I am Jude

{Jude}

When I opened my eyes, I heard an alarm going off. I looked around in horror to see I was back in the computer room back at AI. My eyes went wide in horror and my blood went cold as I looked at the main computer and the words lit up in capital letters: IMMEDIATE EXECUTION REQUIRED!

"No! I'm not doing it!" I screamed. "You can't make me!"

AI tied me to a chair that was in the execution room. Standing in front of me was a copy of myself in front of the button that would lower the execution chamber. The copy of me put a finger to his mouth and said, "Sssssh. Just watch Jude, it's all part of the job."

"NO! DON'T! DON'T! DON'T DO IT!" I kept screaming. I didn't see who was being executed and I didn't care. I just wanted this to stop. Once the execution chamber was lowered, I woke up relieved to see that it was a dream. Even though the reality was that AI was gone, but to me it didn't feel like it.

* * *

{Ivy}

My eyes snapped open as soon as I felt Jude sit up. I looked at him to see he didn't look good. He looked like he had seen a ghost or worse.

Yesterday night was Nightmare Night and Jude had come out of his room to celebrate. With his condition, I'm wondering if that was a good idea. He can't stay in his room forever, fresh air does the mind good every once and a while. I know Jude doesn't like it when you show some sort of sympathy towards him. I suspect that it's because of some sort of trauma that the stupid Machine put him through. I turned around and sat at the edge of the bed so he wouldn't see the emotion on my face.

Jude exhaled slowly, "It's okay Ivy, it was just a dream."

"Are you sure about that Jude?" I said, still not facing him.

"Come here," Jude said. He pulled me into his arms and held me.

"You know if you talk about it, you'll feel better right?" I said.

Jude shook his head. "No, it's my burden to bear, not yours."

"It's not so much about bearing a burden," I objected. "It's about taking care of your health. Just like I told Eli, you can't help anyone if you can't help yourself."

I could tell by the way Jude was acting, it looked like he was debating about telling me what he was thinking. I wasn't expecting him to tell me anything. He shocked me when he started to tell me what he was thinking. I felt relief and happiness that he was finally opening up to me.

* * *

{Jude}

It was another night of another night of Eli holding me and being very overprotective of me as usual. Eli was trying to push me to my limit with his orgasm spell. I knew that's what he was doing because I could hear his thoughts. Finally, after a while I passed out and went to sleep.

My dream started out like every other nightmare I've had before. I was running in slow motion from something more than likely a copy of myself going to tie me to a chair to make me do another execution. This time I stopped running and when I turned around to see the head of the seekers, The Head Seeker Gabriel, with what he seems to think is a sinister smile. His smile didn't scare me at all. I've seen it many times. Why I was seeing him this time and not a copy of myself puzzled me.

I paused. "Okay, why are you here and not Lord Jude?"

The Head Seeker Gabriel laughed wickedly, "Wow Firewall Jude, looks like the Lord and Lady are going to have to reprogram you. They're upset with you for not doing your job. I can see you have lost your mind! You might be friends with Lord Eli and Lady Milo but they aren't too happy with you and you are coming with me."

"Okay fine, I'll do another-" I paused. "Wait, did you just say Lord Eli and Lady Milo? And I'm Firewall Jude?"

The Head Seeker Gabriel looked confused, "Yes, and you're not terrified because?"

"Am I supposed to be terrified?" I asked. "Would Lady Milo be pregnant by chance?"

The Head Seeker Gabriel nodded. "Yes, she's almost due."

I snorted. "Well, send her my congratulations please. Am I up for elimination?"

The Head Seeker Gabriel shook his head. "I'm not sure about that Firewall Jude. No matter, Lord Eli wants to have you back to AI's castle immediately!"

He took out what looked like a stunner which was something I would give him to bring someone important that AI wanted to be taken care of. It was the same thing I used on Rainbow Dash and Oliver when I wanted to bring them to AI's castle so I could meet them finally. He looked super confused when he saw I was overjoyed by the fact that I was a Firewall and this was being used on me. "You're looking way too happy to have a stunner put in you."

I nodded. "Yup! Go ahead, put me out of my misery."

I was laughing as The Head Seeker Gabriel put the stunner in me. My laughter was what woke me up.

* * *

"Uh, Jude?" Eli said. "What are you laughing about?"

