Loyalty's Vision

by SapphireRose87

16) G is for Grandma

{Jude}

Eli and I were sitting in the Computer Room watching the latest video footage Eli had of Rainbow Dash. Apparently, Rainbow Dash's assignment was to break out a creature called Discord. Discord had been changed into a human man that went by the name of Gary. I marveled at the video footage as I saw Gary throw an apple and it turned into an apple tree. Then when Gary touched the tree it turned back into an apple.

"Now that's interesting," I said, "I've never seen an apple do that before. I would know because AI has never reported it that I know of."

Of course I understood that Eli can have personal conversations with someone every once and a while and that's okay. That's usually when the video footage gets turned off for a bit. But after the conversation ends then the video footage gets turned back on again.

I did find it hilarious that Rainbow Dash was the one that gave Gary the apple to throw at her friend Sia in the first place.

"Yeah, I still think Rainbow Dash has better aim but at the same time because she was irritated with Sia I think she just wanted another chance to have an improv food fight." Eli chuckled.

"I've never seen two people hate each other so much," I said.

"I don't think they hate each other," said Eli, "I think it's more like they find ways to get on each other's nerves. Now that you think about it, that's probably why Rainbow Dash gave the apple to Gary to throw at Sia in the first place. From what I've seen Gary is the type of guy that wants to stir up trouble. If you give him a chance to, he will."

I snorted. "Yup, leave it up to Rainbow Dash to get someone else in on the fun. Then she can point the finger and go, hey I didn't do it!"

I started to go into full on laughter but then I stopped laughing and rolled my eyes when I heard First Mother and Servant Milo arguing outside. Servant Milo used to be one of my direct servants but ever since Eli got upgraded to Royal Advisor Eli, AI decided it was best that Servant Milo would be Eli's direct servant. Which is fine by me, whatever AI wanted to do with its servants was its business and not mine.

"No First Mother," said Servant Milo. "You can't go in there without Royal Advisor Eli's permission and how many times do I have to tell you that?"

At the sound of this argument it sounded like First Mother was trying to throw her weight around, yet again. I really can't wait to see the day when First Mother would be replaced by Eli and Eli would become First Father of the Mainframe. Then that ugly old hag would be out of my hair finally.

Even though First Mother has been acting civil with me lately I didn't care because in her eyes I was nothing but a child to her hence the nickname she gave me, The Boy Lord Jude. I looked into her work history and her work ethic sucked. I wondered if that was another reason why AI decided it wanted a king to rule over it.

Right now First Mother has made a nuisance of herself by popping up unannounced whenever she wants to and it's getting on my nerves. However I do love the fact that a former Firewall is going to be the one to take First Mother's place.

Eli groaned, "Sorry your highness, but I guess I have to go take care Grandma now."

I cracked up, "Grandma? That's your pet name for her? I agree with that. Although to me she's ancient and not in a good way."

Eli snorted. "No kidding!"

When Eli went out to deal with First Mother. I just about gagged when I heard her flirting with him. "Ah Royal Advisor Eli!"

I heard Eli groan, "Is there some reason why you won't follow orders First Mother? You know, like the ones I gave you for you to do your job?"

"Just who do you think you are?" First Mother snapped. "Do you know who you're talking to? I am First Mother, the lead Mother of the Mainframe and I deserve respect."

"Oh?" Eli said. "The last time I checked, I'm your boss and if anyone deserves respect it's me!"

I marveled at this conversation I was hearing because of how well Eli was able to stand his ground against First Mother.

"Fine," First Mother growled. "But this isn't over Royal Advisor Eli! I'm getting into the Computer Room to see Lord Jude one way or another."

"We'll just see about that!" Eli snarled. "Now will you go do your job already? Have a nice day!"

After Eli came back into the Computer Room he sat down and rubbed his temple in annoyance.

"Wow," I said, "Grandma's a handful isn't she?"

Eli nodded. "Yup! Is there any chance I can use a Copper on her?"

I couldn't stop laughing at the comical image of Eli killing First Mother with a Copper. It was a nice suggestion but I doubted AI would give me the go ahead to give Eli a Copper. I finally stopped laughing enough to speak, "Unfortunately no Eli, unless AI allows me to give you one. I doubt that will happen."

Eli groaned. "Lovely! Is there any way you can help me keep her from breaking into my room to watch me sleep at night?"

"I knew that old hag liked you!" I growled. "I'll see what I can do. I'll put a request in for AI. Until then, there's not much I can do about it."

Eli did not look happy about that and I don't blame him.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

Gilda and I agreed to stage a food fight and this time we made sure to invite Discord to join in on the fun. To my surprise, Eli decided to join in on fun. Gilda set up a barricade by taking a long table and flipping it over. Eli and I did the same thing on the other side of the room. So Eli, Discord and I were on one team and Gilda decided to be alone on the other side of the breakroom.

I started the food fight by yelling, "Food Fight!" Then Discord picked up an apple and threw the first piece of food at Gilda.

