//------------------------------// // 17) First Team Captain Assignment // Story: Equestria and the Machine // by SapphireRose87 //------------------------------// {Jude} “That witch!” I shouted. “She’s jealous of Rainbow Dash and wants her to be killed so badly, I’d like to kill her instead! First Mother is not my mother!” I thought I was shouting at no one when I looked over and Servant Ivy sitting at my bed said with a puzzled look on her face. “Wow,” said Servant Ivy, “I knew you hated the First Mother but I didn’t know you hated her that bad!” I didn't think that I was in pain because I couldn’t think of anything else except my anger towards the First Mother.  “If you had someone hate your mother to the point of wanting to kill her,” I said, “you’d be angry too!” “You need to calm down. If you don't, it'll make the pain worse!” Servant Ivy cautioned. “Huh?” I paused. That was when I realized that I was in pain and winced because of it. I still didn’t care about the pain. What I wanted to do was go find the First Mother and beat the crap out of her at the moment. I also wished that I could replace her as First Mother with someone that didn’t have much hate in her heart. “You can’t stay still to save your own life Lord Jude,” said Servant Ivy, “I understand your restlessness but you really should rest! If you don’t, you won’t get past the pain. Looks like I need to do this after all.”  I didn’t have enough time to react when Servant Ivy pointed her hand at the ceiling and summoned ropes to tie me to the bed. “What was that for?” I asked. “The first Mother gave me specific orders to make sure you stay in bed!” Servant Ivy said. “And since you’re about ready to get out of bed for some reason, I can only assume you’re worried about Rainbow Dash. But if you don’t stay in bed it’ll delay you from getting back to work, First Mother told me that Servant Charlie doesn’t have the necessary software to make you stay in bed!” “That’s a big fat lie. First Mother knows it!” I growled. Now I wanted to beat the crap out of First Mother but I knew that wasn’t possible. Servant Ivy looked at me with concern. “Yeah probably right on that one, First Mother is always finding ways to torture you so I wouldn’t be surprised if this one of those ways. I don’t see what’s wrong with me taking care of you today.” I sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with you taking care of me today. I’m angry with First Mother and not you. First Mother’s jealous of the fact that she didn’t give birth to me as Rainbow Dash did. And if she barks at me one more time about it…” “I don’t know if you can do anything about it,” said Servant Ivy, “here’s a suggestion and I’m not sure if it’ll work, but maybe you can talk to the other Mothers of the Mainframe to get them to reason with her?” “Thanks for the suggestion but First Mother hates Rainbow Dash so much I doubt she’ll be able to see past her anger,” I said.  “I guess so,” said Servant Ivy, “but you’ve only been asleep for twelve hours, you go back to sleep.” “I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon."  “I know,” said Servant Ivy, “well if you won’t go back to sleep, at least if you’re tied to the bed you’ll get some sort of rest. And you know you can’t get out of those ropes unless you want to have more pain than you’re already in.”  Before Servant Ivy got up to leave she kissed me as she did before. After that just like always, I couldn’t help but watch her as she walked away. * * * {Rainbow Dash} The following week Gilda and I were getting ready to report to Samantha when Gilda pulled me off to the side. “What do you want, Gilda?” I snapped. “Listen I know you said our friendship was over,” said Gilda, “but I know you know that’s not true! And I know why we got into that bad argument because I didn’t look out for Oliver and I understand that. Trust me, if I had something like that happen to my boyfriend, I'd be pissed too! I don’t want this to develop into another Pinkie Pie situation. So I owe you an apology and I am sorry. And I hope you’ll accept it.” I smiled at Gilda in surprise because usually when we get into a fight I’m the one that’s apologizing first. “Judging by that smile you accept my apology,” said Gilda, “I know I’m surprised too. Normally you’re the one that’s apologizing first even when I’m the one that’s in the wrong. No this isn’t some weird dream I just decided to realize my mistake this time. But just because I apologize doesn’t mean I’ll stop with the teasing.” “Yeah,” I said, “as long as you don’t do it any more I’m cool with that.”  Gilda laughed, “I’ll try my best not to but I’m not making any promises!”  