//------------------------------// // Troubles // Story: BROKEN // by WolfoftheWaves Pony //------------------------------// I stood on the roof of my house. I said house. I should say shack. My roof is a tin sheet nailed down with rusty nails and the windows are so dirty that I can barley see out of them. Here is where I live, just like every single other pony in my plot. Though most of them are better off than us. Me, my little sister, and my mother live on the very edge of Unit Area 4, the poorer area. Why is it so poor? Because this is where the revolutionists usually live, where the Robot Units usually blow up their houses to dish out their "justice." My house had been hit three times before by accident. So now it it is seemingly held together by a thread. "Blossom Wing!" I hear my mother call. "Get down from there! It's freezing!" "It's freezing every night here, mom. In fact, every day here is night. Get your facts straight." My plot is under the moon that never sets, so we never get the sweet relief of the day to warm us up. Just as the side of Area 4 that is under the sun that never sets. They never get the cool relief of night. That is why I like it in the direct middle of the Area. Where day and night meet. And Unit Area 4 runs right through the center of the two celestial bodies. My mother shakily flew up to sit beside me on the roof. "Blossom Wing, why do you stay up here for hours?" She put her purple hoof around my shoulders. "Is something wrong? You seem tense today." "It's, it's nothing, mom. It's just that, Tornado just got under my skin today," I said. She sighed. "What did he do this time?" "He, he... it's nothing, mom." I turned away from her and broke free from her hoof. I laid my ears back "Well, at least come down for dinner. I made fruit salad!" My ears shot back up but I didn't look back at her. "With... pears?" She smiled devilishly. "Maybe!" "Did the laundromat give you the raise?" "Yep. And I thought I'd celebrate!" "I guess, sure. That would be good." The smile fell from her face. "Blossom, please don't be so depressed all the time. You only live once, you know." If only Tornado lived the same way. As far as I knew, he was on his way to a protest and he could be dead by tomorrow. Or tonight. You only live once... ******** UNIT AREA 4 I heard the voice in my head shortly after I woke up. I was assigned to my Area already. 4. I had no idea what Unit 4 would be like, but I had my duty to do. DOWNLOADING EQUESTRIAN RULES FOR UNIT AREA 4 I felt a wire hook up to the back of my head and information poured into my brain. I suddenly knew all there was to know about Unit Area 4. All criminal Records, all catalogs for the citizens, security camera footage, and all records of protests and fights against the Robot Units. I then received a file about one that happened a few minutes ago. 97 ponies where arrested. My programming told me that they should be arrested and punished dearly for their actions against the Unit, and for a moment I agreed. But then I saw the security footage. I cocked my head to the side slightly. I saw them, the ponies that we were supposed to protect, screaming and sheltering those they loved, as my Fellow Robot Units fired at them. It just didn't seem, right. ROBOT UNIT 456770 REPORT FOR TRAINING The hatch on my station opened and I hovered out, following the other Units as they went down a long corridor lit with bright, white lights. I looked around. It seemed that this corridor went on forever. A Robot Unit hovered beside me, staring straight ahead. "What Unit Area do you have?" I asked him. "CLASSIFIED INFORMATION." "Thank you for reminding me." I said. "YOUR WELCOME." But I did not feel satisfied. My voice sounded different than his, but he was a Robot Unit like me. Why do I care? ********* "Hey, fluff ball." "Blossom Wing, I am NOT a fluff ball!" "Yes you are, little leaf! Come 'ere!" I grabbed my little sister in a huge embrace and gave her a noogie, hard. She laughed and screamed. "Blossom! Stop!" I let her go, and she fall back, smiling and giggling. My little sister had just come back from school when I finally budged and came down from the roof. We always had the same greeting: I called her fluff ball, she would deny it, then I would say something or do something to make her laugh. "Alright girls, now stop that. It's time for dinner," My mother said. I got up and walked over to out tiny, three legged table. I stood near the wooden boards that made up our walls, fidgeting . We have no chairs. My mother put the big glass bowl of the fruit salad on the table and dished out the paper plates and napkins. She grabbed the light cord hanging above us and turned the single, weakening light bulb on. I grabbed myself a huge plate and went down to eating. "My, someone's feeling better," My mom said. "It must be the pears," I mumbled, my mouth full. "Now are you ready to tell me what Tornado said to you?" I forgot to chew before swallowing, and I choked. "Why *cough* are you so interested?" "Tornado said something bad?" Little Leaf asked. "Blossom Wing, did, did he say something about your father?" I looked at her. I pushed my plate away. "I am not hungry any more, mother. Excuse me, but I think that I am going for a fly." I said. I galloped out of that house as fast as I could and lept into the air. "Blossom! Get back here this instant!" My mother yelled. I ignored her. Why was she so nosy? Couldn't she just stay out of my business for at least one day? I didn't come back home that night. ******* UNIT 456770 IS THE WINNER I folded the weapons back into the sides of my metal body and closed the lid on them. I looked down at the dummy that I had destroyed. Bits of it lay strewn around the small training room, smoldering and burning. It was day four of training, and I had already gotten the hang of shooting, blasting, and slicing. My programming told me that I was to use these skills in the field, that being Area 4. But this dummy, shaped like a pony, just reminded me of that security footage. The one where my own kind hurt the ponies that we where created to protect. No, I thought. We are here to create order. To make peace. But why does peace have to involve weapons? YOU MAY GO BACK TO THE CHARGING AREA, UNIT 456770. TOMORROW YOU WILL BE SHIPPED TO AREA 4. Shipped. Yes, that is a nice way to put it. But why do I care? I hovered over to my station, and settled in. I looked out of the clear bubble and felt the familiar sharp pain in my side. I saw other Robot Units coming to their stations covered in battle wounds and sparking from their wires. Others, like me, where coming back in pristine condition. Those damaged where not coming back to their stations to recharge, however. They came to be repaired. I felt my mind go foggy. I realized that this would be my last night in this station. Tomorrow, I would have a new one. Goodbye, station. When I wake up, I will be in Unit Area 4. ******* "Hey, Blossom. I'm, I'm sorry." I looked up at him, his lip cut and bleeding and his head bandaged. "It's okay, Tornado." "No its not, Blossom. I, I shouldn't have said that. It was not fair of me and..." "It was four days ago, Tornado. Forgive and forget. Whats important now is that your alive." Me and him sat on the side of Area 4 where the sun never sets in a park, under the shade of an apple tree. I had found him here just a while ago, and I was so relieved that he was not dead. "And I can't believe that they let you go." "Only because I was on the scene when the fighting happened. I have a four month probation though, Blossom. And I have to wear this stupid ankle bracelet." He waved his back hoof in the air in frustration. "Yeah, but that's nothing compared to what the other ponies went through. Some are in jail for life. Others are seriously injured. And others are-" "Yeah, I know Blossom, I was there. Ponies are in jail. Ponies are near death. And other ponies have already met with death. Yes, I am SO lucky." I wanted to change the subject. "Hey. I, uh, heard that there is going to be a new shipment of Robot Units coming in tomorrow." "Yeah, whoopee." Tornado rolled his purple eyes. "More of those horrible monstrosities."