Equestria and the Machine

by SapphireRose87

10) Firewall Eli

{Rainbow Dash}

A couple of weeks later I got summoned for my outside of the Machine assignment. At this point, Oliver and I had been talking about being a couple but we still weren’t sure yet. I reported to Samantha in her realm to see what my assignment was.

“Okay RD,” said Samantha as she sat behind her desk, “this is a high-level assignment. You will meet up with your teammates at one of the gates outside of the Machine. And I know what you’re thinking it’s not six gates for the Machine! I bet you’re getting tired of that number aren’t you?”

I nodded my head slowly, “You got that one right.”

“There are ten gates to the Machine that we know of,” Samantha played with the chain on one of her crystals on her desk, “it is possible that there might be more.”

Samantha's persistent gaze made me shift on my hooves. “So how do you know that there could be more gates?”

“Because with high levels of creatures that are being kidnapped, it makes sense that there might be more,” Samantha said flatly.

That makes sense, “so which gate am I going to?”

“You’ll be going to the 9th Gate and right now there are two powerful agents the Machine uses to protect the gates. The agents are called Firewalls and they protect the Machine inside and out. But we don’t know how they are able to do that. Here’s a picture of one of them that you’ll possibly be fighting.” Samantha took out a picture from under her desk and passed it to me.

I gasped when I saw what one of the firewalls looked like. It was my brother Eli! Of course, now I know he isn't actually my brother. He looked like he did when I last saw him. He stood about six feet tall and he had brown hair and bright blue eyes. I looked up at Samantha to see her stunned expression. Knowing she could hear my thoughts, she must've realized who he was. “What I’m wondering is, why would the Machine send a Firewall to pose as your brother?”

“I have no idea,” I said, “just like when I had Jude! I have no idea why the Machine would do something like that. The only thing I can figure is because I'm an element of harmony! So the Machine was probably trying desperately to keep me inside. I didn’t realize that the Machine was that desperate to the point where it would send a powerful being to keep me inside!”

“I wouldn’t call a Firewall a powerful creature, as a matter of fact, he’s not a creature at all. He’s just a program created by the Machine to protect itself. Don’t think of him as your brother anymore. But this assignment will be your outside of the Machine assignment for weeks at a time. Your goal on this assignment is to not kill the gut but to get past him. And no Oliver isn’t on the team this time. Aww that’s cute, you’re going to miss him aren’t you?” Samantha said.

Ha, ha, we might be talking about being a couple right now but seriously! Why can’t people just lay off already! It’s just about as bad as people calling me Rainbow Dash all the time! Rainbow Dash this and Rainbow Dash that! At least they have to call me by codename inside of the Machine!

Samantha chuckled. She rolled her eyes, “Okay, okay, anyway, the two agents you’ll meet at the 9th Gate are Agent Grace and Agent Emma. Just like with your assignment inside the Machine, I will send you to it through a portal, step right this way!”

* * *

I approached the 9th Gate in a hover, which looked to be fairly ordinary double doors. Except they were fifty feet tall and looked at least a million years old. Agent Grace and Agent Emma stood in front of the gate, there to greet me.

“Awesome!” Agent Grace said. “We’re on an assignment with an element of harmony and she’s a new agent for that matter! This is so awesome! Isn’t that right Agent Emma?”

“Yeah it is!” Agent Emma said. “I totally agree with Predictor number four on assigning Agent Rainbow Dash to our team! And this one of the most difficult assignments! I mean it is Rainbow Dash after all! And the agents that are successful at this assignment become one of the top agents in the Sixth!”

I crossed my hooves. Ugh! Why are people so eager to meet me! Honestly now! I hope they can’t read my mind! Because that’s going to get my nerves if they can!

“We’re not Predictors Agent Rainbow Dash!” Agent Grace laughed. “Your Predictor told us that you don’t like your real name so we’ll call you Agent RD which is what she said you go by now!”

“If you’re not a Predictor then how did you know what I was thinking?” I said.

“Because you have the same look every new agent has when they first go out on an outside of the Machine assignment.” Agent Emma smirked. “My Predictor got on my nerves too! She announced my thoughts before she announced my teammates' thoughts! And I was about ready to punch her for that!”

Agent Grace laughed, “Yup same here! And I heard Agent Oliver got assigned to work this very mission two years ago!”

I raised my eyebrow, “Your point?”

“I also heard that he fell in love with you when he was assigned to break you out of the Machine!” Agent Emma teased.

Once again, I raised my eyebrow, flicking my tail at them. When Agent Grace and Agent Emma saw this they cracked up.

I guess I’m doing stand up comedy with those two now! I wonder when am I going to get paid?

