{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.