We didn’t realize it but Oliver was standing right behind us listening to the conversation. We didn’t know until he started laughing at us. “It’s about time you two kissed and made up!” Oliver said. “Yeah,” said Gilda, “the making up part okay. But kissing no thanks!” “I agree with Gilda on that one!” I said. “So are we going to report to Samantha yet?”  “Oh no,” said Oliver, “for us not yet.” “Huh?” I said as I tilted my head. “Samantha specifically requested that she be you and only you,” said Oliver, “we’ll be waiting outside for the assignment details.” “Oh yeah!” Gilda said. “I forgot, and Levi’s here too!”  “Hi, guys!” Levi said. “I got the same order from Samantha too!”  “What!” I gasped. “Why just me?”  Gilda shrugged, “I don’t know.” I could tell by the looks on their faces they knew what was going on and Gilda just told a big fat lie and did it like a pro. “You just lied to me,” I said, “I wouldn’t play poker anymore if I were you!” Gilda smiled. “Yeah, you got me on that one, but we can’t tell. So go on and report to her already!” “Fine…” I mumbled.  When I finally reported to Samantha she was very excited and she looked like it was Hearth's Warming Eve and we finally were opening the presents the next day. “This,” said Samantha, “is another high-level assignment.” I looked at her, wary of what she was going to say next. “I know what you’re thinking RD,” said Samantha, “it’s just not because you’re an element of harmony but it seems like me and The Sixth had found what your speciality is!” “And what might that be?” I said. “Fighting the Firewalls!” Samantha exclaimed. “Huh?”  “Oh yes,” said Samantha, “fighting those Firewalls is an actual job at the Sixth there’s only a handful of agents at the Sixth that are very talented at doing so and you’re one of them! So it makes sense that you will be a team captain on this next assignment!”  “Let me guess,” I said, “when you say a handful of agents that are talented at doing this job am I filling one of the six spots of those agents?”  Samantha was very amused by that statement, “I know the Sixth goes overboard with the number six, don’t they? Actually a handful of agents that are talented at this job including you and there are twenty of them now. And I don’t think any more agents will be added to this group anytime soon. Not even Oliver made the cut to be one of them!” “But he did major damage to the 7th Gate!” I gasped. “Why wouldn’t he be one of the ones that specialize in that?”  “Because when he worked the assignment at the gates,” said Samantha, “that was his test assignment just like it was yours! It just so happened that there weren’t any Firewalls that were created at the time. But it looks there were a few that he was fighting that were in a testing stage at the time. He just happened to deal the final blow that damaged the gate. Just like you did when one of your daggers hit the 5th Gate without you knowing it. But in any case, the next assignment he got was a breakout assignment and he did that with no problem at all along with the next five breakouts after that. That’s when I and the Sixth figured out what his speciality was! And that was it. Me and the Sixth have been watching your battles with the Firewalls and it wasn’t just Firewall Eli that you were fighting if I recall correctly.” “Yeah that’s correct,” I said, “that one Firewall that looks like a demon that I saw in a movie that I watched when I was inside the Machine! She announced herself as Firewall Molly.” “It also looks like more Firewalls are being created,” said Samantha, “but they’re in the testing stage right now.”  “How do I tell if a Firewall is in the testing stage or not?” I inquired. “Did you notice the last couple of times when you fought the Firewalls they had back up with them?” Samantha replied. “Oh yeah,” I said, “that’s right but the main Firewall, the one that announces themselves, was at the front of the fight!” Samantha nodded. “Yup, that’s correct! So it’s time I give you the assignment. Your assignment will be to go behind the gates and push out the USB ports.” “USB ports?” I said. This assignment puzzled me. “Do you remember when you were breaking out of the Machine,” said Samantha, “the cell you were in?” “Yeah I do,” I said, “the space was so small I didn’t like it at all! And I was tied down to it!”  “That USB port is the way that Machine puts its creatures inside of it,” explained Samantha, “and new cells are being created every day, that’s why we suspect there are more than ten gates that the Machine has! So when you push out a USB port, you’re getting rid of one less cell and less creature that the Machine can kidnap! And the ones you met outside my realm are the ones that are on your team.” I sighed, “Well it’s a good thing Gilda and I finally made up our friends again for the time being. But if I get called Loyalty one more time…” Loyalty giggled. “I don’t think it’s a bad nickname myself! But since it’s already taken I’m kind of annoyed by it!”  “Why don’t you tell them that’s your name?” I suggested. “That’s because I don’t want to jeopardize your safety while you’re on an assignment.” Loyalty answered. “Great,” I said, “Loyalty doesn’t do stand up comedy with everyone!” “It is very entertaining to hear every other sentence you say!” Loyalty teased. “That’s exactly what Oliver said!” I growled. “I guess I should take that advice but not when I’m on an assignment that’s for sure! I think I’m looking for the safety of my team and they could care less about mine! If Agent Grace would stop calling me Rainbow Crash just to make me do crash landing take out a Firewall that would be great!” “And that’s exactly why she’s not your team this time!” Samantha said. “Agent Grace will be disciplined by her Predictor for doing that!” “Is she in the Underground?” I said in horror. “Because it wasn’t that bad!” “Oh no,” said Samantha, “it wasn’t that serious of an offence so she’s been confined to the Sixth for now and is suspended for the time being.” “For how long?” I asked. “Just a week,” said Samantha, “then she’ll get put on assignments again because it’s not a Pinkie Pie situation either! Think of this as her being warned to not do something like that again.” “Okay then…” When I said that I felt bad that Agent Grace was getting punished for something as small as that. “I know RD,” said Samantha, “but when it comes down to the safety of your teammates doing something like could’ve got you and Agent Emma killed! Now that’s enough of that, first things first. This needs to go inside your ear.”  “Huh?” I said. I looked and saw that what Samantha had in her hand was a small crystal that looked a lot like the one she had when she picked my six-man squad for an original assignment. “Is that what you used for…” I said. “Assigning your breakout squad no,” said Samantha, “remember when I said that I looked at that video from the fights that you’ve had with the Firewalls?”  “Yes?” I said. “Well every team captain has one of these inside their ear,” explained Samantha, “that’s how we get the video footage and that’s also how you will get the details on what the assignment is and will be able to relay them to your team. And since this is a high-level assignment a Firewall may pop up to stop you.” When Samantha walked towards me, I backed up and she smiled at me. “Just stand still RD!” Samantha instructed. “This’ll only take a second.” I did what I was told. Samantha had me tilt my head and she lifted my ear and pushed the crystal into it. I was surprised to see that it didn’t hurt. However, my ear twitched because it had a foreign object in it but after a while, it stopped. Then when I realized what she said about team captains I was horrified at what she was trying to say. “When you say team captain as one of these in their ear, do you mean that I’m the…” I said. “Team captain,” said Samantha, “you guessed correctly!”  “What!” I said. “Why can’t one of my other teammates do it?” “Because your specialty job is fighting Firewalls!” Samantha exclaimed. “No, you’re not considered a new agent anymore!” “But I’ve only been at the Sixth for a few weeks!” I said. “It’s because you’ve passed ten of your outside of the Machine assignments with flying colours, of course you almost killed yourself while doing but that’s because you were looking out for your teammates. And because of that, you’re no longer in new agent status, you're an agent now, like it or not. I doubt you’ll be quitting the Sixth anytime soon!” Samantha said with pride. “Yup!” Loyalty said. “That’s right! I don’t see you quitting the Sixth at all! The only way you would leave the Sixth is if you got sucked back into the Machine again. And that’s not going to happen even with the bad vision of the future that we elements have seen! And we don’t see Oliver getting sucked back in either. That’s probably because we’ll be protecting you two. After all, you’re each other's true love!”  “And when Oliver and I have disagreements and don’t work it out right away,” I said, “I can do without you shouting in my head and Oliver feels the same way! Either we always work things out in the end. Honestly, I’ve never had a stable relationship until Oliver came along.”  “Aww!” Samantha and Loyalty's response to that was. “And Pinkie Pie and mine’s relationship was the most unstable relationship that I had ever had!”  “Yeah,” said Samantha while nodding, “Oliver said the same thing! It seems you two are on the same page even when you’re not around each other. I’m glad I saw you two getting together. I think you both needed each other more than you think.” “Okay…” I said. “Well, it’s time for you to go to your team captain!” Samantha said. “Your teammates are waiting for instructions!” “I’d rather be called Rainbow Dash than team captain any day,” I said. When I turned around to leave I heard Samantha laughing because she got a real kick out of that statement. * * * When I got outside of Samantha’s realm Oliver, Gilda and Levi were already laughing as soon as I got out. “I hope that means,” I said, “this is a joke and Samantha’s in on it and if it is, it's not funny!” Oliver was doubled over in laughter the most. “Nope! This is not a joke, it’s real! We just couldn’t help but laugh because of that look on your face!”  “I don’t have a look on my face!” I said in denial. “Oh yes, you do!” Gilda smirked. “Seriously!” I said. “Am I that obvious?” Levie chuckled. “No you’re not, every agent has the same look when they’re on their first team captain assignment. Most of the time it’s usually not a high-level assignment though. But word on the street is you’ve been passing your high-level assignments with flying colours. I’m not surprised.” “If you say it’s because I’m Rainbow Dash, I swear!” I growled. “No it’s not that,” said Levi, “it’s we were told by Samantha what your speciality is!” “Yeah,” Gilda said with excitement, “fighting Firewalls is an awesome and action-packed job to have! See I told you that you were the definition of the word 'awesome!” “Wow,” I said, “I know we just became friends again but you don’t have to be a butt kisser automatically!” Gilda, Oliver and Levi were laughing so hard and it felt like I was doing stand up comedy once again.  “I still think the definition of the word awesome is still a big fat lie!” I declared. “Oh no, it’s not!” Gilda said as she finally stopped laughing. “Come to think of it,” said Oliver, “I’ve never actually seen you fight before.” “Neither have I!” Gilda and Levi said. “But you’re the one who trained me on the cliff dive using my weapon Gilda!” I said. “Isn’t that the hardest landscape to do?” Levi said. “I wasn’t even trained on that myself!”  “Oh yeah,” said Gilda, “and she did great on it until she got five feet to the bottom and crashed!”  “Hey,” I said, “that’s not my fault that I had that stupid Wonderbolt memory while I was fighting and I’m still having those stupid flying memories!” Gilda snorted. “Hello! You were a pegasus back in Equestria! And from what I remember you were flying all the time! Even before you became a Wonderbolt! Heck the first time we met, you challenged me to a flying race! Of course, you crashed a couple of times, that’s probably why you got the nickname Rainbow Crash!”  Oliver and Levi were just having too much fun listening to our conversation because they were laughing the whole time especially when Gilda said the thing about my nickname Rainbow Crash. “Yeah, that’s why I had to tie her to the bed by her ankle to keep her from crashing into a wall while she sleeps!” Oliver said. “Oh, that’s right!” Gilda said. “She did fly in her sleep a lot back in Equestria!”  “How do you know about that?” I said. “Because I’ve seen you do it!” Gilda said. “It always happened when you were taking a nap during our day off at flight camp! I thought you were just doing a regular fly when you came past. When I saw your eyes closed I knew you were asleep! I didn’t wake you though. Scientists in Equestria discovered that waking a pegasus up from sleep flying is very dangerous because they’re up in the air and it causes them to crash land and kill them in the process.” My jaw dropped. “Wow, I didn’t know that it was that bad!” Gilda shrugged. “All I could do was lead you back to bed and you usually stayed there after that, most of the time. When our camp counsellor did the same thing Oliver did and tied you to the bed by your hoof. He knew that you’re not the only pegasus that does that. So when your counsellor saw you sleeping he automatically did that for your safety.”  “I don’t remember that happening myself,” I said, “but it’s probably because I was asleep.”  Gilda rolled her eyes. “Well duh! Now give us the details for the assignment so we can get going!”  That’s exactly what I did as soon as we got the information we needed to know we went off to our assignment.