I laughed when I saw Eli with a confused look on his face. "Oh please Lord Eli, call me Firewall Jude will you? And send my congrats to Lady Milo on her pregnancy. Tell me, are you two having a boy or a girl?"

"Okay, I think I overdid it with my spell this time," Eli said. "Are you okay Jude?"

"I'm more than okay Eli," I said, "for once I wasn't Lord Jude doing an execution for AI. This time I was Firewall Jude! You were Lord Eli and Milo was Lady Milo."

I laughed as Eli checked me to see if I had a fever. He gave me a wary look. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine Eli," I said, "that was the best dream I've had all year!"

Eli chuckled, "Well then, I guess I should do this more often if it'll help you sleep. Ivy did say you're calm after sex. Of course you've been calm after I do this spell anyway. If it helps you have a good dream, that's a bonus."

"Yup," I teased, "thank you so much Lord Eli. You didn't answer my question, are you and Lady Milo having a boy or a girl?"

"Okay, okay you got me," said Eli, "although I should probably do some research to see if I could get Milo pregnant. It might just keep him from getting on top of me for a while. I know he's trying to get me to sleep more, but my goodness!"

I smiled. "I wouldn't count on that. Ivy's sex drive seemed to go higher after she got pregnant up until two weeks before her due date."

Eli deadpanned, "Yeah, nevermind."

Before Eli could say anything else, I pulled him into my arms and kissed him. We started making out. As we were making out I debated about having sex with him but I decided not to.

Eli let go of me and sighed, "Do you know how badly you're torturing me? I'm trying to keep my self-control here."

"I know, I haven't decided yet," I said. "I guess every time I think about it, it makes me nervous. I don't think I'm not ready for it yet."

Eli nodded. "I understand. It has to be your choice and not mine, although I am tempted."

"Just hold me for now okay?" I said.

"Sure," Eli said.

Eli laid on his back and I put my head on his chest. I fell asleep and slept soundly through the night.

* * *

The next day Oliver surprised me by calling me out of my room to the training area.

"Okay Jude," said Oliver, "I think it's time for your life to go back to normal. You can't stay in your room forever. Now if that burn on your arm starts acting up again, the training will stop, got it?"

I nodded. "Yes dad."

"Let's begin," Oliver said.

We started the fight and everything was going fine until the burn on my arm started acting up and one of Oliver's shields grazed my shoulder. I couldn't hide the pain no matter how much I tried. I sank to my knees and grabbed my arm. Oliver put his shields away and with some effort I put my swords away. Oliver gave me a look of concern.

Great, I was already The Boy Lord Jude back at AI, I thought, I'm not about to be The Boy Prince Jude here.

"Jude I know you're hurt and you think you can deal with this on your own-" Oliver started.

"No!" I shrieked. "I'm not going to let it happen again! I'm about to become The Boy Prince Jude here. I'm not a child, so drop it, I'm fine!"

Oliver groaned, "Jude, you know we don't think of you that way and we never will. You're loved and respected here. Just admit that you're hurt and we can help you."

Oliver went to help me get to my feet, but I pushed him away. "NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Oliver looked at me with concern but he backed away. I didn't want to be around him even though I knew he was trying to help. I teleported back to my room and locked the door when I got there.

As soon as I got to my room, I laid down on the bed face first and started to cry. Then I heard my imaginary best friend Logan's voice, "Oh Jude, why is my vessel crying?"

I snarled. "I'm not your vessel and you're not real! My magic is out of control and I'm not explaining things to my imagination."

Logan gave me a sinister and wicked laugh, "I'm not real huh? Seriously Jude? I gave you a wound that put you out for more than a week. How many wounds do I have to inflict on you before you acknowledge that I'm real?"

"Because you're not real and I don't know why I even bother to talk to my imagination," I snapped.

Logan laughed diabolically, I wasn't scared, I was annoyed with it because I've heard this type of laugh time and time again back at AI. "Wow, you really think that type of laugh is going to scare me? I've seen that type of laugh before and quite frankly hearing it again from my imagination is really annoying!"

Logan grinned. "It's too bad I can't see your memories. I would love to see how many times you've heard this type of laugh. I also like to know what this AI is. Oh well, looks like I'll have to do some damage to you again. Let's see here…"

I felt something prick my right cheek and the feeling ran all the way to my ear. I touched it and looked down at my finger to something that looked like black ink on it. "What the hell?"

