The room was stark white and bright compared to the almost total blackness of the tunnel. Ire pushed himself up through the small opening and hopped inside. Before leaving, he whispered down to us, "I will find a way to shut down all of the alarm systems. Just hold tight. Armored Fire will know when I say it is ready to infiltrate." Then, he put the metal gate back on top of the opening, and the sound of his hoof steps getting softer and softer resonated through my ear pieces. Armored Fire, a grayish purple earth pony with a red and orange mane held the ear piece to her ear, listening intently to silence that emanated from it. She was determined.
River turned to all of us and gestured to us to move away from the opening. We all backed up, leaving Armored there. When we were of of hearing range, River whispered, "Let's all try to get some rest. We have been walking for a long time, and it may be hours before Ire tells us anything." A couple of ponies nodded, and found their own corner somewhere in the space. They pulled out things from their saddle bags, such as snacks and blankets. Some layed right down and went to sleep, but others ate their snack before trying to get rest.
As for Blossom, she immediately curled up against the wall, wrapping her good wing around herself like a blanket, and fell asleep. I looked around me. The younger ones fell to the mercy of sleep instantly, while the ones who had more experience in their lives were slow and fidgety when it came to entering the land of dreams.
Soon, all was silent. The only sound made was the silent breaths as each pony entered their own little dreamland. I glanced down at Blossom. A small smile covered her face, her mane spread around her in wisps gave her an almost angelic look. Her chest rose and fell melodically. I wanted to keep staring at her. I shook my head. Broken! That's creepy! And I looked away, preferring to stare at the other ponies.
But as I sat there, watching as the ponies' chest rise and fell, my mind grew foggy. A familiar sensation came over me, though I could not place it.
Then, everything went black.
Everything was black. Then, a light. It filled my senses, blinding me for a moment. I raised my hoof to my face to block it. When it cleared, I saw that my hoof was still mechanical. I did not understand why I cared. But then, I saw my surroundings. The sky was blue and faded to black, and I was standing on a bridge of little lights. And it was cold. Very, very cold.
Broken...
A voice whispered. I glanced around. The voice was unlike anything I had ever heard off before. Deep, yet clear. And a mare's.
Broken...
It said again.
Broken, h, help me...
I froze. "H, help you? How?"
Please, follow my voice Broken!
I rushed forward, going in the direction that the voice had come from. Soon, I reached the end of the bridge of lights. All that lay beyond it was total black. "Where are you?" I called out, hearing my voice echo. "Hello?"
Broken...
The voice said again. "What?" I asked it.
Look up
I willed myself to look, and I nearly fell backwards from what I saw. Right there, was a mare. And she was staring down at me. Her magenta eyes watching my every move. Her coat was snow white, and her mane flowed in pink, blue, and green. And a dark mist surrounded her, wrapping around her horn and wings. I know she is a pony. But of what species?
Broken...
She said one more time before the mist started to chock her, and she screamed.
********************
When I awoke, I noticed that many of the other ponies were still asleep, their heads resting on saddlebags, their hooves, other ponies, and even rocks. I yawned, reaching up to wipe away the sleep from my eyes. How long was I out for, anyway? 30 minutes? An hour? The passage of time under ground never makes since to me, so I can never be sure. However, I know that Broken always knows. I looked around to find him, then realized that he was right next to me. I turned to face him, but then my blood froze when I saw him on the ground, his glowing red eyes no longer glowing at all. I poked my hoof at him. "Broken?" I pushed him. "Broken?!" Then, a pushed him back and forth with all of my might, screaming his name. A few ponies woke up, and rushed over to me. But I paid no mind to them. I just wanted Broken to wake up.
Then, Broken flinched, and sat up right, the glow coming back into his eyes. He frantically looked around. "Wha, what happened?" He asked.
"Apparently you were out," One pony said.
"I, was?" He asked. "I didn't feel unconscious..." He put a hoof to his head. I realized that he just did a pony gesture. As the ponies clustered around him, a stallion gasped. He took one step back. The other ponies in the group turned to him.
"Bass Clef, what's wrong?" Bass Clef swallowed.
"Think about it. He woke up so easily. So he wasn't unconscious, or powered down."
"Then what was he?" I asked him.
"He was asleep."
Broken stood straight up. "But Robot Units don't sleep!" He exclaimed.
"But dude, you were a pony before," Bass responded.
"But I'm a Robot Unit now."
Suddenly, Armored Fire rushed into where we were all sleeping. She turned to us, as we were the only ones awake. "Ire has called. It is time to go."
*************************
We all climbed through the small opening and into the white room as quietly as possible. Though it was kind of hard for me not to make the gear-grinding sound. Near impossible.
But my mind was off the invasion for one moment and on the fact that I had fallen asleep. I dreamed. Sure, I had dreamed before but that was more of a memory.
And the mare, trapped in the mist, who was she? What is her name? What species is she? Thinking on it, it sounded exactly like Blossom's dream except this was not the blue mare I saw. This one was white. But they both had horns and wings. This is just a coincidence, right?
I honestly couldn't believe that. No matter how hard I tried.
But we were shuffled down an abandoned corridor. The lights had been turned off. I looked and saw that the walls were covered in blueprints. For Robot Units. I wanted to tear those down and rip them to pieces, but I can't. Too much noise. But it was very strange to see every pony without their uniform on, as they took them off as an act of defiance.
And I finally got to see Blossom Wing's cutie mark. A pink blossom with two wings. It is... really cool. What was my cutie mark?
River stopped for a moment, then gestured for us to stay put. She walked forward, turning down a bend in the hallway. She came back a few moments later and gestured for us to follow.
When I first saw the hallway and the white room, I thought that this place sucks and would be very easy to take over. I was so wrong on that. This next room made me stand back in awe.
About 60 feet high and 20 feet wide, clear tubes ran all across the walls carrying electronic parts to different places. Little lights shone from above gave the room an alien-like feel to it, and the path way cut through a drop of about 40 feet. I could not stop staring at the tubes. Because those were not just ordinary electronic parts, those were Robot Unit parts.
And we continued on, entering back into a hallway just like the first, and left that room behind.
This was a much shorter hallway, and we were soon put on another balcony, this one very close to the ceiling, and right above where ponies were assembling Robot Unit heads to be put on Robot Units. I nearly powered down. This is the place that they made this head I have now. We were all hushed, because the ponies down there could probably hear us.
River glanced at me, a frown on her face, and continued on. Soon, we were back in the hall way. I made my way up to her. "Why are we passing through this part?" I whispered. She looked down at me.
"We have to go through the Robot Unit assembly stations before we make it to the place where the government officials will be. I'm sorry." Then, she was silent again.