Steel Crown

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 28
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 1
Chapter 8
Chapter 27
Chapter 29

Chapter 2

Present

A glass of water was polished off by the nations’ leader. Princess Saving Grace sat there idle, trying to slowly drink as long as possible to buy her mind some time to think. Carefully rolling her soft blue eyes along the other players at the table, she avoided eye contact as best she could with the resident Gryphon King and the Diamond Dogs’ Chief.

‘Can’t keep this up forever,’ she muttered in her own mind, before setting the glass down with all the dignity of her name… even if she may want to hurtle it at a few of those present.

“You’re stalling there, your majesty,” King Rhorkin brought up as he caught the glances in her eyes, “you’re the one that called us out here in neutral territory to settle our little problem, and now you are wasting our time.”

“Or buying herself some of her own…” Chief Reinhart spat out from under his muzzle to the ground.

Putting any foul words from her mind, the princess simply cleared her tongue as best she could before she opened up to them once again, “I understand where you both are coming from, believe me I do,” she tried to settle with them, “but with all three of our ever growing countries, you can’t expect that the both of yours will be able to feed off of mine to get the resources you need to support yourselves.”

“The treaty that we have gone off of for decades’ decrees that a barter between our nations is open to settle the needs of another,” Rhorkin declared after reciting the treaty nearly word for word, “your own parents are the ones that wrote it… are you going back on their word?” he asked with an easy eye brow raised up to her highness.

Grace shook her head, trying to maintain her composure, “Absolutely not, and you know that,” she presented the original script. Still preserved by her fathers’ spell to keep it for generations to come, and prevent any creature from rewriting it for their gain. Sliding it gently on to the table with her wing, Grace pointed out the exact words that the king was trying to twist, “it even says here, ‘trade between nations may be discussed, for the matters of increasing goods exchanged should the population continue to climb rapidly’…”

“So what seems to be the-” Reinhart found himself cut off by Grace, as she held up a single hoof.

“However, ‘the changes in trade will not take place should it damage one nations own sustainability, while boosting another’s’,” she finished off. Watching them all process the words carefully for their meaning, “you see we could help provide supplies to both your nations in the past, but not at the level you’re expecting now.”

The claws on the end of the Chiefs’ paw dug in to the table. Slowly scraping bits of wood from the grain as he tried to instill fear in the still new Pegasus Princess. To reach across and strangle the petite mare would be nothing for the battle hardened mutt, who had fought his way up to his position as Chief to the DDR. As the wounds from the past that riddled his face, would easily attest.

Though even with this little tactic, as he glared at the mare through a large scar that ran over top of his eye socket to a cloud white iris. Grace simply uses the sky blue feathers adorning her wing to brush away her golden blond hair from her face so she could look at him straight in the eyes.

“Why are you… unable to meet our needs?” Reinhart growled. Listening to the swords on Graces’ guards’ belts being unhooked and put at the ready.

“That answer is simple there, Chief,” Grace evened out and lightly stroked the soft turquoise fur on her legs, buying her a few more seconds before she placed them on the table and continued, “my country is growing as well, and with that, so does the amount of goods we use. Seren can sustain itself comfortably with what we grow from our fertile soil, or mine from our rich veins… but only itself. Any more strain, and it could collapse.”

“And you cannot simply spare any more than you already have,” the king summarized for her, “without harming your own citizens.” He narrowed his own glare at the slim mare before him.

“Precisely…” she answered without hesitation, “how have either of you not traded with other nations by now? The Zebra States have more than enough minerals, and even Equestria across the sea has loads more than what I have, with even more to spare.”

“The Zebra States refuse to trade with us, difference of ideals it seems,” Reinhart slowly said, recalling the incidents he and the king have run in to with those peace loving little plain dwellers, “they don’t like to trade with, oh how did they put it… ruthless bags of fleas.”

“And ever sense the Lunar Princesses recent banishment by her own sister, Equestria has for the most part closed its boarders,” the king finished off their little rebuttal, “Princess Celestia is still brooding in sorrow over her loss, and wants little to do with the rest of the world, until she can get her own straight.”

The Princess simply slumped back in her chair. Here she was, new to the crown, not a clue what to do, having to face down a thirsty pair of one time enemies. That could quickly turn out to be that once again. The treaty that her parents signed with them years ago kept things quiet for some time, all was good. Then they passed away, and left their only daughter in charge, high and dry.

‘I’m not sure what to do…’ she admitted to herself while unknowingly lowing her head.

“You see our dilemma then, princess,” Rhorkin prodded at her once more, causing her to sit back up and face them, “we can’t go back…”

“… And I can’t go forward,” she finished for him, “I have to look after my citizens first and foremost.”

All three parties looked at one another, unsure where this will lead, but at the same time knowing how things like this end between countries. King Rhorkin got up from his seat, and signaled his guards that they’re on the move. Soon followed by Chief Reinhart as he did the same. Graces’ own guards simply stood there by her side as she sulked in the chair.

“I suppose then we’ll be seeing you again,” Rhorkin commented out the side of his beak to her.

“Probably not under the best of circumstances,” Grace answered.

“Oh you can count on that,” Reinhart responded as he and the king stepped out of the simple tent set up on the hill for them.

Grace finally rolled out of her chair and on to her feet. Settling herself down, she calmly walked to the tent flaps and pushed them open only enough to see the king take off with his escorts, while the chief loaded up in to a chariot and headed off back to his own nation to prepare for what was to come. As she stepped fully out in to the light of the night.

All she wanted to do was make peace once again and keep the serenity around them for a little longer, but with her neck in a vise, what’s a princess to do. The thought had crossed her mind more than once that if she had been an alicorn than she could just magic her way out of this like some of the other princesses in their world. But no, she was just born a Pegasus, following in her mothers’ contrails.

The quiet pair of claws pressing in to the ground voiced a friend that she had known for all of her life, stepping up to her side. Barely turning her head, Grace caught sight of her ever faithful drake by her side like he has always been. Even clearer as the moon light reflected off his metallic silver scales and his sapphire eyes twinkled in the night.

“Well from what I heard that could have gone better,” Silvertongue poorly joked with her.

“A lot better…” she huffed as she stepped on to her own chariot, with him soon boarding behind her, as it took off in to the night.

“Well I think you made the right call?” he said as his tongue traced across his teeth, “I mean they really can’t expect you to bend to their will so freely. Any leader should know that you have to watch out for your own nation, just as they have to.”
Grace simply dropped her head on to the metal frame, “and now I just likely caused a war between all three of our nations…”

“Could be worse.”

The tell tail look of how plastered her face, and spoke more words than she ever needed to. “They could have tried to attack now, instead of leaving to plan?” he tried to reason.

“Your name may be Silvertongue, but I doubt you could have even smoothed over that little discussion,” Grace retorted. Left simply to look over the side of her ride at the lights of her nation Seren in the darkness below. All those ponies down there, with many different other species that have decided to take up residents in her country, all of which have no idea what she just got them all in to.

A cool claw came to rest on her shoulder as the snout of its owner came right up to her side and watched below, “well the Gryphons have always been very stubborn over what’s theirs’ and having a feeling of entitlement, while the Diamond Dogs just like to make war where ever they can,” Silver shrugged his narrow shoulders, “It’s simply in their nature I guess. Nothing we can do about it now.”

A simple pause came over them, with only the wind from them soaring through the air, until it was finally broken by the sweet tone of a mare. “Yes there is,” Silver looked at his best friend as her head rose from the ground below and to the sky ahead, “Silver… do you have any parchment?”

Seconds later, the drake produced a scroll and quill in either claw, “your family has kept me around for reason there, your majesty… I make a good assistant to the crown.” He smirked at her, while the mare couldn’t help but do the same.
“Make this out to the committee… gather them and issue a buildup of arms. If there is going to be a fight, it will be one they don’t forget, we have to fight for what we have.”

“That’s the spirit,” Silver whispered in her ear.

“Though keep it on the down low, I don’t want a full fledge propaganda parade to go through the streets,” Grace thought of fast, “the citizens must not be made to worry about something that still has time to work itself out.”

With everything signed and dated, in one puff Silvertongue sent the letter off in a spurt of blue fire in to the night sky. Now left to only enjoy the rest of the ride along with his friend.

Meanwhile…

The chiefs’ chariot bounced helplessly across the crude path from their meeting ground. Though he can’t really complain, they did all agree to the location. It was secluded, in the open (even if it was night), and far off the beaten path for any traveler to wonder what they were doing out there. However, right about now when all he wanted to do was get back to his nation, Reinhart regretted his approval.

“Why did I agree to such terms…” he scorned himself, dragging his own paw across his face as he tried not to heave up his lunch from the rocking and turning on the nearly non excitant path.

“Has war been declared, Chief?” his councilor asked while he marched along side at a brisk pace.

Swallowing his gut, Reinhart answered, “Not officially… but unofficially, you can set about arming our troops when we return and see where we’re lacking.”

“Understood, Chief,” the councilor answered without a blink.

It was a winding stretch of road they found themselves in. Through the forest with much pain made in preserving its natural beauty as much as possible, if it had been day time, Reinhart might have been able to appreciate it. However as of now he could only dread the long road home, for it would lead only to many sleepless nights.

Not that his nation wasn’t prepared for war, they always were. With surplus arms and armor they had all they needed in order to carry on a quick fight with an opposing party and come out on top. They sure had the strength for it anyway, years of digging in the dirt will do that do a species and instill a natural vigor in them.

However, for all this Grace still had the upper paw… or hoof he would say, in supplying her troops. Himself and the King ran in to similar issues when it came to supplying their troops, either in one area or another. The grounds that the DDR inhabited were always rich in ore veins, allowing them to turn out amounts of arms that would make a nation twice their size drool. Yet all that rock gave them little to run off of in terms of sustenance.

Similarly, Rhorkins’ own nation could farm and stockpile goods that could last their country through years of famine should it rear its ugly head. Though if you can’t arm your own troops, then feeding them means little when they have a blade through their chest.

Grace had the best of both nations, rich veins to supply an army, and plentiful crops to feed them every step of the way as they went about the march. If, or more so when, a fight broke out. if it lasted too long, then Seren could just wait them all out. The DDR would fall away when the storerooms when dry, and the Gryphon Kingdom wouldn’t be able to arm enough of their troops to fight. They needed an edge… an edge that would turn a war that could last several long months in to only a season.

A sudden stop jarred his mind back in to reality as Reinhart was almost sent over top the chariot. Pulling himself back up, he looked out in front of those pulling his ride, “Guards! Why have we stopped?”

“Chief,” one called out, “there's something up a head.”

Sure enough as his eyes peered forward he could make out a single cloaked figure, standing in the middle of the road. It didn’t speak, it didn’t look at them, all it did was slowly move closer.

“You there, state your business!” the head guard called out, but all he heard was the wind blowing through the trees, “This is the convoy of Diamond Dog Republics’ Chief Reinhart, you will tell us why you are here, or we will trample you!”

Not knowing what do to, the guard turned to his king for guidance. Already having a bad day and not in the mood really, Reinhart simply took his paw and ran it slowly across his throat. Without even a word, the guard drew his sword and made his way to the figure.
“You’re a fool to cross us…” the guard mumbled to the creature before, making note of the hoof prints it left in its wake, “…Pony.” He raised his sword, ready to cleave the figure on to either side of the road so they may pass.

“You… are the fool,” It answered back at him.

In a flash there was only light that engulfed the dogs. All parties turned their head to keep their vision safe, even the one that was right in front of the figure only caught a glimpse of the spell powering up on the horn before it was let loose, but by then it was too late. The figure was right at the end of his muzzle and breathing in his own breath.

With a swipe, the guard tried to knock his foe off balance, but to no avail. His paw was only met by a single hoof holding it in place. In the light of the moon though, he saw what he only could have imagined, a metal set of talons were clutching around his limb. Not only grabbing it, but crushing it within its own grasp.

Bone crunched together as they snapped under the pressure, and in the still night a yelp escaped from his throat. Using what ounce of strength he had to ignore the pain shooting through his paw, the guard raised up his other in an attempt to break off the attack. Drawing back his fist as far as his shoulder would allow, it barreled towards the face of his opponent… but was stopped mere inches in another claw.

With a twist of the talons, the wrists snapped where he stood as the sound echoed in the night, leaving the guard crumpled beneath the creatures’ grasp. Landing, the guard found himself on his knees. Bowing at the pony… creature… whatever it was before him, holding him captive in its grasp.

All the while though, Reinhart wasn’t worried about his own guard. There’re plenty more, and they healed fast anyway. He’ll be up and fighting once again in about a week or two. What took his fancy was the strange metal appendages that bore home on the ponies own limbs.

“You there…” he called out to the pony, and grabbed its attention.

In an instant, the guard was thrown to the side, and the pony had leapt up in the air before hitting the ground charging at him. Several other guards started their own charge, heading straight for the attacker. Yet even with the odds against them, the pony pressed on till the last second. Another flash, and the creature teleported out of sight from the oncoming pack, left only to look around for any trace of the assailant.

“Ehem…” Reinhart heard the cough from behind him, and right there was the figure still in its cloak, “now that I have your attention-” Though they were cut off from another guard attempting to seek up behind them.

With a quick flick of a foreleg, the claws on the end retracted to the side, and a small pipe emerged. With a bore no bigger than his own spear shaft, the chief simply stood there as he watched the figure hold whatever it was up to his guards’ forehead. While the guard froze, unsure what he was facing right now at the hooves of the strange equine. For what seemed like an hour the chief met the figures’ eyes in the silence, neither one of them flinched or even breathed for that matter.

Finally, it was the chief that broke the silence among them, “I appreciate the display of magic young one,” he stood up fully, back completely straight and standing several heads taller than the pony, “though I have more important matters-”

“You have a war on your paws that you can’t hope to win…” those words silenced the chief in anything he was going to say, only his eyes narrowed down on the figure as he could swear he saw a smile under the hood, “… you need to beat them quickly or die. I know this.”

“How do you know this then?” he asked simply.

“I’ve done my homework,” the cloaked figure lowered the barrel to the ground while seemly standing on its hind legs, “and snooping.” It mused casually.

“So… are you a spy?” he inquired while his guards got back to his side should things turn south, “for Princess Grace I’m assuming.”

A simple chuckle escaped the figures’ throat, “hardly, I’m here to help… both of you,” they watched as the chiefs’ brow raised curiously, “both you and the king want what she has, and I can help you get it.”

Much to the chiefs’ amusement, and the ponies’ annoyance, he started to laugh while listening to this strange figure. “So you have a way to help me and Rhorkin beat her?” his laughter stopped suddenly as his eyes once again looked down on her, “why would I believe that?”

With a long sigh the ponies’ forelegs slumped down to their side… then snapped one back, aiming the barrel back in the guards’ face. Within the blink of an eye, a loud bang filled the air between them all. Forcing those not used to the sound to cover their ears, while the figure just continued to stare at the chief as he did the same.

Once they all recovered, a dull thud resonated against the dirt as the guard dropped to the ground in a heap. One of the other guards ran up to his side, picked up his head and noted the hole between his comrades’ eyes, “He’s been shot by some sort of spell!”

With swords and spears drawn and aimed at the figure, they simply giggled at the gesture, ‘Silly little puppies…’ they thought at first, “It isn't a spell… it’s the future.”

A surge of energy erupted from the ponies’ horn and ensnared all those around them. Each one could feel the weight of their shoulders pulling them towards the ground, unable to move. Only the chief was spared from the attack, and watched what the one before him had done, “It’s a future I am bringing to you and the king… so… do you want to hear what I have to say?”

The chief looked around at all his guards, as they were forced to the ground. With all the strength they possessed, they couldn’t break from it. Although, the more Reinhart watched, the more he noticed this ponies unlike any he’d seen before. Diamond Dogs can’t use magic, but as a chief he understood the basics of it. Normal spells would start to fade quick after so much use on multiple targets, or even the caster will collapse from stress. Though this pony was holding their own… \ even the horn itself didn’t look all that normal as the ambient glow of the spell held firm.

“Maybe you’re that edge I was looking for,” Reinhart said as he calmly stepped off the chariot and extended a paw to the pony, “Chief Reinhart, it’s a pleasure.”

“Just call me BB…” the pony remarked, and dropped the spell.

“Councilor,” Reinhart called out, grabbing their attention in the group as they all got back up to their feet, “load up the injured guard in the chariot, throw the dead in there as well…” the chief looked back at his new partner, “I’d like to have a nice long talk with our new comer…”

Chapter 3

A few months later…

A crucible was turned on its side as the liquid iron poured from the spout, flowing down the trough on the waiting cool top. Slowly but surely the edges of the top were covered up until the whole surface was nothing more than an orange hot sheet of metal, as long as a stout built Pegasus wing span, and as wide as a pony from muzzle to flank. Ready and waiting to be cooled down and milled to what the country needed for the war effort.

As the temperature of the sheet dropped from the combination of the cool water being pumped under the cool tops’ surface and the application of frost spells from the unicorns above, the metal solidified enough for the mill workers to hook on to its ends and move the piece down the line for the next one to be made.

Rolling across a conveyor belt, the sheet came to rest on the stack of its brothers, waiting to be carted off and cut to shape for the plate armor and weapon blades that were to be machined the one of hundreds of assembly lines built in to the base of the princess’s castle.

Glancing at the still red sheets, Grace continued to walk past the many lines, as they cranked out rough metal so her artisans could work on them. Mass production to her nation was nothing new, they had done it before in petty squabbles and have always come out on top because they could make more than they ever needed. Though to fight a war against two other nations that would be doing the same, she needed every skilled hoof she could get to make the tools for her soldiers.

“Well production seems to be keeping steady,” Silvertongue mentioned as he took a look from the clipboard in claw, “we aren’t falling behind with what we thought we’d need at all.”

“But we aren’t increasing output either,” Grace grimaced.

“That’s what happens when these suits of armor are made by hoof…” her scaly friend reminded her.

Armor plates could be mass produced, but in order to make the suits themselves it took a little know how of metals and how to work it. A fine mix between magic, and simple hoof work. Too much hoof work, the time to make a single suit could be a month. Too much magic, and the metal suffered because it wasn’t strengthened properly through the repeated pounding of a hammer, and the skill of the artificer.

“Although we have all the known artisans working from around the nation here,” Silver threw in as he put the clipboard up for now, “there just isn't that many now of days. Metallurgy’s kind of a dying art it seems.”

‘At least the war hasn’t gone hot,’ Grace muttered in the back of her head, ‘the Gryphon Kingdom and the Diamond Dog Republic seem to be perfectly content stockpiling their resources for the fight.’

With that little affirmation, Grace and Silver continue with her rounds of the production effort for her country. Everywhere she went in the plant, she could see the many different citizens working in harmony with one another. Gryphons that wanted to call her country home instead of their own, Zebras who didn’t like a life on the plains anymore, and even the occasional young drake that were more accustom to ponies than their own kind (much like her own companion). Each one working in sync with the other on a single effort.

To protect this nation.

The diversity was another reason Seren usually triumphed in time of need. Dragons were very resilient to injury and even one on the field of battle would almost certainly mean victory. Gryphons were able to handle weapons far better than ponies thanks to their opposable claws and ability to grasp object. Even the zebras brought their own medicines to those that were injured, and natural remedies that treated casualties over the years, plus the various fighting styles.

‘A perfect harmony,’ she reminded herself, “maybe this is what the Equestrians were striving for.”

“What was that?” Silver asked, with Grace not realizing she was talking out loud at the moment.

With a shake of her head, the princess brushed it off and settled her mind, “nothing Silver, just thinking that’s all.” Grace glanced up to the wall clock overlooking the production area, even with it covered in soot from the fires around, she was still able to make out the time. “Come on, my council should be gathering soon.”

With that, both the princess and the dragon walked out of the room, and left the workers to see that their efforts would not be in vain.

The large circle table sat all those that she had requested for to attend. A couple of her generals, the armor production chiefs, supply coordinators, Arms-masters, and even several of the largest farm owners in her country joined in. All the while, Grace sat amongst them in her own chair as they went over the months’ reports of production and training.

“Produce is being syphoned off and put in to the long term storage from all of our farms, your majesty,” one of the farm managers read off of his report, “the food previously stored there also seems to be keeping very well. With the cool air of the caves you have preserving them nicely.”

“Thank you, Gin,” Grace nodded to him, before she turned to the others. In particular, her own in the military, “what’s the word on the troops?”

One of the generals stood up, giving her every respect she deserved, “The soldiers have been given all the training they needed sense recruit school, we’re merely brushing them up on need to know things and running more drills than before. They’ll be ready, don’t worry.”

“Excellent,” at least she could rest easy knowing that when things got hot she could count on having trained troops to back her up, “any rumors getting out with what's going on between the soldiers?”

“No your majesty,” another general spoke up, “as far as they know it’s just training as usual.”

The princess simply nodded once again and continued to go around the table, listening to what they all have to say. All of it so far is positive, things are still in the shadows about what the other countries are up to, product being stored in large numbers will give little need for rationing to make life for her citizens as comfortable as possible, and the training her military is going through is something they have prepared for.

‘I may not be able to prevent the fight, but at least I can see it through,’ Grace smiled internally at that notion.

“Princess?” the Arms-master said, breaking her from her trance.

“Yes sir? What is it?”

“We in the production side of things are still running in to a problem,” he brought out the records for reference as he read them off, “the nation has a standing army that, while as of now, is fully out fitted and ready for a fight,” he watched as her brow twitched, as if she knew where this was going, “however, should a draft need to be put in place so we can call our citizens in to action, there may not be enough equipment to go around…”

A small sting in the side of her temple forced Graces’ hoof to rub out the spot. She’s heard this before, actually for the last couple months now. When they first started building up their military production was nonexistent. So Grace had crafters brought in from around her nations’ capital of Boralus to help with the effort. When that wasn’t enough, she stretched out to her nation, calling on those specializing in metal production to help out. However, now it seems that is even stretched thin.

“What would you have me do this time Chief?” she asked of him, “it would take far too long to have new apprentices taught in the art, and masters of the craft are short these days.”

“I understand, your highness,” the Arms-master bowed for a second, “however as I have talked with other guards about the armors, and even with my own knowledge. I believe I have an idea,” with a cast from his horn, the chief levitated the list in hoof over to the princess to see for herself.

“Hmm I do not recognize any of these names?” she said, “what’s their significance?”

“They are ones that deal with the craft of metallurgy not as a profession, but as part of another career,” he explained, “we expanded our look in to the census records from that of simple ‘Metallurgist’ to any profession dealing with casting, shaping, milling or even forging metal.”

Grace looked down the long list of names that have come up. Some of these occupations she didn’t see at first how they could possibly use them, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Construction worker, yes many of the buildings in her capital while made of concrete, had a metal infrastructure. Window framer, most frames were wood, but on bigger buildings like forts with thicker panes the frame had to be metal. Wagon maker? No even that one made sense, after all it wasn’t just nails that held them together; metal straps were used for the frame and even the wheels.

Setting the list aside, Grace looked back to the Chief, “they will still need training on how to make the suits to specifications,” she added on to his argument, “although with past knowledge of the craft they could be taught much faster than a brand new student.”

With that in her mind Grace picked up her hoof and gently tapped it on the table, “Well I believe I can call this meeting to a close, Chief,” she watched as his head popped back up, “Good work with this call, I’ll be sure that these citizens are brought to our attention as soon as possible. We need all the help we can get.”

With a simple bow, the Arms-master and the others around him made their way out of the meeting room. Leaving Silver and Grace alone, aside from the royal guard standing watch at the door.

“Are you coming, Grace?” Silver asked as he prepared to head out.

“I will in a few,” she waved him off, “I just want to look over this a few more times that’s all.” A simple smile dismissed him, and with that she was more or less alone to look over the names.

Minutes passed in silence, with only the princess looking and making note of the several dozen names that had popped up. With each name, she wrote down a quick letter, stamped it with her royal seal from the table and piled them to be sent off later. In time they could have the means to better arm new soldiers that came to the fight, and protect them as such.

“Ehem… your majesty?” she heard off in the corner of the room.

Looking up she saw a familiar face, and only could smile at his presence, “Oh hello Freefall, I didn’t realize you were the one keeping guard this evening?” she remarked to the Pegasus colt.

“Meh I blend in princ-”

“What have I said about that?” she casually reminded him, “we aren’t around any pony else.”’

“Right, forgot about that,” he chuckled before walking up to her side, and took a seat next to the princess, “it’s been a while sense you and I had caught up.”

“Far too long for friends,” she said before looking back at the colt, “though what can I do for you? You sounded like you wanted to ask me something a second ago.”

“Well actually…” he loosened the armored collar around his neck, “it’s concerning the list.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” Free pointed out, “I’m one of the ponies that the Chief talked to about his idea with the armor. They really aren’t hard to make, and any creature with basic knowledge of metal can learn to make one,” after gesturing for the list, Grace hoofed it over to him and he simply wrote down one more name.

The princess accepted it back and reread the last entry, “Iron Knight?” she muttered, “Who’s that?”

“He’s an old friend of mind, I still mail him every so often to catch up,” Free went in to who this colt was, “he used to serve in the guard with me under your parents. However, unlike me he decided to get out.”

“And why might that be?” she asked, sniffing a trouble maker.

Freefall shook his head, already sensing the doubt she had over his friend, “not for anything bad, oh no. He just didn’t like how things were run here. He could follow orders no problem, but with higher ups going back on their word, a lot of favoritism and back stabbing, he was done with it.”

“That I can understand,” she motioned. The game of politics (either governmental or militarily) reminded her a lot of a soap opera, or at the very least school. “Though why did you add him to the list?”

“Because he is a crafty sort, he built his own suit of armor when he was younger, knows more about metallurgy than most artisans, and has even repaired mine six ways to Sunday when he was in,” Free spoke of his friend in the highest regard possible, “he knows how to work with it, and how to get it to do what he wants.”

With all this praise, Grace was kinda surprised that this colt wasn’t on the list to begin with, “how is it he didn’t show up on the parchment first?”

“Because he’s a teacher now, that’s all the census says about him. Nothing about metal or what he can do,” Free eased himself back in the chair, recalling the many times his friends’ wit has gotten them out of a bind, whether it was on the field or not. Usually it was in a bar where they both had too much to drink and Iron had to use his quick skill, but the princess doesn’t need to know that… yet.

“Hmm…” she thought, “would he be willing to do this and help the effort?”

Free was afraid she’d ask that, “Ahh… maybe?”

“Maybe? What do you mean?”

Shifting through his mind, Free tried to think of the best and most polite way to describe his friend that wouldn’t down play some of his personality traits, “He’s a dick.”

Grace nearly choked on her own tongue for a moment at that explanation, “Pardon?”

Having forgotten for a moment he’s in front of royalty, Freefall recollected himself and explained, “Sorry about that, Iron’s a… special sort. Very smart when he wants to be, with little to no filter in what he says around others because he simply doesn’t care what they think of him, and on top of that his level of sanity may have been called in to question on more than one occasion while he served.”

Red flag, red flag, and red flags. Everywhere, went off in Graces’ mind, “Why on earth would I want some pony like that to help with this?”

“Because although he can be a major prick sometimes,” he said realizing he failed to hold his tongue once more, “Iron is terribly loyal to a cause, and if you can gain his loyalty, he will work with every fiber of his being.”

“Seems like a lot of trouble for only one pony,” she rolled her eyes, looking at the rest of the list.

“You’re the one that said you need all the help you can get,” the colt pointed out to her.

With a simple sigh of knowing he’s right; Grace broke out a parchment ready to write off another letter to this new name to her. That is until Free waves his hoof.

“I’d see him face to face if I were you,” he watched as her eye brow went up, “Iron doesn’t respond well to letters, especially if they’re from the same crown that he hated serving under for years.”

“Very well then…” Grace put the parchment back down, “if you say that he knows his craft then I'll trust you Free, after all that’s what friends do,” she watched him nod in approval as a simple thanks. Though Grace leaned in closer to her fellow Pegasus as he sat there motionless with her under her questioning glare, “So please… tell me more about this, Iron Knight?”

Chapter 4

“Now students as we have learned, every action has an equal but opposite reaction,” Iron Knight said as he dropped a sledgehammer on the ground. Just in front of his students’ desk, waking him up with a startle and possibly a much needed trip to the colts’ room.

All around the room those that were awake, being the rest of the class, tried their hardest to keep their faces straight, but it soon became too much and in a second the whole class was a bust with laughter.

Meanwhile Iron rested calmly at his own desk, wiping away the dirt and grease from a previous lesson from his emerald coat. Slicking his short brown mane away from his horn, the teacher with probably multiple personality problems, picked the hammer up in an aura and stowed it back on the shelf.

“This is Introduction to industry and Magic application… or Glorified shop class if you prefer, not your bed back home,” he watched as the student fully came around in to consciousness, “Now that I have your much needed attention, Mister Ash,” Iron eyed the grey colt with his own hazel irises, “please tell me where we left off, and explain to me how magic in modern day society can coexist with that of old time hooves on work.”

Dumbfounded, just as he expected, the student sat for several moments as he tried to sift through his old notes on the matter to make at least some sort of answer for the teacher. Not that Iron didn’t like him, Ash simply had a long night last night with the soccer game that went over schedule.

“I… ahh…” with that and nothing more, Mr. Knight silenced him with a single hoof.

“Save it Ash, just stay awake, I heard about the game taking longer than expected,” he eased the student down. Before Iron flipped up the black board on to the other side and cleared away the notes from the last lesson. Levitating the chalk in his grasp, Iron went on to spill his own mind to the students, “as it would have you, magic has its obvious advantages over good old fashioned elbow grease. You can get a job done sooner, and arguably better than any pony working with just their hooves at their disposal.” He drew a simple Venn diagram outlining the two topics and their perks of each.

“In one circle you have magic…” he pointed out, “duh… anyways, a unicorn working on a project can get their aura wrapping around the individual components and use that flow through them to make a final product.” Iron added on to the list, before he brought out examples, “we usually see that sort of thing when it comes to mass producing simple everyday items… come on I’m not going to be the only one here, what in this room would you think could be made quickly with magic? And tell me why,” he waited for some of his students to answer, but at first there was nothing, “we aren’t going anywhere till I get an answer…”

After that, pretty much every hoof and claw shot up from his rather diverse classroom. Sense the school district of which he resided in to teach opened its doors to any young citizen wanting to learn, there was a sudden influx of gryphon teenagers and young zebras who desired to attend the high school for which he taught. Heck even several dwarf drakes had started to attend the school, after their parents had set up residents in the area. A new face was always welcome by the teacher, just another mind for them to instill some sort of lesson in as far as he was concerned.

“You there, Axton,” Iron called out to a dragon youth, “give me something, anything.”

“Well… the desks I would say,” the drake started off, “they are mass produced like you said, and the design isn't that complicated.”

“Excellent there Axe,” Iron encouraged him before writing it down on the board. Peering his eyes around the room he caught another, the only female gryphon in his class, “Syllia, what do you got?”

“The black board you're writing on, sir,” she finished, fluttering her eyes at the unicorn, “it too is simple to make.”

“How right you are!” he replied overzealously, “and what am I writing with?”

“Chalk!” one student called out.

“Good show,” he finished the three examples before looking at the other circle, filling it in with only the word Hooves, “Okay there, now when I say hooves, I don’t mean it has to be made with hooves.” Iron started to account all of his students’ species, “I simply mean it as a general statement. Though what is something that would require a little more in depth work to make, something magic couldn’t take care of on its own? And the ever important part, why?”

Instantly a hoof shot up, from one of his brighter students, “Misty Skies?” he called on her.

“Fireworks, Mister Knight,” the rather visually appealing unicorn answered, as she subtlety winked at Axton next to her and made even the dragon blush, “after all anything that deals with… fire, or heat of that magnitude you have to work it with your hooves. Otherwise with the energy you put in, it could blow up in your face.” She purred as the words rolled over her tongue, causing all of the class to bite down on their lips and try to maintain their composure.

Something that Iron, and a particular dragon in the crowed, found themselves struggling over, “Misty…” the teacher cleared his throat to get rid of any chuckle, “while you and Axtons’ infatuation with one another is clear as day. Please keep that out of my shop,” he watched as the mare pouted for a second while she lowered her head to the desk, “now if you moved it to behind the bleachers by the activity field after school…” he winked at the two of them, “well that’s not my concern anymore.”

He watched as both the dragon and mare perked back up, “duly noted, sir.” Axton answered for her.

Though as Iron drug his eyes off the pair flirting back and forth, he noticed a single hoof rose up in the air while he jotted Mistys’ response in the proper circle on the board, “yes? Onyx Gem, what do you have to add to this?”

The sixteen-year-old unicorn leaned back in his chair, “I don’t get it Mr. Knight, why can’t you just make everything with magic?” Onyx opened with, “I mean sure somethings require a little more skill, but shouldn’t you be able to train to the point that you can acquire the skill needed?”

Iron simply nodded, he did have a point after all, “you’re right there Onyx, some unicorns have learned to do complex tasks with their magic, and it is from doing so over and over again. However, somethings you should learn to do by hoof as well. In case you lose the ability to control your magic.”

“How would that happen though?”

Iron merely rubbed his hoof to his temple. Onyx had been a rather privileged child growing up, he didn’t expect him to understand the finer things in life. Like going outside and playing, or building things in one’s basement, or being able to cook on your own. No, no… Onyx was sure to get a rude wakeup call when it came time for him to move on from his parents dwelling and in to the real world… at least Iron could try to get him to understand.

“Let me tell you a story there…” Iron stood up on his hind legs for a second before plopping backwards on to his chair and crossing one leg over the other. Something that many of the males in the room still wondered how he could be so comfortable doing, “when I was younger I crawled my way up on the roof of my parents’ house. My magic wasn’t strong enough to levitate myself up there, after all I was only ten, but my legs were more than strong enough to do so,” he recalled the vivid memory of that day. The wind blowing across the roof top, the sun against his back… or was it in the middle of the evening? Whichever the case, he remembered it very well. Mostly because what happened afterwards.

“Why did you craw up there?” one of his students asked.

“I got really bored one day…” he rolled his eyes, “so I got on my roof, went to the edge and thought it didn’t look that high up.”

“You fell off didn’t you?”

“Na… I’m too smart for that,” Iron chuckled at the other student, “I jumped off,” he said flatly. Watching the expression of all his students’ to scream at him ‘what the hell is wrong with you’, he finally stopped with the silence and continued, “What? I thought I was a Pegasus.”

“Did you break a leg?” another mare called out.

“No, but my pride was hurt… and also my horn,” Iron fired back at her without a thought, “you see when I landed it was legs completely straight, though I didn’t break any bones. When collapsed afterwards though, my head collided with the ground and somehow I managed to crack my horn.”

A simple gasp repeated itself through all those present as that sunk in with them. Many had their eye sockets full of pupils as they dilated to their max, though some who have been in the class longer would expect nothing less from the ever out of the ordinary teacher.

“It cracked along the middle, didn’t break off though,” Iron corrected himself as he progressed through the story, “while it was still attached. The crack did stop me from being able to use spells for about a month till it was fully healed. Any unicorn in here who ever took Introduction to Magic theory 101, which that should be all of you, should know that the magic from my body couldn’t flow through the broken conduit properly, and thus fizzled when it tried to come out.”

Taking a much needed breath after that mouthful, Iron thankfully saw another claw raise up, “How did you handle it?” Syllia asked.

“Oh I was upset at first,” he admitted fully. After all a unicorn not able to use their gift was like taking the venom from a cobra, “but after about a week of doing things with my hooves and using my teeth, I learned to adapt…” Iron explained.

As if by instinct Iron moved back to the chalkboard and picked up piece of chalk in his teeth. All the while he continued to fill out the center of the diagram without even speaking at first, as he wrote down his own notes on the matter.

Turning back to them, he could see the hint of surprise in all their eyes from seeing a perfectly capable unicorn write like an earth pony… and so well too. “Over time I learned that to work with ones’ hooves is an art, while using magic is not an entitlement, it’s a gift that can be taken away,” Iron continued while he paced around the front of the room. Looking up at the clock, he noted that he would have to finish this up soon, after all it was Friday and they were all eager to get out of here just as much as he was.

