking forward to that!" Spitfire said.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah I understand that's the hardest part training an agent that works for the Sixth on their six-day training. Now, the best agent of the Sixth to train you on your weapon is Agent Rarity! She's another element of harmony bearer the Element of Generosity."

9) Taking it easy

{Rainbow Dash}

The next day when Oliver and I went to do Spitfire's training, we were just standing there as if we were waiting for someone to show up.

"Who are we waiting for?" I asked.

"We're waiting for the Agent who's going to be training Spitfire with her weapon," Oliver answered. He looked at the time and sighed, "She's late, I would think she would be on time. Considering we only have two more days left to complete Spitfire's six-day training. Then after your weapons training Spitfire, you'll still have to teach you the blood barrier."

Spitfire frowned, "I'm not looking forward to learning the blood barrier at all. It looks painful."

"Yeah I know," I said, "it's not a field day either."

Oliver chuckled, "Yeah I know."

"So why am I here if we're waiting for who's going to be training Spitfire on her weapon?" I asked.

"Because the rules for training an Agent of the Sixth is that two trainers have to be in the training room at all times with the trainee." Oliver stated.

Finally, there was a knock on the door. Oliver answered it. "Good it's about time you got here!"

When Oliver opened the door I smiled because for once I was happy to see Agent Rarity. "Well hello darling! Agent Oliver sorry I'm late, I just finished training another Agent with his weapon and he did excellent at it! Is Agent Rainbow Dash here? It's been ages since I've seen her darling!"

Oliver snorted and pointed at me, "Oh yeah, she's here alright. She's itching to get out of this white room that makes her skin crawl!"

Agent Rarity laughed, "I don't blame her, that's the way I felt when I first started training but over time I got used to it. So who's the new Agent I'm training today?"

Agent Rarity entered the room when she saw me and gave me a big hug. Agent Rarity paused when she saw Spitfire. She gave a shriek of joy and had a look on her face that I knew exactly what that look meant she was flirting with her. I bit my hoof trying hard not to laugh.

Spitfire shifted on her hooves and looked uncomfortable with the look Agent Rarity was giving her. "Uh… What's with the googly eyes?"

"Don't you remember me Commander Spitfire?" Agent Rarity said in a flirting way.

Spitfire was confused by this. "Uh, no… Not yet at least…"

"I'm your girlfriend you had back in Equestria," Agent Rarity said, raising both of her eyebrows in a flirtatious manner.

"And why would I date somepony as girly as you?" Spitfire asked.

"Now that wasn't very nice Spitfire," I said.

Then Agent Rarity went into drama queen mode by overly enunciating her words, "Oh the time I've longed to see you again!" She started acting like she was in a school play or something like that. Her overexaggerated expressions of joy were very comical to me because I forgot how she was like when she's passionate about something or someone. "When that awful machine kidnapped you and kept us apart, my heart yearned for you to come back to me."

I couldn't hold in my laughter anymore and to my surprise, I let out a little giggle. Oliver must've heard me because he smiled and teased. "Did you just giggle Rainbow?"

"Uh, what, no I didn't giggle! I uh, sneezed!" I faked a sneeze and rubbed my nose. I could tell Oliver wasn't buying it because he snickered and had an amused look.

"Yeah I must be allergic to the room, too many dust mites or something," I mumbled.

Agent Rarity snorted. "No one can be allergic to the training room darling. Unless you're really sensitive to light."

Oliver laughed, "Okay Rainbow, since Spitfire's trainer for her weapon is here you can go now. Gilda's going to keep an eye on you and I specifically told her not to let you do what you did when you almost killed yourself."

I did a facehoof and groaned, "Seriously? I don't need a babysitter!"

"Until we can figure out why your partial sonic rainbooms are out of control, then from the way I see it, you do." Oliver said.

I scoffed and crossed my forehooves. "Fine.

As soon as I left the training room, Gilda was waiting outside for me.

"Hey Rainbow," Gilda said.

"Hey Gilda," I said.

"Are you going to take a break finally?" Gilda asked.

"I think you know the answer to that question." I said after rolling my eyes.

"You know what I think you should do. I think you should just pick a cloud and take a nap on it for once," Gilda suggested.

I shook my head. "Nah, no nap, I'll just go into my pocket dimension and train. You can watch if you want, you know since you're my babysitter now."

Gilda's jaw dropped and she gasped, "You, the most pro napper in Equestria, doesn't want to take a nap?"

"Key words," I said, "in' and 'Equestria'. In case you didn't notice, we're not in Equestria anymore. I'm not the same Rainbow Dash everyone knew back then."

"I think you should reconsider it," said Gilda, "besides, you look tired anyway. Have you been getting enough sleep?"

I didn't realize I was actually tired until Gilda said something so I reconsidered taking a nap and thought it was the best thing to do instead. "You know something Gilda?"

"What?" Gilda said.

"A nap isn't a bad idea after all."

Gilds smiled and nodded. That's what I did, I went outside the Sixth with Gilda and I went up into the sky. I picked a cloud and curled up on it like a cat. Gilda did the same thing on a nearby cloud. No sooner had I curled up on my cloud, I went to sleep.

* * *

{Jude}

I was sitting in my computer room watching the latest video footage that Firewall Eli gave me with a curious look. "Huh, she's just laying on a cloud sleeping. It's about time she took a break. She doesn't even do that on her days off!"

Ivy raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Days off?"

I nodded, "Uh-huh, apparently the Sixth actually gives agents days off according to Rainbow Dash. But that only happens after an agent has passed ten or more assignments and gets past new agent status. The last time I saw her, she was flying and it made me nervous because I thought she might have another out of control partial sonic rainboom and crash because of it."

Ivy laughed, "Now I know where you get your stubbornness from. You're just as stubborn as she is."

"Maybe you should take an extra day off other than days when you do your Feeding Rituals Lord Jude?" I heard First Mother say.

I snarled at First Mother when I saw her, "Seriously First Mother? Can you at least send a servant ahead of time? These unannounced visits of yours are getting on my last nerve!"

"Oh come on Lord Jude," said First Mother, "can't a Mother of the Mainframe visit AI's ruler every now and again?"

"Once or twice every so often is fine," I snapped, "but six times in a week? Don't you think that's a little bit overboard?"

First Mother shrugged nonchalantly. "Okay you got me."

My jaw dropped so low I could taste the ground. I looked over to see Ivy narrow her eyes at First Mother, "Did you just agree with my husband on something?"

"Yup!" First Mother said. "And I'll have you know that Lord Jude agreed with me on something a few weeks ago!"

Ivy laughed, "Oh yeah that's right! Jude told me about it."

"So..." First Mother said.

I could tell by the look on her face what she was going to say next and it made me uneasy about it.

"Who would be in charge if you did take an extra day off?" First Mother asked.

I was about to reply when I heard Second Mother's voice, "Well definitely not you First Mother!"

First Mother turned around and glared at Second Mother, "And why not?"

"Because you have a grudge against Rainbow Dash!" Second Mother answered. "Knowing you, you would find a way to turn her into a threat to AI. To tell the truth, you've been acting really strange lately, so Third Mother and I have been keeping tabs on you. What have you been up to lately?"

First Mother shifted her gaze. "Oh nothing."

I gave First Mother a pointed look. With the shifting of First Mother's gaze, it told me that she was indeed up to something. I didn't want to know what she was up to because knowing First Mother, it wasn't anything good.

"The question is," I said, "who would I leave in charge if I take an extra day off?"

"Me and Third Mother have been talking about it," said Second Mother, "even though I take over when you're of commission after the Feeding Ritual, Third Mother has agreed to take over for you on your days off. We just told First Mother to make that suggestion to you."

"What!" First Mother gasped. "You two were talking behind my back, when I'm the one in charge of you?"

"No one is in charge of the Mothers of the Mainframe, First Mother," Second Mother snapped, "you know this just as well as we do. AI just gave us the titles. It wasn't until Lord Jude was born that you decided to make yourself the head of the Mothers. You have had nothing but contempt for Lord Jude and Rainbow Dash. So no, you won't be taking over on his days off." She turned to me. "So what are you going to do? Are you going to do it, Lord Jude?"

It felt comforting to me that I least had someone sticking up for me. I nodded. "Sure I'll do it."

"Now since your second Feeding Ritual for the week is tomorrow," said Second Mother, "so we'll make your first day off in the middle of the week. Now come along First Mother, I think it's time for you to relearn how to do your job."

I couldn't stop laughing as First Mother hung her head and followed Second mother out the door.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

It was Spitfire's last day of training and that meant we would have to teach her the blood barrier.

Oliver sighed, "It's your last day of training Spitfire. Which means the only left we have to teach you is…"

"Oh boy," Spitfire gulped, "you I have to learn the blood barrier? Can we don't and say we did?"

Oliver looked at the floor and shook his head. "Unfortunately, we have to teach you this. It's necessary for you to do your job as an agent of the Sixth. Not to mention if you don't learn it, you won't pass your six-day training."

I knew that just like when Oliver didn't want to teach the blood barrier to me when I trained, he really didn't want to teach the blood barrier to Spitfire either. I wonder if that's a trend with him in training new agents? If so, I don't blame him for that.

Oliver took a deep breath and let it out, "Okay Spitfire, in order to access your pocket. You have to access the blood barrier for six seconds at first. After that, you'll be able to access it no problem and it will help you gain entry to your pocket dimension just like that."

Spitfire's ears dropped and her eyes went wide in terror. Oliver took out Spitfire's doorbell needed to access her pocket. "Now just close your left eye and I'll get things started from there."

Spitfire took a deep breath and did as she was told. Oliver tapped her forehead right above her left eye with his index finger. When Spitfire opened her eye, it looked like she was having a hard time keeping it open because it looked like it does when Oliver accesses the blood barrier.

"Now," said Oliver, "what number do you see on the wall in front of you?"

"Forty-seven!" Spitfire exclaimed.

"Not bad," said Oliver, "you've accessed the blood barrier the same amount of time a Rainbow did."

Oliver did the same thing to Spitfire that Gilda did to me when they were teaching me how to do the blood barrier. He took some of Spitfire's blood and dropped it on her doorbell.

"Okay, you're good now," said Oliver, "close your eye and shake your head and you'll have some double vision for a little bit but after a while your eye site should turn back to normal."

Once Spitfire's eye turned back to normal, he handed Spitfire her doorbell. Spitfire looked confused as to what to do next.

"All you have to do is toss the doorbell up in the air and it will stick onto an invisible door that leads to your pocket dimension," I instructed.

Spitfire nodded and did as I instructed her to. Once again, she had a look of confusion on her face.

"Oh, just ring the doorbell to get inside." I said.

Spitfire pressed her doorbell and when the door opened we stepped inside only to see clouds everywhere. While I looked around in awe, Oliver looked as if he had seen this pocket dimension plenty of times before.

"Looks like you have the cloud dimension," said Oliver, "the clouds are trap doors that lead to different parts of AI. This will be very helpful when you're going to different assignments or different areas where you chose to train."

Oliver went up to a cloud and pressed on and it opened up just like he said it would.

Spitfire smiled, "Huh, interesting."

While Spitfire looked like she wanted to explore her pocket dimension even more because she was looking around excitedly. Oliver and I looked at the time and saw that it was getting late.

"So," said Spitfire, "how do I get out of here?"

"The doorbell goes inside the pocket dimension with you," I said, "just press it and then you're out. Oh and you won't lose your doorbell will stay behind your left ear. So you won't lose it wherever you go."

"When you're summoned for assignments, the doorbell will give you two rings that only you can hear. If you don't answer your summons by the second ring, you'll get a small electric shock to the ear." Oliver explained.

"Trust me, it's not pleasant either." I growled.

"What if you're asleep when you're summoned?" Spitfire asked.

"The doorbell enters into your dreams and does the same exact thing." I said. "Let's just say getting woken up in that way is, how do I put this, it's shocking!"

Of course Oliver found that statement funny because of what happened to me on my first summons. He couldn't control his laughter on that thought and the more I thought about it, I started to laugh too because it was pretty funny when it happened to me.

After Oliver and I stopped laughing, I yawned and stretched. "Well I guess it's time to say goodnight. So tomorrow you'll meet your Predictor and you'll get assigned to your six-man squad to do breakout assignments with."

Spitfire paused and tilted her head. "Uh, Predictor?"

"She'll be your boss and will give you your assignments and will be summoning you for them." Oliver explained. "Well, it's time for us to go."

Spitfire nodded. "See you tomorrow."

After we left Spitfire's pocket dimension, we escorted her back to her room and went our separate ways.

10) Spitfire's Six-Man Squad

{Rainbow Dash}

When Oliver and I arrived at Samantha’s realm I was surprised to see Oliver’s reaction to one of the Agents that would be assigned to Spitfire's six man squad.

“Hello Agent Oliver!” The Agent said with a shy wave, “I knew we would see each other again one day. I just didn’t think I’d see you as a married man.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes at the Agent. “I was hoping that I’d never see you again. I still can’t believe you were my first girlfriend at the Sixth, you were just as bad as Pinkie Pie, Cleo!”

I nuzzled Oliver on the shoulder and that seemed to calm him down a bit but not much.

“Don’t worry Agent Oliver I won’t do anything,” said Agent Cleo, “honest, I won’t. Yes, I still have feelings for you.”

“If you try any funny business I swear,” Oliver said.

Agent Cleo chuckled, “The fact that you’re so bound and determined to keep your relationship with Agent Rainbow Dash tells me that no matter what I do you two won’t be broken apart.”

“”That’s because they’re each other’s true love,” said Loyalty, “even if you backed Oliver into a corner he would just push you away or defend himself from you.”

“I’m with Loyalty on that one,” said Kindness, “try anything funny with Oliver and I won’t hesitate to help him stop you!”

When everyone except Oliver, Samantha, Gilda and me heard Loyalty and Kindness talk they jumped a foot in the air.

“What are those?” asked Agent Cleo, “Why are they talking?”

Kindness groaned, “We’re the Elements of Harmony. My name is Kindness. The Element of Harmony around Rainbow Dash’s neck is Loyalty.”

“Wait,” said Agent Cleo, “but I thought the Element of Kindness bearer was Fluttershy!”

I heard Pipsqueak say, “Didn’t you know that the Orientation video has been updated now?”

Agent Cleo shook her head. “No I didn’t."

"The Sixth is working on sending out a summons for every single agent except for the Element Bearers of Harmony to watch the updated video," Samantha said. "The new bearer of Kindness is Oliver."

I saw Agent Cleo give Oliver a look like she wasn't happy about that at all.

"I know that look Agent Cleo," Oliver hissed, "it's the same look you would give me every time you wanted to get back together with me. And my answer is no and it always will be no."

Agent Cleo gave Oliver a smug look. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to find someone else then."

"Good!" Oliver snapped. "You do that!"

"So this is one of your nutcase girlfriend's on again and off again huh?" Gilda asked.

"Hey I'm not a nutcase!" Agent Cleo snapped.

"Yeah," said Oliver, "and being abusive to me when we were together isn't being a nutcase how?"

Agent Cleo stepped back and looked like she was remorseful about something. "You're right, I didn't realize that was the reason why you steered clear of me after we broke up."

"Yeah think?" Oliver snarled.

"Okay, changing the subject," said Pipsqueak, "in any case, I'm so glad to see you again Rainbow Dash. You seem to have done well for yourself. I mean you're married to the guy that destroyed the 7th Gate! You destroyed two Gates of the Machine yourself. I must say you two are the perfect match!"

I laughed, "Thanks Pipsqueak, I can't believe our third year anniversary is next week."

After I said that, Oliver leaned over and kissed me. For a moment we got lost in each other's eyes and I think Oliver did it on purpose just to make a point to Agent Cleo.

Samantha chuckled and cleared her throat. "Okay, while this love fest is nice and all, Spitfire is getting ready to arrive here any minute now."

When Spitfire stepped through the portal we smiled at her.

"Welcome Spitfire," said Samantha, "as a new agent of the Sixth, I'll be assigning you to your six man squad for your breakout assignments."

"Uh…" Spitfire said with a look of confusion.

"I know what that confusion is about," said Samantha, "think of me as your boss from whom you'll be getting your assignments from."

Hopefully, she'll zero in on Spitfire's thoughts and not mine this time. I thought.

"I heard that Rainbow Dash!" Samantha said. "Yes, I know Spitfire, Rainbow Dash didn't say anything but I can hear people's thoughts and I heard hers. Anyway, let's get down to business, this crystal I have and this cauldron in front of you is how I'll be confirming your six man squad."

Oh great, I know what she's going to say next. I thought.

"I heard that too Rainbow Dash!" Samantha said. "I would explain the in's and out's of choosing a team but I'd have to write a book about it. Honestly Cleo! Get your head out of the gutter and if you even think about doing anything to Oliver or Rainbow Dash, you'll be off the team and you will have failed your twelfth assignment! Because you've done this before on your previous teams. If you fail this assignment you'll have to go through your six day training again! This will be your fourth time too. After this you'll get no more chances! You'll be kicked out of the Sixth and sucked back into the Machine. Got it?"

"Hey," protested Agent Cleo, "I said I wasn't going to try anything!"

"But you were thinking about it!" Samantha snapped. "And the more you think about it, the more likely you'll actually do it. Now everyone gather around the cauldron so the crystal can confirm you're a match for Spitfire's team and give you all your codenames."

After Samantha said that, the liquid in the cauldron started to spin and the crystal that Samantha was hanging above it started to spin around the edge of it along with the water. Then the creepy voice came from it. "Round and round the cauldron we go, where we'll stop, nobody knows!"

I was the first one that the crystal pointed to this time. "Agent Rainbow Dash-14 is a match for Agent Spitfire! Her codename is Nancy."

The crystal spun around again, "Round and Round the cauldron we go, where we'll stop, nobody knows!"

The crystal pointed to Oliver. "Agent Oliver-45 is a match for Agent Spitfire! His codename is Kai."

The crystal then confirmed Gilda and Pipsqueak were matches for Spitfire. Gilda's codename was Sia and Pipsqueak's codename was Ben. When it came time to confirm if Agent Cleo was a match for Spitfire, the crystal didn't spin, the water didn't spin, the crystal didn't glow or talk either. The crystal just hung there and turned a dark red color.

"Huh," said Samantha, "that's never happened before! Cleo's not a match for Spitfire!"

"I can explain," the crystal said, "but due to the overwhelming tension in the room between Agent Oliver and Agent Cleo and with the possible threat of harm from Agent Cleo to Agent Oliver, I have changed my mind. I'm sorry Agent Cleo, but I will have to find a different match for Spitfire. Actually I already have someone in mind just in case this happened. Agent Beatrice-74 will be a match for Agent Spitfire."

"Okay then," said Samantha, "I'll summon her now and we'll wait to finish the six man squad for Spitfire. Agent Cleo, you are excused."

"Fine…" Agent Cleo mumbled. She was then escorted away by two agents of the Sixth.

* * *

As we were waiting for Agent Beatrice to arrive Pipsqueak seemed overjoyed about seeing her.

"I can't wait to see Beatrice again!" Pipsqueak said excitedly.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because Beatrice has been my best friend ever since I started working at the Sixth!" Pipsqueak replied. "No, she's not my marefriend because she already has a stallion friend and I have a marefriend myself."

"Marefriend?" I said.

"It's the pony term for boyfriend or girlfriend," Spitfire stated.

"Oh," I said.

"Wow Rainbow," said Gilda, "you're never heard that term used before?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

Finally, Beatrice arrived and she seemed excited to see Pipsqueak. She looked like a young mare about my age and she was an Earth Pony. She had purple fur and her mane and tail was a light blue color with a purple streak in the middle of it. Her cutie mark was a red heart with a black arrow going through it.

I wonder what her special talent is? I thought. Maybe something to do with love? Her hair style reminds me of Twilight's hair.

"Beatrice!" Pipsqueak said.

Beatrice laughed, "It's very nice to see you too Pipsqueak! It's always a pleasure every time I see you!"

"Alrighty then," said Samantha, "let's get back to business shall we?"

Samantha hung the crystal over the cauldron and the water spun and the crystal spun around the edge of the cauldron, "Round and round the cauldron we go, where we'll stop nobody knows!"

The crystal lit up and pointed to Beatrice, "Agent Beatrice-74 is a match for Agent Spitfire! Her codename is Zara!"

Samantha smiled. "There is one more Agent that needs a codename. That would be you, Spitfire."

The crystal spun around again, "Round and round the cauldron we go, where we'll stop nobody knows!"

The crystal then pointed at Spitfire, "Agent Spitfire-47, her codename is Maya."

After Spitfires codename was announced, Samantha smiled and put the crystal away.

"Sometimes a breakout assignment happens a little bit later after an Agents Six Man Squad is assigned to them," Samantha said. "But it doesn't always happen that way. It's because this breakout assignment is an important one. He has a strange type of magic that the Sixth knows all too well about. That's because more than one Agent has had this type of magic. A couple of them are high level Agents and a couple of them aren't. Thankfully, the Sixth has a way of controlling this type of magic."

"What type of magic is it?" I questioned.

"It's chaos magic," Samantha answered, "and since we're dealing with this type of magic a breakout assignment like this might take up five years or more to complete. If the trigger responses still don't take effect we'll rotate out the teams. Now gather around the cauldron and get a good look at him. He's been changed into a human and his name was changed to Gary. He works at a grocery store in the backroom. We were able to pull some strings to get your jobs that you'll be assigned to while on this breakout assignment."

Everyone looked into the cauldron to see what Gary looked like. He looked like about Jude's age and was dressed in the store's uniform. The uniform consisted of khaki pants and a white t-shirt, grey gym shoes and a blue name tag that said Gary in big black letters. His hair was a sandy blonde color and he had black eyes.

Samantha chuckled, "Rainbow Dash, you'll be surprised to see who this guy really is."

"And why's that?" I said.

Samantha pointed at the cauldron. I looked at who the guys that needed to be broken out. My jaw dropped in shock and surprise when I saw him. The creature that needed to be broken out was Discord!

* * *

"W-what? You, uh?" I still couldn't believe my eyes on seeing that Discord needed to be broken out of AI.

I guess the look on my face said it all. The only thing I knew was my jaw dropped so low to the ground I could taste it. I didn't pay attention to everyone's laughter because of being shocked about Discord needing to be broken out. Oliver was still laughing when he picked up my jaw off the ground.

"Discord?" I stammered. "We have to breakout Discord? Please tell me you're joking!"

Samantha actually had to sit down at her desk. She was laughing so hard at my reaction. After a while she regained her composure. "No, I'm not joking. This is an actual breakout assignment like it or not."

I sighed and then growled, "Fine…"

"Now," said Samantha, "your job assignments are as follows, Spitfire you will be posing as Discord's manager so you'll basically be his boss. Rainbow Dash, you'll be the supervisor which is the assistant to the manager. Pipsqueak and Oliver, you'll be working in the baler area, you'll be breaking down cardboard and setting up bales of cardboard and stuff like that. Gilda and Beatrice, you two will just be regular co workers."

"At least I don't have to work as a dancer at a strip club as a dancer this time!" Gilda laughed.

"Rainbow Dash," said Samantha, "you'll be the team captain on this assignment. Which means you'll get a crystal in your ear again. I might as well go ahead and do it now."

"Great." I said. I stood as still as I possibly could and Samantha came out over to me and took out her crystal she had for me.

Samantha lifted my ear up and tilted my head to the side. Just like last time she did it, it didn't hurt to have a crystal in my ear, it just twitched from having a foreign object in it.

"Alrighty then, follow me to the portal and you'll end up right where you need to be." Samantha said. With that, we were escorted to the portal that would lead us to where we needed to go.

* * *

{Jude}

I finally got my first day off so I decided to do one of my favorite things to do, keep an eye on my mother, Rainbow Dash. Since I'm able to find her so easily, I found her at a grocery store. So I'm guessing she's on some sort of assignment as an Agent of the Sixth. I had already sent Firewall Eli inside posing as a co worker there. While Firewall Eli was busy gathering video footage for me, I was able to use my listening devices to listen in on conversations that I find interesting. Of course, when it comes down to Rainbow Dash, I'm always interested in her conversations. You know, because she's my mother. This conversation was taking place between Rainbow Dash and Oliver.

"So what was Discord like back in Equestria?" Oliver asked.

"A total nutcase," answered Rainbow Dash, "he could make pigs fly and hell freeze over just with the snap of his claw!"

"Wow, really?" Oliver said.

"Oh yeah," said Rainbow Dash, "I'm surprised Fluttershy was able to reform him! When she did reform him, she actually dated him for a while, but they broke up. That's because Fluttershy got together with Applejack. The funny thing about that is, Discord actually respected Fluttershy's decision to be with Applejack. I wish Pinkie Pie would respect our decision, come to think about it, I don't think she knows the meaning of the word respect. And if she follows us here I swear I might just go ahead and break her arm instead of just twisting it behind her back."

"I wonder how many people in this building are going to fall for you this time?" Oliver teased.

"Let's hope the number is zero," Rainbow Dash replied.

"That goes for me too," Oliver agreed.

After a while of listening to Rainbow Dash and Oliver talk, I decided to head back to the castle. I figured I could get the video footage from Firewall Eli later.

11) Discord the Flirt

{Rainbow Dash}

The first week working at the grocery store wasn't bad although every time I came around the corner Discord would give me googly eyes. One day I was stacking boxes on the top shelf to move inventory around to put the new stuff in the back and the old stuff upfront. I was about to drop one of the boxes that I was moving when someone helped me balance it so I could put it away. I looked over to see that Discord was the one who helped me balance the box before I dropped it.

Discord gave me a flirting smile. "Well, it's about time I talk to the cute new supervisor that's married to the handsome new guy named Kai working in the baler area."

"Uh...Hi?" I said.

"Oh Nancy," said Discord, "you don't have to be shy around me. I don't bite unless you want me to."

"O...Kay?" It was weird and it irked me to have Discord flirting with me.

"Don't worry," said Discord, "I already told Kai the same thing, right after I pinched his butt. Looks like I'm going to have my hands full flirting with you two. I'm not going to break you two apart or anything. I'm just having a little fun that's all."

Discord had a mischievous smile on his face and every time he's done it to me so far it creeps me out. He proceeded to touch his index finger to my nose. "Yup, I'll be having fun with two for the price of one."

As Discord walked away laughing, his laugh really irked me and sent chills down my spine.

* * *

"I'm not going to do it!" I said. "You do it!"

It was the first month after Oliver and I were working with Discord and we were discussing how to get trigger responses from Discord.

"Well, it doesn't seem like he's gone into Phase 1 yet. We've only been working here for a month now," Oliver said thoughtfully. "I kissed you to send you into Phase 2 and I'm not doing that with anyone else."

"I'm not kissing him either!" I said after I shook my head. "I'm getting tired of Discord grabbing my butt."

Gilda just so happened to come around the corner when she heard us talking. She found our conversation funny because she couldn't stop laughing. "Let me get this straight, you two are arguing on who's going to send Discord into Phase 1?"

"And what are you and Zara doing to help get trigger responses out of him?" I asked.

"We're working on it," said Gilda, "we've been displaying names of people he might remember when he was in Equestria. We've been doing it on the labels of boxes and on the shelves."

"That's a great idea!" I said. "Why didn't we think of that?"

Gilda rolled her eyes, "Because you didn't, but he does seem to have fun flirting with you two. Ben plays card games with Discord that have a deck of My Little Pony playing cards. It's funny because Discord seems to have a lot of fun flirting with you, Nancy."

And cue the laughter…

Gilda always seems to find it funny when someone falls head over heels for me when I'm on an assignment. As usual, she just couldn't help but at the fact that Discord's constantly flirting with me now.

"That's not funny Sia!" Oliver and I snapped.

"Okay, okay, I'm going to make a suggestion, why not just invite Discord over for a threesome?" Gilda teased.

I wanted to slap her just for saying that. There was no way that I was going to sleep with Discord, yuck! Of course, Gilda found this funny too, I could tell because of that stupid grin she had on her face. Right on cue, I felt someone grab my butt. I turned around to see it was Discord that did and I rolled my eyes, "Really Discord!"

"What?" Discord said. "It's too much fun seeing your reaction when I do that. Besides you can't help but be cute can you Nancy?"

"Well, I'm out of here before… Hey!" Oliver said. He couldn't walk away fast enough before Discord grabbed his butt too.

"Not it!" I said before I walked away from Discord as fast as I could.

* * *

The next day at work it seemed that every time I came around the corner Discord was lying in wait for me. He would pop out and say hi like he was stalking me or something.

"So we meet again my Angel!" Discord chimed.

"As I said before," I said, "I'm already spoken for. Kai's spoken for too."

"Oh, Nancy!" Discord laughed. "As I said before, your reaction to me is way too funny! Especially when I do this!"

Discord closed his right hand and opened it a bit. He put two fingers inside his slightly open fist pulled out a daisy and held it out to me. I took the flower and looked away. I had no idea why but Discord found my reaction to him flirting with me funny. Thankfully, the door to the receiving area opened and the semi that had the inventory in it was set up. Most of the time it takes two workers to do inventory because it's a hard job to do with one person.

I bit the inside of my cheek debating about whether or not I should ask Discord to help me with the inventory this time.

"Gary?" I asked.

"Yes, Nancy?" Discord said with a wicked smile.

"Would you help me…" I didn't know why I felt nervous about asking Discord to help out with the inventory. It wasn't like I was asking him out on a date or anything like that.

"Would you help me with the inventory this time around?" I asked. After I said that, I bit the inside of my cheek again to keep myself from changing my mind about it.

Discord laughed and what startled me about his laugh was that it sounded like his original laugh that he had back in Equestria. I don't think he noticed it but he didn't seem to act like it. If he did notice it, he probably didn't care.

"I thought you'd never ask Nancy!" Discord cheered. "Of course, I'll help you!"

Okay, I thought, am I crazy or did Discord's laugh sound a lot like the original laugh he had back in Equestria?

When Discord and I went to do the inventory, Oliver was putting another bale of cardboard out from the baler. Oliver had also just recently arranged letters on a piece of cardboard that spelled out the name of Discord's ex-girlfriend Fluttershy. When he saw Discord and I heading over to the inventory area, he raised an eyebrow at me. "Hi, guys, what's up?"

"Oh!" Discord said with excitement. "We're just headed over to do inventory work together! I finally get to spend time with one of my fallen angels!"

Olive snorted and bit his bottom lip to keep himself from going into full-on laughter.

"That's not funny Kai!" I snapped.

"That's cute," teased Oliver, "you're his fallen Angel, Nancy!"

"Actually," said Discord, "Heaven is missing two Angels!"

"Two Angels?" Oliver asked.

Discord smirked, "Yes two, the first Angel is Nancy and the second Angel is you, Kai! Here, I have something for you!"

Oliver watched in horror as Discord did the flower trick that he did to me earlier. Discord handed Oliver a flower and Oliver took it from him.

Oliver pretended to look at the clock that was hanging on the wall on the other side of the room. "Well look at the time! It's time for me to go help Sia with something, over there!" He pointed in the direction where he thought Gilda might be. "See ya!"

I laughed because I knew exactly what Oliver was doing. He was going to go hide in between one of the aisles as far away from Discord as possible.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Discord's laugh that I heard was the same laugh that he had back in Equestria! It was, I swear!" I insisted.

Oliver and I were sitting on the bed in our room where we were staying discussing what happened with Discord the other day.

"Are you sure that happened?" Oliver asked giving me a curious look.

I nodded. "Well yeah, I heard it. I just thought it was strange because he didn't seem too bothered by it. Or maybe he just didn't notice it?"

Oliver shrugged. "I'm not sure if that's what happened. But maybe he's already going into Phase 1? I don't know, I don't have much experience with this type of breakout assignment!"

I laid down on the bed on my back trying to rack my brain and explain to myself if what happened made any sense. "I don't know, I think I'll have to talk to Samantha about this. I wonder if Discord's magic might be helping him transform already and he might break out of AI on his own just by triggering a memory or something like that. I have no idea if that's possible."

"Yeah I have no idea if that's possible either," Oliver said after he shook his head. "We'll find out sooner or later."

* * *

{Discord/ Gary}- since he's transformed as a human inside AI, he's also known as Gary.

My new Supervisor Nancy and the cute new guy that works in the baler area Kai had no idea how much I like them. I mean, really liked them. But, for the time being, I was having too much fun flirting with them. I would never break up a marriage.

Kai and Nancy weren't aware that I had taken pictures of them as I was admiring them from afar. I had the pictures hidden underneath my bed at home. Every night I would take the pictures out so I could admire Nancy and Kai's beauty. I had to admit, they were so cute as a couple and that's what turned me on about them. I doubt they would agree to go out on a date with me. In knowing this information I settled with looking at the picture of them.

At least they know I'm interested in them because of me handing them flowers every other day. But they seem to be a little shy about taking the flowers from me. I understand that because it's probably a little weird when you start a new job and already have a coworker hitting on you. Actually, I've had that happen to me before when I started working.

For some strange and odd reason, Nancy did seem familiar to me because of her cute rainbow colored hair. I wanted to play with it a couple of times but I never worked up the nerve too and that would be weird.

Tonight just like any other night, I smiled as I looked at the pictures that I had on Nancy and Kai. I said to myself, "You know what Nancy and Kai? You two look so cute together! Too bad I can't be with you!"

I've also noticed something strange about me lately. Every time I laugh it sounds weird. Tonight was no exception.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

I went to Samantha's realm and told her about what happened with Discord.

"I've never heard of a transformation starting before a creature has been broken out of AI!" Samantha said. "Hmm, let's take a look at the video footage shall we?"

I nodded and Samantha took the crystal out of my ear. She put it next to another one and the crystal that was in my ear lit up with blue color and then changed to green and then it changed to white. I noticed that the crystal glowed even brighter than the other ones Samantha uses and I was curious about it. "Why is it glowing brighter than before?"

"Because it's cleansing itself of the energy that it had before," said Samantha, "and it does this because it knows that it's going back into your ear soon."

"Huh," I said.

"Now," said Samantha, "let's review the video footage."

Samantha tapped the crystal that had the video footage on it. Out of the crystal came what looked like a projector screen. She seemed puzzled by what she saw when I had my conversation with Discord.

"Now that's interesting!" Samantha said. "It seems like he's starting to transform already. I'll have to relay this information to the other Predictors and the Founders as soon as possible! Okay, here's your crystal back."

Samantha then put my crystal back into my ear. Then it was time for me to go back to my original assignment.

12) A Medical Emergency!

{Jude}

I think it's funny that Rainbow Dash's taunting every time she fights Firewall Molly is starting underneath her skin and I have no idea why. Of course, Rainbow Dash just can't help herself, I didn't know any better, I'd say her main job is fighting the Firewalls. That makes sense to me because she's so good at how she fights. Especially when she fights Firewall Eli. That's probably because Firewall Eli used to pose as Rainbow Dash's brother when she was trapped inside AI.

Every time Firewall Eli would give me the video footage of Rainbow Dash and Oliver, I would give him an annoyed hiss like I normally do and Firewall Eli would return the favor by giving me an annoyed look. I would have to bite my tongue literally to keep myself from laughing at his reaction to me until he walked away.

However, every time I gave Firewall Molly an annoyed hiss, she would actually flinch. Because I had a new victim to be a monster to, I stopped being a monster to Firewall Eli altogether.

But I knew for a fact, everyone that worked at the castle wondered why I was so overprotective of Rainbow Dash like Oliver is of her. If they knew Rainbow Dash is my mother then they would probably understand. There's no way I'm telling anyone about that. About the only people that know Rainbow Dash is my mother is First Mother and Ivy of course.

I'm very worried about the fact that Rainbow Dash is doing those partial out of sonic rainbooms and out of control is definitely what you would call them. Those are very dangerous in my opinion and I wonder if my suspicions are correct and Rainbow Dash is pregnant, she might never get them under control until the baby is born. But seeing that I have no idea how long it takes for a baby pony to be developed enough to be born, I didn't know how long Rainbow Dash would be pregnant.

As I watched the latest fight that Rainbow Dash had with Firewall Molly, I was snapped out of my thoughts when Servant Charlie cleared his throat, "Lord Jude, First Mother wanted me to notify you that she's on her way here."

Even though the fact that First Mother kept popping up for a visit was getting on my nerves, I knew there was nothing I could do to stop her at the moment. I just nodded to let Servant Charlie know that I got the message. Soon after Servant Charlie left, First Mother entered the room.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, at least you announced your visit this time. But you always seem to pop up when I'm in the middle of something. What's your reason for this visit?"

"I was just wondering if you made any progress in trying to figure out what's wrong with Rainbow Dash?" First Mother asked.

My jaw dropped. "Okay first of all, why are you so concerned? Second, are you feeling okay?"

