Flower

by CreeperZone

Outlier

“Arighe, Cardenal. I'm sorry, I was arrested an I didn't tell 'em nothin'. Soon, they sen' me free, but them dam Royal Guards, they dun took control of mah cameras; they are always watchin' my shop now, all day. That one was just stationed here. It is only a matter of time before they check mah feed and send more. Tha's why you can't stay here.”

Cardinal slumped the dead body off of her, standing up and shaking her head like a dog to throw off the blood that was dripping from her face.

“Why didn't you say that first?” she said, placing a hoof onto her glass eyes and wiping them off, then shaking the hoof down to clean it.

He shrugged.

“Well... I still need to be repaired, Mecha. I'm dying...” She raised a tortured eye to lock into his gaze.

He sighed, conflicted. “Gimme a look.” Mecha then swiped a screwdriver from his desk, quickly skipping over to Cardinal’s side, then crouching down underneath her and prying open the service panel.

“Agh, ugh...” Cardinal flinched as the screwdriver drove into her and let loose her stomach's panel. The curved metal sheet swung down between her legs. It clanged against the floor before settling.

“Ah shit...” Mecha's muffled voice came from beneath her, “this is real bad.”

“Can you fix it..?” Cardinal said with worry.

“Maybe...” He pulled his head out, raising it up he wiped some smelly blue goo off his nose. “But I'd nheed some replacshemant parts, ones I ain't 'ave here...”

“C-can you get them? Please?” she begged him.

“Even if I could, neither of ush can shtay here... Matter of time before they realize she isn't chechking back in.” He nodded toward the dead body lying away from them, its head half cut open and pouring blood into a large puddle beneath itself.

Cardinal's one lit eye shook with fear of death, “B-but! I'll die! Mecha, I need your help!”

He sighed, going to his workspace and packing up his things. “I know w're ya can get the parts...” He stuffed a few tools into the pockets in his work overalls, then walked to Cardinal and pulled her head down, putting his muzzle beside her ear to whisper.

“T'eres a place cawled the 'Murder Machine'. I's an undergroun' robaw fightin' ring. Mecha goes there e'rey week. It is hidden and it'll have your parts... It's on Bodied Street, you'll see the signs... Meet me t'ere tonight, ya?”

Cardinal nodded and he retracted his muzzle, “Are you going to be okay..?” Cardinal asked, looked up at the camera.

“Yeah, don' you worry 'bout auld Mecha. Ain't first time I had ta run from the fuzz,” he said, trotting to the other side of his garage, going into his old, and very well maintained, pickup truck. Once inside, he rolled down the window to speak to Cardinal. “They ain't gonna catch me. Just get there, alright?”

“Can't you bring me there? Can't we go together?” She placed a hoof against the truck door.

“I'm being tracked, they bugged everything in 'ere. If you're with me, they'll find ya. If I'm alone, they ain't gonna send their best after me, and I'll be able to deal with 'em. 'Ey, don't ya worry, ya made it this far. Ya can make it there.” He pulled up a trucker cap from within the truck, placing it on head and spinning it around backwards, the mesh covering his messy, black hair and forehead.

“Yeah... See you there, Mecha.”

He started the vehicle, about to drive out before he was reminded of something, “Oh, and Cardinal, Surrie's been lookin' for ya. I haven't seen her for a while, so watch out for 'er”

“Thanks, Mecha.” She waved as he backed up into the parking lot.

She stood for a few moments, watching him drive off around the corner.

Sighing, she trotted back to the workstation to retrieve her missing plate. She hesitated crossing the dead pony, taking a second to stare down at another of her victims. “I'm so sorry...” she whimpered, feeling the guilt set in. “No more...” she promised herself, hoping that she would not have to break the vow. Soon, her mourning was interrupted by a static voice coming from the Royal Guard's corpse.

“L̢i̵ly, ̧r͡e͘port ̨i̛n, ̨did ͘y͡o͏u g̀et͡ her̶? ̢Lil̶y?”

Cardinal trotted over to the body, trying not to look directly into the massive ravine of flesh in the side of its head. She flipped it over to reveal a small radio on her chest.

“L͞il̷ỳ!̶ ͘Pleas̶e͢ res̴po͜nd!̛ Oh ̡f̵ucki̸ng C͜e̕le̸s̵tia..̛.”

Cardinal gulped. Scooping up her stomach panel off the ground and pressing it back into place, she turned to leave the garage, hobbling out the way she came.

“I TOLD YOU, DON'T FUCKING FIGHT HER! ESPECIALLY NOT ALONE!” Diamond roared out at the several Royal Guards standing around the body.

“FUCKING CELESTIA, HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO CATCH HER IF YOU ACT LIKE THIS!?” Diamond headbutted the wall in frustration, leaving his forehead pressed against it as he took a breather.

One of the guards spoke up, “Diamond, do I have to remind you who is in charge here?!?” Said the large, burly Unicorn mare.

He pushed off of the wall and spun around to face the Captain, “Oh, I know who is in charge, Captain. Twilight's calling the shots. All I'm saying is that she is doing everything wrong!”

“And what have you done, asshole? We let you talk to her and you didn't accomplish shit! At least we are close to getting her!”

“I was getting somewhere with her. I was talking her into coming back. It would work if you didn't try to kill her every time you got close!” He stepped up to her, face to face.

“You’re not here to talk. You’re here to predict her movements. So shut the fuck up and do your job. We'll do ours.” The Captain disengaged from Diamond, stepping back and returning to her guards, all inspecting the crime scene. “What do we have?”