“Okay students… the bell for dismissal will be ringing here any second,” he watched all their eyes dart to the clock on the wall, and heard the silent squeal of delight come from each of them, “however, you all have a homework assignment.”

The many different types of sounds commanding horror and disgust echoed throughout the room, though they were all silenced the moment the bell struck three in the afternoon and they all immediately started to pack up ready to leave. Not before though Iron got his two cents in.

“BEFORE YOU GO!” their ears rung from the booming voice, forcing them all to turn to their teacher currently holding a megaphone in his hooves. ‘I knew that thing would come in handy,’ Iron noted to himself before setting his toy down, “Two things… don’t worry they are both simple…” he silenced any more groans of displeasure, “that middle section, fill in at least three examples of things that could be made with both magic and by your own sweat, tears, and possibly blood.”

“Will we be graded on it?” Axton asked out of curiosity.

“Only to see that you’ve done it,” Iron answered, “second part of the homework… those of you with little gifts. Whether it is magic, flight, or the ability to breath fire,” he looked around the room to ensure he covered all his bases in terms of species, “for at least one day this weekend, try to go the whole day without using your gift. Not once, not even for a second…” he watched half of them wonder in the back of their minds if they could, “get a feel for how it would be, then Monday tell me, would you be able to live like that… now go on,” Iron waved them all off, “get out of here and enjoy the weekend.”

In less than a minute, Iron was all alone in his class room. The seats were empty, the windows were closed, the personal lockers locked. All was right in his little home of the high school, as it should be. With that, Iron Knight got up from his desk and slung the satchel across his side holding his students’ work that he had to grade later on that evening. That way he would be able to relax this weekend, possibly even work on his own project.

“However, for now,” he said to himself as he locked up, “there's a drink waiting for me at the pub.”

Chapter 5

Amber Ale nearly galloped around from behind the bar counter, as she filled the last orders of a couple patrons that made their way in to her little tavern. It’s Friday evening, and as one would expect, many forty hour a week workers in the border town of Degus were ready to relax this weekend and allow themselves some much needed time off. Something that the summer ale unicorn was also looking forward too; considering after the morning shift tomorrow, she’d be off till Tuesday evening.

“Did you want another shot of FireColt added to that cider Cherry Blossom?” she asked the newly 21 mare at the counter.

“Oh no, I think two will do it for me,” the mare almost hiccupped across to her, as she gladly accepted the glass and went about the tavern to her friends.

“I know I could use one right about now…” Amber muttered to herself, looking around the counter seeing that every pony was well taken care of. The mare took a moment to lean back against the shelf of liquors, taking solace that her patrons were happy. Looking up at the clock she saw that it’s only a few minutes to four thirty, and already she was starting to worry. “…Where is that colt?” Amber whispered.

“I'm right here darlin’,” she heard called out to her from the colt she was looking for.

Iron walked in to the bar, making sure to close the door behind him, before he made his way to the counter and took the stool that she nearly reserved for him every Friday afternoon. Reaching across the counter, Amber embraces her old friend of many years tightly as he did the same and met her halfway.

“How did you hear me?” she asked.

“Meh, working in a shop gets you used to reading lips,” Iron replied simply, setting the smaller mare down.

Breaking away from one another, Amber set about lifting a few bottles with her magic without even needing to look, already knowing his favorites. “What took you so long?” she asked, feeling almost forgotten, “I expected you half an hour ago.”

“I had to take some of the students work home first,” Iron pat the satchel on his side, now laden with nothing more than his wallet and other essentials, “originally I thought about grading their work while here, but I wanted to relax a bit.”

“As you do every Friday here,” the mare remarked. Setting the glass right in front of him, Iron simply grinned as he took the first sip. Savoring the burn of the cinnamon whisky trickling down his throat, as it warmed his stomach from the outside in.

“I can see that your day’s been going as expected,” he gestured with glass still in his aura to the many guests in the tavern. Several of which are other teachers from the same school as himself.

“It’s a Friday night, I expect nothing less,” she answered while filling another guests glass, “I have servers for the others, I just have to worry about the bar.”

“And now I’m here.”

“And I already have the first aid kit ready,” tapping the underside of the counter, she glared back at him.

Iron rolled his eyes at his friend, “Oh come on,” he took a sip, “I’m not that bad…”

“You passed out inside the counter before,” she deadpanned back at him, watching as his eyes danced around the room, not even daring to look at her, “not on top of it like a normal drunk, but inside it, after working past the hinge lock on the outside. That took coordination.”

“So I’m a functioning alcoholic?” Iron shrugged his shoulders, “sue me.”

Rolling her eyes casually at him, Amber simply went about her night tending to her customers. However, this time with a grin on her face, knowing that her dear friend was right there ready to put a smile on her face if she needed. ‘As asinine as he may be, you just have to love the colt.’ she remarked to herself, silently happy to see several of the other ponies there leaving as they finished their little meals. Giving her more time with her friend.

Making her way back to him, and seeing that he already polished off his first glass, Amber went about refilling his drink, “So how goes the lesson of the day?” she asked casually, “haven’t killed any of your students have you?”

“Other than the one in my backyard already, no,” Iron answered just as nonchalantly, gladly accepting the drink, “just the basic lessons of how to use magic as well as ones’ natural talents… so the usual.” He watched as she nodded through his day. Talking about the finer details of production and what you can and can’t do with magic, all the way to the end of the day where he tasked his students with that little last minute homework assignment.

“Do you really think any of them will actually try to not use their gifts?” she asked, making up an order of fried leeks and setting them out on the plate, before the mare whipped around to grab the ketchup.

“Oh absolutely not, though all a colt can do is-” the sound of the plate sliding off the counter and smashing on the ground interrupted him, as Iron only looked back up to see Amber with her gentle face resting on the counter.

“I really need to get this counter pushed out further…”

“Well…” Iron started off, looking between the remains of the plate and her flank, “I told you your plot was getting bigger.”

“I work out four times a week!” she squealed at him, careful to keep her volume down enough so as not to draw any more attention from the other patrons, “My figure is petite, and my plot is toned, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Oh trust me, I’ve noticed,” Iron winked at her. As she tried his best to keep the poker face up, all while watching her own turn a lovely shade of crimson. Though before Amber could say any more, he reached up and over the counter. Grabbing the broom and dust pan he knew she keeps on standby, before Iron hopped off his stool.

Watching as the colt cleaned up her mess, Amber simply smirked at him, “You know I would have gotten that…”

“I know… but I’m a pain in your flank every time I see you,” he admitted.

“So this makes up for it?” Amber rolled her eyes, gladly accepting the little bit of kindness from the colt as she set about making another batch of leeks. “Besides, you aren’t that much of a pain in my flank…”

“Not as much as I could be,” Iron grinned back, only to watch the blood return to her features, “though last time I tried to ask, you flat out said No to me…”

‘I wonder how many times he’ll bring that one up,’ she muttered to herself, “I know, I know, I know… It would just be… weird, that’s all.”

“No correction… I’m weird, that wouldn’t even be close,” Iron reminded her once more throughout the years, “but unwillingly… I accept it,” he said as he finished up cleaning. Tossing the remains of the meal in the trash behind the counter before stowing the cleaning gear up for when it would be needed again.

Amber gently sighed at the colt. Knowing how one works and what goes on in their head to some would sound like a gift. However, when it’s somepony you’re close to (and they can be as off as they come), it’s a curse. Seeing how Iron acts with others and how brash he can be, almost has broken the mares’ heart many times, when she would watch them push him away. Knowing in reality how much heart Iron truly has to give. If he wasn’t a so rough around the edges.

“You’re a good colt, Iron,” she grabbed his attention, mostly with the shot glass as she filled it in front of him, “you do mean well, you just don’t always end up doing well…”

“Aint that the truth,” Iron replied, generously accepting the gift as his drinking binge carried on in to the night.

The clock struck midnight as the moon stood high above the small down. In any other case it would sound like a fairy tale, though most fairy tales don’t have a bar in them. Amber waved good bye to her coworkers and the last of the regulars, as they left for the night to sleep off the drink in their own beds. Going around the establishment, she checked the back door to see that it’s locked, the stove to be sure the burners off, and the pantries to see that the food is stored properly before heading out the door herself.

“No wait… there’s one thing I’m missing,” Amber remarked under her breath, as she looked over to see the colt finishing the last of his drink, “Are you done Iron? Or would you like one for the road?”

“Na I’m good,” Iron grabbed his chest as he burped and felt the scorching after breath come back up. “Besides I still have a few bottles back at home…” the colt said as he got up from his stool, and nearly lost his footing before the first hoof touched the floor.

Galloping up to his side, Amber gave him a shoulder to lean on as he steadied himself, “Are you going to make it there okay?”

“I just have to follow one road…” Iron answered, quick witted as ever, even in his bliss, “I think I got it.”

“Just checking on you,” she chuckled, putting the key in her purse as she went to the door.

“What time is it?” he asked, forgetting to look at the clock… or he was unable to. Either way, Amber obliged him and read it for him.

“About a little after midnight,” she said putting the key in the door as she opened it up. The fall weather had snuck up on her, with a cool wind blowing through the door it ran a shiver up her legs all the way to her chest, as she felt the goosebumps raise up from under her coat. “I should have brought a jacket…” she mumbled, “Looks like winter will be here sooner than expected.”

In the still air of silence, the only thing she felt was the presents of another get suddenly closer to her while she stood there in the door way. Looking back up, Amber watched as Iron slung his bag over his side with an ever stoic expression on his face, and calmly looked back down on her.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” he said calmly to her.

“Really now? Iron… it’s out of your way,” she tried to protest as the colt nudged her out the door, “You don’t have to-”

With a single raised hoof, Iron silenced her, “It’s late, it’s cold, and there are some really strange ponies out at a time like this,” he paused for a second to let that sink in, as she chuckled from his subtle joke. “I’ll walk you home, besides you know I never really minded the cold.” Accepting yet another sweet gesture, Amber sighed at first before smiling back at him and headed out the door.

For only being mid-October, while the days may still be warm, the nights certainly have gotten colder and colder with every passing moon. In this moment it was then that Amber was glad that she had another there with her. With every little breeze that blew through, she snuggled up closer to her friend, relishing in his warmth that he put out from his frame.

“Seriously, how are you not cold?” she asked, once again for probably the hundredth time over the years that they’ve known each other.

“Meh, you get used to the cold when you’ve gone camping in fifteen below,” Iron answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

“That would explain a lot,” Amber accepted the one of dozen answers he’s given her, “you really didn’t have to do this though.”

“Hey now, you’re a friend…” he winked at her, “you put up with a lot from me, the least I can do is walk you home at night.” He replied as he tugged her next to him playfully, not that she was against it or anything, the act just helped make her that much warmer.

Though while the different homes and businesses passed by and she relished in the comfort of her friend. Iron reached in to his satchel with his magic, producing a single cigarette as he placed it between his lips.

Hearing the spark of his magic against it, Amber glanced up to see her friend taking one long drag before carefully blowing the smoke away from her, “When did you pick that back up?”

“Meh… it’s only really an occasional thing,” he answered. The death stick in his mouth a habit that sort of stuck from his time serving, before that he never really enjoyed it or even wanted to pick up the habit. Though one doesn’t simply join the military and not develop an addiction of some sort. Iron took one more drag, before holding it in his aura on the opposite side of her, “I might do it on a Friday when I’m looking forward to the weekend, when I need a moment to think, take a load off, or even when I’m just really drunk…”

“You’re drunk almost eight days out of the week,” she deadpanned at him.

“That’s far beside the point, thank you very much,” he replied rather proud of himself. Allowing a simple moment of silence to pass between them as he smoked, Iron pipped back up once he tossed the butt down and crushed it with his hoof, “So are you going to invite me inside when we get there?”

Pondering it for a split second, Amber shook her head at the colt, “If it was any colder, I might consider it… I mean it wouldn’t be the first time,” she looked back up at his cool hazel eyes. Recalling the instance they both had too much of the drink and wound up back at her place, one thing led to another, and they both learned the others form a little more than they had before, “But as I said, like after that time, it would be weird.”

“Well hey, a colt can try?” he brought up, just as they we’re stepping up to her modest little home. Going along the path, Iron made sure she was well in her door before he even thought about heading home.

“With all these little random acts of kindness,” Amber commented as she looked around on the coat rack for something to give him for the night, “how is it that you’re still single?”

“Because I’m a dick,” he answered flatly.

Amber simply held her tongue, before she set her eyes on a nice thick scarf, one that wouldn’t really be missed much. Turning back to the colt and holding it in her magic, the mare proceeded to wrap it tightly around his neck, hearing no objections from the colt. “Well I wouldn’t say completely,” she mused while she tied it on, “you’re just a pony who has… selective dickish tenancies?”

Loosening the knot around his neck so it didn’t feel like a noose, Iron chuckled a bit at her for the gift. “I’m a kind hearted bastard with a heart of gold. Problem is its ten karats so it’s strong, but not that pure,” she listened as the words fell off his tongue, almost like they were rehearsed in a mirror over and over again.

Smiling warmly at her ever odd friend, Amber leaned in to him and planted a gentle kiss on the side of his cheek. A simple gesture that she’d done with him before, but one that always warrants a much beloved response… watching his own face flush fully with blood. With a little chuckle, she covered her mouth to hide the grin, “You’re a sweet colt,” she waved him on, “However, you’re drunk and I can imagine you’re tired… go on home now and get some sleep. I hope to see you later.”

Wiping the grin off his face, Iron recomposed himself, “You will, don’t worry,” he remarked as he started to back away. Holding up the end of the scarf in his hoof, he gave a simple nod of thanks to his friend before heading back to his place.

Across town, down a road, and a little more off from town was his own cottage. With all its feelings of a cozy home that he loved, Iron opened the door as he locked it behind him, and dropped his bag on the ground. Before moseying himself up the stairs to the shower. The weather outside may be chilly, and he may not mind it, but that didn’t mean in any way, shape, or form a hot shower wasn’t something he looked forward to.

While the heat sobered him up for a few minutes, Iron took care of washing his mane and brushing his teeth before getting out and toweling off with his own hooves. Still remembering what it was like to be forced to do that all those years ago. The colt took great pride in knowing if he ever had to go through that again, it wouldn’t be a challenge that he hadn't faced already… though would still take some getting used to.

Slipping out of the bathroom, he kicked up the covers. Not even bothering to set his alarm, after all it was Saturday, and he was off. “A much needed day to sleep in…” Iron smiled to himself before the night, and the ethanol took him out of consciousness and in to the land of the night.

Chapter 6

The pounding in the back of the colts’ head rustled him awake from his slumber, as he tossed and turned in his own bed. Hearing the distinctive bell of his alarm, Iron reached across to slap the clock before it would beckon him any more to get up. Finally resting on his target, with a single flick of the wrist, the clock was knocked unceremoniously off the nightstand and on to the floor with a dull thud. Leaning over the beds edge with one eye open, Iron looked at the casualty of his hangover.

“Serves you right,” he remarked to the inanimate object, noticing the battery rolling across the floor from the fall. “Though I could have sworn I didn’t-”

Another volley of ringing in his ears was set off, and after already confirming his kill, Iron knew full well the clock shouldn’t have been the target of his aggression. ‘Doorbell…’ he groaned in the back of his head, before putting hoof to floor and casually walking his way down the stairs. As the colt made his way to the door, through the few glass panes on the overhead, he could make out the sight of a few royal guard helmet crests peaking over the top. Not an uncommon thing, after all the guards delivered many types of news to ponies all over.

“Somepony better be dead…” He hissed at his guests before even laying eyes on them.

Slinging the door open with a single hoof, Iron stood there with bouts of steam pouring from is nostrils. “You woke me up from a hangover…” he grumbled while scratching his eyes from the onslaught of the sun entering his pupils, “This better be-”

As he cleared his vision, Iron instantly shuts his mouth at seeing who exactly came knocking at his door. Princess Grace stood there, barely meeting him at chin level, with several guards there in tow on his own front porch, as a single drake stood by her side. All of which, from princess to guard alike, stood there in some state of shock from the brazen outburst of a colt emerging from his sleep. Though, being the ever humble one, Grace was the first to open her mouth.

“Good morning, Mister Knight,” she said with a warmth that almost pushed away the chill in the colts’ tone, “I'm-”

“Nope.”

With that single word, Iron slammed the door in front of all of them. Leaving the royalty and her guards standing there in bewilderment at the actions of a so called teacher. “Well that could have gone better,” Grace muttered, taking more interest in the ground below as she scratched it with a hoof.

“Your majesty,” Silvertongue piped up, “This colt seems a little on edge… are you sure you want to meet with him.”

“From what I have heard of him, yes,” she mentally went over all that she learned of Iron from his friend back in the capital, “I do need all the help I can get, even if that means going door to door to get it… beside you heard him, he’s sleeping off a hangover from the previous night. We can’t really blame him for the way he’s acted so far.”

With the exit of her last words, the door started to slowly creep, as Iron once again pulled it open to those at his door step. Shaking his head once more, mostly to get the stars out of his eyes, Iron eyed the young princess, “Well then I guess I’m not seeing things,” he realized.

“It would seem not,” she mused with simple smile, gesturing past him with an outstretched hoof, “Would it trouble you for us to come in?”

“Oh of course not,” he steps aside as she and a couple of the guards came in to his quaint home.
Looking around Grace got a quick feel for who she was dealing with. Items in disarray, a few components to machines on a coffee table left in pieces, while a couple tools lay close by, all with notes of some kind scattered everywhere for the eye to see.

“A messy colt, aint he?” a guard in their mists questioned.

“Hmm…” she pondered while looking past the mess for what it really is, “Not without his reasons,” Grace answered back under her breath as Iron closes the door and moved back in front of them. “It’s a lovely home you have here, Mr. Knight,” she said, “quite off the beaten path I have to say.”

“Meh, I like my privacy,” Iron shrugged, “though I doubt you came all the way out here to look at some random teachers’ home.”

“Straight to the point kind of colt, aren’t you?” Grace commented, simply raising a brow to the stallion.

“You bet your sweet ass I am,” he shot back in an instant with a wink. All the guards around her froze, and Silver bit down on his own tongue if only to hold his own piece. All of them watched only in silence as he pulled a single glass out of the liquor cabinet, “so… to what do I owe the pleasure, Saving Grace?”

Tapping the handle of his spear to the ground, a guard cleared his throat as he addressed the colt before him, “Sir, this is the princess of your own nation and she commands respect where ever she may go. Whether it is in her own castle, or your own home,” his eyes narrowed at Irons’ own, “You will address her as such.”

“Oh come now…” Iron rolled his eyes, watching the guard get ever flustered from every move he made, “I know the rules of how to address royalty, probably better than you do, Sargent.” He remarked to the rank emblem on his armor, “Personally though I don’t give a damn, after all you are on private property and without just cause, I could order you to leave. After all those are the rules that she herself has outlined in section forty-five tac B, paragraph A, line five…”

“Excuse me-!” the guard blurted out, before a single hoof silenced him.

“Hold on, I wasn’t finished… fun fact though,” Iron started to point out. Moving closer and closer to the colt with every word he spoke, “sense you crossed my little fence and walked up to my door. You have made your way in to neutral territory. My home resides just outside of Seren’s boarders, ergo… as common sense should tell you. I don’t have to abide by those rules.”

Cautiously Silver and Grace exchange their own momentary glances with one another. While the little exchange between the colts was rather amusing to the princess, Grace just hoped this didn’t result in a fight. After all, it’s kind of hard to ask of ones help, after one of your own guards just picked a fight with you. Thankfully though, Iron Knight decided against it and stepped off. Plopping himself down in the chair across from them all, while levitating the glass and a bottle of scotch to him, he sat calmly while pouring himself a drink.

“So I’ll say this as politely as possible,” he remarked while taking a single sip of the drink, and winked at the guard, “Buck off, Sarge.”

“Why you little-!” the guard shouted out, before a wing in his face shushed him up instantly once again.

“Easy there Argo,” Grace eased him down from a fight, while she addressed her other guards, “Do me a favor and let me speak to the colt by myself…”

The several faces of disgust already spoke volumes to the princess of what they were already thinking, “Are you sure about that?” Silver questioned, peering an eye over at the stallion, “he is an odd one.”

“Trust me, I’ll be fine,” she assured them, before booting them out the door. Once the door was latched, she turned her attention to the colt before her, sitting calmly before her with his legs crossed.

“I know this is very short notice, if none at all,” she allowed herself to relax some of her regalia while it was just the two of them, and placed her tiara atop the coffee table, “though could I trouble you for a drink?” Grace motioned to the one in his own grasp.

Not to be one to deny a mare something to quench her thirst, Iron gladly brought out another glass and filled it for her, passing it off to the mare as she grasped it in a wing. Bringing the glass up to her lips, she lightly closed her eyes while allowing the liquid to slither its way down her throat. ‘It’s been a while sense I’ve had anything this strong,’ she noted to herself, before casually holding the glass in her wing and took a seat across from him, “So Mister Knight… now that I have them out of here,” she took a deep breath, “We have some business to discuss.”

“Obviously the kind that doesn’t require too many ears to be listening…” Iron made note, while Grace simply nodded at him.

“Well like you have… I’ll cut to the chase,” She paused for a moment to take another sip, “My nation is in jeopardy by a few others, and I’ve been trying to get as prepared as I possibly could for a fight that may not happen, but the cards are still in the deck for it to.”

“And yet you have come to the home of a teacher…” Iron pointed out, before getting up and setting his empty glass on the table next to the chair, “How that pertains to me, I couldn’t guess.”

“I need one’s in your craft,” she answered simply, “After all you of all ponies should know what it takes to repair a suit of armor…”

That last comment made his ears stand straight up and flicker for a moment, “Who have you been talking to?” He asked out of sheer curiosity, though he doesn’t even wait for the princess to get up before walking away in to the kitchen. With her in tow, she followed to explain herself.

“Your friend still at the castle,” she answered, watching Iron reach in to the fridge to pull out an apple, “Freefall? Ring a bell?”

“Oh Free?” Iron brightened up upon hearing the name, taking a bite out of the crisp fruit, “I forgot to mail him back when he sent me a letter last. Glad to hear he hasn’t gotten himself in any trouble lately… how do you know him?”

“Freefall’s a guard back in my castle,” Grace explained, if only to satisfy the colts’ curiosity, “I saw him every so often till he was temporarily assigned to me, after he was relieved though we remained friends… it wasn’t until recently that he mentioned you though.”

“And why would Free bring me up?”

“As I said, because of your craft,” Grace worked herself to the other side of the counter, resting her fore hooves on the surface while she explained some of her predicament to the colt before her, “With this threat looming over my nation, I have been trying to gather any and all available hooves, claws, or talons I could to help with the effort… even now it seems, if that means going to ones’ own door to ask personally,” she pointed out the obvious, “you know you can’t make a good suit of armor with just magic.”

“You should come explain that to my class…” Iron remarked to her, drawing only a confused glare, “I apologize, you have no idea what I’m talking about… still doesn’t explain why I would help… or even care,” he motioned as his eyes rolled at even the prospect of assisting the crown, and took another bite from his breakfast.

The pail expression across her sky blue coat on her face, spelled it out for him almost as clear as day, while Iron just sucked it all in. ‘This uncouth little son of a-!’ she screamed at him in her mind. Though before she snapped back at the colt for his heartless words, Grace composed herself, “hmm… I see he was right about you then…”

“Ohh… do enlighten me then.”

“Well for starters…” Grace finished off her drink, turning the glass upside down on the counter, “he said that you could be stubborn to no end, a complete and utter prick, and an unbelievable ass sometimes.” She watched as Iron simply stood there in his own trance and mentally checked off everything she listed, completely ignoring the vile words coming from the mare.

“Okay well you’re three for three so far…” he remarked, “What else did he say about me?”

Taking a breath, Grace tried to prepare her own thoughts, instead of wanting to slap the colt and move on, “He also said… you could be incredibly loyal to a cause, if you wanted to be.”

“See there’s what you’re forgetting,” Iron pointed out to her, enjoying this little game that he got to play so early in the morning. To him it was a better pick-me-up than a shot of espresso, “Why would I want to come work for a system that I hated working for in the past?” he spat out back at her.

Grace stopped for a moment, knowing full well that he had a point. After all, from what Free had told her, the colt would rather go fight a dragon with a butter knife than enlist again to help her crown. And why was she trying to get him to join? There were probably dozens of other citizens just like him with the same level of talent… ‘Yes that’s true,’ Grace said to herself, ‘however, he’s skilled in the exact field I’m looking for, and all the help I can get, counts as him as well…’ standing her ground in the kitchen floor. Grace looked back up at the colt while he eagerly waited for her response, ready to pick it apart.

“You're right…” Grace muttered under her breath to him. Watching as his ears twitched, almost begging for a different response, “there's no reason I would expect you to come through and help this nation which has angered and stressed you so many times in the past…” she shifted through her thoughts looking for some edge. Yes, he had a tremendous loyalty when he was serving, even if it was to those that he worked with and not necessarily the crown, but that time has come and gone.

So the simple question was, who has his loyalty now?

It was after a moment of clarity that Grace realized what she needed to convince him, or at the very least get under his skin. “You, Mister Knight, owe nothing to the nation which you technically don’t reside in…” she watched while he took in all her words, waiting to see where she was going to with this, “… however, if you won’t help to assist your own country. Do it for those generations that you teach perhaps?”

An eerie silence took over the pair, to the point that one could hear the drip from the broken faucet of the sink, hitting the metal frame after every second that passed. Slowly Irons’ eyes narrowed down to near slits as he eyed the Pegasus, “What are you saying exactly?”

“It’s simple, Mister Knight,” Grace put her thoughts together, “when this country goes to war, we need more arms and armor than we can make, not for those who are already serving but those who will be serving,” she allowed that to sink in for a moment while continuing to drive a subtle knife in to his side, “a draft may have to be put in place, and when that happens, many of those still in school who can fight may be brought out to do so… some of which may be your own students.”

Like a waterfall, the thought crashed in to his own mind, filling it with the image of coming in to work and seeing less and less faces there in his class. All because they had to go fight a war that he wasn’t willing to help with. It was a cruel game the mare was coaching, one that played very close to his heart, though one that was none the less effective.

With a deep sigh, the colt nodded to her, “You play a hard game… Princess,” Iron allowed the word to slither off his tongue with every level of disgust he felt.

“War isn't a game…” she waited for his eyes to settle back on her, “though I hope that will give you the little loyalty you need in order to do what is right,” taking out a parchment from seemingly thin air, Grace jotted down a few notes on it before hoofing it over to Iron, “This is a message that will allow you passage to the production facility in Boralus, show it to a guard at the station, and they will be able to help you.”

“I really need this to get in to a factory?” he asked while looking over the document.

“As a matter of fact yes, the factory is built in to the base of my castle. A memento from days past when war was more frequent than not. Though with that paper, you will be allowed to pass,” she assured him, “that is, only if you choose to help in the first place.” With that Grace slowly walked away from the colt, allowing him a moment to consider her words.

Though as she left the kitchen and made way for the door, quickly Iron caught up to her, and grabbed the door for her.
“I thank you kindly, Mister Knight,” she nodded graciously at him, “For both the drink, and the talk… hopefully you’ll listen to what I have said.”

“Yea, yea… we’ll see about that,” Iron peered daggers at her, though all of that was hidden behind the smile he bore on his face. Holding it gently while the door was kept open for her as she walked out, leaving the colt to ponder a thought or two.

Grace followed her head guard down the path from the home as they made their way to the road not too far ahead. Even though it may have not been the most pleasant way to get a pony to help in her cause, if the mare was any judge of character, Grace was sure that Iron would see it through.

“Back to the castle now I assume, your majesty?” Silver asked.

“Not quite, it is nearly lunch already and I am quite hungry…” Grace noted as she felt her stomach growl with the yearnings of hunger from an empty morning, “…lets grab a bite to eat first in this little town, and then we shall be off...” ‘After all somepony has a few things to think about.’ She remarked to herself while continuing down the road under armed escort.

Chapter 7

Amber finished wiping down the counter of the bar top while she watched as the few other servers that have come in, fill the orders of those that have made their way out to her tavern this morning. For the small town, as with most, a Saturday was a ponies’ chance to catch up on whatever sleep was missed the week prior. Thanks to that, the crowd in the tavern was very thin, and Amber found herself able to take more than a moment to relax while she waited to get off in a few hours, so she can enjoy her own weekend.

“That clock can’t move fast enough,” she remarked while watching the second hand move seemingly slower the longer she stared at it. Though with the ring of another bell from her door opening, it beckoned the mare to greet her new guest. While in the few fleeting moments that followed, made her wish that she spent more time on her mane this morning.

Somewhere between her eyes, brain and mouth, Ambers’ body failed her as she watched the princess of the nation walk in to her own business. “W-well good-d morning,” she gulped, quickly brushing away any stray locks to her mane with a hoof, before she took a bow, “your majesty… how may we assist you?” Amber asked. As all others present in the bar quickly made their way to the ground with her.

“Easy now everyone,” Grace said with a simple elegance to her, before raising them all up with a gesture of her own wing, “It’s the weekend, and I’m simply passing through. Just looking for a quick bite to eat before heading back to Boralus.”

“Well that we do for sure,” Amber broke out a menu for the mare and her companions, “we don’t normally start serving that broad a range of food until lunch. Though I think I can make an exception, please take a seat,” she urged them.

In a few moments all of the stools at the bar are filled with the princess, her assistant, and the guards that followed. Allowing Amber to serve them with relative ease, after getting their drinks filled. The mare made her way down the line, jotting down quickly all their orders as she sent them through to the few cooks on the other side of the serving counter top.

“Here let me get that for you,” Amber calmly said, trying to maintain her composure for the royalty as she filled Graces’ glass. Thankfully all of them decided to get something simple when it came to drinks, mostly water, with only a sweet tea for the silver drake there next to the princess.

“Why thank you,” the princess smiled back at her, gladly accepting the refill as she watched the mare put the pitcher back.

“If I may ask…” Amber started off, waiting to hear any sort of denial from the princess or her escorts putting her back in place, “What brings you to our little town, your majesty?”

“Oh… just a simple visit,” Grace brushed off, not wanting to revile too much about what was really going on with her country and its neighbors, “the nation just needs certain goods made and I was looking around for a helping hoof.”

“Well you certainly can find it here, our towns always been willing to lend a helping hoof when asked.”

“Doesn’t sound like it if you talk to that colt…” Silver muttered under his breath, receiving only a quick nudge from his friend.

“Well that’s hard to believe,” Amber replied while pouring herself her own glass of tea, rather surprised that one of her own in town would shoot down the princess when she asked. More so by the fact that they had the guts to do it.

“Well he didn’t exactly say No,” Grace responded in the colts’ defense, “I just had to talk some sense in to him, and he seemed to take it close to heart when I did.”

“You do have a way with words it seems,” Silver mentioned, “perhaps Mister Knight will consider it, and we’ll see him in Boralus in a few days’ time.”

Overhearing all of the drakes’ words, it took a few seconds to process them all as Amber nearly chugs down her glass. Though once the name hit home, whatever was left in her mouth almost made her choke. “Excuse… me…” she said between coughs, “did you say Mister Knight?” she watched as both princess and her assistant looked at one another puzzled.

“Yes? He did,” Grace picked back up.

“Iron Knight, emerald coat, hazel eyes?” she waited for them to nod, before Ambers’ own eyes dilate to about the size of the beer mugs behind her, “Oh dear what has he gotten himself in to now…”

Grace looked at the pained expression on the mares’ face before putting two and two together, “I take it you know him then?”

“Yes…” she groaned, “I apologize any sort of grief he may have caused you, I will personally kick his flank when I see him next.” Amber replied cracking her hooves, talking back and joking with her is one thing. But saying who knows what to the princess is a completely different story.

“I don’t believe that will be necessary, miss…?”

“Amber, Amber Ale,” she extended a hoof to the princess.

“Well… Miss Ale, Iron didn’t do anything horribly wrong around me,” Grace said as they shook, already feeling the glares of the guards and her friend looming over her, “He just needs to learn a thing or two about manners.”

“Good luck with that,” Amber said before she could hold her tongue fast enough, “Sorry your majesty…”

“Hmm… Is Iron your… oh how could I put this,” Grace tried to word, hoping that the longer she waited the sooner Amber would be able to pick up what she was trying to say.

“Oh him? No, no, no…NO,” she waved it off, thankful that he wasn’t here at the moment, knowing full well the colt would have had a field day with the comment, “Iron’s just… just a very good friend that has been around for years.” She finished off, scrunching up her nose as she swears she can hear him in the back of her head laughing.

“Judging by your expression,” Silver started, reading her once more, “It sounds like that friendship should have ended long ago…”

“Well it’s not exactly that…” Amber stopped for a moment, ready to launch off in to the long saga about her friend.

Thankfully the plates of food for her guests came up just in time for her to set her mind straight and get her words in order. Putting the plates to each guest as they ordered them, Amber filled in any last condiment preferences before she allowed herself to take a breath, somewhat hoping that her friend wasn’t brought up again.

“Ms. Ale,” Grace beckoned her over after taking a much needed bit from her garden salad sandwich, “about your friend…”

‘Oh dear…’ she moaned in the seclusion of her own mind.

“He does seem a little… off-”

“That’s the understatement of the century,” she remarked, unknowingly cutting off the princess. Though instead of a scowl, she only saw Grace start to giggle a bit as she covered her own mouth with her hooves.

“I’ll say, however, I came here hoping to get some help when it came to the production of metal,” Grace treaded lightly, trying not to give up too much information regarding her predicament. “I learned from another guard, and a friend of mine, about Iron actually.”

“Freefall?” Amber asked, recalling the name.

“Why yes, are you friends with him as well?”

“Not so much, just our mutual friend,” Amber added, “Iron has mentioned his old guard friend a few times while we’ve hung out, especially after he came back from his contract. Not face to face though, Iron's very good at compartmentalizing his life like that.”

The mare waited for her regal counterpart to finish the first half of her sandwich before Grace fired the conversation back up, “I see, is he as good as Free says he is with his craft?”

“Working with metal? Absolutely,” the tone in the mares’ voice change in a moment, from one of mild disgust for her friend, to admiration to what he can do, “Iron has always been one to work on his little projects here and there. I take it you’ve seen his home?”

“Yes, yes I have… kind of messy I might say.”

“Well that’s just how he likes it,” Amber put in, “he knows where everything is, and it works for him. Toying with metal is his pastime, and trying to make suits of armor is his passion. Heck if he does decide to come help, don’t be surprised if he has his own project on the side, along with whatever you ask of him.”

“As long as he helps, I could care less,” Grace admitted to herself. After all what the colt does to keep his mind occupied was none of her business. “Though I get the feeling he doesn’t like to work with others.”

“Only a few… not the real social type, he likes machines better than most ponies. In his words ‘you can fix a machine, though someponies you just can't’, which I have to say is true,” Grace nodded in complete agreeance, as Amber launched off in to the subtleties of her friend, “I mean he has a rude sense of humor, a terrible judge of character and can be an unbelievable ass sometimes…” she caught herself once more, “Sorry about that.”

“Oh no harm no foul, I’ve heard worse,” Grace brushed it off, before leaning in to the mare and propping her head up on a hoof, “Though with all that, as my assistant said, its sounds like he’s hard to be friends with at times.”

“More than you will ever know,” Amber shook her head, recalling the numerous times the two have nearly gotten in to a magic duel while out in the streets because of Iron being Iron, “yet at the heart of things… He really isn't that bad once you get to know him. Yes, he can be a jerk, but when he wants to be, he can be a real gentlecolt as well. As well-mannered as any noble and on top of that, probably one of the sweetest colts I know…” from one memory to the next, Ambers’ eyes glass over while she noted the times that Iron has really shined in her eyes. When he’s shown his true colors and not what every other pony sees.

From the mares’ mind and what her face paints out on it, Grace can see the fond memories that the two have shared with one another, as even it brings a smile to her face, “Sounds like a very odd sort,” she finished off for the mare, just as she finishes her meal, “but not without his moments of granger.”