First Mother chuckled, "I'm fine Lord Jude. I'm concerned because what if Rainbow Dash does one of her partial sonic rainbooms and doesn't live to tell the tale?"

I was stunned by the fact that First Mother was concerned about Rainbow Dash. That's because most of the time First Mother doesn't like Rainbow Dash. "I must be dreaming, who are you? And what have you done with First Mother?"

First Mother laughed and not wickedly or with a snarl like she used to do. She laughed a gentle laugh and the fact that she didn't snarl at me, gave me the creeps for some reason.

"Yup," I said, "that confirms it, I'm dreaming."

I narrowed my eyes at her as she laughed that gentle laugh again. Yeah I think she's gone nuts or something with a laugh like that! First Mother never does that type of laugh!

"I know, I know," said First Mother. "Yes I've had ill feelings towards Rainbow Dash but to tell the truth, I've changed my mind. I'm worried about her and you."

I paused. "Huh?"

First Mother nodded. "Oh yeah, Lifeforce Princess Twilight isn't just angry with you for not giving her a seat on the throne, she's angry with Rainbow Dash for not telling her, her story about escaping AI's Castle a couple of years ago."

Hearing this information puzzled me. "I'm confused. Why would a friend be angry about something like that? Friends don't have to tell everything to each other about what's happened to them. I'm sure Ivy does things that she doesn't tell me about because I don't tell her everything I do."

"That's exactly what I told her," First Mother said. "But she seems to think that she's in this situation because of you and Rainbow Dash."

"Okay wow," I said. "I think Lifeforce Princess Twilight is confused about how the world works."

"Yup," said First Mother, "I totally agree. Now it seems that you're busy right now, so I shall take my leave. Bye for now."

As First Mother walked away, I didn't believe that she was actually worried about Rainbow Dash, not one little bit.

* * *

{Firewall Eli}

I'm getting really annoyed with Lord Jude's new assignment for me besides fighting the Agents of the Sixth, now he's asked me to follow Agent Rainbow Dash around for some reason. Although I have to admit, I was worried about her because of those out of control partial sonic rainbooms. Honestly, I didn't really want to kill any Agents of the Sixth and I knew Lord Jude felt the same way. There was no way I was going to let Rainbow Dash die because of doing one of those out of control partial sonic rainbooms. If anything was going to kill her, it would be being hit by a Copper courtesy of me. But I doubt that would happen anytime soon because Lord Jude doesn't give me the Copper when I'm sent to fight Agent Rainbow Dash yet.

Agent Rainbow Dash seriously gets on my nerves with her stupid taunting. Of course I like to taunt her back and for some reason her fellow agents with her find us taunting each other entertaining. But unfortunately, because Agent Rainbow Dash stays true to her virtue by being loyal, she won't let me at least disable her fellow agents with her. I know for a fact her fellow agents get on her nerves because they find our taunting of each other funny. But I think deep down inside she does want me to kill them for her.

The other thing that gets on my nerves about her fellow agents is they don't seem to care at all for her safety. As a matter of fact, Agent Rainbow Dash did one of those partial out of control sonic rainbooms during our last fight and her fellow agents didn't even bother to rush to her aid. They stood there laughing at what happened and I wanted to kill them just for that.

I mean seriously? Firewall Molly has enough common sense to know that when her teammate is down she should go and help them. Especially since we have those new Firewalls that AI has created to worry about.

I hid around the corner as I saw Agent Rainbow Dash talking to her coworker and the coworker's voice I could've sworn sounded a lot like Agent Rainbow Dash's friend Agent Gilda.

"If you try any more funny business like trying to set me up on a date with Gary one more time I swear Sia..." Agent Rainbow Dash growled.

Sia laughed a playful laugh, "I'm not trying anything Nancy! I'm just teasing, if Gary wants to take it that way, then that's his problem!"

"Yeah sure, I believe you," Agent Rainbow Dash said with sarcasm.

"If I'm going to try anything again," said Sia. "it would be giving you another pet name or playing a prank on you again. I'm already thinking about a good pet name for you. I'm thinking of Awesominator!"

"Awesominator?" Agent Rainbow Dash asked. "Now why would you give me that nickname?"

"Do you remember your catch phrase back in Equestria?" Sia asked. "Let's see I think it was 'it needs to be 20% cooler?'"

"That wasn't supposed to be a catch phrase! I only said that to Rarity when she was making me a stupid dress!" Agent Rainbow Dash snapped. "I don't do dresses and I didn't wear one for my wedding. I just made a friendly suggestion and somehow it became a catchphrase!"

"You know why it became a catchphrase?" Sia said. "Because everything you say becomes one."

"It wasn't supposed to be a catchphrase!" Agent Rainbow Dash said, she sounded annoyed and trust me, I don't blame her. Her friend was starting to get on my nerves too and I was the one watching the conversation.

"Oh really?" Sia joked. "Because I think the 'it needs to be 20% cooler' will be back!"

Okay, now that joke I did find funny. I looked over to see the inventory door open.

"You want me to help you with the inventory this time?" Sia asked.

"Not this time," Agent Rainbow Dash growled, "I think I'll go ask Gary to help instead."

Sia's jaw dropped. "But you usually ask me to do it!"

"Yeah, and right now you're getting on my nerves," said Agent Rainbow Dash. "So I don't feel like being around you at the moment. So, later!"

This conversation was annoying up until Sia said the 'it needs to be 20% cooler' joke. So as I watched Agent Rainbow Dash walk away, I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from laughing.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

I unloaded another box from inventory and Gilda was starting to get on my nerves, so I asked Discord to help me out instead of her this time. At least this time Discord didn't do the whole pulling the flower out of his hand thing.

"So," said Discord, "I hear you have a new pet name, Loyalty is it?"

I groaned, "I swear I'm going to get some payback for that!"

Discord smiled, "What's so bad about being called Loyalty? I think it's a noble nickname if you ask me."

"It's not bad," I answered. "I'm just getting tired of it!"

"If you and Sia get on each other's nerves so much, then why are you still friends?" Discord asked.

"That's a good question," I said. "But Sia and I have been friends ever since grade school. We just can't seem to get rid of each other."

I was still irked by the fact that Discord is already laughing his original laugh that he had back in Equestria every time he laughed now.

Discord tilted his head and looked puzzled. "What's wrong Nancy?"

I gave a nervous laugh and shook my head. "It's nothing Gary."

Finally, the last box was put away and I noticed it was time for a lunch break. I went to lunch then when I came back, I finished my job of rotating the inventory for the day when Gilda tapped me on the back.

"Yeah know what I think?" Gilda asked. "Awsominator is the perfect pet name for you! I wonder, how do I do it?"

"Don't even bother!" I hissed.

"Too late," said Gilda. "I'm doing it."

I seriously wanted to strangle Gilda but I held myself back from doing so as she walked away laughing.

* * *

After work I decided to do some training in my pocket dimension. Of course Oliver sent Gilda to babysit me. I actually felt kind of tired so I set the difficulty level to easy. Gilda was stunned by this because normally I set the difficulty to the highest level. When I finished training I practically collapsed on the ground because I was so tired. I turned the simulator off.

“Wow Rainbow,” said Gilda. “I’ve never seen you this tired before! I’m shocked Samantha hasn’t benched you from fighting the Firewalls yet.”

I groaned, “I’m fine Gilda. Honestly, why is everyone so overprotective of me? People need to lay off already!”

“I know Rainbow,” said Gilda, “everyone is worried about you. Even a Firewall is worried about you. That’s a little weird but okay."

"That's the same Firewall that gets on my nerves!" I growled. "Now he's been following me around because the Lord asked him to."

"Huh, honestly," said Gilda, "I haven't seen that guy on this assignment yet, maybe he's too busy working on something else?"

"Hopefully that's the case," I said, "and he's decided to leave me alone for a change."

"If everyone's worried about you including a Firewall," said Gilda, "I don't think you'll be left alone any time soon."

Suddenly I felt a small surge of power go through me and it sent me flying into the ceiling. I heard Gilda freaking out and the last thing I remember saying before I passed out was, "At least I crashed in my pocket dimension this time."

* * *

"What happened?" I heard Oliver say as I came to.

"Somehow, she did a partial sonic rainboom and crashed into the ceiling in her own pocket dimension," Gilda said. "Good thing they're indestructible."

"Yeah," Oliver agreed. "What I want to know is why this keeps happening?"

"I don't know, your guess is as good as mine," Gilda replied.

I opened my eyes and didn't get a chance to see where I was but then I quickly closed my eyes because the light was too bright. I then felt something cool on my head and it felt like someone had put an ice pack on my head.

"Wow, she's got quite a bump on her head," Gilda said with concern.

"Yeah I know," I heard Samantha say. I would've opened my eyes in surprise but it was still too bright in the room to do so.

"Samantha!" Oliver gasped. "What are you-"

"Doing here?" Samantha cut him off. "I got an alert from Rainbow's pocket dimension that something was wrong there, so I came right over."

"But we're not at the Sixth!" Gilda exclaimed.

"I know," said Samantha. "Even though I don't trust hospitals inside the Machine, this is the safest place for Nancy at the moment. I think this is grounds to bench Rainbow from fighting the Firewalls."

"What!" I said. I tried to sit up this time but I laid back down.

"Yes Nancy, Rainbow Dash is benched from fighting the Firewall's," Samantha said.

"Fine," I said, "then someone else can-"

"Nope, that's not the way it works," said Samantha before she shook her head. "When you're benched because of medical reasons, you still keep your spot in the ranks. Now if you're benched because of discipline reasons, that's when you're at risk for losing your spot in the ranks. You'll be here for a couple of days and then you should be released when you're recovered."

"What if the Firewall's show up at the assignment?" I asked.

"Then you'll be able to fight but at your own risk," Samantha said. "But until then, Rainbow Dash is benched. So without further ado I'm out of here."

In a flash of light, Samantha disappeared.

* * *

Oliver seemed satisfied with the decision Samantha had decided for me. "Good, now that that's taken care of, I'm staying right here as much as possible until you're released Nancy."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee thanks dad for the supervision."

Gilda chuckled, "You know what? That's exactly how I felt Kai has acted around you since day one. Like an overprotective father. Although if he was your dad and you two were dating that would be incest and that would be gross."

Oliver rolled his eyes. But Gilda didn't seem fazed by it. "I gotta go. I have to go back to the assignment. It's too bad you two are going to be missing from work for a couple of days because Gary has decided to do a juggling act on his breaks at work. I must admit, he's pretty good at it too. Although I think he's doing it to impress the ladies. More importantly you two."

"Well it's not working, now is it Sia?" I said.

Gilda blew a raspberry at me and rolled her eyes.

"Real mature Sia," I responded.

Gilda didn't respond to me, she just turned around and left.

* * *

{Jude}

I was not happy when I found out that Rainbow Dash was in a hospital inside AI. At the same time I was relieved that someone called Samantha had benched Rainbow Dash from fighting the Firewalls. The doctors had no idea what happened to Rainbow Dash but I had my suspicions that Rainbow Dash crashed somewhere after doing a partial sonic rainboom.

"What am I going to do with you mom?" I said to myself. "You're just bound and determined to kill yourself aren't you?"

I heard First Mother chuckle, "Talking to yourself again, huh?"

I rolled my eyes and groaned when I turned around and saw her. First Mother's unannounced visits are starting to get on my nerves.

"Oh come now Lord Jude," said First Mother, "am I getting on your nerves that bad?"

I gave First Mother an annoyed look. I would've hissed at her but I didn't feel like getting the crap beat out of me at the moment. "Uh, yes you are. You keep popping up for no good reason and can't a guy talk to himself in peace for a change?"

"If you're going mental then no I don't think so," First Mother said after she shook her head.

"I'm not mental!" I snapped. "I'm just concerned about Rainbow Dash as usual because she's in a hospital inside AI and I have no idea why. My guess is she did another one of those out of control partial sonic rainbooms and crashed. It's a good thing she hasn't done a full sonic rainboom again in a while because a crash from that would be worse."

First Mother raised an eyebrow. "Full sonic rainboom?"

"It's the thing that Rainbow Dash did that creates a rainbow in the sky after she does it," I explained. "The first time she did one she freaked out because of it. The funny thing is, she doesn't want to become more powerful than she already is. Not to mention she didn't even want the number one spot of her job. She'd rather be at the number five spot instead."

"I think that means she's humble or something like that," First Mother smiled.

Every time First Mother smiled that irked me too. I'd rather have her snarl at me instead.

"Okay, where is your evil twin First Mother?" I asked cautiously.

"I understand you have a grudge toward me," said First Mother. "That's because I've been evil to you ever since you became the ruler of AI and I must admit I was jealous because Rainbow Dash is your mother and not me. But I've changed my mind. She's becoming more powerful by the day, I mean she created a rainbow in the sky because of her power! I doubt AI even has that type of power!"

I paused not knowing I should even believe a word First Mother was saying. "Okay."

First Mother smiled and then she gave me a loving pat on my head as she was a loving mother.

"Yeah," I said, "I'd rather have you snarl at me instead of smile."

First Mother didn't say anything, she just turned around and left. Yup, she's just being creepy at the moment. Maybe she'll snap out of it? I don't know.

13) This Job Sucks! It Needs to be 20% Cooler!

{Rainbow Dash}

After I was benched from fighting the Firewalls for medical reasons, I went back to my original assignment inside AI. When I got back Spitfire called me into her office.

"I heard you were put in the hospital for a couple of days," said Spitfire, "what happened? Are you okay?"

I sighed, "Three words, partial sonic rainboom."

"You crashed into something didn't you?" Spitfire asked.

I nodded. "Yup."

"Well that settles it!" Spitfire exclaimed.

I tilted my head. "Settles what?"

"I'm keeping an eye on you just like Kai is," Spitfire said.

I sighed, "Great..."

We heard a loud crash and went to go see what happened. We were shocked to see that one of the inventory racks had fallen over. I saw Gilda and other coworkers lift the rack up back to where it was. They searched frantically to see if anyone was underneath the mess.

Gilda let out a sigh of relief when she saw nobody had been hurt. "Oh good, no one's injured."

"What happened?" I asked.

Gilda shook her head. "Don't know, the thing just fell over or at least we think it did. We were just doing our jobs when we heard a loud bang. We looked over and saw one of the racks had fallen over. Thankfully, no one got hurt underneath all of that mess."

"Was there anyone around when it fell?" I said.

"We didn't see anyone," another coworker said, "but it's possible someone could've been there when it fell. I've seen racks being knocked over by someone plenty of times before. I've worked here for ten years now. But a rack falling over by itself? That's never happened before!"

"Huh," I said, "interesting."

"Well, we'll just have to look at the video footage and see what happened," Spitfire said.

I could tell by the look on the coworkers faces that they didn't like what just happened and trust me, I don't blame them.

* * *

{Discord}

"Interesting," I said to myself after I just flipped over a rack with just a flick of a finger. I had no idea that was even possible!

"Did you hear that loud crash earlier?" I heard one of my coworkers say. I tried so hard to keep myself from rolling my eyes when I saw it was my coworker Laura.

"Yeah," I said. "I saw it happen and I don't know how but the inventory rack just fell over."

"I've never heard of something like that happening before in a long while!" Laura exclaimed. "The last time that's happened was when I first started working here."

"Wow," I said. I wondered if I looked amazed by this information because at the moment I wasn't.

"You don't seem too bothered by it," Laura stated.

I shrugged. "Meh, stuff happens. I've been in the family business since I was sixteen! So yes, I've seen this before so it doesn't really bother me."

Laura smiled at me, giving me a flirting smile. I knew Laura liked me but I had no feelings for her whatsoever. Laura's flirting smile then turned into a sheepish smile and I knew what she was going to ask next.

"Um, so Gary," said Laura, "I was wondering, would you…"

I groaned and gave Laura an annoyed look. When Laura saw this she stammered, "I mean it doesn't have to be a date or anything like that. You know, um, we could just hang out? At least hang out with me, please Gary?"

Even though I didn't want to 'hang out' with her, I did feel a little bit bad for her. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend and she was on the rebound. I sighed, "Sure Laura we can hang out, but only hang out no date got it?"

Laura's face lit up and she had a twinkle in her eye. "Awesome! So how about we hang out tomorrow around six o'clock?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You already planned this out didn't you?"

Laura shifted her gaze a bit. "No, um, well I'll see you later."

Laura walked away and I groaned because one would think that she would know I'm not interested in her. For the very simple fact that I haven't shown any interest in her by grabbing her butt or giving her a flower. Nope, I'm not interested and I don't think I will be anytime soon.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

"Since I'm benched from fighting the Firewalls, what's going to be my outside of AI's assignment?" I asked.

When I reported to Samantha's realm, I was curious of what she was going to do for my outside of AI's assignment. Of course Samantha naturally could hear my thoughts on the matter. "I have discussed this with the Founders and since you need to have an eye kept on you anyway, you'll be using your pocket dimension to assist six-man squads to get to their breakout assignments."

I looked at Samantha with confusion.

Samantha said, "Yes I know you wonder why you should even bother having a conversation with me because I already know what you're thinking. Unlike the other Predictors, I actually do like the conversations to go both ways. Since your pocket dimension is outside of the Machine, oops I mean AI it can be used for your assignment. It's only temporarily until we can figure out what's wrong with you. I have a hunch of what it might be, but until I have evidence I can't say what it is."

Aw man, I thought, this job is going to suck, it needs to about-

I stopped myself before I could finish my thought. Samantha knew what I was going to say because she couldn't keep herself from laughing.

"Ha, ha Samantha," I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Gilda told me about your catchphrase back in Equestria," said Samantha. "And she told me about your new pet name, Awesominator."

"That wasn't supposed to be a catchphrase!" I growled.

Samantha snorted. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah," I said, "I'm sure."

"Okay, I'm done laughing," said Samantha, "for now. You can go back to your original assignment now."

* * *

"I heard you said your favorite catchphrase!" Oliver teased.

I had just got back from Samantha's realm and I was putting away inventory when Oliver came around the corner.

"It's not a catchphrase!" I snapped.

Oliver put his hands up and backed away. "Hey, I come in peace or does my teasing need to be 20% cooler?"

I guess the look on my face said it because Oliver couldn't keep himself from laughing.

I'm seriously going to get Gilda back for this! I thought.

I heard Gilda come around the corner laughing. I took a deep breath and held it because Gilda's teasing and Oliver adding fuel to the fire was getting on my nerves. I was using self-control to keep myself from doing something stupid. Oliver saw this and put a hand on Gilda's shoulder to get her to stop laughing.

"Uh, Nancy?" Gilda said. "You can breathe now before you pass out on us."

I stopped holding my breath and calmed down but not much so I hissed, "You know something, just don't talk to me for the rest of the day Sia. Good thing you're not in griffon form or I'd be pulling out one of your feathers."

I didn't say another word as I stormed off in anger.

* * *

Aw man, this job sucks big time! I thought.

I was sitting in my pocket dimension waiting for the first group of agents to appear. When they did, they were definitely excited to see me. Of course, someone was sent to babysit me. Guess who was sent? Yup, Gilda was sent to babysit me, yay! Not really. I tried so hard not to roll my eyes at her. While she was trying so hard to keep a straight face.

"Wow," said one of the agents, "we're in Agent Rainbow Dash's pocket dimension!"

I rolled my eyes and thought, Why is everyone so excited to meet me?

My pocket dimension lit up and announced itself to everyone, "I am Agent Rainbow Dash's pocket dimension. My name is Computer. I need to relay ground rules while you're here.

Rule one: Do not touch any of the computers without authorization.

Rule two: Do not sit in one of the chairs without asking Agent Rainbow Dash first.

Rule three: This rule is mostly for Agent Rainbow Dash and I don't think it really counts as a rule. Please contain your excitement while you're here. Agent Rainbow Dash is another agent that works for the Sixth just like you do.

That being said, all agents in this room except for Agent Gilda and of course Agent Rainbow Dash say 'aye' if you agree with the rules."

All of the Agents in the room said 'aye' in agreement.

"Good," said Computer, "I have logged in your agreement with the rules, anyone breaking the rules will be escorted out of here immediately!"

When Gilda heard the rule about containing your excitement, she didn't bother to hide her laughter at it.

I groaned and gave her a sideways look. "Really Gilda?"

"Contain your excitement?" Gilda laughed. "Really Rainbow? I think the rules need to be-"

"Don't even finish that thought!" I snapped.

Gilda snorted. "Okay, okay fine!"

I saw the agents that were in the pocket dimension biting their bottom lips to keep themselves from laughing. I rolled my eyes at it. I slid my chair over to the computer and punched in the coordinates as to where this six-man squad was supposed to go. This happened all day. A variety of six-man squads arrived at my pocket dimension. I plugged in the coordinates and opened the portals needed to get to them to where they needed to go. Finally, Computer alerted me that my job was done for the day. I never thought I'd be thankful for a workday to end but this time I was.

* * *

What I was going to do with my next day off, I had no idea. I went over to the cliff that I would normally do a fly-through but instead of flying, I just picked a spot and sat down. Gilda, who I now refer to as my babysitter, came and sat down beside me.

"What?" Gilda asked. "Not going to do any flying today?"

I shrugged. "How can I? It seems way too dangerous right now and I don't know why."

"With your partial out of control sonic rainbooms happening right now," said Gilda, "you really need to have an eye kept on you."

I rolled my eyes. "You're doing a really good job of it!"

Gilda laughed, "Why thank you for the compliment Rainbow! Or should I say thank you for the compliment Awesominator!"

I snarled at her as I watched her burst into laughter.

"Oh come on Rainbow," said Gilda, "you really need to lighten up. Or does Loyalty need another nap?"

"I'm not a freaking baby!" I snapped. "I don't need a babysitter, if anyone's off their rocker it's you, Samantha, Oliver, and Eli. You are constantly hovering over me and I can take care of myself!"

"Until we figure out what's wrong with you," said Gilda, "you need to have people hovering over you."

"It's not going to keep happening for long mother," I heard Jude say.

"Hey Jude," I said after giving Jude a hug.

Gilda looked at Jude in confusion. "Did you just call that guy Jude? Isn't your baby supposed to be about five years old by now? He looks like he's in his twenties!"

I didn't feel like explaining things to Gilda so I just introduced Jude to her.

"Jude," I said, "meet my annoying Griffon babysitter Gilda."

"Hey, I'm not a babysitter!" Gilda snapped.

"Well with your constant hovering," I growled, "I think you are! Anyway, Gilda, meet Jude."

Jude definitely found my introduction of Gilda funny because he started laughing and I joined in on the laughter just to be spiteful.

"Fine then, if you don't stop laughing Rainbow, I'll put you in timeout!" Gilda mocked.

When Gilda said that, I was on my back rolling on my stomach in laughter. "Here I thought you weren't my babysitter Gilda! Exactly how are you going to put me in timeout? Sit on me?"

Jude finally composed himself as best as he could although it looked like he was going to start laughing again at a moment's notice.

"I think I've found a good pet name for you Gilda!" I said. "I'm going to dub you The Babysitter!"

Well that pet name sent Jude into another fit of hard laughter and Gilda added more fuel to the fire or laughter in this case, when I saw her eye twitching. I didn't think the laughter was going to stop anytime soon because this was just way too funny.

Finally the laughter stopped and Jude was able to speak.

"So Jude," I said, "what are you doing here?"

"I got bored on my day off so I thought I'd stop by for a visit," Jude said.

"What?" I gasped. It was surprising to me that the ruler of AI actually got a day off.

"Yeah I know," said Jude. "I think my coworkers think I'm going mental from being overworked or something so I decided to actually take a day off."

"Well at least you're not doing partial sonic rainbooms to the point where people feel the need to hover over you all the time," I said. "I just got benched from my job because of medical reasons. Humph!"

Jude nodded. "I heard about that. Firewall Eli told me about it. I don't blame people being worried about you. I have my suspicions about what's going on with you. I can't say what until I have more evidence for it."

"That's exactly what Samantha told me!" I growled.

I looked over at the edge of the cliff and kicked a rock over it with my hoof. After a short silence, Jude started having a conversation with Gilda and I just stood there listening to it.

Then I jumped in and started talking too and I asked Jude how his wife Ivy was doing. He told me she was pregnant and was due in a few months. We didn't dare mention anything around Gilda about Jude being the ruler of AI. The conversation ended when I heard that me and Gilda were being summoned by the doorbell ringing in our ears.

"We're being summoned," I said. "So it's time for us to go."

Jude smiled. "Sure and as far as Gilda's new pet name goes, The Babysitter, I'll get Firewall Eli to spread the word for you."

I snorted. "Sure, thanks for the help Jude. It's about time I got some payback on Gilda."

"Hey!" Gilda said.

I gave Jude a hug and I heard him laughing as we flew off to go report to Samantha's realm.

* * *

After Gilda and I got back to our original assignment we went back to doing our jobs. I had been working with Spitfire sorting out some new inventory that had just come in. That was when I overheard Gilda and Discord talking.

"Oh come on Sia!" Discord whined.

"For the last time Gary!" Gilda shouted. "I'm not watching over that thing! I get enough money doing my regular job, thank you very much!"

I went around the corner to see what was going on and I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh at what I saw. Discord was holding a baby doll and was acting as if it were a real child. He had it dressed like a real baby and everything.

"But Sally here is a special little girl," Discord said. "She has very specific needs and I heard you're the best in the business! Isn't that right, Babysitter?"

I had tears in my eyes as I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from laughing.

Gilda pointed at the baby doll. "Again Gary, that's a toy!" She pointed to herself. "I'm a living breathing person." She pointed to the baby doll. "That isn't living and it doesn't breathe! I'm not watching it!"

Discord looked at me, smiled and winked as he kept begging Gilda to watch his fake daughter. I could tell Gilda was getting irritated to the point where she wanted to wring Discord's neck. Before she could even think about assaulting Discord, she exhaled slowly, "Fine, I'll think about babysitting your 'special little girl' but I can't make any promises."

"Yay!" Discord cheered. "So I can keep you on standby in case I need your help?"

Gilda grit her teeth, "Fine…"

"Oh goodie!" Discord said. "Thank you so much for your help Babysitter!"

At that point there was no way I could keep my laughter in even if I wanted to. I kept laughing as Gilda stormed off in anger. As Discord watched Gilda walk away he couldn't stop laughing either.

I smiled. "Good job Gary! You really are a charmer, you know that?"

"Hey, I just heard Sia's new nickname was the Babysitter," said Discord, "so I figured I'd get some more material for my next stand up comedy routine. It's always been a dream of mine to spread laughter everywhere I go."

The way Discord said the words 'spread laughter' kind of irked me because it sounded a lot like something he would say back in Equestria. So I decided to end the conversation.

"Well Gary you're doing a good job of it now," I laughed. "Keep up the good work!"

After Discord and I shared a good laugh, we went back to work.

14) Suspected Pregnancy

{Rainbow Dash}

One day after working on my original assignment, I was walking down the hallway when I saw something shocking. Actually, I was surprised that I didn't have a heart attack because of what I saw. There were two identical Discord's in the form of Gary talking to each other like there was nothing unusual going on.

"So original Gary," said Discord's copy, "what are we going to do to keep that pest Laura from following us around and wanting us to just 'hang out' with her?"

Discord shrugged. "Don't know Gary."

"Maybe we can throw one of our flaming sticks at her?" Discord's copy said.

Discord laughed, "I would agree, but that's too extreme!"

As the two Discord's talked among themselves, I gasped and covered my mouth in surprise. I hid around the corner well out of sight. Oliver came around the corner and looked at me with concern. "What's wrong, Nancy? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Uh, Kai," I said, "am I crazy, or are there two Discord's talking to each other?"

"Huh?" Oliver said.

I pointed at the two Discord's talking to each other and when Oliver saw them, he had the same reaction I did. He hid behind me to stay out of sight while we watched the two Discords talking. Their conversation came to an end when Discord's copy came up with an idea.

"I have an idea," said Discord's copy, "I'll hang out with Laura and that will give you more time to chase after Nancy and Kai!"

Discord smiled. "Sounds good to me! Just don't go proposing to her, okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Discord's copy said.

Discord and his copy did a high-five and laughed.

"Well then," said Discord, "I'll be seeing you later!"

"Ta-ta!" Discord's copy said.

Without another word, the two Discord's parted ways as if this was a normal thing for them.

* * *

"Okay then, okay then!" I kept saying over and over at the spectacle of what the two Discords just did.

Oliver didn't look panicked as much as he looked concerned about me. "Nancy, calm down, take a couple of deep breaths before you pass out from a heart attack!"

"Calm down?" I snapped. "Exactly how do you expect me to calm down? As a matter of fact, why are you so calm?"

"Because I'm concerned about you," said Oliver, "look, let's go to the break room so we can sit down and collect our thoughts, okay?"

I was still having a panic attack at what I saw. I nodded and did as I was told to.

* * *

Even when we went to the break room, I still couldn't stop panicking about what had just happened. I hadn't gotten over my initial shock even when I sat down on a chair next to a nearby table. Instead of saying okay then over and over, I started to say, "There are two Discords! There are two Discord's!"

Gilda came into the break room and panicked when she saw me panicking. As soon as she stopped panicking, she slapped me on the face. "Would you calm down! Now, what happened?"

"Apparently," said Oliver, "Discord can make copies of himself now!"

Gilda's jaw dropped. "What! So you mean to tell me that there are two Discords walking around here now?"

Oliver nodded. "Yup, at this rate he'll be broken out of AI in a matter of weeks! If that happens, it will be a record. Samantha did say it would take five years or more for someone with that kind of magic to be broken out and we've only been here for two months!"

By this point, I started rocking back and forth and resumed my panic.

"There are two Discord's!" I shouted.

Oliver quickly covered my mouth with his hand to keep me from shouting again. "Seriously Nancy, calm down take some slow deep breaths, got it?"

I nodded and Oliver took his hand off my mouth. I finally started calming down so I could think of what to do. For some reason, I felt like I had been kicked in my stomach but from the inside. I put a hand on the area where I felt the kick and it happened again.

What in the world? I thought.

Oliver gave me another look of concern. I shook my head to shake off my panic and tried to make sense of what was happening inside of me. I wondered if this has something to do with those out of control partial sonic rainbooms?

''What's wrong?" Oliver asked.

I shook my head. "It's nothing, it probably has something to do with me being panicked right now."

"Are you sure about that?" Oliver asked.

"Not really," I said, "but it happened before I calmed down so whatever's going on I'm just going to link the two together for the moment. It felt like something kicked me from inside my stomach."

Gilda's jaw dropped again and she quickly closed her mouth. I could tell she and Oliver were trying hard to keep their composure as much as possible.

"What's the big deal?" I asked. "Honestly, I think you two are being way too overprotective now. To me, if it's not another out of control partial sonic rainbooms, I don't see any problem here."

"Yeah. Sure…" Oliver said with uncertainty. "Just to be sure, I think you should probably get some rest."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine but I still think you're being overprotective."

* * *

I didn't realize how tired I was until I laid down on the bed and fell asleep. As I lay sleeping, I had that weird dream again. I was standing in a dark place and it was dark as far as the eye could see.

"Rainbow Dash… Rainbow Dash…" A voice said off into the distance.

"Oh brother," I mumbled, "this crap again?"

"Rainbow Dash…" The voice said again.

"Seriously," I said, "if this is a practical joke, I swear."

The voice kept saying my name over and over again. I was starting to get annoyed when out of nowhere I heard Princess Luna's voice, "THAT'S ENOUGH INVISIBLE CREATURE!"

I backed up, startled at the sound of Princess Luna's voice, "Huh? Princess Luna? What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you," Princess Luna said. "Everyone's been worried about you and that includes me. Judging by this horrible dream, I'm surprised you're not worried about yourself! Here, let me at least take away the darkness so we can see better. Yes, I do love the night, but this is a little bit extreme."

Princess Luna lit up her horn and the darkness disappeared enough for me to see that we were in the dream realm. It was just like when I was going to start Spitfire's dream transformation. Only this time, I didn't see any doors anywhere.

"Huh," I said, "we're back in the dream realm, aren't we?"

Princess Luna nodded. "Uh-huh. I hear you've been having trouble with your magic lately?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure why these partial sonic rainbooms have been so out of control lately," I said. "It seems like I could have one at any moment!"

When Princess Luna heard that, her face went white like she had seen a ghost.

"What?" I questioned.

"You're not going to believe this," said Princess Luna, "but I think you might be pregnant!"

My jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

"I saw the same symptoms with Princess Cadence before she gave birth to Princess Flurry Heart. Minus the out of control partial sonic rainbooms," Princess Luna said.

"How is that possible?" I asked. "I don't even have the belly for it!"

Princess Luna examined me as if I had gotten into a serious accident and she was checking to see if I was okay. She smiled and nodded when she was and I can only assume that she was satisfied with her results. "While that might be true, Princess Cadence had the same thing happen to her. You know, pony babies take at least a year to develop enough in the womb to come out. Baby Alicorns, on the other hand, can take longer or shorter to develop in the womb. That depends on the baby's power. Tell me, when did you start having your out of control partial sonic rainbooms?"

"About maybe three or four months ago?" I said. "I don't remember, the only thing I do remember is it started sometime around when Shy Sami broke out and it continued after we broke Spitfire out and up until now."

Princess Luna seemed puzzled by this. "That probably means that you have a few months to go unless…"

When I realized what Princess Luna might be talking about, I felt nothing but terror. I rapidly shook my head. "No way! There's no way I'm giving birth to an Alicorn. If I did give birth to a baby it probably would be a Pegasus or something like that. This wouldn't happen to be another code situation would it?"

Princess Luna snorted. "You do know once you're broken out of AI, that can't happen, right? Although you're probably right, if you do give birth to a baby it would be a Pegasus or something like that. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. In case you're wondering, that's why everyone's been keeping an eye on you."

I rolled my eyes. "Great!"

Princess Luna giggled, "Okay Rainbow, I think it's time for both of us to wake up. See you later."

I nodded as Princess Luna lit up her horn and I woke up.

* * *

I opened my eyes and looked over to see Oliver looking at me with concern.

I sighed, "What's the problem now, Kai?"

"Even though you were asleep," said Oliver, "I'm still worried you might have a partial sonic rainboom as you're sleeping."

"Princess Luna seems to have a theory of why this is happening," I said.

"You talked to Princess Luna?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah I did," I said. "She came to me when I was having that weird dream again. She seems to think my symptoms are an indicator that I'm pregnant."

Oliver choked. "I know we've been talking about having kids. But I didn't think it would be possible, you know, considering I'm human and you're a Pegasus. I would think that adoption would be the best route for us."

"Uh-huh," I said, "I asked Princess Luna if this was another code situation. She said since I haven't been with anyone but you and if I was pregnant, you would be the father."

Oliver's reaction to this information was the same reaction Princess Luna had to suspect that I might be pregnant in general. His face turned very white like he had seen a ghost.

"I seriously doubt I'm pregnant because I don't have the same symptoms that I did when I was pregnant with Jude," I said. "So right at the moment, there's no evidence to support that theory."

Oliver then looked like he was racking his brain about something. "Oh boy!"

I tilted my head. "What is it?"

"Samantha had me do a DNA test a few weeks ago," said Oliver. "I wonder if that's what she was thinking too about what's going on? But at the moment, I'm more concerned about those out of control partial sonic rainbooms you've been doing lately."

"Yeah, because if I do one and crash, especially when I'm inside, that can do some real damage!" I said. I didn't realize what I just said was funny because Oliver started laughing. "What did I say that was funny this time?"

"Yup, that would do a lot of damage," Oliver laughed. "But it would be 20% cooler, just because you did it."

I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha."

Oliver looked at his watch and looked at the time. "It's getting late. I thought you were going to sleep longer because of how tired you've been lately. I'm feeling kind of tired, so I'll lay down with you."

Oliver laid down beside me and I laid back down and went back to sleep.

* * *

The next day I went back to work. I was walking around the corner after the third trip to the bathroom. I stopped as I was coming around the corner because I saw Gilda and Oliver talking about me.

"So you finally figured out what everyone's been suspicious about what's going on with Rainbow Dash lately, huh Kai?" Gilda said.

"Yeah," said Oliver, "Princess Luna decided to pay her a little visit last night in her dreams. I still don't know how it could even be possible!"

Gilda laughed, "It's possible, alright! I've seen a couple of other couples that's happened to. A good example, a Hippogriff married a Stallion and they had a filly!"

"Really?" Oliver asked.

"Yup!" Gilda said.

Oliver looked at Gilda in disbelief and I didn't want them to notice me standing there. I just turned around and walked in the other direction.

* * *

Later that day, I was sitting in the break room feeling crummy about this stupid pregnancy idea.