A unicorn with a glass visor covering one eye trotted up, flipping the visor upward to regain full vision of her Captain. “The engineer, Mecha, he's helping her. Apparently she is damaged and needs repairs. I've sent out a troop to go and arrest him. Hopefully, we'll be eeeeable to beat an answer out of him of wherever he told the objective to go.”

“Nice work. He shouldn't be too hard to subdue. Anything else?”

A pegasus came into the building from the opened garage door. “Her tracks are leading east. They lead up to the sidewalk from the alley. She's been gone for about... Twenty minutes?”

“Thank you. Alright, is that it?”

Diamond spoke up once more, “If I could get a word in, we should stop trying to play catch up with Cardinal and get her to come to us. We need to set a trap and lure her in. I keep telling you it is the only way we're going to catch her!”

“And I keep telling you, we can't just start setting up ambushes in every single corner of the city, just in case she happens to cross one! We can't lure her anywhere because there isn't anything she wants! Seeker is dead and there isn't anything else that robot cares about!”

“She has to want something! Cardinal isn't trenching through the entire city because she's fucking bored!”

The Unicorn Captain's horn began to glow. Diamond felt light on his hooves as he was pulled up by the neck. “I swear to Celestia, you're lucky that Twilight wants you alive. If it was up to me... You wouldn't just be in jail for creating that fucking monster. I would have you starved, burned and skinned alive. I don't want to hear another fucking word from your mouth, do you get that?”

He struggled to nod with the magic surrounding his neck.

She dropped him onto the floor, gasping for air.

“He's right, you know.” A feminine voice came from the back of the store.

“What?” The Captain turned, looking toward the hallway leading to the storefront, a lime green Pegasus gently strolling in. She was wearing the full, ornate Royal Guard armor and she sported a long, elegant spear.

“He is right. If you want to catch her, you have to find out what she loves... Use it... Make it suffer...” She spoke uneasily, unhinged jitters and filthy coat complemented her tone. “Then she will come running, without thinking... You will have her...”

The Captain lowered her brow, “I'm sorry, I didn't catch your na-”

“Holly...” Diamond said, in shock.

“You know her?” The Captain turned to Diamond.

“Yeah...”

Holly casually strolled toward them, trailing the blade of her spear against the ground causing a painful scraping noise.

Once she reached the group of guards, she lifted her weapon backup, complete silence in the room.

“36th Elder's Grove. Footage shows her entering and leaving that house twice, now. I've been to busy tracking her to check but... There has to be some reason for it. Go, investigate it.” The pony strode past the Captain, not giving her a look as she spoke to her.

“Excuse me, who do you think you are?” The Captain spun around to Holly, trying to block her path. “Answer me!”

“It doesn't matter, take my advice or don't, whatever you want.” She shoved past the Captain, moving into the parking lot, “East, into the alley?”

The tracker nodded.

Without saying another word, she spread her wings and pounced into the air, taking flight and dashing away, east.

The pony with the visor walked to the Captain's side. “Captain?”

“Yea?”

“Do you want me to send a few ponies to check out Elder’s Grove?”

“Yea.”

Cardinal listened to the echo of her hoofsteps as she wandered down this back road, in an extremely grimy part of the city once more. It seemed that there were far more of these disadvantaged areas in this city than others.

The path was trashed, garbage openly poured onto the street, needles, broken and used, scattered everywhere.

She had to dodge several hooded ponies that seemed to simply be hanging out on the streets, although apart from them this entire part of the city was quite dead.

Cardinal had been making her way to this ''Bodied'' street, which she had gotten directions to from a scratched up city map she found at the side of a bus stop.

Reaching the end of this short one-way road, Cardinal peered around the corners. Seeing a few thuggish looking ponies off to her right, she popped her head back in, hopping into the archway of a doorway in the rear of the closest building, pressing up against it she waited patiently for them to pass so she could continue.

Her guts gave her another sudden kick of pain, vision slightly hazy as she brushed it off.

Gazing down the street from where she came, she watched another pony run by. From the distance, she could only tell that they were gold and very shiny before they sprinted past the other corner and out of her sight.

Cardinal heard the group pass by near her. She stuck out her head to see their tails before they were gone. She also managed to hear a small bit of their conversation as one said, “... going to buy from now? Can't believe...” is all she got before his voice faded away.

She stepped out of the doorway, going to the corner again she searched for any other threats. Seeing nopony else coming in her direction, she went to turn the corner.

Trotting onto the main street, she quickly dashed across, making her way to the other side, where she ran down the right pathway for a few moments before reaching another tight alleyway that she ducked into.

Once in the shadows, she skidded to a halt, twisting her head over her shoulder to make sure nopony had seen her.

Relieved, she returned to trotting forward.

It was closing in on night. Wouldn't be long before she reached the ''Murder Machine''. What did Mecha say it was again? A robot fighting ring? Why in Equestria would such a thing exist? she thought.

Not paying to much heed to her surroundings, together with her impeded visual ability due to the darkness, she stumbled into a bin, the metal clanged back and forth against the trash inside.

Cardinal recoiled back, taking a quick breath after realizing what she had done. She went to continue moving down the alley, but just as she took her first step, a voice came down from the shadows in front of her.

“Is that you again!? I told ya that I am not selling, and if I was I ain't gonna sell to some piece of shit like you!”

Cardinal was taken back by the familiarity of the voice. She could nearly place it...

“Did ya not hear me? Get your ass out of here!”

She knew them, but she couldn't place a name...

Then a popping noise came from the same direction, that of lips sucking on a glass bottle. Her assumptions were confirmed when the same glass was placed down onto the ground with a sloshing of liquid.

“Scotch?” she said, her eyes jumping.

“Cardinal?”

She watched as a shadowy figure stood up and grew in size as it approached her. “Fancy seein' you here! How are things? Did ya find your special somepony?” he said in his grizzled, chummy voice, slurred by the drink.

