//------------------------------// // 2) Static vision and My Answer to the Watch Question // Story: Equestria and the Machine // by SapphireRose87 //------------------------------// Later that night, I was woken up by Jude crying. I went downstairs to see Lyra holding him.  “How long have you been here?” I said. “About a half hour after Oliver and Clara put you to bed.” Lyra said. “Oh, and your car is back.” “Thanks for doing this,” I said, “but I’m fine.” Lyra tilted her head, “You don’t look fine, I can’t stay if need be.” I shook my head, “No Lyra, I’m good.”  “Okay,” Lyra said, “I’ll see you tomorrow!” Lyra put Jude in his crib and he was sound asleep. *    *    * That weekend, I asked Lyra to babysit for me. The reason is because one of my favorite things to do was go rock climbing. The cliff that I was trying to climb is five hundred feet up in the air and the cliff was 30 minutes away from home.  I always take certain safety measures like having a harness and a grappling hook and a parachute just in case I needed it. The reason why I do this is because I keep thinking that I need to get back home to my baby at the end of the day. I started climbing at the bottom of the cliff and my goal was always to get to the top of the cliff and take the trail back down. I had this goal because a lot of times I only made it about a fourth of the way up before I had to go back down and that always irritated me. When I got to the bottom of the cliff I looked up and smiled. I love doing dangerous things like this!  Sometimes I wonder if I should just let myself fall on purpose! But at the end of the day I still have a baby to get to! I jumped two feet in the air and put my foot in the first foothold. I got about one hundred feet up the cliff when I missed the next foothold. Damn it! I’m starting to fall! Plan A safety measure is up first! I took the extra rope that I had on my pocket and lassoed it above me. It was a move that Lilith had taught me when I first started rock climbing. The rope caught onto the next foothold above me and I let out a sigh of relief. That was close! The lower part of the rope tore and fell to the bottom of the cliff. Damn it! So much for that safety measure! Okay, it’s time for Plan B! Before I could put the grappling hook into place, the rope from my harness tore and I started to fall. Well, I always wanted to fall, but now isn’t the right time for it! I have to get back to Jude! I was trying to get the safety measure Plan C into place which would be the parachute. But for some reason, the rope was stuck on it. I’m screwed! This is the end! I was about fifty feet towards the bottom when I felt someone catch me. After I was caught I passed out because of fear. *    *    * When I started waking up, I heard Oliver’s voice. “Rainbow Dash!” Oliver shouted. “Rainbow Dash, wake up!” I felt a slap on the face. “Ow!” I said. “What the hell was that for?” “Are you nuts?” Clara said. “Do you really think it’s a good time for rock climbing right now?” “I’m not a damsel in distress you know!” I said. “And my name’s not Rainbow Dash!” “Actually,” said Oliver, “you were a damsel in distress back there. You almost killed yourself!” “How did you guys know I was here?” I said. “Oh, that,” said Clara, “we were also doing rock climbing! We just do it on the other side of the cliff.” “Yeah,” I said, “I don’t need to be rescued!” “Right now,” said Clara, “you do! In case you didn’t notice, you just passed out at work!” “And?” I said. “Your point?” “If that happens again,” said Clara, “you’re going to be in real trouble!” “Look guys,” I said, “I know you’re concerned and everything but just give me some space! I’m not a baby!” Clara then looked behind me with a worried look on her face. “We need to get out of here!” Clara said. “Now!” “What?” I said. “What’s wrong?” “Damn it!” Oliver said. “It’s the seekers!” “Seekers!” I said. “What in the world are those?” I heard a loud bang and something whizzed past my ear. “I knew they were going to come after her sooner or later!” Clara said. “Well, she is an element of harmony,” said Oliver, “we need to get her out of here! We can’t let her get eliminated before she goes through Phase 2!” “Yeah, provided she chose the right watch!” Clara said. “If she goes back into the Machine, the element of loyalty is history!” “We shouldn’t be talking about that right now!” Oliver said. “Now would be a good time to run!” “The target is on site!” I heard a voice say. “We must eliminate the element of loyalty! This one will not get away like all of the others!” “I can’t run!” I said. “I have to get back to Jude!” “No Judy,” said Clara, “we can’t go to your house! That’s the first place the seekers would look!” “Where are we going?” I said. “In here!” Oliver said. Oliver then took out a small button that looked like a