"Hey Nancy," I heard Gilda say, "why so glum?"

I snarled when I saw her, "I'm not pregnant Sia!"

"So that's what you're sad about?" Gilda asked. "Is that why you haven't touched your plate of food yet?"

Before Gilda could take another step towards me, I picked up an apple and chucked it at her. Gilda didn't get a chance to dodge it, so the apple went splat on her face and she was covered in apple guts.

"Hey!" Gilda growled.

My anger turned to amusement when I saw the apple guts on Gilda's face. I was laughing so hard I fell out of my chair laughing. Oliver heard what was happening and he came into the break room and saw Gilda covered in apple guts.

"Okay, what happened, Sia?" Oliver asked.

Gilda grit her teeth, "I don't know. Why don't you ask Nancy about that?"

"Well I was angry about the pregnancy thing," I said. "So I decided to throw an apple at my good friend the Babysitter and, well, you can guess what happened next."

Now that Oliver had an explanation as to what happened, he burst into laughter. He had to lean on the nearby wall for support because he was laughing so hard. I laughed even harder when I saw Gilda's face go red in anger.

Then Discord came around the corner and saw Gilda's face covered in apple guts.

"Uh, Nancy? Why does Sia have apple guts on her face?" Discord asked.

"Oh," I said, still laughing, "I just… Decided to… Use… The Babysitter… As target practice!"

Discord smiled. "Oh really? That sounds like fun, let me try!"

Discord picked up an apple and chucked it at Gilda. This time Gilda dodged it as it landed on the floor. She then got a towel and wiped her face off with it. Then she turned around and stormed off in anger.

* * *

{Jude}

I figured it was time I asked Firewall Eli to sit down and view the video footage of Rainbow Dash with me. Considering we were both doing the same thing following her around and worried about those out of control partial sonic rainbooms, why not the video footage together? So when Firewall Elie brought me the video footage, I called him into the computer room instead of the throne room like I normally do.

Firewall Eli gave me a wary look and I understood why. "Uh, your highness?"

I smiled. "I know Firewall Eli, I don't normally do this since we're worried about the same thing. I figured we should sit down and watch the video footage together."

"Uh, okay?" Firewall Eli said.

Firewall Eli took a seat beside me. I turned on the computer that plays the video footage for me. When we saw the part where Rainbow Dash threw an apple at her friend Sia, we couldn't stop laughing at it. When we finally stopped laughing, I said, "Well, that's a good way to get your anger out. At least an apple isn't lethal."

Firewall Eli snorted. "Yeah Agent Rainbow Dash has good aim, but Gary not so much."

I burst into another fit of laughter at that thought. That was when we heard First Mother clear her throat. When Firewall Eli heard her, he stood and bowed to her.

First Mother smiled. "It's okay Firewall Eli, I just want to have a word with Lord Jude."

I groaned, "Of course you do, First Mother. Firewall Eli, you're dismissed!"

Firewall Eli bowed and then left. Once Firewall Eli left, First Mother looked like she was going to have a field day with what she just saw. "My, my Lord Jude. A Lord and his servant watching video footage like they're the best of friends! Now that's something you don't see every day!"

I rolled my eyes. "What I choose to do with my servants is none of your concern!"

"Okay Lord Jude, calm down already!" First Mother said.

"What did you come to see me for this time?" I asked.

"What? Can't I stop by and see my favorite Lord Jude every once and a while?" First Mother asked.

"Uh-huh," I said, "last time I checked, I'm the only Lord Jude unless AI decided to make copies of me that I didn't know about!"

"No, there are no copies of you, Lord Jude, trust me, I would be the first one to know," First Mother said.

"First Mother, would you stop going to the computer room and do your job already!" Second Mother roared.

I laughed as I saw First Mother gulp when she saw Second Mother glaring at her.

"Don't you start, First Mother!" Second Mother scolded. "You have been coming here way too much lately. You're supposed to be checking the hardware on the Mainframe to see if it's working properly like me and Third Mother do. You've been MIA so much and that's making our job even harder to do! I wish someone would replace you but AI hasn't sent out a baby for the job. What are we going to do with you?"

"Ah…" First Mother said.

I burst into laughter as First Mother looked down at the floor at Second Mother scolding her. I thought I was going to pass out from laughing so hard when I saw First Mother hang her head as Second Mother practically marched her out the door.

16) G is for Grandma

{Jude}

Eli and I were sitting in the Computer Room watching the latest video footage Eli had of Rainbow Dash. Apparently, Rainbow Dash's assignment was to break out a creature called Discord. Discord had been changed into a human man that went by the name of Gary. I marveled at the video footage as I saw Gary throw an apple and it turned into an apple tree. Then when Gary touched the tree it turned back into an apple.

"Now that's interesting," I said, "I've never seen an apple do that before. I would know because AI has never reported it that I know of."

Of course I understood that Eli can have personal conversations with someone every once and a while and that's okay. That's usually when the video footage gets turned off for a bit. But after the conversation ends then the video footage gets turned back on again.

I did find it hilarious that Rainbow Dash was the one that gave Gary the apple to throw at her friend Sia in the first place.

"Yeah, I still think Rainbow Dash has better aim but at the same time because she was irritated with Sia I think she just wanted another chance to have an improv food fight." Eli chuckled.

"I've never seen two people hate each other so much," I said.

"I don't think they hate each other," said Eli, "I think it's more like they find ways to get on each other's nerves. Now that you think about it, that's probably why Rainbow Dash gave the apple to Gary to throw at Sia in the first place. From what I've seen Gary is the type of guy that wants to stir up trouble. If you give him a chance to, he will."

I snorted. "Yup, leave it up to Rainbow Dash to get someone else in on the fun. Then she can point the finger and go, hey I didn't do it!"

I started to go into full on laughter but then I stopped laughing and rolled my eyes when I heard First Mother and Servant Milo arguing outside. Servant Milo used to be one of my direct servants but ever since Eli got upgraded to Royal Advisor Eli, AI decided it was best that Servant Milo would be Eli's direct servant. Which is fine by me, whatever AI wanted to do with its servants was its business and not mine.

"No First Mother," said Servant Milo. "You can't go in there without Royal Advisor Eli's permission and how many times do I have to tell you that?"

At the sound of this argument it sounded like First Mother was trying to throw her weight around, yet again. I really can't wait to see the day when First Mother would be replaced by Eli and Eli would become First Father of the Mainframe. Then that ugly old hag would be out of my hair finally.

Even though First Mother has been acting civil with me lately I didn't care because in her eyes I was nothing but a child to her hence the nickname she gave me, The Boy Lord Jude. I looked into her work history and her work ethic sucked. I wondered if that was another reason why AI decided it wanted a king to rule over it.

Right now First Mother has made a nuisance of herself by popping up unannounced whenever she wants to and it's getting on my nerves. However I do love the fact that a former Firewall is going to be the one to take First Mother's place.

Eli groaned, "Sorry your highness, but I guess I have to go take care Grandma now."

I cracked up, "Grandma? That's your pet name for her? I agree with that. Although to me she's ancient and not in a good way."

Eli snorted. "No kidding!"

When Eli went out to deal with First Mother. I just about gagged when I heard her flirting with him. "Ah Royal Advisor Eli!"

I heard Eli groan, "Is there some reason why you won't follow orders First Mother? You know, like the ones I gave you for you to do your job?"

"Just who do you think you are?" First Mother snapped. "Do you know who you're talking to? I am First Mother, the lead Mother of the Mainframe and I deserve respect."

"Oh?" Eli said. "The last time I checked, I'm your boss and if anyone deserves respect it's me!"

I marveled at this conversation I was hearing because of how well Eli was able to stand his ground against First Mother.

"Fine," First Mother growled. "But this isn't over Royal Advisor Eli! I'm getting into the Computer Room to see Lord Jude one way or another."

"We'll just see about that!" Eli snarled. "Now will you go do your job already? Have a nice day!"

After Eli came back into the Computer Room he sat down and rubbed his temple in annoyance.

"Wow," I said, "Grandma's a handful isn't she?"

Eli nodded. "Yup! Is there any chance I can use a Copper on her?"

I couldn't stop laughing at the comical image of Eli killing First Mother with a Copper. It was a nice suggestion but I doubted AI would give me the go ahead to give Eli a Copper. I finally stopped laughing enough to speak, "Unfortunately no Eli, unless AI allows me to give you one. I doubt that will happen."

Eli groaned. "Lovely! Is there any way you can help me keep her from breaking into my room to watch me sleep at night?"

"I knew that old hag liked you!" I growled. "I'll see what I can do. I'll put a request in for AI. Until then, there's not much I can do about it."

Eli did not look happy about that and I don't blame him.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

Gilda and I agreed to stage a food fight and this time we made sure to invite Discord to join in on the fun. To my surprise, Eli decided to join in on fun. Gilda set up a barricade by taking a long table and flipping it over. Eli and I did the same thing on the other side of the room. So Eli, Discord and I were on one team and Gilda decided to be alone on the other side of the breakroom.

I started the food fight by yelling, "Food Fight!" Then Discord picked up an apple and threw the first piece of food at Gilda.

It was like a war had erupted in the breakroom but with only fruit being thrown for weapons. Gilda was throwing apples at Eli, Discord and I retired the favor. To be honest, this was the most fun I've had in a while and it looked like Discord was having fun too. He had a look on his face that looked like he was in heaven causing chaos and that made sense because that's what he did back in Equestria.

Out of nowhere, a watermelon went sailing towards Glida's barricade and went splat on it.

"Hey!" Gilda said. "I thought we talked about only throwing apples, Nancy!"

I looked over to see that Discord had a watermelon in his hands and I burst into laughter. Eli looked at Discord and he burst into laughter too.

"I didn't do it!" I responded. "Gary threw it!"

"Uh-huh," Gilda growled, "sure he did."

Gilda looked to see Discord had the watermelon and said, "Oh hell!"

"What?" Discord said. "Apples aren't that messy and they're boring too."

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt when Discord threw the watermelon and blew a raspberry at Gilda when he did.

"Hey guys!" I heard Spitfire say, "Another food fight's happening in the breakroom!"

We heard laughter in the doorway as we threw food at each other.

Discord groaned when a coworker named Laura came over and picked up a piece of food and threw it at Gilda.

"Seriously Laura?" Discord growled. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not interested?"

"But you flirt with Nancy and Kai all the time," Laura whined. "I don't see the harm with us hanging out."

"Flirting is one thing," said Discord, "relentlessly asking for a date is another. I respect the fact that Kai and Nancy are married so all I do is flirt. Besides, it's too much fun messing with them because of their reactions."

"Is that why you keep flirting with us?" I asked.

Discord smiled. "Well duh! Do you really think I would ask you two out on a date? That would be a no."

"Oh." I said.

"Oh come Gary-" Laura started.

"I don't think it's really hanging out when you try to kiss me every time we hang out," Discord said.

"Well then," Laura retorted, "I'll stop helping you with the food fight."

"I never asked for your help in the first place!" Discord snapped.

I laughed when Laura left the room with Discord throwing food at her and a couple of the pieces of fruit hit the mark.

Eli chuckled, "Well that's one way to fend them off. Maybe I should do that with Grandma when I get back to AI's castle?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Grandma?"

"That's my pet name for that stalker I have First Mother," Eli said.

"Hmm I wonder if doing that to Pinkie Pie if I see her again would work to get her to see that my answer is still no?" I pondered.

"Oh for Rainbow Dash's sake!" I heard Gilda say after Discord threw another piece of food at her.

I paused. "Excuse me Sia?"

"Yeah, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia told everyone to change the term of endearment from 'oh Celestia's sake' to 'oh for Rainbow Dash's sake' and it makes perfect sense to me," Gilda said.

"And why didn't Rainbow Dash get the memo?" I growled.

"Because they figured she would protest it and they were right," Gilda said. "Rainbow Dash can't change it because the wheels are already set in motion."

"If they even think of giving Rainbow Dash the job as a Princess, tell them she doesn't want it," I growled.

"Well it might happen," said Gilda, "because they're going to need somepony to take that spoiled brat Princess Twilight's place."

"I see," I said. "I'll just have to have a word with them on Rainbow Dash's behalf."

Gilda chuckled after throwing another apple, "Go ahead and try. But I don't think that's going to change their minds."

"Great…" I said.

Finally, the last piece of food was thrown which signaled the end of the food fight. Everyone standing in the doorway clapped and cheered.

Once the crowd that was watching us was cleared out, Spitfire came up to us laughing. "Now that was quite a show! I can't wait for the next food fight."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks Maya."

"Well," said Spitfire, "go ahead and clean up the breakroom. I have a change of clothing for each of you in my office. I set them aside for you in case this happened again."

After that, Spitfire left the breakroom and Discord looked like he was tickled pink. "Wow! Food fights are so much fun! Maybe I'll ask Dad to set aside a budget for the food?"

We then got to work cleaning the break room until it sparkled. After that, we went to Spitfire's office to get a change of clothes. I had to admit, Discord was right, food fights are fun!

* * *

{Eli}

It was right after I had another Feeding Ritual and I was starting to wake up from it. I didn't want to open my eyes yet because I knew First Mother was sitting at my bedside again. I kept my eyes shut tight.

"I know you're awake, Royal Advisor Eli," First Mother chuckled, "why don't you open up your pretty blue eyes for me?"

I groaned, "No and I thought we talked about this Grandma. I can't unsee what I've already seen."

"Now that wasn't very nice," First Mother said.

"Would you get out of my room already?" I shouted. "I'm not opening my eyes until you do!"

"Oh come on," begged First Mother, "I'm not that ugly. I think I'm gorgeous!"

At this point, I was angry enough to get out of bed and ignore the pain just so I could push her out of my room. I wasn't going to open up my eyes, nope not until First Mother was out of the room. So I struggled a bit just to even sit up and fought against the pain.

"Get. Out!" I roared.

First Mother went to go get me to lay back down but I wasn't having any of it. "I said get out!"

"Listen Royal Advisor Eli," said First Mother, "You need to rest or you'll-"

"I don't care!" I screamed bloody murder. I screamed mostly because of the pain and because I desperately wanted First Mother to leave.

Then I felt something round and long in my hand. I heard First Mother gasp and I didn't know why. "Where did you get that needle?"

"What needle?" I screamed. I felt a small electric charge going through whatever I had in my hand. I threw whatever I had in my hand and I had no idea if it hit the mark or not. But I First Mother scream bloody murder after I threw it. I was about to get out of bed and push her out the door once and for all but I passed out because of the pain.

* * *

The next time I opened my eyes I let out a sigh of relief to see that First Mother wasn't sitting at my bedside. Instead Jude was sitting there and it looked like he had been there for a while because he was nodding off. When Jude saw that I was awake, he smiled.

"Okay, what's that look for Lord Jude?" I asked.

"Seriously Eli," said Jude, "just call me Jude now. It looks like AI agreed to grant my request to give you protection against Grandma."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"You had a needle in your hand yesterday," Jude said.

I panicked. "Yesterday! But I should be back to work by now!"

Jude shushed me, "Calm down Eli. Thanks to Grandma, you were out of commission for longer. I must say you had good aim when you threw that needle for having your eyes closed. I looked at the wound on her shoulder and it looked like it was caused by a stunner needle. It's the same type of needle I use to bring someone to the execution chamber."

"Oh," I said, "I didn't mean to harm her. I just wanted her out of my room."

Jude chuckled, "Oh she'll stay out of your room alright. At least for now, when First Mother's determined to do something like break into your room and watch you sleep, she'll find a way to do it. Hopefully, she'll get tired of you rejecting her and leave you alone. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon. But at least you have a means to defend yourself now."

"Uh, thanks Jude," I said, "for doing that for me."

"It's no problem," Jude said. "I wouldn't get out of bed just yet. You're not recovered enough to go back to work yet Eli. It's not your fault that you aren't at work today. It's Grandma's fault. AI has allowed me to suspend her for three days because of this crap. I'll send Servant Milo in to help take care of you. I'll give him the software program so he can tie you to bed if need be so you won't get up. You're not giving back to work until tomorrow, got it?"

I nodded. "Sure."

After Jude left, Servant Milo came in to take care of me. I rested easy knowing I could go back to work the next day.

* * *

The following night after I had returned to work, I was in my room sleeping and something snapped me out of my sleep. I didn't know why I had woken up so abruptly. I looked over to see Servant Milo sitting by my bedside on a chair with his back to me. At first I smiled at him because I guess it was Servant Milo's way of protecting me. Then I rolled my eyes because I suspected that Jude sent Servant Milo to keep First Mother from breaking into my room at night.

"I know Lord Jude wants to protect me from First Mother," I said, "I think this is going a bit overboard."

Servant Milo jumped out of his chair and turned around to see that I was awake. "Oh, Royal Advisor Eli, I'm sorry if I woke you up."

I shook my head. "No you didn't wake me up. Actually, for some reason I woke myself up."

"Oh um Lord Jude sent me here to protect you from First Mother and protect you from yourself," Servant Milo said.

I blinked. "Protect me from myself?"

"You sleepwalk," said Servant Milo, "apparently, you can't seem to stay still even in your sleep."

I chuckled. "I guess that makes sense. I used to be a Firewall before I got this job."

"Wait a second," Servant Milo said, "you're the famous Firewall Eli!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Famous Firewall Eli?"

Servant Milo nodded. "A lot of your fights with the Agents of the Sixth were broadcasted to the servants that work at AI's Castle. I'm guessing either AI or Lord Jude wanted to show us someone doing their job to the fullest extent. I don't blame them either; some of your fights with the Agents of the Sixth were hilarious. Especially your fights with Agent Rainbow Dash!"

"Yeah, Agent Rainbow Dash was probably one of the most annoying Agents I've ever had the pleasure of fighting," I said.

Servant Milo laughed. "Yeah I know. We can tell by the dialogue. I remember the fight about the Elements of Harmony remark when Agent Rainbow Dash bit down on one of your attacks and declared herself Rainbow Dash."

"Oh yeah, I remember that one," I chuckled. "I do remember my response to that was, 'I'm surprised the Elements of Harmony didn't create a seventh element! The Element of Stupidity made just for you Rainbow Dash! That Griffon character and the other Agents that were with her couldn't stop laughing for two hours straight. Agent Oliver got fed up with protecting them and was getting ready to leave them as sitting ducks when they finally stopped laughing. That's when they joined the fight."

"I don't blame them for laughing, that was pretty hilarious," Servant Milo said. "From what I was told the fights AI broadcasted impressed First Mother quite a bit. I doubt that old hag will quit trying to break into your room at night."

"The strange thing was, when I was a Firewall, I didn't really need to sleep," I said. "Honestly, I could keep fighting 24/7. I just had to retreat when AI told me to. Once I retreated from the fight, so did the Agents of the Sixth."

There was a strange silence. I smiled at the look on Servant Milo's face. It was a look of admiration and not the creepy flirting look that First Mother gives me.

Servant Milo was the one to break the silence, "Well, you should get back to sleep. I'll keep First Mother out of bed and you from sleepwalking."

I smiled and laid back down, rolled over and went back to sleep.

17) Atias Ingie

{Eli}

I guess AI wanted to keep up with giving me one surprise after another lately. First, I get promoted from Firewall to Royal Advisor, then I find out most of my fights with the Agents of the Sixth have been broadcasted to other workers that work at AI's castle. Now I have a weapon that's similar to the stunner needles that Jude uses to stun someone so he can bring them to the execution chamber.

Oh yeah I forgot the best part of the surprises. I have a ugly old hag by the name of First Mother who has a thing for me. I'm not interested in her at all, I mean she looks like she's old enough to be my grandmother. Yuck! It almost makes me sick to my stomach to even look at her because she's so ugly. I seriously hope she doesn't ask me out on a date or anything like that because I don't think I'll be able to keep myself from throwing up if she does.

It makes me wonder if AI decided to change its reality or something like that? Well at least that's what it's done for me lately and I have no idea why.

Once again, I got another surprise from Jude this time. He took me to an underground room below the dungeons in AI's castle. Jude told me to dress the outfit AI gave me for when I have to fight the Agents of the Sixth again. But I'm not sure why AI gave me an outfit for that either now that I'm a Royal Advisor and all.

"What's this about Jude?" I asked.

Jude smiled. "This is to help you train with those stunner needles that AI gave you for your weapons. I have the same weapon. I figured it was best for me to train you for it."

"Are you going to broadcast this training session by chance?" I asked.

Jude nodded. "For some reason, AI likes to do that when it comes down to you. Maybe it's because you're just as determined as Rainbow Dash to do your job at all costs?"

I smiled and looked away. "Oh."

Jude put me through the basics along with hand to hand combat during a fight. But during this training session, we threw our needles at each other and at various targets that would pop up around the room.

Even though I had to stop to catch my breath, I was feeling excited about this new form of training with my new weapon I got. It reminded me of when I got an upgrade from Poser Agent for AI to being a Beta Firewall and then upgraded to Firewall. I loved it when I trained for those positions and I loved training with my new weapon.

Jude chuckled, "I know you want to keep going but you need to pace yourself."

I tilted my head. "Why?"

Jude burst into a fit of laughter which confused me because I didn't see how my excitement with this new training was funny. Jude stopped laughing and said, "Because you're not a Firewall anymore, duh!"

"So I can't fight 24/7 like I used to?" I asked.

"I wonder if your attitude towards fighting is why AI chose you to be Royal Advisor?" Jude said. "You don't know when to quit, do you?"

"Ah…" I said.

Jude nodded. "Okay let's do one more round and we'll call it quits for the day."

I felt like I could keep going on with my training and I really wanted to. But Jude called it quits for the day after we did another round of training.

* * *

I really thought I was dreaming because I was standing in the strangest place I had ever seen. Everywhere I looked there was a bright blue light as far as the eye could see.

"Hello?" I called out. I jumped when I heard my voice echo.

"Well hello there Eli!" I heard someone say. He turned around to see a young man that looked like he could be my age. He had blonde hair and gray eyes. He was dressed in black from head to toe. His outfit almost reminded me of the outfit Jude wore, but he didn't have a cape. He just looked like a regular guy.

"Uh, hi?" I said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Atias Ingie," the guy said, "and I'm the one that created the machine everyone calls AI. AI actually stands for my initials."

"I thought it stood for Artificial Intelligence?" I said.

Atias grinned. "That's what I want everyone to think. Since I picked you to be Lord Jude's Royal Advisor, and now you communicate with me through the main computer. I figured it was time for me to meet you finally."

"Okay," I paused. "Again, hi?"

Atias snorted. "You've already said hi Eli. There's no need to do it again. I picked you to be Royal Advisor because you are the best Firewall I've ever helped Lord Jude make. Don't worry, I only broadcast your fights and not your personal life."

"Gee, thanks," I said. At this point, I was starting to get annoyed because it felt like this conversation was going nowhere. "Exactly where am I?"

"You're in a place located in what you call AI. It's likened to a battery for AI that I built around it. It's also how I give you food for the Feeding Ritual to help AI run properly." Atias responded.

"Is that why the Feeding Ritual is so painful?" I asked.

Atias sighed, "Unfortunately yes, I've tried to tone down the pain for the Feeding Rituals but AI refuses to work with me. It's being a spoiled brat right now and I don't know how to fix it."

"Oh," I said. "It's more intense for Lord Jude because he has to do his Feeding Ritual for fifteen hours. What's up with that?"

"Unfortunately, that's a side effect of the spoiled brat that wanted a king. It picked Rainbow Dash to be Lord Jude's mother because she has the most magic out of all of the Element of Harmony's Bearers with her legendary Sonic Rainbooms. She used to be able to do it in her sleep. Before AI sent Lord Jude to her, her magic was wreaking havoc on AI's USB ports short circuiting them on a daily basis. AI sent Lord Jude to her hoping to help control her magic," Atias explained. "Since Oliver and friends broke her out and got her Element of Harmony out, AI must be grieving the loss of its favorite toy." Then he added with sarcasm, "Oh the poor thing!"

I couldn't help but laugh at Atias mock sympathy for AI.

Atias smirked. "Yes, yes, very funny I know. Well it's been fun talking to you but it's time for you to wake up and start your day. I'll be talking to you through AI's main computer and please don't tell Lord Jude about me."

"Don't worry I won't, besides I doubt he would believe me anyway," I said.

* * *

As soon as I reported to work and did what I always did for the past few weeks as part of my job of being Royal Advisor. I sat down at the main computer plugging in different programs at its request. As I worked, suddenly, a notice popped up on my tablet I had sitting by the computer. This usually happened if AI had something important that it wanted to tell me. When I saw the notice my jaw dropped.

The notice was:

Royal Advisor Eli will be sent three servants to help with caring for him with the Feeding Rituals and various other needs. The three servants that will be sent are as follows:

Servant Milo

Servant Lucy

Servant Alice

After I got the message, I didn't know what to think. Once I got over my shock I thought, My life is getting weirder and weirder and probably going into insanity next.

Then I heard Atias thoughts inside my head, Oh no Eli, there's no insanity here. You see, part of being a Royal Advisor is you get servants just like Lord Jude and Lady Ivy do. Did you know, Lady Ivy was Servant Ivy before she became Lord Jude's wife?

What's your point Atias? I thought.

Since you're the Lord and Lady's right hand man so to speak. You get perks like having servants under you. Yes they will have to do the Feeding Ritual too. Theirs will last as long as yours does and they'll be out of commission after it too. Atias thought.

Oh boy, lovely. I thought.

Uh, Eli? Atias thought.

What? I thought.

First Mother or Grandma as you call her is looking over your shoulder and being nosy as ever. Atias thought. You might want to get her to give you some personal space.

I turned to see that First Mother was indeed looking over my shoulder and being nosy and annoying as usual. "I thought we talked about this First Mother, personal space please. For the last time, I'm not interested."

"I was seeing how your tablet works," said First Mother with an innocent tone to her voice, "mine doesn't give me notices from AI like yours does."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure you were."

"First Mother, what do you think you're doing with my Master?" Servant Milo said.

"Don't be snide with me boy," First Mother snapped. "I'm one of the Mothers of the Mainframe and aren't you supposed to be bowing to me?"

"No, he doesn't have to," said Second Mother, "you know for a fact that servants only have to bow to their masters just like mine and yours do. If they want to bow to someone else that has a position of authority that's their choice. It's not a punishable offense either! Honestly, First Mother, you've been throwing your weight around for too long and me and Third Mother are getting tired of it!"

After Second Mother finished scolding First Mother, Servant Milo and I burst into a fit of laughter.

I stopped laughing, "Thankyou Second Mother for another entertaining lecture on First Mother."

"Why is it my pleasure Royal Advisor Eli!" Second Mother said, she then bowed as if she were mocking First Mother.

When everyone in the same area saw this they started laughing. Servant Milo on the other hand, he never stopped laughing. At this point he was laughing so hard he got hiccups because of it.

I don't blame him, it was pretty funny to see Second Mother put First Mother in her place. So I went back to laughing again. First Mother's face turned red in embarrassment and she turned around and walked away. Once First Mother walked away, that was when the laughter stopped and everyone went back to work.

I turned to Servant Milo and raised an eyebrow. "So I'm your master now, Servant Milo?"

Servant Milo nodded. "Well yeah, unless I read AI's notice wrong."

"No you didn't get the message wrong," I said. "I'm still getting used to not being a Firewall anymore."

"That's understandable Royal Advisor Eli," Servant Milo said.

For a while, Servant Milo and I just stood there smiling at each other. Then I said, "Well I guess I should get back to work."

Servant Milo nodded and I turned my attention back to the main computer.

* * *

I saw the way you and Servant Milo looked at each other the other day. Atias thought.

I had just gotten a notice that Agent Rainbow Dash was inside of AI and I would have to go follow her around again. I actually hoped that she and Sia would do another improv food fight with Gary again. It seemed that Atias had other things on his mind or more like on my mind since Atias was communicating with me by thought.

It was late at night at the castle and I was trying to sleep when Atias woke me up.

Atias? I thought Why are you interrupting my sleep?

What I find funny is why haven't you asked me why I'm talking to you like this? Atias thought.

Okay. Why are you talking to me like this? I thought.

You were in my world and I was able to use my magic to connect with you. Atias thought. The Machine communicates with you by computer. It doesn't have this type of power. It won't be able to detect it either.

Okay what's your point about me and Servant Milo? I thought.

If I didn't know any better, thought Atias, I'd say you two have feelings for each other. So it stands to reason that you two will have sex together sometime in the near future. I think you would like that Eli. With you it's nothing but work, work, work. You're just as bad as Lord Jude before he met Lady Ivy.

Okay first of all, I don't know what sex is and I'm not sure that I want to find out. I thought. Second, I'm too busy with my job to do it.

Atias laughed, You know you can make time or it like Lord Jude does now. You never know, I might just command Servant Milo to do it to you. I'm sure he wouldn't mind, he is your servant after all. That's what Lady Ivy told Lord Jude before they got together. As you can see, he definitely took her up on her offer.

Don't even think about it Atias, I don't have time for- I thought.

Oh you'll make time for it sooner or later. You'll make time for a relationship too. Atias thought.

Yeah, I thought. I'm not talking about this anymore. I'm going back to sleep.

Okay fine. Atias thought.

After Atias stopped talking I went back to sleep.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

I was back on my original assignment and after my lunch break, Gilda and I decided to have another food fight and Discord was having the time of his life with it. Gilda decided to throw different foods this time so it became a free for all. Once again, Eli decided he wanted to be on the same team with Discord and I. Much to my surprise, Spitfire decided to join in on the fun, she was on Gilda's team.

After the food fight was over, Discord looked extremely happy about it. "Man, this is so much fun! I'm glad I set aside a budget for the food! Maybe we should schedule the food fights? I think that's a wonderful idea! Don't you think so Rainbow... Dash?"

I gasped and looked at Discord in horror when he said my name. Discord paused and looked puzzled when he called me Rainbow Dash. "Now that's interesting, I know your name's not Rainbow Dash, right Nancy?"

I gave a nervous laugh and lied, "Nope, no Rainbow Dash here. You're correct, my name is Nancy."

Discord looked at me. "You know something? I think it's your rainbow colored hair, it matches the hair of that character on that Tv show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I started watching it because I started seeing the names of the different characters on it around the store. Even the cardboard has the names on it."

Discord looked like he was pondering what just happened. I guess he decided to drop the issue because he shrugged. "Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter, I'll figure out if it means anything later."

I looked at Discord stunned as he left the room as if nothing had happened.

"Am I crazy or did Gary just call you Rainbow Dash, Nancy?" Spitfire asked.

"If you're crazy then all of us need to check ourselves into a mental asylum," I said. "Yup, you are correct. Gary just called me Rainbow Dash."

"You think he's already remembering stuff back in Equestria?" Gilda asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know, if he keeps this up, he might not need help breaking out of AI."

"Well it looks like the trigger responses are working perfectly," Gilda said. "If that's all we have to do to break him out, then he'll be out faster than you can say Rainbow Dash!"

I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha Sia!"

"Huh? Oh," Gilda said. She must've realized what she said was a pun because she started laughing.

Spitfire looked at me and frowned when she saw my agitation with Gilda.

"It's a good thing you're not in griffon form Sia," I snapped, "or I'd be pulling out a feather right now."

This comment made Gilda stop laughing and she gave me a look of horror. "Okay I'm done laughing. Let's get this place cleaned up so we can go back to work."

So we spent the next half hour cleaning up the break room and went back to work.

* * *

{Eli}

I really didn't want to admit it but Atias might be right about me liking Servant Milo. The question was now if I should tell him about it or not. I started debating about it all week right after that food fight Gary and Gary called Agent Rainbow Dash by her real name and not her codename. From what information I found out, Agent Rainbow Dash's codename is Nancy. I also found out that Gary is also a character named Discord that needed to be broken out of AI. Agent Rainbow Dash seems to think Discord should stay inside AI and I'm going to assume it's because she doesn't like him and I have no idea why.

Once I got back from following Agent Rainbow Dash around it was the night before my scheduled Feeding Ritual and I decided that I should at least try to talk to Servant Milo about how I felt.

As usual Servant Milo was sitting by my bedside with his back towards me. He did this to keep First Mother from breaking into my room and watching me sleep at night. He also did this to keep me from sleep walking to my doom.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to try and shake off my nervousness. "Um, Servant Milo?"

Servant Milo turned around to face me. "Yes, Royal Advisor Eli?"

"I um… Well." I said. At this point, I had no idea how to even begin to tell him about how I felt about him.

Servant Milo chuckled, "I know what that look is about Royal Advisor Eli. I've had it happen to me too many times to count. I've been thinking about it myself lately. This would be the first time I would be telling someone how I felt and not the other way around."

I paused. "Huh?"

Servant Milo leaned toward me and kissed me. Then he pulled back and looked into my eyes.

I smiled. "So I take it this means you feel the same way about me that I feel about you?"

Servant Milo nodded. "Of course, if I didn't feel that way I wouldn't have kissed you."

"Oh." I said. Knowing that Servant Milo felt the same way about me that I did for him comforted me.

"So what do you want to do now?" Servant Milo asked.

"Well, could you… Let me hold you at least?" I answered.

Servant Milo nodded. "Sure I can do that."

I laid back down and Servant Milo got into bed with me. I smiled as I held him in my arms. This comforted me even more because I didn't feel dread as much. Mostly because my next Feeding Ritual was tomorrow.

18) Eli's New Lover

{Jude}

It was another one of Eli's Feeding Rituals and damn I seriously hate the fact that yet again, another person has to go through it. I did this with Ivy when she was in the Feeding Ritual chamber. Thankfully, AI gave her a break from that because of being pregnant with Leo. Once Ivy gave birth to Leo she had to go right back to doing the Feeding Rituals. So I went back to watching over Ivy's Feeding Rituals.

I do the same thing for Eli now. I noticed with Servant Milo waiting for Eli's Feeding Ritual to be done he was very antsy about it. He was more antsy than I was. Servant Milo was pacing back and forth and he looked very worried. It was odd to me because I've never seen a servant that worried about someone before. But then again, Ivy did worry about me trying to get out of bed after my Feeding Rituals because I'm really anxious about getting back to work. She literally has to tie me to the bed to keep me from hurting myself.

I always hate the fact that someone had to wait on me hand and foot after a Feeding Ritual. I mean for crying out loud, I'm the ruler of AI but I have to do my Feeding Rituals for fifteen hours so I guess it was needed.

I do feel a sense of relief that now that Ivy's married to me, that she also has servants that help her out when I can't. Eli has the same thing but either way I still watch over their Feeding Rituals.

Finally Eli's Feeding Ritual was over with and Servant Milo ran up to him to catch him as he was in the process of passing out. Before Eli passed out he said, "Servant Milo?"

"Yes, Royal Advisor Eli?" Servant Milo responded.

"I love you." Eli said. Then Eli passed out.

I don't know why I found this funny, but it was to me. Servant Milo looked at me and frowned. "What's so funny Lord Jude?"

"Did I just hear Eli say that he loves you?" I asked.

Servant Milo blushed and looked away. "Ah…"

I laughed, "Well I be damned! I never thought my Royal Advisor would turn out to be gay. It doesn't bother me, I just find it funny that's all. If you two are in a relationship, that's fine. Your secret's safe with me."

Servant Milo nodded. "Thanks your highness."

I could tell by the look on his face that he was indeed dating Eli. I smiled. "Judging by that look on your face, you two are dating. Good thing there's no one around to hear us talking at the moment. First Mother would be so disappointed if she heard this. Anyway, you should probably get him to bed. At least with you taking care of him, hopefully he'll stay in bed so he can recover and get back to work soon."

Servant Milo nodded and as he left to go get Eli to bed so he could rest, I couldn't stop laughing.

* * *

{Eli}

When I woke up after my Feeding Ritual, I noticed there was a cold washcloth on my forehead. I knew by the way it was placed on my forehead that it was Servant Milo that did it. He's the only one that's done it that way so far.

I remembered saying something before I passed out but I didn't remember what I said. If I said what I think I said then I think it's too early to say that because our relationship is just starting out. Honestly, I love Servant Milo, I couldn't stop thinking about him during the Feeding Ritual. It helped with the pain from it.

"Uh, Servant Milo?" I said.

"Yes?" Servant Milo said with a smile.

"Did I say anything before I passed out?" I asked.

Servant Milo smiled. "You said I love you."

I gulped, "I'm sorry. It's just I couldn't stop thinking about you and it helped with the pain and-"

Servant Milo stopped me from finishing my sentence by kissing me. He broke the kiss. "First of all, don't ever apologize for saying I love you again. I know it's very early in our relationship to say that but I've always loved before we met."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"My feelings for you started happening ever since AI broadcasted your first fight as a Firewall," Servant Milo said. "Knew it wouldn't be possible to date you at that moment, so I would date guys that reminded me of you."