Cardinal lowered her head at the question, feeling the scar. “It... It didn't go well.”

“Oh... Did she...” He made a throaty cough, then a few swallowing noises as if he nearly vomited. “Did she dump ya?” He put a hoof onto Cardinal's stiff shoulder. Before he gave a chance for Cardinal to respond, he assumed he was correct. “Don't worry. You'll find the right pony... One day... I... uhh, my first girlfriend... I...”

“It’s fine, Scotch, it's alright.” She raised her gaze back up to him.

“Oh, well then... What ya doing here? I'm uh... Enjoying myself...” He coughed violently. “As you can see...” he said, out of breath.

“I'm looking for a place called the Murder Machine, do you happen to-” She was cut off by his drunken rambling.

“The Murder Machine! Oh that place is... Really awesome! I... I've been a few times. It’s crazy... They have this, this huge stadium, where they have robots fight! Robots! I've never seen anything cooler than those robots they have there... So advanced, it's crazy, the technology it would take to build something like that...”

Cardinal cut him off before he could ramble any further, “Can you tell me where it is? I only know the street name.”

“Oh, yea! It’s... Umm...” He put his hoof around Cardinal's neck and pulled her down the alley, trotting with her down to where she first entered. Once there, he let go of her and stumbled onto the street, the first time she had gotten a good look at the thick brown-furred pony with a trashed black mane. He wore a hole-ridden black fedora and a tie, equally messy.

He looked up at the street signs. “Aha! So, if we are here...” He spun around back to face the alley, trying to visualize the path. “If you go two streets that way, and then take a right and keep going, you should see an abandoned industrial area. There's a big warehouse with the words Murder Machine all over it...”

“Thank you so much, Scotch. See you!” She turned back to the alley and skipped down it, glad that she was finally going to get repaired.

“See ya, Cardinal... Stay in school...” He shouted out to her.

Soon enough, Cardinal had reached the other side of the long, wide alley, passing by all of the back doors and garbage dumpsters and reaching the street on the other side.

As she stepped out into the light, after checking for ponies and finding none, she turned her head back to look at Scotch, wondering if he had gone back to his seat and drink.

She was taken back when she saw him chatting with somepony else, the shiny, gold pony she saw before...

Cardinal leaned in, trying to get a clearer look, and before long she realized that the pony wasn't gold; that was their armor.

It was then, once Cardinal had realized it was another Guard tracking her, just before she went to run away, is when Scotch had pointed down the alley, the Guard’s vision shooting down and catching Cardinal's. They locked eyes and both hesitated in making their move.

Although, Cardinal then learned the other pony wasn't hesitating, instead just pulling out the spear on their back slowly, with menace.

Cardinal turned heel and bolted, running as fast as her wounded and tired state would allow, as she heard a painful scraping of metal against stone coming from behind her.

She stumbled on the curb, getting to the next street and forcing her way through as she plowed down a thin wooden gate. She continued to sprint up onto the patio of somepony's home. Cardinal fell against the door, her weight causing it to creak.

Turning her head back, she saw the light green Pegasus galloping at her. She had already reached the street behind her and raised her spear, lifting it back to throw.

Cardinal pushed against the door frame, dropping her body onto the hardwood of the patio, smacking her head against it with an aching force. She had done this just in time as the spear came flying at the door, the blade stabbing right through the wood and smashing a ginormous hole into it, the spear landing somewhere inside the house.

Holly then hopped over the gate with the ease of her wings, boosting her into the front yard. She looked like a wild animal, her mouth drooling and eyes focused and filled with rage.

The door then swung open, a Pegasus, presumably the resident of the home, stepped out, holding a pistol within his right wing. “YO, WHAT THE FU...” He came out in a rage but was immediately frozen by confusion as he looked out onto the Royal Guard on his lawn, not even spotting Cardinal lying at his hooves yet.

Luckily for her, this made Holly plant her hooves into the ground and stop, her head down and ready for action.

Holly stared down the pony, who returned his gaze. It was only when Holly took a glance down at Cardinal that the Pegasus did also.

His eyes lit up, the situation instantly doubling in his head with confusion.

Although, it was a mere second of Cardinal and the stranger Pegasus looking at each other, before a long, smooth-sided combat knife came hurtling into the Pegasus's face, sticking in as his body fell atop Cardinal.

Cardinal flipped between gaping at the dead body now on her and Holly, who had just thrown the knife.

But as the Royal Guard sprung into action, Cardinal, without hesitation, grabbed the pistol within her own wing, turning it to Holly and firing it off.

The bullets plinked off of her armor as she raised a leg to guard her head, stopping her from advancing as she protected herself on the patio stairs. Cardinal used this as her opportunity to throw the body off of her and limp herself into the house and kick the door closed behind her.

She limped up into a standing position, scrambling further into the house. She found herself falling onto a kitchen counter in this humble little home before she heard the door burst down and Holly fly into the room with it.

Biting down on a plate on the counter, she swung around her head, launching it towards the viscous Pegasus hunting her.

Holly ran into the room. Seeing the plate coming, she plucked her spear out of the floor with two wings, slashing into the air at the flying plate, smashing it into pieces that went flying off to the left where she swung.

Cardinal pressed down on her hind-leg’s suspension. Letting go, she made a pitiful jump across the counter. She landed on the other side onto the tiles of the kitchen, knocking bowls and utensils all over her.

Holly leapt up onto the counter, then jumped down onto Cardinal, thrusting her spear at her head.

Cardinal flipped up her metallic wing. Being stabbed by the spear, she lead it into the oven to her left, the spear so sharp it cut her feather right in half and smashed through the glass, digging in deeply into the oven's guts. A sizzling noise came from the inside.