“When he isn't being a complete jackass… or a colt on his latest alcohol binge,” Amber stated flatly, “He means well, just doesn’t always end up doing well,” she said before picking up the princesses’ plate as well as her guards that finished up just as she did and pushed them through to the kitchen.

With that Grace and her escorts got up from their seats and prepared to leave. Checking that they are all ready to go, Grace reached up under her wing to pull out a small bit bag, dividing out the right amount for all her guards and what they each got. It’s some fairly easy math to do in her head, most of them got the same thing to eat. Though as she put the bits on the counter, Amber leans back over and tries to push them back to her.

“Your majesty, I can't accept this,” she tried to plead with her, pushing the pile of bits away, “I mean you are the ruler of the nation I live in, how can I charge you for a simple meal?”

“It’s nothing really, Ms. Ale,” Grace waved off, urging the bits back towards her with an outstretched wing, “after all me and my group simply wanted something to eat. Besides, you gave me a little more insight on one that will probably be working for me here soon,” she winked at her, grateful for what Amber shared with her, “Consider it payment for that, if it makes you feel better… however we must be off,” she said as they all started towards the door, “Take care of yourself Ms. Ale, and have a pleasant day.”

“To you as well, your majesty,” Amber waved back, as she watched the last of the guards leave from her door.

Chapter 9

Fires spewed out the top of relief stacks peppered all along a factory, each gout lit up the sky as it would burst and then quickly die back down once the fumes no longer were present. It’s a pleasant sight for Rhorkin to behold from his own castle, for the factories steamrolling his war effort are only a stone’s throw away from his own home.

While several production plants dot the country side of his own nation, they all pale in comparison to this one. Is it a tactical disadvantage to have so much of your own war effort put in to one place? Probably, even the king admits that, though with it being tucked in his own capital and close to the castle, it has the ability to be defended with ease. With each flash of progress that he sees, he knows that he’s one step closer to being able to put Grace in a strangle hold, something that is driven home as his own council reads off productions for that month.

“The factory is producing these new weapons with great ease it seems,” one of his generals calls out to his king, “they are of simple design, and even with the few resources, we are making them still in large numbers.”

Rhorkin turned around to face all those present. With his own military advisors filling him in on his army, and his ally taking care of production, there is little for the king to do. “Have they still been tested while being made?” He asked to them, “After all it would be pointless to make all this new weapons of war only to have them blow up in our face.”

“Product testing is still being done randomly,” the admiral answers, looking over the reports from the tests, “And they are surprisingly effective… gruesome, but effective.”

“Excellent…” Rhorkin almost purred at hearing that news. It wasn’t often they would find use for the prisoners of the nation, especially those waiting to be put to death. Though with new tech needing to be tested, “BB” could think of no better test subjects than those still alive and kicking.

‘BB…’ the king repeats in his mind, still recalling the letter that he got from the DDR’s chief about him striking a deal with this mysterious pony. The chill that ran up his spine after reading what she was capable of still returned, after hearing the first reports of what she brought to the table against Grace.

“My king?” his attention is grabbed by another gryphon, in charge of stockpiling those supplies till they are built up enough to be used for effect.

“Yes Rankburn? What is it?” he asked to the gryphon that has seldom said anything during these sorts of meetings.

“It has been brought to my obvious attention that with these new weapons we stand to have an obvious advantage over those that reside under the princess rule…” Rankburn opened up with, checking the results from some of the latest tests, “so it would stand to reason that given the right push, Princess Grace would probably be willing to further negotiations with both us and the DDR… for the sake of her own of course.”

While they have been building up an arsenal the likes of which most of the inhabited world has never seen. Between Chief Reinhart and King Rhorkin, the king was the one that tried to look for a more diplomatic solution… at first. The more he thought about it, the more the king realized that Grace was right. She wouldn’t be able to spare any more resources for either him or the DDR, her country was being stretched thin, and she would fight to keep what they had.

A noble effort he admits, after all he would have done the same for his own country had they switched roles… plus having another whispering in his ear only helped to further solidify the path that he was already on.

“Rankburn while I have always respected your decision and opinion on matters closest to home, it goes without saying that this mare will be unmoved,” Rhorkin acknowledged while he strode across the tile floor, allowing only the sound of his talons hitting the ground to fill the air, “the princess will not give up what she has without a fight…”

“But perhaps after a show of force she would,” he tried to reason, “seeing the devastating effects of this new tech may sway her mind in our favor. No one here wants a war after all…”

“That I can even agree on,” the king admitted, “Though if you’ve ever seen the fire in this mares eyes, you would know moving a mountain would be a far easier feet.”

“So we could simply-” a dagger landing on the table in front of him silenced the gryphon, leaving him to only watch as it swayed back and forth from sticking itself in to the hard wood top.

“I might be incline to agree with you,” Rhorkin watched as the cloaked figure made its way from down the rafters on a curtain, “though it would seem that my colleague here has her own opinions, that even I must admit, are far more interesting than peace right now.”

BB calmly walks up Rankburn as she watched him only stare wide eyed with every step she took. Wrapping a metal talon around the handle, in one tug she pulled it clean of the table and placed the blade right back in its holder under her cloak, “make no mistake… Grace will not be so easily swayed when it comes to her own citizens,” her attention fell to those at the table, while she addressed each and every one of them with a glare from under the hood, “she will have them fight until the last breath, in to their own slaughter, before she gives up an ounce of what she can’t promise.”

“And how would you know this?” another gryphon at the table challenges, “How do you know how she will act… if it means preserving her citizens’ lives, she may bend to ones will greater.”

BB looked over to the gryphon. A stout male, clean kept with his brown feathers preened to perfection, as his tan coat shined a shade higher than the rest against the light of the room. Only further showing off the several brands he had seared in to his coat and skin. If only for the sake of decorating his body in the art that was trademarks of warriors of days past.

With a single claw raised, she called him out, “What is your name?”

“Egyes,” the male answered without hesitation.

“And do you sympathize with Grace and her nation?”

Egyes merely shrugged his shoulders, “I simply am looking to that which will benefit all of those. War is costly, after all…”

“I know…” BB responded, lowering her voice and allowing the ice to run through her veins, “I know how costly war can be, and it’s was at the hooves of those in charge that I saw from first hoof experience what it can do to families.”

“So then why would you try and push for a fight then?”

BB froze in place, allowing all the vivid images to dance in her eyes while they replayed the events that created her. If it wasn’t for the hood atop her head, those present may actually have seen a tear fall from her face, “To prevent future wars over the same resource…” she stated as if it were rehearsed, “a fight now would level the playing field, and ensure that each nation could get what it needs without her interference.”

Most of those at the table never thought of it like that, they merely saw a chance to get what they wanted for centuries. But now as they think about it even more, they realize that this cloaked figure’s right. A fight now would cripple Grace and her nation, allowing them to take what they needed when they needed it, without having to go through negotiations to barter. Sure Seren as a result would wither away, but her citizens would find other places to dwell… it wasn’t their concern.

With the steady nodding of all of those present, Egyes looked at each of them with a mild face of disgust. ‘Single minded featherbrains…’ he spat in his mind while taking a seat, ‘they know they are damning an entire country to the grave, and they just don’t care.’ He watched as BB walked up to the king and chatted for a moment by themselves.

Though their attention was drawn back as their king tapped his claw to the ground, “That will be it for this meeting, you’re all dismissed.” With that each of the councilors got up and made their way out of the room.

With only one looking back at both his king, and the mysterious mare.

With the exit of the final member in attendance for the meeting, Rhorkin looked back at his guest, calmly standing there beneath her cloak while she looked out to the factory just as he did minutes ago.

“It’s a wondrous sight, isn't it?” he asked, having seldom the chance to really talk to this ever odd equine.

BB simply stood there in silence for a few minutes, letting the flames that burst forth to dance in her vision, literally watching her visions come to life, “It’s quite the sight… one I had only dreamed of, until now.”

“I must ask, if you would be inclined to answer…” the king opened up with, feeling like one of his subjects as if they were addressing him.

“I believe you have earned my respect, king,” the mare added on with a tinge of gratitude in her voice.

“Well, where ever did you get the idea for some of these weapons?” Rhorkin’s wondered that question for the longest of times, though when they first started their dealings it was all for the most part in simple letters. It wasn’t until recently that BB, as she called herself, made it out to his kingdom to ‘inspect’ the work as she put it. “Surely you must have been a great engineer where ever you resided prior to this. I would even go to guess that you came straight out of Equestrias’ Canterlot…”

In the second of silence between them, the mare filled the void with a soft, almost school filly giggle. “You flatter me, Rhorkin,” she laid on with as much of a sultry tongue as she could, “Though I can't take that complement… I simply was a mare that understood machines of our time, better than she understood most others her kind,” she admitted, dropping her head slightly, “What I did wasn’t all that hard. Throw in a few chemicals, pressures, and minerals and you can get quite a volatile reaction… with rather remarkable results.”

“I’ll say…” he said while taking a place next to his partner, both of them looking out in awe and respect of the work being done, “I heard what you did when you first met Chief Reinhart, quite impressive putting down one of his own to get his attention.”

“It was a gamble I’ll admit, though it had the desired effect…”

“And now you have similar weapons being built to aid our own efforts…” the king walked over to his chair at the table, and slid open the built in drawer. The small space was never really used that much by the king for the purpose it was built, paperwork and such, instead he found a different use. Producing two glasses, the king popped the top off of a bottle of fine gin, and filled both with the pristine clear liquid.

Even under the cloak, BB heard the top of the bottle and the filling of the glasses, “Expensive stuff I hear…” she eyed the bottle, “though I thought gryphons preferred their barrel aged bourbons?”

“Gin has always been an acquired taste of mine, I got it from my father,” the king answered while stowing away the bottle, before he walked right back up to her with the glasses in claw.

“To what is the occasion?” the mare asked, churning the glass in her own metallic claws while she smelled the concoction.

“To our… partnership,” the king answered simply at first, “after all you have given both me and the chief the claw in the door that we would need, to best Grace and her own forces when this war goes hot,” they clanked the crystal together, toasting to his words, “I merely would like to know one simple thing…”

BB read the gryphons face while she took a sip, and unable to see and trace of dishonesty, she was inclined to push forward, “And what might that be?”

“…Your name, out of curiosity of course,” he responded while taking his own sip, “After all ‘BB’ can’t be what you were born with, and any hatchling could guess that those are simple initials…”

The mare stood there quietly, tapping a claw against the crystal. While at first it may have been her idea to keep her name secret, mostly for her own affairs, she has realized that even if her name were to get out it wouldn’t make a difference in the slightest.

‘The outcome will still be the same,’ she concluded as she laid her eyes on the king.

With a gentle claw, the mare set the glass on the window sill, before she turned her attention to her own cloak. Reaching up to her ears, she proceeded to pull the hood back and for the first time in a long time in front of another, the mare revealed herself to their eyes.

The short cut black mane rested just above her shoulders, while the metallic glint in her eyes sparkled against the light of the room, just as her coat picked up on the same trait and shined even brighter over the years. If it wasn’t for the past experiences of seeing the mare deal first hoof with insubordination of others trying to undermine her. Rhorkin would have looked at this mare and seen true wonder, as he started to lose himself in her features.

Though before his senses got too far ahead of themselves, the king looked higher up on her head, and it was then that his own eyes started to take in the full truth about this mare. A horn protruded itself from her head, but not one of natural formation. One of metal, fastened to her own skull as a series of rubies, opals, and topazes dotted along its surface. Leading down to the base that has healed over from years past, to the point that it would almost look normal in contrast to her coat.

‘What would bring a mare to do this to herself?’ He wondered silently. However, in that instance he not only grew more curious about her, but also grew in the respect he held. ‘Whatever she has gone through in life, I can only take pity on the one who will be on the receiving end of her wrath,’ Rhorkin muttered to himself, watching as the mare looked back to the glass next to the window.

With her train of thought well on its way to what she desired, BB allowed her mind to clear up. As a crude cut opal on her horn lit up, and produced a cool cobalt aura from it. In an instant the aura wrapped itself around the glass, and in one swift move she brought it to her lips as she allowed the liquid to break the ice between them and calm her nerves even more so.

“My name… Is Bronze Bolt,” she replied with an expression that rivaled that of her minds state, “I preferred spending my life around machinery more than other creatures, so in time, I allowed it to become a part of me…”

With his question of why still knocking back and forth in his head, Rhorkin snapped out of his daze and rested a pair of tranquil eyes on the still stunning mare. “Well, Ms. Bolt, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance for what I feel is the first time,” he cooed while taking one of her metallic talons in his own as he kissed it gingerly with his beak, “you are a mare of many secrets it would seem.”

With that simple but sweet gesture, Bronze allowed a slight tinge of crimson to fill her cheeks at she looked upon the king with a sincere smile, ‘More than you ever will know…’ she muttered to herself. Allowing certain thought to stay just with her.

Chapter 10

Calmly sitting there at his desk, Iron read over some of his own notes, while the students waited for the bell to dismiss them from his class so they could go to lunch. His lessons were done for the day, he tested them with several questions of his own to see if they really knew what they were talking about, and on top of that they all tried to do his little homework experiment that past weekend.

With mixed results ranging from ‘I believe I would be able to function without my gifts’ to ‘not a snowballs chance in hell,’ Iron felt satisfied that he had done his work right and they all took something away from that little test of his. Looking up from his own notes, Iron just glanced over his own class, watching as each of his own students did their own thing as if they were in their own little world.

Misty and Axton sat next to each other like they always had, the pony and the dragon chatting to themselves while the rest of the class carried on, and occasionally the drake would say something that brought out a giggle from the mare making her cheeks flush red.

‘Ahh… young love,’ the stallion remarked while he continued to gaze on, turning his eyes to another, Syllia.

The gryphon female sat there quietly at her own desk, surprisingly looking through a text book on industrial machines. Her species did have a natural advantage when it came to that sort of thing, after all their claws were just as nimble as a unicorns’ magic, without being too big like some dragons. The gryphon would make a fine engineer one day, she always had expressed her interest in the subject, and picked up on the trade very quickly.

‘At this rate she’ll probably replace me when it’s my time to retire,’ Iron started to laugh a bit in his head. Seeing how many of frequent students decided to take his other offered classes, having enjoyed Iron enough and wanted to expand their mind in the subject.

After eying the gryphon, Iron soon found his attention drawn to another, Ash. The young stallion came in to his own when he first got out on the field, now every day he can be seen out there for an hour or so after school, practicing his own talent. ‘He sure has the skill for it,’ Iron recalled the several games he’s gone to over the past few years, and easily remembering all the passion the young player put in to his craft.

It was then that the teacher thought for a moment, not about his own craft and what he can do, but what another said to him only days ago. ‘When this country goes to war, we need more arms and armor than we can make,’ Graces’ words repeated in the back of his mind as if she was there next to him, ‘not for those who are already serving, but those who will be serving.’ Looking once again, the colt saw not an individual student, but his class as a whole. Some of them laughing, most of them enjoying themselves in one way or another, and all of them happy to be alive.

‘Such a nice thing…’ he said to himself. Then the idea of seeing less and less faces every day came back to him. Random chairs would be missing as the days would go on, and he would get a letter from the principal telling him that they have been sent off to fight a battle he would not…

“Umm… sir?” he heard called out over his trance, as Iron saw that literally all eyes are on him while the class went silent.

“Yes, Onyx, what is it?” Iron asked his student.

“Is everything alright?” he asked with more concern in his voice now than Iron has seen all year from the usually stuck up colt, “I mean you were sitting there, blank faced, and then you just started tearing up.”

Iron clenched his teeth, quickly rubbing away anything left from his eyes, doing his best to keep up appearances with those that look up to him. “Sorry about that everyone,” he dismissed it, “just… a lot on my mind recently.”

“Like what Mr. Knight?” Syllia asked out of respect for the colt.

“Well for starters, would any of you believe me if I said I was visited by the princess a few days ago?” he asked not even expecting a serious answer from them.

“Not a chance sir!” one colt called out from the back while they all started to chuckle a bit at the teachers’ apparent joke.

‘Though it’s not a joke…’ Iron reminded himself while he allowed a smile to creep up on his face. Looking up to the clock he reasoned that they had a few minutes before the bell would ring for them, “Alrighty everyone… pack up your stuff and get out of here,” he watched them all stand around in confusion for a moment or two, “I have some things I need to take care of, and I’m pretty sure y’all are hungry.”

With that moment of generosity, his class room was once again vacant in seconds as they all scurried to get out. With the last tail leaving from his doorway, Iron turned to look at the machine shop he had at his disposal, in particular the space he had saved for his own projects, hidden from the students’ eyes.

After all, if the school offers you space to work out of, why not use it?

Twisting the knob with his magic, Iron gently pushed the door open before he laid eyes on his old companion. “Miss me sweetheart?” he asked the many sheets of metal that made up his old guard armor. Left to lie there on the stand while he worked on it over the years, improving what he could, and adding his own little adjustments.

It was always his little pet project that he would come back to. When he wasn’t trying to throw together chemicals or magic just to see what happens. Iron could always fall back on his suit to improve it; plus, this way he could work on it at school as well. Gems lay across the suit, each one having been charged with its own spell that he could activate in a moment’s notice without having to use his own horn. While underneath several areas have been given special treatment to increase the strength of the metal while making it lighter.

“I’m so close to…” Iron recalled the many times he’s spent here in his shop after school, putting metals together to fuse them and transfer the properties of one to the other with his spells. Though he has come with in a hair of making it perfect, Iron always found a way to make it better.

Whether it was the addition of the enchanted gems to help in attack, a few hidden blades built in to the foreleg bracers, mounts welded on to the outer plates for extra weapons should the need arise, additional level of protection enchantments made simply for defense… or even a hard case mounted to the side to hold his pack of smokes. The colt had put many hours in to this project of his, and if asked, he would do it all over again.

Running his hoof across the suit, he felt the cold touch of the metal against his hoof, recalling how long it’s been sense he worked on it. “And now it seems I may need you again my friend,” he pondered. Although Grace said he would be working in a factory, if the war erupts and becomes even worse, capable soldiers will be put on the front lines. With his previous record, and the minor annoyance to the princess he’s been, Iron will be one of the first ones picked.

“For now though…” he shook his head, dispelling any thoughts on that matter while he focused on the task at hoof, “I have a mare to speak too,” with that he closed the door to the room and calmly walked out of the classroom out in to the hall.

Passing by several other classes teaching still, the bell rung finally for lunch as the hallway quickly became packed with students scrambling to get some food. Thankfully though, they all for the most part knew who he was, and when they saw him coming their way, would make a path. Not that he had far to go in the first place, a few halls down and Iron found himself standing in front of the main office. Pushing the door in, the colt stepped in front of the receptionist.

The Pegasus had been here probably as long as the school itself had, and Iron swore that he’s seen her in one of the history text books. Though no matter the case, the sweet old mare has always been willing to lend a hoof to the colt.

“Why hello Iron, what can I help you with dearie?” she asked while looking over her spectacles.

“Morning Ms. Spring, I was wondering if Principal Abacus is busy?” within a few seconds the mare held up a hoof and picks up the phone in her wing.

“Ms. Abacus? Yes,” Spring talked while Iron only got one side of the conversation, “Mr. Knight is here, yes he’s wondering if you have a moment… thank you,” hanging up the phone, the mare straightened out her glasses, “She’s in her office and free at the moment.”

With a slight nod, Iron walked past her and in to the back. Passing by several other offices belonging to the vice principal, secretary, historian, and treasurer. He eventually came to the door he was looking for, as he knocked politely and waited for a response.

“Come on in…”

With that Iron opened the door and stepped in, before turning his eyes to the mare before him. It was always sort of funny for him to see the elfin Pegasus mare behind her rather large desk, considering she would barely see over its edge, if it hadn’t been for the phonebook she was sitting on. Though Iron would never tell her that out right, he had too much respect for a mare younger than him making it this far in her life already.

“Ahh good morning, Iron,” she said with a pep in her voice, letting her luscious emerald orbs flutter behind the lashes.

“Good morning, Abby,” Iron grinned back at her, thankful that the door was closed and the others couldn’t hear them.

Abacus gently rolled her eyes at him, having expected this sort of talk out of him, “Oh you know how much I hate that name…” she teased.

“Yeah but then again you have yet to ask me to stop,” he retorted while watching the sheepish mare attempt to hide behind her wings, giving her the moment she needed to get rid of the blush in her cheeks.

Settling herself down, she looked long in to his hazel eyes as the smile on her face never left, “Well I know you didn’t come here to flirt… so how can I help you?”

Instantly his demeanor changed from happy go lucky to serious, and Abacus could see it as clear at day, “Let’s just say I had a strange visitor this past weekend…” Iron started off, explaining how the princess came personally to his door in the morning.

Telling her what was said between them, the colt told the mare his somewhat mixed feelings on the matter that he was having, especially after coming back to work and seeing all that could be lost if he didn’t do his part. As much as he may hate to admit it, Iron must say that the princess is right. He may not make that big of a difference, though if even one soldier is saved in the coming fight because he perhaps did his job a little better than another, it would all be worth it.

Abacus leaned back in her chair as Iron stood there motionless, calmly she lowered her eyelashes midway while looking at him, taking in all that the colt has said and comes only to one conclusion, “You seem to be stuck in between a rock and a hard place…”

“You don’t say…” he faked gasp while clenching his chest with a hoof.

“Take it easy Iron…” she raises up a wing, “I figured what you were coming in here to talk about before you even knew what was going on.”

“How did you manage that?” Iron asked bewildered.

“Simple, Princess Grace came here Saturday morning… I was in my office going over a few papers from the week prior and we had a nice chat,” she responded, keeping it simple so he could follow along easily, after all he already had a lot on his mind, “your address isn't filed on any of her records, though where you work is. She came here, asked a few questions and filled me in on some of what she would be asking of you. Then she got your address and left… obviously to go see you.”

‘Well that explains how she found me…’ Iron answered to himself, having known that his address wasn’t listed.

“So now I have one question for you, and you don’t need a multiple choice test to guess what it is,” she waved a hoof around as she spoke, “Will you help?” Abacus asked while trying to pick through the pupils in his eyes. Attempting to peer in to the colts’ mind like so many others have before.

Iron pondered it a moment like he had from start. It was a tough question to ask, however, after coming to work and seeing what could be gone, it wasn’t a tough answer to find. “Let’s see… leave the job I love, to go help a government that I loathed to work for, under the kin of my former employers, to help defend the nation in an up and coming fight…” he paused for a moment to look for any other option that wouldn’t likely lead to him choking the life out of another. Though upon finding none, he shrugged his shoulders, “…Meh, sure why not… what do I have to lose?”

“Well not your job, that’s for sure…” Abacus got up from her desk and went around to her friend, and coworker. Meeting him only at his chest, it took the mares hooves and wings to reach around him completely as they embraced one another for a moment, “finish today with your students, I’ll put in for a long term substitute starting tomorrow… don’t worry, you’ll still have a job when you get back.”

“Thanks… Abby…” he smirked back at the mare, before they both squeezed a little more.

Nothing but gratitude poured out from the act the stallion was shown, while the feeling of anxiety continued to rise up in the mare. It wasn’t often you wish one of your friends off to a war. After a few more seconds, Iron let the mare go so they could both get to work. As he slipped out of the office and back in to the hall, Iron simply grinned a bit to himself.

“Well…” He said to no pony in particular while he walked down the hall, “I might as well pack my suit.”

Chapter 11

Reinhart walked amongst those down in the assembly portion of his nations’ own factory. Watching as the paws of the individuals under him work diligently to create the weapons of today for tomorrows war. He can’t help but pick up the occasional part to see just how it works, while wondering all the same why he didn’t think of it himself, after seeing them in action.

Picking up a barrel, the chief looked down the center, noting the spiraled groves that have been cut out on the inside. “A curious addition…” he noted while putting the part back down amongst the others.

“It helps to keep the round stable,” his partner answered while she climbed down from a rafter to meet him, “puts a spin on things.”

“You certainly pop in at the most random of times, though seriously we do have a front door,” he mentioned to the equine, while she waltzes her way up to the side of the canine. Quickly though the chief noticed the different look about her, “what no hood this time, BB?” he mentioned as he took in the odd feature atop her head.

“No point in hiding my face around here now,” ‘considering everything will come in to light eventually…’ she shrugged back at the chief, while the cloak still covered her lower body, “And by the way… it’s Bronze Bolt.”

“Been wondering your name here for some time now...” Reinhart said as he scratched the end of his own muzzle, “Rhorkin asked didn’t he?” he waited for Bronze to answer before they went about their business.

Both the pony and the dog walked side by side, one on hind legs, and one on all fours. Slowly but surely they made their way down the different production lines. Watching each of the individual parts come together as one. Barrels were mounted to wooden frames, wooden frames were reinforced, firing pins and triggers were added, and to top it off a housing cover is added to keep the parts inside clean. All the little individual pieces came together, to make something magical…

“A true wonder it is… isn’t it?” Bronze motioned while picking up one of the finished weapons from the rack, and tossed it to the chief as he gladly accepted the weapon in paw.

“So small, yet so powerful… from what I’ve seen,” the chief remarked, recalling when Bronze pulled a similar version on his own soldier.

“I call it a bolt-action rifle…” she remarked reaching in to a side pocket on her cloak. Tossing a small metallic cartridge to him, the chief looked it over, “the round is loaded in to the chamber, and when the trigger is pulled, a pin strikes it and sets off the powder on the inside, pushing the round out...” Bronze watched as the chief inspected the weapon again and again. Loading the round in to the chamber via the bolt, and bringing it back to eject the round.

“Powder you say?” the chief asked, “You mean like black powder? From fireworks?”

“The very same, more or less…” Bronze reasoned with him, “minus the stars to make the colors and such that go with the display. This is just for pure business, not pleasure,” she finished while watching him look over the simple metal cartridge, “So… do you like it?” she asked curiously.

Placing the gun back on the rack, the chief looked back at her with a simple smile that slowly stretched across his face, “it’s a pure wonder… both you and the weapons you have made.”

“And that’s just the beginning…” Bronze answered while they continued to walk amongst the growing mass of weapons. Reinhart and the mare eventually reach a balcony, overlooking the production plant. Allowing the chief to look at the arms and armor of which he’s never seen, being built up.

“So you have supplied my army with weapons and armor,” Reinhart summarized, “though the fight has yet to start, and I will be the first to tell you that my troops are getting antsy…” the chief said while he slowly dug his claws in to the railing.

“Easy there, Chief,” she settled him down a bit, “the fight will come, and when it does, the more time it takes the more you will be prepared.” With the turn of her head, and a quick flick of her tail, Bronze motioned him to follow her.

Heading down one of the many hallways built in to the DDRs’ own stronghold. Bronze and the chief come across one of the many barracks set up for his troops. Though this one has been set aside for their guest. Pushing the door open, both Reinhart and Bronze step inside while the chief took in the modest surroundings.

For being a mare of mystery to him still, the mares’ room so far looks exactly like he would have pictured it. Simple bedding was laid out over the mattress with only one pillow, the only thing next to the lamp on the night stand was what looked to be a personal journal, while on the desk there are only basic drawings of what Reinhart can only imagine were some of her original designs, while a wooden trunk took up the end of her bed.

The only thing that seemed out of the ordinary was the crate that sat in the middle of her room, “Aren’t a very materialistic mare are you?” Reinhart asked the obvious.

“Don’t have much to go home to, so why carry a lot?” Bronze said while she broke out one of her talons. Digging in to the side of the crate she quickly popped the top off in a few tugs, “besides I have another room over in the gryphons’ kingdom. My only real personal effects I kept there instead.”

“Well you do spend more time there I imagine,” Reinhart concluded, “all together they have more facilities.”

“I just like to use the space here to tinker a bit when I can…” the mare reached down inside the crate, standing on her hind legs she pulled out some sort of mechanical contraption before the chief.

From what Reinhart could see it looked like a version of the bolt action rifles that he saw out in the factory, though this one had no stock, just a handle and a crank to go with it… with a lot more barrels all formed in a circle. Hoofing it over to the chief, he picked up the elegant hunk of metal with relative ease thanks to his size, before he looked it over with every interest of a new born pup to his first toy.

“Quite the contraption you have here,” he said admiring it for its elegance and what time was probably put in to making it. Though one question remained, “What is it?”

“That one? That one I call a Crank gun… like the rifles I mentioned earlier, though with a large magazine on the side,” she said tapping the box, “it will fire, as fast as you can crank the handle…”

“This is what you call Tinkering?”

“Well… yea,” the mare sheepishly grinned, even admiring her own pastimes, “That’s also a gift.”

“To who, me?” the chief asked, watching as the mare nodded slowly to him.

“There will be more where that came from as well… plus smaller versions will be issued to your armies for other uses,” the mare said proudly.

Reinhart brought the weapon to his hip, spinning the barrel with the crank to a dizzying speed as he watched the barrels nearly blur in to one, “marvelous…” he admired the claw work she put in, “I thank you dearly for it, it will be wonderful to use when the time comes.”

“That you and I both can agree on…” Bronze answered while she pushed the window to her room open, deeply breathing in the gentle night time breeze as it wafted in to the room.

“What are you thinking there, Bronze?” he asked, seeing a glint in her eyes.

“It has been some time sense the gears of a mounting war started to turn, we have built up quite a force,” she turned her head ever so slightly to the chief, “I just wonder how far our opponents have come along with their own…” grasping on to the window edge, in one swift motion Bronze slithered through and leapt in to the open air, dropping past the view of the chief.

Running up to the window sill, Reinhart expected to see Bronze plummeting to the ground below. He knew this mare was an odd one, but to be suicidal he never expected. Though the image of the pony splattered across the ground is one he never sees. Only in the dim light, does he see something he didn’t believe he would.

Bronze soared through the air, far above the ground he was expecting her to hit. Beneath her cloak, another marvel of the mare sprouted fourth. Canvas wings stretch out from their brass hinges and frame, cutting through the winds that bore against the mares’ face.

Coming closer to the ground, with a single flex of her shoulder blades, the will and drive of her earth pony magic brought to life the stored energy and enchantments of those crystals set in the hinges of her wings as it drove the joints. With one mighty beat of her wings, Bronze picked up back in the air while she ascended though the night sky.

“This… This is what it must be like to be a Pegasus,” Bronze whispered to herself as she flew alone. Lowing her head, she watched as the ground below passed by her swiftly, thanks to her latest addition. “I never really got the chance to properly test these… but I must say, they work like a charm.”

Her eyes glanced over her shoulder, watching as the crystals powering her wings glowed brightly as the magic in them snaked their way in to the inanimate metal, bringing it to life. With an easy grin on her face, the mare looked back up to the celestial bodies above while she pointed herself in the right direction.

Meanwhile, Reinhart stood there still in awe at what he just saw from the mare. Taking in the last moment, he shook his head to get his mind back in order, “Well… she’s just full of surprises.” He said out loud, before closing the window behind him as he picked up his new toy and walked out of the room. Making sure to lock the door as he made his exit, and went about his own business.

Chapter 12

The train screeched to a halt along the tracks, causing several sparks against the ground to fly as the metal ran against metal. While many of the ponies and other creatures that got off the train were already bundled up for the weather that’s expected. One colt alone walked off with only a bag on his back, already being used to the weather.

Iron looked up at the clear sky above before turning his attention to the modest mix of homes, businesses, and apartments reaching up to the clouds that make up the outskirts of the capital of Boralus. Though even with the buildings here that would dwarf those back in his own town, they paled in comparison to the spires of the royal castle off in the distance as they glimmer in the suns’ rays. Iron already knew it’s history for the most part, besides the little part about the forges beneath it that slipped his mind earlier.

It was built by Grace’s great ancestors when the area was first inhabited and maintained in the family ever sense, passing down from ruler to ruler as they would come and go. A sturdy built old style castle, brick laid upon brick with mortar between to hold it all together. Granted though each generation had its own change to the manor. Where it started to crumble, more modern building techniques were thrown in with magic to help the process along, while other areas were simply preserved to keep the place alive.

Regardless of what has been done to the place over the years, it has always shined above the other buildings around for miles, almost enough the make even the Equestrians’ jealous. “And it’s just a major sore in my eye every time I’m blinded by it,” Iron winced while he tries to adjust his vision.

It was at before dawn when he left his home, the morning after the principal gave him the go ahead. With nothing more than a few hygiene item, a note book or two, his personal armor, and a blanket from home. Iron walked out the door, and didn’t look back.

Shifting the bag on his back, the colt looked around to see if the guards as promised by Grace would be there. Never seeing the tell-tale glint of armor in the corner of his eye, Iron continued to look around in all the wrong directions, until a hoof tapped on his shoulder.

“Excuse me… Mr. Knight is it?”

Turning around, Irons’ eyes meet that of a guard he remembered instantly, “Ahh… Argo? Is it?” he asked.

“Ughhh…” the guard wiped his hoof across his muzzle, “her majesty said that I would be picking up another volunteer. She just told me to look for a pony looking around for help, and it would be one I should remember… Princess Grace never said it would be… you.”

“…Shit…” Iron clenched his teeth trying not to crack a joke here, “Sorry to disappoint you.”

“However,” the guard grinned while looking away as if there was perhaps another that needed his guidance as well, “now that you are in her majesties nation, you will follow those rules that you know so much about… whether you’d like to or not,” Argo allowed the smug grin to widen on his mouth. While he closed his eyes and waited for the sigh of defeat to come from the colt.

“Yeah… not gonna happen.”

Snapping his eyes open, Argo watched as the colt started to walk off to the castle in the distance, as he quickly caught up with Iron and matched the colt for speed as they walked almost in step with one another, “I have to be the one to escort you,” the guard narrowed his eyes at him, “Mr. Knight.”

“Two things… One, stop calling me Mister Knight. It makes me feel far older than I care to be,” he snapped back at the colt while keeping the expression on his face as blank as an unused canvas, “and two, I used to serve under the king and queen. I think I know how to get to the castle.”

“But…But… Iron Knight!” the guard tried to plead with him. Though no matter what he said to the ex-guard, Iron was going to do what he wanted to do.

“I know you are trying to do your job and all,” Iron reasoned with him, “but I think I’m all grown up enough to follow a street and go to the really big shiny building out in the distance…”

“It’s not just that…” Argo, pulled out his own set of orders that he had tucked away in the breast plate, “The princess gave me specific instructions, that I was supposed to bring the ‘New volunteer’ to her for assigning…”
I
ron reached out with his magic and snatched the paper out of the pony’s’ grasp, as he read it to himself. ‘Sargent Argo, I write you this as a simple order to bring the new volunteer to the castle so he may see me. You’ll know him when you see him, trust me. I would like to assign him personally. Good luck, Princess Saving Grace…’ Iron went over the message a few more times in his head before hoofing back over to the guard, “She wants to rub the fact that I actually showed up in my face…”

“Our princess is not as cruel as you may think,” Argo shot back while he put the paper back in the plate, narrowing his glare at the colt, “she just has a quick reaction to bullshit such as your own.”

“Oh you just grew a chest hair did you?”

Several quarts of blood shot in to the colts’ eyes while he looked back to Iron grinning back at him, though before he could out right say anything to the colt. The guard simply found a single wing resting easily on his shoulder. Looking up, Argo saw his superior standing there calmly while he smiled back at him and to Iron.

“It’s alright Argo, I’ll take him from here…”

“Staff Sargent Freefall, I didn’t see you there,” Argo stood at attention while addressing his higher up, all the while Iron just stood there silently watching his friend.

“Meh don’t worry about it…” Free brushes off, “when I heard that this poor bastard would be coming in, I wanted to make the trip to get him personally.”

“Whelp I’m glad there’s at least some brain cells that still are functioning in the capital… if you haven’t killed them off already,” Iron shook hooves with the other colt, before that soon developed in to a light embrace, leaving Argo to stand there in mild shock, “You made Staff Sargent? Didn’t tell me that in your last letter.”