It was like a war had erupted in the breakroom but with only fruit being thrown for weapons. Gilda was throwing apples at Eli, Discord and I retired the favor. To be honest, this was the most fun I've had in a while and it looked like Discord was having fun too. He had a look on his face that looked like he was in heaven causing chaos and that made sense because that's what he did back in Equestria.

Out of nowhere, a watermelon went sailing towards Glida's barricade and went splat on it.

"Hey!" Gilda said. "I thought we talked about only throwing apples, Nancy!"

I looked over to see that Discord had a watermelon in his hands and I burst into laughter. Eli looked at Discord and he burst into laughter too.

"I didn't do it!" I responded. "Gary threw it!"

"Uh-huh," Gilda growled, "sure he did."

Gilda looked to see Discord had the watermelon and said, "Oh hell!"

"What?" Discord said. "Apples aren't that messy and they're boring too."

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt when Discord threw the watermelon and blew a raspberry at Gilda when he did.

"Hey guys!" I heard Spitfire say, "Another food fight's happening in the breakroom!"

We heard laughter in the doorway as we threw food at each other.

Discord groaned when a coworker named Laura came over and picked up a piece of food and threw it at Gilda.

"Seriously Laura?" Discord growled. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not interested?"

"But you flirt with Nancy and Kai all the time," Laura whined. "I don't see the harm with us hanging out."

"Flirting is one thing," said Discord, "relentlessly asking for a date is another. I respect the fact that Kai and Nancy are married so all I do is flirt. Besides, it's too much fun messing with them because of their reactions."

"Is that why you keep flirting with us?" I asked.

Discord smiled. "Well duh! Do you really think I would ask you two out on a date? That would be a no."

"Oh." I said.

"Oh come Gary-" Laura started.

"I don't think it's really hanging out when you try to kiss me every time we hang out," Discord said.

"Well then," Laura retorted, "I'll stop helping you with the food fight."

"I never asked for your help in the first place!" Discord snapped.

I laughed when Laura left the room with Discord throwing food at her and a couple of the pieces of fruit hit the mark.

Eli chuckled, "Well that's one way to fend them off. Maybe I should do that with Grandma when I get back to AI's castle?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Grandma?"

"That's my pet name for that stalker I have First Mother," Eli said.

"Hmm I wonder if doing that to Pinkie Pie if I see her again would work to get her to see that my answer is still no?" I pondered.

"Oh for Rainbow Dash's sake!" I heard Gilda say after Discord threw another piece of food at her.

I paused. "Excuse me Sia?"

"Yeah, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia told everyone to change the term of endearment from 'oh Celestia's sake' to 'oh for Rainbow Dash's sake' and it makes perfect sense to me," Gilda said.

"And why didn't Rainbow Dash get the memo?" I growled.

"Because they figured she would protest it and they were right," Gilda said. "Rainbow Dash can't change it because the wheels are already set in motion."

"If they even think of giving Rainbow Dash the job as a Princess, tell them she doesn't want it," I growled.

"Well it might happen," said Gilda, "because they're going to need somepony to take that spoiled brat Princess Twilight's place."

"I see," I said. "I'll just have to have a word with them on Rainbow Dash's behalf."

Gilda chuckled after throwing another apple, "Go ahead and try. But I don't think that's going to change their minds."

"Great…" I said.

Finally, the last piece of food was thrown which signaled the end of the food fight. Everyone standing in the doorway clapped and cheered.

Once the crowd that was watching us was cleared out, Spitfire came up to us laughing. "Now that was quite a show! I can't wait for the next food fight."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks Maya."

"Well," said Spitfire, "go ahead and clean up the breakroom. I have a change of clothing for each of you in my office. I set them aside for you in case this happened again."

After that, Spitfire left the breakroom and Discord looked like he was tickled pink. "Wow! Food fights are so much fun! Maybe I'll ask Dad to set aside a budget for the food?"

We then got to work cleaning the break room until it sparkled. After that, we went to Spitfire's office to get a change of clothes. I had to admit, Discord was right, food fights are fun!

* * *

{Eli}

It was right after I had another Feeding Ritual and I was starting to wake up from it. I didn't want to open my eyes yet because I knew First Mother was sitting at my bedside again. I kept my eyes shut tight.

"I know you're awake, Royal Advisor Eli," First Mother chuckled, "why don't you open up your pretty blue eyes for me?"

I groaned, "No and I thought we talked about this Grandma. I can't unsee what I've already seen."

"Now that wasn't very nice," First Mother said.

"Would you get out of my room already?" I shouted. "I'm not opening my eyes until you do!"

"Oh come on," begged First Mother, "I'm not that ugly. I think I'm gorgeous!"

At this point, I was angry enough to get out of bed and ignore the pain just so I could push her out of my room. I wasn't going to open up my eyes, nope not until First Mother was out of the room. So I struggled a bit just to even sit up and fought against the pain.

"Get. Out!" I roared.

First Mother went to go get me to lay back down but I wasn't having any of it. "I said get out!"

"Listen Royal Advisor Eli," said First Mother, "You need to rest or you'll-"

"I don't care!" I screamed bloody murder. I screamed mostly because of the pain and because I desperately wanted First Mother to leave.