Holly fell onto Cardinal. Taking out a knife with one wing, she slammed it down at her chest. Cardinal twisted around her left leg, putting it in the blade’s path. It was stabbed through completely, the tip of the knife sticking out at Cardinal as she pushed against the Pegasus, Cardinal's strength failing.

Holly spat onto Cardinal's face, yelling at her. “YOU’RE DEAD, BITCH!” She forced the knife down, its tip less than an inch from Cardinal's chest.

Cardinal tried to flip up her pistol but her wing was being stood on by Holly. She had no way to point it at her.

Then a distinct and familiar smell met Cardinal's nose. It was an intoxicating, sickening smell of some invisible gas. She felt its metallic, rotten stench in her throat.

It clicked in her head, and then the trigger of her pistol clicked in her wing, the gunshot being relativity quiet compared to the gas explosion that then engulfed the two of them.

Fire covered every inch of their collective skin. They both screamed out in pain.

Although, after the initial blast, the fire that grabbed onto Cardinal quickly faded as she brushed it off.

Unluckily for Holly, her hair-covered body did not give her the same luxury, as the flames stuck onto her with their agony-inducing claws. She waved in the air and collapsed to the ground. She shrieked and struggled on the tiles, unable to smother the flames.

Cardinal threw a leg onto the counter above her, shaking as she pulled her giant mass upward. Her left leg making crunching noises as she tried to put pressure on it, she gave out a pained grunt as she lifted it back up.

Resting against the counter she watched as Holly struggled on the floor, being burnt alive.

Without too much hesitation Cardinal threw herself over to the other end of the kitchen, leaning over the busted oven she smacked the tap on, biting down onto the nozzle once the water was flowing and pulling with all her might. She stumbled back as she bit the tip of the tap off, falling backwards a few steps and landing on her behind. She watched as the water was sprayed over the sink's edges and poured onto the roasting Pegasus.

The air filled up with steam and a hot fizzle as the flames were sedated by the erratic spray of water.

Cardinal scrambled backward. Seeing a backdoor in this tiny little house, she pulled herself up, grunting and groaning as her body stung in every place.

She pressed against the door, eventually busting through and falling down the back stairs and into the grass. Feeling the grass and dirt in her mouth as her head was slammed into the ground.

She rolled onto her back, taking a breath, looking up at the house she saw an orange glow coming from inside, the fire spreading to the wooden walls of the house.

Cardinal went to run, the knife stuck in her leg still burning with pain. She lifted the leg up to the side of her cheek and placed the handle into her mouth.

With a visceral yank, she dislodged the knife and threw it across the yard. A streak of goo came out with it, splattering over the grass.

Slowly making her way to her hooves over the course of a minute, she found extreme difficulty with planting her hooves steadily.

She took a step forward, slugging her weight with huge effort. Soon, the second step followed, shambling out of the yard's gate and onto the street.

Cardinal slumped down against the rattling metal sheet, falling down and sitting against the wall of the warehouse.

She had made it. Now, she only had to wait for Mecha. Once he got here, then that would be it; she would be fixed. Which, in light of recent events, was something Cardinal really looked forward to.

Lacking even the strength to haul herself into the building, she sat facing the street, hoping to see his pick-up roll in any second...

The industrial estate she found herself in was really tightly packed, indistinguishable, rusty and maintained warehouses in lines, a few smoke stacks in the distance sticking out of a large factory at the end of the street. Broken down trucks lay in this mechanical graveyard, the dust coating them seemingly ancient.

In the center of this estate, an outlying building stood, a refurbished warehouse. While still not necessarily clean, the building Cardinal sat against was painted in a very funky graffiti style. It had several reinforced walls, signs sticking out of the pavement, prominently sporting the name, ''Murder Machine''. There was even a gate installed. Unlike anything else in the estate, it looked like it was built within the century, and luckily for Cardinal, it was already wide open when she stumbled in on her last legs.

She could hear inside. It was like a riot and a concert combined with the cheering and verbal rage. Lights could be seen flashing into the dark sky from cracks in the roof, a flurry of colours pouring into the air above her.

Cardinal noticed the large amount of loose scraps of steel and tech lying around only this building, far more specific than any other stray garbage anywhere else. Sparking wires and gadgets surrounded her with no pattern or order, just sporadically thrown about.

She looked down onto her left foreleg. It was leaking, heavily. All of its joints and pistons became resistant and congested, sparks coming out every now-and-again. The panel on either side was coming loose, easily pried off with the smallest of force, practically dangling by a thread.

It still hurt like a bitch.

Although all of her worries were set aside when she heard the revving spin of tires against the road, coming out from the street and getting closer. Her tired head lifted with ease at this, watching the road with a hopeful eagerness.

A smile appeared on the dead landscape of her worn face as she saw Mecha's worn truck roll up, the right side facing her. Mecha sat on the left, his trucker hat just barely visible from the opposite side of the car.

Then the door facing Cardinal clicked, slowly floating open.

As it flung open, she heard a voice coming from inside the car, sounding like a terrible impression of Mecha's accent.

W'erhh, Hawya doing 'ere Cardi?

The fox, wearing Mecha's hat, came into view as the door continued to edge open. A douchey smile on his face, along with the corner of his mouth raised open in an effort to mimic Mecha's voice.

Cardinal's brow fell, sighing as she became heavily peeved.

What? Are you not excited to see me again?

I doubt anyone would be, Fox.

Ah, we have a smart ass, eh? Well, let me cut to the point then.

The fox slid out of the car, hopping down onto the sidewalk and ditched his hat with a toss back into the car. He strode over to Cardinal, who was feeling the weight of her injuries ease as she felt around in this dream-plane.