“Well it was kinda hastily put on,” he looked down at the new rank insignia on his armor, “besides I figured you would find out when you got here…” he motioned for Argo to carry on, “However, we can catch up while we get you to Grace…” Free said while both he and his old friend continued walking towards the castle.

Grace resided in her castles’ armory, visually inspecting a few of the newest pieces that were added for any signs of damage or possible points of failure in the future. The mare may not be the keenest on the proper techniques of armor and weapon production. Then again it doesn’t take a trained eye to tell you if a swords’ handle is cracked, a suits’ leather straps are dry rotted, or even if a helmet has been made too small.

Just a simple ‘by the eye’ inspection that will give the princess a little piece of mind and help her sleep at night knowing that her troops will at least be armed well with the finest equipment that can be made for their time.

“If I might say so myself…”

“And you know you always may,” Grace answered her old friend as Silvertongue stepped up behind her while she looked over a sword.

“The weapons that have been made are probably the best this nation has seen in a long time,” he replied while carefully removing the blade from her grasp so as not to cut her with its’ razor edge, “Though all that said, you should trust your artisans to do their job.”

“Oh I do trust them, all of them…”

Just then the doors opened wide near them, and in walked a colt that the princess was both dreading and overjoyed to see. Iron walked calmly up to the two while Free stood a few steps back should he be needed from the royalty. The colt simply stood there in awe for a moment, having not seen the armory stocked so well sense he served the country he called home.

‘Well… kind of home,’ he murmured to himself as he brought his eyes away from all the shiny play things of war to the mare who basically summoned him here. “Alrighty then, I’m here…” he presented himself before her in his best impersonation of a Germane aristocrat, even clapping his hooves together and giving himself a stash with a hoof, “Do with what you will of me.”

“Well… almost all of them,” Grace finished her sentence to Silver as the dragon bit his tongue, leaving the colt for a moment bewildered about what they were talking about. Though before he can question it any more the princess turned her eye to him, “Mister Knight, I knew you would show up…” she narrowed her eyes to him while snickering under her breath.

“See I knew you wanted to see me personally just so you could rub it in my face,” he glowered back at her.

“Well considering some of the things you said back at your home…” she recalled the uncouth colt while tapped the edge of her chin with a feather, “I think I deserved a little gratification.”

“Wait…” Freefall jumped in between them, twisting his head to look at the two ponies he considered friends, “What did you say to her at your house?” he asked Iron.

“Nothing that bad…”

“You slammed the door in my face when I first got there, told Sargent Argo to buck off, and… oh how did you put it,” she pondered for a moment as she remembered his exact words, “told me I could ‘bet my sweet ass’ that you were a straight forward colt,” Grace deadpanned to him as Free simply dragged a hoof across his face.

“Don’t forget about the part where you basically twisted my wrist when it came to my loyalty to my students…” he growled back at her.

“…Your majesty, what is he talking about?” Silver asked his friend across her shoulder.

“Oh nothing Silver,” she brushed it off, “I merely gave him some incentive to help the cause, that’s all…” her calm, cobalt eyes gently glared back at the colt who looked like he could combust at any moment, “and it worked, didn’t it?”

“Well I thought my presence should have made that obvious enough,” Iron replied, “Seriously though, if you want I could walk back in to drive the point home.”

“No, no that won’t be necessary,” the princess waved the comment off like a Nat. Calming herself down a bit, the princess brought back some of her regalia if only for a moment, and extended a hoof to the colt, “However, all snide comments aside… I do thank you for coming here to help the cause.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever,” he grasped it, surprised for a second on how strong it really was, “I’m here for my students’ benefit should it come to it, remember that Grace.” He sneered.

“I’ll do my best to…” they both grinned to one another, silently cursing one another while the other two in the room simply looked on at the exchange.

“Did they act like this when they you were at his house?” Freefall whispered over to Silvertongue, as the two in front of them continued to go back and forth.

“Eh I only got the first ass comment really,” he said shrugging his shoulder, “she excused us for a personal chat after that.”

Grace took her hoof back as Iron did the same. Looking over the colt once more, already predicting that she would have reports on him causing trouble with in the week, “Well now that that’s settled,” she turned her attention to her and Irons’ mutual friend, “Free, please escort Mister Knight to the workers’ barracks area and help him get settled in. I believe he will do quite nicely working in the Armor Production Line.”

“Best news I heard all day,” Iron said crossing his forelegs.

“Yes Grace, right away,” Free tried to lead Iron away before any more words were said between the two. Though the princess saw to it that wouldn’t be the case.

“I look forward to working with you, Mister Knight,” she pattered at the colt as he was led out, “It will be nice to go back and forth with one such as yourself.”

“Don’t get used to it, Princess!” Iron cursed over his shoulder, closing the door behind him to make sure he got the last word in.

Freefall simply sighed at his friend as he led him down the myriad of passageways to the bunking area of the workers’. A lower section of the castle that was used in times of siege from days long gone, now turned in to barracks for those that would help the nations’ efforts for the time being.

“Each worker gets their own room,” Free said as he and Iron grabbed him some fresh linin for the rack, “you used to work here so I shouldn’t have to tell you how to get to the galley, coltsroom, or outside for that matter.” He said while the two colts made the bed, tucking in the sheets so that they laid crisp across the surface.

“No I should be good, Free,” Iron said as he dropped his bag from his back on to the ground with a simple thud, not even bothering to unpack much for now.

“Sounds like you have something to keep you busy in there during your down time,” Freefall glanced at the bag after hearing the sound it made.

“Why of course, might as well keep by mind busy.”

“Well the good news is,” he paused for a moment to put the pillow case on, “the production area is relatively deserted after working hours, and the area where you will be working is quite spacious. So there’s no reason I see that you couldn’t try to put a few things together while down there as well.”

“Okay, correction,” Iron held up a hoof, “that is the best news I heard all day.”

“I figured you would enjoy that,” Free answered back before putting the bag in the corner so it was out of the way and the colt wouldn’t trip over it in the morning, “The factory runs on two shifts, you’ll be working tomorrow… same schedule you had while you went cranking down in the galley of the castle, do you recall?”

“Last time I checked, It’s what Tuesday?” Iron figured, “that means I work tomorrow and Thursday, then the weekend off.”

“How right you are,” Free shot back at him while he watched Iron rummage through his bag for one thing, producing a blanket, as he laid it out on the bed, “On the bright side, you may come in at zero six forty-five, but you work till sixteen hundred. Plus, I’m on the same schedule.”

Irons’ eyes lit up at that prospect as he turned back to his friend with a teenage sort of grin about his face, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Normally when you say that it led to something very bad, or some very poor decision making,” Free lowed his head as he shook it, trying his best to hide the smirk on his face, “though if I have to guess you want to drink till we’re seeing smells?”

“Bingo!” the colt hopped up on his bed enthusiastically, before flopping down on his back and rolling about in his blanket from home.

“You’re going to bed already?”

Looking at the clock next to his bed, Iron read that it was only seven at night, ‘where did the hours go?’ he wondered for a second, “no not yet… I’ll sit here for a minute before I get back up and look around at what’s changed.”

“Alrighty then,” Free walked to the door on his way out, “I’ll be heading out then, I’ll catch ya tomorrow night.”

“Night, Free.”

“Goodnight, Iron, I’ll come get you when I’m off,” his friend said as he closed the door for but a moment before popping his head back in, “Don’t set anything on fire, kill somepony, or destroy anything while you’re here… please.” With those last words the colt there by himself for the night.

Laying back against the pillow, Iron could only think of how much he wanted to be rid of this place while he served, and yet somehow he seemed to sink himself right back in to its grasp. “Sly devil…” he cursed the castle as he looked around at the stone walls that both laid the foundation of the building above and for the foreseeable future… would be his prison.

Chapter 13

Iron brought up the final plate of metal to the suit in front of him as he stood there with his work apron on. Held up by a mannequin, the colt uses the support to place the individual plates of metal together, holding it ever so slightly in his aura. The colt took out a hammer in his teeth, holding it next to the piece as he twisted his head around and slammed it in to the sheet bending it slightly to the curve on the mannequin. With each swing that he took, Iron puts the curve in the plate needed in order to get it to bend around the edging while maintaining its strength.

Along with the rattle in his neck that he personally has missed. ‘It really has been a while sense I worked on my own,’ Iron thought as he brought the hammer back once more, before hitting the sheet on the mark made by his trained eye, ‘though now I have the time…’ he glanced off to the side of his work station.

It was a fairly simple set up he had going on. A cabinet of tools on the wall all at the princess’s expense, a pony mannequin in the center to build off of, workbench and anvil off to the side that would make the one back home jealous, with a furnace set in one corner so he could keep the metal pliable and strong as he worked it. All with a bin at the entrance that a worker would come by towards the end of the work day and bring the finished suits to storage, so they could be used when need. Though off in the corner just next to the work bench, laid the bag with his own armor. Every so often Iron caught himself glancing at it, wanting, almost yearning, for him to work on it again.

“No, not right now…” he focused on the suit before him instead of his own.

Looking over the final plate, and satisfied with the curvature, the colt slipped a grease pen out from the back of his ear as he put the dots along the leather straps underneath which would hold it together. Bringing the plate over to the work bench, he picked out the proper sized punch for the rivets to use, and hovered the punch over the sheet with his magic as he lined them up with the marks.

For this a hammer simply wouldn’t be strong enough to go through the thick sheet. That’s where his gift came in to play. Driving the punch through the sheet with relative ease from the force of his magic, Iron held it up to the light checking to see they were cleanly made.

“That’s all fine and good,” he looks through each one, checking to see if there are any burrs that would cut in to the leather.

Placing the sheet back down, Iron went back over to the suit. Reaching in to the aprons’ pockets, he pulled out a few rivets and forced them through the leather with his gift, before he levitated the sheet over and slid it overtop the rivets. With hammer back in mouth and the speed and repetition of a machine, Iron flattened out the rivets’ heads, securing it permanently to the rest of the suit.

Dropping the hammer in to his pocket, the colt did a once over of the suit, ensuring that all the individual pieces stayed together as he worked it and everything was just as tight as when he first put it together. With a satisfied nod of approval to himself, Iron lifted the suit up and off the support, and carefully laid out the suit in the bin atop the others just as a worker was coming in to get them. The zebra popped their head in to see if he was finished or not before making their way to the bin, and when they did he almost talked normal… almost.

“Oh my, these will certainly keep the enemy at bay,” the worker looked over the almost over flowing bin in awe, “just how many did you finish, today?”

Iron thought back to the last nine hours or so that he spent in this room alone, not even taking a lunch break as he worked through that and he remained in his element, “I’d have to say about… fourteen or so.”

“Fourteen suits in a nine-hour time frame, it’s probably the highest I’ve seen, and on that I’d bet my mane,” he said to Iron, who only gave an appreciative nod, “I know the thought put in to these suits isn’t a ton, but it usually takes a skilled artisan an hour, to only make one.”

“And I can do that about twenty percent faster,” Iron said took the hammer from his pocket and twirled it in his hoof, not even bothering to check his math.

Shrugging his shoulders, the worker set about and removed the bin from the colts’ work place. As the whistle blew across the factory, and signaled to every creature the work day was done. Iron popped his head out in to the hall, looking around to see if Free was here or not. Though as he tried to find his friend, Iron instead found the multitude of different citizens all doing the same thing he is.

Dwarf drakes cracked their knuckles and cleared their throats after annealing the soft metal to make it hard once more, a few gryphons walked amongst the crowd while wiping sweat from their brow that built up beneath their feathers, as he even saw the zebra that came and got his suits mouthing some sort of chant to them as if for protection.

“All of these creatures, here for one purpose…” Iron even had to admit, when the princess needed it, called on her nation to get her back, “she certainly got it.”

“Are you talking to yourself again?” he heard a familiar face call him out from over the sounds of those leaving for the day.

“Yes, yes I am,” Iron admitted as Freefall walked up next to him.

“I’d expect nothing less of you,” his friend said, before following Iron in to the work space, “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah just give me a moment…” Iron trailed off as he picked up a broom in his magic, and gave the area a quick sweep.

Scooping all the trash up, the colt dumped it in the can under the work bench. Grabbing his satchel from the hook inside, Iron caught up to his friend, “okay, now I’m ready.” Nodding to him, Free lead the way as they left the production floor.

As it would seem, the area around the castle hasn’t changed much in terms of appearance to the unicorn colt. Most of the same shops were still in business from when he first came here and when he left, as well as a large majority of the hangout spots that were frequented by the castle guards and other troops. The two colts made their way through the streets, and even though it had been a few years sense he got out, Iron already knew exactly where they were going.

“Elixirs and Edibles is still open I take it,” Iron asked Free as they walked.

“Well your memory’s still sharp as ever…” his friend commented, “yep it’s still in business, hasn’t gotten any bigger, but still good enough for a couple of colts who just want a drink.”

“Amen to that…” Iron said as they walked up to the large oak doors of the quaint tavern in the back street of Boralus.

Opening it up for Free, the colt followed close behind him as they walked in and Iron saw everything almost exactly where it was when he left. ‘Let’s see here…’ Iron said mentally to himself, as he listed off the things that remained from his last visit.

The wall behind the bar counter were still lined with dozens upon dozens of liquor bottles, some of which he never even heard of until he got here. The lights inside were at a dim level, just like before he left, mostly to keep the light from hurting the eyes of a hangover victim Free concluded. While over against the wall was the small raised up stage that Iron swore still has the same elderly gryphon sitting there on a stool, strumming a guitar as he used his talons as a pick.

‘Hmm…’ he mused, ‘all that’s missing is-’

“We’ll hi-ya there!” he heard the sound of the backwoods earth mare calling to them from across the bar, “good evenin’ there Free, how ya been?”

“Well we’re doing just fine, Able,” Free said to her politely as he and Iron sat down at the bar with only a few other patrons in sight. Motioning over to the colt next to him, he tapped Iron on the side, “You remember Iron Knight? Used to be a guard?”

Putting a hoof to her chin, the mocha coated mares’ face began to smile the more she recalled of the two across from her. “Oh yea, I remember ya,” the beamed to the unicorn, “you had qui-i-ite the blow out before you moved…” shaking her head to get her mind straight, and not go on a long story about the distant memory. The mare whipped out a couple of empty mugs from underneath the counter, “before I go get ahead of myself, what can I get y’all to drink.”

“I’ll have a glass of Angry balls,” Iron said, “and can you make that a triple shot?” he asked the mare, waiting for her to nod.

“Sure can,” she grinned.

“Able, do you still have any of the that rum,” Freefall waited a moment to give him time to think of the name, “The Siren, I believe it was called?”

“Oh yes we do,” she pulled it off the shelf and filled his glass half way on the spot, before topping it off with some root beer. Free simply picked up the glass in hoof and nodded to her in appreciation for knowing his preference, “I’ll go and make ya that glass now.”

Once she was out of earshot on the other end of the bar, Iron turned back to Free, “that really is the same mare who served us last time I was here?”

“Yes she is, though now she not only serves, she owns the joint too.”

“We’ll I’ll be…” Iron said as he peered over the counter, taking in the full view of the mares’ curved posterior, as she arched it while making his drink, “…She look that good back then? I can’t remember.”

“Oh you don’t remember a lot from that night…” Able called back over to him as she walked back with the glass, before passing the colt a wink.

“I don’t know what that is supposed to mean…” Iron rubbed the end of his hoof to his chest, “though I can neither confirm nor deny knowledge of any of my actions that night.”

Softly the mare giggled at him, “my lips are sealed if yours are Hun.”

With that final word in, Able left the two colts to tend to her manager duties. Meanwhile, the two colts sat there steadily gulping their drinks as they went back and forth with one another on what’s new. Not that there’s much to say, though the time apart does deserve some catching up.

“Well it sounds like your students love ya,” Free replied as Iron finished telling a class room story and he finished his glass, while Able was right there ready to refill it.

“Oh I certainly hope so by now,” Iron said to himself more than any other present, while he calmly scratched the back of his neck, “considering I wouldn’t be here at the capital if it wasn’t for them.”

Recalling her majesties previous words, Free had been meaning to bring that up, “By the way, what did she say to get you to come here?”

“Well…” Iron started off bitterly, though quickly started playing a different tone as he relaxed from the alcohol entering his system, “it went along the lines of… if a draft is put in place, any able bodied citizens will be asked to serve, which would include most of my class.”

“…Harsh…” Free simply said.

“Understatement… anyways I got the image of seeing fewer and fewer desks filled every day as they went off to whatever fight it would be, while I was still safe in my class room,” he spat out at himself, finishing the half the glass in one last gulp, “that didn’t sit well with me… at least here I will know I can help my students by possibly giving them a suit I know will keep them safe.” He thanked Able for topping him off, as Free thought about this and what he told Princess Grace about his friend.

“Well I did tell her that you were a loyal sort…”

“Yep… I know, she told me that when we first met,” Iron rolled his eyes as he settled his vision on his glass once more, and took a sip.

“Well that’s one mare that has been a mild nuisance for you in your life,” Free tried to think of any others that might count, “How’s Amber been? She keeping you sane?”

“If by sane you mean delightfully inebriated, then yes,” Iron said proudly, “What about you? Any special mare in your life yet that I should know about?”

Freefall sat there for a moment to think of those around the castle and out in the city that have caught his eye. Though unless he’s around one that he knows already, Free himself is of the shy sort. “We’ll there was one mare in the hospital that I started talking to, just as friends though,” he fed his friend the story, “interesting girl, very sweet, smart too… though there was a down side.”

“Let me guess,” Iron sat back as best he could in the stool, “Filly-fooler?”

“Eeyup…”

Raising his glass to his friends, Iron toasted with Free while the guard remained oblivious to what they were even celebrating, but only for a moment, “Here’s to a couple of good colts, who have met nothing but the curb when it comes to finding a mare…”

“Well I’m a good colt… Not so sure about you,” Free scratched his jaw for a second, slowly turning his head to see the glare on Irons’ face, “I kid I kid!” he jested, before they both pounded back and finished yet another glass of their respective drinks.

As the night carried on in the capital of Boralus, the street lights slowly came on one by one, while the sun started to set to make way for its lunar counterpart. All the while, many of the citizens turned in for the night and left the streets for the comfort of their own homes with the ones they loved, as they settled down for the evening and relaxed to unwind a bit. However, for those who don’t have loved ones to see at a calm night like this, most of them of age settle for the comfort of a bottle.

Iron and Free finish their final glass for the night, already seeing stars dancing around them. While the latter plopped his head down on the counter of the bar, to take the edge off so he can clear his mind enough to get back to his rack and pass out before work tomorrow.

“Oh I missed this…” Free said while he slowly raised his head up, “Seriously, do you have any idea how long it’s been sense I drank this much?”

“Ahh… I’d guess sense last week?”

Free thought there for a second, looking through his memory in his drunken haze, “Sounds about right…”

Able walked calmly over to the pair as she placed the two bills in front of them, “Ah I’m closin’ up shop ‘ere fellas,” she yawned after the long day of being up on her hooves, “it’s ‘bout time I got sum shut ‘ye.”

“If ya insist…” Iron said reaching in to satchel as he pulled out a hoof full of bits and dropped them on the counter, as Free reached under his wing to the small bag he had to do the same.

“Thank ya kindly gentlecolt’s,” Able winked at them as she scooped up the bits and dropped them in the register. Looking up at the clock the mare clenched her tongue, as she realized how late it really was, “well y’all have stuck around here the longest it seems…” she gestured to them as Able looked around at the empty tavern.

Free looked back up at the clock, “Shit… Dude, it’s midnight,” Iron glanced back at him, “We’ve been here for almost eight hours straight, of just nonstop drinking…”

“And we both have to be at work in about six hours or so,” Iron said happily, as he hopped off the stool and on all fours with the elegance of a sober preacher, as Free followed his lead, “Whelp, this is going to be fun.”

“Not the first time we’ve worked while still drunk,” Freefall commented while he and his friend walked towards to the door, “Have a good night Able,” he called back to the mare as she waved them on, and they stepped outside.

Walking in to Boralus in the middle of the night and making it to bed while under the influence wasn’t something that was new to either of them. After all they both were stationed here together for a good while, and each of the colts had their fair share of experiences when it came to the drink.

“So same time tomorrow?” Iron asked the colt next to him with all the enthusiasm of a foal in the toy store.

“Ahh…” he rubbed his temple with a wing, “sure… why not.”

Nodding to his friend the two walked along the outside of the wall of the stronghold, between the homes that dotted the area, as they chatted amongst themselves about whatever came to mind. “So you’ve managed to transfer the density and strength from one metal, to another…” Free calculates, “but you still are having issues with the weight.”

“It would seem so,” Iron muttered as they both stumbled their way along the path, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s strong as hell… though it weighs a little more than the original suit that we were given.”

“Doesn’t help that you threw in your own additions to it,” Free said as he looked over the suit in the past, and saw all that the unicorn did to make it a little more personalized.

“Hey… whatever can help in a fight, right?” Iron shrugged his shoulders, “I’d rather have them and not need them, than need them and not-”

The dull thud of chunk of a stone hitting the ground in front of them caused both the colts to stop in their tracks as they looked up from where it fell, “Old castle aint it?” Iron said out loud as he looked around, “It’s just falling apart, brick by brick…”

“Yeah… although,” Free pointed up past his friend, “I don’t think that one was just waiting to fall.”

Looking to where his friends’ hoof leaded, Iron made out the outline of some figure shimmying their way over top of the wall as they grappled on to the side and pushed against some of the bricks. Slowly but surely clambering its way down along the wall to the ground below it, and in front of them.

Feeling the hard ground beneath its legs, the figure shook a bit as a draft kicked up its cloak and it felt the cool breeze across its body. Bundling up more, it tightened the hood around its head, and finally managed to look up.

“Whelp… you know there are easier ways to get in, right?” Iron asked the figure sarcastically.

“I think it’s safe to say that they wouldn’t be allowed to walk through the front door,” Free said as he and Iron stepped forward to the figure while it backed up, “after all, no pony just sneaks around a castle without-”

A solid kick with both hind hooves to the face, silence the guard as he doubles back on to the ground and laid there for a few moments looking up to the stars above. Iron and the figure looked at one another, and in a split second a decision is made by both of them. The figure took off down the streets, and the colt galloped off hot on their trail.

“You’re making me run for this!” The colt called out to the cloaked figure as he tries to gain on them, “I. hate. Cardio!”

Sneaking around the castle, Iron may have let them slide with, considering he could really just didn’t care for the crown… though now with him fighting to take every breath, and gasping from the air running past his scorched throat. The figure was on his shit list for sure. Kicking rocks, Iron charged forth, and got within a heads length of the assailants’ tail. Though before he can close the final gap between them, the horn atop it’s head lights up, and in an instant. The solid mason road beneath his hooves was glassed over with a sheet of ice.

Fighting to gain traction on the slippery smooth surface, Iron fumbled as he fell flat on his face, sliding across the ground in to a nearby trashcan set out for pick up the next morning.

‘Okay…’ he mumbled to himself while a banana peel laid across his face, ‘So we’re dealing with a unicorn.’ He concluded.

As the colt gazed up from his position, he could only see the figure, standing proudly atop a barrel as it avoided its own defense. The glint of a snicker peaked out from under the hood, while Iron slowly raised up from his position, “Who the hell are you smiling’ at?” Iron shot his own grin back.

Slamming his hoof down to the ice, Iron ignited his horn with all the fury coursing through his body… or it was just the alcohol giving his magic additional strength, as he latched on to the figure with a simple telekinesis spell.

“You’re not the only one who can use magic there sweetheart…” Iron whipped his head back, bringing them up to his side as he took aim and bowled the attacker down the alley to an opening. Skidding across the ice until they finally reached solid ground, and after several skips, came to rest at the base of a large tree after a loud thud.

“Well you didn’t get a strike, the tree’s still standing,” Iron looked back across from him to see Free hovering just above the ice, with a slow but steady stream of blood trickling from his nose.

“Nice to see you too…” Iron replied while he scurried across the ice and in a controlled shuffle, as both he and Free made their way to the still lip form.

“Says the colt that left me there after getting kicked in the face…”

“I took off after your attacker!” Iron pleaded with him, as both of them didn’t even notice their assailant getting back up, “besides… yes I left you, but did you die?”

“No…” Free paused for a moment to check his nose, gathering up some blood on his hoof, “though I think the alcohol in my system has thinned my blood enough…”

“Don’t worry you won’t bleed out,” Iron shrugged, “Trust me, I have First Aid merit badge.”

“Oh will you two just shut up…” they finally noticed that the figure there was standing on all fours, sizing them up from their own vantage point several paces from its assailants in the middle of a market setting that laid vacant, “I simply wanted to get in and out, with no creature seeing me…”

“How’d that work out for you darlin’?” Iron asked to the distinctively sounding female voice.

“Well… not as well as expected,” the figure answered back to him as fast as they charged up their horn again.

A surge of magic pent up in the tip burst forth, and sent a bolt of cobalt lightning across the air. Hitting the ground before him, Iron shielded himself with a hoof as the heat caused the moisture in the ground to flash to steam and expand in a violent outburst of power. Wiping the debris off, the colt caught only the freeze frame image of the attacker closing in on him, though just as they appeared they were gone.

“I got your back!” Free called out to his friend as he wrestled with the figure on the ground after tackling them, sending both of them in to a vegetable cart while old goods went every which way in the scuffle. With nothing more than the pure desire to be rid of these two already, the intruder cocked back a fore hoof and collided it with the Pegasus’s rib.

Feeling the weight of a cast iron barbell hit the side of him, Frees’ lungs gave out just as fast as he tackled the figure, and once again it was free. But now it had to deal with the colts’ friend. Feeling the static in the air grow, the attacker braced themselves as a green lightning bolt struck the attackers hoof, grounding it in place for a second while she turned to see the colt of the same hue grinning back at her.

Realizing that she likely had two service members upon her, given their combat techniques. The figure took a different position on the matter, ‘Killing them would be easy… but it would be far more noticeable.’ She pondered while the same spell was brought up, just as the Iron did the same.

Blue met green in a stunning display of both sound and color as they melded in to one for a split second, while both magic wielders looked on and almost admired each other for their prowess. Then finally the pocket of air that was created collapsed, causing the shockwave that erupted to knock both back as their hooves skidded across the brick. Eyeing one another with simply respect, and distaste in their glare. Iron and the figure paced around in a wide circle, waiting for the other to make the next move, until Iron got to his friend as he finally managed to get enough air in his system to breath.

“You alright?”

“Yea…” Free wheezed past what felt like a bruised rib, “she’s got a mean hoof on her…”

“So I’ve noticed,” Iron winked at his counterpart, silently passing a message to him.

Just as the next bolt struck, the unicorn brought up a shield around both him and Free. Protecting them from the concentrated pulse of energy, whoever their attacker was, they were holding their magic steady without falter.

‘This… Mare,’ Irons’ eyes narrowed down on to the distinct pony tail just peaking past the cloaks’ end, ‘Hell she’s almost beating me at this,’ Through the emerald aura he brought up to protect them both, the colt could see the pony bearing teeth at him as she grinded them together.

While the mare focused on her male counterpart, Free made his move. Leaping up and over the barrier that Iron created, he dashed head long to their attacker and the castles’ intruder. Looking past the glare he got from the spells counteracting one another, the Pegasus swore that he could see the mare grinning as she focused on everything but him…
It would seem.

As his hooves stretched out to envelop the mare and put her on the ground once more, where the guard hoped that her expenditure of magic would weaken her. The colt instead found himself being grasped by a claw that dug in to his neck, slowly crunching his windpipe. Looking down at her, Free saw just the limb grasping him in a cold ensnarement, as a few gems along it glistened in the moon light. With a psychotic smirk, the mares’ eyes rolled to the guard.

“You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” with that, Free was tossed like a rag roll, just as she canceled her own spell.
Iron broke contact with his magic, allowing the aura to fall in front of him, just in time to see the apologetic look of his friend getting closer and closer to him. With a single smack, the two colts tumbled through the air like a pair of siblings in a scuffle. Eventually finding a resting spot in the back of a hay cart, with neither ending up in a better position than the other.

“Iron…”

“Yea Free?”

“Please tell me that isn’t your muzzle…”

Both colts pushed out the tinge of pain that managed to get passed their liquid courage as they opened their eyes, only to find that Free laid atop his friend with both of them face to face and muzzle to muzzle. Slowly but surely a grin started to stretch on the unicorns’ face, as he lowered his eyes to his counterpart.

“Don’t… say… a word,” Free pleaded with him.

“Oh come on, it’s not the worst thing you could have landed on,” the unicorn joked in only the way best friends could, as the words fell off his tongue with as much lust as a mare in heat, “I mean it’s a perfect setting… the night sky is over us, we’ve both just happened to land on top of one another, and this hay is very comfortable…”

“Damn it man…”

“You say No, but your eyes say Yes…”

“Get your drunk ass up!” Free shouted, breaking Iron from his little torment, “We still have a mad mare here that’s attacking us!”

Instantly Iron shot up to his feet, almost knocking Free off of his own as the pair of them hopped out of the cart and stared down the assailant. The mare calmly paced backwards while both colts stood their ground, ready and waiting for her to make a move, “Normally I don’t do this sort of thing… leaving like this and all,” with a flutter of her cloak a pair of wings extended from the sides of her frame, causing both colts for a moment to freeze, “Though it’s been fun you too…” the mare said with a quick kick of her hind hooves, and took off in to the sky.

Staying low to the buildings to avoid any other on lookers, in the night the assailant disappeared without a trace. While on the ground the two colts continued to stand there in complete bewilderment, and allowed the crisp clean air to pass by them for a few minutes longer to clear some of their senses.

“I think I just sobered up there for a second…” Iron said calmly while he continued to look up in to the sky of where the figure disappeared from.

“What? From you flirting with me? Or what we just saw?”

Standing there for a moment longer, the colt just shrugged his shoulders, “Meh… I haven’t decided yet,” both of them checked themselves over to make sure all limbs and feathers were accounted for before. Without even a second glance to the puddles that remained of the little ice trick the mare pulled, they continued on with their original plan of getting back to the castle. “Though you know that flirty bit was all in good fun… even if it was ill timed.”

“Yes… I know, you have a knack for that,” Free pressed his hoof to his temple, trying to push Irons’ words out from his memory, “though whoever that mare was she wasn’t here for a good time…” he said while feeling the bruises on his neck already starting to show up.

“Think we should tell somepony?” Iron asked rhetorically.

Picking up on his sarcasm instantly, Free countered it with the pest defense he could have, “Oh of course we have to tell somepony,” he took the stance of a guard at first, before delivering his own, “there should be no problem with them believing two record making drunks, just encountered a unicorn… Pegasus… talon wielding gryphon sorta thing, in the middle of the night, trying to sneak out from the castle.”

Pondering it for probably a second or two shorter than needed, Iron simply replied, “So let’s take that information her royal assness!” he pointed triumphantly to the castle walls, still in his drunken haze.

“She doesn’t really like you that much,” Free tried to remind Iron once again, though his friend simply trotted past him, “… Remember?”

“You’re right…” Iron called back, “but she like’s you…”

Chapter 14

Grace sat calmly at her desk, filling out the latest reports of the week on what her factory has done and where they need to be. Thankful that as she shifted through the paper work, her assistant was there ready and willing to lend a helping claw when need be. Silvertongue used his wings to hover just a few feet off the ground, as he put back some of the log books on the shelf that were just out of reach for the normal pony. Matching up the dates of the logs with the reports the princess hoofed off to him to keep track if they would be able to support a long war effort if need be.

The young drake looked off the side of his shoulder, as he watched the princess put the last folder away and lean back in her chair, “You can get some rest if you would like, Grace,” Silver offered up to her, “I can take care of what’s left.”

“I appreciate the offer, Silver,” she nodded in return before staying planted in her seat, “Though I know the moment I rise up to head out, somepony is going to walk through that door with some other news that I have to hear.”

The doors swung open as Iron strolled in, while right behind him Free eased down the guard there at the door so as not to start a fight. The colt calmly strolled in to the room, looking around at the rather fine, but modest, decorations that the princess had picked out for her office.

“Lovely place you have here, Grace,” He said while getting his thoughts in order.

“Silver, I take that back,” she ignored the colt for the time being to address her friend, “I should have left when I had the chance… anyway, Mister Knight, as you should know from your service. My family has always had an open door policy,” she looked back behind him to see the door still swinging on its hinges before the guard there closed them, and Freefall walked up behind his friend. “However, would it really kill you to knock?”

“Just a little…” he said, letting the sarcasm flow as if it were his second language, “though have you gotten any reports of strange appearances around the castle lately?”

Both Grace and Silver looked at one another, each with their own level of both concern and wonder in what the colt was referring to. “If you’re talking about the appearance of a rude, uncouth, fowl mouthed, ill-mannered, and probably narcissistic colt roaming the halls…” she pondered for a second, “only sense you showed up… odd coincidence, aint it?”

Iron turned his head as he caught the momentary chuckle from his friend, “What?” Free said while stifling another laugh, “that was pretty good…”

“Oh you’re hilarious…” he glared down at the mare, piercing her calm and collected eyes, “Though I’m more so referring to something tonight, along the south wall?”

Thinking for only a moment, the princess shook her head, “Nothing that I can think of, why was there something of importance out there that should have been brought to my attention.” The mare rolled her eyes, already taking little interest of whatever the stallion before her had to say.

“No, no…” Iron shrugged while digging his hoof against the carpet, “Just a small fight between two of those under you, and a mysterious mare that was found sneaking her way back over the wall…”

Graces’ eyes shot open at the sound of a possible intrusion to her own castle. Her enemies mustn’t have attacked for the simple reason for not having their own forces built up, while hers are doing the same. However, if they perhaps have more ready than she does, that will give them no reason to hold off any further, and light this powder keg.

“What did she look like? Who was she working for? Did she have anything that would give her away for being a spy?” she shot off the end of her tongue while staring down both colts.

“Well let’s see, she looked like a cloak… because that’s what she was wearing. Didn’t really get to ask who her boss was, somewhere between chasing them down and getting our rump hooved over to us the subject didn’t came up,” Iron rattled off while he stared off in to space, ignoring the ever growing scowl on the princess’s face, “and as for her being a spy… I think sneaking over the wall in the middle of the night is a good enough reason for that.”

“Can you take anything seriously?!” Grace shouted at him at the top of her lungs, to the point that even Silver could feel his claws rattling.

“I’ll have to give you a rain check on that,” Iron brushed her off, “Though who ever this mare was had a few tricks of her sleeve.”

“How do you know they were even a mare?” Silver interjected so his friend could take a breather.

“Well she sounded feminine…” Free followed up with, recounting the event, “Plus I met them face to face while she grabbed me by the throat with a claw and almost crushed my windpipe.”

Grace perked back up while her mind analyzed the facts she was hearing, “So it was actually a gryphon…” she looked back at Iron, “See… that’s an even more solid reason to suspect them for being a spy.”

“Well…” Iron looked back at his friend. Both of them knew this is the part where things would get a little complicated to explain as Free took a place next to him in front of the princess’s desk, “I would guess she was the same… if it weren’t for the fact that she had a ponies’ tail and was able to use magic…”

Graces’ expression instantly sunk to the ground, as did her head, meeting the desk after the colts’ words sunk in fully. Silver stepped up behind the two colts as he put his head between them, “It’s been kind of a long day for her, if this is your idea of a joke… probably isn’t the best time to pull it,” he urged them silently to walk away now.

“It’s not a joke though!” Free stepped up to the plate, looking at the princess square in the eyes while she raised her head back up to face them, “I know it sounds fare fetched, and probably out of this world and the stuff of bed time stories… but princess, Grace,” he narrowed his gaze at her, “as much of an asshole as Iron may be,” Free ignored his friends’ agreement, “We both are telling you the truth. I saw it myself as well… the mare grabbed me by her talons. There were several gems that went up along the side of it, like a gauntlet or something.”