I felt flattered by this that someone would actually date people that looked like me just because they loved me. I tried to sit up but Servant Milo stopped me by kissing me and made me lay back down.

"The sooner you rest and recover, the sooner you can go back to work," Servant Milo said.

I smiled. "I'll try my best to stay in bed. But I'm not making any promises."

Servant Milo chuckled, "Either way I'll be right here to make sure you stay in bed."

I felt a sense of comfort about Servant Milo being here to watch over me. I was also happy that Servant Milo was there to help keep First Mother out of my room.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

One day on my original job assignment, I came around the corner from the breakroom to see Eli leaning up against a wall staring off into space. Judging by the look on his face I could tell he was daydreaming about something.

I tapped Eli on the shoulder to get his attention and that snapped him out of his daydream. "My, my Eli, daydreaming about something other than work for a change? That's new. So I guess you have a new girlfriend or something?"

Eli paused. "How did you-"

"Oh please," I said, "I know that look when someone's daydreaming Eli. So who is she?"

Eli shook his head. "No, no girlfriend."

"Oh so it's a he," I said, "wow I didn't know you were gay."

Eli raised an eyebrow. "Gay?"

I nodded. "It means when some is attracted to the same sex as they are. I'm going to guess this is a new relationship?"

Eli nodded. "Yes. It's strange because I never really had time for this with my job as a Firewall. But now that I have a different job, I'm still getting used to the change of pace. According to the Lord, I can't keep fighting 24/7 anymore. I have other things that I have to take care of now."

"I see and I should point out that there's no problem with being gay," I said. "I used to be gay before I met Kai."

The fact that I used to be gay before I met Oliver was news to Eli. "You were gay before?"

"Yup!" I replied. "Three ex-girlfriends and all of them were nutcases. Especially Pinkie Pie, if she comes near me again I won't have any problem breaking her arm this time. When is she ever going to learn that me and Kai aren't taking her engagement rings? We're not interested in the slightest."

"Well she is in a dungeon at AI's castle," Eli said.

"Good and hopefully you can keep her there," I said. "Did you ever consider getting her a straight jacket?"

Eli paused. "Uh, straight jacket?"

"Oh yeah, it's a special jacket made for extreme nutcases," I explained. "It has long sleeves with ropes on the ends of them so you can tie it behind a person's back. Of course before that can be done a person has to have their arms inside the sleeves so they can be tied. The jacket also has buttons on it to be tightened so the person wearing the jacket can't escape. Once the jacket is securely on the person, it's game over, they won't be able to escape. After that, you can throw them into a nice padded cell so they can't hurt themselves. The room should be made soundproof so they can scream all they want and no one will be able to hear them."

"How do you know about that?" Eli asked.

"Before I worked at JJ Inc," I answered, "I used to work at a mental asylum. The job was a crazy job day in and out. So I quit working there and started working at JJ Inc."

Eli whistled. "Wow."

"Yeah I know," I said.

"Well I think I'll suggest this straight jacket thing to the Lord," Eli said. "Question is how would I get one?"

"Oh I can do that easily. I have no problem doing it when it comes down to Pinkie Pie for sure," I responded. "Since I used to work at a mental asylum I know exactly where to get that type of medical equipment. All I need to do is make a couple of calls and I can get one just like that."

Eli smiled. "Well if you say so. Someone needs to figure out how to control that pony other than putting her in a dungeon."

I nodded. Then I heard the sound of the door to the inventory area opening up. "Hey you wanna know something, I've never asked for your help with the inventory before. Do you want to help?"

Eli nodded. "Sure I can help."

As we went to go get the inventory, I couldn't help but feel happy for Eli. If anyone deserves to have a relationship and be happy, it's Eli. He works hard enough as it is.

* * *

Gilda, Discord and I agreed to work out a schedule for the food fights. We put up notices on the door to the break room so coworkers would know when to avoid it or join in on the fun.

As usual during our food fights, Discord, Eli and I were on one team. But this time, Gilda, Spitfire and Pipsqueak were on the other team. After the food fight we cleaned up the break room and changed our clothes.

I remembered something funny that Rarity would do back in Equestria. It was her stupid fainting couch thing that she would do when she would dramatize something. It was something that Loyalty and the other Elements of Harmony found annoying but I found it funny even when back in Equestria. I guess I had a smile on remembering this because Gilda was giving me a funny look. "What's so funny Nancy?"

"I just remembered something that Rarity would do back in Equestria," I said.

Gilda tilted her head. "What?"

"It's a good thing Rarity isn't here," I chuckled, "if she saw what the break room looked like after our food fights, she would probably be traumatized by it."

"Are you talking about that chick who does the fainting couch all the time?" Gilda said.

I smiled. "Yup! That's the one!"

Eli looked puzzled by this. "Uh, fainting couch?"

I nodded. "Oh yeah. Every time something uncomfortable happens to her, she would pull out a couch out of thin air with her magic and pretend to faint on it."

Gilda snorted. "Yeah no kidding and don't forget what she says before that."

Gilda and I said the line at the same time, "This is. The. Worst. Possible. Thing!"

"Yeah and if Rarity saw what the break room looked like after our food fights," I said, "first she would gasp at it. Then she would scold us by saying, 'how dare you, you uncouth ruffians! Messing up the break room like that! This is. The. Worst. Possible. Thing!"

Spitfire brought over a nearby table and placed it behind me. I proceeded to pretend to faint on it the same way Rarity would faint on her fainting couch. After everyone stopped laughing, Gilda tilted her head. "What's an uncouth ruffian?"

"It means someone that has bad manners and possible violent tendencies," I answered.

"Bad manners huh?" Gilda said. "You mean like burping the whole entire alphabet and not apologizing for it later?"

I nodded. "Exactly!"

I was going to say something else but I laughed when Gilda grabbed the biggest bottle of soda she could find. She chugged it down and started burping the alphabet. I fell over and I started laughing hysterically.

I finally stopped laughing long enough to speak. I clapped. "Encore! Encore!"

"Well thank you Nancy," Gilda let out another long burp. She burped again and coughed up a couple more burps. She spoke, "Sorry not sorry. I guess I had more gas than I thought. But I guess that's what happens when you chug a liter of soda in under one minute flat."

"Wow Sia," I said, "I didn't know you were such a tomboy."

"You should talk, Nancy," said Gilda, "we're both tomboys. Since we're both tomboys, how about a burping contest before we go back to work?"

I smiled. "Sure! Challenge accepted!"

So Gilda and I grabbed one bottle that was a liter of soda each. We chugged down the soda as fast as we could. Oliver came around the corner and smiled when he saw us chugging down our bottles of soda. "What's going on?"

"Nancy and Sia are getting ready to have a burping contest," Spitfire chuckled.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised? Those two are always trying to outdo each other on stupid stuff like this. In any case this should be interesting."

Everyone started laughing again as Gilda and I started trying to out burp each other. In the end, I won the burping contest. Gilda couldn't stop laughing as I did a victory dance to celebrate winning the contest.

Gilda smiled. "It's about time we did one of these stupid contest's again!"

"I know," I said, "when was the last time we had one?"

"Last year before you and Kai got married. Which was right before you two started working at the zoo," Gilda said.

"Well then, we should probably do this again sometime," I said.

Gilda nodded. "Sure, anytime, anyplace."

I nodded and after I let out the last unexpected burp everyone laughed and we went back to work.

* * *

{Eli}

"A burping contest?" Jude said. "Really!"

Jude and I were in the computer room going over the video footage of Agent Rainbow Dash and her friend Sia doing a burping contest.

I chuckled, "Apparently, those two have been doing this type of stuff for a long time. Of course why I am not surprised that Agent Rainbow Dash won?"

"Actually I am surprised Rainbow Dash won that burping contest," Jude said, "that's because Sia burped the alphabet before it."

"Well Agent Rainbow Dash does everything that makes a woman being called a tomboy." I said. "For one thing a girly girl doesn't pull pranks like she did before she got broken out of AI."

Jude raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yup," I said. "For example, Agent Rainbow Dash tricked me into going bungee jumping blindfolded."

Jude burst into laughter at that comment. "Seriously?"

"Yup, but I did get payback on her for it," I said. "Remember when I asked you for a rooster to put in her bed to wake her up?"

Jude nodded. "Yeah, I didn't think that was a good idea because she had just gotten a stunner put in her and revived from it. Too much movement is just as harmful as moving too much after the Feeding Ritual. Why?"

"Well when I was posing as her brother," I said, "I put a rooster in her bed and dumped a bucket of water on her head to give her a rude awakening so to speak."

Jude laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. He stopped laughing when Servant Milo cleared his throat to get our attention. I could tell by the look on his face that what Servant Milo was going to say had a lot to do with First Mother.

I groaned, "Let me guess, it's First Mother again, isn't it?"

Servant Milo nodded. "Yup, I'm getting ready to pull my hair out because of her."

"Don't worry I'll take care of it," I said.

After Servant Milo left, Jude chuckled, "You know, I think First Mother just keeps coming around here so she can get a good look at you."

"I think Grandma needs to take no for an answer," I growled.

"At least you have a means to defend yourself now by way of the stunner needles," said Jude. "If anything you can use her for target practice."

"Yeah if she keeps getting into my personal space, I just might do that," I said.

"That bad huh?" Jude asked.

I nodded. "Yeah I should go deal with Grandma before Servant Milo tries to kill her for me."

* * *

As soon as I left the computer room, First Mother greeted me with her usual flirting smile.

"Honestly First Mother," I said, "what are you doing here this time?"

"As usual, I came to see Lord Jude," said First Mother, "I haven't seen him in a while so…"

I rolled my eyes. "Have you finished the orders I gave you to do your job yet?"

First Mother shifted her gaze. "Ah…"

I groaned, "Can I see your tablet please?"

First Mother handed me her tablet. It didn't surprise me that yet again, she was behind schedule on her job orders I gave her. "Is there some reason why you're not doing your job?"

"I am doing my job," First Mother whined.

"Then why are you behind schedule on your list?" I asked.

"I've finished all of the other stuff on my list," said First Mother, "maybe I'm not motivated enough to complete everything?"

"And what would you need to be motivated to get things done?" I asked.

First Mother gave me a flirting smile. "How about a romantic dinner date?"

At this point, I was trying so hard to keep my throw up in my mouth. I saw Servant Milo put a hand over his mouth to try and stifle a laugh. What happened next was what I thought would happen if First Mother asked me out on a date. My throw up decided to venture out of my mouth onto the floor. I couldn't stop throwing up either.

"Well I never!" First Mother growled. "Humph!"

Even as First Mother stormed off in anger, I couldn't stop myself from throwing up. Servant Milo came over and put a hand on my back to try and console me.

"Are you going to be okay, Royal Advisor Eli?" Servant Milo asked.

At this point, the world started to spin on me as I kept throwing up. "I think I need to go lay down for a bit."

Servant Milo chuckled, "Wow, I've never seen someone throw up in front of someone to say no to going on a date with them before!"

"You don't say?" I said with sarcasm. "The idea of going out with that woman is repulsive!"

Servant Milo laughed, "I can see that. Okay, let's get you to bed. I'll give you a trashcan to throw up in when you get there. I'll come back and clean up this mess later."

"If Grandma asks me out on a date again," I said, "I'll aim my throw up in her face."

The news of me throwing up in front of First Mother to turn her down for a date spread all over the castle. Everyone got a real kick out of it, even Lord Jude thought it was funny. He couldn't stop laughing about it. What I said to Servant Milo I meant every word of it. If that ugly old hag asks me out on a date again, I'm throwing up right in her face.

19) Pick-up Lines

{Rainbow Dash}

On one of my days off Gilda and I sat by the edge of a cliff. I wanted to train but I knew it wasn't possible because of those out of control sonic rainbooms I've been doing lately.

Gilda smiled at me. "Hey I have an idea! Since we had that burping contest a couple of days ago, I was thinking why not do another silly contest? You know, because I've been spending more time with you being your bodyguard and all."

I raised an eyebrow. "Bodyguard? From the way I see you're still my babysitter, but okay. So what do you have in mind?"

"Well," said Gilda, "I doubt anyone can hear us right now, I was thinking about a screaming contest?"

I laughed because what Gilda doesn't know is that screaming contests were my specialty when I was still inside AI. Me and Eli would do stuff like that all the time. We would always argue about who was the winner.

So Gilda and I started our screaming contest. Gilda did her griffon roar and I did my pegasus scream. After the contest was over, Gilda and I started to argue about who won.

"I won!" Gilda exclaimed.

"No," I countered, "I won and you know it!"

After a while of going back and forth of arguing, I heard Jude say, "I think it's a tie you two."

I chuckled when I saw Jude, "Hey Jude, what's up?"

"So what's the screaming all about?" Jude asked.

"Oh," I answered, "we were just having a screaming contest. Gilda doesn't know that screaming contests are my specialty! I was still inside AI, Eli and I do it all the time."

"I won and you know it Rainbow Dash!" Gilda said. "A griffon's roar is louder than a pegasus scream any day!"

"Is that the lion roar I heard before I got here?" Jude said.

"So much for no one being around to hear us, Gilda," I said.

Gilda puffed out her chest. "Yeah that was me. I'm half lion and half eagle. I think my roar is awesome!"

I rolled my eyes. "You think everything is awesome. You were the one that started the 'Gilda line' around the Sixth."

Gilda puffed out her chest again, "Yup! I'm proud I did it too!"

Jude raised an eyebrow. "What's the Gilda line?"

I groaned, "Gilda, would you do the honors?"

"Why thank you Rainbow Dash!" Gilda smiled. She cleared her throat, "Rainbow Dash is tough, she's fast and she's the definition of the word awesome!"

I facehoofed and groaned. Jude was on his stomach rolling in laughter. Gilda joined in on the laughter.

"Not funny you two!" I growled.

Jude composed himself, "Okay what's so bad about a statement that's true?"

"Uh no, it's not!" I said. "I'm just a regular Pegasus who can apparently do a legendary sonic rainboom."

"Well just being able to create a rainbow by doing something like that makes it true." Jude said. "You're no ordinary pegasus mom and you know it!"

"See? He's not the only one that agrees with me," Gilda said. "Why won't you listen to reason?"

I scoffed, "Fine whatever you say Gilda." I turned to Jude. "Anyway, what's new Jude?"

"Not much except for when AI made Eli, Royal Advisor Eli, things have been entertaining lately." Jude smiled.

I tilted my head. "Why's that?"

"Well there's this ugly old hag named First Mother that works at the Mainframe along with Eli. She's gone bananas for the guy ever since he became Royal Advisor," Jude replied.

I paused and I wondered if this was the same woman that Eli told me about. "Uh, First Mother?"

Jude nodded. "Yeah she's one of the Mothers of the Mainframe, she helps me keep AI running properly. She was the head of the Mainframe until Eli got promoted to Royal Advisor. So now Eli's her boss. She keeps stalking him and trying to break into his room at night to watch him sleep."

"Wow," I shuddered, "that's not creepy at all. That reminds me of something Pinkie did when I first broke out of AI."

"She recently asked Eli out on a date," said Jude, "and Eli's response was to throw up in front of her as his own special way of saying no."

Gilda and I fell over on our backs laughing at that idea.

I was surprised I was able to say anything in between my laughter. "Well that's one way to get rid of someone! Too bad I have a strong stomach."

"I doubt that's going to keep her away for long," Jude said. "The thought of being with her to Eli is repulsive and I don't blame him. She should at least date someone her own age."

I finally stopped laughing. "Well, how old is she?"

"She's got to be over a hundred years old." Jude replied. "AI won't let me see what her age is. She looks ancient."

"I've never asked this before but how old is Eli?" I asked.

"He's thirty-six," answered Jude, "at least that's what AI has him registered as."

"I think there's a better way for First Mother to tell someone that they like them without stalking them or breaking into their rooms at night." I said.

"Maybe you can teach First Mother some pick-up lines so she can snag the guy that she likes?" Gilda suggested. "That would be a lot better than breaking into someone's room to watch them sleep at night."

Jude tilted his head. "Pick-up lines?"

"It's a subtle way to hint to someone that you like them," I explained. "You can tell by the way a person reacts to it that it's okay to stick around for a while or pack up and move on."

Gilda snorted. "You want to demonstrate for him Rainbow?"

"Why I'd love to!" I quipped.

Gilda sat down pretending to mind her own business and I put on my best flirting smile when I went up to her. "Hey beautiful fancy meeting you here. Do you come here often?"

"Why yes I do come here often!" Gilda said. "This is my favorite spot thanks for asking!"

"So can I buy you a drink?" I asked.

"Sure, what are you having?" Gilda replied.

"How about some coffee?" I said.

"Why I'd love one!" Gilda smiled. "I take mine black. What about you?"

"I take mine with cream and sugar, sugar," I raised both of my eyebrows in such a way to show that I was flirting with her.

Jude definitely found our little demonstration funny because he burst into laughter. He laughed so hard he couldn't breathe.

I chuckled, "Yeah so that's how it's done. If you ask me, if people like First Mother and Pinkie pie would do this then maybe they would have a better chance of getting the person they like. Or they can do what Oliver did with me when we first met. They can throw paper balls in their trash cans."

"Is that how you two met?" Jude asked.

"Pretty much, I was working at JJ Inc when I first met Oliver," I said. "That was right after I had you. At first I thought he was cute, but then he got on my nerves by throwing paper balls in my trashcan and asking me out on a coffee date all the time. Every time he did that my answer was, we have coffee in the breakroom.

"It was clear to everyone that Oliver had feelings for me. Everyone seemed to think that I had feelings for him. I wasn't sure about that. So I figured it out when I kissed him and now here we are two years later and we're married."

"Aww that's cute." Jude said.

"Yeah and Oliver's been overprotective of her lately." Gilda said. "Although it doesn't surprise me because he was like that when he was doing her six day training."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah and it's getting on my nerves considering he's appointed Gilda to be my babysitter every time I'm out of his sight."

"I don't blame him because he's concerned about your safety because of out of control partial sonic rainbooms." Gilda said. "Of course from what I heard you did finally figure out why everyone's so worried about you."

"Yeah I know, I'm possibly pregnant." I said. I crossed my forehooves and sat on my haunches to show my annoyance. "I'm not pregnant."

Gilda rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh let's see here, out of control partial sonic rainbooms, eating mountains of food like you're eating for two people, throwing up randomly and being extremely tired all the time, need I go on?"

"Oh speaking of that," said Jude, "Ivy just gave birth to our son Leo."

I smiled. "Well congratulations! Please send my congrats to Ivy too."

"Sure I have a picture of him that I want to give to you as a personal photo," Jude said.

Jude took out the picture that was in a gold picture frame. The picture was of Leo sleeping in his crib. Leo's name was engraved at the bottom of the picture frame. Leo looked just as adorable as Jude did when he was a baby. As a matter of fact, Leo looked a lot like Jude when he was born. If Jude didn't tell me that was a picture of his son, I would've sworn that it was one of Jude's baby pictures.

"Wow," I said, "if I didn't know any better, I would say this was one of your baby pictures if you hadn't told me it was a picture of your son."

"Really?" Jude asked before raising an eyebrow.

I nodded. "Yeah you looked like this when you were a baby. Does he have a strange birthmark on one of his hands by chance?"

"Oh you mean like the one I have?" Jude said. "No, he doesn't, he looks like a regular baby for now. Oh and the crib Leo's laying in First Mother built for him. That to me is about the only good thing she's done so far."

I laughed. "At least she did something good."

An alarm went off on the watch Jude was wearing. He sighed, "It looks like it's time for me to go. It was nice seeing you again mom."

"Sure, anytime Jude." I said.

* * *

{Jude}

Eli and I were sitting in the computer going over the video footage I got of Rainbow Dash and Gilda doing a demonstration of what they called pick-up lines. I thought it would be a good idea to teach First Mother this to save her the trouble of someone throwing up in front of her again.

Eli wasn't so sure if that would help because First Mother still keeps invading his personal space. Eli did throw a couple of his stunner needles at her and that still doesn't keep her away. One would think someone throwing up in front of someone to tell them no to a date would give them a hint that they don't like them. But no, First Mother can be very hard headed when it comes down to someone saying no to her.

"Honestly I think it might help with the next guy she goes after." I said.

Eli shook his head. "I don't think there's going to be a next guy she goes after. If she uses them on me, I'll throw another stunner needle at her."

I snorted. "Yeah one would think that would be a clear cut no for an answer."

Eli laughed. "I've told her several times I'm not interested. I'm gay so there's no way I'm sleeping with a woman if I got something to say about it. Servant Milo told me that you know about our relationship?"

I nodded. "You did say I love you to him right before you passed out after a Feeding Ritual. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

"Um, thank you." Eli said.

Eli and I heard a disturbance outside and I knew what it meant. But this time I requested an audience with her so it would be okay to let First Mother into the computer room.

"I should go-" Eli said.

"Actually I requested an audience with her this time." I said.

"You're going to do what I think you're going to do aren't you?" Eli asked.

I nodded. "That's exactly what I'm going to do. This should be fun at least for me it should be. You and Servant Milo can escape from her after you let her in."

Eli chuckled, "Okay then."

I laughed when I heard the conversation outside.

"Ah, it's the handsome Royal Advisor Eli!" I heard First Mother say.

Eli gagged. "Yuck! Please don't call me handsome again, I'm not interested. It's okay to let the old hag in the computer room. Lord Jude wants an audience with her."

"Oh, sure Royal Advisor Eli." Servant Milo said.

Then I heard Eli say, "Let's escape from Grandma while we still can Servant Milo."

"I'm not a grandma!" First Mother snapped. "I'm a one hundred and fifty year old beautiful young woman."

"Yeah I don't think the words beautiful and young should go in front of one hundred and fifty years old in the same sentence." Eli said. "Besides, I'm thirty-six and you're three times my age so my answer is definitely no thank you."

I heard Eli and Servant Milo laughing as they ran away from First Mother. I imagine they ran as fast as they could away from her and I don't blame them.

* * *

I smiled when I saw First Mother walk into the computer room with a curious look on her face.

I raised an eyebrow. "So you're one hundred and fifty years old huh?"

"Yes," said First Mother. "You heard me say that to Royal Advisor Eli didn't you?"

I nodded. "Yup, when are you going to learn to take Eli saying no for an answer?"

First Mother tilted her head. "Eli?"

"That's what I call him, but it's still Royal Advisor Eli to you." I said.

"Oh, okay," First Mother said.

"To add to that," I said, "Eli's gay so he wouldn't have been interested in you anyway."

First Mother put her hands on her hips and gave me a look of disbelief. "Oh, and how do you know this?"

"A little birdie perched on my shoulder and whispered it into my ear." I with a mischievous smile. I had a feeling with the evil look on my face that First Mother wouldn't believe not one little bit. Judging by the look on her face, she didn't believe me. I wanted to laugh at the look on her face but I chose not to. Don't laugh, in the name of AI please don't laugh Jude!

First Mother gasped. "I don't believe that a handsome hunk of a man like Royal Advisor Eli is gay! That's impossible!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah and one would think that Eli throwing up in front of you and throwing stunner needles at you would give you clear cut no he's not interested."

"Oh he'll be interested in me sooner or later!" First Mother declared.

"More like later or as a matter of fact never," I said, "and Eli's already told me that if you use what I'm about to show you on him, he'll throw a stunner needle at you."

"What is it?" First Mother asked.

"Are you lonely First Mother?" I asked.

First Mother shifted her gaze. "I, uh…"

This time I couldn't stop myself from laughing, I finally composed myself, "So that's why you're so grumpy all the time! You know if you just told me, I could've been able to help with that. You know I could find someone that's actually interested in you."

"Yeah, yeah," said First Mother. "Anyway, what did you want to show me?"

"According to Rainbow Dash," I said, "you can use this to figure out if someone's interested in you or not. Have you ever heard of pick-up lines?"

First Mother raised an eyebrow. "Uh, pick-up lines? Nope, never heard of them."

"I know right?" I said. "I didn't know what they were until Rainbow Dash told me about it."

I proceeded to pull up the video footage of Rainbow Dash practicing pick-up lines with her friend Gilda.

First Mother gave me a skeptical look. "Are you sure this is going to help me snag a man, Lord Jude?"

I shrugged. "I don't know but it's worth a try."

"So who am I supposed to practice with?" First Mother asked.

"I'm glad you asked that," I said. "I have the perfect person for you to practice with. Servant Charlie?"

"Yes, Lord Jude?" Servant Charlie said.

"Can you please send in Servant James?" I asked.

First Mother's jaw dropped. "My number one Servant? You want me to practice this with my number one Servant? Seriously Lord Jude?"

I bit my bottom lip trying not to laugh, Don't laugh! Don't laugh, nope not laughing!

Servant James entered the room and smiled when he saw First Mother. I smiled when I saw the way Servant James was looking at her.

"Servant James," I said, "do you by chance know what pick-up lines are?"

Servant James nodded. "Yes your highness I know exactly what those are. I've used them many times on women that I've liked. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

"I didn't know about them until recently," I said. "First Mother didn't have a clue what they were either. She's one hundred and fifty years old."

Servant James gasped, "What?! I'm sixty years old and I know what pick-up lines are. What rock have you been hiding under First Mother?"

First Mother's face turned red and she looked away. I literally bit my bottom lip so hard that I was surprised it didn't bleed. No laughing Jude, nope no laughing

"So I guess I'm here to practice these pick-up lines with the beautiful First Mother?" Servant James asked with a smile.

"Are you just saying that to be a butt kisser Servant James?" First Mother asked while raising an eyebrow.

Servant James shook his head. "Nope how many times have I called you beautiful Master and you don't even give it a second thought? It's like you don't even notice I exist."

"I uh, oh." First Mother said.

I snorted. "Well there you go! Someone that actually likes you. Although I don't think you need to practice pick-up lines on him and I bet he won't throw up on you either."

Servant James chuckled, "I still can't believe Royal Advisor Eli did that. If that's no for an answer, I don't know what is."

First Mother looked speechless at the fact that one of her servants liked her. Without warning Servant James kissed First Mother.

I smiled and thought, This might be what keeps her from stalking Eli and away from the computer room for a change? If so, it works for me!

I grinned as I saw Servant James grab First Mother's hand and guide her out the door.

* * *

{Eli}

I was laying in my bed holding Servant Milo in my arms. I kept holding him so I could get the repulsive idea of First Mother asking me out on a date. I still felt a little sick to my stomach because of that.

I wondered if maybe seeing Servant Milo naked would help. I wasn't sure why I thought that but I did. I didn't know how to go about asking that from Servant Milo. So for the moment I kissed his neck and played with the zipper on his pants. I wasn't sure if he was enjoying this or not but he did snuggle closer to me.

"Royal Advisor Eli?" Servant Milo said.

"Yes, Servant Milo?" I said.

"Do you want to see me naked or something like that by chance?" Servant Milo asked.

"How-" I said.

"You're playing with the zipper on my pants and kissing my neck." Servant Milo replied.

I smiled. "Yes, I do want to see you naked."

Servant Milo chuckled, "Well I was wondering when to ask you about seeing you naked too."

"Oh." I said. "You're my first relationship so I don't know anything about this."

"Okay then," said Servant Milo, "you can start by unzipping my pants and taking them off."

I hesitated at first, but then I brought myself to take his pants off. Servant Milo then told me what to take off next. The next thing I knew he was completely naked. I couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful Servant Milo looked now that he was naked.

Servant Milo smiled. "What?"

"You're beautiful." That was the only thing I could think of to say.

Servant Milo laughed, "Thanks. I bet you'll be even more beautiful than me when I see you naked."

"Huh?" I said.

I had no idea what was going on after Servant Milo took my clothes off and climbed on top of me. I felt myself get hard and then groaned with pleasure when Servant Milo guided me into him. I kept groaning when Servant Milo started pushing on me. Whatever was happening I enjoyed every single minute of it.

* * *

After Servant Milo was finished pushing on me, he got off me and I laid there staring up at the ceiling.

"Exactly what did we just do?" I asked.

"We just had sex," said Servant Milo, "you mean to tell me that was your first time?"

I nodded.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Servant Milo asked.

I nodded. "Yes I did."

"You want to do it again?" Servant Milo said.

I nodded, "Yes."

When we started having sex again, I didn't want it to end.

20) Color Rain

{Eli}

I was sitting at my usual spot at the Mainframe working at the main computer. As I worked, I couldn't stop thinking about how sexy Servant Milo is without his clothes on. I was snapped out of my thoughts when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I smiled when I saw Servant Milo. "Servant Milo, what's up?"

Servant Milo groaned, "First Mother wants to speak to you."

"What about?" I asked.

"I have no idea," Servant Milo replied.

"Fine," I said, "I'll talk to the old hag as long as she doesn't make me sick, I'm good."

Servant Milo snorted. "Good luck with that."

When First Mother approached me, she gave me her usual flirting smile and I was already fighting to keep the contents of my stomach inside my stomach.

"Ah, if it isn't the handsome Royal Advisor Eli!" First Mother said.

I swallowed. "What do you want this time, First Mother?"

"Oh I just stopped to get a good look at you as usual." First Mother said. "But I did want to tell you something."

This is going to be an uphill battle to keep myself from throwing up on her again. I thought. I swallowed. "What might that be?"

"I just wanted to tell you that what I thought of myself was absolutely correct." First Mother smirked. "I'm a beautiful one hundred and fifty year old young woman. I just found out one of my servants has a thing for me. He's sixty years old, and he likes me."

"That's nice First Mother," I said, "does this mean you'll leave me alone and let me get my work done in peace for a change?"

I seriously hoped that First Mother's answer would be yes but that might be wishful thinking.

First Mother chuckled, "What do you think Mr. Handsome? You know there's plenty of me to go around."

Oh boy I think I'm going to be really sick if she keeps this up. I thought.

I saw First Mother's servant standing behind her Servant James, "Uh. Master First Mother?"

First Mother turned around and smiled when she saw Servant James giving her a flirting look. The room started to spin on me as I was trying so hard not to puke.

"Yes, Servant James?" First Mother asked.

Servant James smiled. "You just can't help yourself when it comes down to Royal Advisor Eli can you?"

"What? Can you blame me?" First Mother responded. "Just look at how handsome he is!"

Servant James snorted. "Yeah I see that. Honestly, I don't think he's interested."

Without warning, Servant James kissed First Mother. At this point I really didn't feel well. "You know something, I just remembered I have something to take care of. Congrats to the happy couple!"

As I walked away the conversation that happened didn't help matters.

"Good job Servant James," said Servant Milo, "you just had to make Royal Advisor Eli sick."

"What?" Servant James said. "I had to get her away from him somehow and she's not that bad. I don't see what the problem is."

First Mother grit her teeth, "Thanks for your help Servant James. I don't need help to show Royal Advisor Eli how beautiful I am."

"Yeah no, you did," Servant James said, "and it backfired. I think that's a clear no, I'm not interested coming from him."

"I can't help it!" First Mother said. "Royal Advisor Eli is handsome, young and healthy…"

When I heard that I didn't walk I ran as fast as I could to get out of earshot from them. I really didn't want to hear it. I didn't think I was going to be well enough to go back to work for the rest of the day. I guess it didn't matter because my Feeding Ritual was tomorrow. Even still, I made it to my bedroom but I didn't make it to the bed. I laid down on the floor curled up in the fetal position. Shortly after that, Servant Milo came and helped me get to bed.

* * *

I knew I was dreaming. It had to be a dream. I was running from someone and judging by the sound of her voice, I was running from First Mother.

"NO!" I kept screaming. "Leave me alone!"

"Oh come now handsome Royal Advisor Eli," said First Mother, "I'm a young one hundred and fifty year old beautiful woman. Be a dear and get in my bed, hmm?"

"HELL NO!" I screamed.

"Fine then, have it your way." First Mother said. "You will get in my bed one way or another."

The next thing I knew I was in bed with First Mother completely naked. She smiled a disgusting smile she normally gives me and she climbed on top of me. It wasn't until after she kissed me that was when I woke up.

* * *

I woke up screaming bloody murder as I was still trying to get away from First Mother.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I heard Servant Milo say.

I kept trying to get away from First Mother when I felt someone slap me. Strangely enough, that calmed me down a bit. I looked over and breathed a sigh of relief when I looked over to Servant Milo sitting at my bedside with his shirt off.

Servant Milo gave me a look of concern. "What's wrong?"

"It was just a bad dream." I replied.

"Yeah considering you were screaming bloody murder, I say that's a bad dream alright," said Servant Milo. "What was it about?"

"First Mother was chasing me and somehow I was in bed with her, after she kissed me was when I woke up." I said.

Servant Milo looked like he was going to be as sick as I felt at the moment. He quickly grabbed a bucket so I could throw up in it. Then came the pain that I was very familiar with. I was in pain from the Feeding Ritual that I did earlier today.

I looked at what Servant Milo had in his hand out of curiosity. He had a tablet in his hand and he was pressing buttons on it.

I tilted my head. "What's that for?"

"Oh, AI just issued a tablet for me, Second Mother and Third Mother," said Servant Milo. "It said it's for research to help relieve the pain from the Feeding Rituals. AI clearly doesn't trust First Mother with this and I don't blame it. So far all we've been able to do is heal the wounds from it quicker. Second Mother and Third Mother are working with Lord Jude because his wounds are more severe. That's because he has to do his for fifteen hours. I'm the only one working with you."

Yes Eli, I've been trying to calm the spoiled brat down from its temper tantrum. Atais thought.

Temper tantrum? I thought.

Yes it's been getting more out of control than usual lately. Atais thought. I don't know why but it's increased the frequency of kidnappings.

What? I thought.

I know right, since I'm trapped inside the core of AI there's not much I can do about it. The reason why I was able to contact you the way I did was because I used one of AI's temper tantrums as a loophole to get to you. I've tried to reason with it but just like First Mother, it won't listen to reason. And you won't be getting into First Mother's bed if I have something to say about it. Because that's what is called rape. Atais thought.

Uh, rape? I thought.

It's when someone as sex with someone against their will. Atais thought. It has harmful effects on the victim and they're never the same again. I'm pretty sure it's probably happened to other workers at AI, they just keep their mouths shut because they doubt anyone will believe them

I felt a sense of panic at that. You don't think-

No Eli, I've already said I'm not going to let that happen. Why do you think I sent Servant Milo to you and gave you your stunner needles? Now that you have your gear updated you'll be able to see First Mother coming from a mile away and I've updated Servant Milo's gear too. He'll be able to do the same thing you can when you go back to work tomorrow. He won't have stunner needles though. Atais thought.

I felt comforted about the fact that Atais upgraded me and Servant Milo's gear so we can defend ourselves from First Mother.

"Well now," said Servant Milo, "you seemed to have calmed down a bit, that's good."

I nodded. "Yeah I'm fine now. But I'm not sure if I'll go back to sleep any time soon."

Servant Milo chuckled, "I completely understand considering that awful nightmare you just had about First Mother."

"No kidding," I said.

I felt comforted every time I saw Servant Milo by my bedside. I loved him and seeing his face always helped me get my mind off of First Mother.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

It had been a long day at my outside of AI assignment and as soon as I got back to the Sixth I decided to rest a bit before I went back to my original assignment breaking out Discord.

When I finally got to sleep, I started having that dream again. Just like before I was standing in darkness as far as the eye could see. Then I heard that stupid voice again.

Rainbow Dash...

I groaned, "Oh come on! Would you at least show yourself this time? Why am I even having this stupid dream?"

Rainbow Dash…

Okay, what is this all about? I thought.

Out of the darkness came a bright flash of light. After that, I saw the cutest baby Alicorn that I have ever seen! From what I could tell the baby Alicorn was a she. Her mane and tail were gray with a white streak going down it. Her light blue fur reminded me of the color of rain.

"Well hi there Mother! I'm so glad I finally get a chance to meet you!" The baby Alicorn said.

"Okay you're an Alicorn and if I were to give birth to someone I would give birth to a Pegasus." I said. "I'm pretty sure I don't have any Alicorns that run the family."

The baby Alicorn giggled, "Oh no Mother, you don't have to have Alicorns run in your family in order to give birth to an Alicorn."

I tilted my head. "What are you talking about?"

"Baby Alicorn's are based on how much magic their parents have," the baby Alicorn explained. "True my dad is Oliver and he has magic. He has more magic than he thinks he has. You mother, you have more magic than you think you have!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say it has something to do with my sonic rainbooms?"

The baby Alicorn laughed, "Well that's part of it. The other part is you have so much magic that it has to be released somehow. The partial out of control sonic rainbooms help with that. That's a lot of magic built up and so you're going to be giving birth to me to release more of that magic. But there is something else that I should tell you that needs to happen in order to give birth to an Alicorn."