So, sis, you made it. Congrats. How you feeling?

Is that really ''the point'' that you’re cutting to?

Well, it's not like I'm here to give you profound advice every time. You’re just hallucinating because you've lost a lot of blood... But hey, it's going to get all better soon, right? Just gotta wait for Mecha to get here, yeah? He spun around to look at his truck. In fact, I should probably park that. He raised a paw, snapping his toes like before. The car door shut tightly and the wheels began rolling along the street until they were out of sight.

That's better. He turned back to Cardinal. I want to make sure I don't get a parking ticket. He grinned.

If you want to talk, then sit and talk, Fox. If you want to play your silly games, then you should probably leave.

Ooh... Is it Cardinal I'm talking to? Because I don't recognize this Cardinal... Actually, I do, that time you set yourself on fire and blew me up. Now that, that is the Cardinal I can get behind. He strolled up to her, sliding down the wall slowly, in the most cool and casual way he could.

Speaking of setting yourself on fire, you seem to be doing that a lot nowadays, huh?

That was self defense.

He put his leg around her shoulder, closing in beside her. Yea, that's why you saved her... Lemme tell you, if that was me... Ohh if that was me… He gave her a joking glance, seeing her deadpan eyes, making him fold up. You know, then, I guess...

He sighed, his high being thrown off. You know, you’re a real buzzkill... I'm just trying to cheer up my lil' sister and you’re all pouty cause of that.

I don't need cheering up. Not from you, at least.

He cocked his head away, slightly offended. Not from me? Why not me? What's wrong with me? he said, trying to pull it off with a laughing attitude but finding himself veering into a melancholy tone.

You’re dead. You shouldn't be here.

Dead? Death didn't mean all that much just a few days ago, did it? Why is it so damn impactful to you now?

She gave him a restrained look of anger, annoyed by the question.

I know, I know. Seeker’s dead, you're never going to see her again, that sucks... He took a hefty breath. That doesn't mean it has to be the end of her, right? You're still here, and I know for a fact that you're not fighting your way through the entire city, grinding down tooth and nail for me. He let his head rest on its side, giving her a knowing look. It's true that I know that for a fact, by the way. I can, you know, see in your head.

Your point?

My point, if you'd let me get to it, is that there is no such thing as a meaningless death. Seeker died and got you to not give up, to live on her behalf. I'm dead, well, at least the version of me in the computer you burned down, but I'm still here for you. Don't let that change...

She was taken aback, nodding in agreement without even realizing it.

He fiddled with the locket that was around her neck, inspecting its design. He returned to his casual, joking tone. Guess that you've forgotten about all that Dragon Oath shit, yea?

Cardinal, still processing his message, flinched at the question, remembering what he was talking about.

Don't worry, I doubt it was all that important... But this magic, plant-growing locket, you could do a lot of good with that. After this whole repairing and being hunted nonsense is dealt with, of course. This world seems like it could use a few more flowers.

Yea... she said, gently looking down at it.

He let go of it, sitting back against the wall. Guess your story ain't finished yet, am I right? He winked.

Cardinal then felt something jab her in the forehead, causing her to place a hoof onto the point where she was hit as a reaction.

Facehoofing, really? It's just an innocent bit of meta humour.

What? No, its...

She felt it again, trying to swat at it like a fly.

“What the...” Cardinal raised her head, dropping her hoof as she felt its unyielding weight return. She looked out to see two ponies standing over her, one holding out a screwdriver with his wing and poking at her. She tried to get a better look at them, but her vision was blurry and it was getting too hard to focus, so she didn't bother.

“Holy shit!” The one poking exclaimed as her one operating eye flickered on and stared him down. “She's the real deal, dude!” His friend added, both of them enthralled with Cardinal.

“Wha...” Cardinal struggled to speak, feeling the weight of her eyes still prominent.

“Holy fuck, dude, what do we do?!?” The Pegasus grabbed his friend by the shoulders, who responded with similar excitement and panic, “Dude, the other's will freak out when they see her!”

“Re...” Cardinal made the sound, resting before continuing.

“Wait, dude, I think she's trying to tell us something!” The Pegasus brought down his head to line up with Cardinal's, giving her an attentive ear.

“Repairs...” she finished, sending the two of them back in shock as they took a second look at her body, now becoming aware of the heavy damages.

“Fuck, you’re busted up something bad, dude...” He looked up at her eyes, seeing a hint of frustration past the weakness.

“Ugh, I mean, dudette, sorry,” he corrected himself, causing Cardinal to roll her eye at the statement.

The Pegasus stood up and addressed his friend, “Go tell Holler and get them to clear out chopping block A. Tell him it's urgent. I'll carry her in.”

“You got it, dude,” he said, rushing around the corner and into the building, out of sight.

“Alright, Cardinal, is it? We're gonna get you fixed up. That okay with you, girl?” he asked, as if she wasn't begging for help.

He only received her unmoving and peeved stare, which he took it as a yes. He lifted her legs around his shoulders and over his neck, hoisting her up until she lay on his back, kept in balance by his wings. “The name's Joint, by the way, super big fa- Oh, Celestia, you are heavy... Big fan of yours, Miss Cardinal...” He pushed on, grinding his hooves against the cement as he made his way into the building, following his friend.

Soon, though, as the roaring screams of the warehouse became louder the further she was brought inside, she felt herself slipping, her world fading to black.

“PREPARE YOURSELVES, MARES AND GENTLECOLTS FOR THE FINAL ROUND OF...” The room fell dead silent as everypony waited in exuberance.

“...MURDER MACHINE!!!”

