Equestria and the Machine

by SapphireRose87

1) Paper Balls in My Trashcan

“Let me ask you a question…” Finn said.

“What?” I said. It was another therapy session that I had every month. The reason why I’ve been going to therapy is because ever since I gave birth to my son Jude, I’ve been having weird dreams and it feels like nothing in this world is real anymore.

“The question that I have for you,” said Finn, “is if you had to choose between a watch where the hands of time are paused but still ticking or a watch that the hands of time kept moving and ticking, which one would you choose?”

“That’s easy,” I said, “I would definitely choose the one that was working!”

“Oh?” Finn said.

I didn’t hear Finn talking, I saw his mouth was open but nothing was coming out. I looked around and it seemed like everything that I was seeing was static. It was like watching a TV screen that was broken. I shook my head and everything turned back to normal.

“You okay Rainbow?” Finn said.

“Rainbow?” I said. “My name is Judy!”

Finn paused and it seemed like he was staring into nothing.

“Huh,” said Finn, “sorry Judy, I got off track here. Well, look at the time, I think that’s all we have to talk about today!”

“Okay!” I said.

I got up and went to the secretary desk and she smiled at me.

“Hi Judy,” said Hazel, “you look confused. Did Finn pull one of his weird questions again?”

I nodded, “I guess you could say that.”

Hazel smiled, “Don’t mind Finn, that’s just part of his personality. You’ve only been with us for six months. So, you’ll get used to it!”

I thought about Finn calling me by another name.

“Did Finn say anything else by chance?” Hazel said.

“Nope!” I said. I decided to keep the fact that Finn called my by another name to myself.

“Okay then,” Hazel said, “here’s your appointment slip.”

I was shocked when I saw that date on it.

“Three months from now!” I said. “What’s up with that?”

“Oh,” said Hazel, ”Finn’s going to be on vacation for two weeks and then he’s going to be doing his rounds at hospital for the rest of the time. If anything does come up, talk to Dr. Loot.”

I almost laughed at the name, but I chose to keep a straight face.

“You can laugh at the name you know,” said Hazel, “everyone always laughs at the name. We call him Dr. Hoot instead of Dr. Loot! He hates that of course!”

At Hazel’s remark I was doubled over in laughter and Hazel joined in.

“Okay,” said Hazel, “your appointment is three months from now. If you need anything just call Dr. Hoot I mean Dr. Loot!”

I couldn’t help myself, I said goodbye to Hazel and walked away laughing.

* * *

“So,” said my boss Violet, “how are you doing today?”

“I’m fine,” I said, “I still feel weird sometimes, but I’m trying to work past it.”

“I’m just checking on you that’s all.” Violet said. “As always at the end of the day, be sure to drop off your paperwork.”

“I understand,” I said.

As soon as Violet left, I had a paper ball tossed on my desk. I looked up to see Oliver grinning at me.

“Oliver,” I said, “what the heck? Can’t you play paper ball in your own trash can?”

“Well that’s not very nice!” Oliver said.

“What?” I said. “I was talking about a paper ball and not your hug head!”

Oliver then faked getting hit by an arrow in his chest and I rolled my eyes.

“So,” said Oliver, “when exactly are we going to have coffee together?”

“We have coffee in the break room!” I said.

“Whatever!” Oliver said and he turned around going back to his paperwork.

“Boy,” said Clara, “he’s very persistent, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” I said, “he’s some annoying rodent that pest control doesn’t work on!”

“Ouch!” Clara said. “That's definitely not nice!”

“Bite me Clara!” I said.

“Well, it’s almost time for lunch,” said Clara, “we’re going to our usual place?”

“Yeah,” I said, “as long as Oliver doesn't try to sit by us again! Why don’t we go someplace else again?”

“Because,” said Clara, “it’s right downstairs and everything else is too far away!”

I did a face palm and shook my head. As soon as Clara and I went to the clock out area it happened again.

“What in the hell,” I thought, “is happening to me?”

When my vision went back to normal, Clara had a concerned look on her face.

“You okay Judy?” Clara said.

“I’m fine,” I said, “let’s just go to lunch and finish our day already!”

“Fine by me!” Clara said, “I’m hungry!”

* * *

When I got home, I saw Lyra feeding Jude his bottle for dinner. After Jude was done eating Lyra burped him and put him in his crib and he instantly fell asleep.