"What might that be?" I asked.

"In order to give birth to a baby Alicorn," the baby Alicorn said, "one parent has to become an Alicorn."

My eyes went wide in horror when I heard this. "No way! Please tell me it's going to be Oliver that turns into an Alicorn?"

The baby Alicorn laughed, "Oh no, Oliver's a human and there's no way a human can become an Alicorn. Take another guess."

I facehoofed and groaned. "Great… Let me guess it's me."

"Bingo!" The baby Alicorn said. "Oh, it's time for me to go now. You're getting ready to wake up soon. Don't worry I won't do this dream anymore. Me calling your name over and over was a prank!"

"What! Seriously Color Rain?" I paused because I just realized I gave my daughter a name already. It was off the top of my head too.

Color Rain chuckled, "Color Rain huh? I like that name! Oh and I'll be seeing you in two months time. You'll become an Alicorn the morning of my birth. So until then mother, this is goodbye."

"Okay Color Rain," I said, "I'll be seeing you soon."

With that, I woke up.

* * *

When I woke up, Loyalty seemed really excited about something.

"You met your baby daughter, didn't you?" Loyalty asked.

I nodded. "Yeah and why didn't anyone tell me that I'm going to become an Alicorn?"

Loyalty gave a nervous laugh and said, "Me and the other Elements of Harmony decided it was best not to tell you until we were certain that it was going to happen. So I had to keep my stone shut. We also need Honesty and Magic with us so we can tell everyone else the good news! Would you be Magic's temporary connection?"

"Fine, I'll do it." I said.

"Good, I'll go get Magic at once!" Loyalty said.

After a moment or two I looked down at my necklace with my wedding ring in the middle of it where Loyalty's stone was. Loyalty's stone was on the top of the necklace and Magic's stone was at the bottom of it.

"Huh," said Loyalty, "I don't know why I didn't do this before with your wedding ring Rainbow Dash. It fits perfectly between the both of us!"

I looked at my necklace and smiled. "Huh, that was quick."

"Yeah I know," said Loyalty, "and Rarity's got Honesty again, so all of the other elements will be present. Now let's go!"

* * *

Once we got to Samantha's realm all of the other elements of harmony bearers were there. The elements were talking amongst themselves so much that nobody else could get a word in.

"Would you guys quiet down?" Finn asked.

The elements of harmony ignored Finn and kept talking amongst themselves.

"QUIET!" Finn shouted. That did the trick and the elements of harmony stopped talking.

I chuckled and thought, Well, when in doubt go ahead and shout.

I saw Samantha snort and could tell that she really wanted to laugh but refrained from doing so.

"Okay guys," I said, "one at a time. What's going on?"

"It's regarding the two visions that us elements of harmony saw concerning the Machine!" Loyalty chimed.

"Wait a second, Loyalty," Magic said.

"What?" Loyalty said.

"Did you just say two visions?" Magic asked.

"Yes. Why?" Loyalty responded.

"I think we got our connections crossed. It was only one vision and one vision only you idiot!" Magic scolded.

Everyone erupted into laughter at Magic's scolding Loyalty about the vision they saw concerning AI. Once the laughter died down, Magic spoke, "Anyway, what Loyalty was saying concerning the vision that we saw about the Machine. I can't say all of the specifics of what's going to happen. But what I can say is that it's starting to happen."

"Yeah!" Loyalty cheered.

"Uh, Oliver?" I said.

"Yes, Rainbow?" Oliver replied.

"You might want to sit down for what Loyalty's about to say." I said.

Oliver nodded and sat down on a nearby chair.

Loyalty made a noise that sounded like it exhaled slowly. "Rainbow Dash just met her baby Alicorn!"

Everyone gasped.

"Alicorn!" Oliver gave me a look of disbelief.

"Remember that dream I've been having lately about that voice that's been calling my name over and over again?" I said.

Oliver nodded. "Yes."

"Apparently, Color Rain was playing a joke on me." I said.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You named the baby already?"

I sighed, "Yeah sorry about that, it just came to me off the top of my head."

"It's fine Rainbow, most of the time mother's always name the baby anyway." Oliver chuckled.

"Well her mane and tail was gray with a white streak going down it," I said, "it reminded me of a rain cloud. Her fur reminded me of the color of rain. But there's a catch to giving birth to an Alicorn."

"What might that be?" Oliver asked.

"According to Color Rain at least one parent has to become an Alicorn in order for an Alicorn to be born." I answered.

Oliver panicked, "You don't think-"

"No Oliver," said Magic, "it's not possible for a human to become an Alicorn."

"Yeah," I said, "I'm the one that's becoming the Alicorn."

"But how is that possible?" Oliver asked. "I thought if you were going to give birth to anything it would be a Pegasus!"

"That's what I thought," I said, "According to Color Rain, Alicorns are made based on how much magic their parents have. You have more magic than you think you do and that magic needs to be released somewhere. Apparently I have more magic than I thought too. That's also why I've been doing those out of control partial sonic rainbooms and I'll be transforming into an Alicorn in two months before I give birth to Color Rain. Yay!"

Oliver laughed at my fake enthusiasm, "You don't seem too excited about becoming a powerful creature."

"Because I just accepted myself as a Pegasus," I responded, "and now I have to deal with becoming an Alicorn? Oh I'm sooo honored!"

And cue the laughter.

Like I thought, everyone burst into laughter.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Oliver said. "You did sulk when you won a race against Spitfire during her six day training."

"Yeah and she almost won too," I growled, "but no, I just can't help myself can I?"

Finn cracked up, "Really Rainbow? You were mad because you won something? Wow."

Once again, cue the laughter.

The laughter started and then died down after a while.

"Now that Rainbow Dash has met her baby," said Loyalty, "we can now confirm that the vision is starting to happen. All we can do now is wait to see the ending to it."

"Us elements agreed not to tell you guys anything else." Magic said.

The meeting ended and we all went back to our assignments.

* * *

The next day when Oliver and I went back to our original assignment breaking out Discord, I couldn't help but be mad at the fact that I was going to become an Alicorn. As I was putting inventory away, Eli came around the corner and he paused when he saw me.

"What's wrong Nancy?" Eli asked.

I sighed, "Apparently I'm pregnant."

Eli smiled. "Well congrats! What are you having?"

"An Alicorn." I said.

Eli tilted his head, "Alicorn?"

I groaned and then explained what Alicorns were. I also told him that I'm mad that I'm going to become one in order to give birth to my baby. Once I finished explaining things Eli got a real kick out of my reaction to things.

"That's not funny Eli!" I snapped.

Eli stopped laughing, "Let me get this straight, you're mad because you're going to become a powerful creature? Seriously?"

I heard Oliver's voice from behind me, "Oh yeah, she's mad alright! She even got mad when she won a race one time."

"Wow," said Eli, "what happened to you? You weren't like this when you were inside AI." He paused. "It wouldn't have something to do with what happened with Code Silas would it?"

Now that I'm thinking about it, ever since I gave birth to Jude and after I got broken out of AI. I had a drive to protect people so I just kept excelling at everything to do it.

"Well it started happening after I gave birth to Jude and right after I got broken out of AI." I said. "I'm going to say it probably had something to do with my drive to protect Jude and others. Somewhere along the lines I just got tired of excelling at everything because of that. I think the torch needs to be passed on to someone else. But since the term of endearment has been changed from 'oh for Celestia's shake' to 'oh for Rainbow Dash's shake' I don't think the torch is going to get passed on any time soon."

Oliver and Eli laughed and that's when Gilda came around the corner.

"What's with the laughter?" Gilda asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Apparently, Rainbow Dash is pregnant."

"I knew it!" Gilda said. "I bet that's exactly what Samantha and everyone else thought. I know that's what I thought! So what is she having?"

"An Alicorn." I said.

Gilda gasped. "What! How is that possible? She's a Pegasus!"

"Apparently, Alicorns can be born based on how much their parents have." I explained. "But there's a catch."

"What is it?" Gilda asked.

"In order for an Alicorn to be born one of the parents has to become the Alicorn." I said.

"I'm going to guess and say it's Rainbow Dash that's going to become the Alicorn?" Gilda asked. "You know because she's Pegasus and all."

I nodded. "Yup that's correct."

"And she's mad that she's going to become an Alicorn too," Oliver said.

Gilda's jaw dropped. "Rainbow Dash mad about becoming something as awesome as an Alicorn? It's just like her not wanting to take naps lately. I mean Rainbow is a pro napper, and to add onto that, I would think that she would love to become an Alicorn!"

"Yeah no," I said. "Rainbow Dash isn't the same Rainbow Dash that she was back in Equestria."

"You can say that again," Gilda said.

And cue the laughter.

I rolled my eyes as everyone burst into laughter.

21) Strange Things are Happening

{Jude}

When Eli showed me the video footage of Rainbow Dash admitting she was pregnant and she was having an Alicorn, it confirmed what I was thinking the whole time. "I knew it! That's exactly what I suspected."

"How did you know?" Eli asked.

"It was just a hunch," I said, "because Ivy had similar symptoms before I found out she was pregnant. Minus the out of control partial sonic rainbooms but that was the main reason I had you following her around. She did wind up in the hospital inside AI. I'm going to assume that it was because of one of those out of control partial sonic rainbooms and she crashed somewhere because of it. That's because I couldn't sense her presence inside AI before she wound up in the hospital."

I have no idea how it happened but it did. Eli smiled and threw one of his stunner needles through a nearby wall in the computer room. The even stranger thing was I could see through the wall where Eli threw the stunner needle at. It was like Servant Milo saw the stunner coming and he stepped to the side only to see it land right in front of First Mother.

I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things and my jaw dropped at the site. "Whoa! How did you figure out how to do that? To add to that how did I-" I stopped myself and shook my head. I explained to myself that what I just saw being able to see through the wall didn't happen.

Eli laughed, "It seems AI has heightened my senses so that I can see my stalker from a mile away. It is also the same thing with Servant Milo."

I smiled. "Oh I see, more protection from the ugly old hag! It's a good thing that I don't have that problem. Second Mother and Third Mother take care of her most of the time now. I do feel bad for Leo though."

"Why?" Eli asked.

"Because he cries every time he sees First Mother's face," I said. "He won't eat for two days after that. I think she gives him nightmares and he goes on a hunger strike."

Eli cracked up, "Wow."

"Yeah, Ivy's not letting her hold him anymore," I said. "So aren't you going to go deal with her?"

Eli laughed and shook his head. "Nope. I think Servant Milo can handle her."

I paused. "Huh?"

Eli smirked. "Just listen Jude."

So Eli and I listened to the conversation outside and what I heard was pretty entertaining.

"What is the meaning of this?" First Mother shrieked.

Servant Milo laughed. "It looks like Lord Jude and Royal Advisor Eli have put in a new security system for the computer room. Since they've used it on you, that would be a good indication that they don't want you in there right now."

"But I just came to see Lord Jude and get another look at handsome Royal Advisor Eli," First Mother said.

We heard Servant Milo gulp and I can only assume he did it to keep himself from throwing up in front of First Mother. "For starters, you look at Royal Advisor Eli when he's working at the Mainframe all the time! Second if Lord Jude hasn't requested an audience with you you can't go in there. Third, since he's used the new security system to keep you out, I'd say you can't go there. Can I ask you a question, First Mother?"

"Yes, what is it?" First Mother said.

"Exactly how many stunner needles are you going to get thrown at you and how many times are you going to let Royal Advisor Elie throw up on you before you get the point that he's clearly not interested?" Servant Milo asked.

"Ah…" First Mother said.

"Uh-huh," said Servant Milo, "that's exactly what I thought."

"Fine then," First Mother growled, "I'm gone for now."

I heard Servant Milo breathe a sigh of relief and I had no idea how I was able to hear that. But I was able to hear First Mother's footsteps as she stormed off in anger. I couldn't stop laughing when I heard that. I did stop laughing after a while. "Yeah AI was right to give you more protection from that ugly old hag."

I felt a sense of comfort knowing that Eli would be well protected from First Mother.

* * *

The next time I woke up from another Feeding Ritual I was pissed when I saw First Mother sitting at my bedside. "Honestly, First Mother! You got some nerve showing up here where you're not wanted!"

"What's your problem Lord Jude?" First Mother responded. "I just came by to say hi, that's all."

I narrowed my eyes at her because I knew by the look on her face that she wanted something else other than to visit. I sat up, it took some effort because of the pain but I sat up. I was getting ready to lay into First Mother for showing up in my bedroom after a Feeding Ritual.

"Maybe you should-" First Mother said, trying to make me lay back down.

"Don't touch me!" I snarled. "What are you here for First Mother and tell me the truth or so help me!"

"Okay fine," said First Mother, "I was wondering if Royal Advisor Eli would like an assistant?"

I narrowed my eyes at her again. "And why would you think that?"

"Well, every time I walk by him, he has a huge stack of papers on his desk that he has to plug into the main computer. That stack keeps getting bigger and bigger when he gets back from his other job, whatever that may be, so…" First Mother said.

I chuckled, "You just want an excuse to be close to Eli. If Eli needs help then he can put in a request for an assistant. If he did, I doubt he would choose you."

"Well you never know," said First Mother, "I think I have the best qualifications for the job."

"Let me set some things straight for you First Mother," I said, "first of all Eli's clearly not interested in you. Second if you did become his assistant, that would give him license to throw up on you more. I don't think you have that many uniforms to change into for the day. And, aren't you supposed to be guarding the dungeons right now?"

"I'm bored," First Mother whined. "Royal Advisor Eli's out of the day with his other job. He left shortly after you did your Feeding Ritual so I decided to see how you were doing. You don't seem to be in as much as you normally are. What's up with that?"

"That's none of your business, now get out of my room so I can get some rest!" I snapped.

I was highly annoyed with First Mother at this point. I had half a mind to summon one of my stunner needles and throw it at her just to get her to leave. Then I saw Second Mother standing in the doorway with a pissed off look on her face. "First Mother, what are you doing here?"

"What?" First Mother said. "I came here for-"

I rolled my eyes. "She came here and asked to be Eli's assistant."

Second Mother's face went from pissed off to amused. "Seriously, First Mother? You're so desperate to be around Royal Advisor Eli that you want to be his assistant? I would say that's cute but since the guy clearly doesn't like you, I think that's funny!"

Second Mother started laughing and First Mother looked annoyed by her laughing at her. The laughter finally stopped when Third Mother said, "First Mother, aren't you supposed to be guarding the dungeons? Seriously, it's the easiest job ever. You can practically sit down and read a book doing it. Of course you still have your responsibilities at the Mainframe."

"Uh, Third Mother?" Second Mother said.

"What?" Third Mother replied.

Second Mother snorted. "First Mother wants to be Royal Advisor Eli's assistant now!"

Third Mother burst into laughter. "Wow First Mother, you're hilarious! Besides, don't you have a boyfriend now? If you're so bored maybe you should take Servant James to bed instead, if you know what I mean."

Third Mother and Second Mother laughed pretty hard as First Mother walked out the door. Once First Mother left, Second Mother and Third Mother stopped laughing.

"Sorry about that Lord Jude," said Second Mother, "it looks like we'll have to send a servant to guard you again. Just like we did with Royal Advisor Eli, I must say Servant Milo is one of the best servants we've ever seen! Although he does seem a little too overprotective of him. But we expect nothing less from a servant that serves under a famous Firewall!"

I chuckled, "Yeah I totally agree with that. I know why Servant Milo's been overprotective of him lately."

"Why?" Third Mother asked.

"It's because Eli's been having nightmares about First Mother lately. AI seems to think she's a threat, so it updated his gear along with Servant Milo's," I said. "Get this, Eli can throw a stunner needle through a wall now!"

Second Mother and Third Mother whistled, "Wow."

"I know right?" I said. "I think AI might be right about First Mother. She's constantly stalking Eli and don't get me started on what Servant Milo says about how she describes him."

"I'm not sure that I want to know, but I'm curious, what does she say?" Second Mother asked.

"She says he's handsome, sexy, young and healthy! Yuck!" I gagged at how First Mother describes Eli. Second Mother and Third Mother had the same reaction I did.

"Yeah," said Second Mother, "if I ever hear that again, I'll throw up on First Mother myself."

I started laughing but I stopped because of the pain I started to feel. Second Mother and Third Mother frowned and took out their tablets and pressed some buttons on them.

"Hmm," said Third Mother, "it seems that your pain is slowly decreasing because of the amount of time you sleep after the Feeding Ritual. You've only been asleep for three hours. That's to be expected because a lot of times you only sleep for an hour or less."

"I'm going to take a guess and say a lot of that happens because of your anxiety to get back to work," Second Mother said. "So if our theory is correct, if we can get you to sleep more and lessen your anxiety you should be in less pain."

"Yeah good luck on easing my anxiety," I said, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to go back to sleep after seeing First Mother."

Second Mother chuckled, "Yup age has not done her well. I think it has a lot to do with her being grumpy all the time."

"Yeah, we're older than she is and at least we know not to say the word young next to our age in the same sentence!" Third Mother laughed.

"Sometimes age doesn't do well with people over one hundred years old," Second Mother said. "But some men do prefer older women. Royal Advisor Eli is not one of them."

I nodded. "Yup I totally agree."

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

I was putting inventory away, thinking about Color Rain and why I was going to become an Alicorn. Oliver and I also discussed giving Color Rain a codename because people at work don't know that I'm actually a pegasus named Rainbow Dash and I'm giving birth to an Alicorn.

As I was lost in my thoughts someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and smiled when I saw Discord, "Hey Gary what's up?"

Discord smiled. "I heard you're pregnant and I wanted to give my congrats. Are you having a boy or a girl?"

"It's a girl," I said.

Eli came around the corner when he saw us talking.

"So have you picked out any names for her yet?" Discord asked.

"We were thinking of naming her Angel," I lied.

Eli raised an eyebrow. "Angel? But I thought-"

I nudged Eli on the shoulder and whispered into his ear what Oliver and I discussed. Eli nodded. "Oh I see."

Discord looked over and saw a frisbee that was a marketing tool for the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Discord examined the frisbee. "I wonder if Angel is going to have rainbow colored hair like you do Nancy?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

Just then, there was a message that played over the intercom, "Would Manager Maya and Supervisor Nancy please report to the front, we have a code one-nine! I repeat we have a code one-nine!"

I rolled my eyes and groaned, "I was so hoping we wouldn't have to deal with a code one-nine."

Discord rolled his eyes. "Well it's bound to happen sooner or later. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, you've only been here for a few months now. Most of the time I'm the one that gets called for it."

"What's a code one-nine?" Eli asked.

"It means there's a disorderly customer or coworker that we need to give backup to the security team on. I'm glad I'm not part of the security team for this job. That job would be just as annoying as when I worked as a bouncer at a stripe club." I replied.

"Really? You did that?" Discord said, giving me a curious look.

I nodded. "Yup, I thought it was going to be cool at first but handing drunks over to the police every night gets really old and really annoying after a while."

"We'd better go take care of that code one- nine," Spitfire said.

When Spitfire and I were getting ready to leave without warning, Discord threw the frisbee and it landed on the ground. Instead of the frisbee landing on the ground like a normal frisbee, it turned into a bunny and started hopping away. When we saw that, Discord, Spitfire, Eli and mine's jaws dropped as the bunny hopped towards the baler area.

Spitfire immediately got on her radio, "Ben and Kai if you can hear this please answer me."

She stopped pressing the button on the radio to communicate. Pipsqueak was the one that answered it. "I hear you Maya, what's this all about?"

"You're not going to believe this, but we have a bunny on the loose in the stockroom," Spitfire said.

We heard Pipsqueak's laughter before he answered. "Yeah you're right I don't believe that. Is this a joke Maya?"

"Nope, I'm not joking," said Spitfire, "it must've been a stowaway in one of the boxes on the inventory truck."

"Okay I'll be on the lookout for-" Pipsqueak said.

"Did you say there's a bunny on the loose Maya?" Oliver asked.

"Yup," said Spitfire, "bunny on the loose."

"Yeah we just saw it hop by the baler area," Oliver said.

"Okay once you catch it, let me know," Spitfire said.

"Got it!" Oliver said.

Spitfire locked the button on the radio so it wouldn't accidentally go off when it's clipped to her belt.

Discord perked up. I guess he liked the thought of catching a bunny for some reason. "Hey I can catch it! A live bunny would be perfect for my magic show!"

Without another word, Discord went to go catch the bunny he just created.

"Yeah," I said, "I take it back, I'm happy that we have a code one-nine now."

"You and me both!" Spitfire said. "Let's go take care of it."

"Right behind you Maya!" I said.

Spitfire and I walked away as fast as we possibly could.

* * *

{Jude}

"Strange things have been happening ever since Rainbow Dash and Oliver started working with Gary." I had recently watched the video footage of a frisbee being turned into a bunny rabbit after Gary threw it up against a wall.

"According to Agent Rainbow Dash," said Eli, "Gary is actually a character named Discord that used to live in Equestria."

I paused. "Did you just say Discord?"

Eli nodded. "Yeah so?"

"I overheard Rainbow Dash and Oliver talking about that guy," I said. "Apparently, he can make Hell freeze over and pigs fly out of thin air with a snap of his claw."

"They did say they were trying to get trigger responses from him," Eli said. "I don't know what those are. And they also said that if they break him out now, it'll be a record! Apparently it takes more time to break someone like him out."

I whistled, "Wow."

"How long did it take to breakout Agent Rainbow Dash?" Eli asked.

"I don't know. Since the seekers didn't get a hold of her there's no record of it," I replied.

I couldn't say anything else, because there was the sound of two people arguing outside of the computer room. The first voice was Servant Milo and the other voice was First Mother. Eli groaned, rolled his eyes and pulled out one of his stunner needles.

I smiled and thought, This is going to be good. I can't wait for First Mother to shriek because of this.

Eli threw his stunner needle through the wall and First Mother didn't shriek as much as she screamed bloody murder. We heard the sound of First Mother's footsteps running away and Servant Milo's laughter.

Eli snorted. "Well I'm glad I can provide entertainment for Servant Milo."

"Yeah entertainment alright," I said, "get this First Mother asked me to be your assistant."

Eli gagged and then swallowed I'm guessing to keep his throw up down.

"I had a feeling you would react like that," I said. "I told her she doesn't have enough uniforms to change into because you throwing up on her everyday."

"Yeah I can agree with that. I don't need an assistant at the moment and if I did I wouldn't pick her," Eli said.

I laughed, "That's exactly what I told her."

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

Rainbow Dash…

I groaned because I thought for sure this was another dream with Color Rain.

Rainbow Dash…

"Seriously Color Rain?" I growled. "I thought you weren't going to do this anymore!"

"Rainbow Dash… Take another look around and see where you are…"

"Huh?" I did as I was told and looked around. I saw that I wasn't in darkness, I was in a place surrounded by blue light and it looked like there was no end to it. "Okay, where am I?"

"You're in my world," said a voice, "it's so nice to finally meet the one who's been wreaking havoc on my machine. I wanted to meet you and say thank you for that."

"Ex… Cuse… Me?" I turned around to a man that looked like he was in his fifties or older. He had blonde hair and grey eyes and was dressed in black from his head to toe. His outfit looked like a mix between Eli's when he was a Firewall and Jude's.

"Okay, who are you and what is this place?" I asked.

The man chuckled, "On question at a time Rainbow Dash. I'll tell you everything you need to know shortly. First, I should introduce myself, my name is Atias Ingie. I am the creator of the machine that you call AI. AI actually stands for my initials and not for Artificial Intelligence like everyone believes it is."

"Why would you build a machine that kidnaps people and feeds off their lifeforce?" I asked.

Atias shook his head. "That's not why I built the machine."

I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head. "Oh?"

"Yeah the machine used to be a lot smaller than it is now," Atias answered. "I was known as one of the top scientists from a planet called Earth where humans live. Originally I built the machine to gather information about the universe and make contact with life outside Earth."

"So what happened?" I asked.

"Well the machine did its job at first and then it started growing bigger and bigger. Eventually it took on a mind of its own. Before I could even do anything about it, it launched itself into outer space and took me with it. This place is called the core of the machine that I'm trapped in. People don't know this but everyone, humans and animals all of them have some sort of magic. That's what I used to build the machine's core. I took a little bit of magic from as many creatures as possible. Don't worry, I didn't harm anyone in the process.

"Once the machine launched itself into outer space, it took on a mind of its own and created its own reality. Then it started kidnapping people and sucked out their magic from them bit by bit until they died. Even with the presence of the Organization called the Sixth creatures have died that were still trapped inside the machine.

"I was hoping that when you got kidnapped by the machine your magic would wreak havoc on the machine and finally shut it down," Atias explained.

"Why me?" I said.

"You are someone with the strongest magic I've ever seen! I guess the machine thought it could control you by sending Code Silas to you and getting you pregnant with Lord Jude," Atias said.

"So why did the machine feel the need to control my magic?" I asked.

"Because your magic has been wreaking so much havoc on it that you were actually pushing out USB ports everyday. At least twenty or more by my count."

My jaw dropped. "So I was doing that before I got that team captain assignment?"

Atias nodded. "Uh-huh I've already contacted your fake brother Eli and I'm talking to him by thought. I tried contacting Lord Jude but no matter how hard I try the spoiled brat won't let me."

I tilted my head. "Spoiled brat?"

"That's my pet name I gave the machine," Atias said with an annoyed look.

I laughed, "You say that like it's your kid."

"It might as well be, I did create it," said Atias, "hold on let me do something."

"Okay," I said.

Atias touched his index finger to my forehead and after he did that he smiled. "Good now I can communicate with you by thought too."

"Why only me and Eli?" I said.

"I need you two to work together and use your magic to shut the spoiled brat down," Atias replied.

"Eli has magic too?" I said.

Atias nodded. "Yup and so does Lord Jude, Lady Ivy, their son Leo, and Eli's boyfriend Servant Milo. That's how I was able to give them their weapons and stuff. I led Eli to believe that I heightened his senses for him to protect him from that ugly old hag First Mother. All along that was his magic being unlocked and Servant Milo's magic has been unlocked too. Lord Jude and his family's magic has already been unlocked. It happened shortly after the spoiled brat transformed Lord Jude and Lady Ivy from helpless babies into adults."

"Wow." I said. "Can I tell Oliver and the others about you?"

Atias shook his head. "Not right at the moment. I doubt they would believe you. Not only do I want the machine shut down to release its prisoners, shutting it down will help me finally die."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I exclaimed. "Seriously? You want to die? Why?"

Atias smiled, "Because I've lived for over two hundred years now."

I whistled, "Wow! Looking good for two hundred years old! Not bad!"

Atias chuckled, "Why thanks for the compliment Rainbow Dash. I'm bored from living at the moment. I've lived long enough and my time is up. I think if it were you that you would probably get tired of living for so long."

I hesitated. "Well I'm not sure about that, I'm going to become an Alicorn soon because I'm giving birth to one. Alicorn's pretty much live forever, but I think they can be killed? I'm not sure."

"You should be honored about becoming one then," Atias said.

I shook my head. "Yeah no."

Atias looked puzzled. "Why?"

"Because I'm tired of excelling at everything," I replied. "I would love it if someone beat me at something for a change."

Atias laughed so hard he practically fell over laughing. "Wow an overachiever sick and tired of overachieving, that's new! Now I've seen everything! Oh now that I've contacted you and Eli we'll be able to talk to each other by thought. You'll also be able to communicate by thought with Eli without me."

"Let's hope that doesn't give Eli another excuse to get on my nerves," I said. "I's bad enough he got on my nerves when he was a Firewall and now he's following me around because Jude asked him to."

"Why would Lord Jude have Eli do that?" Atias asked.

"Because I've been doing these stupid out of control partail sonic rainbooms," I explained. "I wound up in the hospital a few weeks ago because I did a crash landing."

"Wow," said Atias. "I don't blame Lord Jude for being worried. It's time for you to go now. You're about to wake up soon. I wish you and Eli luck on trying to figure out how to shut down the spoiled brat. This is goodbye for now."

I nodded. "Goodbye Atias."

After Atias and I said our goodbyes, I woke up.

22) First Mother is a Threat

{Rainbow Dash}

After I woke up I went back to working with Discord. Spitfire had been off for a few days. When she came back she pulled me off to the side and seemed very excited about something.

“What’s up?” I said.

“I just got my first team captain assignment!” Spitfire cheered.

“What was it?” I asked.

“According to Samantha it’s how a Predictor tracks down original creatures in the Machine,” Spitfire said. “I’m not sure about all of the ins and outs of it and I found my specialty job is.”

“Oh good,” I said, “is it fighting the Firewalls?”

Spitfire shook her head. “Nope, it’s not.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s fighting the seekers,” answered Spitfire. “Once the seekers are alarmed about a wire being crossed they go fight us before they start chasing after the creature that’s been broken out.”

“That actually happens?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah, and I know about the stunners and that stupid remote. It’s an agent’s goal on my assignment to get rid of the stunners and the remote before they make the world pause. The job gets even harder when those Firewalls show up and try to hit you with a Copper. Apparently, the assignment I did is a high-level assignment.” Spitfire explained.

I smiled. “Yeah my team captain assignment was a high-level assignment and that’s when I found out what my specialty assignment was. Was that your test assignment?”

Spitfire nodded. “It was pushing out the USB ports. My team was doing fine until the Firewalls showed up. The Firewall that I fought looked like a demon with green hair and red eyes. Her name was Firewall Molly.”

I chuckled, "Oh yeah, I've fought her before. I'm just sorry I didn't get a chance to help the Lord out by sending her back to hell before I got benched from fighting the Firewalls."

"Yeah I heard that's a high-level job too." said Spitfire, "That's actually the number one high-level job, the second high-level job is the breakouts, and the third high-level job is crossing wires at the CPU. I love my weapon by the way. My break-away shield is awesome!"

"So who was your team for your first team captain assignment?" I asked.

"Well, unfortunately, that agent who was that girly pony who trained me on my weapon was Agent Rarity, Agent Gilda, and Agent Arthur. If I ever date another girly agent like Agent Rarity ever again feel free to knock some sense into me."

I started laughing pretty hard at that statement and stopped laughing when I saw Oliver.

"What's so funny?" Oliver asked.

"Maya was just telling me that Agent Rarity was on her team captain assignment," I replied.

"Yeah I still can't believe I dated someone so girly," Spitfire said. "Yuck! Not my type at all. I must've been drunk when I got together with her."

I snorted. "Let me guess, tomboys are more your style?"

Spitfire nodded. "Yup, I was actually trying to get you away from that knucklehead Pinkie Pie before you got sucked into the Machine. Before that stupid engagement party."

I was taken aback by that statement, "Uh, huh?"

Spitfire giggled, "Oh come on Nancy! Did you really think you needed all of those 'private flies' in between practice with the team?"

I looked away. "Ah, well I figured since you were the captain of the Wonderbolts then if you said I needed the extra practice then I needed the extra practice. You did keep yelling at me during practice saying that I could do better."

Oliver and Spitfire burst into laughter.

"It's okay Maya," laughed Oliver, "Nancy's not very good at picking up on the obvious. Especially when I was throwing paper balls in her trash can and kept asking her out on a coffee date."

"I didn't have time for that sort of thing," I growled, "in case you don't remember, I was busy taking care of my six-month-old baby. But when I was broken out the Machine separated me from him, then I had time for it."

"And here you two are married and getting ready to have a baby," Spitfire said. "So I guess that's bittersweet though."

I didn't tell anyone about Jude besides Finn and Oliver. I didn't really tell Gilda about it and I wasn't about to start doing it now because I doubt Spitfire would believe that Jude was the Lord of AI.

So I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. "You guess I'm right?"

"Yup that's my story and I'm sticking to it," I said.

Spitfire nodded and then looked at the nearby clock. "I guess it's time we get back to work."

Oliver and I nodded in agreement and we went back to work.

* * *

{Eli}

You did what? I panicked.

Calm down Eli, Atias thought, I need you and Rainbow Dash to work together to shut down the Machine. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can save everyone stuck inside. As I told Rainbow Dash you have magic, just like your boyfriend Servant Milo, Lord Jude, Lady Ivy, and their son Leo have magic too.

How is that even possible? I thought. The Machine gave me-

Your weapons and heightened senses? Yeah no. Atias thought. That was your magic. Why do you think I sent Servant Milo to you? It was to help you two unlock each other's magic. Unfortunately, it didn't work on Lord Jude or Lady Ivy. Their son Leo has magic but he wasn't a baby sent out by the Machine. I suspect that if the Machine let them grow up normally, their magic might not have wreaked havoc on it like Rainbow Dash's did.

So you really want the Machine shut down huh? I thought.

Yup! Atias thought.

But why? I thought.

I'm two hundred years old Eli, Atias thought, I'm tired of living and I think it's time for me to go.

Okay, I guess so. I thought. If that's what you really want, then I'll do my best to do it. Are you sure this is what you really want Atias?

Yeah, I'm sure, Atias thought, I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't sure. The Machine only needs me to keep itself in existence. It's been feeding off my lifeforce and harming everyone in it. To tell the truth, I'm surprised I'm not dead already! It's the right thing to do Eli. If the Machine continues to keep me alive then I'm afraid of the dire consequences that could happen.

Oh, I guess that makes sense. I thought. I hope me and Rainbow Dash don't get on each other's nerves by communicating this way.

Atias chuckled, You know something Eli? Rainbow Dash told me the same thing. Um, Eli?

Yes? I thought.

First Mother's invaded your personal space again. Atias thought. You might want to take care of that.

Seriously? I thought. Looked up and rolled my eyes. "Would you stop invading my personal space, First Mother?"

"What?" First Mother said defensively, "I just came to see if you're okay."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Why?"

"You looked like you were zoning out," said First Mother. "I was right. You do need an assistant! You know, I can help with that."

I threw up in my mouth and then swallowed to keep it down. I wasn't sure how long I would be able to keep it at bay. "Thanks but no thanks. Besides, staring at you all day would not only make me sick, but it would also increase my nightmares."

"Hey!" First Mother scolded. "Now that's not very nice, and I think I would make a good assistant. I can help you decrease your workload and maybe give you a back massage every once and a while?"

The thought of First Mother even touching me made me sick. I knew that very soon my throw-up would come back at full force. Thankfully, I was rescued by Servant Milo, "Again First Mother? I heard what you said to my Master and I don't think he wants that."

"I just said I could-" First Mother started.

"Help? Yeah no," Servant Milo said. "Now I would suggest you get away from my Master or I'll make you get away!"

"Oh really?" First Mother sneered.

"Yeah really!" Servant Milo snarled.

For a tense moment Servant Milo and First Mother stood there, staring each other down.

First Mother stepped towards him and bawled her hand into a fist. Before she could even throw her punch, Servant Milo turned his hand into a fist and opened it. A huge gust of wind sent First Mother flying backward. She got to her feet and snarled, "Why you little-"

Second Mother stepped in between First Mother and Servant Milo. She roared, "First Mother, how dare you!"

"How dare me?" First Mother roared back. "The servant needs to be put in his place! Now step aside Second Mother!"

"Hell no!" Second Mother roared. "Servant Milo's doing his job just like your servants do! Who do you think you are? You're not even royalty! I don't know who gave you the idea that you're the Queen of the Mainframe but whoever did it got it completely wrong! Or do you need to take another look at the rules AI set out for us? I could understand if Servant Milo attacked you without reason, but he did was in self-defense! I'm reporting you to Lord Jude. In the meantime… Guards!"

A guard stepped forward, "Yes, Second Mother?"

Before Second Mother said anything else she summoned a rope and tied First Mother up with it. She picked First Mother up and handed her over to the guard and snarled, "Take First Mother to the dungeons that she's supposed to be guarding. She'll wait there until Lord Jude gets to her."

The guards then dragged First Mother off to the dungeons.

* * *

{Jude}

I was sitting in the computer room doing my job like normal when I heard someone clear their throat. I turned around surprised to see one of Second Mother's servants. Servant Julie said, "Um, Second Mother's on her way here. She has something very important to talk to you about concerning First Mother."

I nodded. "Okay then, send her in." I wondered what the heck Second Mother would want to talk to me about.

When Second Mother entered the computer room, judging by the look on her face, she wasn't happy about something.

"What's wrong, Second Mother?" I asked with concern.

"It seems that First Mother thinks she's the queen of the Mainframe," Second Mother answered.

"Okay," That didn't give me much information to go on.

Second Mother explained, "She attacked Servant Milo for no reason. She forced Servant Milo's hand and I must commend him for standing his ground. First Mother went after him and I don't know what First Mother would've done to him if I hadn't stepped in. She's been throwing her weight around lately and it seems that mine and Third Mother's reasoning hasn't gotten through to her."

"What?!" I gasped.

