//------------------------------//
// Dreams that will never stop  
// Story: BROKEN 
// by WolfoftheWaves Pony 
//------------------------------//

	I cannot see. Everything is black. It is cold, I am hungry, and I am scared. I know that this is not my home. Home does not feel like concrete beneath your hooves. Home does not smell like mildew. Home is not this place. "Hello? Is anyone there?" I desperately cried out, hoping that somepony will come for my rescue. But nopony does. I have never been this more terrified in my entire 18 years of living. Where is Grandmother? Where is Grandfather? Did they leave me here? Or is this just some cruel, sick, twisted joke? 
I flung myself to the nearest wall in desperation, and come crashing into metal bars. They ring out as my bones scream with pain. I know where I am now. I am in a jail cell. I reached out with my hoof and touched the cold, metal bars. Why am I in here? Did I do something wrong that I didn't know about? Did the Robot Units lock me in here? No. I am starting to remember. I put my hoof to the side of my face and closed my eyes, which, of course, really did not make much of a difference on how everything looked. But I remember screaming. Yes, screaming. And the screams are coming from me. Then, I remember pain. And a voice. A voice telling me that everything will be fine.  Then, I heard no more. No, that can't be it! I need more information! Why am I here!?!
"Please! Just let me out of here!" I cried, tears flowing freely from my face. "I don't belong here! Please! NO!"

I came out of the recharge process in an instant, the blackness from the recharge becoming an image of the dimly light recharge room for all Robot Units of Unit Area 4. I looked around and realized that I was not in a jail cell. I was in my compartment. And I had just woken up from the recharge process a second time. Something that should not be possible. But I did it, a month after the first time it ever happened. And why did I wake up confused and disoriented?
Then a realization hit me full force, almost knocking me backward.
I had just dreamed.

I had a dream. A real dream. Robot Units do not dream. And I just did.
And the dream, so black and dark, like I really couldn't see, yet I felt like I truly did feel those metal bars. I heard that clang. I felt the pain that came with it. That I did plead with the darkness surrounding me. That it was, in fact, my voice.
Broken, Robot Units do not dream. Are you malfunctioning? I thought.
From what my database says about dreams, they are images created from the mind at random, and nopony really knows why they occur. Robot Units do not have minds. We have chips and motherboards. Processors and gears. It is impossible for us to dream. But I just did.  Maybe I am malfunctioning?

***************

I walked down the busy boulevard, trying avoiding the ponies that where walking in the other direction, towards the huge white building at the other end of the street, by far the fanciest and most expensive house in all of Unit Area 4. The mayor's house. And I had no intention of going there today, even if it was her birthday.  But to me, the mayor was a little stuck-up, flaunting her good fortune and riches in the faces of those of us who who are poor, who live in the shadows and scrape by with little food or just barely enough to keep us alive. So, no, I had no intention of going to her big birthday bash. And I wish that I could fly up and out from this crowd, but during a celebration like this, the whole day becomes a pegasus no-fly-zone. 
"Hey stranger. Where have you been?" I turned around to see Tornado making his way through the crowd  towards me. I relaxed, knowing that I will at least have another pony with me to ignore the mayor's big day.
"Hey," I said, still walking forward. "What are you doing out here?"
"Just thought that I would give the Robot Unit's an excuse to why I would be missing the ceremony."
"Oh really. And what's your excuse this time?" 
He smirked at me. "Oh nothing, just that my mother needs help with chores around the house today."
I gasped at him. "But your mother never does chores!"
"Yeah, and she's probably home right now, drunk. Thankfully, they took the lie and I get to blow the whole day off! And how about you? What's your excuse?"
"Why Tornado, why would you think that I am not attending the ceremony!" I said sarcastically. I put in a fake accent for good measure.
He put his hoof to his chin and said, "First off, you're heading away from the crowd rather than towards it, and your talking to me. Oh and it's also YOUR birthday, too."
I laughed. "Yeah. I told them that Little Leaf is sick and I am out to go get her some medicine."
"And let me guess," He said. "She's blowing the whole day off from school?"
"Yep."