doorbell. He then tossed the button in the air and it stuck into an invisible door. Oliver pressed the button and a door opened as if it were a secret passageway. My jaw dropped, “Uhhh, how did you do that?” “No time for questions!” Clara said and then she pushed me into the door before I could say another word. *    *    * The door led to another room that looked just like a living room. To my right was a tan leather couch and on the left was what looked like the exact same couch. In the middle of the was a fireplace and above it was a flatscreen Tv. I could see down the hallway and I saw that there was a spiral staircase leading upstairs. Once we were in the room, Oliver and Clara paused to catch their breath. “We should be safe for now!” Clara said. “Yeah,” said Oliver, “that is until they get a whiff of our location!” “She looks confused,” said Clara, “but we can’t explain anything until she gets through Phase 2!” “So what do we do now?” Oliver said. “Well, Finn gave us the go ahead to speed up the process!” Clara said. “I think now would be the perfect time to do that!” “Uh-huh,” said Oliver, “you sure about that?” “Yes, I’m sure!” Clara said. I couldn’t react fast enough because Clara pushed me towards Oliver and he kissed me. *    *    * After the kiss with Oliver the static vision returned but it was more intense this time. In the static vision I saw a shadow of a person in the middle of it. “Judy,” said Oliver, “what are you seeing?” “Is Clara with you still?” I said. “She’s right here,” said Oliver, ‘she can’t talk to you right now, since I’m the one that sped up the process!” “Sped up what process?” I said. “For what?” “To launch you into Phase 2!” Oliver said. “I really hope you’ll be okay.” “I’m not following you,” I said, “at all!” “Good,” said Oliver, “you’re not supposed to just yet!” “So exactly,” I said, “how did you speed up the process?” “It’s a little thing, called love….” Oliver said. *    *    * As I was trying to process what had been said to me, I tried to get my bearings but I couldn’t figure out where I was. I felt like I was in outer space; like I was in a dream. I saw that I was floating in zero gravity and I kept hearing a thunder storm off in the distance. I then felt that I had some sort of rope around my waste that was pulling me towards the thunderstorm. I looked down to see that I wasn’t being pulled by a rope but it was a gold chain. Okay, I must be dreaming! The gold chain stopped pulling me and I found myself standing in front of what looked like a huge pocket watch. I wonder if this is what Finn was talking about?  The watch had hands of time that had stopped but, I could still hear it ticking. *    *    * “Rainbow Dash!” I heard a voice say. “Rainbow Dash, wake up!” I opened my eyes to see that I was in a room with white walls all around it. I looked straight ahead to Finn sitting across the table from me. I was confused because he was dressed differently than what he was normally dressed. He was wearing a brown overcoat that was open in the front and it looked like he was wearing a red shirt underneath it. He was also wearing brown pants and black shoes. Oh his face was dark tinted glasses. Finn sat there with his legs crossed and had an amused look on his face.  “I don’t get it,” I said, “is this another therapy session?” Finn started cracking up, it was as if he couldn’t hold in his laughter even if he wanted to. “Okay,” I said, “I don’t see how this is funny!” “I’m laughing,” said Finn, “because this isn’t a therapy session! You’re here because you’re almost done with Phase 2! Whether or not you survive is up to you!” “Does this have something to do with the watch question?” I said. “Yes,” said Finn, “that wasn’t a figure of speech question. It was a literal question.” “Huh?” I said. Finn smiled and took out his pocket, a silver pocket watch and a gold pocket watch. “You’re weren’t kidding around,” I said, “were you?” “Nope,” said Finn, “let me open them and you tell me which one you’ll choose. And remember the watch that you saw before you came to me.” Finn flipped open both watches the silver pocket watch had the hands of time that kept going and it seemed to be a normal working watch. The gold pocket watch was where the hands of time were stopped but it was still ticking. My eyes went wide when I saw the gold pocket watch and my blood ran cold. “So,” said Finn, “what watch did you see?” I squeaked, “The gold one!” Finn smiled, “Congratulations! You’ve passed Phase 2! Your journey to Equestria starts now!” Finn handed me the watch that I had chosen and proceeded to put it around my neck. I couldn’t help but stare at the watch in shock. “You must keep this watch on at all times!” Finn said. “That’s to keep you from getting sucked back into the Machine! Every Agent has to wear their watches at all times too for