"Oh yeah," said Second Mother, "it's bad enough she's been harassing Royal Advisor Eli, but this? I think she's lost her mind! I have her in a dungeon until you can figure out what to do with her, Lord Jude."

Before I could respond I got an alert from AI:

First Mother attacked a servant of Royal Advisor Eli, Servant Milo without reason. She has violated AI rules from law 79- No high-ranking official is allowed to attack a servant of another high-ranking official without reason.

It has been determined that Servant Milo was doing his job in accordance with law 27- Every servant under a high ranking official that includes servants serving under royalty must defend their Masters at all costs.

Immediate action is required by Lord Jude to deal with the offending party. Suggested punishment for First Mother: she should spend the rest of her life in a dungeon where she will no longer be a threat to high-ranking officials and their servants.

My jaw dropped when I read the alert. "Well if that's what AI wants me to do, then I can't refuse."

Second Mother breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad AI sees her as a threat like Third Mother and I do."

I nodded. "Please let The Head Guard know that I'm on my way to the dungeons."

"Yes, your highness," Second Mother said. Once she left, I went to the dungeons as fast as I could.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

At work, I heard what sounded like small explosions coming from outside. I went to go see what was causing them. I saw Eli throwing needles that looked a lot like the ones that Jude used to take Applejack back at AI's castle two years ago.

Eli was throwing the needles at soda cans and they blew up when the needles hit the mark. He looked like he was upset about something. So out of concern for him, I decided to go and talk to him. "Hey Eli, what's wrong? You look upset."

Eli looked at me. "Huh? I do?"

I nodded. "Well yeah considering the way you're throwing those needles. That is so cool how you make soda cans explode like that."

Eli sighed, "Do you remember that ugly old Grandma that I told you about who keeps stalking me?"

"Yes," I said.

"She attacked one of my servants named Servant Milo for doing his job. Thankfully, Second Mother stepped in and stopped her. She's in a dudgeon now for breaking the law," Eli said. "I don't know what the Lord's going to do with her now."

"So you're worried about what's going to happen to your stalker?" I asked.

"Yeah I guess so and I'm angrier that she felt the need to attack someone for no reason," Eli said.

"Oh, I see," I said.

I heard Gilda say, "What's with all of the explosions?"

I turned around. "Oh hey Sia, uh, Eli here has exploding needles for weapons now."

"Wow," said Gilda, "can I see?"

Eli nodded and threw another needle. It hit the mark and the soda can exploded. Gilda looked at this display of power in awe. "Cool! I came out here to see if Nancy was doing another out-of-control partial sonic rainboom."

I shook my head. "Nope. Those don't have that kind of explosion. Hey, I have an idea of what could make you feel better Eli."

Eli tilted his head. "What?"

"How about we do a sparring match?" I suggested. "I haven't done one in a while and it might be the last one I can do before the baby's born."

Gilda chuckled, "As your bodyguard, I would be against it. But since we're outside and me or Eli can catch you if you do another out-of-control partial sonic rainboom. Hey, I think I can make this more interesting. Can I join in on the fun?"

"That depends," said Eli, "do you have weapons like Nancy and I do?"

"Oh yeah I do," said Gilda, "I'm an agent of the Sixth also. As a matter of fact, I have the same weapon Nancy does and I trained her on her weapon too."

"Really?" Eli said.

"Yup," Gilda looked at me. "I think we should change into our original selves?"

I nodded. "Sure thing!"

I changed into my Pegasus form and Gilda changed back into a Griffon.

Eli smiled. "Wait a second, you're one of those agents that couldn't stop laughing after I told Rainbow Dash that she had the Element of Stupidity!"

"So you're Firewall Eli huh?" Gilda asked.

"Well it's Royal Advisor Eli now," Eli said.

"Upgraded status now huh?" Gilda smiled. "Nice. But that was classic pure comedy gold! Although I do think this Lord guy could use some new content for the Firewalls to say when they pop up. I mean seriously dude," she mocked, "I am Firewall Molly, agents of the Sixth, this is as far as you go, if you value your lives, turn back now."

Eli chuckled, "Yeah I'm glad I don't have to say that line anymore."

I thought about it and said, "Hmm, I have an idea. Since Firewall Molly looks like a demon with her green hair and red eyes, she could say, 'I am Firewall Molly! Agents of the Sixth, if you don't want to go back to Hell with me, turn back now!"

We went into a fit of laughter. I stopped laughing, "So let's do this!"

So the sparring match started. Gilda and I were throwing our daggers at Eli and Eli was throwing his needles at us. I loved every second of the fight. Then I felt like doing what I did when I fought Eli when he was still a Firewall. I caught one of his needles in my mouth and spit it out. "I'm Rainbow Dash and don't you forget it!"

Eli stopped throwing his needles. "I think this fight is over with. You just had to say the Element of Stupidity line, didn't you?"

Gilda and I lowered ourselves to the ground and we fell over on our backs in laughter.

Eli chuckled, "Okay I get it. That was hilarious, you're right Rainbow Dash, that did cheer me up."

I smiled. "That's good."

I felt a small surge of power go through and suddenly I was being pulled into the sky. I heard a loud boom from behind me and when I landed on the other side of the cliff I was standing by I shook myself off like a dog that had just come inside from the rain. I turned around. I was on my haunches and gulped when I saw the rainbow. You've got to be kidding me! Again?

What's wrong Rainbow? If that's a preview of what an Alicorn's power is, that was awesome! Eli thought.

Yeah no. I thought.

Gilda and Eli came running up to me. Gilda crossed her arms and smiled. "So tell me why you're not the definition of the word awesome?"

"It's just a rainbow and no I didn't fart the rainbow, Eli!" I growled. "It came from my mane and tail!"

Gilda laughed, "So based on a technicality he's right, considering there's a loud boom before the rainbow starts!" She paused. "Hey, I just noticed something."

"What?" I said.

"You don't do those out-of-control partial sonic rainbows when you're in your human form," Gilda said. "So maybe if you stay in your human form there should be nothing to worry about from now on."

I thought about it and realized Gilda was right. "You know something, Gilda? I think you're right!"

"I'll relay this information to Oliver when I get a chance to," Gilda said. "Considering he's on his 'forced vacation' at the moment."

Every Agent of the Sixth has an outside of AI assignment. We call those assignments 'forced vacations' because we have to take days off from our original assignment to do the outside of AI assignment.

Eli raised an eyebrow. "Forced vacation?"

"Yeah it's something every Agent of the Sixth has to do to keep them from going nuts," I answered. "It's complicated."

"Oh," Eli said.

"Well I think I've had enough fun for one day," I said, "I don't feel like farting the rainbow again."

Eli burst into laughter. "Are you sure about that Rainbow Dash? You might get constipated if you don't."

Gilda joined in on Eli's laughter and I rolled my eyes. Ha, ha, Eli.

Oh come on Rainbow, Eli thought, you have to admit that the joke is pretty funny.

Uh no, it wasn't. I thought. That was just an immature bathroom joke!

Okay fine, I'll try to stop laughing, keyword try. Eli thought.

Eli and Gilda finally stopped laughing and composed themselves. Gilda changed back into her human form and I changed back into my human form. I sighed because I knew I would stay human to keep from doing a sonic rainboom and harming the baby in the process.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. I thought.

Yeah but you don't want to harm the baby so it's for the best. Eli thought.

We went back to work. At least I had one more sparring match before the baby was born.

* * *

{Eli}

Even though I didn't like First Mother stalking me and harassing me, I was worried about what might happen to her. I couldn't sit still at the moment so I was pacing back and forth in my bedroom with Servant Milo watching me with concern.

"What's wrong?" Servant Milo asked.

I sighed and sat down on the bed. "I'm worried about what might happen to First Mother. I mean I know she attacked you. I don't even want to think about what might have happened if Second Mother hadn't stepped in."

"That's pretty noble of you to be worried about the enemy," Servant Milo said. "This isn't the first time I've been attacked."

"What? What happened?" I asked.

"I got the crap beat out of me by one of First Mother's servants. He got away with it that time," Servant Milo said.

I gasped. "Seriously?"

Servant Milo nodded. "Uh-huh, it happened shortly after I got named as Lord Jude's third servant. AI determined that the servant that did it should be punished but nothing was done about it. First Mother said that I got exactly what I deserved. I didn't do anything but piss that servant off. I think First Mother would have killed me if Second Mother hadn't stepped in and done something about it."

When I heard this information I was steaming with rage. "Well then, I take back being worried about her. If you ask me, she's getting exactly what was coming to her."

Servant Milo chuckled, "I couldn't agree more."

At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to protect Servant Milo at all costs. I also wanted to sleep with him. I had no idea why the thought of protecting him turned me on, but it did.

I pulled Servant Milo into my arms and kissed him. "Servant Milo, I'm going to protect you as much as I can from now on. But, I uh…"

I wasn't quite sure how to ask him for sex. But I could give him a clue as to what I wanted. I laid him down on the bed on his back and climbed on top of him.

Servant Milo laughed, "Well if that's not an indication of I want sex then I don't know what is. I have a question for you though."

"What is it?" I said.

"I was wondering once we get undressed, do you think you could be the dominant one this time?" Servant Milo asked.

I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want me to do that?"

"Well I am your servant am I not?" Servant Milo said after licking my ear.

"Yeah but I-" I started.

"Don't want to harm me? Aww, that's cute, you're trying to protect me still. It won't be harming me if I ask for it. Would it help you if you tie me up?" Servant Milo laughed.

I blushed and looked away. "I, uh…"

"Don't tell me you don't know how to summon a rope. I can summon one for you if you want?" Servant Milo suggested.

I looked at him. "Uh…"

Servant Milo snorted, "You are absolutely clueless. But you were a Firewall before this so I can understand. Let's start with getting undressed first."

Servant Milo took off my clothes and I took off his. Again, I wasn't sure of what to do next. Servant Milo smiled and summoned a rope and handed it to me. "Here Royal Advisor Eli. Make it so I can't get away."

I paused. "Are you-"

He nodded. "Yeah I'm sure, go ahead and do it before I change my mind and become the dominant one again."

"Okay." I did what Servant Milo wanted me to do. I tied him up and I put him inside of me. He really seemed to enjoy what I was doing to him when I put him inside of me. After I was done with him, I untied him. We got underneath the covers and I held him in my arms. I said I was going to protect him and I meant every single word.

23) Jude's Magic gets Unlocked

{Jude}

As I walked down the hallway to the dungeons and got closer to the dungeon that First Mother was in I had a pit in my stomach. I paused because I thought for sure I heard First Mother say, "That boy Lord Jude better let me out of here if he knows what's good for him!"

I turned to the guard following me. "Um, can you hear people talking in the dungeons?"

The guard shook his head. "No Lord Jude the dungeons are completely soundproof. You can't hear anything unless you open the viewer door. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I replied.

I gulped when I got to the dungeon where First Mother was in. The guard handed me the containment device that AI requires me to put in its prisoners at the castle to keep track of them. First Mother sat up on the bed she was laying on when she saw me. She looked in horror when she saw the containment device. "No way am I having that thing put inside of me!"

Once again, I was startled because First Mother wasn't speaking. So now I'm going to assume I was hearing First Mother's thoughts. I couldn't help but think of how crazy this was. Great, first I can see through walls, and now I can hear people's thoughts. I wonder if AI decided to change its reality after all? But if it did I would think AI would tell me.

I smiled at First Mother's horrified expression. "Sorry, but AI has handed down your punishment, it has to be done."

"It can't be!" First Mother shrieked. "What was my punishment?"

I sighed, "AI wants you to spend the rest of your days in a dungeon. Although it might change its mind in the future."

"But that's the only time I've done that," First Mother said, "Servant Milo needed to be put in his place!"

"Why? For doing his job?" I snapped. "Shortly before Eli became Royal Advisor Eli, you've done this three times! I also looked at your work history and it's about time AI's done something about you! Oh, and I have something wonderful to tell you."

"Tell me what?" First Mother growled.

This is going to be good. I thought. I gave First Mother a wicked smile. "Not only was Royal Advisor Eli supposed to be your boss, but he was also going to replace you and become First Father of the Mainframe!"

"You're lying!" First Mother snarled as she narrowed her eyes.

By this point, I was having fun taunting First Mother. So I kept going, "Nope! I'm not joking! I haven't told Eli about this yet. AI won't let me until it decides to make the transition. Now stay still, this needs to go inside you. After this goes in, you'll take a nice little nap and then you'll be inside this dungeon for however long AI wants you to be here."

The containment devices looked very much like stunners but less deadly. This device is in a square box just like the stunner is but they're the color black. I put the device inside of First Mother, after that I left.

* * *

I went back to the computer room and I was disturbed by the recent turn of events that's happened to me. I didn't realize Eli was there until he said something. "Are you okay Jude?"

I sighed, "I have no idea."

Wow, he looks upset, I heard Eli think, I think showing him the comical video footage of Rainbow Dash farting the rainbow should cheer him up.

I raised an eyebrow. "Fart the rainbow?"

Eli jumped and looked startled, "Okay, how did you know what I was thinking?"

"You're not going to believe this," I said, "but somehow I can hear people's thoughts."

"Can you communicate by thought?" Eli asked.

I tried my hardest to send Eli a thought. But since Eli didn't answer it, I assumed I couldn't do that. "Looks like that would be a no, but I can hear people's thoughts and I think that's about all I can do. Not to mention somehow I can see through walls."

"When did it start?" Eli asked.

"The hearing people's thoughts thing," I said, "happened yesterday when I went to put in the containment device inside First Mother. The seeing through walls started happening when you threw that stunner needle through a wall at First Mother."

"So why did you have to put a containment device inside First Mother?" Eli questioned.

"To spend the rest of her life in a dungeon," I answered.

Eli gasped. "What?! Why so extreme?"

"Because that wasn't the first time she attacked a servant," I explained. "Shortly before you became Royal Advisor Eli, I looked at her work history. She's done this three times before Servant Milo and she's encouraged her servant's to do the same."

"Yup, that settles it," said Eli, "I'm no longer worried about Grandma. I was worried but I take it back now."

I snorted, "You were actually worried about her?"

Eli nodded. "I hate to admit it, but I was. But I think you'll find this video footage of Rainbow Dash quite amusing."

Eli showed me the video footage of him fighting Rainbow Dash and her friend Gilda. She chomped down one of his attacks and declared herself Rainbow Dash. I laughed when Rainbow Dash suggested some new content to say when she shows up to fight Agents of the Sixth.

Then I saw Rainbow Dash doing an actual sonic rainboom and she looked at it in horror. I still have no idea why she's afraid of her own power. Eli told me that she was going to become an Alicorn because she was giving birth to one.

I paused when I heard Second Mother's thoughts and her footsteps coming from down the hallway. I hope First Mother's been taken care of. She deserves whatever she gets. She brought this self.

Before Servant Milo even poked his head in the room to say something, I opened the door startling him. "Oh, sorry Servant Milo. Second Mother's coming down the hallway. Please let her in when she gets here."

Servant Milo's jaw dropped. "How did you know that? Second Mother didn't even send a servant ahead of her. Not to mention she's not even here yet."

"I can't explain," I said, "but just send her in when she gets here."

Servant Milo nodded. "Yes, your highness."

Once Second Mother arrived, she looked very concerned about something, "Is First Mother-"

"Yes she's been taken care of Second Mother," I said. "First Mother's probably still asleep at the moment because I just put the containment device in her."

Second Mother was speechless but then she composed herself, "Did you hear what I was thinking or did you assume what I was thinking?"

"I heard what you were thinking and I heard your footsteps from all the way down the hallway," I replied. "I think I have lost my damn mind!"

Wow, well at least that ugly old hag is taken care of, Second Mother thought, I still have no idea who gave her the idea that she's the queen of the Mainframe. At least she got what was coming to her I wonder if-

"Don't ask the question," I said, "because I'm not sure if AI gave me these abilities as a weapon, but if it did then it did it to torture me. And I thought First Mother doing that to me was bad."

Second Mother whistled, "Wow."

Then I heard Eli's thoughts as if what's happening now is disturbing enough. Wow, Jude was always strong before but I wonder how much magic and different abilities he's going to develop? Man, he's hot too! Yeah, Servant Milo was right about wanting Jude also. Oh crap! I forgot he can hear my thoughts now. Shit, I just had to get carried away by this, my bad!

I gave a nervous laugh, "Thanks for the compliment, Eli. Ivy and I do have an open relationship but it's mostly for Ivy's benefit and I'm not saying why. I'm not interested in anyone else at the moment." I looked over at Second Mother. "Before you think anything else, I don't know if I'm okay, all I know is I have lost my damn mind!"

"Maybe you should go lay down and rest for a bit?" Eli suggested. "I can take care of things here like I always do when you're out of commission from the Feeding Rituals."

I nodded. "That's probably a good idea. I think I could use some rest."

Second Mother's jaw dropped and she gasped. "But you've never done that on a workday! Not since I've known you."

"Well I guess this will be the first day I've done this," I said.

As I left the computer room, I saw Second Mother's jaw still on the floor. I had no idea why Eli found this funny because he was laughing as I walked out the door.

* * *

{Eli}

After Jude left, I couldn't stop laughing.

What is so funny about Lord Jude's magic being unlocked? Atias thought.

Because Jude looked like he was going nuts by it. I thought.

And you just had to mention that you and Servant Milo were talking about trying to get Lord Jude in your bed. Honestly, I don't think that was the right time to think about that. Atias thought.

What? Can you blame me? He is pretty sexy, trust me he seems to get stronger and stronger every time we train together. At least I have enough common sense not to go stalking him or breaking into his room to watch him sleep. Yeah, I'm going to have to make it a point not to gawk at him. I thought.

Hmmm… Atias thought.

What is it? I thought.

Given this change of events, this could be a good way for me to contact Lord Jude. Atias thought. I think this might be a loophole because I can't get in contact with him through the spoiled brat.

Are you sure you want to do that? I thought. At least let him get used to this. He can't communicate by thought as I can.

That might be true but I still need to get in contact with him either way. The more magic I can get to shut down the machine the better. Atias thought.

But what if the machine senses our magic and sends a code to us as it did to Rainbow Dash? I thought.

That won't be a problem. Atias answered. Because you, Servant Milo, Lord Jude, Lady Ivy, and Leo even though he's a baby are all workers for the machine. The machine isn't just a brat, it's greedy too. It will do everything in its power to keep you as its workers. You can thank the Sixth for that.

Why?

The Sixth found a way to break out creatures and screw up the machine's powers by planting viruses in their cells to make the machine think they're still in there.

Is that why the machine thought Rainbow Dash was dead, had a funeral for her and she was alive and kicking working for the Sixth? I asked.

Uh-huh, Atias thought, knowing the machine if Rainbow Dash was still stuck inside and no one was able to break her out, it would've moved her somewhere else and changed her name again. Oh and Rainbow Dash knows that Lord Jude is her son.

How?

Remember when Lord Jude brought Rainbow Dash to the castle a few years ago? Atias asked.

Oh, that's right! He did go into her bedroom after I left, I'm guessing that's when he told her?

Maybe? Either way, she knows now and my magic connected her to Lord Jude, he's the only one that can track her down.

Oh, I see. I thought.

But when I can't detect her presence inside of AI, Atias thought, she's probably on another assignment.

Okay then, I should take care of Jude's responsibilities for today.

Sure. Atias thought.

Atias's voice went silent for the rest of the day. It seemed like he was going to let me do my job without any interruptions.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

I was working on putting away inventory when I heard Eli's voice inside my head.

It's a good thing we can communicate this way instead of you talking about yourself in the third person.

Okay. I thought. What's up?

I know that you know that the Lord of AI is Jude. Eli thought.

How did you- I started.

Atias told me, anyway, there's been an interesting change of events involving Jude. Eli seemed excited about what happened with Jude.

I rolled my eyes. Okay, tell me what happened. Gee, you're just as bad as Loyalty when I first met it.

Eli paused. Huh? Say what now?

Never mind, what's going on? I thought.

Well, apparently Jude can hear people's thoughts now. Eli thought. And somehow, he can see through walls too.

When I heard that, I felt like I was choking so I cleared my throat to make it go away as much as possible. Great, my son's becoming a Predictor!

Eli looked at me when he came around the corner and raised his left eyebrow. A Predictor?

Yeah, she's my boss at the Sixth who hands out assignments and she loves to announce my thoughts in front of everyone. I thought.

I heard Eli laughing in his thoughts, Well Jude might start doing that to me now. Actually, he already has! He seems to think he's lost his damn mind. He doesn't realize that it's his magic unlocked.

Well, can he see the future? I thought curiously.

Eli shook his head. Not that I know of, why?

Predictors can do that also, my Predictor saw me and Oliver getting together. She was right but I don't know if she saw anything about Color Rain. She didn't say anything about it though. She definitely had a field when I said my so-called catchphrase.

What might that be? Eli thought.

It needs to be 20% cooler! That's not a catchphrase! I said it to Rarity when she was making me a stupid dress! Honestly, I don't know how she finds making a dress fun. A pegasus needs to fly, making a dress is a snooze fest!

Eli laughed inside my head and I rolled my eyes. Ha, ha, very funny Eli!

Well, at least I'm laughing inside your head and not outside of it. People would think I've gone insane!

No duh Eli, I thought, so what are we going to do now?

I looked to see Oliver some around the corner and he looked at me with concern, "What's going on Nancy? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Ah…" I didn't know how to answer his question.

Actually, I think it's time I let Oliver in this too, Atias thought, hold on, this will take just a second.

Oliver paused and I'm going to assume Atias connected him to his magic. "Okay, now I understand why you look like you've seen a ghost, Nancy."

Good, Atias thought, we need to come up with a plan.

What do you mean? Oliver thought.

Well, I've explained to Rainbow Dash and Eli that the more magic we can get in one place the better chances we have to shut down the machine. No, it can't send another code to you because you're already outside of the machine. I told Rainbow Dash the same thing. Atias thought

Yeah I know, I thought, Princess Luna, told me the same thing. My question is, how do we hide this from Samantha? For the record, that's who my Predictor is Eli.

Oh. Eli thought.

Not to mention, how many people are we going to get in on this? I asked.

Atias replied, You, Oliver, Eli, Servant Milo, Lord Jude, and Lady Ivy if that's possible.

You mean you want my boyfriend in on this? Eli thought.

Yes, it's because of his magic, remember? Atias thought.

Oh, right. Eli thought.

So how do we hide this from Samantha? I asked again.

I think I know how. Eli thought.

How? Oliver thought.

When do you see Samantha? Eli thought.

When we're outside of AI, why? I thought.

I see where you're going with this Eli, I'm not sure if this magic will work outside of the machine. If Rainbow Dash and Oliver think about me, I think Samantha's going to think you're talking about some imaginary person. Atias thought.

Oh, I get it! I thought. Maybe Oliver and I can think of Atias as a fellow Agent of the Sixth? A long-lost friend that we've been able to reconnect with?

Works for me! Oliver agreed.

Okay then, but I think you guys should get back to work. Atias thought.

Why? I questioned.

Because you and Oliver look like you're lost in each other's eyes at the moment. Atias replied with a small chuckle.

I looked over to see Gilda standing behind Oliver. "Okay, why are you guys staring at each other? I mean I've heard of couples getting lost in each other's eyes but this seems a little extreme."

Atias laughed, See? That lady just made my point.

Oliver and I stopped communicating by thought and everyone went back to work.

* * *

On my next day off I was sitting at the edge of my favorite cliff that I like to train at. I wanted so badly to do a fly-through but knew it would be dangerous to do it at the moment. I was sitting there with my legs dangling over the cliff. I heard a portal open up and I knew that was announcing Jude's presence.

When he sat down next to me, he seemed very disturbed about something.

I frowned. "What's wrong Jude?"

Jude sighed, "I think I've lost my damn mind!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Apparently," said Jude, "I can hear people's thoughts around me and no Gilda, I disagree with that. Rainbow Dash didn't fart the rainbow! That's just an immature bathroom joke!"

I chuckled and thought, That's exactly what Eli told me. Saying I'd be constipated if I didn't do it again doesn't make the joke funny.

"Seriously mom?" Jude said. "Eli said that?"

Actually more like thought it, Eli and I can communicate by thought now. You can thank Atias for that.

"Okay first of all," said Jude, "who is Atias mom? Gilda, would you stop laughing? And no more pet names!"

"Hey," said Gilda, "I didn't say anything!"

"You were thinking it!" Jude growled. "This is a new talent I have and it's driving me nuts!"

"So are you a Predictor now?" Gilda asked.

"No, I can't see the future," replied Jude, "but I can see through walls and when I was on the way here, I saw something I didn't want to see."

"What was it?" I said.

Jude deadpanned. "Two of my guards having sex in their bedroom."

I snorted trying to bite back my laughter. Gilda on the other hand was on her back rolling on her stomach in laughter.

"Okay Gilda, calm down," I said, "I don't think Jude thinks this funny."

Gilda snorted. "What? I'm Jude and his wife has gotten it on plenty of times. I'm sure plenty of people has heard their noises too."

"Yeah no, because all of the rooms in AI's castle are soundproof," Jude growled. "Even the dungeons are."

"Oh, I see," Gilda said.

Hmm, Atias thought, this might just be a good time to contact him?

You sure about that? I thought.

Yeah, I'm sure. Atias thought.

Jude looked puzzled. "Okay, do you have multiple personalities now mom? Because there's another voice inside your head."

Hi Jude, thought Atias, my name is Atias Ingie and I'm the one who created the machine you call AI. Please don't say what I'm about to tell you out loud because Gilda will be able to hear it.

Jude nodded. As Atias explained everything to him I made sure to stare straight ahead so it wouldn't look like I'm lost in my son's eyes. Actually, I had half a mind to do it to creep Gilda out. After Atias explained everything to him, Jude nodded. I wasn't sure if he believed Atias at all.

"I'm not sure what to make of this either mom," said Jude, he facepalmed and groaned. "Would you stop thinking about that Gilda? If I even hear of you calling mom poopy pants at work, I swear."

Then I remembered why there's a big boom before I do the rainbow in the sonic rainboom. "You know Gilda, there's a big boom before the rainbow in the sonic rainboom that's because it's actually me breaking the sound barrier."

"Seriously?" Gilda asked.

I nodded. "I remembered trying to do it when I was practicing for the 'Young Fliers Competition'. When I couldn't do it I freaked out. But when I went to go save Rarity and the Wonderbolts that she somehow managed to knock out, that's when I was able to do it. I guess in my panic I was flying so fast trying to save them and that's how I won the competition."

"Whoa!" Gilda and Jude said.

When Gilda crossed her arms and smiled.

"What?" I said.

"Again," said Gilda, "tell me why you're not the definition of the word awesome?"

"Because it's a big fat lie!" I snapped.

"Actually this time I agree with Gilda," Jude said. "It's true and you know it! You're just in denial!"

As if on cue, I heard the doorbell ring in my ear. "Well we're being summoned, so it's time for us to go."

Jude nodded. "Sure see you around."

I gave Jude a hug and Gilda and I went to report to Samantha's realm.

24) Back to Equestria

{Rainbow Dash}

A couple of days later, everyone that Atias had contacted to shut down the machine gathered in the computer room at AI's castle. I found this place interesting because it looked a lot like my pocket demission.

Jude shut down access to it. The only people there were me, Oliver, Jude, Ivy, their son baby Leo, Eli and Servant Milo. Since Jude, Ivy and Servant Milo couldn't communicate by thought, they brought notebooks and pens to show their answers to our thoughts.

"If this doesn't count as a dream, I don't know what else is." Servant Milo wrote down.

"If you're dreaming," Ivy wrote, "then we're all dreaming."

So how are we going to do this? Eli thought.

I have an idea. Atias thought.

"What?" Jude wrote down.

Well, Atias thought, now that there's enough magic in one spot now, I can use my magic to pull you guys into my realm inside the machine.

What do we do from there? I thought.

We'll figure it out, Atias thought, there's a couple more people that I need to pull into the core as well.

Uh, say what now? I thought.

You'll see when you get here, Atias thought, you'll be here in three, two, one…

The next thing I knew all of us were sucked into the core of the machine in the blink of an eye.

* * *

When Atias had us inside the core of the machine, I looked around to see Finn and Rarity there.

"Okay," said Finn, "where the hell am I?"

"I would like to know that too darling," Rarity said.

Atias waved. "Greetings you two, my name is Atias Ingie."

After Atias explained everything he smiled. "Finally all of the elements of harmony bearers and the magic users, Lord Jude, Lady Ivy, Eli, Servant Milo along with baby Leo are here at last!"

"Yup!" Loyalty said. "The elements of harmony are together again! This is sweet! This hasn't happened in a long time!"

Everyone except for Finn, Rarity, Oliver and I jumped a foot in the air when they heard Loyalty speak.

"The Elements of Harmony can talk?" Eli asked.

"Yup!" Loyalty cheered. "My name is Loyalty and I'm Rainbow Dash's element of harmony right along with Magic. Say hello Magic!"

Magic groaned, "I sweat if I had eyes, I'd be rolling them right now. Hi, I'm Magic."

I snorted. Then Kindness spoke, "I'm Kindness, I'm Oliver's element of harmony."

Generosity spoke, "I don't want to be rude so I'll introduce myself, I'm Generosity and I'm Rarity's element of harmony."

"Hey don't forget about me!" Honesty said. "I'm Honesty and I'm also Rarity's element of harmony."

"Last but not least I'm Laughter," said Laughter, "I'm Finn's element of harmony."

Finn laughed at Laughter's introduction.

"By the way," said Laughter, "Finn laughs at everything! So he's perfect to be my connection."

"Well if that's the case," said Loyalty, "Finn, you should try being an actual comedian! I think you would enjoy it!"

Everyone, even Finn, laughed at Loyalty's comment. Once the laughter died down Atias cleared his throat, "Well everyone knows why they're here now and the sooner we shut down the machine, the better."

"So how do we even do this?" I asked.

"I have a theory," said Atias. "Your sonic rainboom could help along with the elements of harmony that would short circuit the machine and shut it down for good."

I choked. "But I can't do a sonic rainboom like I did back in Equestria!"

"Actually," said Loyalty, "with our help, you can!"

I blinked. "Come again, Loyalty?"

"With our magic, we can build up so much magic in you that you will have no choice but to do a sonic rainboom!" Magic answered. "We're not sure what's going to happen after that."

"Yeah," said Laughter, "this is the end of the vision that we saw. We don't know what will happen next."

"Okay," I said.

"Well," said Kindness, "let's get started! As always Magic, it starts with you."

"Uh-huh," Magic said.

Magic lit up and a rainbow light came from it. Loyalty lit up next, then Generosity, then Honesty, then Kindness and the last one that lit up was Laughter. The rainbow light swung around and went through Servant Milo's forehead, then Eli's, then Jude's, then Ivy's the last one was baby Leo. Right before the loud boom that happens before the rainbow, I heard Atias say, "Thank you everyone, now I can rest in peace…"

That last thing I remembered before a bright light happened and the world went blank.

* * *

The next time I opened my eyes we were at the entrance at the Castle in Canterlot. I looked over and saw Jude, Ivy, Eli, and Servant Milo, well I guess I shouldn't call him Servant Milo anymore, they were looking around in awe along with Oliver and Finn.

Rarity smiled. "Are we where I think we are?"

"Yup," I responded, "we're back in Equestria."

"Oh happy day!" Rarity cheered. She started jumping around and prancing.

"Um, mom?" Jude asked.

"Yes, Jude?" I said.

"You might want to take a look at what's on your head." Jude said pointing at my forehead.

"Huh?" I said. I looked up to see that I had a long blue horn on my forehead. "Lovely, I just had to become the Alicorn…"

Oh come on Rainbow, Eli thought, it's not that bad! You're a powerful creature now, you're gonna have to get used to it!

No comment. I thought.

"Yeah I agree with Eli," Jude said.

"Uh, Lord Jude?" Milo said. "Royal Advisor Eli didn't say anything."

"Okay the machine is gone, so it's just Jude." Jude said. "So you are just Milo, got it?"

"Milo…" Milo said. He nodded. "That's going to take some getting used to."

"No kidding and it's just Eli, Milo." Eli said.

"And I'm just Ivy," Ivy said.

"Actually, you all have different titles now." We heard Princess Celestia say.

We turned around to see Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, practically every single agent of the Sixth and just about all of the citizens of Equestria staring at us. A young woman that looked like she was about Oliver's age came running up to Finn, kissed him and hugged.

"Finn!" The woman said.

"Mabel!" Finn said with tears of joy.

Wow, I thought, I didn't know that Finn had other emotions besides laughing all the time.

I can agree with that. Oliver thought.

And don't go using this line of communication to get on my nerves Eli! That goes for you too Oliver!

I looked over to see Eli chuckling quietly to himself.

I don't know Rainbow, Oliver thought, I might use this during sex to make things more interesting.

"Really dad!" Jude said. "I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that!"

Oliver paused. "Um, dad?"

"Well, I did give birth to him and now you're married to me. So yeah you're his dad," I said. "More like step-dad if you want to be more correct."

"Okay we can talk more later," said Princess Celestia. "First order of business is to introduce our heroes with their new titles!"

"Huh?" I said.

Princess Celestia chuckled, "Let's see here, there's Prince Eli, Prince Milo, Prince Jude, Princess Ivy, Prince Leo, Prince Oliver and then there's you Rainbow Dash! You are now Princess Rainbow Dash! Everyone bow to our new royal family members!"

I looked around and was speechless as I saw everyone bowing to us.

After everyone stopped bowing to Discord came up to us, "Well if it isn't Nancy! Or Princess Nancy? Or as I just heard Princess Celestia say, Princess Rainbow Dash? I never thought I'd see the day when Rainbow Dash would become an Alicorn!"

I groaned and mumbled, "Hi Discord…"

"Wait," said Jude, "that's Discord?"

"Yup." I said.

Discord looked at Jude. "And who might you be?"

"This is my son Jude," I said.

"You gave birth to a human?" Discord said. "That's new."

"Yes I did," I said, "just like I married one and now I'm giving birth to an Alicorn."

I saw Gilda cross her arms and laugh, "Again, tell me why you're not the definition of the word awesome?"

Before I could reply the world started to spin on me and the last thing I heard was Princess Celestia say, "Oh no!" Then I passed out.

* * *

{Jude}

When Rainbow Dash passed out, I saw Princess Celestia jump into action. She shouted, "Medic ponies!"

Two unicorns appeared right behind her with a stretcher floating in their magic.

"Get Princess Rainbow Dash to delivery now!" Princess Celestia commanded.

I felt panic well up inside me, "What's happening to mom?"

"Don't worry Prince Jude," said Princess Celestia reassuringly, "your mother's about to give birth to your sibling that's all."

Oliver chuckled, "Yes Color Rain is coming to greet us!"

Princess Celestia paused. "The baby's a she? You already named her?"

"Actually Rainbow Dash named her," Oliver said.

Princess Celestia smiled. "Okay then, now everyone follow me."

* * *

As everyone sat in the waiting I couldn't help but feel anxious about how Rainbow Dash was doing. This felt more distressing than waiting for Eli and Ivy's Feeding Rituals to be over with. I couldn't stop pacing back and forth and saw Ivy giving me a concerned look. "Would you sit down Jude? There's nothing we can do until she gives birth. "

I heard Rainbow Dash scream in pain and I flinched when I heard it. "She sounds like she's in pain."

"I've heard someone giving birth before and there's nothing to worry about unless the doctor says there is." Rainbow Dash's friend named Gilda said. Gilda rolled her eyes because Ivy was giving her a funny look. "In case you're wondering, I'm a griffon and my name is Gilda."

I paused when I heard a strange noise coming from my stomach. "What's that noise?"

Gilda raised an eyebrow and had a puzzled look on her face. "It's your stomach growling. It means you're hungry, you've never heard your stomach growl before?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Is eating here going to be painful? Because if it is, I'm not hungry. Please go ahead and put me out of my misery now."

Gilda tilted her head. "How did you guys eat inside the machine?"

"We did something that was very painful called the Feeding Ritual," I answered.

"What's that?" Gilda asked.

After I explained what the Feeding Ritual was, Gilda's jaw dropped. "Wow, that's a painful way to eat! Since you haven't eaten any real food we should probably start you guys on something small like applesauce. Everyone in Equestria is vegetarian. We don't eat meat here."

"From what I heard, vegetables in Equestria are the best," Oliver said. "I'm kind of hungry myself."

Gilda nodded. "Okay sure. I can get you guys some vegetables and I'll get Prince Jude and everyone else that hasn't eaten before, applesauce and then of course a bottle for baby Leo."

"Are you going to need some help with that?" Oliver asked.

Gilda smiled. "Well Prince Oliver even though the food will be on a food tray and I'll probably need more than one food tray so yeah you can help."