“At least he falls asleep after he eats!” Lyra said.

“Yeah,” I said, “he’ll be out for the next two hours. Oh, today you get your check, here you go!”

After I wrote out the check, I handed it to her.

“Thank you so much, “ said Lyra, “I’m a little bit behind on my rent, but don’t worry I’ll get caught up.”

“That’s good,” I said, “do you need any extra on your check?”

Lyra shook her head, “No thanks, I got it.”

“You sure?” I said.

“I’m sure,” said Lyra, “see you Monday!”

“See ya!” I said.

As soon Lyra closed that door, the static vision happened. I just shook my head and turned the security system on.

* * *

Things are getting weirder and weirder! It was the following Monday and it was almost lunchtime when Oliver started throwing paper balls at me.

“Okay Oliver, this is getting really old!” I said.

“I’m not stopping,” said Oliver, “until you go on a coffee date with me!”

“For the last time Oliver!” I said. “You can have coffee in the break room! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get caught up on my paperwork before lunch!”

“Again,” said Clara, “really persistent!”

I rolled my eyes, “Maybe he’ll fall for someone else and leave me alone?”

“I double that!” Clara said. “Incoming!”

Right when Oliver threw the next paper ball time seemed to stop. It felt like the paper ball was going in slow motion. This time, when the paper ball landed on my desk it unraveled. When it unraveled, I looked up to see Oliver nod his head and turned back to his computer. There were two words on the piece of paper: Rainbow Dash…

* * *

I stared at the piece of paper in shock.

Rainbow Dash? What the hell?

“Too bad Oliver doesn’t have any cats!” Clara said.

“O...Kay?” I said. “And your point is?”

“I’m just saying,” said Clara, “if he had cats, he’d be too busy babysitting them instead of chasing after someone’s skirt!”

“Hey I heard that!” Oliver said.

I turned around to see Oliver hovering over me.

“Speaking of skirts,” I said, “do you mind telling me the meaning of-“

I didn’t finish my sentence because I looked down to see that the piece of paper had vanished like it was never even there.

“Tell you the meaning of what?” Oliver said.

“I could’ve sworn there was a piece of paper in my hand!” I said.

“I think you might’ve hit your head on something!” Oliver said.

“How exactly would I do that?” I said.

“Probably,” said Oliver, “being too busy cleaning up my paper balls?”

“Uh-huh…” I said. “Sure…”

“You really need to adopt some cats Oliver!” Clara said.

As soon as I stood up Oliver pinched my butt like he had done so many times before. I guess I had a strange look on my face because Oliver was doubled over in laughter.

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“The look on your face was priceless that time!” Oliver said.

“Oliver, knock it off!” Clara said. “I don't think she's in the mood for pranks!”

“That really wasn’t a prank that time!” Oliver said. “That time I was actually cashing after Rain- I mean Judy’s skirt!”

“Seriously Oliver!” Clara said. “Did you forget what her name is? I think you’ve hit your head on something!”

“Exactly what were you going to call me?” I said.

“Nothing,” said Oliver, “I was just mentioning that it was raining out, that’s all.”

I looked out the window to see that it was raining cats and dogs out.

“Huh,” I said, “I didn’t realize that it was raining out. How long has it been raining?”

“It started raining about a minute ago!” Clara immediately replied.

It was pretty weird because it sounded like Clara’s quick reply was distracting me from what Oliver just said.

“Were you just trying to distract me from what Oliver just said?” I said.

“Nope,” Clara said with a nervous laugh, “why would you think that? I was pointing out the obvious that’s all.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, “for some reason I don’t believe you…”

* * *

The next day, I was going to drop off my paperwork when I heard Oliver, Clara and Violet talking about me. I stayed right where I was and stuffed the paperwork in my briefcase.

“I almost got a trigger response out of her too!” Oliver said. “That last paper ball should’ve done the trick!”

“Maybe we should try a different approach?” Violet said. “I thought that sending her directly to Finn maybe he would’ve triggered a response from her too!”

Clara sighed, “If paper balls and therapy won’t do the trick, then what will?”

“Maybe,” said Violet, “Oliver can kiss her like he did last year on Valentine’s Day?”

“We were at a party and we were drunk!” Oliver said. “I doubt she even remembers that!”

“I hope you don’t mind Oliver,” said Clara, “but you do realize she’s a pony right? Are you comfortable with dating her?”

