Equestria and the Machine

by SapphireRose87

5) Six-day Training Begins

When I finally fell asleep, I had a weird dream. I don’t know if it was because I had just broken out of the Machine because I hadn’t had a dream this weird even after Jude was born.

The dream started out with me up in the sky. I didn’t know why I was in the sky in the first place. I was so happy and content moving from cloud to cloud. I looked around me to see buildings passing by. I also saw other ponies and they just seemed to be happy and content moving from building to building. I finally picked a cloud and sat down on it.

“Hey Rainbow!” I heard a voice say. “How’s it going?”

I turned to see a creature that looked half lion and half eagle and she looked very familiar to me.

“My name’s Gilda,” said Gilda, “you don’t remember me do you? We went to flight camp when we were younger. And we were best friends and still are and that’s if you include Pinkie Pie! I heard you’ve been gone from Equestria for eight years! I take it that has something to do with being in that Machine?”

I nodded and was very confused about why I was talking to Gilda.

“In case you’re wondering,” said Gilda, “I don’t have any dream walking experience! I was sent here by Princess Luna to help you! Think of me as your Guardian to help you along the way along with Oliver and Pinkie! Although I heard Pinkie Pie’s no longer going to be training you right?"

I nodded, “If she was training me, it would be a big fail! Besides, she’d probably be too busy eating than training me.”

Gilda laughed at the thought of Pinkie Pie being irritating by eating rather than training me.

“Don’t worry,” said Gilda, “all three of us, I mean what other element of harmony will help you get back to your old self! The choice is yours whether or not you want to accept it. All we can do is guide you. I’m going to start by giving you a couple of things to help you get your old body back! Sorry Rainbow, but you’re going to have to fall off this cloud to help start your journey.”

When I realized what Gilda was about to do, my eyes widened in terror.

“Hell no!” I said.

“Sorry Rainbow,” said Gilda, “but it has to happen! I’ll push you on the count of three!”

“No way!” I said. “I’m staying right here!”

“Sorry,” said Gilda, “no can do! One… Two… Three!”

Gilda then ran up and pushed me off the edge of the cloud. After I started to fall I woke up.

* * *

I woke up panting and covered in cold sweat and felt like I ran a mile in my sleep. I felt my ears twitching and moving as if they had a mind of their own.

Back to my old self again? What the heck does that even mean?

I went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. The cold water was very noticeable on my ears and it reminded me of swimming in a pool.

I hope Gilda was kidding, when she said I’ll get my old body back!

That was wishful thinking because I felt my ear twitching. I looked in the mirror to see that I had light blue pony ears just like Rainbow Dash did. Then I felt something move outside of my butt.

What in the heck is moving outside of my butt?

I touched whatever was moving behind me and pulled on it. I looked over to the left to see that I grew overnight a long rainbow colored tail.

* * *

When I got dressed I noticed that on the back of the pants my uniform had a hole big enough for my tail to fit. The hole had been buttoned up and I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it before. So I unbuttoned the hole and pulled my tail through it. As soon as I got dressed I heard a knock on the door.

“Oh Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie said. “It’s time to get up now!”

I groaned, “I’m awake Pinkie!”

I opened up the door to a Pinkie staring at me and of course Oliver was standing off to the side. At this point I really didn’t want to go outside.

Oliver sighed, “It’s okay Rainbow, if you already started your transformation we won’t laugh at what you look like.”

“Speak for yourself Oliver!” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie!” Oliver said. “If you laugh at what she looks like, she won’t come out for training! And why are you here anyway? I already talked to Finn about you not training Rainbow Dash! I’m warning you...”

“Okay, okay,” said Pinkie, “I’m not going to laugh although I can’t make any promises!”

Surprisingly when I came out Pinkie said the word ‘awe’ and I really wanted to punch her.

“Looks like you’ve got your ears and rainbow tail!” Oliver said. “Let me guess, you talked to Gilda last night, didn’t you?”

“How’d you figure that out?” I said.

“She told me,” said Oliver, “that she’d be helping you start your transformation and she kept her word!”

“No way in hell,” I said, “am I going to turn into that pony! Not if I got a thing or two to say about it!”

“Uh-huh,” said Oliver, “too bad, you’re a pony! And you couldn’t stop the transformation even if you tried!”

“Great!” I said.

“Okay then,” said Oliver, “let’s grab something to eat and then we’ll start training!”

“Yay food!” Pinkie said. “I’m hungry!”

“Seriously Pinkie!” Oliver said. “Fine you come with us to eat but you are not training Rainbow Dash!”

“Fine…” Pinkie mumbled. The fact that Pinkie Pie wasn’t going to train me made me feel much better.

* * *

After we got something to eat Pinkie Pie wasn’t allowed to follow Oliver and I to the training room. Thankfully Finn didn’t send Applejack to help with my training he sent someone else. I didn’t recognize who she was. Probably because I didn’t have my memory back yet. But if she’s a fellow element bearer, I’m pretty sure I’ll remember her sooner or later.

“This,” said Oliver, “is Agent Rarity-57! She is linked to the element of generosity!”

“If you’re a fellow element of harmony,” I said, “then I should start having memories of you back in Equestria! That is…” I looked down at the floor, “if I get any memories back.”

“Don’t worry Rainbow Dash, you’ll get your memories back soon enough! Got my memories back no problem. Every agent that gets broken out of the Machine gets their memories back. If they didn’t, it would probably be harder for us to break you out of the Machine!” Agent Rarity said.

“Yup,” said Oliver, “the same thing happened to me. Just like Agent Rarity said, you’ll get your memories back no problem!”

