I froze. "They, they are looking for me?" I asked, taking a step back away from Ire, wanting to run away from his intense glare.
"Apparently its very serious," River said, changing her view from Blossom to me.
"River, I am perfectly capable of explaining," Ire said, looking behind him at the cyan mare.
"Yes sir," River said, rolling her eyes.
"Wait, it's serious?" Blossom asked. "As in..."
"It might be best if you two sat down," Ire said. Me and Blossom both sat on the floor, right next to each other, as told to do so. Ire sighed and rubbed his yellow eyes, making slight wrinkles appear that showed off his true age. Finally, he locked eyes with me and Blossom. "I am not gonna lie, this is serious. Being a spy, I can learn a lot of information. And they want you back, Robot Unit. They want you back real bad."
"We are talking about air ships, armed forces, and even other Robot Units that will come in a few days to Unit Area 4," River said. Ire glared at her, then focused his attention back on us.
"This is unheard of," He said, sitting back down in his chair. "One Robot Unit goes missing, they send out one pony to find it. Two? Another Robot Unit. But when you go missing, Broken, they send out the whole freakin' government!"
"That must mean your pretty important," River said, twirling a lock of her mane. Ire didn't even respond. He just kept staring at me. Then, he put a hoof to his chin, as if contemplating something.
"I have heard about you before, Broken. When you joined the revolution, news of you spread like wildfire. Reached Unit Area one in just a couple of hours. They said you were different from the others. They talked about your voice, your emotions, and even your protectiveness over Blossom Wing here." He pointed at Blossom, then leaned forward. "That isn't some coincidence, Robot Unit. There is something else going on, and you are not telling us what it is."
Blossom nervously glanced at me. She knew just as much a I did why they wanted to know my location so badly. Because I am the experiment. I am the one who they probably spent millions of bits on. And they want me back.
But could I really trust this pony, whom I had just met, and River? Could I really tell them with what I really am?
Ire shook his head. He reached into his uniform and pulled out a picture. He held it up so I could see it.
"See this?" He asked me. "This is my wife. She died from the blast of a Robot Unit years ago before I joined the revolution. Those ponies who are searching for you, they'll kill anyone in order to get their prize. I don't want what happened to my wife to happen to other ponies.That's why we need to know why they are after you. We know you know. Here," He said, Handing it to me. "Take a good long look at that picture."
I opened the tiny hatch in my chest to reach out with the claw. But once I grabbed it, a balled up piece of paper come from the small compartment. Then, instead of looking at the picture, I handed it back to ire and picked up the paper and unwrapped it with my hooves. It was the drawing Little Leaf made for me. The day she asked us to be friends. Her smiling face flashed in my mind. Blossom looked over, and gasped, covering her mouth with her hoof to stifle a sob. And this one drawing made clear to me of what I had to do.
They are coming to 4. That is the first place they will look. And since Blossom Wing is missing also, they'll think that she is a part of my disappearance. And so, they'll kill her family. And then my friend little Leaf will be no more.
I felt both Ire's and River's eyes on me. I looked up at them. "You, you want to know?" I asked, my voice shaking. Ire nodded. "Fine." I looked over at Blossom, and she also nodded. "I am nothing but an experiment."
***************************
I listened to the story that I had heard before, the one which I had played over so many times in my head. I couldn't watch their faces. I didn't want to see their reactions. I just stared at a wall, listening. Even Broken wasn't looking at them. He was still looking down at the drawing Little Leaf gave him. I had completely forgotten that he had it. The chance that I had wanted to see my sister again, or even just to have something from her, was right her all along.
Then, I realized that I heard silence. Broken had stopped telling them his story, and they were not responding. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look at them.
Both of their eyes had dilated until they seemed like nothing more than pinpricks. River was looking down at the ground, as if having a staring contest with it and winning, as she was not blinking. Ire, however, was a different story. He had his eyes locked on Broken, clutching the picture of his wife in his hooves. I felt my own pupils dilate in surprise. I glanced over at Broken, and saw that he also was looking at the other two silent ponies in the room.
Finally, Ire cleared his throat. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out except a soft groan emanating from deep within his chest. He quickly shut his mouth. River looked at Broken. She was the only one in the room able to speak. "Is, is this true? You, you aren't just pulling my leg or anything, r, right?" She smiled a weak smile. I could tell that she wished, with all her heart, that Broken was not telling the truth.
"I'm not lying," Broken whispered, head down.
"He really, really truly isn't," I said, finally finding my words. River gasped and her eyes rolled up in her head, but then she caught herself. She wasn't going to faint. I remember my own reaction to this same story. I had almost fainted, too. River is not over exaggerating.