We broke free from the crowd, giggling and laughing our heads off, heading towards our usual spot in the park, right in between the sun and the moon. My favorite place.
"So, we have some time to kill. What'cha wanna talk about?" Tornado asked me. I shrugged.
"Don't know. Probably the fact that it really is ironic that the mayor's birthday is on the same day as mine."
"Speaking of which," Tornado said, reaching into his pocket and revealing a large box. "Happy sweet sixteen, Blossom Wing!"
I smiled and grabbed the box, opening the top and gasping at the two cupcakes.
"Are these the red velvet cupcakes with vanilla icing, chocolate icing, then vanilla icing on top, with a spritz of strawberry juice and topped of with a slice of lime, coated in sugar?"
"Yes. The 'tops' are all there," Tornado said, smiling. I licked my lips, closed the box, and reached over to hug my best friend. "Thank you so much, Tornado!"
"Aw, don't mention it."
"WHY ARE YOU TWO NOT AT THE MAYOR'S CEREMONY?" we both looked up and saw a Robot Unit walking towards us. Tornado sighed, irritation seemingly rising up within him.
"I was going to help my mother with chores today, and she has to help her sick sister, and we where just taking a break, that's all. Especially her," He said, pointing at me. "since pegasi are not that used to walking and today is a no-fly-zone." I looked at Tornado in amazement. Tornado could lie as easily as I could fly. 
The Robot Unit stared at us for a moment, then walked away. They don't scan identification cards on special holidays.

Tornado shook his head, then sighed. "Robot Units. They always have to ruin everything, don't they."
"Well, I mean, it was just doing it's job..."
"Yeah, a job that I wish they would stop doing. Robot Units are pony feathered, horse manured, piles of trash." I gasped at him. Such language!
"Well, um, not ALL Robot Units are bad," I said, thinking of Broken. Tornado glared at me.
"Oh, so your on their side now?!?"
"Wait, what side?"
"Oh, never mind," He said, standing up. "Just go help your sick sister." He walked away.
"Tornado, wait!" I called after him. But he did not look back. "What side!?"

Seriously? What side?


***************

I saw her laying in the shade under a tree in a park. She was staring into a large pink box, mumbling to herself. I landed softly on a bed of grass, trying not to disturb her, but she heard me anyway. She looked up at me with surprise.
"Don't worry, it's me," I said. She took a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the ceremony?" She asked me.
"No, not me. I am on patrol duty."
"Oh well in that case, what's up?" She shifted over to make room for me. I did walk over to her, but I did not sit down. "Aren't you going to lay down with me?" She asked. 
"No." Her forehead creased with worry.
"Broken, are you okay?"
"What makes you say that I am not okay?"
"Oh nothing. It's just that you are acting a little, off, is all. Is something wrong?"
Blossom Wing could read me easily. Even though I cannot show any signs of emotion, she always seems to know what I am feeling. I asked her about it once, and she said that she knew by the way I carried myself.

I sat down beside her, nervous about telling her everything that happened last night during the recharge. But I just couldn't find the courage.
"Broken?" Blossom asked me. I glanced at her.
"I, I had a dream last night." She said nothing. I looked over at her, and saw that she had her eyes plastered on a tree far away. Her face seemed emotionless, but her eyes read of worry.
"A dream?" She asked, still looking at the tree.
"Yes?"
"What was it about?"
There. That was all it needed for the haunting sounds and feelings to come back into my mind. The screams, the pain, the cold, and the hunger. How I felt so scared, and how no matter how hard I had tried, nopony would come for my rescue.
Broken?" She asked me. This time, she looked away from the tree and her face held all of her emotion. Worry, pain, and scared. 
But the memory still haunted me, and I couldn't stay there much longer. I lept up into the air and hovered away as fast as I could. I heard her calling me, but no matter how much of me wanted to stop, I didn't. 

Not until I had reached the side of night. I had heard something that made me drop from the sky, and plummet to the ground below. I landed with a thud, a puff of dirt and rock cascading around me. I got up to move, but it was if my gears had locked in my leg. I looked down at my right hoof, and saw that my piston had bent. I would have to go back to the recharge station tonight in order to get it fixed. But I felt no pain. I have never felt pain. Which, for some reason, felt odd to me.
Then, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw Blossom flying towards me. So she had followed me all the way out here, flying, in a no-fly-zone.  "Broken!" She called again. She landed beside me. "Oh my Equestria! Are you okay?" I showed her my piston, and she shook her head. "I have something that will fix that."
"You do?"
"Yeah, at my house. But my little sister Little Leaf is there so I will have to get her distracted before I can fix it. Can you even bend your leg at all?" I flexed it, but once the piston got to the bend it stopped, and I could no longer move it. She shook her head. "I guess that's a no. C'mon. Let me get you to my house. And how did you fall anyway?" She asked me, walking forward. I followed her on three legs.
"I, I got distracted."
"Distracted? What distracted you?"
"I heard something."
"Something?" She asked, stopping in her tracks. "What kind of something?"
"A voice." she turned around to face me.
"And what did the voice say?"
"That 'the procedure is almost complete'."


