"Chief Lewis gets back today," Mia said, painting her nails at her desk.

I was comparing data across three different holographic readout projections of a containment system sent to me for review.
"Huh?" was my brilliant reply.

"Security Chief Lewis is back on site today."

"Oh. What's he like?" I made a shoving motion with my hoof through the holopanel. The data I was working with vanished and reappeared at Mia's terminal. "Can you check over my work, please?"

"Of course." Mia tapped at the holopanels with her little finger, holding the nail polish with her others. "He's alright," she continued, looking through the glowing blueprints. "A bit of a hard nose, but his heart is in the right place."

"A hard nose?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know, Marine discipline," James explained, leaning back in his chair. "He's quite gung-ho. It generally works in our favor though, he expects strict standards and punctuality, but he has no qualms about blowing up every damn tree and monster on this island if it'll save one of his guys. I've heard rumors that he only took vacation as a cover for testing on a new weapon."

"Hmm," I said as I watched Mia still dabbling at her nails. "I guess I'll see when I meet him. I like that color, by the way."

Mia smiled at me languidly and flexed her fingers. "Thank you, Eris honey. I can't wait to touch you with them."

My insides fluttered a little, leaving me feeling warm and a little flushed. "I'm trying to work, Mia! It's hard when you're making me horny."

"It's 'hard' for me too," James added helpfully.

"And I think we should secure the air ducts with a HEPA filtration system," Mia added, pointing at the holopanels. "This is being designed to contain a fungoid entity. It probably releases spores. I'd hate to have more of these little monsters growing in the employee fridge or something."

"Good point," I said, frowning at my own oversight. "I should have thought of that."

"That's why we're a team. Nopony is perfect, even if you may look perfect on the outside, darling."

"You're right. And thank you, you flatterer."

"It's not flattery if I really believe it, is it?"

"I... I don't know," I admitted. "But it makes me feel good."

"I like to make you feel good." Mia capped the nail polish and leaned back in her chair. "James? You wanna take a look next?"

"Sure. Toss it to me."

Mia swung her palm towards James, and the data popped to his terminal. She continued to lounge in her chair, staring back at me, her expression thoughtful. Finally she spoke. "So, Eris, can you tell me a little bit more about yourself?"

I felt my cheeks get warm. "Mia, I feel like you know more about me than anyone has in a long time."

"I like that part, of course, but I want to know more about your life, you know."

"There's really not much to tell. I was a nerd in school, I got picked on occasionally but I didn't let it get to me. I loved science and technology, and did really well in those areas. My aptitude was high enough that I was able to join the Canterlot Advanced Sciences Division after graduation, and they trained me to be an agent. Then I volunteered to work for ProteC."

"And here you are."

"Here I am."

"What do you think of Earth?" James asked.

I frowned. "Well, to be honest, I haven't seen a lot of it. I spent a few days at ProteC Ecuador learning to use the gear and shoot. Then I came here. Mostly I've seen the inside of buildings and a bunch of tunnels. But just meeting you guys alone has been worth it."

"Aww, you're a sweetheart, you know that?" James replied. "But sometime in the future, we need to take you on a trip."

I paused my typing, the invisible finger-shaped telekinetic fields emanating from my hooves receding. "I like that idea. But only if you guys go with me."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," James grinned at me. "But since you only just got here, it's gonna be awhile yet before we can get you approved for much vacation time, so just keep that in the back of your mind."

I nodded. "Of course, I understand."

James paused, looking at the holoterminal. "This looks good to me," he finally said, tossing the data back to my desk. "Still haven't really had to put your magical studies to the test though, huh?"

"True enough." I agreed. "But when the time comes, it will be important for me to be on top of my game. Even some of the creatures already contained in Level Two are a huge potential hazard. If anything happens and they get out, well, magical spells can help mitigate the danger in a worst-case scenario." I licked my muzzle. "I hope."

"I'm curious. What kind of magic skills do you have?" Mia asked me.