Grace stopped for a moment, before leaning up to her friend and taking a deep breath while the others stood there wondering what she was up too. Settling back in to her seat, she crossed both her hooves over her chest, “You’ve both been drinking,” she glared back at them, “Now I’m one that can enjoy a drink myself… however, you must keep in mind that you are in fact telling me that you encountered a mare that was using magic, so probably a unicorn. Yet somehow was also able to grab you with a claw,” she stopped for a moment to let that sink in while she tried to reason with them, “What is the likely hood that instead it was a unicorn, and she simply used a telekinesis spell on you?”

Iron and Free looked at one another, yes that thought never really crossed their inebriated minds, though they both know what they saw. Even through their drunken mist. “But it wasn’t as spell!” Iron shouted back at her, before grabbing Free by the muzzle and lifting his head up unexpectedly, exposing his neck, “look at this!” he pointed to the bruise marks left by where the mare had grabbed him.

Grace leaned over her desk, as both she and Silver looked at the discoloration under the coat. The drake took his own claws, no larger than the average gryphons’, while he placed them on Free to try and match up the markings, “I can’t see any distinctive claw impressions left, can you?” he asked Grace.

“Nor can I,” the princess rose back up and plopped back in her chair, while she continued to glare at Iron, “anything else to add to your rebuttal?”

“There is no claw impressions to make out because they were close together?” Iron tried to pose to her. But to no avail as Iron let Free go and they stood their dumbfounded for a moment.

“Free…” the mare said as she grabbed his attention, “I respect you, you’re a hardworking guard, and a great friend to have around. Though like anypony else, you’re just a pony and have slip ups…” Free lowed his head like a scolded child while her eyes turned to the other in the room, “Iron… I don’t like you,” Grace started out with bluntly as the colt just rolled his eyes at her, “You’re here because I need creatures like you to do your job… now it’s late, and I don’t feel like listening to the ramblings of a lowly, discourteous, arrogant, narcissist.”

“That may be true…” Iron said simply.

“Especially when he is present in what seems to be his natural state,” Grace leaned in closer to the colt, rising off her seat so she looked up at him in his hazel eyes from only a few inches away, before letting the last insult fall off her tongue, “A drunk…”

“That is also true…” Iron agreed fully with her without any sign of a fight to throw in to what she said.

“If you will excuse me, I would like some sleep,” She tried to wave them off, “If you stay here any longer you’ll both be telling me that this mysterious mare got up and flew away…”

Both Iron and Free looked away from each other as they held their tongues, while Grace processed the response in to her words the only way she could, “Oh damn it…”

“Well she did fly…” Iron said flatly, “the wings were under her cloak the whole time.”

“Then why didn’t she use them earlier while leaving the castle?”

“She could have been spotted if she left from the high walls by one of the sentries.”

“So those wings that you say you saw could have been nothing more than a unicorns’ magic, Telekinesis…” Grace deadpanned at him, “Seriously, you’re the teacher here, you solve the problem and tell me what can’t be explained by simple logic,” she waited for the unicorn to respond before throwing her last bit in, “after all I don’t deny that there may have been some pony or creature there, just not what you say, and if it was a simple unicorn, than they probably didn’t come from the Gryphons or the DDR.”

“That’s where you’re wrong Gracie…” Iron narrowed his eyes at her, “After all if a unicorn was in a tight spot and needed to get out of it, they wouldn’t use a telekinesis spell to float themselves away, they would use teleportation. Oddly enough it’s easier to use than levitation because it just requires a momentary thought and not total concentration…”

He grinned at the mare while continuing to go in on her, “Plus telekinesis would have enveloped them in an aura, making them visible in the night sky to both us, and any guards on the wall. While at the same time, it would have been slow, which means Free here could have caught up with her… even in his state,” Iron placed both hooves down on her desk as he too leaned in to the mare, meeting her own glare with his, “Don’t try to school a teacher, Princess… you won’t win.”

Slowly but surely a breath escaped Graces’ throat in a long, and deep sigh. She’s met a decent amount of mules in the past while her parents paraded her around as their daughter, when she was just a youngling. Though all of them pale in comparison when it comes to stubbornness, to this one colt.

‘I need to take the loss on this one and just send him back,’ the thought crossed her mind for a moment, before she shook her head clean of the thought. After all she did somewhat, sort of, kind of, pay attention a little more to see how many suits he got done compared to the others there with him. Although she won’t say it out loud, she was rather impressed by the stallions’ work.

“Let’s say for a second here, that you’re right…” she mused while easing her mind, “and there was in fact some… creature, out there on the wall. That you ended up getting in a fight with in the streets. There would be proof, would there not?”

Iron and Free didn’t even look at one another as they stuck their hooves to their chins in unison, each thinking of what would have been left over from their little brawl. “I suppose you’re right,” Free answered back at the princess, “Why?”

“Well Freefall it’s quite simple,” Grace said while she clopped her hooves together, “Bring me the proof, and wipe away the doubt… shed some light on what you may have encountered,” her eyes turned to the unicorn before her, as they both tried to read the others game, “and I’ll have it looked in to further.”

“So you’re going to humor us?” Free questioned at first.

“Well not so much you, as I am myself… and that one,” the princess said as she pointed to Iron. Before getting up from her desk and making her way around to them, “The way I see it you both could have gotten just really drunk and wound up fighting some random citizen that may have looked like that they were coming out of the castle,” Grace reasoned while putting all the facts they laid out in to a single logical explanation.

“Yep, she’s humoring us…” Freefalls’ counterpart scoffed.

“I’m giving you something to do for the next day or two,” Grace grumbled at him, “other than drink… Mister Knight,” her hardened steel eyes glassed over while they stared daggers in to the colt. To which Iron simply brushed them off as if his skin was made of the same material, as she leaned in to him, “Seeing as for the time being I would like to get some sleep, and get you to shut your trap.”

“Oh I can think of a few different ways you could do that…” he did the same, leaning his head down to meet her own as he passed the princess a playful wink, “Though sleep would be put on the backburner.”

Grace scrunched her head back, biting down on her tongue and clenching her teeth. ‘I’m gonna kill this colt…’ she muttered to her own thoughts as she felt the involuntary blood start to seep in to her cheeks and face. “I can taste the alcohol on your breath… Iron Knight,” Grace whispered back to him to give herself an out, while she walked away calmly and smacked the end of her tail in his face, “I would wash up before you’re shift tomorrow, and get some sleep…”

“Yes, your Royal Assness…” Iron took an overly exaggerated bow, while Grace casually ignored the comment. Leading himself and Free out of the room and back to their own respective quarters to start the day anew, and in Irons case, hopefully some sort of apology.

Closing the door behind them, Silver and Grace were left alone once more in the comfort of her own office. For a moment or two, the princess simply stood there in silence, calmly letting the recent events replay in her mind while she marked them down for what they were.

The ramblings of an incoherent, intoxicated colt, with too much on his mind.

“He’s flirty when he’s drunk, isn’t he?” Silvertongue said to break the ice that was forming between them.

“No…” Grace answered in a matter-of-fact manor, “I think he would have done that regardless of the alcohol level in his system.”

Silver glanced down at her, watching the coat along her facial features turn from a crimson purple hue to its natural cobalt. Smirking at her, he couldn’t help but poke some of his own fun, “Never the less,” he almost purred at her, “it certainly got you flustered…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” she snapped back at him, instantly jumping to the defense as her heart rate started to double and the blood returned to her cheeks once more.

“Oh nothing your majesty,” Silver packed up his small satchel as he swung it across his shoulder and headed towards the door, “though like you suggested to Mister Knight, you should probably get some rest as well… Goodnight Grace.” He finished off, closing the door before he could hear any sort of rebuttal to his comment.

Finally, Grace was all alone in her office. Standing there in the middle of the floor, with not even a sound being made by the wind blowing outside the window against the old structure. Silently agreeing with her assistant, Grace stowed away the smaller reports that could wait till the morning, and set aside anything she may need for the upcoming committee meetings that would dot her schedule. Wars didn’t simply start over night, they took weeks if not months of planning to set in motion, though it just takes a single spark to set it all off.

“A spark that I’m dreadfully waiting to come…” the princess muttered as she strolled to the door herself, before picking her head up, and putting a smile on her face to meet any other she may pass in the castle.

Chapter 15

“You saw what?” Rhorkin asked once again as he sat in his private office. It was the night after Bronzes’ little outing, and after finally getting some alone time with the king. The mare made sure to fill him in on what she had saw while back in Boralus on her personal scouting mission.

“Weapons, armor, supplies…” the mare said again, gently tapping taping the stump of a missing claw against his desk, as she leaned against it with her hip, “more than both you and the DDR has combined… though not by much.”

Dragging his own flesh and blood talon across the table, the king swept various pieces of paperwork to the side while be buried his face in his claws. He knew that Graces’ country could always muster up their resources to put up a fight when need be, though the amount that he was being told in such a short time was still staggering. So much so that he’s borderline impressed with the princess’s efforts.

“Blasted princess…” he scowled down at the hard wood before his eyes rose up to meet those that he was becoming more and more familiar with, “the mare will out do us for sure if we let this go unchecked…”

Slowly the king started to get up from his chair, though was caught off guard by a canvas wing that stretched itself across to him by Bronze and held him in place where he half stood. “What are you thinking, Rhorkin?”

Settling himself down, the king grasped either claw, “I was going to send a message off to Chief Reinhart, letting him know of what you found… and that an assault should be made at once.”

“Oh no need for that,” Bronze grinned, “I did that earlier today. He should be hearing the news right about now.”

“You told him before me?” the king questions blindly, “yet you came here first?”

“I still like to stick to the shadows when I can,” the mare reminded him for a second. Hiking one leg up on the desk while her hoof rested over the edge, “after all few of those around here know me by name if at all, and you were surrounded by your advisors all day… meeting after meeting.”

Pondering it for a moment, Rhorkin held his tongue. The mare did have a point, he walked the entire castle at least three times over by lunch finally. Looking around them now, Rhorkin realized that they really were alone. Without a soul in or outside his office, not even the guard after he sent them away for the night.

“So this is a private visit more than anything?” he asked, as a single eye brow raised up in interest, “I’m touched.”

“I’m glad you appreciate it,” Bronze winked at him with the shimmer of metal in her orbs, “So calm down.”

“Did… any of her guards catch sight of you?” the king questioned to her, mostly to get the image of her eyes out of his mind.

“No… well…” she thought more about it, “Kind of, there were two colts that I ran in to as I came back across the wall.”

Narrowing his focus on the mare, Rhorkin attempted to read her once more, “I assume you took care of them?”

“I would have, though that would have drawn a lot of attention,” Bronze placed one iron talon to the side of her neck and cracked it, “though I doubt any pony would have believed them… it was an up close fight at times, and even I could smell the drink on their breath.”

“So the two colts were drunk…” Rhorkin started to gleam, having noticed the missing talon, “And got the better of you?”

“Hardly…” she scoffed, as she grinned back at him, “I let them live to not put this operation in jeopardy. They’re nothing to worry about, just like what Grace and her nation have mustered against us. What I have provided you and the chief is something much greater,” the mare stated as she dug inside of her cloak for a second, and pulled out an old note book, leather bound and all, which looked like it had been through years of use. Flipping through the many pages, Bronze stopped on one in particular, while she pulled from it blue prints.

Tossing the folded up paper on his desk. The king reached out with his claws, taking the greatest care in unfolding it section by section. When it finally reviled to him what it was hiding, the king was still struck with awe in what he saw before him, looking back and forth between the parchment and the mare that designed it.

Barrels bristled along its side, or cannons as they were labeled. Hatches on the bottom would allow troops to depart to the ground below, directly in to combat. While smaller hatches acted as what was written down as Bombay’s, dropping whatever explosives down on the poor souls unlucky enough to catch them. Larger doors on the sides between the cannons illustrated that other machines that she brought to the table would be able to roll out as the entire contraption functioned like its own fortress. Able to move from place to place, and cut a swathe through entire armies in one go.

All of it impressed Rhorkin to no end, as he sat there for what seemed like hours and admired the instrument of death that she hoped to bestow upon his great kingdom. “It’s… miraculous…” he muttered, barely reaching her own ears.

“It’s a force multiplier,” Bronze tacked on to his statement, “That will be what helps to not only win this little fight, but prevent any further ones in the future.”

“Do we even have the kind of supplies for this?” the gryphon asked, looking over all the structure and seeing how much detail was put in to the plans, “It would take months, if not years to build, even if we did.”

“Oh don’t worry… Yes, you have what is needed, and then some,” Bronze assured him while she leaned over the desk further, peaking at her own design, “the DDR has their own plans that they’ve been following, a little bit different that is, and there’s are almost complete. As for your own,” she grabbed his attention with those words as they rolled off her tongue, “It’s finished…”

“You already had one of these built?!” Rhorkin shot up instantly, glaring down at the mare while she remained stoned faced, “On whose authority? The factory managers didn’t question it coming from you at all?”

“Well… no, I went to them early on,” the mare explained while she played with a lock of her mane, “they simply went along with the designs that were submitted to them to build, this was merely one of them.”

“How long did this even take?!”

“About three weeks…”

Staring dumbfounded at her, Rhorkin sunk slowly in to his chair once more. Whatever the mare did to motivate his workers to build this contraption, it certainly worked, he thought it would have taken at least a month for them to figure out how to even put it together.

“That’s unbelievable…” he gasped.

“Still want to get loud at me?” she leaned in a little further, beaming wide while she showed only half of her teeth at him from a few inches from the edge of his beak.

Taking in a deep breath, Rhorkin caught the undeniable scent of a mare on a mission filling his nostrils to the brim, and to him it was about as intoxicating as the gin he had stored. ‘This mare has lost her mind,’ he reminded himself once again, like he’s done many times already, “I like it…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing…” he blinked, setting his mind right, while his cool eyes rested on the mares’ own petite frame from under the cloak, “Nothing at all.”

“Good…” Bronze purred as she slowly reeled back from him, picking up the designs with her metallic talons and folding it neatly as it once was.

The mare felt one of her talons go stiff for a moment, and looked down at it to see a gem missing from the back of its palm. Hiding away the gap quickly from the kings prying eyes, she continued with what she was saying as if nothing was wrong.

Though she wasn’t quite fast enough, “What’s wrong?” the king asks out of concern.

“It’s nothing…” Bronze insisted, focusing more of her energy on the claw, it finally gave in and literally bent to her will.

Creating an even grasp on the parchment as she gripped it neatly, “Just need some repair work, that’s all.” The mare knew she would need another stone later to bring her limb back in to full operation, though that could wait… she was used to being crippled after all, “On that note… instead of a crushing blow to them, I propose a field test.”

The feathers on the back of his neck stood up while Rhorkin cocked his head to its side, “Of that weapon platform you built?”

“Yes,” she answered flatly, stowing the parchment in her cloak pocket, “not on a large military settlement… just something off radar from the princess’s vision. A low priority target that they won’t notice for a bit, just to get a feel for them.”

“I take it you already have a target set in mind…” Rhorkin guessed while he gazed at the ever calculating mare.

“Oh of course, my feathered friend,” she cooed while grazing the bottom of his beak with a cold talon, “a small town on the outskirts of their boarders,” Bronzed answered as if she had rehearsed this bit, “a small standing guard unit there, not too many, with low population. We don’t want too big of a fight that they have to call in back up, now do we?”

“No we don’t,” the king gave in while he melted like butter in her claws, “though do you already have troops lined up for a fight? I don’t want to risk too many of my own on just a field test.”

“That… you need not worry over,” with a light glow of her horn, a small flash was set off.

For a second or two the king sat there, wondering what she had done. Though the sound of metal clopping across the stone floor through the door echoed to his ears, as his eyes looked around the mare and to the entrance. Within a few moments, the doors slowly opened with ease, and in stepped a pony in a full suit of armor. From hoof to muzzle, everything was covered, whether by metal plates, chainmail, or even leather sheets. There was not a single hair on their coat left to stick out.

Bronze turned her head to the figure before her, “Come here.” She commanded, and as if they were her own child, the soldier marched to her voice, stopping just before the desk, “This is who will assist me in my little test, it is also a test of their skill as well, just to see if they’re ready.”

Rhorkin looked the pony over, unable to make out any facial features because of the plates, and unable to see the eyes due to the visor. Though finally the words of the mare broke his trance, “wait, you have more of them?” he watched the mare nod.

“What? Every girl has a hobby… mine are just a little odd,” she shrugged her shoulders, “If they have been trained right, then they will do just fine for me, and your troops need not worry about putting their necks on the line… for the time being.”

Rhorkin finally stopped staring at the figure once its head turned to his own and stared the king down, “Okay… so you have your own private army…” he reasoned as he kept his eyes on the mare, “when were you going to tell me that?”

“And spoil all the fun? That’s not my style…” she brushed off her shoulder, “once they have been tested in fire, then by all means, I can turn them loose with you and your own troops to use… they should be a bit more… durable.” Bronze finished off.

Whipping her hoof out, a familiar contraption came to light after the king has seen it many times already. The gun she built in to her forelimbs was produced and placed right at the chest of the soldier next to her. With a pair of wild eyes staring down the king, the internal trigger was pulled, and the shot rang out through the space. King Rhorkin held his own in his chair, merely grasping on to its edges and clenching his eyes shut, as he just saw her put down one of her own soldiers.

Though as he opened them slowly back up, the gryphon was left in shock while he watched the figure continue to stand beside her, never even flinching an inch from where it stood. Turning his eyes back to her, Bronze simply called her toy back in to her limb as it was put away for the time being. Soon turning her attention to the pony beside her.

“Go and get patched up…” she ordered, and with a simple nod the figure turned and walked off. Looking back at the king, Bronze grinned at him once more, “You were right, I am a mare of many secrets…”

“W-w-what are they?” Rhorkin asked, clenching this throat with his own words.

“They… are my loyal followers.”

Looking at the pictures in his mind of all of her designs that he as seen cross his desk. Rhorkin applauded the mare on her gift she was given when it came to weapons of war, though with what he just saw, the king was pretty sure he’s sitting across from the alicorn of death.

“You have an unnatural gift when it comes to creating instruments of death, Bronze,” he congratulated her once more with his words, “what is your end game with all of this?”

With ice running through her veins, the mares’ tone dropped, “To level Boralus…” she whispered, tasting the blood already on her tongue, “…and then the rest of the country to follow.”

“That’s a great start honestly… one that I admittedly from time to time would have liked to see,” Rhorkin admitted to her while another questions popped up in his mind, “what do you plan on doing when this fight is over, and the vendetta you have against them, for whatever reason, is done with?”

Looking to her own self, the mare hasn’t really thought about it that much. In spite of everything she has one goal with all of this, though afterwards still seems like a haze to her. A walk through a frozen forest, in the middle of the night, without a flame to guide her way.

“Never came to mind, honestly…” she admitted, “Why? What are you offering?”

“Well… seeing as you won’t be returning to a land that homes your own kind,” the king mused while fiddling with his own talons, “you are more than welcome to stay here in the kingdom, if you would be so inclined to do so… I could always use a good advisor such as yourself.”

After a few seconds of thought, a smile started to stretch out across the mares’ features while she danced the idea through her head a few times, “That… I might just consider.”

Chapter 16

The streets of Boralus teemed with life as the citizens walked about doing the daily tasks that made up their life. Going to the market, picking up food for dinner later that evening, chatting with friends and loved ones along the way, or even heading out to one of the many restaurants of their fancy to satisfy their hunger. All was as it should be in their minds, while all of them carried on as if nothing was wrong with the picturesque setting that they had grown accustom to over the years of peace. Though for one colt, he was looking through a different pair of spectacles as he walked the streets as the sun started to make its way to bed.

Iron had gotten off his shift, and before the zebra could even collect what he had produced that day, he was out the door. Walking amongst those in the streets, the colt acted as normal as he possibly could while avoiding as much small talk with any other that crossed his way. He was on a mission, one that he devoted his entire focus to, and one that he was hoping would bring to light what really had happened the night before.

“And possibly put a sock in that mares’ mouth,” Iron grinned while he continued to walk past others in his way.

Going against the flow of traffic like a trout swimming upstream. He knew what he saw yesterday, and regardless of if the princess believed him or not, he would find something that would prove his own words.

Passing by a destroyed vegetable stand, Iron listened in to the bickering of the couple that owned it as they tried to figure out who would do this sort of thing to them. Lowering his gaze a bit to avoid any awkward eye contact. Iron continued past them, walking right by the hay cart that caught him and his friend just before the mare made off.

“This all started at the wall…” Iron summed up, following the street as it broke off in between a few of the stands and went down an alleyway. Looking down at his hooves, any of the ice that was left over from her little trick was long gone as it melted from the day.

Tracing his steps further, Iron finally caught sight of something on the ground just ahead of him. The droplets of dried up blood that had fallen from Frees’ nose gave away where this whole debacle started off. Looking up at the wall, Iron couldn’t see a single trace of where the mare had left the castle walls from. “Not a claw mark, not a hoof print, not even a scrape…” he noted while examining the stone up and down the best he could from his vantage point.

Looking around him to see if anypony was watching or not, the colt quickly lit up his horn, and in a dazzling display of light. Iron found himself atop the wall in a mere second. With one quick check to see if any guard was near, he started to check over where the mare would have had to climb over the edge.

“There you are…” he eyed a single object.

Caught between a gap in the mortar, a piece of cloth laid. Wedged there from the night before as the mare scurried herself over the edge and the fabric ripped itself free. Plucking the piece from its home, Iron started to grin a bit to himself, “I knew there was somepony here,” he silently cursed the princess. ‘This will never convince her though that we weren’t just making this up,’ Iron put the fabric in his satchel pocket, ‘She wants something more telling than just a piece of cloth.’

Lighting his horn up once more, Iron found himself in a flash back on the ground amongst the city dwellers. The colt was on the right track, and he knew it… taking out a flask from his satchel, the colt took a swig before going on his way down the alley. “Where did we go…” Iron tried to remember as his mind fought through the haze created by the previous nights’ drinking. Piecing together the little bits and fragments of memory, he put together the picture in his head.

“Along this alley after she socked Free in the face,” he pictured once more, “the mare cast an ice spell… I slipped,” he trailed off as he talked to himself, ignoring the occasional glance from a passerby that he would get. “When I righted myself back up, she was grinning at me… and I bowled her in to the market…” the colt stepped foot back in the clearing, “Where she hit…” he looked ahead at the oak tree that was planted in the center of the market area.

Having been placed years ago to give shoppers much needed shade in the summer months as they went about their day, the tree found itself naked in the coming winter as all of its’ leaves have left it early on and it remained just a barren wooden fossil of its’ summer self. Iron walked calmly up to the tree, avoiding the occasional filly that would run between his legs as a group of them played while their parents shopped.

Looking along the trunk, he could see clearly where the mare smacked it, the broken bark that had fallen off giving clear indication as to where her back made contact, “How she didn’t break anything I don’t know…” he muttered to himself.

“Mister?” Iron looked down to see a wide eyed Pegasus filly inquisitively looking up at him, “who are you talking to?”

“Just myself, that’s all.”

“Isn’t that a bit odd though?” she asked, “why not talk to someone else?”

“Because sometimes yourself, is the best person to talk to when trying to figure something out,” Iron answered without missing a beat. Having gotten that question numerous times in the past growing up.

“There’s another colt that does that in my class,” she continued to chat as she followed Iron around the tree, while he looked for something to show for his efforts, “He’s kinda strange… always talks to himself and such. Barely to any other pony.”

“Well…” Iron continued to chat with the young one, while multitasking on his own, “have you personally ever tried walking up to the colt and having a conversation?”

“Well…no…” she plodded her hoof against the brick.

“Then how do you know he’s all that weird?”

“He just is,” she pushed while trying to see the point in the adults’ words, “I mean who would want to spend their entire day alone, and not talk to anypony else but them self?”

Iron had himself propped up against the tree with his fore hooves as he caught the kids’ words. ‘Sounds kind of familiar, don’t it?’ he asked himself for a moment before turning his head to her, “A pony who may not be comfortable talking to ponies he doesn’t really know… one that’s a lot shyer than he lets on,” he muttered out just loud enough for her to hear, “try casually walking up to him and start a conversation, see where it leads…”

“Why would I do that?” she cocked her head to one side.

“To see if he really is as weird as you say he is,” Iron humored the filly, “some of the strangest of ponies, can be the most interesting to talk to.”

“I… guess I never thought of it like that,” the filly pondered for a moment, “Whatcha looking from anyway?”

“… Oh… just a something to bring back to the princess, that’s all.”

“Really? You work with Princess Grace?!” she beamed wide while looking at the unassuming colt.

“Sadly…” he muttered, “Yes I do, in a way.”

Iron loathed to say it, but it kept his mind busy here while at the castle at least. Running his hoof across the missing and broken section of bark, it hit a snag. As he removed his hoof, the colt started to grin as he used a spell to grasp on to what it had caught.

Pulling at the object, a single metal barb jerked out from the wood. “An odd thing to find in a tree…” he mumbled while the filly looked at what he could be so interested in.

While the young one may have not known the significance of this to the colt, Iron knew full well what it had to be. The dull iron talon guard was filed down to a pristine sharp edge, perfect if one were to lose their main weapon. While holes were bored in to the side to create a hinge effect so it could bend with the wearer as they tried to grasp an object. The armor maker has seen this before, many times actually, while making the various suits of armor to outfit the princess’s variety of soldiers.

“What is it?” the filly asked.

“This child, is what the princess will have on her desk when I see her next,” he started to grin.

“A hunk of metal? Princess don’t like that,” the filly lifted up her wing, producing a small gem from it, “Give her this instead.”

Iron looked down at the pony, noticing the gem though, he instantly recalled the words that Free mentioned to the princess, ‘There were several gems that went up along the side of it, like a gauntlet or something.’ The colt looked closer at the gem, it wasn’t completely cut, the rough edges along its’ side would allow it to be more easily fastened in to a piece of armor as decoration. Plus, it was far too big to have come from some piece of jewelry.

“Where did you get this?” Iron asked as he accepted the gem from the pony.

“I found it by the tree, just like you did the metal,” she explained, “it was underneath some of the leaves that fell…”

“Well child…” Iron turned his attention to the filly, “I believe you just made my day…”

“Really?” she questioned, “will you bring it to the princess?”

“Oh I sure will…” Iron answered as he dug in his satchel, and produced a few bits, which he tossed over to the young Pegasus, “Here you go kid. The princess will be very pleased with your gift.” He answered sincerely, while the Pegasus fluttered away to what he could only assume would be her parents, and Iron put an extra pep in his step back to the castle.

With the plate of food before her gone from dinner, the princess sat back in her chair, hooves resting gently on her stomach as it settled down and she relaxed for a bit. Using her wing, it outstretched to grasp the glass of wine that sat just at the edge, before downing the rest of it in a single gulp.

“A second glass can’t hurt,” she said out loud as she attempted to grab the bottle with her other wing.

Though sadly to her dismay, the light weight of it told her only one thing, “Damn…” Grace looked down the neck of the bottle, seeing only a few sips worth left in the base. Tilting it back, the mare lapped up what remained, before setting it back down, “Empty… did I really finish all that in one meal?” she asked herself.

Looking around, there were no others there to dine with her. The table for only a couple dozen laid empty except for her seat, while those that would normally dine in her company had gone about their own matters. Namely, Silvertongue. The drake had an early dinner, and decided against coming along and giving her some company as she munched on the plate of roast eggplant and cabbage casserole.

Left to sit there on her own, Grace sulked in her chair, propping her head up on a hoof, “I suppose I should leave then…” she picked up her plate and glass. Leaving it on the dish cart that was ready to bring it to the wash room, before she headed back to her own quarters.

Walking through the castle on her own, she nodded gently to each of the passing guards as they went about their business and started to bow at her presence. Paying more attention to her surroundings, the mare lost herself in the many memories she had while growing up in this place. From running around the halls with her father chasing after her when many others had gone to bed, or when he would carry her on his back while he talked with the few dignitaries that had visited over the years.

Passing by one of the main kitchens, her nostrils flared open when she caught the whiff of fresh pastries being baked, sending just another group of memories her way. Graces’ mother may have been the queen, but that in no way shape or form meant she didn’t know her way around a kitchen. On many occasions the princess had been in the kitchen, learning from her mother how to make simple dishes like the one she just ate.

Even on occasion they would get together and personally bake a cake for her fathers’ birthday when it would come around. As she grew older, Grace found herself getting more and more in tuned with the culinary arts, and even on more than one occasion would make a cake for her mothers’ own birthaversary.

“And then… just like that,” Grace stopped midstride in the middle of the hall, trying to fight back a tear the begged to fall from her eye, “…They were gone.”

The mare had just come of age. No longer considered a child or a teenager by any, she was an adult in the eyes of all those that surrounded her. Yet soon afterwards she found herself going from being a princess of the king and queen that blessed her in being her parents, to being the one in charge in the blink of an eye.

Standing there in the middle of the hallway, with all the lights around her dimmed down. Grace found herself unable to find solace in her position, while she allowed the hot tears of mourning to drop from her eyes. It may have happened several years ago, but living in the place with all these memories that were held here still drove a knife deep in to her heart when she has nights like this to herself.

“Grace, are you alright?” Free asked from behind her, having seen the smile on his princess’s face wiped away.
Surreptitiously getting rid of any remnants of the tear, Grace turned her head to the guard, returning the smile to her mouth, “Of course, Freefall… just living in the memory.”

“I understand…” Free said, having been around for some of Graces’ life as she grew up, “Though I was wondering actually, have you seen Iron?”

Tilting her head for a second, Grace grew puzzled by the question, “I have not, though why would I know where he was?”

“Well you did give him a challenge last night,” the Pegasus answered her, “And I hadn’t seen him sense. Iron reported for work, but after his shift I went down there to meet up with him, and he wasn’t anywhere around.”

‘I’ll give that colt he’s determined, that’s for sure,’ her mind wandered as she wondered what the colt could have been up to all afternoon, “I’m sure he’ll turn up… if I see him in passing I’ll let him know you were looking for him.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Free bowed as more of a show of gratitude, and went about his evening while Grace did the same.

Slowly but surely making her way to her bedroom, the princess passed by her office, noticing something askew, “I could have sworn I turned the lights off…” she remarked at the ambient glow underneath the heavy wooden door. Pushing it open, she saw only one figure there in the light, sitting calmly at her desk, with his fore hooves behind his head.

“You know I was starting to wonder if you’d ever show up…” Iron said sarcastically as he leaned up from his seat.

“Mister Knight,” she acknowledged him, “May I ask what you are doing in here?”

“Well you have an open door policy, so I opened the door,” he grinned at her, using her statement prior against her, “though I will have you know, I did knock this time around.”

“The room was empty…”

“Still knocked.”

Shaking her head, Grace ignored him for the most part while she went to the side of the desk, and motioned him to get up with her wing. To which, and her surprise, Iron did without fuss, and simply met her on the other side.

“I’m assuming this is not a chance visit?” she inquired, “You must have something to show for it, otherwise you would have been out at a tavern by now.”

“Well that comes after…” Iron reached in to his satchel, producing a small piece of cloth as he dropped it on the surface of the desk, “That is a piece of cloth… duh. I found it on the wall where that figure crawled over top, probably ripping it from their cloak on their way down.”

Grace looked momentarily at the fabric. Yes, it could have come from a cloak of a spy making their way through the castle, though then again it could have come from a number of other things as well. “You have to do better than that, this doesn’t prove anything,” Grace deadpanned to him, “you should have probably grabbed Freefall to help you look, he was looking for you just now… this could have gotten stuck from someponies own piece of clothing as they stood to close to the wall.”

“I figured you might say that…” he rummaged through the satchel after putting the torn piece back, “You see I knew that wouldn’t be enough to convince you. So I kept looking, as I walked through the market and retraced me and Frees’ steps, I remembered hurtling the figure in to the oak tree in the center of the market.”

With that, Iron placed the gem on her desk. Giving her a moment to look over it, Grace didn’t really know what to say. It was a rough cut stone, surely not a fashion statement. No, it was one cut for function, not form. “Okay this is odd… I’ll admit that much,” the princess said while holding it in her hoof, “though I don’t know what to make of it really.”

“Don’t worry Gracie, I do,” Iron grasped the gem in magic himself, before quickly smacking it against the desk.

For but a second, it sent sparks surging out of its’ sides and across the air between them. Not enough to cause any damage to the ponies, but surely enough to give the princess a startle while she sat there glaring at the colt. Who just held a simple grin on his face, “Don’t worry I did the same thing when I dropped it on the desk when I first got in here…” he sat it down gently before continuing, “This gem has been charged with just pure magic, not any spell really. Just the simple essence of what is used to make spells, energy if you would,” Iron went on talking, as Grace started to look at the gem with a new set of eyes.

“Any unicorn who passed basic magic theory in grade school, can tell you that a unicorn can charge a gem with a spell, and have it released later with a simple stimulus,” the teacher in Iron came out for but a moment, as he relived the experiences of charging the gems on his suit, “such as smacking it on a hard surface. It’s not a hard thing to do, and it can help those unicorns that have issues controlling their magic by draining off some of it. Though I think I have an answer to what me and Free encountered.”

“And what might that be…?” Grace asked, still taking more interest in the gem itself than what the colt had to say.

“If they were in fact a gryphon, and I’m saying if,” Iron emphasized the word, “then they might have had a few of these charged gems at their disposal, that would explain how they were able to cast spells.”

“So regardless of the pony tail that you saw…” Grace sat the gem down gently, “you say now that it’s a gryphon?”

“Well sorta,” Iron levitated out the talon guard that he found, “This though is more telling… and I know you know what this is.”

Looking at the piece of metal, Grace in an instant knew what they were dealing with, having seen them in the armory. “A talon guard?” she questioned, “You found this in the tree?”

“Absolutely…” he answered sincerely to her, “although you have your own gryphons in your army, they would have no reason to leave that wedged in a tree. So now what does that tell you?”

“That…” Grace blinked a few times to get her thoughts in order, “there was really something that you fought out there, and not just a delusion.”

“You bet your sweet ass there was,” Iron said triumphantly, making it as obvious as possible that his eyes were wandering across her figure.

“Mister Knight…”

“Yes?”

“My eyes are up here,” with a wing and a swift slap to the side of the face, Iron brought his attention back to her, “now no matter what my plot has to do with any of this… I have to give you the benefit of the doubt.” Getting up from her seat, Grace stood up on all fours as she righted her crown atop her head before addressing the colt.

Iron however, never left his place. Keeping his hooves planted as the princess swallowed what pride she can, and looked him directly in the eyes. Calmly a hoof extends out to him, as Iron cautiously takes it, “You did good work… and all I can say is that they gryphons have been keeping an eye on us, and…” she lowered her head a bit after letting go of his hoof, “you were right…”

“Excuse me…” Iron leans in.

“You were right.”

“One more time,” he grinned, “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I said you were right!” Grace shouted out louder than she expected to, and quickly covered her muzzle with her hooves. Looking up at the colt, all she can see is the smug grin plastered all over his face.

“Well you don’t have to yell…” Iron said while cleaning out his ear with a hoof, “I heard you the first time.”

With her jaw nearly hitting the floor, Grace calmly stood there as best she could given the circumstances. Blowing a lock of her hair out from her eyes, the princess recomposed herself, “the gryphons… have made a move, which cannot go unanswered,” sitting back down in her chair, Grace broke out a pair of quill and parchment as she started jotting down orders.

“Whatcha doing now?”

“Two can play this little spy game,” she muttered out to him, “they know what we’ve been up to, now it’s our turn to kick the ball. I’m giving the order to set up a small team of infiltrators to get in to their kingdom and find out what they have been doing all this time.”

“A worthy goal, yes,” Iron pondered it for a moment, after all, knowing is half the battle.

“As for your part in what you just gave me,” she glanced up at him, “that will be all… Mister Knight. I thank you once again for proving me wrong, so that it may help us in the future.”

“Always a pleasure to stick it to the crown,” the colt took an ever courteous bow before backing up towards to door to take his leave. Who could blame him? It was Thursday, and he had the whole weekend to himself. Though before he could get away, one pony called to him.