*******************

"Stay right there," I told him, pointing to the bush beside out house. "I know that it's a good hiding spot. You hid there before." I waited for a response, but when none came, I turned around and saw him stiff and rigid, his glowing eyes flicking from me to the bush.
"How do you know that!?!" He asked me.
"Because I know the sound of Robot Unit creaking, Broken."
"Oh.Well, I am NOT a creepy stalker." He walked to the bush, head low, and crawled in, which looked rather difficult when you have only the use of three of your legs.
"Now, be quiet, and I'll go get the tools."

Yes. I do have tools for this kind of thing. My father taught me how to use them when he still worked at the factory. He taught me how the Robot Units move, how the work, and how their databases tell them everything. I wasn't all that interested at the time, but now it is proving invaluable.The tools are the only thing we have left of him, and usually just looking at them would bring on the tears. But now I just have to suck it up and actually use them.
I walked inside the house and shut the door. "Hey sis," Little Leaf said. 
"Hey," I said back, looking around frantically. I opened up the old cabinet in the corner and rummaged through the mess, but came up empty-hoofed.
"Um, are you looking for something?" Leaf asked me. I spun around.
"Uh, yes, actually. Where are dad's tools?" She looked confused. She pointed into the bedroom.
"They're in the chest drawers. Where they always are." 
"Thanks!" I said.
"Wait! Why do you need dad's tools?" But I ignored her question, rushing into the room and pulling out drawers and looking through them until I found what I was looking for.
"You okay in there?" She asked me.
"Yes! And I just found them!" I rushed out of the room, tools in mouth, and flung open the door before I stopped. "Stay inside," I mumbled through clenched teeth. I shut the door behind me and rushed to Broken in the bush, but not in enough time that I did not hear what Leaf said.
"But we never got to do our special  greeting! Blossom! Come back!"


***************

Over the past month, I have been suspicious of my sister's behavior. How she would rush through things, was now very secretive, and would now even lie! Yes, I can tell when Blossom Wing lies. Thankfully, I'm an even better liar. But to go so far as to ignore our special greeting? Now that was going WAY to far. We always had that greeting. It was our thing. And even though it was always a little annoying, I always looked forward to it. But now, being denied even that, it left a hole in my heart that made me feel empty inside. This is not the Blossom Wing I know. What happened to her? Where did my older sister go? And who is this imposter?
I did ask mom about it, once, but she just told me to ignore it, saying that it was just 'teenage things' and 'hormones'. Whatever that meant. I hope that I will never go through hormones. Because now Blossom Wing has totally changed!
I did have a surprise waiting for her. It was a cake, for her birthday, that I baked myself. All by myself, that is. Sure it's a little burnt, and maybe it does look like curdled milk, but it was still for her. And she ruined it. Will I be this way when I'm 16? I'm only 6 now. And that's only ten years away! Will I act that way? Ignoring my family, lying to them, and just simply brushing off my little sister? No. I hope not.
CLANG! 
I stopped with my pouting and perked up an ear. What was that?
"Hold still!" I heard Blossom Wing yell. And she yelled it loud enough probably for the whole neighborhood to hear. Which, of course, was a mile away, but whatever. I got up on my hind hooves and tried to look out the window, but the dirt and grime blocked my view. Great. Now how am I supposed to know what she was doing? I know she told me to stay inside, but NOT being able to open that door made me fidgety. Why couldn't she just tell me what she was doing with dad's tools? Sure I was just a newborn foal when he died, but the topic always made Blossom cry. And now she is actually USING THE TOOLS!?!?
CLANG!
Okay. That's it. Curiosity is going to kill this cat.
I pushed open the door and flew out, flapping my tiny wings as fast as I could. I flew off in the direction of the sound, and stopped short when I saw her pink and brown mane over a bush.
"Blossom!" I yelled. "What are you doing!?!" I flew around to the other side. "Blossom! What in the-"
She looked up at me and gasped, her face a mix of surprise and anger, but not because I was flying during a no-fly-zone. Because  there she was, dad's tools strewn around her, holding up the leg with her hoof of a Robot Unit.
She was fixing that Robot Unit.
"Blossom Wing," I said. "Why didn't you tell me?"