"A few offensive, a few defensive, mostly neutral spells designed to enhance and practice my innate aptitude and strengthen the offense/defense abilities. Watch." I held out my hooves and concentrated, my horn glowing. A small blob of shimmering magical energy appeared atop them, shifting and growing.

"What is that?" James asked.

"Keep watching," I said, my voice tight with concentration.

A shining rainbow colored pyramid appeared, then broke apart, wheeling into more pyramids, which broke apart again, slowly filling the room as the process repeated.

"Oh my," Mia gasped, reaching out to touch them. They softly spun at her fingertips, dancing in the air like dandelion seeds. "It's beautiful, Eris."

I smiled, which turned into a grimace as the pattern continued to grow more complex. Finally I groaned and the entire display collapsed, turning into shimmers of multicolored light that fell slowly and vanished.

I slumped back in my chair, a hoof to my forehead. "Uff."

"Are you okay, babe?" James quickly came to my chair, followed by Mia. The genuine concern on their faces made me smile. It's a good feeling to have someone care about you. "I'm okay, guys. That was a fractal practice pattern. It starts out easy, and becomes exponentially more difficult with each division of the pyramid. I just strained my ability a bit. I'll be fine. It's like doing pushups until you fall down."

"It was so pretty, though." Mia gave me a kiss on top of my head.

"I'll show you more later," I promised. "It helps me keep in practice."

"Does this make it so you can't pick things up?" James asked.

"What?" I reached for the water bottle on my desk, popping the top and taking a drink.

"I guess that's my answer. I was wondering if your being magically worn out made it so you couldn't do things like, with your hooves."

"Oh, not at all, in fact I'm pretty magically exhausted right now, and will be for several more minutes, at least." I tossed the water bottle up and caught it with my hoof as it fell. "Close range telekinetic abilities don't draw from the same pool of energy as spells. As long as I am able to move, I'll be able to pick stuff up with my forehooves."

He nodded, satisfied. "Good, then. That makes sense. Can I feel your hooves? Ah, the telekinesis?"

"Of course you can. Like you even need to ask." I held both my front legs out to him. He held his hands up, palms facing towards me, and gripped both my hooves in his hands. I let my telekinetic tendrils weave through his fingers.
"Feels like a hand, well, sort of," he said, pushing and pulling against my grip.

"It works the same through clothing, as long as it's tight," I continued. "Generally, it works best around the forehooves. It's much like your hands. I can't just put my ass against a keyboard and expect to type. It's gotta be my forehooves."

"What if you put your ass against my face?" James grinned. "The keyboard isn't able to properly appreciate such a thing."

"Then I'd never get anything done in here, mister. And don't think I can't see your erection."

James made no move to let go of my hooves. "Guilty as charged, Eris. Are you gonna keep me after school?"

Mia leaned over his back and reached down around his chest, trying to slide her hand down his pants. "Did you say erection? Where? Let me see!"

The door buzzer rang. By the time the door opened, both my frisky subordinates were untangled and leaning over my desk, staring intently at my holoterminal, which was displaying an Internet video of cute kittens falling out of a basket to the tune of a half million upvotes.

"...and that's why we should put a secondary power line here and here," I said, pointing at the video. Good thing privacy mode scrambled the output from the back of the screen. I quickly swept my hoof, turning off the monitor, and stood up. Stood down? I'm not sure, I am shorter standing on all fours than I am sitting in front of the desk. Anyway, I dropped onto my hooves and approached the visitor, who, based upon his haircut and stern face, I was fairly certain was-

"Security Chief Lewis, how are you doing this fine morning?" Mia greeted, her deeply professional voice sounding very different from the one she had been teasing James with while she tried to jack his penis only a few seconds ago.

"Ah, I knew I'd find you deserters here!" Chief Lewis said, folding his arms. The man had no color to his voice whatsoever, and spoke with perfect dryness. I had no clue if he was joking or serious, and as a result I stood there with a brittle smile on my face until he finally gave me a toothy, predatory grin of his own. "And you must be the new Advisor." He took a knee down to my level, and held out his hand to me.