The crowd roared at the announcers words, the stadium completely packed and bursting over the edges. Hooves filled the air as they cheered with all their might, jumping out of their seats.

“Contestants! ARE… YOU… READY!?!” The voice boomed over the crowd, powerful speakers in every corner projecting the announcer.

He heard his reply as the crowd freaked out even more, ponies throwing loose wires, circuitry, chunks of steel, knives and other blades, drinks and bits all into the ring. On the east and west podiums stuck into the stands at the edges, looking over the ring and outfitted with shabbily-built protective glass and a small pedestal for a controller, there were two sets of three ponies, each in their respective team colours. Both groups nodded up to the viewing box at the far north end of the stands, giving the all clear to the announcer.

“WELL, THEN! Team Xbot, please, REVEAL… YOUR… MACHINE!”

The crowd of a few hundred went insane as the metal sheet covering a door in the arena slid upward. Then, with a faint buzzing, a small, horseshoe-box sized robot came rolling out onto the sandy, dusty arena floor.

It had two treading wheels on either side it drove on, sleek armored panels protecting the wheel rims. The main body was a steel-plated box with a large buzzsaw hanging on a crane atop of it. There were two spikes on the front and back on the left and right of each face, in the center a spring-powered knife hidden inside. It was painted with bright greens and chrome silvers, a large X printed onto the main body.

“Team Deathstation, REVEAL… YOUR… MACHINE!” the announcer called out, cuing the opposing team to unveil their creation.

The door slid up with a rattle. Another machine came stepping out on its four spider-like legs, metal beams and hinges lifting the bot's body to a height nearly equal to that of an average filly. Each leg had four claws at their base, going out of each corner into an X. The sharp and jagged claws sunk into the loose, earthy floor. The only other weapon it seemed to harness was the thick barrel on its underside, pointing down at the ground beneath it. It was mostly painted a deep, dark grey with blue highlights.

“READY?!?” A large cheer answered him. “BATTLE!!!”

The two bots shot up into life, charging at each other as the stadium went crazy, cheering for their respective team as the suspense of this final match build in the seconds before the two robots began their ultimate battle to the death.

A pony shoving their way through the massive riot of ponies forced their way around the inner railing, getting to the opposite end where he traveled up the steps frantically, pushing his way up to the commentator's booth. He was stopped by the armed guard, only let through after some quick convincing.

Just as the bots came inches from each other, the announcer's voice could be heard, speaking to somepony else in his room.

“You mean... She's here…? Cardinal is… actually here?”

The room, practically in an instant, shut up. Every single pony in the stadium turned away from the now-ongoing battle and turned up toward the booth.

“I've got to see this...” The announcer and the messenger pony came out of the booth running down the private back stairs onto the ground floor, rushing to the chopping block.

The crowd took a moment before rioting down the main stairs. Not a single pony was left with any interest in the current battle, as even the fighting teams ditched their bots and ran and shoved along with the crowd.

After a few moments, and several ponies being trampled, the stadium was completely bare, only two motionless robots in the center of the arena, frozen mid-battle.

“THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT SHADE, YOU DIMWIT!”

“What do you mean? It is, dude!”

“Are you colourblind? That's at least two tints off! Look at the sample sheet!”

“Oh... Shit, yea. Well, it's close enough, I mean.”

“Close enough? That shit's gonna annoy me, dude! Why did we let you paint?”

“You promised that if I don't try and install any of my awesome attachments and instead leave it to the 'professionals', I would get to paint, so give me the other yellow and let me paint, dude!”

“What...” Cardinal blinked her eyes open, feeling a strange jolt of excitement when she could see out of both eyes once more. In fact, her vision was clearer than she ever remembered. She sat up with lighting speed, delighted by her strength as she twisted her head around the room. A large cheer of a crowd of ponies screamed out in triumph as she got up, giving her a slight scare. In front of her were the two ponies she recognized from the outside. Now with clear vision, she inspected them both.

One, the Pegasus that carried her in, was a young, bright orange stallion. He wore a greased up, dulled gray shirt. He had tired, gentle red eyes and a buzz-cut yellow mane.

The other was a unicorn, a paintbrush floating in his magical grip covered in a slightly off-tint yellow to Cardinal. He had a cooled-blue coat, and a thicker blue mane, and a confident set of purple eyes.

Behind them, there stood a large, huddled mass of ponies, each of them looking like some form of technician, each with their distinctive tools and hardware. They all seemed to be tired to death as they all watched Cardinal in awe, but there was no sign of Mecha anywhere.

She was sitting on a large steel block, hundreds of small parts thrown about around her. The room had blueprints, tool racks and cabinets tucked into every corner and inch of wall. Other tables filled with metal sheets and circuitry filled the room more than the ponies.

“Hello?” she said in a slightly worried, innocent tone, fearful of the crowd watching her every eye-twitch.

“SHE SPEAKS!” A pony from the back shoved through the engineers, moving up to the operating table she was on and leaned up against it. An older looking stallion with many scars and old bruises. “The name's Holler! And I think I speak for the entire room when I say we are all huge supporters.”

“S-s... Supporters?” She backed away, sliding herself to the edge of her steel bed, letting her tail hang over the side.

Seeing her obvious distress, the Pegasus from before stepped in, “Don't worry, Miss Cardinal, we're not going to hurt you or call the Royal Guard or anything. We're only here to help!”

“H-help?” Cardinal began to notice her rehabilitated strength felt... Off. Her tail felt extremely light, compared to what she remembered. So did her mane, in fact, while her flank and main body felt far bulkier, a hefty weight, like she was wearing a whole other layer of skin atop of her own, but she set aside the thoughts as she focused on the herd of ponies in front of her.

