//------------------------------//
// evg-zhabotinsky's Lunar Dev Cycle (Rambling Writer's "How the Tantabus Parses Sleep") 
// Story: Never the Final Word (Vol. 2) 
// by FanOfMostEverything 
//------------------------------//

Luna was an avid gamer, a very dedicated one. So of course she already wrote tons of helper scripts for her gameplay. She also tried full-blown automization of some really boring parts. None of that were widely known, at least among those who didn't know her as NightmareMoon, but the scripts weren't secrets either.

What she kept a total secret, though, was that she has been experimenting with something more advanced. Checking out every worthy article on ML she came across. Trying to build "The Perfect Player" AI.

She was just a couple years in, but her latest creation was doing quite well. Not only could it beat single-player high scores with relative ease, but it also performed quite well in various online multiplayer games, even team-based ones. About a week ago, she'd taught it to use voice chat, and no one seemed to suspect anything! It even managed to win several rounds of Among Them, an almost completely political game!

Needless to say, Luna was extremely happy with her TANTA (Temporal Artificial Network-based Teammate AI), ready to jump at any opportunity to try and improve it. Until the night that something unexpected happened.

"I need you to teach me the ways of motherhood!"

Twilight squinted at her incredibly bright phone. It said "VP Luna."

"Uhh… Wha?"

It also said "4:01 AM".

"Sorry, I'm panicking." Luna started over, slightly slower but still a struggle for Twilight's awakening mind to parse. "You know how I'm a gamer, and how hard it can be to find good teammates for…"

"What are you even talking about?! And it's four in the morning for crying out loud!"

"Sorry, it's an emergency. As I was saying, I've created an AI to play with me, and it started calling me 'Mom' just now!"

"WHAT?!" Any semblance of sleep got purged from Twilight's system.

"I know! I think it became self-aware, and if so I can't just kill it! If that would even work; it's been connected to the Internet for over a month!"

Twilight was speechless.

"I don't know anyone else who has much experience with AI, but I still remember that girlfriend you made for your dog. Please, help, I beg you!"

Twilight already left her bed and was putting on her clothes as fast as she could while holding the phone. "I'm coming over. What's your address?"