I did not have time to react. Broken was gone. Thrown down a chute. And guards swarmed us. Ponies of all different species, wearing the government insignia, attacking us and binding us. At least, that was what they tried to do. Because they must have underestimated us.
The reality was this: The ponies with no uniform on were dodging, biting, swinging knives and loading guns. I did none of those things. I did what I know best.
I punched. All of my anger was directed into my hoof, all of the energy I had withing me in one single place. I was no longer sacred of dying. All I wanted to do was get Broken back. But he was gone. And in my eyes, these government ponies were to blame. So all of my power was directed in one blast. Hit here, and there. In the face. In the chest. In the crotch. And when I turn around to see what I have actually done, I am not horrified.
Shattered rib cages. Bleeding noses and fractured skulls. The red spilling out of these ponies from the injuries that I delivered.
And I will paint the floor red.
And then I see a black streak rush out of the room.
************************
"No!" I screamed as I fell, face first, into oblivion. I tried to hover, but it didn't work. Nothing worked. All I could do was scream. How could I not have seen it coming? Why else would she bring out a giant claw?
And the air in here kept getting colder and colder. I could feel it as it rushed over my metal body.
I snapped back to the dream I had earlier. How cold it felt. It was this exact temperature.
I went back into reality. The air is no longer cold. It is warm. The same temperature as the room with the monitors.
Suddenly, I saw a little speck of light below me. I watched it. It seems to be getting bigger... HOLY CRAP! I flail my hooves but it is no use. I watch as the opening to the other side appears, and I sail right through it. Suddenly, I am jolted backwards. I looked around. The new area I am in is very different than the rest of the building. Large gas tanks line each corner of the room and pipes criss-cross the walls. The only light in the room comes from a square opening at the end of a conveyor belt. The soft glow emanates throughout the whole space.
Then, I realized that what jolted me back was another claw. It held me tight, binding my front hooves to my metal body. And struggling is of no use. I go limp in defeat.
"Why hello there, Star Dusk." It was the same mare. I snapped my head back up. And that's when I saw her. Standing on a balcony only a few feet above me on the other side, was a brownish-yellow earth pony. The leader of Equestria.
"Don't call me that." I seethed. She adjusted her brown suit with the symbol of the government pinned to it.
"And why not?" She mused. "It is your real name after all."
"My name is Broken. I am no longer Star Dusk. You took that right away from me." I struggled against the claw's strength, setting it swaying, but I still could not break free. I stopped and stared right into her orange eyes.
"Oh please." She said, waving her hoof around. "You should be happy! We gave you sight!"
"How would you feel if you were in this body?!"
"Pretty good, actually. Immense strength, weapons at ready, it would be nice. But alas, it can never happen."
"And why not?"
"Because I'm not compatible."
I froze. "Com, compatible?"
"Why yes!" She exclaimed, leaning against the metal rails of the balcony. "Putting a pony in a Robot Unit is not an easy thing to do. The software is very complicated. Eventually we found that it is really only compatible with a certain type of DNA that is extremely rare in the population. And you, Star Dusk, have that DNA." She paused for a moment, and stared down at her hooves. Then she smiled. "And so did your mother."
"My, my mother?"
She glanced back up at me. "Yes. Beautiful young thing. It's a shame, really."
"Shame? What shame?"
"Well, the first few experiments failed. They didn't stay alive. You, Star Dusk, were the only one to make it. Your mother was one of the ones who failed."
No. No no no no no no. "What did you do to my mother!?!" I screamed.
"And I see that we have another fail. Being a Robot Unit, you were supposed to pledge full loyalty to us. But you didn't. " Her face got dark. "And we have to get rid of the failures, don't we, Star Dusk?" Her smile grew wider, wickeder. She leaned back away from the bars, and started to walk towards a set of controls on the wall. "And you know..." She said. "This is quite a shame, also." She pushed a button. The claw started to move down "You were pretty cute. Must've taken after your mother."
I was laid on my back on the conveyor belt that I saw earlier. The claw let go of me, and I started to get up, but restraints clamped over my hooves, my body, and my head. I struggled against them. "Oh, and by the way..." She said. "Wondering why you can't use your weapons? I had the engineers pump nanobots down here. They prevent you from doing anything other than moving, talking, and seeing." She reached up to pull a lever.
"Wait!" I called out. She paused for a moment. "Without me, who else are you going to have in your experiment?" She turned around to look at me.
She smiled. "Well, like I said. The DNA you have is very rare. But it seems to run in your family. So..." She tapped her hoof to her chin. "Your little sister would do."
"My, what!?"
"She has the DNA. Not your little brother, though. Shame."
"Little brother?"
"Oh yes, twins!" She did an overly dramatic sigh. "But I have never done the experiment on a filly before! What excitement!"
"Don't you lay a hoof on her!"
"Good bye, Star dusk." She pulled the lever, and the conveyor belt started to move towards the only light source in the room. A fire. And a large spiked plate started to move up and down with enough strength that it seemed to be able to crush anything. And I was heading right towards it.
I struggled against the bonds that held me tight.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
I used all of my Robot Unit strength.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
I kicked out with my left foot. It came loose.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
But the crusher plate just kept getting closer.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
I moved the left foot as far back as it could go. But the right leg would not make it.
BANG. BANG. CRUSH.
Pain shot through the base where the leg once was. Now there is only a sparking stump. Of the few times that I have felt pain in this body, I wish it wasn't now. And the crusher, electronic bits and wires handing from the spikes, raised up one last time. And now I was fully under it.
I spared a thought for my little sister and Blossom, wherever they might be. The plate came down. I braced myself and looked away, but the crush never came. Slowly, I turned my eyes up to the machine. It had stopped. Only inches away from my metal chest.
"No!" I heard the leader scream. I looked up at her. "No no no!" She was pushing buttons at random. "Why has it stopped?!"
Suddenly, the sound of hooves could be heard. Then, a door that I had not noticed near the balcony swung open, and ponies in uniform stepped out. "Waving Flag. Somepony has shut down all machinery. We need you right away." Waving Flag looked back at me, pure hatred in her eyes and a scowl on her face. Strands of her dark brown mane fell in her face.
"Fine," She spat out, and followed the other ponies out the door. And then I was alone.
I struggled against my restraints, pain shooting up through the stump that was once my leg. A piece of metal fell from the spiked plate above and cluttered to the ground. A piece of me.
I struggled harder and kicked out with my good leg.
Suddenly, I heard a door slam open. I froze, thinking Waving Flag had come back. But that was not her voice.
"Broken! Where are you?" Tornado.
"Here! Here!" I heard the clutter of hoof steps. Soon, I saw him standing over me. His mane was sticking out in all different angles.
"We have to get you out of there. Guards swarmed us after that claw took you." He pulled out a knife and started to cut through the restraints. He groaned with effort.
"I can't use my weapons," I said after he cut my head loose.
"I know," he said, cutting through another one. "I heard them talking about it. I also heard that they were going to destroy you. I shut the crusher down."
"What? How?"
"I cut the red wire." He cut both of my hooves free. He started on the restraint holding my body down. "But once we get you out of here, you can use your weapons again." He broke through. "Come on! Let's go!" He turned around to leave. I reached out and grabbed him before he sped off.
"Tornado!" He turned back around.
"What?"
"I can't. I can't walk."
"And why n... oh no." He put his hoof over his mouth. "Broken, your leg. It's, it's gone."
And the stump sparked one more time.