“Yes, we repaired you! Look at yourself, you look fucking... Ripped!”

Cardinal realized she was repaired, fully. Looking down at her hooves first, her eyes flew open in dismay. Both legs now outfitted with a set of thick, engraved steel armor plates, curved brilliantly at the hooves with a very old-fashioned Legionnaire style, complemented with a pink, luminescent highlight between the front and back panels. Her actual hooves were completely replaced with a rubber-tipped, thick titanium base and a small set of spikes in the base of the hoof, allowing for both insane friction and a very deadly punch, with a newly installed, spring-locked ball joint, allowing full free movement and even a high-power outward thrust of the hoof that could probably bend steel with one hit.

Her eyes traveled up her legs, reaching her chest and shoulders. Two thick pads, continuing with the classical Pegasian armor theme was made of several stacked plates of steel, a small circle in the center of the outmost layer had a glowing pink circle, looking like it was comprised of liquid as patterns and shapes formed and deformed gently, like lava.

Her chest had a burly new design. High-grade steel stuck to her in multitudes, forming a large armor, with several glowing pink streaks leading from all around her body down into the center of her chest, where there was a large hoof-sized, butterfly-shaped core filled with the stuff. Her flank and hind legs followed a similar pattern, making it seem like she was wearing a heavy-duty set of traditional Pegasian armor with a few futuristic design flares.

She then swung her two hooves up to her head, expecting to hit her mane. Although, it took a second of feeling around in the air where her synthetic metal hair used to be  before she found that it was still there, just far shorter, with sharp edges. She pulled down her leg, and using its newly-polished surface as a mirror she looked at her face, her neck's exterior completely redone. The old, clunky panels were gone and instead a snake-like thread of wide metal sheets that made the shape of her neck all connected together by her spine allowed for an insane new amount of free movement. The familiar pink colour was used in between joints as an accent. Her spine continued down along her back with a folding set of interlocking spikes, going all the way down to her tail.

Her face had experienced heavy changes as well. Two sets of armor, in a pointed, triangular shape, covered her muzzle and forehead, only leaving a wide V shape for her eyes to see through. Then, by just simply thinking it, the two panels gave out a gust of wind as their pressure locks opened and the bottom panel slid off her muzzle and shifted down underneath her chin where it stopped, sticking up to her lower jaw to conceal it, while the top one rotated upward, revealing her forehead and the rest of her eye sockets, until it stopped at her mane. She then looked deep into her own eyes, now completely lacking all white. Instead, the glass seemed to have been replaced with a screen, leaving her eyes with a pure black background and two diamond blue pupils which she quickly found can be manipulated in any way as she changed their shape from a circle to a flower and back.

Her mane and tail were cut down, now into a more menacing, slicked back style, looking like a gust of flames. Still retaining their old pink colour. Unlike most of her body which was now a polished silver.

“So, what do you think?” Joint, the Pegasus, asked her. She couldn't even think at this point  though, so she just continued to admire her new body.

He continued, “After we fixed you up, we thought, hey, running from the Royal Guard? You could use some upgrades to help, and we're kind of the experts on this sort of thing.”

He began pointing at the engineers as he spoke. “That's Rook. Him and his crew designed your new armor. That shit should be able to survive through a ballistic missile. There's Switch. She fixed up all of your wiring and even had a spare tank of the... What do you call it? The goo shit that's like robot blood?”

“Harmony,” she responded.

“Yeah, that. She had some of that and we gave you a transplant, so your blood's now pink 'stead of blue. Him, over there, that's Riptire, and that... that is Roadrage. Him and her installed your new joints and shit, along with your new weapons.”

“Weapons?” Cardinal instantly butted in, lifting her eyes to Joint, giving him a look of disbelief.

“Yeah, apart from your spiked hooves, you now have a flamethrower that retracts into your mouth and your wings now have two machine guns.”

Cardinal's jaw dropped, then with a thought, a small nozzle appeared above her synthetic tongue. She then flipped it back in and shut her mouth, spreading out her re-sharpened and patched up wings, and, as promised, on the girth of her wing, there was installed a tiny machine gun on either side, resembling a fighter plane.

Seeing that Cardinal was loving this, he continued. “All of them, basically, that half of the room is responsible for fixing all of your guts, replacing most of them, in fact. Only a few parts we left untouched, like the cupholder. We found the grenades in that and nearly blew up... everything. So those are still there. You probably shouldn't open that, cause they are stuck in this, like, awkward place... So if you move them out, they will go off, cause the pins are caught up in there and will be pulled out if moved too much... You probably knew that, so, as I was saying.”

He patted the blue unicorn beside him on his back, “And Trinket, my friend here was about to paint you, and he was about to use the wrong damn colour.”

All of the engineers waved and nodded at her, causing her to start laughing with glee. “T-thank you...” she said to them, looking out at the crowd.

“Well, Miss Cardinal...” Holler spoke up again, going up to the side of her bed and extending a helping hoof to get her standing back up. “Let's get you on your hooves, test out that new body of yours.”

“S-sure...” she stuttered as a few tears fell down, feeling somewhat blessed by this group of strangers. “But...” She remembered something. “Where's... Where’s Mecha?”

“Mecha?” Joint said, slightly disheartened. “He, ugh... Here.” He took a phone out with his wing and gave it a few swipes before lifting it up to Cardinal, who had scooched up toward him as she waited. The phone screen was brought in front of her eyes. It was a news article that she began reading aloud.

“This evening, Mecha Machine, a pony involved with the escape of Cardinal has been...” She gulped, her heart sinking. “Shot while in a high-speed pursuit...”

“Hey.” Trinket put a hoof onto her lap trying to comfort her. “How about a paint job, huh? Take your mind off things.”