Oliver paused and blinked. "Prince Oliver? Yeah that's going to take some getting used to."

"Yeah that makes two of us," I said. "Although I'd rather have the title Prince Jude than Lord Jude any day. I'm not ruling over anything ever again. Nope, I don't want the job."

"It's okay Prince Jude," Princess Celestia chuckled, "you're automatically disqualified from ruling because you're a male."

"Huh?" I said.

"Equestrian law states that only a Princess can rule over Equestria." Princess Celestia explained. "Preferably an Alicorn or someone just as strong to the next best thing and that would be a unicorn."

Rarity laughed, "At least I'm not an Alicorn, I don't want the job!"

"That makes two of us," Ivy said.

"That's okay," said Princess Celestia, "since we have a new Alicorn now, it would be Princess Rainbow Dash that would get the job."

"Well it sucks to be Rainbow Dash," Eli chuckled.

"Yeah because Equestrian Law also says that when a ruler has been chosen, they have to take the job. The punishment for not taking the job is banishment." Princess Celestia said. "I doubt Princess Rainbow Dash would abandon her friends."

I nodded. "I agree Princess Celestia, mom didn't abandon her friends back in Ponyville even though they gave her a reason to stay away."

Rarity hung her head. "Yeah I know, I was one of her so-called friends at that stupid engagement party. I should've stuck by her when she always stuck by us."

"Did you apologize to her yet?" I asked

Rarity sighed, "No I didn't. I had too much pride and a big ego to even think about doing that."

"Well, I think it's time you give an apology after she gives birth," I said.

"Yeah I can do that," Rarity said. "As Celestia is my witness and she actually is this time, I will apologize to Princess Rainbow Dash! I swear!"

Gilda smiled. "Do You Pinkie Promise?"

"Huh?" Rarity said. "Oh yeah! I haven't done that in a long while. Will you say it with me, Gilda?"

Gilda nodded. "Sure."

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Rarity and Gilda said.

"So Lifeforce Pinkie Pinkie came up with that?" I asked.

"Yup!" Rarity said.

"What does that even mean?" I said.

Gilda answered, "It means a promise has been made obviously, and once the cupcake is in the eye, the deal is sealed!"

"So Rarity sealed the deal on her promise to apologize to mom?" I asked.

Gilda nodded. "Uh-huh."

Princess Celestial was listening in the direction of where Rainbow's Dash delivery room was. "Well, it sounds like Color Rain is almost ready to say hello to us."

"Alright," said Gilda, "snice Prince Oliver needs to stay and greet his baby, Rarity, would you mind helping me with the food?"

"Sure," said Rarity, "I don't feel like hearing a baby scream when they're born anyway."

"I better go and see the final stretch of the delivery," Princess Celestia said.

"Yeah let's get out of here Rarity," Gilda said.

"Right behind you Gilda!" Rarity said.

I laughed at how fast Gilda and Rarity left the waiting room. I looked over and smiled at Ivy holding Leo. "Gee I know babies tend to cry when they're born but I don't think baby ponies are that loud."

"Yeah you'd be surprised," Princess Luna said.

Then I heard Color Rain scream bloody murder. I had to cover my ears because the scream was so loud. "Okay I take that back."

Hi big brother! I heard a voice inside my head say.

Oliver seemed puzzled about something. "Okay, I just heard a voice inside my head say come and say hi dad."

I nodded. "I heard a voice say hi big brother! I guess that might be Color Rain speaking to us somehow."

Princess Celestia poked her head out of the delivery room, "Um Prince Oliver? You might want to come in here and greet your baby. Color Rain's asking for you. It seems she has an uncanny ability to communicate by thought. Which is interesting because she's a newborn and all."

Oliver chuckled, "Yeah I heard her."

After Oliver went into the delivery room, Gilda and Rarity came back with the food. Gilda handed me, Ivy, Eli and Milo bowels of applesauce. My curiosity got the better of me. I took a couple of bites and before I knew it, I ate the whole thing. I looked over to see that Ivy, Eli and Milo had done the same thing. Ivy was holding Leo and feeding him a bottle.

"So," said Gilda, "how was your first bite of food?"

I smiled. "That was really good! Thanks Gilda!"

"Yeah I'd rather eat this than do a Feeding Ritual," Eli said.

I then realized that I was still wearing that stupid cape AI wanted me to wear all the time. I took it off and smiled. "Whelp, I know what I can do with this stupid thing."

Ivy chuckled, "What?"

I balled up the cape and threw it in a nearby trash can with enthusiasm. Ivy and the others couldn't stop laughing at it.

"Wow," Ivy laughed, "you really hated that didn't you?"

"Yup," I said after I dusted my hands off, "and I'm burning this outfit the first chance I get! I'm not looking at computer screens all day either! I'd rather be in a dungeon instead! Lord Jude is dead, goodbye and good riddance!"

Princess Luna snorted. "Don't worry Prince Jude, looking at computer screens all day isn't part of the royal duties as a member of the Royal Family. Computers are usually used by scientist for them to log in their data."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Oh good."

Princess Celestia poked her head out of Rainbow Dash's delivery room again. "Um Prince Jude? You can come see your sister. Everyone else please stay here until we can move Princess Rainbow Dash to a regular hospital room."

I nodded when I went into the room, I saw that Rainbow Dash was knocked out. That made sense to me because she recently gave birth to my sister. Oliver was sitting on a nearby chair holding Color Rain.

"Can I hold her?" I asked.

"Sure," Oliver said.

As I held Color Rain, I smiled because she was sound asleep sucking on her hoof. "She is absolutely adorable!"

Oliver nodded. "Uh-huh Rainbow Dash picked the right name for her."

A Nurse came into the room. "It's time for us to move Princess Rainbow Dash to a regular room."

When Rainbow Dash was moved to a regular room that's when she started to wake up.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

The next time I opened my eyes, I saw Oliver holding Color Rain and she was sound asleep at the moment. Jude and Ivy was sitting next to Jude holding baby Leo, Eli and Milo were sitting on nearby chairs. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were sitting down next to them. Princess Luna was nodding off and I'm going to assume that she didn't get much sleep lately for whatever the reason.

Princess Celestia smiled. "I'm glad you're awake Princess Rainbow Dash."

As soon as Princess Celestia said the word Princess Rainbow Dash, I looked up and rolled my eyes at the stupid horn on my head. "I just had to become the Alicorn."

Princess Celestia laughed so hard at my reaction that she was on her back laughing.

"That's not funny Princess Celestia!" I snapped. That comment made Princess Celestia laugh even harder. I grit my teeth. "I'm sooo honored I could be the entertainment for you."

Oliver and Eli snorted.

"Would you two knock it off!" I growled. Color Rain started crying. She stopped crying when she looked over and saw me.

Hi mom! Color Rain thought. I'm so happy you're awake! I already said hi to dad and big brother Jude!

Communicating this way will definitely help considering you're a newborn. I don't mind you doing it, but when it comes down to your father and Eli doing it that's another story. I thought.

I heard that! Oliver thought.

Yeah I know Samantha stand-in! I thought with sarcasm.

Jude and Eli cracked up.

Ivy tilted her head. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing dear," said Jude. "I'll explain later."

"Okay then." Ivy said with a nod.

Suddenly, Color Rain's horn lit up and she disappeared.

I just came up with a new game mom! Color Rain thought. I'm going to call it teleportation hide and go seek! Weeeeeee!

Is she serious? Oliver asked after he looked at me.

Milo's jaw dropped. "What just… Happened?"

I facehoofed. "Apparently, Color Rain just invented a new game."

"Yup, teleportation hide and go seek," Jude chuckled.

Come on dad! Come on big brother Jude! Come play with me! Weeee! Color Rain thought.

"Of course she wants to play with her dad," Oliver said, rolling his eyes.

Jude facepalmed and groaned, "And she wants to play with me. I guess being able to see through walls will come in handy for this. Let's just hope I don't see something that I don't want to see."

"Like what?" Ivy asked.

Jude deadpanned, 'You don't want to know. "

After Jude and Oliver left, I heard Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor enter the room laughing.

"That reminds me of Flurry Heart when she was a newborn!" Princess Cadance cracked up.

"I think this is going to be a new trend for newborn baby Alicorns!" Prince Shining Armor laughed. "Every newborn Alicorn is going to want to teleportation, hide and go seek!"

I chuckled, "Yeah at least you didn't have to battle the winds of the arctic north while trying to repair the crystal heart so the country doesn't freeze over."

"I've heard that stupid story over a million times," I heard Flurry Heart growl. When she came into the room I didn't recognize her because she had grown since the last time I saw her. "Hi Princess Rainbow Dash! You probably don't recognize me, I'm Princess Flurry Heart. I'm the one that broke the crystal heart shortly after being born."

"Wow," I said, "you're Princess Flurry Heart? I guess time flies when you're stuck inside a machine."

"Yeah I heard about that," Princess Cadance said. "Shining Armor told me."

Shining Armor nodded. "And we heard at the death of my sister along with the three other elements of harmony's bearers Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie."

"But the good news is," said Flurry Heart, "we also heard about us getting new element bears! You're a double element bearer Princess Rainbow Dash! The element of Loyalty and the element of Magic!" She cheered. "Awesome!"

"Yup, Rarity's a double bearer too, she has Honesty and Generosity," I said. "My husband Prince Oliver has Kindness and Finn has Laughter."

Flurry Heart then went from happy to sad and I had a feeling as why that was. "I'm sorry about Princess Twilight."

Flurry Heart shook her head. "It's okay Aunt Twilight just had to become evil. Best Aunt Ever my flank!"

Princess Cadance and Shining Armor gasped.

"Flurry Heart!" Princess Cadance scolded. "We don't use such foul language, you apologize right now young lady!"

Flurry Heart sighed, "Okay, I'm sorry for the foul language everyone."

Shining Armor gave an authoritative nod. "Good, don't do it again."

"Yes dad," said Flurry Heart, "I won't."

"Okay everyone," said Princess Celestia, "we need to let Princess Rainbow Dash get some rest. We also need to get the new additions to the royal family settled into their rooms at the castle."

Everyone said their goodbyes and I laid in bed waiting for Oliver and Jude to return from playing teleportation hide and go seek with Color Rain.

25) Princess Rainbow Dash

{Rainbow Dash}

A month later I was cleared to be released from the hospital. Princess Celestia already had our rooms set up. Me, Oliver and Color Rain were set up in one room.

One day Princess Celestia asked me to follow her down the hallway for something very important she wanted to tell me.

"What's this all about Princess?" I asked.

"Well this is all about the new additions to the royal family's coronation's that will happen in a week's time," Princess Celestia said.

"O...Kay," I said, "so do you want me to help make the arrangements for it or something?"

Princess Celestia smiled. "It's more like or something. I just wanted to show you the new crowns for everyone, their new outfits for their royal attire, and I wanted to show you your new outfit especially."

I hope this doesn't mean what I think she means.

"As you know, my sister and I are going back into retirement soon. Equestrian law states that a ruler of Equestria can only be a Princess preferably an Alicorn." Princess Celestia said. "And since you are a new Alicorn, we have chosen you to be the next ruler."

I groaned, "You're joking right? Please tell me you're joking?"

Princess Celestia giggled, "I'm not joking. In the following month after everyone's coronation happens, you will have another coronation ceremony to attend."

"But I haven't finished learning magic and stuff like that with my horn yet!" I gasped.

"Well you don't have to finish learning that stuff to be a ruler," Princess Celestia said. "You will still be trained for it though. A ruler for the most part has to rule with common sense and a cool head. I think you've got this."

I groaned, "I just had to become the Alicorn."

Princess Celestia snorted. "I know but you don't have to take care of the day and night on your own. You can give the responsibilities to other members of the royal family. That will make it easier for you to deal with the chaos that comes with being a ruler. It just so happens that my special talent is to raise the sun and my sister's special talent is to raise the moon. But we're not the only ponies that can do that. Although a lot of other ponies would beg to differ from that idea."

I followed Princess Celestia down the hallway and stopped short when I found myself standing in front of the magic vault where the elements of harmony were kept before everyone got sucked into the machine. Princess Celestia lit up her horn and shot a beam of magic at the door in all different directions.

"Don't worry Princess Rainbow," said Princess Celestia, "I'll be giving you the passcode for the magic vault when my sister and I step down and hand the throne over to you."

I just had to become the Alicorn.

I counted the crowns, there was an adult size gold crown and the rest of the crowns were all silver. I tilted my head. "Where's my crown? I hope this means I don't have to wear one."

Princess Celestia laughed so hard that she was snorting in between her laughter, she composed herself, "Oh no Princess, you have to wear one alright. Your crown is over there."

I stared in shock and awe at a huge glass case that had a huge gold crown fashioned to look like Princess Celestia's. Along the outfit came gold shoes, the outfit was pretty much like Princess Celestia's. I laughed and pointed at it, "Ha! Now that's the definition of the word awesome!"

Princess Celestia chuckled, "You're in denial of your accomplishments right up to the very end huh Princess?"

"Well I'm not invincible for crying out loud!" I answered, "Alicorns can be killed, right?"

Princess Celestia frowned and hung her head. "Yes they can be. A good example would be Princess Twilight."

"Oh, sorry," I said, I shook my head. "I don't have a death wish or anything like that. I just want someone to beat me at something for a change."

"I see," said Princess Celestia, "so that's where the denial comes from?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"Oh that's right," said Princess Celestia, "Prince Oliver did say that you sulked when you won a race against Spitfire!"

"Yeah if anyone could beat me at something, it should've been Spitfire," I growled.

"But did Luna tell you that we along with Spitfire look up to you?" Princess Celestia asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah it's because I excel at things. I have no idea why I do that."

Princess Celestia smiled. "It's within your nature to do that Princess. I mean you did the sonic rainboom for the first time when you were a filly. From what I know of, that's exactly how you got your cutie mark! Or did I get that information wrong?"

I confirmed it, "Yeah that's exactly why I got my cutie mark."

"Speaking of sonic rainboom, I also heard that before you got kidnapped by the machine you were able to do sonic rainbooms in your sleep," said Princess Celestia. "And yes Prince Oliver's element of harmony, the element of Kindness, will be in his crown. It's a little bit bigger than the others because he's married to you. See?"

Princess Celestia pointed to Oliver's crown and sure enough, the element of Kindness was on it in the feather shape that it chose to change into.

"And your element of Loyalty and the element of Magic is also on your crown inside your royal attire." Princess Celestia said,

I chuckled, "I wonder how much those two are going to get on each other's nerves now that they're both in the same royal attire?"

"I know exactly what you're talking about," said Princess Celestia, "those two did fight a lot when they were connected to me and my sister."

"By the way, what's going to happen to the Sixth now that the machine is gone?" I asked.

Princess Celestia shrugged. "I don't know that depends on what the Founders want to do."

"I just thought of something," I said.

"What is it?' Princess Celestia asked.

"Well Loyalty said something about being changed back to their original selves when the machine kidnapped the elements of harmony bearers. There's a tree of harmony now with the elements descendants in it. Are the original elements of harmony needed now that the machine is shut down?" I questioned.

"Oh yeah, we're still needed Rainbow Dash," Loyalty said. "Remember when you used my power to stop Queen Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Even though we have descendants in the new tree of harmony," said Magic, "double the power from us equals double the chances to save Equestria. Because of you I get to be on a crown again!"

Loyalty groaned, "I swear Magic, if you get on your high stone again…"

I found the fact that two elements of harmony arguing with each other funny. I started laughing when I heard Color Rain think, Hi mom! I'm coming your way, dad, big brother Jude and big sissy Ivy are playing with me today. I won't bother you for too long because I know you've been busy lately. I would stop and take a nap but this is way too much fun! Baby Leo doesn't know what he's missing out on always sleeping.

"Color Rain, you get back here!" I heard Oliver shouting.

Princess Celestia laughed, "Let me guess, another game of teleportation hide and go seek?"

I nodded and smiled. "Yup! Color Rain should be popping up for a visit anytime now."

Right on cue Color Rain teleported into the magic vault. Princess Celestia was on her back rolling on the ground in laughter when we saw her.

Hi mom! Color Rain thought. Bye mom! Gotta go and don't tell them I popped up here please.

I snorted. Sure Color Rain, have fun!

After Color Rain teleported away, I heard Jude growl, "You just had to encourage her didn't you?"

Seriously Rainbow, thought Oliver, can't you have any normal babies for a change?

I don't know Oliver, I thought, I might give birth to an owl next time just to make things interesting.

Jude paused. "Uh, an owl?"

It's what I came out of the machine as. Oliver replied.

"Oh." Jude said.

At least you didn't come out of the machine as a poodle. I thought. Or you would've been the pervert and food crazed nut.

Yeah I doubt that. Oliver thought.

"From the sound of it, Color Rain's headed toward the library," Jude said. "Why did I have to get acute hearing times ten and one would think that the ability to see through walls would be fun but no it's not!"

I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe and I didn't stop laughing for a while.

"Actually I feel sorry for Prince Jude though." Princess Celestia said. "I'll have to go and make sure his crown will help him control his magic."

I nodded, "I know it's bad for him right now. I think he'll get used to it like everyone else will."

"Let's hope so." Princess Celestia said.

I nodded and started laughing again as I heard Oliver, Jude and Ivy shouting after Color Rain as she played teleportation hide and go seek with them.

* * *

The following week the coronation ceremonies took place. The first ones that took place were for Oliver and Color Rain, then Jude, Ivy and baby Leo's coronation ceremonies took place, the next one was for Eli, then Milo's and the last one was for me.

After my coronation, Rarity pulled me into her boutique so she could measure me for my ruler of Equestria coronation ceremony outfit. I stood on the measuring platform bored out of my mind as Rarity made the necessary adjustments to my outfit, "I'm sooo bored, I need to fly or at least hover!"

Rarity laughed, "You know you did the same when I made you that outfit for the Grand Galloping Gala. I remember what you said about it. You said it needs to be 20% cooler."

"According to Gilda," I said, "it became my catch phrase."

And cue the laughter…

Rarity was on her back in hard laughter. Jude cleared his throat, "Um, Rarity? Isn't there something you need to say to mom that you Pinkie Promised to do?"

Rarity went from laughing to serious mode, "Oh yeah, Prince Jude is right, there is something I need to tell you Princess."

I raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Based on the look on Rarity's face I knew she was going to go into drama mode any time now.

"I'm sorry!" Rarity cried. "All these years I should've apologized to you and I didn't because I thought you were wrong! I was wrong, I humiliated you along with everyone else!"

I tilted my head. "Come again?"

I wasn't sure if Rarity's tears were real if she was just putting on a show because of being overly dramatic.

"It was that engagement party! You had the right to say no and you did." By this point Rarity was really turning on the waterworks. "But Pinkie Pie was the element of Laughter and I thought it would at least bring you two happiness and joy if you said yes. We should've been more understanding when you said no. It's time I get over my ego and apologize. I made a Pinkie Promise in front of everyone at the waiting room when you were giving birth to Color Rain. I understand if you don't want to accept it."

I rolled my eyes and I had half a mind to ditch the stupid dress, walk out the door slamming it in Rarity's face. What really pissed me off was she waited until after the machine was shut down to apologize to me. I also felt that it was a shame that she wasn't a griffon because I would have no problem pulling out every single one of her feathers and make her eat them. I thought about maybe breaking her horn but that would be cruel and it would be considered a crime so I didn't do it.

Jude chuckled, "Yeah I totally understand your feelings mom. I'm not so sure that I'd take her apology either at the moment. She should've apologized right after she realized she was wrong."

Rarity turned up the waterworks and at this point it just looked like she was putting on a show. "I know, Prince Jude is right."

At this point I thought she was going to take out her stupid fainting couch and sure enough she did. I did a facehoof and groaned. Jude on the other hand, got a real kick out of it and burst into laughter, "So that's the famous fainting couch stunt?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yup and I feel sorry for Generosity and Honesty for being her connections."

Then I joined in on Jude's laughter.

When Rarity put away her fainting couch, her face turned red in embarrassment. "I know I can be overly dramatic sometimes. But I really am sorry Princess."

At least with me and Jude laughing at her made me cool down on my anger for a bit. I shook my head. "Nope, I'm not accepting your apology and you want to know why?"

Rarity nodded. "I think I know why. Just as Prince Jude said, I should've apologized right when I realized I was wrong. I should've done it before the machine got shut down and not after."

I agreed, "Yup! That's exactly why and with all the drama I just witnessed from you, I'm not sure if your apology was sincere. Especially once you stopped your waterworks at the drop of a hat. Oh crap!"

Even though it didn't hit me until now that I was back in Equestria, I remember that ponies love to sing and dance at the drop of a hat.

Jude raised an eyebrow. "Song and dance?"

"Yup," I said, "and at the drop of a hat too."

"I forgot about that," said Rarity. "Remember the song we did when I went to Manehatten for my fashion show?"

Rarity took a deep breath and looked like she was about ready to belt the song out when I put up a hoof to silence her. "Please don't sing, not in front of me, in the name of Celestia, no singing!" I begged.

Rarity snorted. "Okay fine, I won't sing, but you're going to have to walk down the aisle to your coronation ceremony to the song Behold. You'll at least have to hear that song."

"I'm not wearing a dress for all the time I'm ruling either." I said.

"Well that's okay darling," said Rarity, "you were always more of a tomboy just like my ex-girlfriend was. I don't know why she won't go out with me again, but that's her choice and I'm not going to make a big deal out of it."

"Didn't you like stallions before?" I asked.

"Oh yes darling, I dated both sides of the coin and I still do," Rarity replied. "It depends on who I end up liking."

"You mean like when you had feelings for Trenderhoof?" I said.

"Yeah but then I met Spitfire a couple of years after that." Rarity said.

Jude groaned, "Oh great."

I was puzzled by this. "What?"

"Three, two, one…" Jude said.

I heard Color Rain's squeals of delight as she popped up at the boutique. Oliver's portal opened up shortly after that.

Hi mom! Color Rain thought. I gotta make this game more difficult! People seem to keep finding way too easy!

"Oh no you don't!" Oliver said. He summoned a rope and proceeded to tie Color Rain up with it.

That's not fair! Color Rain thought.

"Don't you want to take a break and take a nap?" Oliver asked.

Nope, this is so much fun. Can we keep playing? Please? Color Rain thought.

"I'm sorry Color Rain but no. At the rate you're playing I'm going to be the one who needs a nap," Oliver said. "A little help here Rainbow?"

"Okay fine," I said.

Mom, I want to keep playing! Color Rain thought. I'll play with someone else then, honestly I will!

Sorry Color Rain, I thought, but I'm with Oliver, how long have you been playing?

All morning. Color Rain thought.

I agree you need to take a nap. I thought.

But mom- Color Rain thought.

No buts Color Rain, I thought. It's nap time.

I lit up my horn and a small beam of magic went into Color Rain's horn. After a minute or two Color Rain finally settled down and went to sleep. Oliver let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks dear, hopefully she'll be out for at least a couple of hours."

"Too bad she doesn't go to sleep after she's had her bottle like Jude did when he was a baby," I said.

Oliver chuckled, "Yeah and it's a shame you don't give birth to normal babies for a change."

"Yeah and I don't think that's possible for me." I said. "I have no idea what I'll give birth to next, another human, another Alicorn or maybe an owl?"

"Very funny Rainbow," Oliver growled.

I laughed, "Hey I can't control what I give birth to."

"Yeah," said Oliver, "I'll see you later."

Oliver summoned a portal and left with Color Rain in his arms and she was asleep.

After Oliver left, Jude let out a sigh of relief, "At least she doesn't want to play with me today yet. Too bad she won't sleep forever."

I laughed at that because I don't think I'm going to give birth to a normal baby anytime soon.

* * *

Before my installation ceremony as the new ruler of Equestria. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia asked me who I thought would be willing to take care of the night and who would be willing to take care of the day. Eli readily agreed to take care of the night and Milo agreed to take care of the day.

I still feel sorry for Oliver because he spends most of the morning chasing after Color Rain and her daily games of teleportation hide and go seek. Although hearing her squeals of delight never gets old. I asked Flurry Heart to help babysit to give Oliver a break. I even taught Flurry Heart to the sleeping spell to calm Color Rain down so she'll take a nap.

Color Rain seems to favor playing with Jude, Eli and Milo but most of the time Milo's not interested in playing with her. But Color Rain does seem to know when not to bother people because they're not available.

The day before my ceremony I was practicing my sonic rainboom for the finale of it. That was my favorite part now that I can do them without any problems. The hard part of practicing for the ceremony is the landing, mostly because I do a crash landing because Eli gets in the way.

This time doing the sonic rainboom was no different. I had just done the sonic rainboom when Eli decided to stand in the way as a practical joke. I crashed into the ground and left a big crater where I landed.

Eli went into a fit of laughter, "Good one Rainbow Crash!"

"That's not funny Eli!" I growled.

Eli was laughing so hard that he was on his stomach rolling on the ground in laughter. Then Gilda's laughter added on to it. She laughed even harder when we heard Oliver shouting after Color Rain during her daily game of teleportation hide and go seek.

I flicked my tail in annoyance. "I'm so happy I could be the entertainment for today. Too bad I can't punish you for that. I would love to put you two in this hole and use my rebuild spell to bury you two in it. But people would notice if Eli was missing because he takes care of the moon."

Gilda did a fist bump with Eli. "Once again Eli, pure comedy gold."

I groaned, "Thanks a lot Eli! Now I have to do that again because you were standing in the way! Next time you do that, I might land on you instead of the ground. And I might actually add a fart in next time. I did have onion rings for lunch so yeah, the gas actually might not be so pleasant."

Right on cue my stomach gurgled I thought, Oh boy, I think I'm going to fart! Not good.

I couldn't hold it in and I actually farted. I cracked up because when I farted, Gilda and Eli were gagging, holding their noses and their eyes were watering because of the stench.

I laughed, "How's that for farting the rainbow Eli?"

"Seriously Rainbow?" Eli said, still holding his nose.

"Yup," I said, "that's some good old fashioned payback! I'm trying to land on the stage gracefully and not put everyone in danger because I crashed!"

"Sorry Rainbow, it's too much fun messing with you," Eli said.

I grit my teeth. "I have one more day to make this perfect you idiot. Maybe you should be the element of stupidity instead!"

"I think you're doing a wonderful job Princess Rainbow," Princess Celestia said. When we saw her we bowed to her. "No need to bow to me Princess Rainbow. But I think Princess Rainbow's right, Prince Eli. I hope you're not planning on doing that during the ceremony?"

Eli shook his head. "Oh no Princess. I'm not that stupid. I know Rainbow Dash has got this. It's just too much fun messing with her at the moment."

"At least you can't dump a bucket of water on my head anymore," I said.

Eli laughed, "That's because the guards won't let me into your room. Besides, it would disturb Oliver and wake up Color Rain. When Color Rain wakes up she'll want to play teleportation hide and go seek with me. I'm glad she's playing with Oliver at the moment."

I snorted when Color Rain teleported right in front of us. It was almost like she heard what Eli just said.

Come on Uncle Eli, come play with me. Color Rain thought.

Do I have to? Eli thought.

Color Rain gave Eli the puppy dog eye look and thought, Please?

Eli smiled and thought, Fine , I'll play.

I snorted. "Looks like Color Rain's got you wrapped around her hoof huh Eli?"

"What?" Eli said. "She's too cute to say no to and you know it!"

"Uh-huh," I said, "I think she knows that."

Then Eli ran off after Color Rain.

Well Princess Rainbow." Princess Celestia said. "Now that Prince Eli isn't here to make you crash, you want to practice that graceful landing with me?"

"Sure Princess," I said, "here let me repair this hole in the ground first."

I used my rebuild spell and fixed the hole in the ground. Princess Celestia nodded. "Now we'll pretend this is the stage. Once you do your sonic rainboom, you'll fly around with me and we'll land gracefully. Think of this as your final exam having a commanding presence shows that you're in charge. Okay?"

I gulped and nodded. "Yes Princess."

"Don't worry Princess you'll do fine," Princess Celestia said. "I know you will."

I took off like a rocket and did my sonic rainboom. Then I flew around to where Princess Celestia was and we did the graceful landing together. After hours of practicing, Princess Celestia called it a day. She smiled and winked. "See? You got this Princess Rainbow."

I smiled. "Yeah I got this. I just hope everything goes perfectly tomorrow."

"Don't worry," said Princess Celestia, "I think it will."

* * *

The following day was my installment as the ruler of Equestria ceremony. The castle was packed with family and friends. The stage was set up with three poles, one pole had a picture with the sun on it and on the other side of the stage had a pole with a picture of the moon on it. In the middle of the stage was a pole with a picture of a cloud with a lighting bolt coming from it.

Rarity helped me get into my outfit for the ceremony and I waited for my cue to walk down the aisle to the 'Behold' song. I watched as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took center stage and made their speech just like they did with Twilight. Finally, it was time for me to walk down the aisle. I kept telling myself to make sure I kept a commanding presence. As soon as I got up to the stage Princess Celestia smiled. "Princess Rainbow, it's your cue."

I nodded and took off the dress Rarity made for me. I shot up into the sky and I did my sonic rainboom. I flew back around to the stage and landed gracefully. Standing on the stage with my wings spread and my head held high Princess Celestia announced, "Everyone our new ruler of Equestria, Princess Rainbow Dash!"

The crowd cheered and clapped. After the ceremony people and ponies wanted to crowd around the stage but the guards, along with Oliver, Jude, Ivy, Eli and Milo made sure that they were kept at a safe distance.

Eventually Gilda was able to make her way over to me. She smiled and crossed her arms. "Again, tell me why you're not the definition of the word awesome?"

I chuckled, "Okay I'll accept my awesomeness... For now."

As Gilda laughed and Jude said, "Well it's about time!"

I had to admit for once in my life besides the day I got married to Oliver this was the happiest I've ever felt.

* * *

A month after the ceremony, the Sixth decided to form a contract with Equestria to set up a Military. There's a 33 page contract that's being kept in a magic forcefield in the Sixth to keep it safe and secure.

As Loyalty suggested to Finn he actually tried his hand at standup comedy and he found out that he was pretty good at it. He became the most famous comedian in Equestria and because of that he and his wife Mabel decided to quit their jobs as Founders of the Sixth.

Color Rain still likes to play her games of teleportation hide and go seek. When it happens, I can't keep myself from laughing while listening to the sounds of Oliver shouting, "Color Rain, get back here!"

Color Rain rarely ever plays with me because I'm always busy doing my ruling over Equestria duties. It's funny though, because even though Color Rain is a newborn, she's smarter than any adult and she knows it.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna along with me explained to Discord what happened to Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight. He was floored about them becoming so evil that they were viewed as a threat. So Discord decided to turn Fluttershy's cottage into a townhouse and hired someone to help take care of the woodland creatures. He paid special attention to Angel in memory of Fluttershy.

I still feel sorry for Jude because for some reason, he can't get control of his magic. Princess Celestia made his crown especially for him to help him control it but it doesn't seem like it's working. As Jude told me plenty of times, it might be a good thing being able to do magic but it's not fun when it's not controlled. I can only imagine what he deals with on a daily basis. I'm sure one of these days, he'll get control of his magic. Or at least I hope so.

1) Sonic Rainboom

"Rainbow Dash…." I heard a voice say. I knew I was dreaming because it didn't sound like Loyalty's voice when I first met it. The voice sounded like it was off in the distance somewhere.

"Rainbow Dash..."

I thought. Well, at least it's not a memory this time! But where the heck is this voice coming from?

Thankfully after hearing the voice call my name for the seventh time I heard the doorbell that meant I was being summoned for an assignment. I woke up next to Oliver and he was looking at me concerned.

"Was I sleepwalking again or something?" I asked.

Oliver shook his head. "No you didn't sleepwalk. But you did look like you were having a nightmare!"

"Huh? Oh well, at least I'm not in my Pegasus form right now. Cause now is not the time for sleep flying! And if I could get rid of that stupid voice calling out my name in my sleep, that would be great!"

Upon hearing this, Oliver went into a fit of laughter.

"Now you're laughing at my dreams too?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"No I'm not laughing at your dreams," Oliver replied, "I'm laughing at the fact that you're still irritated about having another memory. That's what it was right?"

"Nope, I have all of my memories back now. Anyway, I hope Shy Sami gets broken out of AI soon, the poor thing, he seems to be pretty restless lately."

"You think maybe that's a sign he's going into Phase 1?"

"I don't know, but I have to go on an assignment now. I've been summoned."

"Okay, sure..."

* * *

When I got to Samantha's realm, she smiled at me. Since she can hear my thoughts, I knew that she knew what concerned me. "I know, your dreams just keep getting weirder and weirder lately, huh Rainbow Dash?"

I nodded. "You guessed it!"

"And no, it's not me doing it!" Loyalty declared. "It's not my voice, it's the start of both visions us elements of harmony saw."

Samantha tilted her head. "Huh? Visions?"

"Yeah we saw two visions concerning AI, Rainbow Dash hearing that voice in her dream is the start of both visions. It started happening shortly after Rainbow Dash and Oliver got married!" Loyalty replied.

"Can you tell us what happens in them?" Samantha asked.

Loyalty sighed, "I wish I could tell you, but I'm sorry I can't."

"Oh well," I said, turning to Samantha. "So where am I going today?"

Samantha went over to the cauldron and hung her crystal over it. It did the same creepy thing it always does. The loud booming voice said, "Round and round the cauldron we go, where we'll stop, nobody knows!"

I shuddered. "Yeah, that never ceases to be creepy!"

Samantha chuckled. "I agree with you on that one. And I listen to it everyday!"

Yeah, yeah I would say that's not funny, but that would make her laugh even harder. Oh wait, I forgot, she can hear my thoughts!

Just as I suspected, Samantha went into a fit of laughter, she laughed so hard she fell over laughing. I looked into the cauldron to see where I was going and rolled my eyes. It was a location I knew all too well, because it's an area where the Firewalls like to pop up a lot. The area was a forest by the very same cliff that I used to go rock climbing on before I got broken out of AI. "Why do I keep being sent to this location? Wouldn't it be better if I get sent to the gates?"

"No, because you're the most skilled agent that we have working at the Sixth who fights the strongest Firewalls that the Machine sends out that we have!" Samantha exclaimed.

"Sorry Samantha," I said. "But I do have to correct you. It's not called the Machine, it's called AI."

"Oh yeah that's right! You know who the ruler of AI is from what Oliver told me! For some reason, I can't seem to pick it up in your thoughts." Samantha said.

"That's because me and the other elements of harmony decided that it would be best for Oliver, Finn and Rainbow Dash to be the only ones that know." Loyalty replied before I could answer.

"So a Founder knows?" Samantha said, tilting her head.

"Yup!" I said. "Probably because he's the element of Laughter's new bearer for the elements of harmony now."

Samantha snorted. "I didn't know Finn was laughter material!"

"Yeah that was news to me too." I said. "But he does laugh a lot around us. Especially at every other thing I say. Apparently, he likes to play pranks. Like he did by sending Pinkie Pie along with Oliver to greet me at the Mirror Pool. And he thought it would be extra funny if Pinkie Pie did my six day training too, considering Pinkie turned out to be a food crazed nut."

"You know," said Loyalty, "Laughter was considering for Oliver to be it's connection, but Kindness called dibs on him, just like I called dibs on you."

"Yeah I know, and I'm the strongest connection of the elements of harmony," I said with annoyance.

"Yup!" Loyalty said proudly.

"Just don't let it go to your stone okay?" I said. "That might give Magic ammunition to tease you about it! I'm wondering how are the elements Magic and Honesty progressing in finding new connections?"

Loyalty sighed, "Not very good but we are trying our hardest to find one for them. I feel sorry for Magic the most. It doesn't seem to think it won't find anyone that comes close to Princess Twilight. On the bright side though, at least it doesn't have to deal with Rarity's fainting couch skit, like Generosity does! I feel sorry for Generosity. I wonder how many times does Rarity do that in a day?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. From what I remember, Rarity got upset about something, even down to the smallest detail, she would pull out her fainting couch."

"That settles it." Loyalty said. "Generosity has it the worst."

Samantha must've gotten bored with the conversation, because she changed it. "You know what's funny, now that you change into your original form and every time I see you as a pony you don't hardly even walk on the ground anymore."

"Huh?" I didn't realize I was hovering a foot in the air until Samantha said something about it.

"Hey, I remember you doing that all the time back in Equestria Rainbow Dash!" Loyalty laughed.

"It's a good thing I got all of my memories back," I said. "It's just a shame that this happened before I got to know Applejack and Fluttershy again. They died because of being completely evil. I don't feel bad about that because they're the ones that helped Code Silas complete his job!"