"Hmm, this is what I like to call the black ink wound," said Logan, "it's my favorite wound to inflict on my vessels if the burn doesn't work. It usually forces them to acknowledge my existence by driving them into madness because of the pain. When this wound starts to act up, it blinds them. Since the burn didn't work, this one should do the trick."

With that, Logan disappeared and now I was angry. I have never felt this angry before. I was so angry that my mind went blank.

* * *

{Eli}

I knew Jude was going to be pissed if that burn on his arm started acting up during training. The burn did act up and it almost killed him during practice. He's definitely Rainbow Dash's son alright.

Ivy frowned. "Any idea of where he went?"

"Good thing I can sense where Jude teleports to and he went to his room," I said.

"Great and more than likely he's locked the door," Ivy said.

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt a locked door can keep us out, we have magic, duh!"

"Oh. Right," Ivy said.

"We'd better go find him," said Oliver, "I know he doesn't want help, but if that burn keeps getting worse, we might have to put him in the hospital."

"Well let's go," I said.

* * *

As soon as we rounded the corner to Jude's room, Ivy paused and had a look of horror on her face. "Oh boy! I've sensed Jude's anger before, but not at this level!"

I looked at the room to see that the door was shaking. All of the sudden the door busted open and a huge gust of wind followed. I heard Jude roar like a demon. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Jude's a demon himself."

"Logan's NOT. REAL!" Jude roared.

"Um…" Oliver said. "What do we do now?"

I thought about a spell Princess Luna taught me to help calm a person down so it'll make it easier to pull a demon out of them. "I think I know what might help. It's not much, but it's worth a try."

I focused my magic on Jude and the wind from his magic calmed down. I looked at Jude in terror when I saw his eyes were red like a demon's eyes. As soon as Jude was at least under control Oliver used his magic to summon a rope and tied Jude up with it. Ivy tried to put Jude under her magic to calm him down, but he refused her help.

Wow, I thought, Ivy said he could break out of her magic and she wasn't kidding!

Jude looked like a caged animal trying to break free of Oliver's rope. Oliver frowned. "I'm not sure if the rope will hold him much longer. We might need to try something different."

"Maybe Rainbow Dash can help?" I suggested. "She is an Alicorn and a double bearer of the elements of harmony."

Oliver nodded. "That just might work. I'll go get her."

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

As soon as I heard what happened to Jude, I went to his room to see that Oliver had Jude tied to a chair with a rope. I looked in horror as I clearly saw Jude was angry and his eyes were red like a demon's eyes.

I gulped, "What happened?"

"Jude got upset during training," answered Oliver, "the burn on his arm started acting up. He said something about he's not going to become The Boy Prince Jude."

Ivy groaned, "Uh-oh not this crap again!"

I tilted my head, "What are you talking about Ivy?"

"It's those stupid Mothers of the Mainframes fault!" Ivy growled. "Back at AI the Mothers of the Mainframe had nothing but contempt for Jude. Their official title for him was The Boy Lord Jude. The wounds that he got from the Feeding Rituals gave them an out to show their contempt for him even more. They were pissed that AI decided it wanted Jude to rule over it and not them. Especially that awful bitch First Mother!"

"I don't understand, he's not ruling over a country like I am," I said. "He's just part of the Royal Family. Does he think we're going to like down on him because he's a Prince? Because he should know that's not the case."

Ivy sighed, "I know that's exactly what I've been telling him. Those stupid Mothers have traumatized him by this. His flashbacks add to this problem also. The Machine might be gone but to him it's like it was never shut down. It's almost like he's trapped in the past."

"I see." I said. I paused when I saw that Jude had been injured again. There was a cut on his right cheek and I saw black ink coming from it instead of blood. I pointed a hoof at the cut. "How in the hell did he get injured?"

"One word," Eli replied, "Logan."

"You've got to be kidding me!" I said. I did a facehoof and groaned. "Logan's really trying hard to get Jude to acknowledge his existence."

"Logan's NOT. REAL!" Jude roared.

"Nevermind, I stand corrected," I said, "there's got to be something we can do to help."

"NO HELPING!" Jude roared.

"Oh yeah Jude's your child alright Rainbow," said Oliver. "Remember when you wanted to walk back to the Sixth after you got hit by the Copper? You didn't want to accept that you're a pegasus named Rainbow Dash."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, you got me and now I'm an Alicorn, yay…"

Ivy, Eli and Oliver snickered at my response.