“I dated you and you’re a pony too!” Oliver said. “So yeah, I’m cool with that! And just to get the correct terms, I’m a tail chaser and not a skirt chaser!”

“Oh well it’s a good thing you don’t have any cats!” Clara said. “Because you’d probably go for them next!”

“Ha, ha!” Oliver said. “Very funny!”

“Anyway,” said Violet, “I think Clara’s right, maybe giving her a kiss would work! You’re the one that likes her Oliver!”

“I don’t think she’d go for me!” Oliver said.

“Why’s that?” Clara said.

“Remember that jerk Silas, that she fell for last year?” Oliver said. “She got pregnant by him and he just walked away! She’s probably still dealing with that heartbreak! And besides she won’t even give me the time of day!”

“Well, maybe you should stop throwing paper balls and be more romantic towards her?” Clara said.

“Hi there!” I heard a voice say behind me. I just about jumped a foot in the air.

“Oh,” I said, “Hazel it’s you!”

“Sorry I snuck up on you like that!” Hazel said.

“Sorry Hazel,” I said, “I thought you quit working here. I guess you're working two jobs now?”

“Yeah,” said Hazel, “you don’t know this about me, but I have four kids at home to take care of!”

“Oh,” I said, “I feel for you! One is bad enough! And he’s only six months old!”

“I agree,” said Hazel, “and there’s someone standing behind you, it’s Oliver.”

“Gee, thanks for announcing my presence, I’m so honored!” Oliver said.

“I just pointed out the stalker that’s behind her, that’s all.” Hazel said.

“I’m not a stalker!” Oliver said.

“Oh yeah, that’s right!” Hazel said. “You’re a skirt chaser! My bad!”

Oliver then grit his teeth and balled his hands into fists.

“Um Oliver,” I said, “before you turn Hazel into a punching bag, you might want to calm down. Because if you do what I think you’re going to do that would be assault!”

“Fine!” Oliver said. Just after Oliver said the word fine, the static vision happened again.

“Are you okay Judy?” Violet said. I could hear the concern in her voice.

“I think she’s getting ready to pass out!” Clara said.

“Don’t worry,” said Oliver, “I got her!”

I felt Oliver pull me back to catch my fall.

* * *

I was starting to come to when I could hear Clara and Oliver talking about me. It seemed like they were very worried about me.

“I hope she hasn’t gone into Phase 1 already!” Clara said.

“I agree with that,” said Oliver, “it seems that Finn did get a trigger response out of her after all!”

“I don’t know,” said Clara, “Finn doesn’t really tell us about stuff like this! And I really wish he would!”

“Will… You… Stop… Talking!” I said. “You’re giving me a headache!”

“It’s got to be static vision!” Oliver said. “That’s the first symptom of that start of Phase 1! I hate the start of Phase 1!”

“Shut up!” I said. “Ow!”

“I’m seeing a flash of her pony ears!” Clara said. “That means her hearing will probably be very sensitive from here until she meets Finn again!”

“Stop… Talking!” I said.

“Oh boy!” Oliver said. “Can we do anything to help ease the pain?”

“Hum,” said Clara, “Finn did give me something for pegasus ears. Here let me see if this helps!”

I moaned from the pain and it felt like my ears were on fire and wanted to rip them off of my head. I then felt Clara touch my ears and the pain calmed down a bit. When the pain started to go away, I slowly opened my eyes. When I opened my eyes I saw that I was back at my house and Oliver was holding me in his arms.

“Okay,” I said, “how did I get back home?”

“You passed out at work,” said Clara, “and we drove you home in my car. Don’t worry, we’ll be retrieving your car soon.”

“I’m not worried about that,” I said, “I’m just worried about why I passed out and if it’s going to happen again?”

“Okay,” said Clara, “that’s one too many questions and I would advise you not to get up any time soon!”

“It’s okay,” said Oliver, “I’m not going to do anything inappropriate! Honest I won’t!”

“You don’t look so good,” said Clara, “we should probably get you to bed!”

“Hey,” I said, “put me down Oliver!”

“Nope!” Oliver said. “Not going to happen!”

“Don’t worry,” said Clara, “you’ll be fine after a good night's sleep.”

Oliver then laid me gently down on the bed and Clara pulled back the covers.

“Goodnight!” Clara said.

“Sweet dreams!” Oliver said.

After that happened, I went to sleep.