“Iron Knight…” the princess said softly, hoping that he would still hear her. As the colt turned around to face her, she swallowed once to clear her throat, “as for my comments yesterday. Calling you a drunk and such… I apologize, that was uncalled for.” The mare sniffed the still air once more, “It seems even with the drink in you, you are still quite the capable colt…”

Breathing in to his hoof, Iron smelled it quickly before reeling back from the stench of his nostrils as they burned, “I didn’t think I had that much,” he questioned. Checking his flask that he carried, the colt found that it was bone dry from the days’ work, “Well damn…”

“Empty I take it?” Grace asked, recalling the similar event minutes ago with her wine. Watching the colt nod, she simply smiled at him, “there’s a liquor store right next to the market that you mentioned. They’re usually open later during the day than most, I’d grab a bottle while you can and go celebrate in your room.”

“Greatly appreciated, Gracie,” Iron playfully answered back to her. Leaving the princess to find a way to settle the score, and himself to enjoy a bottle on his own.

Chapter 17

Freefall walked amongst the halls of the castle all to himself as the sun has set for the day and made way for the moon. It’s late at night, and all that need not be awake have taken themselves to bed long ago. Though for a guard off duty on a Friday night, Free (like many) found himself unable to sleep as they search for something to keep themselves busy as they wait for the coming day when more will be available to do.

After getting off his shift, the guard had searched around for his friend. Yet when the stop at the several taverns and bars dotting the area, that Iron frequented while he was in, didn’t turn up the stallion. Free had only one place that he could think would yield the strange colt… his work bench.

Cracking open the door to the production area below the castle, Free calmly walked in. All of the workers had gone to bed for the night, and the whole area seemed dead to any that found themselves wandering the halls. Though the guard knew his friend well, as he continued down the aisles and corridors of the area to further the nations war efforts. He heard the familiar sound of a hammer swinging as it struck against metal.

Free cracked open the door ever so slightly, and he watched his friend in his own little world. The area laden with light from a simple illumination spell that burned in the housing above brought to view the several bottle of hard cider that riddled the room, while chunks of metal lay tossed about, all while the lone colt sat there calmly at his workbench. Piecing together what he could of the scraps he had to work with.

All the while in the center of the room, laid Iron’s personal suit of armor. Although Free has seldom if ever seen him have to use it, in the many tests that Iron would do, he saw his fair share of what it was capable of. The armor withstood more than Free could ever throw at it with any weapon he could wield, and even as they would spar back and forth with one another, more often than not Iron would win from simple ingenuity of an old piece of tech.

A single flash from the bench yanked Free’s attention back to his friend, “Son of a-!” Iron called out as he held the end of his hoof in his mouth.

Taking his que, the guard walked in on him, “burn yourself?”

Iron did a quick turnaround as he licked his wound, “No… well not yet anyway,” he levitated the gem up to Freefall’s face, “I’ve been bouncing back and forth between my suit… and this.”

Free looked over the gem. While nothing stood out on it, other than the obvious fact that it was now steaming a bit from whatever Iron did to it, he knew his friend wouldn’t waste his time. “Okay… it’s a gem stone, if I’m not mistaken,” he held it in his hoof, feeling the gentle heat ride through to his nerves, “though what’s it really?”

“That… is some sort of magical storage gem,” Iron leaned back on his stool, barely keeping it on the back two legs while he explained, “This was found as I was running around yesterday looking for something to show Grace up, and I did just that…”

Free looked closer at the gem, before tossing it on the bench. Both colts stood fast as they watched the small shower of sparks scatter around them as the stone made contact, and once again Free found himself looking at his friend with nothing more than a deadpan expression spelled across his face.

“The gems charged…” he answered rhetorically.

“Exactly…” Iron pointed out as he leaned forward back to his bench, “this probably is what helped, whatever we encountered, cast spells… it’s a better theory than us possibly fighting an alicorn.”

Free simply nodded at the statement, he couldn’t very well argue with him. The guard had tried to do that with his friend on more than one occasion… needless to say Iron’s wit was faster than his own. “So… if that’s the case, what did Grace say when you brought this to her?”

“Well let’s see here…” Iron bound in to the previous days’ excursions to keep his friend in the loop, “during my search I back tracked where we had gone with the figure, from the wall, alleyway, and eventually the market.” He placed the gem in to a mason jar, before stowing it away inside a built in drawer.

“What are you?” Free rolled his eyes, “A detective?”

Iron grinned as he got up from his stool and waded over to his armor, “Far from one, I’ll admit that… Watson,” before popping open a compartment on it. Producing a cigarette pack, the unicorn plucked one out as he lit it with a simple spark from his horn, “all that said though… I still have my moments of genus.” Iron took a long drag on the death stick before blowing out a single stream of smoke, “finding nothing along the wall, I made my way up to the top. Where I found a simple piece of cloth…” the colt brought out the chunk of fabric as he passed it off to his friend.

For a moment, Free looked at it, before his face fell flat. Reading his friends mind, Iron picked back up, “I know what you’re thinking, ‘this proves nothing’.”

“You’re right… as always,” Free dreaded to admit, “So what else did you find then?”

“As I followed our steps back to the market, I recalled what we did to the figure. I just happened to hurtle them in to a tree, which left clear marks of damage across the bark,” Iron took another puff off of his cigarette, “as I was looking around the tree, I got in to a delightful conversation with a young filly that was out playing as her parents shopped…”

“Wait… you talked to a kid?” Free grinned back at him, as he tried to hold in a laugh, “that probably hurt more than the fight did.”

“Oh it wasn’t that bad.”

“You hate kids…”

“No, no, correction,” Iron held up a hoof in his defense, “I strongly dislike the fact that they’re completely oblivious to the world around them, and they think everything is fun and games. Even though in reality what they do and think at that age won’t matter to them or anyone else, and it’s just a shame that they won’t realize that until they grow up.”

Taking a deep breath to clear his lungs, the colt coughed a bit as he felt the flem cake the back of this throat. Gagging on his own bodies concoction to protect him from what he inhales, Free steps up behind him and slammed his hoof in between Irons’ shoulder blades.

“You alright?” he looked down at Iron as he finally got some oxygen back.

“Yea I’ll live… It’s just cancer,” that word froze his friend where he stood for a moment as he tried to figure out if he was serious or not. Though the slowly stretching grin on his face put a little ease in Frees’ own throat, “I’m joking… though now we’re off subject.” Iron took one last drag before putting the butt out on the stone floor and tossing it in to the waste basket, “I chatted with the kid and as I did, I found a talon guard buried in the trunk… clearly something for a gryphon soldier, or spy.”

“So now you are thinking that it’s a gryphon?” Free peered at him, “what about the pony tail that you saw?”

“That could have been a trick of the eye, I don’t know,” Iron shrugged once more, swallowing his pride for a moment as he accepted the facts, “granted I still think I’m right… but then again I’m just working with what I have.”

“Okay so you found a piece of torn fabric at the top of the wall, probably from where they leapt over the side as their cloak got caught. Then you have a chunk of armor that broke off when they hit the tree and dug in to the trunk,” Free summed up for them both, keeping Iron from going in to a long drawn out explanation, “So where does that gem fall in to place?”

“That was actually a gift from the filly,” Iron let that sit for a moment before he explained further, “in our chat I told her that I somewhat work with the princess… many little fillies love that mare, for some reason, so she wanted me to give it to her as a gift.” Iron reached down to the leg bracer attached to his suit, “the filly found it by the tree as well, and as you said, the suspect had gems all along their talon…”

“…Just like your bracers,” Free put together what he was saying.

“Precisely,” he winked at him, “needless to say I’m familiar with enchanting gems to use in combat, after all we were taught some of that in basic training, and I picked some up on my own,” tapping the sapphire on the end of the bracer with his hoof, a bolt of frosted air shot out from its edge between them as it hit the wall. In a matter of seconds, a sheet of ice formed along its surface, creating almost a mirror for the two to look in. From that sheen, Free could see the clear grin across Iron’s face, “Yea… I know the spell she was using.”

Free looked back at the suit, and back to what Iron had found from what he explained. All of which makes a pretty compelling case that what they saw, really was there. Though in the end there’s just one opinion that matters in this. “What did Grace have to say?”

“Oh that’s the fun part…” Iron started to grin, “well showing her the fabric did little, just like you said, it proves nothing. Showing her though the talon guard got the gears turning in her head. The final piece though was showing her the gem, and what it could do…” the colt rested his head on the suit stand before him while he explained to Free, “after bantering back and forth a bit, I presented what I had, she analyzed it. Talked about putting together a small team to do their own spy game against the gryphons… in the end she actually,” he swallowed a bit, “apologized for calling me a drunk?”

“Did that really surprise you that much?”

“Well… sorta,” Iron admitted, “I’m used to the royalty being… royalty. Seldom did I ever really see her parents, or even speak more than a word to them, and Grace doesn’t really seem like the regal, stuck up, snooty princess roll.” He thought about it more, letting his eyes glass over a bit, as he went in to his own mind, “she can be a rather uncouth mare at times, then turn around and be a saint. Act incredibly well mannered, while she’s insulting me… it’s kinda odd.”

“Well that’s just how she works… I should know,” Free chuckled to himself, “she has her own personal guard, though when he was out on sick leave, I got picked to fill in…”

“How did that turn out?”

“Exactly as you described, however, Grace is rather nice once you get to know her really…” he remained sincere with Iron, one of the reasons those two stayed friends for so long, “she doesn’t like to play that princess role all the time, hell if she had to that mare probably would have lost her mind a long time ago… Something you two have in common actually.”

“What could you ever mean?” Iron asked sarcastically as he watched his friend step closer and closer to the door, “I mean we already know I’ve lost my mind at some point.”

“That’s obvious to anypony who talks to you for more than five minutes,” Free pointed out to him before placing a hoof on the door knob, “though I was referring to the fact that she wears a mask, to hide who she really is underneath… something you should know all too well.”

“…Oh…” Iron turned his head around quickly to avoid eye contact, “I don’t do it... that often anymore.” His voice softened from the right nerve being hit.

“That may be true… it just takes the right pony to get you to take it off,” Free muttered back to him as he opened the door and stepped back out in to the hall, “and as much as I may hate to admit it, for now, the only ones that can do that are Amber and I.”

“Shut your mouth,” Iron snapped back in to his usual persona, “you know very well that you enjoy me for how I am.”

“Well… that much I have to admit.” Freefall nodded with only half his face shown, “however, enjoy your success, and have yourself a goodnight, Iron.”

The colt waved back to his friend, pushing the words to come from Free off of his shoulder, while he took his time to delve deeper in to his work. If only to keep the quiet thoughts at the back of his mind silent for just a little longer.

Chapter 18

Timber Jack woke up from his mid-afternoon snooze out in the woods, up above he could see the gray overcast of the clouds as they got ready for some rain that was supposed to fall later that day, though next to him was the fruit of his labor. The tree that he had just fell laid there on the ground still, ready to be worked like he always had, after taking a much needed break of course.

Hoisting his axe up in his mouth, Jack hacked away at the branches that littered the sides of the trunk to give him a bare trunk of wood. Ready and waiting to be turned in to floor boards for houses, shelves to place belongings, or even an old style rocking chair that a grandparent could rock their grandchildren in.

Not many other ponies went out in to the woods to harvest their own lumber. Usually the process had been done by unicorns in the later years, it was a faster, cheaper way of getting the same product. Then again, there are some who prefer the olden way of doing things with one’s own hooves. Jack just happened to get a knack for carpentry when he helped his dad patch a hole in the roof when he was growing up.

After a rainstorm had broken off the branch of a nearby tree and the damage had been done. A young Timber Jack went about assisting his father any which way he could in shaping, hammering, and cutting the patch. What seemed like minutes of work, had been actually hours, as the time flew by in the back of his mind while he worked.

At one point his dad had actually taken a step back and allowed him to work on his own. Then it finally happened. In a flare of light, a plank of wood crossed with a hammer and axe appeared across his flank, showing him this was truly what he was meant to do in life.

It had been years’ sense that day, years sense he put that first nail in the roof, and many more sense his father passed away. Timber Jack built his dad’s casket himself, spending hours to find the perfect tree that would make a rightful resting place for the colt that showed him the things in life that he should value the most.

Wiping away a tear from his eye at the memory, Jack continued with his work, and not before long he was finished with what he had set out to do. The trunk laid bare, with piles of branches on either side of it from what he hacked off as his mind wandered through his past. A single rain drop fell and landed on the end of his muzzle, causing him to wrinkle his nose for a bit as he shook his head clean.

“At least the mud will make it easier to get this back,” he chuckled to himself, as he wandered over to the pack he brought with him.

Pulling out a long bundle of rope, Timber set about tying it the best he could around the trunk and himself. Soon putting hoof to ground, the tower of an earth pony allowed his strong legs that have built up from years of use like this to power through the dirt as the rain started to pour down atop him.

Back at his place, Timber looked up along the path that lead to his modest barn at the edge of town. Pulling the trunk behind him, he reached the large barn door and swung it open after turning his key. Dragging the wood in to the center, he let the ropes fall down around him, and allowed the weight of the days’ workout to rest there just like he intended on doing.

Walking up in to the loft above his work space. Jack wiped his hooves on the last step, his rudimentary Welcome mat, as he stepped in to his own home with in a home. Going through the living room, Timber entered his bathroom and generously applied a rather large amount of shampoo to his coat to remove the mud and sweat that had built up from a day’s work. It was later in the evening, and the bachelor didn’t feel up to cooking for himself.

Stepping out of the shower, with a towel Jack dried off the best he could. After all what point would that be? He would just be heading back out in to the rain, at least this time though he wouldn’t be smelling like a pack of mules. Looking down from his loft, the colt got a full look at the piece of timber he had dragged in to work on.

With a pencil working in the back of his mind, Jack set about cutting the wood in to chunks without even setting a hoof on it. ‘Let’s see…’ he muttered to himself, ‘Mrs. Penny Pop wants a new set of shelves made for her foal for when they’re born, Mr. Jasper asked for a few boards to mend his fence around the house, and the elderly mare up the street asked if I could cut out a few blanks to make a ramp for her home to make it easier on her…’ slowly but surely the designs came to life in his head. Soon Timber caught himself smiling that he had picked such a nice piece to work with, ‘It’ll diffidently be big enough to get that all for them…’

“But before I go about working in to the night,” he said out loud, hanging up his pack on the wall, “lets grab a bite to eat, to get me through the night.” Before heading out, he reached for only a single sided axe to leave with. It was his favorite thing to use in his whole shop… and it was the last thing his father gave him before he passed, something the colt never left behind.

The small town of Riverton remained as it always had, even with the rain upon them, it didn’t stop the residents from going out about their business of the day and enjoying the few things the modest town in the back of the woods had to offer. Several ponies that new him waved to Jack from across the street as he walked across the cobble stone paths that were laid decades ago.

Riverton had never had a reason to upgrade or modernize their town. It may have its own mayor, but everypony knew that this part of the woods was really run by the town goers that lived out here. The mayor was just a formality, and was still thought by many as one of them.

For generations Timber’s family remained in the area, and had grown up as much as the town had. Barely falling in to the princess’s boarders of control, other than the small guard post that resided there, they were allowed to act as their own unit and no citizen from the rest of Seren really bothered them.

Not that it was an easy town to get to that is…

On one side there remained the dense forest that built many of the homes in the area, continued to surround the community, while on the opposite side was the river for which it was named after. Heck, the river still remained the primary means of moving goods to and from the town. For the most part however, the residents traded among themselves, other than the few that would sell to the gryphon kingdom up the river. They didn’t really have any of the resources that were needed for the war effort that was brewing, so Grace left them alone for the most part.

Taking in a deep breath of the afternoon showers, Timber let the moist air fill his dry nostrils as he stopped by his favorite dinner and wiped his hooves before walking in. All around he saw familiar faces here and there of those he had grown up with. From his old shop partner, to even the aging nurse that helped deliver him when he entered this world. Timber smiled at all those around him and calmly took a seat at the counter, while he waited for his favorite mare to pop up.

And just like that, she did.

“Hey Jack!” Lilly Blossom bounced up and down at the site of her friend, mere inches from his face, as a lotus laid tucked behind her ear.

The colt in question couldn’t hide the slight grin he gave the Pegasus mare, while all those that knew the two simply giggled and continued to much on their food. While he may be a bachelor at the moment, Jack had known the lime coated mare across from him with the bright smile and braded ivory mane for most of his life.

They had grown up together, first meeting at the school nurse’s office when he had hurt himself on the playground, and she had gotten sick from the cold weather. It didn’t take long for the two to develop that special little bond that younglings had, though this one lasted through the years, and although neither one of them would admit it.

They both had a soft spot for each other.

“Hello Lilly,” he smiled back at her, “how has the day been so far to ya?”

“Oh you know, same old same old…” the florist who specialized in making teas and baked good with what she grew answered. “I got a fresh pot of Dandelion and mint tea brewing though, I know that always soothed you after a day out in the forest.”

Jack quickly smelled his coat to see if his hard work was still lingering around, which only drew a chuckle from the mare, “no you smell just fine their Jack… It was a decent, if not cloudy day earlier, I know you well enough to know how you probably spent it,” she grinned at him, letting the small amount of blood to tint her cheeks as his did the same, “I’ll get you that cup, wait right here.”

Jack nodded politely as he waited on the mare with his hooves folded on the counter. He stopped by to see the mare at work at least three times a week, and even outside of work he had helped her with building green houses and gardens for her own plants. The only thing he had ever asked in return, was her company… and some of those baked chestnut scones she loved to make.

“I know that face my dear…” he heard over his shoulder, turning around it was the old nurse that saw him and Lilly that day. Standing there with a sincere smile stretching across her aging face. “It’s the same one Ester used to give me, before he passed all those years ago.”

“I know Ms. Aid…” he tried to hide the smile on his face, burying it in his own hooves on the counter, “I’m working up to it.”

“Well don’t wait too long now,” she said while the mare walked towards the door, “after all you can’t be the only one who has eyes on her.”

Jack nodded in agreement with her, though at the same time he knew Lilly had turned down several suitors over the years.

Several who had a paycheck three times his size… no, she was a simplistic mare. Most of the time when he would help her out it was something that she could have done herself, she just wanted the same thing he did… to be in the presence of each other.

A hot mug placed itself in front of the contemplating colt, while he looked up from his hooves at the mare who meekly smiled back at him from his side of the counter. “Everything alright there, Jack?” she asked honestly, perching her head on one hoof while she admired her friend in concern.

“Oh… just the same thought that’s been going through my head,” he smiled sheepishly at her, “for quite a while now actually…”

“Well… let’s hear it,” winking at him, Lilly batted her eye lashes across her set of violet orbs, “…sugar.”

Just like that, the butterflies in his stomach turned to hornets, paralyzing the colt where he sat. ‘Get it together Timber Jack… She’s your best friend after all,’ Taking a deep breath, Jack closed his eyes and collected his thoughts. “Well… Lilly I was wondering, if you’d possibly like to-”

The low hum of what sounded like thousands of bees shuttered over top the dinner. Drawing all of the patron’s attention. Masked by the rain, whatever it was had grown so close that they couldn’t help but hear it.

“Umm… Well that’s odd,” Lilly brushed it off. Nature was doing something she was sure of it, though it wouldn’t interrupt her friend for the news she had hoped to hear for years. “You were saying?”

“Right…” Jack took another breath, “to put it simply, would you like to-”

A shockwave rattled the dinner where they stood, knocking plates of food off the table, sending a few patrons stumbling as they walked, and even forced the mug off the counter to its final resting place on the ground. Shattering across the floor, both Lilly and Jack looked up from the spilled tea and out the window. Off in the distance, they could see the fire that had erupted from one of the homes. Even after a rainstorm, the mostly wood buildings still were vulnerable to lightning strikes.

“Oh my…” Lilly gasped as she leaded closer and closer to her friend, resting herself against his side. “I haven’t seen lightning get this bad in years.”

“Me either…” he thought for a moment, “but I didn’t hear or see anything…”

Another blast much closer to them caused the windows to rattle, shattering them inward as the wave hit. Jack hunkered down, putting himself between the windows and Lilly, while he could feel the shards of glass running across his back. Getting back up to their hooves, the mare looked as he clenched his jaw. Leaning over his shoulder, she saw the blood already starting to trickle down across his back from the lacerations that he sustained.

“Jack!” she cried out, letting him lean down on his hooves while he rested for a moment, propped against a booth, “We have to get you some help,” she leapt across the counter and rummaged through the cabinets there before producing a small first aid kit.

Meanwhile the other customers that had come in, continued to duck behind the booths and looked outside at whatever was going on. “There’s no way that was a bolt of lightning…” one said obviously.

“Well duh… but what then would it be?”

“Perhaps the war reached us finally?” another proposed.

“But we have nothing here of value to the gryphons…” a colt answered.

All the while Lilly ignored them, and went about tending to her friend. Taking several clean napkins, she doused them in ointment before she tied them tightly around the wound. With the several grunts that Jack let out from the burning sensation that his back was sending his brain, the mare took that as a hint that it was working. Though that would only stop the bleeding.

“We have to get you to the doctor…” she said, peeking outside. Although the rain may have cleared, the cool air caused the entire area to blanket in fog. Though what she couldn’t see, she could certainly hear the sounds of screams and metal striking metal off in the distance.

“Too… dangerous out there,” Jack panted out between breaths, as his body adjusted to the bandages.

“Regardless…” Lilly ignored what he had to say for the sake of his own safety. “You need help, and I don’t think I can fix this with a first aid kit that’s just supposed to treat a foal’s wounds…”

Looking around the room, Lilly saw that all the others there remained hunkered behind the booths. Staying clear of the windows, and keeping themselves low to the ground. Though in the mix of them, was a familiar face she knew she could count on.

“Pitch!” she called over to her fellow Pegasus to grab his attention.

Fluttering to their side, the colt looked over the other, “Yea he’s in bad shape…” he clenched his teeth when he saw the daggers staring him down from the mare, “… My bad. Okay, what do you want me to do? I’m in the weather patrol, not a field medic.”

“That may be true, but you did spend a few years in the army as one…” she reminded him of that fact.

“She’s right Pitch,” Jack said, “if I can’t get to the doctors, you should be able to do something at least…”

Thinking back to all his training, Pitch was surprised how much of it actually stuck. He did use it often when somepony would get hurt out in the air after all, and one thing he was always good at doing was improvising. “Okay… the docs on the other side of town,” he thought for a moment, “but the vet is only a few streets from here… same principal at least.”

“Alrighty…” Jack stood up on all fours, fighting through the pain that he could before quickly checking to make sure he didn’t lose his axe. “Let’s go…”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Lilly asked, concern painted all over her face.

Taking her chin in his own hoof, Jack simply smiled back at her, “Oh I’ve been through worse… besides, I got the both of you with me.”

The trio moved to the back of the room, in to the kitchen as they huddled around the back door. Creaking it open, Pitch checked to see if anything was waiting out there for them. “Okay… coast is clear.”

With that the three moved out in to the open, before making their way between two houses. “What is going on here…” Lilly asked aloud, still hearing the sound of fighting off in the distance, as the hum continued to fill their ears.

“Oh I wish I knew,” Pitch said back to her, “although whatever it is, it sure aint-” another blast filled their ears as a whistle echoed through the air. Before whatever was launched, made contact.

The dinner that Lilly had made her life after first getting a part time job there after school, exploded in a beautiful and horrific display of timber and glass that shredded through the air. Not a single sound was made from those that were still inside, there simply wasn’t time before the impact and the ensuing blast enraptured each of their lives and snuffed it out. Bringing the entire structure to the ground in one sweep. The only thing left was the mare that stood on the outside, and watched as so many of those that she knew vanished in a blink of her tear ridden eyes.

“…Friendly,” Pitch finished while he fought to hold his jaw up. Letting Timber take some of his own weight, he moved over to Lilly as she rested down on all fours, head flush with the ground. “Lilly… we gotta go, whatever is doing this isn’t done…”

She remained motionless, frozen by what she just witnessed. The years spent building something from what the town had to offer, falling apart, in but a single swipe. It wasn’t until a single touch, brought her back to them both, “Lilly…” she heard Jack whisper as he placed a hoof on her side, “We have to move. It isn’t safe here.” Stowing her tears away in the back of her mind, Lilly nodded while she bit her lip and managed to get to her hooves as the trio pressed on.

Cutting through alleyways and backyards, Riverton may not be big, but it was packed with citizens. Pitch looked around a corner to see several of those that he would have fought side by side with, all making their way to the fight going on. “Guards…” he mumbled to himself, as Timber held Lilly behind him and the two colts watched the soldiers file in to move out.

“We don’t know what is bringing this fight to us!” the clear leader called out to his small command, “but whatever it may be, keep your spears and swords at the ready!” a resounding ‘hoo-ya’ echoed between them all.

Before the leader caught something in his side…

He flinched, feeling the stream of blood exiting from under his armor plates, as he looked down and saw the hole that had been made by that which hit him. “What the-?” he questioned, as a crack sounded through the alley. The sergeant’s helmet was no matched to a chunk of metal traveling faster than any arrow ever could. The only good it did was prevent his soldiers from getting coated in his own blood, as it sprayed out from underneath it across the ground.

Falling to their hooves. Each of the soldiers that were once ready to fight against that which attacked them, lost all motivation at the sight of seeing one of their own fall without even a word. That though, was just the start, several more shots rang out amongst the group as the sound of marching from heavy hooves filled the spaces in Timber’s ears that weren’t already filled with the screams of those being struck.

One by one, the guards fell. Even those that raised up shields against their attackers, still found their final resting place amongst their fallen brothers. As the few unicorns that remained tried to get off a last shot or two of energy bolts. Timber finally saw what had done all this, or at least, played a part in it.

Battle hardened soldiers, he thought, armored up from hoof to snout. Marched without fear against the guards that once stood, never breaking formation to take cover, they simply carried on after being struck in their armor. If there was mercy on their face, they didn’t show it underneath the hood. Calmly they walked up to those that remained still twitching on the ground, and raised a type of barrel connected to some contraption, to the last guard’s temple… another shot finished him off, and painted the ground in the final breath of resistance the town had.

Lilly clenched herself to Timbers massive fore hooves, as he calmly unbuckled his axe. “Shh…” he urged her, “they haven’t noticed us yet.” Between those that entered their town, walked in a cloaked figure.

Looking around from under her hood, the figure nodded approvingly to those soldiers that followed her. “You have done very well, all of you,” her horn lit up as they all followed and stood at attention, “the king will be pleased to hear of this performance… though first things first,” she glared up to the object that pierced the clouds above. “Purge this town, and wipe it clean of any trace.”

With a nod, the soldiers around her dispersed to handle the task that they have been given, leaving the trio once again alone. Only to watch as the mare in front of them took to the sky, and went back to the object flying above them. Pitch looked back at the two, “We aren’t very far from the vet now…” he tapped Timber on the shoulder, “Let’s get you patched up, that thing may come in handy,” he motioned to the axe.

Making their way past the fallen guards. They finally reached a small little hut that sat just at the main street that went through town. Avoiding the front door, Pitch walked up to the back as he peered inside to see if anypony was home. “Nope, empty…” he looked back at the two, “Mr. and Mrs. Arian must have left when this whole thing started,” the colt put his hoof on the door only to find it stuck, “I don’t suppose you have a key?”

Timber to keep his spirits up, simply chuckled, “I think I got one on me…”

Rearing up his hind legs that have powered through mud and snow in the past, it only took one kick to send the door bowing inwards and off the hinges, “how’s that for a key?”

“The axe may have sufficed…” Lilly giggled with a weak grin on her face.

“Either way, it worked,” Pitch noted as they all filed in to the hut. Motioning to the table, Timber did as he was told and laid spread across it as the ex-medic rummaged through the cabinets for something of use. Taking out bandages, swabs, cotton balls, alcohol, and a pair of forceps. He set them with in hooves reach around the table where he would work.
Taking off the makeshift bandage that Lilly had applied, he looked at the damage, and although it was bad. “I’ve seen worse…” Pitch noted as he picked up a cloth and passed it off to Jack, “although you might want to bite down on this.”

Bronze stood in the control room of her zeppelin, gazing down upon those that are nothing more than test subjects. A simplistic smile stretched across her face, as she watches the fruit of her own labor hard at work. “All according to plan…” she muttered to herself, “First this town, then after Reinhart and Rhorkin put their cards down, the fun part can actually begin.” She started to chuckle to herself. Years of planning, and finally when the time of execution comes, it all seems to be going so perfectly. “It’s going to be a shame, saying good bye to all this.”

A shot rang out through the hull of her air ship, sending the vibrations up her hind hooves and to her frame. With a sinister grin, Bronze just lowered her head as she literally felt her war engine go to work. Peering open her eyes, she watched a few buildings out in the distance, crumble as her cannons did their work and continued to level the town.

Below though, something caught her eye. A group of ponies not under her command, entering a building without her permission, “Cover won’t do you any good…” she hissed, “after all, I can’t leave anypony to let them know what I’m up to.”

“Ahrgg!” Timber grunted out as his teeth started to cut through the rag, all the while Lilly held on to his hoof as Pitch continued to work.

“Calm down now Jack,” he held the bandaged firm, before using his wing to expertly maneuver the roll of medical wrap
around his friend’s waist, “that should hold it on, and I managed to get the glass shards out the best I could.”

“Will he be alright?” the mare asked as she watched the pained expression on her best friend’s face ease out.

“Oh he’ll live… we just need to get out of this town,” Pitch remarked as he looked out the windows from underneath the blinds, “they’re leveling the area… we don’t have much-”

A round landed just out the back door, and shook the hut at its foundation. Causing all of them to hold on to what they could to keep their footing. “It’s targeting us!” Pitch called out as he watched the barrel on whatever it was take aim right at him, “We need to move now!”

Though they never got the chance, Pitch never even got to yell for help, as the round vaporized him in a flash. The single round that the ship delivered at such a close range reduced the hut to ash in a second. The walls buckled as the roof caved in and dropped down on those inside. Timber watched it all go by in slow motion, the ceiling getting bigger, as he pushed Lilly out of the way and he rolled off of the table to its side.

With a dull thud, the roofing tile fell apart around them, and split the space open for both ponies to look up at the grey clouds above. Having had the table to keep most of the debris off of him, Timber, even with his wounds, still managed to power through his injuries and rise up to his hooves. Though the colt only had one question for himself.

“Lilly?” he called out, “Lilly!” he screamed, ignoring the dying sounds of fighting around him and the heavy hoof steps that got louder with every passing moment.

Turning his head around, he saw what he dreaded to most. The mare did manage to avoid the roof from his quick thinking. Though she only made it partway out the door frame to the back. The rest of her, remained caught in the falling building. Running up to her side, Timber put his hooves under her back as he supported her head against his chest. Checking for any signs of life, he called out her name once more…

But there was nothing…

Her coat remained covered in the fine soot of the building that charred away from the blast, her ivory mane laid in tatters, and the violet eyes that caught Timber’s attention when he first saw them in school. Froze over, as Lilly’s life left her and when to a different place.

With nothing more than silence between them for a moment. Timber placed his pair of lips just atop her forehead for a moment all to themselves. “Lilly… I’m so sorry I didn’t say anything sooner,” he rested his head atop hers while he allowed the shallow raindrops that fell from the sky to mask his own that fell from his eyes.

The world closed in around him, and as Timber remained there. He felt only the cold hoof of armor grab his shoulder. Jack may not have ever fought in the military, or did he have any formal training. That said, he was built like a barn, had an axe tested through the years, and just watched his world go up in smoke…

At that point, skill isn’t really crucial.

Snapping the axe from his side, Jack twisted around and buried it in to the figures chest to the point that it cracked metal. Withdrawing it, he targeted the next one in line, and brought the blade down on the helmet. Puncturing the steel, Timber didn’t even wait to see if the soldier had fallen or not, he just pulled the axe out, kicked the soldier to the ground, and went after the next one. A third met the end of his blade, and had it thrusted up in to the breast plate, as the colt lifted him clear off the ground and slammed him back down.

Though the outburst of the normally peaceful colt was short lived. With a whirl, a hammer was struck against the side of his head, causing his brain to bounce around like a raft on the rapids. The axe fell, and shortly afterwards, so did Jack.

Landing on his knees, the colt looked up to see the hammer there, sitting on the ground before it raised up and went back to its owner.

The mare, the mare that caused this all, stood there above him. “Lovely display of courage…” her horn lit up and the hammer was stowed back underneath her cloak, “though it was strongly misplaced.” In another flash of her horn, the soldiers that Jack thought he fell got right back on their feet.

Even with the damage done to their armor, they walked it off like nothing had ever happened. The one with the hole in his side, walked passed him without even paying the colt any heed. As the soldier with the crack in his helmet remained focused at walking towards their leader. Only the third one seemed to have any trouble at all. Bronze looked back at the armor laying there on the ground, kicking it lightly with her hoof, her trooper twitched for a moment… before lying still once more.

“Hmm… load that one up,” she called out to the few other soldiers with her as they did what they were ordered, “We’re done here.” With a flick of her wrist, from beyond the claw, a barrel was produced and placed to Timber’s temple. Before the colt even knew what had happened.

It was all over.

He didn’t hear the shot, he didn’t hear the bang, he didn’t even feel his body hitting the floor. No, it all ended there before he even knew what hit him. Lying there, among the ruins of his old town, the bodies of those he saw every day, and the crushed dreams of a life he hoped to have made.

Bronze looked out once more at the town that had just become her testing grounds. The remains were burning to the ground, and with this place so far off Grace’s radar, she wouldn’t even know it has been wiped out for some time at least, “which just gives me time to play my own cards…” she looked at the soldiers of armor next to her as they stood motionless without her command. Running her claw under one of their chins, Bronze almost purred at the thought, “even with that little hiccup, you all preformed… beautifully.”

Chapter 19

“Oh you really are an interesting little colt aren’t you…” Grace muttered to herself as she flipped through the personnel files that she had brought to put together her side of the spy game.

It had only been a few days in planning, and although she had more than enough soldiers skilled in the arts of stealth and deceit, something like this called for a special touch that they didn’t have. For the last few hours the mare had been going through file after file of numerous soldiers she had in her ranks, until she decided finally on two.

“…These individuals work very well together…” she read out-loud excerpts of the file while she flipped though the past exploits of those she was interested in, “…apart from the total lack of personal safety, and disregard of property.”

Sipping from her glass of green tea that she brought up to her lounge that connected to her own room. The mare continued to read through not only the awards that each member had gotten, but also the many mission summaries that were contained in the files.

However, even though they were run of the mill guards, one of them had been sent more around the bush than the other. Having been sent temporarily to several different areas, to help out where he could in subjects that he demonstrated his knowledge in all too well.

Grace’s eyes grew wider and wider with every passing sentence that she read aloud in her head, and to the empty room that she sat in. Scanning over the reports till she was as fascinated with the words as she would be with her favorite novel.

“… applying skills learned in the Colt Scouts of Seren…” she skimmed over, drawing more and more interest in the colt the file belonged to, “… found numerous ways to apply those skills on and off the field.”

The door to her room creaked open, causing the princesses ears to perk up at the sound. Scanning the room, her eyes quickly rested on her scaled companion as he casually entered the room and took a seat across from her in the lounge. “Well hello there Silvertongue,” she greeted him, “what brings you here?”

“Oh not much,” the drake stretched out his legs as he slumped further in to the cushioned chair, “I just happened to hear the most peculiar news though… involving you and a possible, spy game…”

Grace’s brow twitched as she tried to hold her calm composure, though with the simple stare from Silver’s silted eyes, even a princess was quick to fumble, “okay then I guess these walls do have ears… who told you?”

“Well you don’t exactly go about asking for files on several of your best counter operation soldiers without stirring a few nests,” Silver answered, as his claw reached out for a crystal glass serving bowl on the table. Popping one of the many hard candies in his mouth, the dragon’s teeth made quick work of the convection while he dug deeper in to her goal, “though I’m curious… who would you have chosen for such a task?”

Dropping the rest of the file down on the coffee table in front of her, Grace leaned up and set the empty mug right next to it as she waited for him to take the que, as well as the folder. Flipping it open, the trained eyes of an assistant scanned through the forms and documents left and right, while his faced turned from one of confidence to sheer confusion. “You really can’t be considering this?”