Cardinal's voice had dropped into a heartless, distant tone. “Sure.” She gently laid back, staring at the ceiling.

Holler then gave her a small heads up, trying to be as sensitive as possible. “After you’re painted... I thought you might want to test out your new body, so we have a few destructibles for you in the arena, if that's ok with you.”

She strained her hoof, feeling the insane, raw strength. She wanted to destroy something.

“Sure.”

“Mares and Gentlecolts, we thank you for your great patience. After an entire night's worth of repairing, rebuilding, and respecing her... We present to you, Manehattan's very own sentient robot...” The voice came from outside Cardinal's waiting room. Once he had paused, the door she had been staring at finally began lifting open as the stadium's lights poured over her.

“CARDINAL!!!”

She stepped out, hearing the mass applause. Cardinal wasn't lied to; the arena was filled with rebar and concrete walls, targets hooked onto steel poles and somepony even lifted in a run-down car.

Cardinal took one slow gaze around the arena, feeling the anger build up inside her, waiting to be unleashed. She wasn't even fazed by the fact hundreds of ponies were screaming and cheering around her.

Her face mask flipped up over her muzzle and forehead, leaving her deadly eyes glowing from beneath. With very little focus, she tinted her magical pupils red.

She galloped toward one of the many wall chunks scattered around, raising a leg as she skidded into it, throwing it behind her shoulder and launching it forward as she met the wall with her hoof. Moving at super-pony speed, she shot out her hoof from its socket a split second second before coming into contact with the cement, giving her punch that extra little umf as leg crashed into the wall, creating a large crater and sending cracks throughout the entire slab of stone.

The spectators rallied behind her, yelling deafeningly loud as she landed the punch.

She took a second, breathing in relief with her hoof stuck deeply into the cement.

After letting the relief wash over her and the crowd began to calm, she cocked back her leg once more, smashing into the concrete again, causing dust to fly off and stone to crumble. Before too long, she did it again, then again and again, demolishing the wall with a flurry of punches, coming in extreme quick succession and after mere seconds she felt her hoof fly forward and not be stopped as the wall crumbled into a pile of dust.

She swiveled around, staring down a poorly spray-painted target symbol on a stolen, half-height traffic sign. She flipped up her wings, stretching them out wide as she unloaded her machine guns, bullets flying through the thin panel creating a swarm of holes until the sign was flung off. A few dozen bullet holes cratered into the thick steel walls of the arena.

Cardinal snapped her wings back to her sides, twisting her head around like a viscous snake as it folded and rotated a full one hundred and eighty degrees, looking at the car in the far north side of the arena from the center, where she stood strongly.

She stepped around with her body, her head not moving in the slightest from its enraged glare as the rest of her aligned with it. She then ground her hoof against the sand, kicking some of it back behind her like a bull as she prepared to charge.

Dashing powerfully forward, the crowd roared, watching Cardinal run into the car, slamming both of her forelegs right into the side, going in through the doors. Cardinal began screaming as she hoisted the entire car into the air above her head, now standing on only her hind legs. The hood of the old car tipped out, slipping out of its hinges until it fell down beside her, the trunk of the car swinging in the air as she held it.

Shouting in fury, she spun around, throwing the hunk of steel across the arena, landing near the center as it flipped a few times, landing on its roof as it skidded to a halt.

The announcer was shouting in excitement, the crowd raging, though it was nothing more than a mute buzzing that she heard as she panted, her head gliding up and down in a smooth repeating motion with each breath, her chest moving in sync, in and out.

Then, throwing her head into the sky, Cardinal flipped out her flamethrower, taking down her mask, aiming it into the sky as she turned it up to full blast, the large flame breath going out in a ginormous flaming inferno, nearly reaching the height of the stadium.

She continued the eruption for a good, satisfying while, eventually cutting it off once she felt like it, lowering her head down slowly and meeting her eyes with the completely busted car once more.

Cardinal took a slow and ramping trot toward it, reaching its side with a deadly patience. Positioning herself parallel to it, she cocked her right hind leg and slammed it into the hull of the car, leaving it to slide further down the arena.

As the car moved, Cardinal lifted her head for the first time to look at the crowd, seeing the humongous mass of ponies go crazy over her.

She felt the cooling wave of release pour over her body, lowering her head as her pupils gently shifted back to blue.

Then, the crowd began going silent.

Cardinal noticed her background noise fade, not completely realizing how loud it was until it finally quieted down.

Her eyes wandered upward, looking to her right at the somewhat smoothly gliding car she had just kicked, and then above it, where on the railing of the stands there was a pony wearing a juggernaut sized set of Royal Guard armor and a large machine gun strapped to them. It was a suit she recognized. Ponies around them backed away as the guard bent the railing in front of them, splitting it into two ends to allow them to move through with ease.

The Royal Guard hopped down almost casually into the arena, but landing with a ground shattering crash, actually causing a small tremor around them.

They then raised their hoof at the car gliding towards their side. As the car was a few seconds from stopping on its own, the pony put out a hoof, making the car go still as they impeded its movement. Then, spinning the car around as they walked directly forward. They stopped and looked Cardinal straight in the eye, who raised up her neck prominently as she watched in wonder, preparing herself for anything.

“I told you...” They whispered, her speech amplified by the suit, a painful grit in their voice. “I am going to kill you...”

The Royal Guard then nonchalantly flicked a switch on their cybernetic helmet, having the mask slide off of a pony's face.

Behind were a set of tortured eyes, a green coat was left blackened from unhealed burns, which exposed flesh, her eyes filled with unfiltered hate and pure insanity.

Cardinal's eyes widened in disbelief.

“You...”