“Oh yeah!” Agent Rarity said. “I was also assigned to you when we broke you out of the Machine, here let me change into my human form!”

When Agent Rarity changed back into her human self, I was shocked to see that she was my babysitter Lyra!

“Lyra!” I said. “You’re an agent too?”

“Yup!” Agent Rarity said. Then she changed back into a unicorn.

“Wow, was everyone in my life an agent when I was in the Machine?” I said. “Was Jude an agent?”

At that comment Oliver and Agent Rarity couldn’t contain their laughter.

“Oh no darling!” Agent Rarity said. “Jude was only six months old when you left him! All I know is that he’s being taken care of. By who we can’t say because Finn doesn’t want to tell us for some reason! Now, we should get started on your training. We only have five more days after today.”

“She already talked to Gilda last night,” said Oliver “as you can see, she has her pony ears and a tail!”

“Hum, let’s see…” Agent Rarity said. “We need to get your wings back next!”

“My wings?” I said.

“Oh yes,” said Agent Rarity, “Rainbow Dash is a pegasus! How do you think she helps control the weather?”

“What exactly happened in your dream last night?” Oliver said.

“I was moving from cloud to cloud and I wasn’t sure why,” I said, “then Gilda came along and pushed me off the cloud I was sitting on. I woke up and I had pony ears and this stupid tail!”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “I’m surprised Gilda didn’t give you your wings first. But no… She just had to give you the ears and the tail! For some reason, people just love playing practical jokes on you, huh Rainbow?”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, “You can say that again!”

“So,” said Agent Rarity, “you were moving from cloud to cloud and whether you like it or not you have wings! Let’s see here…”

Agent Rarity then lit up her horn and on the wall in front of her was a menu of some sort. It looked like the starting menu of a video game when you first started the game.

“Ah here we are!” Agent Rarity said. “Dangerous activities! Let’s see, aha rock climbing!”

As soon as Agent Rarity pressed the rock climbing button. The room then disappeared. What was in front of me was the very cliff I had tried so desperately to climb and failed.

“You’re joking!” I said. “That’s the same cliff that I had been trying so hard to climb! And that’s with safety measures!”

“Oh yeah?” said Agent Rarity, “well you’ll climb with no safety measures at all this time!”

“It’s all because we want to get your wings back,” said Oliver, “and then the rest of the transformation will follow!”

“So,” said Agent Rarity, “if you fall, you fall! But don’t worry, you won’t go splat you’ll just end up right back in this room. And then we’ll start all over again! We have all day and we can wait. So let’s begin shall we?”

Yup, I’m going to die today!

Oliver then put a hand on my shoulder, “Don’t worry Rainbow, we wouldn’t do this if we thought you were in danger. Like Agent Rarity said, we have all day. So take your time okay?”

I nodded then I did what I had done so many times before when I would start climbing this cliff. I jumped a foot in the air and put my foot in the first foothold.

* * *

I started climbing and when I got twenty feet up I could hear Agent Rarity and Oliver talking about me. It was almost like they were trying to break my concentration and wanted me to fall. Although since this was being done to get my wings back I guess that made sense.

“So,” said Oliver, “how many feet has she gotten up to now?”

“According to the tracker,” said Agent Rarity, “only fifty feet. And she hasn’t lost her grip yet!”

“Although,” said Oliver, “she did come close ten feet back. That’s probably because of her human nature to survive.”

“Yup,” said Agent Rarity, “the poor thing! That stupid Machine has really done a number on her. Especially when it brought the Code Silas to her!”

After hearing the name Silas I was so frustrated that I broke my concentration and started to fall. After I fell, I landed back in the room just like Agent Rarity said would happen. I was super pissed off and I got to my feet.

“Don’t ever,” I said, “say that name around me again or I’ll break your horn!”

“What?” Agent Rarity said. “What’s the problem? He was your baby’s father after all.”

By this point I was seething with rage.

“Is it because he left you when you got pregnant?” Oliver said.

“It’s not that at all!” I said. “And it’s none of your business. And if you say that name again, I’ll kill you!”

“It’s fine Rainbow,” said Oliver, “let’s try this again. Agent Rarity please don’t mention the Code again okay?”

“Sure thing Agent Oliver,” said Agent Rarity, “my lips are sealed!”

By the fifth try of rock climbing, I hadn’t gotten my wings back. The last time I fell and looked at the time and it was one in the morning. I saw Oliver nudge Agent Rarity who was practically asleep by this time.

Oliver yawned, “Okay, I think that enough training for today. We’ll pick this up again tomorrow.”

“Sure thing...” Agent Rarity said with a tired voice.

Oliver then walked me back to my room and he went to his.

* * *

The next time I woke up to somebody or more like somepony biting my ear. I was horrified to see Pinkie Pie in my bed for some reason.

“Pinkie Pie!” I said. “Get out of my bed!”

“What?” Pinkie said. “You were having a nightmare so I thought I’d come to comfort you!”

I was so irritated with her that I pushed her off the bed.

“What was that for?” Pinkie growled at me.

“For being in my bed!” I said. "And you're not supposed to be watching me in my sleep anyway! You pervert!"

"I'm not perverted Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie said. "And because I don’t get to help you train, I’ll be out on assignments all month! I just came by to say hi!”

“Good,” I said, “you said hi and now goodbye!”

“Don’t be like that Rainbow!” Pinkie said. “We were lovers before you got sucked into that stupid Machine!”

“No way in hell, would I ever get into bed with a creature like you!” I said.

Pinkie then patted me on the head with her hoof.

“Don’t worry,” said Pinkie, “I’ll win you back before Oliver gets to you! When you get your old self back, you’ll remember!”

I rolled my eyes, “I hope not!”