Ire found his voice. "And, and this is why you think they have sent out so many ponies to find you?" All Broken did was nod. Ire ran a hoof through his black mane. "They want their experiment back." I did not like how Ire called Broken "experiment." It did not sit well with me. It probably did not sit well with Broken, either. Ire glanced over at River. She nodded. "The only problem is that with half of the government gone to look for you, Bro- should I call you by your real name?"
"No."
"Um, okay then. Like I was saying, with half of the government gone, this gives us a perfect chance to infiltrate."
"Infiltrate?" I asked him. He nodded.
"The revolution has always been looking for a chance to try and overthrow the government by infiltrating it. Broken," He swallowed. "You have given us that chance. But I don't like the reason."
"You know," River said, staring at the wall beside her. "In a sick and twisted way, they helped you. Now you can see. But I still don't like it."
"We have already started to gather up as many ponies as we can from as many Unit Areas as possible. The newest ones to arrive were from one hundred twenty three." Ire looked down at Broken, a look of sorry on his face. 123 is, after all, Broken's original Unit. "...And they are still coming. And-"
"And we need your help, Broken." River said, staring down at him. She got up from her chair, and walked over to where he was sitting. "And you too, Blossom Wing."
"My help?" Broken and I both said at the same time.
River nodded. "Broken, you are a brilliant fighter. We will need that. And you, Blossom Wing," She said, now looking at me. "Are really evasive. I have been watching you. You can dodge attacks like no pony's business." She looked back at Ire Shield, who nodded.
"Broken, I am sure you want revenge," Ire said. Broken looked away from him. He had labeled Broken all wrong. Or, does he want revenge?
River stuck out her hoof. "Will you join us?" Her voice had a touch of sorrow in it, and it shook. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, she was still affected by Broken's story. I looked down at Little Leaf's drawing. The image of my Little Sister flashed in my mind. And I realized something. If I do do this, I am not going to be fighting for freedom. I am not going to be fighting for liberation. I am going to be fighting for every pony that had their lives and families destroyed at the hooves of the government!
"I want in," I said. And Broken nodded, taking her hoof.
************************
Shortly after River and Ire left the room to collect themselves and plan, I started to wonder something. Would Tornado be joining us? I have a feeling that he has been with the revolution for a long time. Of course he will be joining us.
I looked over at Blossom sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the picture that Little Leaf made. "Blossom..."
"I know, Broken," She said, looking away from the picture. "I know who will be joining us. I just, wish he wasn't."
"You really shouldn't be so angry with him, he-"
"I'm not angry, Broken." She wrapped her hooves around her legs. "I'm just, disappointed."
"You're, disappointed?" She nodded.
"Let's just, let's just stop talking about it."
"Do you, uh, wanna go do something?" She shook her head.
"No. Not much to do. Just go do something without me."
"Okay, I, I guess that I will go down to the firing range."
"Okay." She stared down at the picture again.
I headed down the tunnel. I vaguely knew the direction to go in in order to find the firing range that River brought me to a week ago. It was down that tunnel, no... okay. Here's the tunnel.
I was about to open the door that I believed led to the firing range, when I heard a shout. It was an angry shout. Curiosity got the better of me and I opened the unlocked door.
The shouts were coming from River. She was levitating a long sword with her horn, and was cutting the heads off of multiple manikins at once. Then she jumped into the air and pulled out a gun strapped to her back and shot a bullet at the target. Bulls eye. I stared, awe struck. She wasn't even wearing her uniform. It was laying on a rock a short distance away from her.
She landed with a thud. She must have sensed my presence because she quickly turned around. "Oh, uh, Broken. What are, what are you doing here?" Her face went red, as I am seeing her naked. I thought that if I could, my face would be turning red also.
"I just wanted to practice with fighting and um... your, your really good," I said.
"T, thanks." She placed the gun down next to her uniform. And I saw her cutie mark. A sun over a river criss-crossed by two swords. She caught me staring at it. "Uh are you looking at my cutie mark?"
"What!? Uh... no. No I wasn't."
"Uh-huh." She slipped the uniform back on. She was silent for a moment, and then asked me, "Do you remember what your cutie mark looked like?"
"No." I hung my head low. "I only remember sounds."
"And Mockingbird was your friend?"
"Yes, I think so."
She was silent. "Look, if you want me to leave, I'll leave. I don't, I don't want to make anypony uncomfortable." I turned around to exit the room, but River stopped me.
"No! Don't go. Its just, I knew the government was capable of cruel things but, I never thought..."
I didn't turn back around. I hung my head low. She must have took my silence for a continue on.
"And you were a unicorn, right? Just like me?"
"Yes."
This time, I heard silence coming from her. I turned around and saw that she had made her way over to where I was and was staring down at me. "What?" I asked her. But then she leaned down and hugged me.
"I know that this a little out of context, but don't let sorrow control your life, because it can do that. Trust me, I know."