“Well…” Grace proposed, “He does have the necessary skills needed for it, plus he’s used to making it up as he goes it would seem.”

“And you want to send an unstable colt… whom you barely know… in to a foreign country that’s just a powder keg waiting to be set off?”

Moving over to the door, she placed her crown on the table next to the door and kicked off her royal slippers making sure they were at least neat underneath. Taking care to keep her friend waiting for as long as possible. “Dangerous situations may not dot his entire record…” she started before setting a hoof on the door, “but he does have something that several of the others that I considered don’t.”

“And what might that be?” Silver wondered. As he watched Grace slowly start to grin at him.

“… a distinct talent for causing, chaos,” she answered while opening the door and stepping out. Leaving her friend to ponder that for a moment while the guard standing there instantly popped to attention, and rendered a salute. “At ease,” she raised a hoof to return him to his post, “I’m not even in my regalia, you don’t have to do that.”

“Understood your majesty,” the colt said while tucking his spear up against his side, “Though might I ask where you will be going, so we may get a detail ready?”

“That won’t be needed,” she replied casually over her shoulder, “If any of your higher-ups asks, I simply went out, if they give you a hard time for it. Give me their name, and I’ll sort it out later.”

With that simple command, the princess trotted along the corridors of her castle, in search of one colt to find another. It was Sunday evening, and if she knew their schedule, then at least one of them had enough sense to stay in for the night to get ready for the coming work day.

Walking though the barracks of the castle, the princess got several heads turning from those that have seldom if ever seen her without the regalia. Though she paid no attention to those that stared, and shooed away those that tried to salute her, her focus was on one colt. Knocking lightly on the door to his quarters, Grace heard the voice of one of the colts she looked for answer her from the other side.

“I’m decent, come on in!”

Doing just as the colt said, Grace strolls in to the room and closes the door behind her. Taking Free by some sort of surprise as he covers himself as best he can with a towel. “Your majesty,” he shutters, “I didn’t know it was…”

“Oh you’re fine Free, it’s just us,” she assured him.

Finishing drying himself off, Free hangs the towel up on the hook outside his head, “To any other colt this would either be a fantasy come true or…” he paused for a moment to think of what he was going to say next, “… actually no, this would just be a fantasy.”

“Well you aren’t dreaming now, Though I was actually looking for another, so don’t flatter yourself,” she chuckled at him, “I know you and Iron work the same schedule, so I was hoping to find him here, or at the very least you could tell me where he was…”

“Well good to see you too,” he laughed a bit while giving her a playful grin, “Though if it’s Sunday night, he probably would be at a local bar, Elixirs and Edibles. We used to frequent it on our nights out when he resided here.”

Making a mental note of the name, Grace nodded to him in thanks, “One of many places I would imagine, hmm?” slowly back stepping towards the door, the mare put a single hoof on the handle as Freefall perked up once more.

“Though, what could you possibly need from him at this time?”

Grace simply smiled back at him, as she hid all her cards, “Oh… just a little side project that probably will catch his interest.” With that, the princess slid out in to the hallway, hell bent on tracking down this colt.

Iron remained seated at the bar counter, already having downed half his weight in liquor, with little to no food left in his stomach. He has work tomorrow, and as of now, it’s his time to enjoy himself and relax. Even if it’s six in the evening, as long as he can get back to the castle and pass out in his work area, he’ll be good to go.

“Probably still hammered, surrounded by tools and parts… what’s the worst that could happen,” he muttered to himself over top the glass of hard cider.

Able gladly took his glass from him and topped it off, “now I remember why I didn’t miss you so much,” she teased, “you would almost always drink me out of house and home…”

“Yeah that may be true,” Iron reached in to his satchel and pulled out his bag of bits, before leaving a good hoof full on the counter, “but then again I’ve always tipped pretty well.”

Able couldn’t really argue with that, he was right after all. Taking the bits and putting them under the counter, the mare went about tending to the other costumers as she left Iron to hold his own against the glass. However, neither of them, or the other patrons for that matter, noticed the mare walking in to join them all.

“A little birdy told me I might find you here…” Iron looked over to the seat next to him, only to find Grace sitting there poised with her hooves holding her head up.

“I’m assuming this bird has a name that makes it sound like he’s the type to crash and burn?” he put together in his mind, though the reference didn’t sit to well with the princess, she just sat there and raised a brow like he was an idiot.

“If you mean Freefall… then yes,” she turned her stool to him, “actually I was hoping to find you here, saved me from having to search across the entire city.”

“Oh you wouldn’t do that for me, you’d just wait till I either got back to the castle, or send Free to do it,” Iron grinned back at her, “you know you would… you don’t like me that much.”

“If I liked you at all…” she rolled her eyes at him, before turning her head away, “though you do change the pace of things a bit.” Grace muttered as Iron continued to pound back a glass.

“Alright sweetheart you have my complete, undivided attention,” Iron said as he looked to the stool next to him.

“Mister Knight…”

“Yea?”

“Wrong stool…”

Doing a one eighty, Iron found his eyes meeting the princesses once more, “There we are, much better,” he settled himself, “though I must ask, how goes the search for your little team?”

Grace paused for a moment, it was somewhat the subject she wanted to discuss with him. ‘though taking a load off couldn’t hurt either,’ she decided as she waved the bartender over. Able about tripped when she saw who was sitting at her counter, though with a quick brush off from Grace, she recomposed herself. “I’d like a glass of Saddleoff vodka, squeezed lime, on the rocks, stirred, with…” the princess paused for a moment to think, “three olives.”

With a smile and a brief nod, Able set out making the princesses drink. As Iron just stared down the princess, “A mare that knows her poison…” Iron lightly smiled at her before turning his attention back to his own, “I like it.”

“Oh please, there are many things you don’t know about me…” she scoffed, “Though as for the little game, I think I know who I’ll be sending.”

“Well then, tell me about yourself,” Iron said, completely ignoring her comment, or just avoiding it all together. Either way she couldn’t tell, “yes I heard what you said, though I don’t expect you to down your glass like I’ve been doing to mine… so we have some time.”

‘Okay, so he does actually know what he’s doing… from time to time,’ she summarized, giving the colt props for that much at least, “Well let’s see, you probably know most of my life from what you saw when I was growing up and learning to be a princess.”

“You took power only a few years ago, right?” he asked, getting a nod in return, “I know, I got that news while out in Degus. Word doesn’t really travel fast there.”

“When did you leave the service anyway?” Grace asked curiously, as her drink was set before her, “I could have sworn that I saw you’re name several times while growing up.”

“Oh please, I aint that old,” Iron snickered at her as he sipped his glass to savor the moment, “I got out about a decade ago, finished out my teaching requirements, and put on a new job title as Mr. Knight.”

Grace let a giggle slip out as she sipped her glass, “Well it does suit you rather well,” she complemented, “Besides, from what I heard after talking to your principal, your students love you to no end.”

“Oh I know… hell they are the reason I’m here after all,” he narrowed his eyes down at the mare sitting idly beside him.

“Oh come now, do you really think that you would have been able to live with yourself had you stayed there?” Grace let that thought sink in for a few moments before she continued, “no matter though, classroom or not, you’ve done well here too… with the record that I saw, I’m surprised you didn’t stay in, though why a teacher?” she asked curiously.

Iron shrugged his shoulders. It was a question that he got from many of those that knew him, and one that he already knew the answer to, “I always had a knack for figuring stuff out, thinking how things were put together, and then knowing how to explain it to them…” Iron answered as he took another sip from his drink, “I was doing that the whole time I was in, but being at a school cuts most of the bullshit out… yeah some is still there, but that bit I can deal with.”

“There will always be some level of bullshit in life,” Grace said, sucking an olive up and out of her glass, “after all, it’s life… though while at your lovely little home…”

“You can cut the crap, Gracie…” he grinned back at her as he watched the mare twiddle with one of her locks, if only to take her eyes from his glare, “yea I know I have somewhat of a mess going on there.”

“No, no… I didn’t mean it like that,” she waved off with a hoof, as Grace still maintained perfect balance of her glass, and answered from the heart, “you have a mess yeah, but you know where everything is. So that makes it very functional.” She paused for a moment to take another sip of her glass, while giving her a moment to think, “I was curious though while there about what you’re trying to make, those journals you had out were filled with something after all.”

“My research?” he questioned. It had been a while sense any pony asked about what he would be doing for hours if not days (during the summer) in his shop, or even at the shop in school. Most just brushed it off as ‘Iron being Iron’. The few that had asked, usually lost interest with in the first thirty seconds of him explaining it.

‘Buck it… let’s see how much her brain can wrap around this,’ he cracked his hooves across the counter, “Okay… well long story short, like I said I always liked to figure out how stuff worked, I also like to figure out how to make it better. Take a suit of armor for example,” he broke out a pencil and grabbed a napkin from the opposite side of him.

“The sheets usually used to make a suit mostly start out as larger chunks of metal, heating the chunk up and hammering it out, then heating it up again can build the strength of the metal and make it in to a suitable piece of armor,” Iron paused for a moment to see if she was still following. Only to see the curious eyes of a pony like he sees often in his class, “Well, this doesn’t change the weight of the armor, it just makes it stronger. So what I’ve been trying to do it figure out how to make it stronger, while at the same time making it weigh less.”

“Something that many metallurgists had been trying to do for years,” Grace pointed out, not to burst his bubble, just to make a point. “So what are you doing different?”

“Well for one many of them weren’t unicorns, it was always an earth pony kind of trade,” Iron stated, “and on top of that, those that were unicorns for some reason just used spells… they never thought of mixing both hard labor and spells to try and get a product…”

For all the centuries that this sort of thing has been going on, Grace simply couldn’t understand how they hadn’t put that together in the past, “How do you know they hadn’t tried?”

“In the library and such… good, old fashioned, research,” he remarked proudly. “So I took what I learned and played with it for years, got several scars from burning metal hitting my skin or spells back firing… though all in all it’s worked.”

“How well?” Grace asked quickly, having forgotten about the half full glass she still had in hoof.

“As of now, it weighs a little more than my original suit, but that’s counting additions, on the bright side it’s about two or three times stronger. Yet I’m never done with it, every time I figure out how to improve it, I do so… so like wine, It’s just getting better and better with age.” Iron leaned on to the counter, “After all, the fundamental of science and progress is to never settle for what you already know… it’s to question what else is possible.”

Grace couldn’t help but grin at the colt, “well you certainly picked the right profession with that sort of view on things…” with that, in one gulp. The mare downed what little she had left in her glass and set it off to the side. Before she could do it herself, a bit landed on the counter next to the empty glass.

“I may be an asshole, but I’m a polite one,” Iron winked at her, “Or it’s just the booze talking… either way, that ones on me.”

“Oh you’re so kind,” she nodded sincerely to him, “all things said though, I did come here for a reason…”

“It wasn’t just to share a drink with me?”

“No… although that may have been a little bonus,” she admitted to him with a sheepish smile across her lips, though before he could question it she picked right back up, “I selected who I would like to go on that little… mission, in this game of mine.”

“Oh…” Iron politely smiled back at her, “and who might that be?” he asked.

Seconds passed, and when he didn’t get an answer, Iron turned his attention back to the mare. Only to find Grace staring at him with a slowly growing smirk across her face, “Wait… you want me to do this?” he asked the obvious.

“I read your files, Mister Knight…” she paused for a moment to get her thoughts in order, “You’ve worked with gryphons before, and in special cases, you have been known to think outside the box when need be to get the job done,” Grace started to go off exactly what she read in his file, “granted you have little to no regard for your own life, or the property of others… then again it has been noted you can be subtle when need be… and also if need be, you will level a building to finish a job.”

“That was only one time… beside,” he brushed off, “I’ve never seen true war, a few skirmishes here and there. Though not full hoof on claw fighting.” Iron pointed out to her with a tip of his glass.

“Regardless, in those situations you proved yourself… You’re adaptable, and given the fact that the gryphons have been shrouded in secrecy sense our little falling out,” Grace leaned in closer to the colt, mostly to keep prying ears off of what she was saying, but also to drive her point home, “there may be some things that they have up their claws that we wouldn’t be expecting…” returning to her seat, Grace watched as his mind went over what she said, “after all, they are a crafty sort… but then again, so are you.”

“Flattery can only get you so far…” he smiled back at her.

Grace caught herself for a moment, and cut off any more blood to shooting to her cheeks, “This isn’t flattery,” she pressed on, “it’s the simple truth. They have dug in to our affairs, now it’s our turn to return the favor.”

Iron looked over the mare once more, all trace of his intoxication wiped off his face as he watched with clear and narrow eyes. If she was lying to him, or telling him what he wanted to hear to sway him in any way, she certainly didn’t show it. “Have you ever considered being a poker player?”

“No…” she questioned in the back of her head why he would ask that, “then again I have always preferred more strategy games with actual boards…” without even a word, Grace plucked his own glass up and took a sip, savoring and examining the concoction before letting it slide down her throat, “not bad… although it could be a bit stronger.”

“I like to finish my night on a sweet note,” he remarked.

“Well… then I shall do the same,” she rose up from her seat, “I leave it up to you of course if you would like to go on this little mission. After all, I did only ask you to come here to work on metal.” Grace spilled for a moment, “then again, I can give you access to whatever you may need in the event that you do take it on, anything… and if you’d really like, Freefall can be going with you as well…” she watched as his ears perked up from the sound of his friend, “You two always did work well when it came to things of this sort.”

With that, Grace made her leave. Walking gracefully towards the door, she was about to push it open and leave him to his own thoughts, until she heard a cough that grabbed her attention. “Grace…” Iron called out to her with a smirk, as he waited for her to turn around, “when you say ‘whatever I may need’… does that also count what I may simply ‘want’ as well?” he asked as the smirk started to stretch itself across his face.

While at the same time, Grace’s own smirk died at the realization that she just gave a colt with a questionable sanity level free run of the castle’s own armory. “Oh damn it…”

Chapter 20

“And she got you to agree to this… how?” Free asked his friend as they stood by in Iron’s work shop. The colt meanwhile made a few final adjustments to his suit, tweaking it just so.

“She made a few valid points on the matter, and eventually I mentally said ‘buck it’”, he replied. Charging a few of the enchanted stones with his own horn to top them off, “besides, cooping me up in here all day may sound fun at first. But a change of pace is always nice too.”

“You do realize what we are about to do right?” Free asked as he looked at his blade holstered on his side. Sliding it out just enough to touch the edge with his hoof, he tested it, carving a small piece out of the dead keratin. “We’re about to walk headlong in to an enemy country, just the two of us, go in to their own protected factories, and then try to get out with our tails still.”

Iron looked up from his suit for a moment to consider all that could possibly go wrong with this situation he found himself in. Most of the outcomes simply ended with the two of them being hung or beheaded. The more complex scenarios played out like a torture scene from a bad play. Iron grinned for a moment back at his friend, “then maybe I should have packed an extra bag.”

He pointed over to the satchel in the corner that’s been lying there sense Free walked in and got the word of their little side mission. Though he may wonder what it contains, Free knows that whatever it is will probably come in handy later and trust’s his friend’s judgement… for the most part.

“I take it she let you have full access to the armory?”

Greedily nodding like the little colt he is, Iron picked up the different parts of the armor with his magic, and started to piece it together around his whole frame. Belts tighten around his waist, straps wrap themselves in on his legs, only to lock in to place as the bolts he added connected themselves to the upper portions of the suit.

Tightening it all down with just a thought, Iron felt the helmet slide overtop his head, as he kept his eyes closed during the transformation. Pancaking his mane to the back of his scalp, the only thing left exposed was his horn, to better cast spells. With that, the colt popped the visor up with a hoof and looked over to his friend, as Free stood there for a moment in awe.

“Yeah… I know,” Iron deadpanned at him, “I have way too much time on my hooves.”

“Oh you don’t say?” Free rolled his eyes for a moment as the suits pieces came together to make one solid frame around Iron’s body. “Though I have to give it to you… you’re good at what you do.”

“And what I do is kinda off the wall…”

“You got that right,” the reptilian voice of Silvertongue echo’s the room as the drake walked in to greet them. Pausing for a moment, he even had to bite his own tongue, “I take that back…” he said admiring the work Iron has put in to his creation, “very impressive.”

“Why thank ya kindly,” Iron did a crude bow, or at least as much as one as his suit would let him. Looking over the drake’s shoulder though, a small frown crossed his face as he realized he would be missing one face for the time being, “though I was expecting Grace to walk us out…”

Silver smiled coyly at the colt, letting his slit eyes walk across the colt’s expression as he read him, “don’t worry, she wanted to but meetings got in the way… besides, this is still off the books for the most part,” he responded to bring Iron back in to them, “so needless to say, the princess didn’t want to tell her advisors that she was sending one of her guards and… well, a teacher, in to the Gryphon Kingdom.” The drake waved his claw through the air, as he monologued.

“Well when you say it like that, it sounds completely insane…” Freefall looked over to Iron, as he adjusted a few things on the side. “Right up your alley.”

“Hey now keep in mind, buddy,” Iron said back to him without missing a beat, “You’re coming with me.”

“The princess asked me to.”

“You could have said no.”

“She’s the princess, I don’t have that luxury.”

“And Grace is also your friend.”

“And she probably wanted me to go so you don’t burn down half their country.”

“That would make things easier on her end anyway…”

“If you two are done flirting with one another…” Silver cut the two bickering, and grabbed their attention, “you do have a schedule to keep, to some extent at least.”

Free perked his head up for a moment, “that’s right… you never really did explain how we’re going to get in to their country.”

“Well allow me to elaborate,” Silver chimed in, “there’s a river that cuts between our countries, and in days past was used as a route for trade… not so much now as you might expect.” The drake chucked for a moment to himself as the others simply shook their heads, “anyways, a boat will meet you down by the docks a few miles from here. From there they will run you down to the kingdom, and you will depart.”

“What’s the actual target?” Iron asked as he rummages through a cabinet off to the side of the shop.

“A factory… one of the many that they have,” Silver answered, “granted it’s not the largest that we know they’re in control of. But it is the most accessible to us, it has a dock set up to take what raw materials they do have directly to their plant.” The drake looked through a small parchment that had a layout of the land they would be looking at, before he passed it off to Freefall.

“How are we getting out?” Iron asked, “assuming we are still in one piece to do so.”

“Simple, the merchant that is taking you in will also set you up with a smaller boat,” he nodded to them both as he explained, “river flows back to Seren, so all you’ll have to do is sit back and wait.”

“Whelp, splendid… now that we have those little formalities worked out,” Iron said as he pulled out his own sheathed blade. Rough cut from a chunk of metal, and pounded out by his own two hooves. He made it while he was still serving, though never really got to use it all that much. ‘And now, after getting out, I have need of you… irony,’ he snickered before turning to them, “shall we get started?”

With a grey overcast from the skies above. A small cargo boat chugged along the river as it headed upstream. The paddles on the side pushed their way through the water, while down below the steam engine cranked out the force needed to drive the entire contraption ahead as coal was fed in to the burn box to kick start the whole reaction. Producing steam from the heat, and using that pressure to crank a piston back and forth to drive the axils that connected to the paddle wheels on the side.

For one colt, the simplistic design was more than enough entertainment to pass the time as he waited for their drop off to come. For another however, needless to say. Somepony hadn’t gotten their sea-legs quite yet.

Freefall leaned over the side of the boat, spilling the small meal he had earlier that day all across the water’s surface. While the small fish underneath quickly picked up the bits of food left over. “Hope it taste’s good to y’all going back down…” Free grumbled over to them as he plopped himself back on the deck.

“Awe… poor colt not used to the water?” Iron mocked from over top his shoulder while he peered down in the engine room from a port hole.

“I’m a Pegasus… we were never meant to be on the water,” Free responded as he fell flat on his back next to his friend, “If we were going in the DDR then I would have flown in there myself, or even dropped you off. But no-o-o-o because the Gryphons have look outs in the sky, we had to take the sneaky way in…”

Iron rolled on to his own back next to Free, and propped his head up on his helmet, “Oh lighten up… could be worse, you would be on watch right now.”

“At least the castle wouldn’t be moving…” Free murmured.

“Stomach getting to ya I see?” they looked up to see the captain of the vessel standing there looking down on them from the railing above. The older gryphon stood there and winked his eye at the pair from across his aging beak, as he held a cigar on the other side, “he aint used to these water’s is he?”

“Not at all sir…” Iron answered for him.

“Eh no surprising, ponies don’t really pick up well on traveling the waters…” the gryphon mentioned as he riffled in his coat pockets. Producing a ginger root from one, he held it over top of Free and dropped it square on his chest, “Here, take a few bites out of that… it will help ya in the end.”

“Thank. You. Sir.” Free sounded off as he snapped off a small end and popped it in his mouth. Leaving the other two to talk.

“How did they managed to get you roped in on this mess Capt?” Iron asked straight away while the gryphon hung around.

“Oh that’s a simple story…” he took a puff off of his cigar, “I never really cared for the trade between our nations, I mostly dealt with the smaller customers anyway that did their own business. So as far as I’m concerned, if the coin is good,” he grinned at Iron from above him, “then I’ll take ya all the way to where the sea serpents call home if that’s what ya ask.”

“I’ll take dry land at this point…” Free motioned with one hoof held high while he relaxed, the envious green leaving his face as the oils in the ginger did their work.

“Don’t worry there colt, we aren’t that far off from port…” the captain looked up and around his surroundings once more to try and get his bearings, “At least I don’t think we are…”

“What do you mean by that?” Iron asked, perking up from his spot on the deck.

Having traveled these waters nearly his entire younger life up until now, the gryphon knew these river waters better than probably his own mother. So if something wasn’t right, it would stick out to him above any other eye watching. “I’ve stopped by a small town on my way to and from the kingdom on many occasions,” he searched back in to his memory to try and pick out landmarks to place them, though the fog laden across the waters from the sky getting ready to down pour little helped his olden eyes. “A backwoods sort, Riverton it went by, I marked as my half way point when traveling…”

“So what seems to be the issue?” Free piped up, feeling much better than he was minuets ago, “are we still on the right track?”

“Oh don’t worry there lad, we’re on our way to the kingdom, that’s for sure…” the captain looked around as best he could once more, before making his final call, “but I didn’t see hind or hair of Riverton while we passed…”

“So the whole town up and left?” Iron snickered at him, “you might want to consider retiring there…?”

“Captain Sturgis,” he remarked back, “and make no mistake… where the town was located, we passed it for sure. But where the town is, that I couldn’t tell ya.”

“Skies getting darker there Sturgis,” Iron answered back.

“He’s right,” Free threw his two cents in, “plus the fog rolling in probably blocked out any view you could have gotten…”

“Maybe there gents… maybe,” the gryphon yawned, gaping his beak wide open as he breathed in the moist air he so much loved. “Whelp I’m still positive that we passed it, I know that much… so there’s another few hours till we make dock. I’m going to do my captainly duties… why don’t you both get some shut eye, with a war on the horizon. I’m guessing whatever it is you’re headed here for, it isn’t going to be peaceful at all,” Sturgis chuckled over top his shoulder as he went back in to the cabin.

Taking his word for it, both colts decided he was right. If they got the time to do so, they might as well get some sleep while they can… it was going to be a long night when they pulled in.

This time of night, the dock that the steamboat pulled in to is dead on arrival. From down below a few of the deckhand’s grabbed line and toss them over to the pier, jumping a few feet, they went over to the bollards and tied down the rest of the boat. Though as the deckhands do their work, their captain is doing his own.

“Ya still alive down there?” Sturgis asks as he taps either colt on the end of their hoof.

Sprawled across the deck, Iron and Freefall come to life, each clutching their sword in hoof as they try to get their bearings from the short but rather restful sleep. Letting the hilt fall short, Iron wiped the sand from his eyes as he stretches out for a moment before coming to his hooves. “Well that was very much needed,” he looks around at the piles of cargo that have been stacked up around the weather deck, “so… are we in the clear?” Iron asked, hiking himself up on his hind hooves as he peered over top of the cargo to look at the surrounding area.

Few candle lights dotted the pier, giving the entire waterfront a dreary calm to it as the fog from before started to settle in around them in a thin whisper. Perfect place to slip in to an enemy territory, get some intel, and then slip back out. “Most of the dock workers are off duty at this time of night,” Sturgis filled him in as Freefall got up on his own, “and those that work here at night, well… let’s just say many of them used to work for me.” He winked at the pair of colts as Free grinned at him.

“Got your claws in them I see,” he kept his head low around the crates, “right under the king’s nose.”

“Oh a mutual respect of sorts…” he brushed off as they walked around the cargo, being sure to steer clear of the starboard side which was open to the rest of the docks, “I helped them get a job after the training and work ethic from my boat, and they turn a blind eye when I ask…”

“Under the table deals out the ass…” Iron perked as they reached the end of his ship, “I like it.”

“Great, then you’ll like this…” Sturgis flicked out a talon, slicing a rope on the side and dropping a smaller boat to the water with a dull splash. Both colt’s looked over the side, at the vessel there, “it aint much, but that’ll be your getaway. I’d love to take y’all back, but to have a boat show up, and then just leave like that would be rather suspicious…”

“Meh I get it… besides, we can get there on our own,” Free extended a hoof to the older gryphon, “it’s been a pleasure.”

“Likewise shipmate,” Sturgis tipped his hat to them both.

“Fair winds, and calm seas there Cap,” Iron slid his helmet over top of his brow as he shook his claw as well.

Sliding off the side of the ship and down to the small row boat, Iron and Free leap up and off the side. Grabbing on to the dock supports to keep their heads above water, the two spidered themselves along the walk way, closer and closer to shore. As the water became shallower, the colt’s plant their hooves on the soft sand beneath them and waded their way to the shore.

“Well this is just great…” Iron muttered from underneath his helmet, “I spend nearly half my life making this armor and improving it, and the one time I really get to use it, I aint even being paid as a soldier…”

“Oh quit your yapping… could be worse,” Free answered, “we could be doing some off the books spy mission, that if we get caught, we’ll be thrown under the carriage and left for dead…”

Iron paused for a moment, and twisted his head around, “You little smartass…”

“I learned from the best…” Freefall chuckled as they made their way through the shore grass growing on the edge.

The dock area wasn’t much to look at during the night… though it probably wasn’t much better in the day. Only a few storehouses dotted around the docks, allowing the factory just over the hill to stock up on needed supplies to support it in times that the pier may not be able to get any boats in.

Working their way behind a few of the smaller buildings. Iron tightened the straps on the sack over his back as he and Free press themselves against the doorway to a warehouse, “Through here, just over the hill… that’s all we need,” he muttered under his breath.

“Get in, get out, then get home…” Free replied.

“…Just in time for happy hour,” Iron finished up as he turned the latch on the door and the two snuck in.

Under the dim lanterns set up in the warehouse, both colts rummaged past more and more crates, along with hoppers full of pure raw materials. Wool to make everything from blankets to coats for a long winter war. Cut timber to create whatever an army would need in terms of structure. Copper ore stored in carts to help make mess kits, right next to iron for likely armor and bins of… something else…

“Sulphur?...” Iron pondered as he smelled the air, and had his nostrils filled with the eggy stench.

“For… fireworks?” Free smirked up at him, as Iron dug his hoof in to the powdery yellow mixture, “Or do you have any other idea…”

“Explosives probably… I mean a firework isn’t all that different from a bomb,” Iron looked up from over top of the bins. Only to see hundreds more stretching across the floor of the storage bay. “though by the looks of things they have enough supplies here for the long war ahead of them…”

“Whelp… that’s what we’re here to find out,” Free tapped his hoof, as they reached the other side of the warehouse.

Making their way over the short clearing between the warehouse and the hill that separated it from the factory. The colts try their best to work quietly, muffling their armor as best they can with slow controlled steps. Though one things for sure as they reach the edge of the hillside, this factory is far different then what is back in Seren…

“That’s… that’s pretty impressive,” Iron remarked as they stood on the edge and watched as billows of fire and soot rose in to the air from the smoke stacks that towered over top the main structure. In one end, train cars brought in more and more supplies, and in the few minutes that they watched over the compound they noticed more cars leaving out the other side. Carrying whatever it is that that kingdom needed in a time of war.

Though to their surprise, few guards were positioned over top of the factory’s walls. There stood only a hoof full of gryphons that would make their way around the perimeter in due time, and then continue their rove.

“Don’t look like they’re really concerned with an attack do they?” Free pointed out the obvious.

“Not at all…” Iron stood up, and slowly crept closer to the structure, “shall we?”

Soon Freefall was in tow, close behind him, the pair of ponies moved as one like they had done in the past. Silently making their way to the compound, it wasn’t hard to gain entry at all, with many of the guards there having to watch over large areas. They didn’t have time to keep all places in sight. Which allowed the two to slip inside through a small window up on the roof. Slipping inside, the pair dropped to the middle of an open passage way, unseen and unheard.

“Rather modern looking building wouldn’t you say? Or almost… futurized?” Iron pointed out to him, noticing that the Gryphons seemed to trade in their buildings of wood, for this one built from stone, mortar, and metal.

“Is that even a word?” Free responded, noting the advanced setting. Even Boralus, the crown jewel of Seren, was still constructed of mostly wood.

“It is now…” Iron responded as they got back to business, “although they certainly leaped a few decades in tech…”

Hearing a few footsteps getting closer to them. Either colt laid low, peering ever so slightly around the corner only to see a loan guard getting closer and closer to them. Both colt’s looked at one another and nodded, without even a word, knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

As the gryphon came in to view, Iron reached out with a single hoof and snared him from around the neck. Locking his fore hoof in to his wind pipe, the sentry didn’t even stand a chance. As the blood was cut off from his brain, he slumped down to nothing. Tilting his head over to one side while his tongue curled out.

“You missed doing this sort of thing, don’t you?” Free asked as he pushed the body further off to the side.

“Oh far more than you might think…” raising one hoof to the gryphon, Iron tapped an aqua stone on his bracer. The resulting glow from the stone released a clear mist from the suit. Blanketing the fallen gryphon in shadow as he all but seemed to disappear before Frees’ very eyes.

“Well I’ll be damned…” he looked to where the gryphon was, and then back to his friend, “you’ve put quite a few tricks up your sleeve, haven’t you?”

“Oh hush now, it’s not permanent…” Iron shrugged off, “besides, it doesn’t really help if another guard walked in to them, just a simple cloaking spell to hide him while we work.” He finished off as they stowed the soldier off to the side of the back hallway.

Moving through the factory as best as they could. Both colt’s relied on the skills they had each gained from prior years of service to the crown to avoid any and all encounters with guards and other gryphons patrolling the area. While their service for the most part may have been guard duty or the occasional back up to petty squabbles here and there, some of the more ‘off the books’ tasks that they were given got a little more… bloodier.

After all, their higher ups saw that the two worked rather well together, and were good at what they did… and what they did was find a way to cut corners and around issues that the nation was posed with. One’s that their superiors didn’t want to have on their own hooves, so when in doubt, many times the pair were taken aside and given the challenge to solve. It wasn’t pretty work sometimes, but then again, Iron enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than the simple duties outlined in his contract. And whether or not Freefall admitted it, so did he.

Climbing up a ladder well, the duo found themselves up in the rafters of the production floor. From here they could see all that stood in Seren’s way of survival. Large conveyor belts transported sheets of metal getting ready to be stamped out in to what Iron could only guess was rough armor plates, considering Boralus had the same thing going on in its basement. Further off in the distance kilns blazed away as raw ore was smelted in to them to create the sheets before them. Even at this distance the colts could feel the heat radiating off of the fires.

“You’re right at home, aren’t you?” Free asked as he looked to his friend, while even though this was the enemies war effort, Iron was still engrossed in to the sight.

“It’s a beautiful thing, industry,” he replied as a tear almost fell from his eye. Though as he batted it away, one thing he could not help is notice the end results of the stamping process several yards down the line. Whatever the shapes were, it wasn’t something that he was used to when it came to armor. “Odd design, don’t you think?”

Free looked closer and saw what his friend meant as he pointed it out to him. The shapes were far too narrow to be any sort of protection to a soldier, and even that, the sheets were just too thin to stop anything for that matter. “New designs perhaps?” Free inquired as him and Iron moved over top of the floor below along the rafter’s edge.

“Well whatever it is, we’ll find out soon enough,” he replied as they reached the other side of the production floor.

Troves of gryphons stood along the belts and the various cut outs of metal. Each armed with a different set up of tools to carry on the same function as an assembly plant that their Seren counterparts were using. Small mallets, pliers that their claws can manipulate easily, punches and files all loaded in to their work aprons with in claws reach. However, as Iron and Free watch as the various pieces went further and further down the line, one thing is clear… these aren’t suits of armor, it’s some sort of weapon.

“They do have something up their sleeves…” Free muttered while they watched various parts and pieces assembled at different points on the line.

Iron for the first time in a while though is silent, he just watched as the components are assembled. Even though he may be quiet, mentally he was screaming as his mind raced around, trying to put two and two together to figure out how this thing worked and what exactly it was.

“Let’s see what secrets they have to hide from us…” Iron said as he moved along the rafter, soon Free was right on his tail as they crossed over in to another part of the building.

This time though, all the weapons that had been produced, laid stored along racks and inside open cargo crates. Ready and waiting to be packed up and shipped out to the kingdom’s foot soldiers. Along the various aisles, gryphons worked to rack back the weapons, testing them. Before they went in to the boxes, and were carted off on to train cars. Though up above them all, two colts watched the entire process from start to finish unfold, in less than five minutes.

“I got to give it to them though,” Free mumbled as Iron looked, waiting for him to finish, “they sure can build up a strong offence when they need to.”

“Now we just have to figure out how exactly these things work…” tapping the back of his armor. Free noted the gesture and locked his fore hooves around his friend’s waist, before the two of them leapt off the side of the support beam.

Trying to fly while oneself is in full combat armor is no easy feat, let alone if you’re trying to carry somepony who is in the same attire. Thankfully Iron didn’t need them to take to the sky and leave, all he needed was a gentle glide down to the floor so they could land without a sound.

“Hey! Who’s there?”

Well… almost no sound.

A random gryphon doing his job and storing the weapons took notice of the minor crunch from the armor hitting the stone floor as if reverberated through the room. Grabbing his own side arm, he pulled out from its holster what looked to be a smaller version of the weapons that were just made. Holding it steady at shoulder height, the worker paced around his space for a minute, making sure to check around every corner that the pile of crates helped to cover up.

Turning around one corner, a flicker of light above him from a lantern tricked his eye for but a moment. But that’s all that Iron needed. With an aqua pulse of energy, from his bracer shot an ice spike that took the gryphon by surprise, lodging itself deep in to the target’s neck and silencing any call of help from him. With all loss of motor control from the severing of his spine, the gryphon’s legs went limp and he collapsed to the ground, a still heap of flesh. Meanwhile the magical shard leftover, in the hot environment, already started to give way and melt.

With a light tap to a gem stone on his breast plate, Iron unshrouded himself mere feet from the fallen soldier. Looking up, Free hovered there gently next to the lantern, allowing the light to blind anybody trying to pick him out. Landing next to his friend, he looked over the corpse, noting the clean wound, “Cloaking enchantment I presume?”

“Damn straight…” Iron said proudly, “I enchanted it myself awhile back. Not perfect though, does leave a little distorted air effect around me…” walking over to the body himself, Iron picked up the side arm and examined it.

It was of similar construction from what he and Free just saw. Single handle, and what looked like a barrel of some sort attached at the top. Fiddling around with it though in the middle of an enemies’ fortress, a single press of a button on the side of the handle dropped a piece out of its base.

“Did you break it already?” Free asked as he kept an eye out for any others that might be looking around from the commotion.

“No… I don’t believe so…” looking inside the piece, all there were was what looked like little brass cylinders, each fitted with what looked to be a solid metal cap on one end. Putting the piece back in the handle, Iron stowed it away in his bag, “I don’t know how to explain it, but maybe I can figure it out when we get back…”

“Then maybe we could figure out how this one works as well,” Free said as he picked up one of its larger cousins. A heftier two clawed weapon, though this one was fitted with a stock, similar to the one on a gryphon’s crossbow.