An awkward silence happened for a bit when I broke it by saying, "Anyway I wonder what Firewall I'll be fighting today?"

"Well Firewall Eli and Firewall Molly are the two strongest Firewalls AI has ever created! That's why you're not going back to the gates anytime soon. For some reason the newly created Firewalls, Firewall Jason and Firewall Mary are the only Firewalls stationed at the gates. And we keep switching out agents to be assigned there every two years," Samantha replied.

I smiled. "Oh I see. You want other agents to have a crack at destroying the gates like Oliver and I did!"

Samantha nodded and smiled. "That's part of the same reason new agents get assigned there to have their test assignments like you did. But they don't need to retrieve an element of harmony. Sadly, more agents have died because of being hit by the Copper."

"How many?" I asked.

Samantha sighed, "Fifteen more agents have been added to the body count."

I shifted my gaze away from Samantha in sadness.

"I know Rainbow Dash," said Samantha. "It's sad, but it happens. That's all part of working for the Sixth. Well, it's time for you to go. It doesn't matter if Firewall Eli or Firewall Molly is there. If Firewall Eli's there the fight should be entertaining to watch from the video footage."

"Funny thing is," I said. "My teasing is getting on Firewall Molly's nerves now!" I chuckled. "I'm not sure why. Normally she's not bothered by it. I wonder if the Lord of AI has something to do with it?"

Samantha shrugged. "I don't know, but it really is time for you to go."

* * *

When I got to the location that I was supposed to go to, I met up with the rest of my teammates, Agent Arthur and Agent Lily. As always when they saw me, they looked very excited to work with me.

"Hi Agent Rainbow Dash!" Agent Lily cheered.

I flicked my tail in annoyance like I do every time I see them which made them laugh.

Why do I even bother to show my annoyance?

"Oh Agent Rainbow Dash," said Agent Arthur. "Working with you never gets old!"

"Yup!" Agent Lily agreed. "Especially when you fight Firewall Eli! What's with you two anyway?"

I groaned. "It's a long story, let's just say he really gets on my nerves!"

As if he knew his signal to come on the scene, Eli pulled up on his motorcycle. He killed the engine and put his kickstand down. I rolled my eyes at him. This made Eli give me an amused look. "You know what I'm going to say next."

He didn't have to say his opening line, because I said it for him, "Agents of the Sixth this is as far as you go. If you value your lives, turn back now!"

Of course, every single time I do that, Agent Arthur and Agent Lily go into a long fit of laughter. Eli did a facepalm and groaned and I did a facehoof and groaned at the same time.

"I'm soooooo glad we're entertaining and all. I don't know why you don't just step aside and let me kill them for you Loyalty?" Eli said.

"You know I can't do that Eli!" I responded. "Unfortunately, protecting my idiot teammates is part of being loyal because I'm an agent that works for the Sixth. Trust me, if I wasn't working for the Sixth, I wouldn't mind it if you did."

This statement made Eli laugh so hard he had tears in his eyes. I turned my attention to Agent Arthur and Agent Lily and glared at them. "Honestly you two," I scolded. "Would you actually do some fighting this time? Although I have half a mind to leave you two as sitting ducks for Eli as easy prey to him."

"You know something, I actually agree with Loyalty this time," Eli said.

Agent Arthur stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow. "Did a Firewall just agree with you Agent Rainbow Dash?"

"So what if I did!" Eli snapped.

Agent Arthur's jaw dropped. "Wow, never seen that happen before!"

I could tell at this point Eli was just as irritated as I was with my teammates. I saw Eli make his first move and I moved out of the way to see if my idiot teammates would actually do their jobs this time.

"Hey!" Agent Arthur said moving out of the way of Eli's attack just in time. "Are you trying to get us killed Agent Rainbow Dash?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I'm not Agent Grace stupid! I'm trying to get you two idiots to do some fighting and not leave it all to me this time! You seem to have no problem doing it when we're fighting the demon Firewall Molly."

"Okay then!" Agent Arthur snapped. "We'll do some fighting if it makes you happy!"

"Don't do it to make me happy," I growled. "Do it, to like gee I don't know, do your job!"

The fight really got turned up when Agent Lily and Agent Arthur joined in on it. Then I had to do something stupid like I always do or at least I thought it was stupid. I looked over to see the edge of a cliff where we were fighting. I wonder if Firewalls can fly? Let's see. This is going to be fun! It's going to be like when I practice fighting with Gilda.

"Hey!" I called out to Eli. "Catch me if you can!"

I flew over to the cliff's edge and dived off it.

"Why do you have to do something stupid every time you fight Firewall Eli, Agent Rainbow Dash?" Agent Lily asked.

"Hmm," I heard Eli say. "I've been dying to try out the new program update the Lord recently gave me."

I twisted my body to look at the top of the cliff to see that Eli had jumped off the edge of the cliff and could fly now. Of course, Jude just had to give him the ability to fly. Hopefully, that demon Firewall Molly can't do that. Although I wouldn't put it past him.

Eli somehow got behind me and pushed me into the cliff's wall and I almost crashed because of it. I was able to stop myself from crashing just in time.

"Let's see how well you do with your weapon in mid air, because I have plenty of experience with it! I wanna see if you can keep up Eli!" I taunted.

I pulled a couple daggers off my iron chain and threw them at him. Eli had daggers of his own and just like when I trained with Gilda, Eli threw his daggers back at me. It looked like Eli was having fun fighting me just like I was having fun fighting Eli this time. We almost killed each other during the fight. But I doubt we would have cared if we died in battle. When we landed at the bottom of the cliff, I saw how banged up Eli was and fell over laughing.

"What's so funny?" Eli growled.

"You look like you got the crap beat out of you!" I laughed.

"Oh yeah?" Eli smirked. "And you don't look much better, Loyalty!"

I looked down, to see that Eli was right. I had a couple of bumps and bruises but nothing serious. Without warning, I felt a surge of power go through my body. I'm getting tired of these partial sonic rainbooms!

What happened next happened so fast I didn't have time to blink. I felt myself being pulled into the sky, flying faster than usual and I let out a scream of surprise when I heard a loud boom from behind me. When I landed on the other side of the cliff, I shook myself off like a dog that had just come in from the rain. Eli was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

"Did I just..." I felt horrified by the thought that I might have just done a sonic rainboom.

"Wow, Loyalty!" Eli teased. "I didn't know you could fart the rainbow!"

Eli pointed up at the sky.

No way am I turning around to see what I just did! Nope! No way! I sat down on my haunches and crossed my hooves.

Eli rolled his eyes. "Are you that afraid of yourself?"

"No I'm not!" I said quickly.

"Just turn around idiot!" Eli said.

I finally brought myself to turn around and gulped when I saw the rainbow I had created in the sky. "I didn't just do a sonic rainboom..."

Right after I saw that, I heard the doorbell in my ear telling me to go back to Samantha's realm. Eli got back on his motorcycle. "Until we meet again, Loyalty!"

"My name's not Loyalty!" I shouted. I didn't even pay attention to Eli's laughter as he drove away. I sat down and stared up at the rainbow that I created with my sonic rainboom. I sat there staring for so long that I got an electric shock to my ear. "Okay, okay, I'm going! I'm going!"

I flew off to report to Samantha's realm and for some reason I felt nothing but horror at the sonic rainboom I just did.

2) Breakout Assignment

{Jude}

The video footage from Firewall Eli and Rainbow Dash's last fight puzzled me. I was puzzled because of Rainbow Dash being terrified of the awesome display of power she did, that created the rainbow in the sky.

"I wonder why mother was so horrified by that rainbow she created in the sky?" I said.

Ivy shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"I wouldn't blame Rainbow Dash for being afraid of her own power." I heard First Mother say. I rolled my eyes as it was another unannounced visit. I seriously wish she would send a servant ahead of her to let me know she's coming. But for some reason, she seems to think she can do whatever she wants and with or without my say-so.

Ivy stood up and bowed to First Mother. "It's okay Lady Ivy, as always I would like to speak with the boy Lord Jude."

"Yes, your highness." Ivy said. As soon as Ivy left, I was in no mood to talk to First Mother today and I had no problem showing my annoyance with her.

"You know, your unannounced visits are getting on my nerves!" I growled.

First Mother said nothing, she just gave me that creepy smile she's been giving me lately. "You're giving me that creepy smile again. I'd rather have you snarl at me instead."

First Mother laughed, and that laugh makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "I just came by to see how the Lord of AI was feeling about being married now. And I still can't believe Rainbow Dash and Agent Oliver are married now too."

I paid no attention to what First Mother said, I knew there was another reason why she was here. She always has a hidden agenda when it comes down to me. I rolled my eyes. "What's your real reason for being here First Mother?"

"Okay you got me, it's about Life Force Princess Twilight." First Mother responded with a shrug. "She's been out of control lately, she's not just requesting to be a co-ruler of AI, she's demanding it."

"Yeah that's not going to happen and I do believe AI agrees with me on that." I said. "I don't need a co- ruler because I'm already co- ruling with my wife Ivy."

"I'm actually glad AI doesn't want another co-ruler." First Mother said. "I did some research on Equestrian culture. I found out something very creepy about it."

I smirked because First Mother's never creeped out about anything. "Wow, that's new, First Mother is actually creeped out by something."

First Mother rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, anyway, apparently, Equestrian ponies tend to do something called a herd. It means that there's more than one pony being married to each other."

When I first heard of this information I felt disgusted by it. I felt there was no way I was going to be married to more than one person. Now having a couple of lovers besides Ivy, might be fine because Ivy and I have agreed to have an open relationship. Ivy actually has a couple of lovers herself, and they're mostly women. To add to that, there's no way I'm sleeping with someone from another species. If Ivy wants to do that, fine but not me.

"Yuck!" I said, trying to keep myself from throwing up at the thought. "First of all, there's no way I'm sleeping with another species. Second, there's no way I'm getting married to another person besides Ivy. Ivy feels the same way about this. A couple of lovers on the side is fine, but marriage to more than one? Yeah that's not happening."

"Tell that to Life Force Princess Twilight!" First Mother growled. "She doesn't seem to take no for an answer. She is just about as bad as Life Force Pinkie Pie! Life Force Pinkie Pie still seems to think that Agent Oliver and Rainbow Dash are going to marry her."

"No kidding." I said. "Honestly, when someone says no, they mean no."

Once again, First Mother gave me that creepy smile and then she added a civil laugh with it and creeped me out even more. She doesn't even taunt me when it's time for me to do the Feeding Ritual anymore. It almost looked to me that First Mother might be overworked and is starting to go insane. I've seen that happen before with other workers for AI. A lot of times, when they go insane, they try figuring out a way to kill themselves. Some of them actually succeed in doing so, the thing that bothers me the most about that, is AI could care less about it.

It was almost as if First Mother could read my mind. "I know that look Lord Jude. I'm fine, really I am. I think it's cute you're concerned about me."

I didn't believe First Mother, not one little bit about her saying she was fine. But seeing that I couldn't say otherwise, I chose not to say anything about it. At the moment, I wanted First Mother to leave the computer room, so I can get back to work. She seemed to pick up on my annoyance with her finally, "Well it seems I've overstayed my welcome I shall take my leave now."

She already overstayed her welcome when she came here in the first place! I thought. As she turned around and finally got out my hair, I returned to work and hoped that for the rest of the day, I would be able to do my work in peace.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

When I got back to Samantha's realm, Samantha looked very excited to see me. I knew because I just gave her the video footage from my last fight with Eli, what she was excited about. I wasn't thrilled to talk about the sonic rainboom that was my first one that I did ever since being broken out of AI. It wasn't a partial one either, it was an actual sonic rainboom.

"I don't why you're so horrified by that fact that you did a sonic rainboom Rainbow Dash," Samantha said.

"Yeah, the feeling of it was awesome!" Loyalty cheered. "I've missed how awesome your magic is when you do a sonic rainboom Rainbow Dash!"

I sighed and looked down at the floor. I didn't feel like talking about this, not one little bit. "Great, this is just gonna give people more reasons to say 'I'm the definition of the word awesome', nice, real nice…"

Samantha chuckled, "Wow, an agent for the Sixth not willing to recognize their own power. Don't see that everyday! Any agent would kill to have the kind of power you have, and they would be proud to have it! But not you! You don't want to be your real self anyway. Oh, and I should mention that Shy Sami's been broken out and you all have passed your assignment!"

I raised an eyebrow. "How? I was on an outside of the Machine assignment."

"Because as long as you were helping to put in place situations that could trigger your target's trigger response, you pass." Samantha said. "Just like what happened with Emily."

"So how did Shy Sami get triggered into Phase 2?" I asked.

"Oliver fed him some chunks of meat and it worked like a charm!" Samantha said with enthusiasm.

I snorted. "Well at least Oliver didn't have to kiss him for that."

Samantha laughed, "Yeah I totally agree."

"So which Founder is Shy Sami going to be sent to?" I asked. .

"He'll be sent to Founder Mabel this time. Gilda and Rarity will be doing his training." Samantha responded.

"But why isn't Oliver doing it?" I questioned.

"Because he's married now. The same rule applies with that as it does when assigning teams." Samantha explained. "Since Oliver did it when you were on an outside of the Machine assignment, that disqualifies him from being Shy Sami's trainer. Although I think you'll get a chance to train with Oliver on this next person that needs to be broken out."

I titled my head. "Huh?"

"Hey Rainbow!" I heard Finn's voice from behind me.

I turned around to see that Finn had just stepped out of the portal and entered Samantha's realm and Oliver stepped out along with Shining Armor, Maud Pie and a young woman who didn't look familiar at all.

The young woman laughed, "In case you're wondering, my name is Agent Alice, but since I'm under Samantha, just call me Alice."

"Okay, Alice, nice to meet you." I said. "My name is-"

"Agent Rainbow Dash!" Alice said excitedly. "Or to be more correct since you're also under Samantha, Rainbow Dash, the element of Loyalty's bearer! Wow, I never thought I'd get a chance to meet one of the agents that escaped from AI's castle two years ago! I heard you're married to the other agent that escaped with you. Agent Oliver, you're both famous around the Sixth for doing damage to three of the gates too!"

"Yeah, unfortunately, AI's been able to repair them now." Finn growled. "It's funny though because it took over a year for AI to fix the 7th Gate that Agent Oliver did damage to. Me and the other Founders thought for sure, that after Agent Rainbow Dash practically destroyed gates eight and nine, that it would help speed up shutting down AI, but nope it didn't."

"Hey there, Loyalty!" Laugher said. When Laughter spoke, everyone jumped a foot in the air.

"Hey Laughter what's up?" Loyalty said cheerfully.

"Hey guys! I'm here too!" Kindness said.

Alice blinked at hearing Laughter, Loyalty and Kindness speak. "Uh, the elements of harmony can speak?"

"Um, yeah let's just say Loyalty started it." Kindness said. "Normally, us elements only talk to our connections, but Loyalty is not normal. It rubbed off on us, so the rest of us decided to start doing it too."

"Yup!" Loyalty cheered. "This is so awesome! Three elements working together this time."

Shining Armor chuckled, "Wow, you know something Rainbow? I'm glad to see you again, but I'd never thought I'd see you again. And married to a man on top of that. I thought you only dated mares last time I checked."

"Well, most of the time I did," I said. "But aren't you forgetting about my ex-boyfriend Soren before I got together with that nut Pinkie Pie?"

Shining Armor smiled. "Oh yeah, that's right! I did forget. I still can't believe you got together with somepony like Pinkie Pie after him."

Samantha cleared her throat before I could reply to Shining Armor. "Okay, let's get down to business. This is another breakout assignment and we need to get started as soon as possible. Gather around the cauldron and have a look at who this person looks like that you're supposed to be breaking out."

I looked inside the cauldron to see a woman that looked a little bit older than Samantha. Her skin was tan and she had orange hair. She was wearing a uniform that looked a lot like the ones you would wear when working for JJ Inc.

I looked at Samantha to see that she was grinning at me. "The woman's name is Iris and you'll be very surprised to see who she really is!"

I gasped when I saw the picture in the cauldron changed to show who Iris was before she got stuck inside AI. The person we were going to break out this time was none other than the one and only Spitfire!

"Is this a joke Samantha?" At this point, I was in shock by the fact we were going to break out Spitfire.

Samantha smiled and shook her head. "Nope, I'm not joking. Wow, Founder Finn, I didn't know you could actually be shocked about something. Aren't you guys usually informed when an original creature is tracked down?"

Finn picked his jaw off the ground and composed himself. "Actually, no, we're only informed when the original creature is broken out so we can send them to Phase 3. Unless I go on a breakout assignment myself. The other Founders do that sometimes too. It depends on who it is that needs to be broken out. A lot of times it's someone important like an element of harmony bearer. I never thought we'd actually be able to even begin to rescue another Wonderblot!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, "backup here! You don't mean to tell me that I'm still the only Wonderblot that's been broken out?"

Fin nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Well, that explains the shocked look on your face, Founder Finn." Samantha chuckled. "Now, your job assignments are as follows, Rainbow Dash, you'll be Iris's boss and your codename will be Eve. Of course, Founder Finn, you'll play the part of the therapist, which is the part you love to play from what I've heard."

Finn laughed, "Yup, you heard correctly, Predictor Samantha."

Samantha rolled her eyes and I could tell from the look on her face was thoroughly annoyed with Finn. Probably because he called her Predictor Samantha. "Founder Finn, I would appreciate it if you call me Samantha when you're working with me, okay? Gee, you're just as bad as Oliver and Gilda when they started working for me too. Anyway, Shining Armor, you'll be a coworker and Rainbow Dash's assistant. Maud Pie you'll be the coworker that's trying to be Iris's best friend, key word 'trying.' However, if you succeed like Pinkie Pie did with Rainbow Dash, then that just might speed up the process of sending Iris into Phase 1 and you know the rest. Oliver, you'll be a regular coworker along with Maud Pie. Last but not least, Alice you'll be playing the part of Finn's receptionist, your codename will be Thea. No Oliver, you won't have to throw paper balls in Iris's trash can. Iris is gay she isn't interested in men at all."

Upon hearing this, Oliver let out a sigh of relief and everyone laughed at his reaction. Finn was laughing the hardest.

"Yup, Laughter material for sure." Loyalty said. This made Finn laugh even harder.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm not throwing paper balls in her trash can either. Maud Pie can do that since she's going to 'try' to be her best friend and all."

"We'll," said Samantha, "it's time for you guys to go. The portal's right this way."

We followed Samantha to the portal, and we stepped out and it was surreal to be standing right in front of JJ Inc. The place where I worked before I got broken out of AI.

* * *

Spitfire's boss had just retired from JJ Inc., although from what I've heard the Sixth can hijack the system for AI to make things happen the way they want them to. So, the rest of the team and I had no problem taking over our assigned positions for the breakout job we're doing with Spitfire.

It was two weeks into the assignment and even though Maud Pie was trying her hardest to be friends with Spitfire, I thought that she was trying too hard.

On a usual work day, I was headed to my office, I paused and stayed around the corner. I stayed out of sight as much as I possibly could. I stopped because I saw Maud talking to Spitfire, it looked like she was getting to recite another of her rock poems.

Maud said in her usual monotone voice, "Hey Iris, you wanna hear a new poem I just wrote?"

I saw Spitfire speed up her walking so she could get away from Maud Pie as fast as she could. Unfortunately, Maud Pie set her sights on Spitfire and she was determined to recite her poem to her because speed up her walking to match Spitfire's pace.

Spitfire stopped walking and looked around for a possible exit, seeing that there was no exit she groaned. "Let me guess, it's about rocks isn't it?"

It was funny to me because Maud Pie tends to not show any emotion on her face and she was doing that now. "Yup…" Maud Pie trailed off when she started reciting her poem.

I bit my tongue as hard as I could, since I failed at holding in my laughter, I just walked in the other direction so they couldn't hear me. As I walked away I ran into Oliver and he had a grin on his face. "Listening to another Hannah and Iris conversation?"

I nodded. "Oh yeah, why do you think I'm walking the other direction?"

Oliver chuckled. That's because we were still in earshot of Maud Pie and Spitfires conversation. "Well I don't think walking in the other direction worked, I could hear you laughing from the other end of the hallway."

"It's too bad Finn's not here to hear this." I chuckled. "He would have a field day with this conversation."

Oliver nodded. "I agree with that."

"I'm glad Finn's not my therapist, there's no way I'm going through Phase 2 again," I said.

Oliver snorted. "I don't think that's possible. If you're already broken out, then you're out. The watches are just to help us to get to Phase 3. Once you get replaced with a virus then AI still thinks you're inside, so no worries."

"Well maybe Hannah should ask Iris out on a coffee date? That might work?" I said.

"Coffee date?" I heard Spitfire say.

Oliver and I turned around and smiled at Spitfire when we saw her.

"It's how Eve and I met," Oliver said.

"That's so cute, I know everyone knows I'm into women but if Hannah could take a hint that I don't like her like that, that would be great," Spitfire said.

I cracked up, "I don't think Hannah's interested in you like that. She's just trying to be your friend, that's all."

Spitfire gave me a skeptical look. "It sure doesn't look like it."

"She tries too hard when it comes down to making friends," I said. "I've known her for a while myself."

"Hannah's what you would call a 'special person'. " Oliver added.

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Yup, she's differently 'special' alright!"

This time I put my index finger in my mouth and bit it to keep myself from laughing at Spitfires reaction to Oliver calling Maud Pie a 'special person.'

When Spitfire left, I let out my laughter finally. I wiped the laughter tears from my eyes and noticed Oliver was laughing pretty hard too.

"I think Hannah's trying way too hard to be Iris's friend, huh Eve?" Oliver said after he stopped laughing.

"You can say that again!" I said.

After Oliver and I got our laughter out, we parted ways and went back to work.

15) The Firewall gets an Upgrade

{Jude}

I felt really puzzled today because of the latest request that AI gave to me. AI wanted me to give Firewall Eli a different job title. Firewall Eli's new title was going to be Royal Advisor Eli. His job duties would be to give me advice on what to do with AI's decisions and to keep the Mothers of the Mainframe in line. Of course, the Mothers of the Mainframe still had the duty to notify Firewall Eli when it was time for the Feeding Ritual.

Lovely, I thought when it was said that Firewall Eli would have to do the Feeding Ritual, of course he would have to do the Feeding Ritual too. Although that shouldn't surprise me because he's going to become a member of the royal family.

The thing that made me laugh at AI's latest request was that after Firewall Eli became Royal Advisor Eli he would be the first guy to work on the Mainframe along with the Mothers. He would replace First Mother sometime in the future; when that happened, he would become First Father of the Mainframe.

Thankfully, AI kept disagreeing with Lifeforce Princess Twilight's demand to be a co-ruler with me. AI put a ban on her demanding that request. That worked for me just fine.

At AI's urging for me to fulfill its request, I finally summoned Firewall Eli to the computer room instead of the throne room like I normally do.

"You wanted to see me, your highness?" Firewall Eli with a confused look.

I nodded. "Yes, because of AI's recent decision that's asked of me to do with you."

Firewall Eli raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

"Apparently, AI wants me to give you a new job title," I said. "AI wants me to upgrade you from Firewall to Royal Advisor."

Firewall Eli gave me a look of disbelief. He looked like he was going to say something because he opened his mouth and then shut it.

I smiled. "Yeah, I know. I felt the same way when AI made this request. No, this isn't a joke. Starting today, your name isn't Firewall Eli anymore; it will be Royal Advisor Eli. Since you'll be working closely with me, just call me Jude instead of Lord Jude. I'll just call you Eli instead of Royal Advisor Eli. But I still request that you follow Agent Rainbow Dash around on her assignments to keep an eye on her out of control partial sonic rainbooms. When I'm out on my days off and when I'm going through the Feeding Ritual, you will be taking over my duties until I get back to work. "

When I told Eli about his new job duties, his eyes went wide, he gulped and nodded.

"I know it's a lot to take in," I said. "I felt the same way when I finished my transformation and began ruling as the ruler of AI. Now, could you please hand over your Firewall gear so I can give your Royal Advisor gear?"

Eli nodded and did as he was told. It was amazing that once Eli was given his updated gear, his outfit changed dramatically. Eli was now wearing a gray suit jacket that went to his knees. He was wearing a tan shirt and gray pants. He had black dress shoes, and he had black tinted glasses. Around Eli's forehead was a rose gold band, similar to the gold band I had around my forehead when I was on the job. Only his band said the letters "RA" on it.

I was really impressed by the transformation that AI gave to Eli. Eli looked confused and dazed by what had just happened. I'm going to assume that Eli thought he was dreaming, and I don't blame him for that.

"Huh," I said, "I'm impressed by what AI has done with you, Eli."

"Ah..." Eli said.

I chuckled, "Here."

I got to a nearby mirror, and pushed it in front of him, when Eli saw what he looked like, his jaw dropped. This reaction amused me for some reason.

"Okay," said Eli, "now what?"

AI also wanted me to give Eli a tablet that would help him do his job. His tablet had a list on it that showed him duties that he would have to take care of. Eli looked confused when he saw that he had to do the Feeding Ritual. "Uh Jude?"

"Yes?" I said, knowing what Eli was going to ask next.

"What's the Feeding Ritual?" Eli asked.

"Good question," I replied. "It's what AI does to feed the ones that work at the castle to keep it running properly. It's a painful process, and you'll be out of commission for a while after it. For you, it will take six hours to do so, and you'll probably be out of commission for a day. My Feeding Ritual however, lasts for fifteen hours, and it puts me out of commission for two days."

I hated explaining what the Feeding Ritual was to Eli. He had a horrified look on his face after I did. He looked at his tablet and gulped. "It looks like my first Feeding Ritual is in two days."

"Seriously AI?" I growled. "You just gave Eli an upgraded position just to torture him right off the bat? Why is this just as bad as when the Sixth decided to have Rainbow Dash make her first appearance outside of AI at the gates lovely! Perfect! Just perfect!"

I was trying to keep my anger at a minimum because of the fact that Eli had to do the Feeding Ritual right off the bat. But I didn't think that was possible because Eli looked horrified.

"Uh, Jude?" Eli said with caution. "Could you please calm down? You're scaring me."

When Eli said that it helped me snap out of my anger. I sighed and then smiled with the realization that Eli was going to be First Mother's new boss. I laughed, "You know something, Eli? I can't wait to hear about First Mother's reaction to the fact that you're her new boss now. That's awesome, the Firewall gets the upgrade to Royal Advisor and is now First Mother's new boss! Oh, that's rich!"

Eli tilted his head. "Um, who is First Mother?"

"Oh, she's one of the Mothers of the Mainframe," I explained, "she's an annoying old hag who's the lead Mother of the Mainframe. She used to hate Rainbow Dash with a passion and wanted me to turn her into a threat to AI for the longest time. First Mother appears to have changed her mind about Rainbow Dash, and it's creeping me out. She's been making unannounced visits to the computer room when I'm trying to work and it's getting on my nerves!"

"I heard that Lord Jude!" First Mother growled.

I groaned when I saw her. "Well if it isn't the annoying old hag herself. It's so nice to see you again, First Mother."

First Mother paused when she saw Eli and smiled at him. I could tell by the look on Eli's that it made him uncomfortable because it looked like she was flirting with him. I don't blame him. Eli also looked like he wasn't sure what to do in the presence of First Mother now, even if he was her new boss.

"I do believe the Firewall is supposed to bow to me!" First Mother scolded.

"Oh no he won't, First Mother!" I snapped.

"And why not?" First Mother asked.

I snorted. "In case you didn't notice, he looks different now, doesn't he?"

"Okay." First Mother's reaction to Eli's new look was priceless. She looked confused. "I see that the Firewall looks more handsome than he was before. What's your point Lord Jude?"

I almost felt sorry for Eli because he looked like he just threw up in his mouth at the very thought of First Mother hitting on him.

I burst into laughter when I turned my attention back to First Mother. "First Mother, meet your new boss, Royal Advisor Eli."

I tried so hard to regain my composure when First Mother's jaw dropped so low that I bet she was tasting the ground at the moment. "What?! When did this happen?"

I smiled a wicked smile. "Just now and he will be notifying me when my Feeding Rituals are from now on. He will also be keeping you from making unannounced visits to the computer room. You won't be getting in here without him saying so. Oh and he'll be communicating directly with AI which is what you were supposed to be doing until now instead of bugging me all the time."

At this point keeping my composure was proving very difficult because of First Mother's reaction to the news about her new boss.

"So, Royal Advisor Eli, it's time for you to start your new job. Please escort First Mother out of the computer room," Once again I almost felt sorry for Eli because I tell by the look on his face that he didn't like this change of events. But I knew with time he would get used to it. This is what AI has decided for him and I can't change it.

Eli took a deep breath and after letting it out he said, "Uh, First Mother? Come with me."

"Oh and one more thing First Mother," I said. "No flirting with your new boss. I don't think he's interested."

After I saw First Mother walk out the door with Eli, I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I laughed so hard I fell out of my chair and was on the ground rolling on my stomach in laughter.

* * *

I dreaded the day when it was time for Eli's Feeding Ritual. The pit in my stomach felt as bad as when I found out that Ivy had to do the Feeding Ritual too. For some reason AI loves to torture its workers. I felt it was best to go with Eli to his first Feeding Ritual. Mostly for moral support like I did with Ivy when I found out she had to do it.

Once we got to the Feeding Ritual chamber, Eli stopped short and stared at it in horror. "AI wants me to go in there?"

I sighed, "Unfortunately yes Eli, this isn't going to be pleasant but sooner or later, you get used to it."

Eli gulped and then entered the chamber. Once Eli was inside, First Mother looked at me. "You want to start the first one or do you want me to do it?"

I hesitated at first but then I said, "Sure. I'll do it."

I looked at the button that would lower the chamber wall down on Eli and start the Feeding Ritual. I took a deep breath and pressed the button. For some reason AI loves to make all of its rooms soundproof and it made the Feeding Ritual chamber soundproof too. That way no one can hear the screams of the person that was inside.

I sat down on a nearby chair waiting for Eli's Feeding Ritual to be done. Once it was done and Eli stepped out of the chamber, he looked like he had got the crap beaten out of him. He wasn't going to be happy when he woke up, that's for sure. I ran up to him and caught him before he fell over. He looked like he was sleeping as I held him in my arms, but I knew that wasn't the case. He passed out because of the pain from the Feeding Ritual.

I cringed when I looked over at First Mother to see her giving Eli a flirting smile. "Would you stop looking at him like that First Mother?"

"What?" First Mother said. "I was just admiring how cute Royal Advisor Eli looks when he's sleeping, that's all."

That statement made me gag, "Yuck! A centuries old woman liking a guy that's old enough to be my brother! I don't think he's interested! Again, yuck!"

"Excuse me, like I would date a guy that young," First Mother said and I could tell by the look on her face she was lying. "If I were a hundred years younger then maybe. But since I'm not, then no thankyou."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Uh-huh sure you don't Eli alright. I can tell by the look on your face that you're lying."

"Okay fine," said First Mother. "I'll drop it."

"Good!" I snapped.

I didn't like the look that First Mother kept giving Eli. I turned around and walked away as quickly as I could, still carrying Eli in my arms. As I walked away, I was trying my best to shield Eli from First Mother's prying eyes.

* * *

{Eli}

When I finally woke up from doing my first Feeding Ritual, I felt like I had been beaten up by a dozen agents from the Sixth all at once. Actually it felt like more than a dozen, more like getting beaten up by every single agent of the Sixth at once. I looked over to see what Jude calls the ugly old hag First Mother staring at me.

She was giving me a flirting look and that made me want to gag.

"Boy you're awfully cute when you're sleeping, Royal Advisor Eli," First Mother gushed.

The look First Mother was giving was unsettling big time. I really didn't like the fact that an ugly woman like her was hitting on me. "Okay?"

I tried to sit up but the pain I felt in just trying to do that made it so that I had to lay back down. Yup, I feel like I fought every single agent of the Sixth all at once.

First Mother's look went from flirting to concern. "I wouldn't try moving around so much or the pain will be worse if you do."

"What I want to know is why are you in my room watching me sleep?" I asked.

First Mother blushed and looked away. "Oh well, I wanted to help out that's all."

"You know what First Mother," I said, "I'm not interested. Now could you please get out of my room and send a servant to help me instead?"

First Mother gasped and looked offended at my request. "Well I never! Okay fine, I'll send in Servant Milo to help you instead."

I let out a sigh or relief, "Good."

As soon as Servant Milo came in and took First Mother's place in helping me, I felt relieved and hoped that First Mother wouldn't come back.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

I had gotten back to my original assignment and I was sitting in the breakroom, when someone came and sat down beside me. I looked over startled to see it was Eli and he seemed really annoyed about something.

"I knew you were following me around!" I exclaimed.

Eli bit his tongue and I knew he wanted to say something rude. I suspected that something else was bothering him. So for the first time ever, I felt concerned for him. "What's wrong Eli?"

Eli looked puzzled that I was concerned about him. "You're concerned about me?"

"Well yeah," I responded, "you're not being your usual annoying self, what's up?"

"Apparently, AI has decided to upgrade me from Firewall to Royal Advisor now," Eli said.

I didn't believe a word I just heard. "What? Seriously?"

Eli nodded. "Yeah seriously."

Eli rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal a rose gold bracelet with the letters RA on it. I looked at it in curiosity.

"For some reason," said Eli, "AI decided to make these bands to label the ones that are higher up in the food chain so to speak. Even the Lord and Lady have one. Mine turns into a headband around my forehead when I'm summoned."

I smiled. "Wow, that must be an honor for you to be a Royal Advisor now."

"Yeah and I can do without that ugly old hag First Mother hitting on me and showing up in my bedroom to watch me sleep," Eli said. Judging by the tone of his voice he wasn't too thrilled about getting a job promotion.

I snorted. "Tell me, does she have an engagement ring that she so desperately wants you to take?"

"Not yet," replied Eli, "and let's hope that doesn't happen. I don't know why she would even think that I would be interested in a grandma like her."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing at that idea and Eli joined in on the laughter.

"Yes Royal Advisor Eli, I just want to help out by watching you sleep," Eli joked sarcastically. "Yeah take a picture, it'll last longer Grandma."

This was rich, the very idea of someone that was old enough to be Eli's grandma was hitting him didn't stop my laughter at all. It just made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes. I didn't stop laughing until I saw Gilda enter the room. My smile turned into a frown as I glared at her.

"What?" Gilda growled. "I came to see what the laughter was about."

"That's none of your business," I snapped. "If you come near me, I won't hesitate to take another apple and use you as target practice!"

"Target practice?" Discord said. I turned around and smiled when I saw he had a mischievous look on his face. "Are you going to have another apple food fight again? Can I play?"

I smiled wickedly. "Sure Gary," I tossed an apple to Discord and he caught it. "Knock yourself out."

Discord smiled a mischievous smile and chucked the apple I gave him at Gilda.

"Hey!" Gilda said and stepped aside to dodge it. What happened next shocked Gilda, Eli and me but for some reason, Discord didn't seem too bothered by it.

Instead of the apple going splat on the ground like a normal apple would, a small vase with a tiny apple tree appeared. Discord looked at it with curiosity. "Huh, I didn't know that could happen just by throwing an apple on the ground."

"Uh, Gary?" I said. "Apples don't normally do that."

Discord nodded. "I see. Well maybe I can use this trick for my next magic show? Pull an apple tree out of a hat! Now that's something you don't see everyday!"

Discord grabbed the apple tree and once he touched it, it turned back to a normal apple. This puzzled Discord at first. "Huh," He shrugged. "Oh well, I was hungry anyway."

Discord took the apple and ate it in two bites. Discord burped and said, "That was delicious! My compliments to the chef! Thanks for lunch Nancy!"

After Discord left, Gilda deadpanned, "Yup, you don't see that everyday."

I gasped. "If we breakout Discord soon, that would be a record! We've only been here for a couple of months! I wonder if improv food fights are causing Discord to start getting trigger responses already?"

"Well I guess it's a good thing that Maya finds our food fights hilarious," said Gilda. "If Discord does get broken out of the Machine soon-"

"It's called AI," I interrupted.

"Yeah sure," said Gilda, "I don't see the harm in doing food fights if it works. But what I don't like is being the intended target. I think you should be the target next time Nancy."

I snorted. "I'm not sure if that's going to happen Sia. That's going to be up to Discord."

Eli paused. "Wait a second, that Gary fella is Discord?"

I nodded. "Yup and he's one of the creatures I wish would stay inside AI."

Eli tilted his head. "Why?"

"You don't want to know," I said. "Let's just say he was a very interesting and annoying character back in Equestria."

"I know you want to leave Discord inside AI," said Gilda, "but we still have a job to do."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah I know."

With that, we ended our lunch break and went back to work.