Then I felt something round and long in my hand. I heard First Mother gasp and I didn't know why. "Where did you get that needle?"

"What needle?" I screamed. I felt a small electric charge going through whatever I had in my hand. I threw whatever I had in my hand and I had no idea if it hit the mark or not. But I First Mother scream bloody murder after I threw it. I was about to get out of bed and push her out the door once and for all but I passed out because of the pain.

* * *

The next time I opened my eyes I let out a sigh of relief to see that First Mother wasn't sitting at my bedside. Instead Jude was sitting there and it looked like he had been there for a while because he was nodding off. When Jude saw that I was awake, he smiled.

"Okay, what's that look for Lord Jude?" I asked.

"Seriously Eli," said Jude, "just call me Jude now. It looks like AI agreed to grant my request to give you protection against Grandma."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"You had a needle in your hand yesterday," Jude said.

I panicked. "Yesterday! But I should be back to work by now!"

Jude shushed me, "Calm down Eli. Thanks to Grandma, you were out of commission for longer. I must say you had good aim when you threw that needle for having your eyes closed. I looked at the wound on her shoulder and it looked like it was caused by a stunner needle. It's the same type of needle I use to bring someone to the execution chamber."

"Oh," I said, "I didn't mean to harm her. I just wanted her out of my room."

Jude chuckled, "Oh she'll stay out of your room alright. At least for now, when First Mother's determined to do something like break into your room and watch you sleep, she'll find a way to do it. Hopefully, she'll get tired of you rejecting her and leave you alone. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon. But at least you have a means to defend yourself now."

"Uh, thanks Jude," I said, "for doing that for me."

"It's no problem," Jude said. "I wouldn't get out of bed just yet. You're not recovered enough to go back to work yet Eli. It's not your fault that you aren't at work today. It's Grandma's fault. AI has allowed me to suspend her for three days because of this crap. I'll send Servant Milo in to help take care of you. I'll give him the software program so he can tie you to bed if need be so you won't get up. You're not giving back to work until tomorrow, got it?"

I nodded. "Sure."

After Jude left, Servant Milo came in to take care of me. I rested easy knowing I could go back to work the next day.

* * *

The following night after I had returned to work, I was in my room sleeping and something snapped me out of my sleep. I didn't know why I had woken up so abruptly. I looked over to see Servant Milo sitting by my bedside on a chair with his back to me. At first I smiled at him because I guess it was Servant Milo's way of protecting me. Then I rolled my eyes because I suspected that Jude sent Servant Milo to keep First Mother from breaking into my room at night.

"I know Lord Jude wants to protect me from First Mother," I said, "I think this is going a bit overboard."

Servant Milo jumped out of his chair and turned around to see that I was awake. "Oh, Royal Advisor Eli, I'm sorry if I woke you up."

I shook my head. "No you didn't wake me up. Actually, for some reason I woke myself up."

"Oh um Lord Jude sent me here to protect you from First Mother and protect you from yourself," Servant Milo said.

I blinked. "Protect me from myself?"

"You sleepwalk," said Servant Milo, "apparently, you can't seem to stay still even in your sleep."

I chuckled. "I guess that makes sense. I used to be a Firewall before I got this job."

"Wait a second," Servant Milo said, "you're the famous Firewall Eli!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Famous Firewall Eli?"

Servant Milo nodded. "A lot of your fights with the Agents of the Sixth were broadcasted to the servants that work at AI's Castle. I'm guessing either AI or Lord Jude wanted to show us someone doing their job to the fullest extent. I don't blame them either; some of your fights with the Agents of the Sixth were hilarious. Especially your fights with Agent Rainbow Dash!"

"Yeah, Agent Rainbow Dash was probably one of the most annoying Agents I've ever had the pleasure of fighting," I said.

Servant Milo laughed. "Yeah I know. We can tell by the dialogue. I remember the fight about the Elements of Harmony remark when Agent Rainbow Dash bit down on one of your attacks and declared herself Rainbow Dash."

"Oh yeah, I remember that one," I chuckled. "I do remember my response to that was, 'I'm surprised the Elements of Harmony didn't create a seventh element! The Element of Stupidity made just for you Rainbow Dash! That Griffon character and the other Agents that were with her couldn't stop laughing for two hours straight. Agent Oliver got fed up with protecting them and was getting ready to leave them as sitting ducks when they finally stopped laughing. That's when they joined the fight."

"I don't blame them for laughing, that was pretty hilarious," Servant Milo said. "From what I was told the fights AI broadcasted impressed First Mother quite a bit. I doubt that old hag will quit trying to break into your room at night."

"The strange thing was, when I was a Firewall, I didn't really need to sleep," I said. "Honestly, I could keep fighting 24/7. I just had to retreat when AI told me to. Once I retreated from the fight, so did the Agents of the Sixth."

There was a strange silence. I smiled at the look on Servant Milo's face. It was a look of admiration and not the creepy flirting look that First Mother gives me.

Servant Milo was the one to break the silence, "Well, you should get back to sleep. I'll keep First Mother out of bed and you from sleepwalking."

I smiled and laid back down, rolled over and went back to sleep.