I shook it with my hoof. "Yes, sir," I replied.

"Don't call me 'sir', I work for a living. Please just call me 'Chief', Advisor Sky."

"Okay Chief, and don't call me Advisor Sky, I, uh, sit in a basement for a living, like a mushroom. Call me Eris."

He stared at me for a long moment, then laughed loudly. "Ha! I like you already, Eris." He looked up at Mia and James. "So, are these two dirtbags causing you trouble yet?"

"Absolutely no end of it," James replied cheerfully.

"We've turned her life into a living hell," Mia added. "You should hear her scream when no one else is around."

I blushed deeply and hoped Lewis couldn't see it.

He chuckled again. "If any of that is remotely true, you just give the word Eris, and I will put them both over my knee and beat the insubordination right outta them."

"I don't believe that will be necessary, si- ah, Chief. They've both been the perfect, shining model of professionalism so far," I lied.

His eyes narrowed. "These two?"

"Yeah. I mean, wasn't James your second in command?"

"Well, yes," Chief Lewis mused. "He's a good guy. But he's, well, a little weird."

"I'm standing right here," James reminded.

"And Mia is even weirder," Chief continued, ignoring him.

"Hey!" Mia squawked indignantly. "Did you come here to meet Eris or try to embarrass us?"

"A little of both, actually. But don't get all worked up. If I didn't like you guys, I wouldn't be here making fun of you, I'd be sending you back to ProteC for processing and summary removal from the company payroll."

We all gulped a little.

Chief Lewis grinned again. "Actually, I can't do that anymore. You guys being to Advisor Sky, er, Eris, now, and she answers straight to the Director, not to me. Anyway, I must be going. I have two security vacancies to fill, and you'd be surprised how many applicants there are for this hellhole."

He gave my hoof a final shake, and stood to leave. "You guys need anything blown up, you know where to find me."

He shook James's hand, then reached for Mia's, who hesitated momentarily, then shook. I remembered she'd had that hand down James's pants only a short while before, and snorted. I held my hoof to my muzzle, trying to play it off as a cough.

After the door closed behind the Chief, I began giggling uncontrollably. "Mia, you shook using the hand you'd been tugging on James's dick with."

"Hey, I was kind of cornered. Just hope he washes his hands before he eats," Mia paused and frowned. "Hell, he'll probably have his hand sterilized after touching me, anyway."

"Why?" I asked.

"Before the Gate experiments, some of the guys found out I liked My Little Pony," Mia explained. "They found out I really, really liked ponies. They found out I liked, uh, clop. They assumed it meant I wanted to fuck actual horses, and I got the name Barnyard for awhile. Chief Lewis got wind of it, and threatened to personally wring the neck of the next person who called me that."

"Wow," I gasped. "That's awful."

"It was pretty embarrassing," Mia admitted. "But I'm a big girl, and I knew this job wouldn't be easy when I took it. I just didn't realize how lucky I'd get," she finished, stroking my muzzle gently. She gave me a kiss on the nose. "Just making sure it hasn't grown, boss lady. After that bit about 'perfect shining models of professionalism', I was afraid you might go all Pinnochio on us."

"Go all what?" I asked, confused.

"We'll show you the movie later," James said. "It'll ruin the joke if we explain it to you right now. Besides, you like Disney cartoons, don't you?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"Then we've got something to do later tonight."

"But I already had something I wanted to do later tonight," I huffed. "With both of you."

"We can do both, then," Mia said, tickling my ear.

"But first we have to get through today, and I do believe it's lunch time," I declared, my ear twitching around to avoid her devious fingers. "Let's go see what's hot. Oh, and program that hololock on the office door so it only opens for us, okay? Let's make other people knock before we let them in. For security, you know."

"Sure thing, Boss," James winked at me. "For security."