the same reason!” “Why is there a reason that I could get sucked by into the Machine?” I said. Finn sighed, “The Machine feeds on the life force of only the alpha creatures of every planet in every universe.” “Every universe? There’s other universes?” I said. “Yes. Unfortunately, the Machine’s favorite life forces to feed on are ponies from Equestria! And humans from Earth!” Finn said. “Ponies? From Equestria?” I said “Yes,” Finn says matter of factly. “Okay… I take it the Machine is like an AI program?” I said. “Hum,” said Finn,”I’m surprised the Machine even let you learn something like that! That’s because the Machine is like a dictator! It only allows it’s subjects to learn what it wants them to learn. I suspect that the Machine is starting to evolve in order to protect itself. Either way, we need to find a way to shut it down! If we don’t people and ponies that we have worked so hard to save will be sucked back into it and then it’s game over for all of us!” “How have you gone about shutting it down so far?” I said. “I have been sending teams into the Machine to put viruses into the Machines program,” Finn said. “Is that what Oliver and Clara do?” I said. “Yes,” said Finn,” they were trying to get what we call trigger responses to break you out of the Machine and planting a virus into it in replacement of your presence. I never thought that one of my agents would fall in love with you in the process!” “So, Oliver really does have feelings for me?” I said. “Oh yes,” Finn laughed, “you’re all he ever talks about, even when I’m around! I have to admit, it’s getting on my nerves! That’s why I gave him the go ahead to kiss you.” “You mean you did that on purpose?” I said. “Oh no,” said Finn, “I just gave him permission to do it! He did the actual thing on his own!” “Okay,” I said, “forget about my love life! All I care about now is shutting down the Machine!” “You’re determined now,” said Finn, “aren’t you?” “Why wouldn’t I be?” I said. Finn smiled, “That makes perfect sense because you are Rainbow Dash after all.” “My name is not Rainbow Dash!” I said. “It’s Judy!” “Nope,” said Finn, “you’re a pony from Equestria and your name’s Rainbow Dash. Here’s a picture of what you look like.” Finn then slid a picture of me across the table and I stared at it in wonder. The picture was of a light blue pony that had wings and a rainbow mane. I then saw a picture of a cloud with a rainbow lighting bolt coming out of it. “What type of creature am I in this picture?” I said. “You’re a pony,” said Finn, “the type of pony you are is a pegasus. You help control the weather and you like being awesome, saving other ponies and doing dangerous activities.” “That explains the rock climbing!” I said. “Wait a second! This creature looks like a character from the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic! That’s a kids show! You mean to tell me that it’s real?” “While the show is a cartoon,” said Finn, “it’s based off of real events that happened in Equestria! Have you ever watched the show?” “No,” I said, “I've been busy taking care of Jude and working. The show came out when I started working for JJ inc. Then Jude was born after I met that jerk Silas!” “Oh,” said Finn, “there’s something you should know about Silas.” “What?” I said. “Silas,” said Finn, “was a code formed by the Machine to make sure that your personality is kept in check by the Machines standards. You actually became aware of your original personality right before you started working for JJ inc. !” “Was anything in my life real?” I said. “Your life was totally real when you were back in Equestria,” Finn said, “you were kidnapped right after you became a Wonderbolt!” “For some reason,” I said, “I’m not remembering any of this.” “Why do you think you have rainbow colored hair?” Finn said. “Other than that, you look like a regular caucasian woman. For some reason, the Machine only allowed your rainbow hair and everything else it changed.” “I was just wondering,” I said, “what are you classified as. A human?” “I’m a human,” said Finn. “On my birth certificate my race is marked “N/A” because my mom was white and my dad was black. I don’t think of myself as either one. And to tell you the truth I was never sucked into the Machine in the first place. I know you have one more question for me, don’t you?” “How do you know that?” I said. “It’s written on your face,” said Finn, “so spill it, what’s the question?” “Where’s Jude?” I said. “Where’s my baby?” Finn then let out a long sigh, he took off his glasses and I couldn’t tell what the look on his face meant. “I can only tell you a half truth,” said Finn, “because the rest of it is classified. Let’s just say the Jude is being looked after by some good people that took him in when they found out the seekers were after you. Who they are, I can’t say…”