“I’m sorry Agent RD,” said Agent Grace, “we just can’t help ourselves, it’s just too much fun teasing you! And the look on your face is priceless! I wish I had a camera!”

“Seriously,” I said, “never mind… Let’s go get this mission over with!”

* * *

{Jude}

So far today was an uneventful day. Like usual I look at the different patterns that AI brings to my attention. An alert from AI appeared on one of my computer screens.

“Damn it!” I looked at the screen to see that AI had alerted me to a threat at one of the gates to AI! I really hate dealing with agents of the Sixth and I don't like killing them either! A weapon that AI loves to give to deal with the agents of the Sixth is what's called a Copper. It was a watch that it's only function was to kill. But since I don't like killing anyone, I only make the Copper strong enough to stun the agents of the Sixth. It would give them a fake death and normally, that satisfies AI and it no longer sees them as a threat. Most of the time agents that are hit with the Copper take a while to recover and they pop up someplace else at a later date. Sadly, sometimes when an agent of the Sixth gets hit they don't recover. They die and there have been 100 agents in total that the Copper has killed.

Most of the time I give the Copper to Firewall Eli and not Firewall Molly, because Firewall Eli knows exactly how to hit an agent to give them a fake death.

I sighed and thought, I really hated this part of the job as ruler of AI.

I pressed a button on one of my computer screens and it brought Firewall Eli into focus on the screen. Firewall Eli was dressed in the standard uniform as Firewall for AI. He was wearing a black shirt, black pants and black steel toe boots. Most of the time he wore dark tinted glasses to hide his blue eyes. The letters FW glowed yellow on his forehead to show that he has been called.

“Yes, Lord Jude?” Firewall Eli said. At this time Firewall Eli was on his motorcycle traveling to the 7th Gate to help repair the damage that was done to it by an agent of the Sixth, Agent Oliver.

“Firewall Eli, I know you’re headed to the 7th Gate to help repair the damage to it but I just got an alert of some agents of the Sixth trying to do damage to the 9th Gate. And I’m not allowing that to happen again! I’m giving you the Copper for this and if Agent Oliver is there, bring him to AI’s castle and we’ll take care of him there!” I commanded.

I passed the copper into the system teleporter. The Copper dematerialized, as it was teleported to Firewall Eli. As soon as I gave the Copper to Firewall Eli, I feared there was a strong possibility that someone might get killed.

As soon as Firewall Eli was sent the Copper he nodded, “Yes, Lord Jude, I’m on my way!”

Firewall Eli then turned his motorcycle around and headed to the 9th Gate.

* * *

{Rainbow Dash}

Feeling the wind through my wings gave me a sense of freedom. I looked down at the cars that Agent Grace and Agent Emma were driving. I can't believe I used to like driving those lunch box vehicles! It's so much better flying.

For some reason, Agent Grace told us that we weren’t actually going to the 9th Gate as Samantha said. We were actually assigned to go to the 5th Gate instead. As I flew, I kept wondering why the plan had changed. “I was wondering," I said over my headset. “Why aren’t we doing our job at the 9th Gate like I was told?"

“That’s because,” said Agent Grace, “we need to finish doing damage to gates one through seven. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can move onto the remaining gates. In case you’re wondering, one of our top agents did major damage to the 7th Gate! Don’t know why the Sixth wants to destroy gates one through seven first, but that’s what they want us to do. Oh! You’ll never guess the agent who did major damage to the 7th Gate is!”

“I’m curious about that, Agent Grace,” Agent Emma said. “Who did it?”

“It’s someone that trained Agent RD!” Agent Grace exclaimed.

“Was it Agent Rarity?” I said.

“Nope! Not even close!” Agent Grace said.

“Was it Princess Twilight?” I said.

“Nope!” Agent Grace said. “Guess again!”

I seriously hoped that it wasn’t Oliver, but I was uncertain why I felt that way.

“Was it Agent Gilda?” I hoped it was.

“Seriously!” Agent Grace said. “Think about it, Agent RD! Who was your main trainer for the six days you trained?”

It is Oliver..

“Oh great,” I said, “let me guess, it was Oliver!”

“Bingo!” Agent Grace said.

Before I realized it, the 5th Gate was right in front of me. I stiffened my wings trying to slow down but it was too late!

Clang!

I slid down the cold metal of the gate where I crashed. I heard Agent Grace laughing as I lay on my back coping with the dizziness. I looked over to see Agent Emma's jaw drop. She came over and helped me up. I shook the dirt off me.

Agent Grace pressed a button on her vehicle and it folded up into a black box as she laughed. She put it in her pants pocket. Agent Emma also put her car away in the same fashion.