Think Rainbow, think. I thought. Then I thought about Discord because he has chaos magic.

"That's it!" I exclaimed.

"What's it?" Oliver asked.

"Discord had chaos magic," I said, "his magic is just as strong as Jude's is. Maybe he can help snap Jude out of this? I'm not sure if he can help Jude control his magic though."

Oliver nodded. "Well, it's worth a try."

* * *

When Discord came he examined Jude and the cut on his face. I had already told him about the demon god named Logan that's possessing Jude and about his out of control magic.

"Hmm," said Discord, "I think I have a remedy to help calm Jude down. Maybe I can also help him control his magic by teaching him techniques to help with that. I could also strengthen the control spell that Princess Celestia put on his crown."

Discord smiled and snapped his claw and pulled out of thin air a hat that you would use when you're doing a magic show.

I groaned, "Seriously Discord? A magic show? Really!"

Discord shook his head. "Oh no, no, no, no, it's what's inside the hat that will help."

I paused. "Huh?"

Discord rolled his eyes. "Remember that bunny I got when I threw a frisbee up against a wall, back when I was stuck inside that Machine?"

I looked over to see Eli trying so hard not to laugh. However, Ivy looked completely confused.

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Eli laughed. "We've got a bunny on the loose!"

Oliver chuckled, "And I said are you serious?"

"Yup, I'm totally serious," Eli joked, "we got a bunny on the loose and it's hopping towards the baler area!"

"Yup, I couldn't resist chasing it down," said Discord, "and I caught it. So without further ado, say hello to Bunny-Na!"

Discord pulled a white bunny out of the hat that reminded me of Fluttershy's pet bunny Angel. He took Bunny-Na and put him on Jude's lap. The bunny looked adorable as it rubbed its head up against Jude's chest. The strangest thing is Jude's eyes turned back to normal. Jude looked down at Bunny-Na and looked puzzled by it. "Why is there a bunny sitting on my lap?"

"Well, you turned into a demon psychopath," I explained, "and we had to figure out some way to help you calm down. It seems Discord's pet bunny that he named Bunny-Na did the trick. Let me tell you something Jude, you will never be known as The Boy Prince Jude around here. None of us have contempt for you. You're Prince Jude to those of the Royal Family and to me you're Jude. You're my son and I love you. All of us love you, okay?"

Jude looked away. "You told them about that Ivy?"

Ivy nodded. "Well yes, how else was I going to get you to see that the Mothers aren't here?"

Jude sighed, "It still feels like they're here. I feel that one day I'm going to come around the corner and see that ugly old hag, First Mother."

"Yeah I've never been so happy to know someone like, First Mother is dead this much before too," Eli said.

Discord's jaw dropped. "Wow."

Discord went over to Bunny-Na and tried to put him back inside the hat but Bunny-Na refused to go with him.

"Interesting," said Discord, "it seems that Bunny-Na wants to stay with Prince Jude."

Jude paused and smiled, "Wait a minute! The bunny's name is Bunny-Na?"

"What? I think that's the perfect name for him, don't you agree?" Discord said.

Jude snorted. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Hmm, well I guess I'll let Bunny-Na stay with you," Discord said.

Jude gave him a wary look. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean what if I get angry and kill him by accident?"

Discord smiled. "In seeing that he snapped you out of a demon rampage, I think he'll be safe with you. Besides, bunnies have magic to protect themselves from a psycho rampaging demon, so yeah I think he'll be fine with you."

Discord looked at the cut on Jude's cheek and gently touched it. Jude howled in pain, "That's another reason why I don't like people helping me!"

"Sorry Prince Jude," Discord apologized.

"It hurts!" Jude cried.

I frowned when I saw Jude's eye twitching because of the pain. All Discord did was lightly touch the cut. Discord seemed puzzled by Jude's reaction. "Hmm, I've never seen magic like this before. It feels awfully strange and dark. The fact that black ink is coming from it instead of blood is very strange indeed. Any idea of how this happened Prince Jude?"

"My magic is out of control and that's how this happened," Jude replied.

I could tell by the look on his face he was still in denial about what was really happening to him. That was still a good thing because it'll make it harder for Logan to take over him. I also had a feeling that the wound was from Logan.

Don't think or say a word… Eli cautioned in his thoughts.

Okay fine, I thought, I'm not saying anything.

Even though I really wanted to say something, I kept my mouth and my thoughts shut.