//------------------------------//
// Twilight Sparkle Part 3 
// Story: My Little Underlevels 
// by zero_hour 
//------------------------------//

	"Thank you for stopping by, I'll do my best to get that taken care of ."
As the last pony left her office, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Not a bad day as far as her job went, but it was still nice to be done. She straightened up wearily as she heard the door, relaxing again as it opened to reveal Spike.
"Oh, hi Spike. I just finished for the day."
The dragon gestured over his shoulder. "I think you should see this, Twilight. he mayor just dragged in a bucket of bolts she says is gonna replace you."
His words were quickly followed up by the sight of Mayor Mare guiding an old, rusted protocol droid into the building. Twilight frowned. She had never actually worked with droids, but she was confident that there was no way one could outperform her, especially one as run-down and decrepit as this was. The mayor however, judging by her proud smile, thought otherwise.
"Miss Sparkle. Spike. This is CZ-71. He's going to be the newest addition to our team."
Twilight leaned forward, feigning interest. "What's his job going to be?
"Well, actually... he's going to replace you. He's a secretary droid."
Unable to hide a sarcastic smile, Twilight nonetheless managed to keep calm enough to answer without raising her voice. "I am not a secretary. I am a highly skilled administrative assistant, and without all the hard work I do on my own time, which I might add goes unpaid, this entire department would get shut down within a week."
The mayor gave her hapless employee an unconvinced look. "But... the droid will work for free."
Twilight sighed. This was going to be a pain...
"No, and with all due respect, we've gone over this before." Twilight stood in Mayor Mare's office the next morning, frowning uncomfortably. "Even if a droid could do my job, there's nowhere that we could get one that was functional. Our budget is stretched thin as it is."
The mayor tapped her desk thoughtfully. "Are you sure you aren't just trying to keep yourself from being replaced? I'd like to remind you that you could be criminally charged for interfering with this department."
"Yes, I'm quite certain." The unicorn rolled her eyes. Any droid put in her position would probably short-circuit on the first day.
"Well then... you wouldn't mind if I looked into the matter further?"
"Not at all. I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on it though."
Mare stood and gestured to the door. "I think I can make that desicion for myself. That will be all."
Twilight turned and walked out of the office, sighing heavily at the sight that greeted her. The line in front of her desk had at least doubled in size since she'd been called into her boss's office. Taking a seat, she looked up at the pony in front of her.
"Hello Miss Redheart. How can I help you?"
The corporal set a small stack of papers on the desk. "I've got a injury report I need you to file."
"Uh oh... who was it?" Twilight flipped through the forms for a name. "Oh, Silverstar. Is he okay?"
"He'll be alright, but he's not as well as he says. He's just afraid that the squad will fall apart if he takes a few days off to rest." The medic glanced behind herself at the line. "I should probably let you get back to work. You've got quite a crowd here."
The two mares waved as Redheart trotted off, leaving Twilight to face the ever-growing line.