“It just had to be Oliver didn’t it?” I said and for some reason, I actually felt kind of embarrassed at showing my reaction to it.

“That’s right!” Agent Grace said. “It’s your boyfriend, Agent RD!”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” I said. I didn’t dare say at least not yet because I didn’t want to give Agent Grace more ammunition for teasing me.

Agent Grace stuck out her tongue at me, “I can tell by the look on your face he is!”

I grit my teeth and stomped a hoof on the ground, “I swear if someone teases about that one more time…”

I didn’t get to finish my sentence and Agent Grace didn’t get a chance to respond when a motorcycle pulled up. I could only assume that the guy that was on it was my fake brother Eli.

Once he pulled up he killed the engine and put his kickstand down. When he took off his helmet I narrowed my eyes at him. He had dark tinted glasses on his face and he pressed a button on the side of them. A bright light came out of them and scanned us as if we were about ready to enter a top-secret location within the Machine.

“My name is,” said Eli, “Firewall Eli and this as far as you go! Agents of The Sixth if you value your lives, you will turn back now!”

After Eli said that, my ears went flat against my head and I snarled at him. He tilted his head when he saw me. “My, my, is that the bearer of the element of loyalty standing in front of me?”

It wasn’t until Eli said that when I realized that I was hovering a foot in the air.

Eli smirked, “You look very familiar to me, have I seen you before?”

“Don’t you remember me Eli? My fake brother?” I snapped at him.

“I do believe,” said Eli, “that I announced myself as Firewall Eli! That’s my official title to you!”

“Oh yeah?” I said. “And I have a name too. I hate it with passion but it’s Rainbow Dash!”

“Rainbow Dash?” Eli taunted. “Yeah... Names not ringing a bell except that Tv show that has a character by that name on it!”

“Fine then!” I snapped. I lowered to the ground and changed into my human self. When Eli saw me he had a smile on his face and I wanted to kill him just for that alone!

“If it isn’t my little sister Judy!” Eli said. “I thought I’d never see you again! According to AI, your funeral was a couple of weeks ago!”

I growled at Eli when I changed back into my pony form, going into a hover. I wanted to charge at Eli like a bull but Agent Grace stepped in front of me. When Eli saw that he laughed.

“I knew I hated you for a reason!” I said.

“Oh?” Eli said. “As I said before if you agents of the Sixth value your lives, then you will turn back now!”

“And why would we do that oh fake brother?” I said.

Agent Grace put a hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down and keep from stomping on Eli’s head.

“Agent RD,” said Agent Grace, “I’m the captain of this mission. Follow my lead okay?”

I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t snap or snarl at Eli again.

Eli laughed, “I’m surprised that Judy isn’t the leader of the group!”

I so wanted to say something evil to him but I stood my ground instead.

“Well then,” said Eli, “since you won’t turn back, you must not value your lives much! So I get the pleasure of killing you! It’s my lucky day!”

“You say that like it's going to be easy Firewall Eli!” Agent Grace said.

Eli rolled his eyes, “Let’s just get this over with!”

* * *

True to her word Samantha called me back to my original assignment inside the Machine. During the fight with Eli, I had sprained my left wing. Unfortunately, that meant I wouldn't be flying for at least a week. Samantha agreed with that decision and told me to take a break until the wing healed.

During the fight with Eli I kept thinking about Oliver and not just because I found out that he was the one who did major damage to the 7th Gate. When I got back from my outside of the Machine assignment, Oliver pulled me off to the side with a concerned look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I said.

“You look like you got the crap beat out of you!” Oliver said.

“Seriously, I do? I thought that would just show when I was in my pony form!”

“No it doesn’t, it happens to other agents too. There’s a bruise on your left shoulder.”

“That’s because I sprained something in my pony form! I’ll be out for at least a week for that assignment.”

Before he could react I grabbed Oliver’s hand and pulled him into my room.

“So what was the assignment?” Oliver said.

I sighed, “I was sent to the 9th Gate to figure out a way to get past a Firewall!”

“What!” Oliver gasped. “But that’s one of the high-level assignments! It’s a dangerous one too! Why would you be given that type of assignment? You’re a new agent for crying out loud!”

“Calm down!” I said. “And I have no idea why that would happen! You’ll have to ask Samantha about that one. But I suspect that it had something to do with my fake brother that I had inside the Machine!”

“Who was it?” Oliver said.

“It was Firewall Eli,” I said, “that’s who my fake brother was!”

"What!" Oliver gasped.

"Yeah I know," I said, "why the Machine would send a Firewall to pose as my brother to keep me inside, I have no idea!"