“Screw it… take it with us…” Iron said as Free took the shoulder strap and threw it around his back.

Dumping the body in to one of the crates, a little gift for some gryphon down the road. Iron and Free made their way out of the production area, they already took out two gryphons after being here for an hour. It wouldn’t be long till one of them was found…

Going through the many corridors of the facility, the colt’s stalked their way step by step, making sure to avoid as many of the guards moving about. With Freefalls skill in hovering, and Iron’s armor enchantments, it was actually easier done than said.

“What are we looking around for now?” Free asked as Iron led the way.

“Nothing special… just whatever else we could possibly find interesting or-” an alarm rung out through the facility, cutting the colt off where he stood as they looked around for a moment.

“I’m going to guess that they found the guard you knocked out…” Free deadpanned to him, though before Iron could make any sort of snappy comeback. The sound of claws clanking against the wooden and metal floors of the upper levels silenced them both.

“And now we’re looking for a place to hide…” he started looking around, as his Pegasus friend pressed himself against the wall.

“Where would that be?”

Iron just looked at him for a moment, before smiling to himself. Frees’ eyebrow cocked up, wondering what was going through his friend’s mind. Though as he followed Iron’s eyes, they landed on the unassuming doorway that laid right next to him.

“Whelp, in to the conveniently placed door then… as if that’s not a cliché…” without another word, the two fell in to the room. Instantly grabbing their own weapons and pulling them out of the sheaths to the ready in case anything was inside.

Much to their relief though, when they barged in, all they find is an empty room…

A single bed laid in the corner, while a few dressers took up much of the wall space in the room. Underneath the window, a desk remained with several notes scattered across its surface, as a single picture frame laid face down. To both of them, it looked like nothing more than the average Sargent’s quarters that they would have found back in Seren’s own army barracks.

“Cozy little hiding place, don’t cha think?” Iron asked Free, as the Pegasus stayed at the door.

Listening in to the sounds of claws and armor going against the floor outside, Free kept his voice to that but a simple whisper. “On any other occasion, I would agree with you,” he paused for a moment, just as the noises started to die down a bit and pick back up over and over again, “though all things considered, I don’t think the décor of the room is all that important to us right now…”

Iron paid little attention to his friend, as he looked over the desk at some of the parchment strewn about. To anyone else, it would look like nothing more than chicken scratch, the sloppy writing almost incomparable to the average foals. Though the drawings that went with the notes written off to the side told him more than he ever needed to read. ‘What is it you’re building?’ he asked himself.

Whatever it was, it didn’t look like the weapons they saw out on the floor… no, these were some sort of, prosthetic.

Though the writing on it told him a child must have made them. Iron may have not had the best writing in the school, even when he used his magic to write out assignments. But his even looked lightyears ahead of whoever wrote this out.

“Let’s see here…” he started to put the pieces together from what he saw in the sketches, and what little he could get from the writing. A relatively simple design, nothing more than a few hinges and a solid hoof to take the place of one lost.

However, at its base from where it connected, rested an open cradle. “Hinges connect to rough cut and forged chunks of iron and brass, giving it structure,” he concluded, “with a semi-solid bronze hoof at the end for support, and to keep it light weight… but what goes here…?” Iron asked himself as he looked closer and closer at the vacant spot in the drawings. Each page brought to him a newer design of the hooves to replace one’s that were lost, and each one a little more complex than the last, as more and more vacant spots opened up across their design than previous model.

Taking what he could, Iron shoved the parchment in to his satchel on his side to look at it later. Before taking a hoof and picking the picture frame up. A simple family photo, a Pegasus mother sat against a tree as she cradled her foal, an earth pony mare. All the while, the unicorn, who Iron could only assume was the father, stood close by. Watching over the two from against the same trunk. ‘Lovely family…’ Iron thought for a moment, “why on earth would somepony tip this over, and with that much force?” he asked while noting the crack in the glass from the frame being slammed down.

Pulled out of his own questioning world sooner than expected by a hoof, Iron turned around to see Free standing there looking over his shoulders, “I think the coast is clear for now… we better get moving…”

Iron nodded, and put the frame back up. Huddling around the door, the two listened in to take heed in case anyone was waiting on the other side for them. Slowly turning the knob, Free pushed the door open, once the coast was clear. The two colts scurried out from their hiding place, while the alarm still trailed through the building.

“Whelp they’re still looking for us…” Iron pointed out. As he rummaged through the sack be brought.

“Duh… I certainly would be,” Free replied to him as they raced down the hallway and up a flight of stairs. By the fifth flight, both colts were heaving in their chests, from lugging around a suit of armor, and their not so healthy habit of nicotine. “Good lord… I need more cardio in my life…” he gasped out, forcing his legs to move from sheer will.

“Well on the bright side,” Iron said between gasps, “If they catch us we won’t have to worry about lung problems for too long.” Throwing caution to the wind as they hoped speed would get them out of this bind before they were discovered, both colts’ surged their legs with energy. Seeing that if they at least got to the roof, then they may stand a fair chance at getting out of here.

However, that idea shattered the moment they ran out of stairs in the same hallway they got in from. Meeting a group of Gryphon guards patrolling the area looking for whoever caused the alarm in their neck of the woods. “Nowhere to go there horsy!” the lead soldier called out, as they all drew duplicates of the weapons downstairs to the ready.

Chapter 21

Both colts started to back up, sticking close to one another. With nothing but sirens going off in the background, and a squad standing in their way of freedom, the two didn’t have all that many options…

“Any ideas?” Free muttered over to his friend.

In that moment, Iron brought up a shield in front of them. Shrouding themselves from the weapons starting to fire, as the shots rang through the narrow hallway. Filling both colt’s ears with ringing like they were at a firework display. Free didn’t even see Iron pull out a cobbled together device from the sack he had been carting around this entire trip. As the teacher
held it close to his horn for a moment, and threw it over the shield.

The device bounced across the ground, before it rolled in to the enemy ranks. Free only caught the wink from his friend, before whatever it was finally went off. Shrouds of glass, steel, bolts, and whatever else Iron could pack inside, blanketed the Gryphons with enough wounds to leave many of them bleeding out on the ground. Even the armor plating that they wore, did little to help those were closest to the blast, and had whole limbs torn off.

With the shield dropped, Free just looked at what his friend had created, as Iron calmly walked up to his side. “You see… over charge a gem with magic, and it’ll detonate,” he started off as the two walked amongst the remains and scattered limbs, “pack black powder around that gem and put some scrap with it… and you got a rather decent bomb…”

“Well…” Free paused for a moment to avoid stepping on a random sword, still clenched in the claw of a gryphon that laid separate from the body, “you certainly picked up a few new tricks… perks of being a teacher?”

“Damn straight…” Iron said calmly as he tapped the side of the sack, “though now we’ve seen what their little toys can do…” he looked over to where he threw up a shield, at the base rested dozens of metal rounds spent in the attempt on their lives.

“As well as your armor…” Free pointed out to him.

The colt looked down at his chest plate, and right there across his heart laid two new indents from where the gryphons found their mark. ‘That’s one hell of a field test,’ Iron noted to himself while admiring the craftsmanship of the gryphons’ tech, ‘nifty little gizmo…’ he pondered, hoisting himself up and out of the window, while subsequently giving Free a hoof to do the same.

Scurrying to the side of the building, Free popped a head over the edge, before almost immediately bringing it back in. The simple look of ‘Oh shit…’ plastered all over his face. “Well… they mobilized quickly…”

“How many?”

“About thirty…” Free glanced up once more for but a moment, “not in rank, but scratch that… make it forty…”

Iron took a peak, and just as his friend said, there were dozens of guard all keeping an eye out for the likes of them. All of them, armed with both the two and one clawed weapons they just encountered, though several seemed to have other sorts of gear strapped to their backs and side. Holstered away, ready to go in a moments…

“Open fire!” they heard, ducking down before it was too late. Metal rounds started to ricochet around the wall from where they hid as others wizzed by their heads.

Iron dug in to his bag and took out several of the homegrown contraptions he put together in his off time. “How many of those things do you have?” Free asked, as he saw one after the other bring brought out.

“Enough…” the tinkerer grinned back as ignored the suppressive fire heading their way, “I throw these, you grab me, and we take off… just get beyond the gate…” Free nodded to him as the unicorn did his thing.

Stringing the magic together, each strand that came from his horn connected to the various explosives. While the gem inside them started to glow brighter and brighter the more it filled with energy from the colt. Using all his concentration, Iron tuned out all that was going on around him. From the roar of the furnaces down below that still vibrated the building, to the sounds of the Gryphons fire digging away at their cover.

All the colt did was focus on the task at hoof…

With the final gem charged, Iron hoisted up the bombs in one aura and hurtled them over the side amongst the ranks of those down below. “You might want to cover your ears for this…” he told Free.

Moments after they drilled their hooves in to their ears, and the gryphons even realized that Iron was countering them. It was too late, the combined force from all of the devices going off at once leveled the playing field. Quite literally too… the building shook from around the two as the last thing to hit what remained of their cover was the shrapnel that Iron had packed away.

Looking over the side, there was nothing but bits and pieces of flesh, armor, and weapons that reminded them that moments ago a group of attackers once stood there. The only sound they could hear now was the occasional thud from a body part hitting the ground, as even the factory seemed to go silent.

Next to him, Iron stood with a calm and clean face, simply admiring his work. “So… shall we?” he asked Free, as the Pegasus wrapped his hooves around Iron’s chest and darted in to the air high enough to glide the rest of the way to the edge of the factory. Giving them more than a head start on their way back to the docks…

Bylining past the warehouse over top the hill, the two colts ran around the structure. Not stopping to think what kind of commotion they may have caused that would have awoken any guard on the inside. Right now they had one objective, get to the boat that would carry them down stream to their pick up point.

“Well it doesn’t sound like they’ve quite gotten their shit together after that last little stunt…” Free heaved out from his lungs, as the stallion’s heart thumped away in his chest.

“Suppose we’ll be meeting any at the dock?” Iron passed.

Just as Free was about to answer that question, the docks in question came in to view. The lamps set up along the side blanketed the wooden piers in cool dim light that lead right up to the river boat that brought them down here in the first place. Not a single creature stirred amongst the quiet setting, even the dock hands that were helping Sturgis moor his own were nowhere to be seen…

“To answer your question,” Free popped up as they walked along the pier, looking around to see if any of the fighters made it this far, “I don’t think so…”

“They haven’t gotten this far then,” Iron said as they got closer and closer to the boat, “Good to know.”

The wiz of something overhead beckoned the two colts to duck their heads from pure instinct, while what seemed like a ball of fire screeched towards the vessel in question. Only to detonate from the impact moments later. The blast alone from how close they were, was enough to pick both stallions up and hurtle them along the length of the dock, as it tore in to the hull of the ship and sent splinters of wood and chunks of smoldering pitch in every which direction.

Where there was once a ship, as Iron looked up from the wooden deck below, only rested a husk that already started to sink till it hit the bottom of the dock. Resting with its bow half way out of the water, as the fires below smothered under the quenching water, and sizzled till they died.

“A pity really…” they heard called from behind them, as the claws hitting the wood started to vibrate underneath their own hooves, “Sturgis was a good captain to his own, well liked, and even more respected…”

Iron and Free looked up at one another, each one knowing exactly what the other was thinking from the moment the voice started to speak. Though looking past his friend, Iron tilted his head to get Free’s attention. Just past some of the wreckage, the row boat that the two hoped to make their escape on seemed to be largely intact. Having been pushed by the blast, and below the edge of the ship protected it from whatever destroyed its larger cousin.

Looking at one another for a moment, a simple nod said all that was needed as the two rose to their hooves and turned to face their attacker. “I should have ended you two when I had the chance…” Bronze spoke out, as she stood their wrapped up in her cloak and hood with a dozen gryphons at her side.

Most were armed with traditional weapons like their ancestors before them, having been unable to arm up prior to being grabbed by the war maiden. A few swords were grasped firmly in claw, while a couple others took the range approach and broke out crossbows from the armory before it got an upgrade.

Iron grinned at the mare, taking a step closer as the guards clenched their weapons closer to their sides and raised them up, “generally speaking ma’am if you have a chance,” he paused while eyeing up his chances, “you should take it…”

“Well this is the second time I’ve encountered you, guard,” she scowled him. Staring daggers underneath the cloak at the colt who had semi bested her before, “though this time you seem far more coherent, not much at the bar today?”

Iron simply scoffed, while Free started to chuckle, “Wow… having only met you twice, and not under the best of circumstances, she already can see you’re a drunk…”

“Oh shut it…” Iron coughed off to the side.

“Enough!” the mare shouted out as she stomped a hoof in to the deck, causing some of the wood underneath to crack from the blow, “this is the second time you’ve been a thorn in my side, and I don’t like to leave loose ends…”

“So you like bondage?” Iron inquired as he went and cut off the fuming mare, passing as sly wink to her, “Go on…”

“What? No! I meant I… AGghh…!” Bronze fumbled from the derailed train of thought, and simply lifted a hoof up pointing to the two, “Just kill them!”

Each of the gryphons with close weapons lunged forward, using their wings to push them. Meanwhile, the two colts just looked at one another, “let’s go to work…” Free said. As he brought out his sword just as fast. Stopping one in their tracks, he slipped off to the side, and brought the blade up, severing a wing on the back.

The gryphon tumbled across the dock from the loss of balance, as Iron dealt with his own. Raising up a shield, two swords were stopped at once from the enchantment. As the colt tapped a gem on his bracer whist drawing his own. As the shield dropped, an ice spike found its mark… right in the sternum of the enemy and put him out of commission in seconds.

As the second could only block slash after slash, as he backpedaled from every strike. Hiking up both legs, Iron planted his hind hooves in to the gryphon’s chest, hurtling him off the side of the dock and in to the water. With all the armor that he was wearing, even his wings, the gryphon sunk like a rock the moment their muscles gave out.

Looking down the dock, Iron and Free eyed the other gryphons raising up their crossbows and taking aim. The Pegasus tipped over a barrel before the bolts few, only feeling several lodge themselves in the thick wood of the base while he remained unharmed. As for Iron, one managed to find its way to his chest piece. The strongest part of the armor.

Bouncing harmlessly off, the only thing that was left was a small scratch. “And strike two!” the colt shouted triumphantly, as he looked at his one hoof work.

“Will you get down!” Free yelled at him, as another volley flew in. Diving behind the same barrel, both colts sat there before the bolts stopped while their enemy reloaded. With that moment, they took their chances.

Leaping from around the wooded cast, the pair bolted headlong in to the remaining gryphons, as well as whoever was leading them. Bronze only took a few steps back as the colt’s tore in to her small rank. Watching the two work together and their coordination, as opposed to the last time she met them.

While great at range, crossbows aren’t known for their up close and personal combat use. Holding them up for more coverage than anything, a gryphon managed to stop a few blows, as Iron hacked away at the hilt. Before it finally caved in, and with the final blow, the edge of the blade found itself buried down deep in to the shoulder of the one that wielded it.

Kicking the corpse from his blade, the iron worker snapped his attention to another there trying to load his weapon. While his friend dealt with a couple others on his own.

Iron wasn’t really the best of colt’s when it came to sword fighting, or even melee combat in general. He was always better when it came to spells and range attacks. All that said, he excelled particularly in one field… making it up as he went. He learned fast from past scuffles, and from that, improved his technique. What the stallion couldn’t stop himself, his armor would take care of… he hoped.

Locking blade for blade with the gryphon. They pressed their helmets to one another, trying anything to throw the other off and win the upper hoof. Though just like he designed it, Iron’s suit had a few tricks up its sleeve. Slapping one bracer to his side, a short blade extended past the edge of his hoof, and before the soldier even saw the glint of the steel from the dock lamp’s light… it was embedded in his neck.

Dropping to the ground with nothing more than a clank from the armor, Iron stepped over the gryphon. Just as Free finished up with his own adversary, ending him with a quick snap of the neck from his wings pressing against the side of his head and a twist. The two colts met up once more, side by side, at the end of the pier. Each one staring down the mare that stood before them.

Bronze didn’t say a word at first, she simply stood back and let them have their fun. ‘Fascinating as to what a unicorn can do with some old tech…’ Bronze pondered for a moment, looking over Iron’s suit, and the impressive amount of dedication he had to have to have it function as such, “you put a lot of time in to that thing I take it…”

“Just as you did in your own… designs…” Iron pushed, causing a brow to raise up from underneath the hood, “I didn’t put it together when I looked at them at first. The random holes in the blueprints for the hooves over the years… but sense seeing what you were capable of back in Boralus. Then it became clear,” he took a deep breath. As understanding finally came to his mind, and he realized he was right, “It was for charged gem stones, spells, wasn’t it?”

Bronze stood there, frozen in time for what felt like hours, before she started to put several yards between herself and them. The years she had spent tinkering with that tech, and no creature (not even unicorns) ever put it together of how she would do some of the things she did. Granted it’s somewhat of a lost art on many, one that was mostly practiced now a days as a home project for the up and coming unicorn youth, who have no idea of its real potential. Yet here out of the blue comes a colt, who knows exactly how she did some of the things he saw… and she doesn’t even know his name.

“Well… you figured it out, congrats…” Bronze started to chuckle underneath her vale, “I guess you deserve something in return then…” Grabbing either side of her cloak, with a quick tear of her prosthetics, the fabric sheared off to either side of her with an odd thud from the cloth. Leaving the mare standing there in plain sight for the two to see.

Her bronze coat grew ever more metallic in the years that have past, becoming nearly as shiny as the polished metal she was named for, allowing the lamps that dotted the pier to reflect off both it and her eyes as they shimmered in the flickering light. Along with her cutiemark of a gem encrusted nut, as her whole form reverberated in the minds to those present. For but a second, Iron and Freefall were star struck at two things.

One, that they allowed a mare this stunning to beat them in their own capital.

And two, the appendages that trailed across her frame.

The horn Iron had expected, after all, she was shooting magic out from somewhere before. Looking further down her petite build though, the colt saw the avian like claws that had replaced her own hooves how every many years ago, fused to her very tissue. Following nearly to the letter what her designs had shown, each one improved over the years.

Hardened steel plates covered the larger parts of the outside to produce the most amount of protection, while reducing what weight she could. Just as the majority of the limbs had been crafted from what looked like brass, shined to a mirror finish, and well-kept given their extended use.

Dotting along the limbs, just as the teacher had guessed, lied gem stones. Everything from onyxes, amethysts, to even the occasional topaz found itself imbedded in to the frame work. Which spells they were probably packing, and to what strength, Iron couldn’t tell. Though no matter the case, he didn’t want to find out in a hurry either. Any which way you sliced it, it looked to be that the mare had put as much time in to her own body as he had to his own suit.

‘Just one more thing to answer…’ Iron trailed off in the back of his head, turning his eyes to her own back. Where he saw the folded up wings that lay stored, ready to be used in a moments notice if the time called for it. Even in the dull light, he could see the canvas that had been sewn to perfection across the frame that laid underneath, and how they were bonded to her very shoulder blades.

For all the silence that had drawn across the group in the sudden revile of the enemy, it wouldn’t last all that long, “HOT DAMN I WAS RIGHT!” Iron shouted at the top of his lungs, leaping nearly head height in to the air, even with full armor on, “It was a mare that we saw that night! With Magic! With wings! And with claws!” the prancing colt stopped all thought in the other two present as Free and Bronze just looked to one another.

“Is he normally like this?” she asked with simple curiosity in mind.

“Meh,” Free shrugged off, “Most of the time…”

“Suck it Gracie! I was right!” the colt proceeded to shout back to the direction of Seren.

“Iron!” Free shouted at him, grabbing his friend’s attention, “Now is not the time, nor the place…”

“Right…” Iron slapped the grin off his face, replacing it with the colt expression of a soldier, “Bad Mare present, dead bodies everywhere, impending war… bigger priorities.”

“Much…bigger…” Bronze muttered.

Reaching down in to the remnants of her cloak, the sound of the thud that it made was reviled, as the mare pulled out what seemed to be a hollow tube. A single box midway through, and a couple handles, didn’t give the mechanically inclined colt much to work off of from what it might do… though the result of her pulling the trigger gave far more in site.

The sound of a fuse lighting forced Irons’ hoof, as he called up the same shield spell he’s been using all night. Stopping what looked to be a firework in its tracks, the ensuing blast cracked what remained of his shield and sent the unicorn skipping across the wooden deck. Just as his friend started to get in to the fray.

Lunging at the mare with all he could before she could reload. Bronze brought the back of the barrel around her side, smacking it up against the side of the colt’s head as he rolled on the ground. Grabbing one of the handles on the side, Bronze slid the mechanism back as a spring took over on the inside and loaded a new round in to the barrel from the hopper. Taking aim along the crude sights rigged on the tube, she sighted down the barrel back at the emerald colt just getting to his feet.

Iron looked up with enough time to see the smirk of the mare behind the sights, as she pulled the trigger once more.

Lighting his horn while her expression died, he brought up another spell, not around him, but around the actual round. Freezing it in midflight, Iron held it there for a moment while he looked over the contraption to get an idea of how to work with it.

‘Regular rocket, with an explosive charge on the head, and impact explosive on the nose to set it off…’ he glared at Bronze while she sent him a scowl, “you shouldn’t play with fire, my dear.” Iron waited just long enough for the engine to run out, before hurtling it back at her.

Forcing her roll, Bronze dodged the back fire of her own weapon, though landed right where Free was hoping. Before she knew it, a pair of sturdy hooves landed square in to her side. Collapsing the mare, the guard made her drop the launcher, only to have a metal claw uppercut him in the lower jaw. Grabbing Free from midair, Bronze whipped him around and tossed him at his friend.

“That doesn’t work twice!” Iron shouted, as he caught his friend in his enchantment, and placed him gingerly on the ground. Though it gave Bronze all the time she needed.

“I wasn’t planning on it to!” she screamed back at him. Cracking open the box on the launcher, several rockets spilled about the deck.

Each one primed and ready to go. Grabbing everyone in her own magic, she took aim, and pointed them all at the pair.

With a single flicker of the gems on her metal horn, the fuses on the end were lit, and like a swarm of hornets. The engines buzzed across the space between them.

Hitting the dock around and amongst the colts, splinters of wood and debris were sent cascading around the area, virtually destroying the end of the pier in one sweep. As the dust settled, Bronze looked at where they landed. Hoping to see some sort of remains, she only saw a circular burn mark from where a spell was cast.

“Heads up!” she heard from above.

Iron had teleported the two of them up and off the ground above her, and while Freefall may be able to hover in place for a bit as he addressed other matters. Iron decided to let gravity take over. Landing head long on top of the mare, the weight alone of the colt should have crushed her, had it not been for her strengthened frame.

Barely lifting the stunned colt off her back, Bronze flopped him on to the ground and laid a heavy hoof in to him, pushing Iron off to the side. Hobbling up to his hooves, the colt stood there for a moment, catching his breath. As the mare did the same. Although no words were said at first, the sarcastic grins on both of their faces spoke volumes.

“How is it you put so much of my tech together with how they work,” Bronze huffed between gasps, “with so little time?”

“What can I say?” he did the same, “I’m a tinkerer.”

“Well then I must ask really...” Bronze looked him over once more, noting the many gems that dotted his own armor. Just as her limbs did the same, clearly the stallion before her was a very skilled artist in his own median, just as she was herself. Though one thing bugged her that she wished to know, “what’s your name?”

“The names Knight, Iron Knight…” he said proudly with all the etiquette of a spy.

“Well, Iron Knight… not bad for a regular run of the mill guard…” Bronze snickered back at him while she got in to her fighting stance.

“Not bad for a chamber maid…” he drove the knife deeper, both metaphorically…

And literally…

With a whip of his hoof and the telekinesis spell under his control. The knife that held itself close to her back, that he drew out while on top of her, did its job to the letter… Tearing a gash in her canvas wings. Bronze snapped her head to her side as she heard the fabric cutting against the blade, and without the time to stop it. She only felt the haymaker land on the side of her face.

Knocking the mare out of his way, Iron galloped down what remained of the pier. Jumping over several large gaps in its base left over from her attack. Before leaping off the side, only giving Bronze a salute as he went over the edge and her glare started to come back up to meet his own.

Jumping to her feet, Bronze ran to the edge hoping to see the colt drowning in the waters below. Though to her demise, she saw him in a boat, heading back down stream at a rather impressive speed for its size. Given the Pegasus beating his wings on the back of it as he pushed. In a few moments, with the fog still rolling in from down river, the boat was lost from her sight.

The mare stood there for minutes, staring off in to the distance where the two had slipped from her. In her silence, Bronze thought of what she could have done differently, to simply turn the odds in her favor. Though with a subtle shake of her head, she looked back to the large slash in her prosthetic, ‘clever colt, I’ll give him that much…’ Bronze told herself as she calmly started to walk back up the pier. Passing by the bodies of those gryphons that followed her, she took in the setting, noting all the damage that had been done in her attempt to kill these two colts. More so seeing how overkill, wasn’t quite enough to get the job done.

“One thing’s for certain…” she said to herself while stepping over the bodies and destroyed sections of dock, “That probably won’t be the last of them…”

Chapter 22

A general looked over some paperwork that laid sprawled across the open table set up for their discussion. All around him sat different members of Grace’s council, along with Grace herself at the head of the table. The reports from the princess’s little side mission was laid out as clear as day amongst the many other documents that the two colts wrote out involving their every move, and what they saw along the way… though admittingly, unknown to the council, some information was left out.

Setting the account of events back on the table. The general leaned back in his chair for a moment, going over it all in his mind and putting it together. “By the sounds of things, the gryphons are years ahead of whatever we have at our disposal,” he stated the obvious, much to her majesties pain. As she buried her face in a hoof, “We’re out matched, provided if these reports are correct that is.”

“And why would they not be?” Grace asked him herself, “after all I reviewed them personally… and as outlandish as some of the things may be, I have no reason to doubt the truth in those words.”

Another council member leaned in closer to the table, raising a brow to her, “and your majesty, why do you trust what these two colts have brought back?” he peered over the names, “a Mr. Knight and Mr. Freefall.”

Grace paused for a moment, Free has never let her down whenever she would ask of him something. Having been a loyal guard to her crown sense day one, she has the utmost of faith in the colt… his companion, that’s a different story.

Although given the circumstances, Iron had earned a little respect out of the mare.

‘He just doesn’t need to know that…’ Grace muttered to herself as she sat up straight to address them the best she could, “Neither of them have anything to gain by putting false information down on their accounts, and on top of that, Freefall is a trusted member of my royal guard. Ask anyone that has worked with him, he’s dependable, reliable, and has never lied to me thus far… why would he start now?”

As that started to sink in, another member asked a simple question, “and what of this Iron Knight?”

“That colt…” ‘is a major pain in the flank at most times, and probably deserves to be in an insane asylum. Let alone a school…’ Grace stopped her mental process, hoping that she didn’t say that out loud as she picked something that would be more appropriate for them, “… Mr. Knight is… a respected member of his town. Loved by many, looked up to by those that he teaches, and regardless of the many incidents that he has been apart of while he himself served… he has still proven himself loyal at every crossroad.”

She stopped there before any more came out than she would have hoped to say openly. Looking amongst them, Grace saw that all of the members before her pondered her words carefully, considering every possible outcome that could result if they were to take drastic measures too soon… after all, as far as they knew. Both the DDR and the Gryphon Kingdom were still in the process of building up their armies.

With a single break in the silence. One board member stood up, “I believe we have an agreement…”

Iron paced back and forth in the hallway leading out of the council chambers, as the satchel on his side slapped against him with every step. Digging a hold nearly in to the tile floor, Free simply stood there. It was midnight by the time the two got back to Boralus, and shortly after a quick medical checkup for any injuries, they began writing down their accounts for the previous days outing.

After getting washed up, and given notice by Silver when the meeting would be held later that evening. The two managed to get a couple hours rest, as they now just waited for an answer to see what Grace came out with, and Free watched to make sure the structure of the building wasn’t compromised due to his friend grinding away at its base.

“A watched pot never boils, Iron,” Free said just loud enough for his friend to hear over the steady pace of his own hooves on the tile, “you told me that once or twice before.”

“That may be true, but then again this pot could boil over in to an all-out war…” Iron deadpanned at him while keeping his eyes towards the ground that steadily became more and more interesting with every pace of his legs.

Free took a step in front of his friends’ path, “and we did little to stir the pot with our little night out…” though as Iron got closer to colliding with him, the colt simply sidestepped around, and continued along the path he made.

“No… we might have just kicked the hornets’ nest…”

“Might have?” Free raised a brow, “you blew up half of their factory…”

“And you helped.”

“You were the one that packed bombs.”

“And you let me use them.”

“Yes, let you use your toys, or die,” Free thought for a moment how it would have ended for them had he not brought them along, “you were just a mad colt with bombs and your other tricks. I would have at least used them more sparingly…”

“Oh please, keep in mind out of the two of us, you’re the one that actually went to the ward at one point…” Iron stuck his tongue out. Bringing up that little known fact amongst the others that Free worked with. Though even with that somewhat low blow, Iron does have a point… neither one of them are all that stable, but Iron can hide it much better than he.

The doors that they have been waiting on finally swung open. The colts stood at either side of the entrance way, only watching as all the council members walked out one by one. Some of them chatting to others on what was just discussed behind closed doors. While some decided to keep it that way.

The last one to leave was her majesty herself, with her head hung low.

He may have never worked with her as personally as Free did. But then again it didn’t take a sorcerer to know when a mare had just been kicked while lying down. Iron strolled up next to Grace, just as Free did the same on the opposite side of her. Though even with their close presence, the mare simply walked calmly and slowly away from the chambers as she had done when first leaving.

“Well I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that it didn’t go all that well…” Iron broke the silence as he had normally been the one to do.

“Ya-” Free started to say, before a single cobalt hoof rose up from the ground and silenced him with but a wave.

“Ignore the comment, Free… as much as it pains me to say, he’s right,” Grace said with enough venom and loathing in her tone that would make the average stallion go pale.

Though Iron isn’t the average stallion, on any level, “so what? They didn’t believe it at all? Too outlandish for a couple of colts to go in to a country and dig up some dirt on their way in?”

“Not exactly…” she smirked off to the side. They did preform flawlessly in what she had asked them to both do, even the teacher himself had done rather well. Though he never did tell her why he needed all those chemicals and odd sorts of supplies before he headed out, ‘I’ll ask later…’ she decided to herself, “the council is taking the matters to hoof and deciding a route to take on a later date. After all, it was just one encounter, and although I have my trust in what was reported, they don’t.”

Iron froze for a moment in the middle of the hallway. While the other two continued to walk for a few more paces before turning about to him. “So we go in, risk our necks, almost get blown up on a few occasions… and they’re going to leave it on the back burner?”

“It’s not that simple…”

“Why isn’t it?!” Iron flipped for a moment, “You’re the bucking princess of Seren, how can you not just say ‘this is what was found, we have to act, take a broom stick and shove it up y’all’s asses…’,” pausing there for a moment as a couple maids that went about cleaning the castle walked by, and passed him a glare. Iron collected himself once more, “how can they have the final say if you’re the one that wears the crown?”

Free looked at Grace, as she did the same to him, “He has been out for a while now, hasn’t he?”

“Well the fact that his home now resides on the boarders of Seren doesn’t really help,” Free answered her, and turned his attention to his friend, “things have changed here a lot when it comes to politics…”

“It still seems to be slowing down the process of progress,” Iron pointed out as he saw it, “so not that much seems to have changed.”

“You have a point there, though let me explain…” Grace looked around for a moment to see if there were any other guards there or other castle goers with prying ears. Beckoning the two colts, she led them out to a small garden set up in one of the many courtyards scattered about the castle.

Graces’ mother was always a lover of floral arrangements, and any time her husband got her another one, he made sure to get the seeds for the flowers that she received as well. Needless to say, by the time they had passed, the castle had an astounding number of gardens scattered across the grounds. Open to any and all patrons of the building, they were lit at night by magical lanterns that read the passing of the sun… and it made a great place to have some quiet time when certain matters pertaining to the distaste of politics came in to question.

Grace strolled along the garden, gently running her wing across a few of the pedals of carnations that began to bloom even this late in the season. Calmly she walked along the small path of stone, seemingly ignoring the two colts there that resided with her. Until she took a seat on a bench set up in the middle of the garden.

“Ever sense my parents… Passing…” Grace clenched the knot in her throat that had begun to form, “the council that was normally used as a group of advisors, sought to have more power over the nation as a whole. After all, the princess to take over,” she held a hoof to her chest, “wasn’t all that experienced in such fields. So needless to say, certain things were put in to effect…”

“Bills and regulations now get reviewed several times over by those members, before they even make it all the way up to me. Smaller notes, such as building sanctions, I never see. Unless it’s personally requested. Hell, even the outsourcing that was done to help stock pile for this war effort was delegated out amongst them…” she took a breath, to quite literally smell the roses that were scattered around her, “to officially declare war, I need their approval… I’m here more than anything as a face for the public, and a figure that can be viewed as guidance.”

“So what you’re saying is…” Iron processed it all for a moment, “It’s a puppet show, and you’re the puppet?”

“For lack of a better term… yes,” she replied calmly. Hiding her distaste to the crude, but true, reference, “hence why I never chose to pick up the title of Queen… one, I didn’t want it, and two, it no longer fit the role I would have.”

“Whelp… we’re boned…” Iron put bluntly. As he slumped down to dirt on his rump.

“It’s just going to take time there, Iron,” Free explained to him, “you know how messed up the hierarchy was in the military when we were both in… things get done still, eventually.”

“Yeah… it’s that last part I don’t like…”

“No matter the case, you two…” Grace cut off any more exchange of words that might be shared between them as she rose up from her bench, “you both preformed rather well out in the field together, just as I thought you would have after looking over your reports.”

“We aim to please,” Free nodded.

“Well he does at least,” Iron pointed out, “I just aim for the chest.”

“Don’t kill the moment there,” Grace playfully warns him, “after all I’m giving you a complement… you got in there, did what needed to be done, and although your reports are clearly lacking certain information…” she narrowed her gaze at the two. Watching only the two colts start to kick their hooves against the dirt, as they tried to look as innocent as possible. “I do believe that you two earned yourselves a drink…”

Irons ears instantly perk up, he hasn’t had one in a few days, and after a day like the previous one. It’s amazing to him that he hasn’t gone in to an alcohol induced coma yet. Frees’ head jumps to the same place, though then it goes to another. Out of the two of them, he didn’t sleep nearly as well as Iron did from their night, and suffice it to say.

That’s taken its toll.

“I appreciate the offer, Grace,” Free nods to her gingerly, “However, I myself must forgo that offer… I have a date tonight with a hot shower, and my pillow.”

“And probably his right hoof as well…”

“Iron…” Free glared at him, “shut up…”

“What? Are you ambidextrous now?”

“Ignoring that comment as well,” Grace jumped in the middle of the two, trying her best to hide the smirk on her face from Iron’s rather crude (but still comical) joke. “Free, just remember that if you’d like that drink at some point, you know where to find me…”

The Pegasus bowed to her out of respect, before turning around and bidding them both a goodnight, and Iron a mumbled ‘Buck you’ comment. As he headed off to the barracks, leaving the two alone in the garden.

Having watched their mutual friend leave, Grace turned her attention to the colt beside her, as she looked up in to his hazel eyes to see if sleep was calling to him as well. Though much to her surprise, and mild joy, Iron seemed just as awake as if he got a full night’s rest.

“So, Mr. Knight,” she asked him, “where do you stand on the offer?”

“Ma’am…” he said with probably the most respectful tone she’s heard out of him yet, “you had me at alcohol…”

“Well then,” she chuckled a bit at him, “shall we?” she started to waltz away.

Iron quickly caught up to her side, and passed by her to hold the door for the mare. “So which bar are we going to?” he asked as Grace began to slide past him, after nodding a thanks for the kind gesture.

“A bar? Not at all,” she stopped in the door frame for a moment, “I have something special for you up in my chambers that you’d probably like…” slowly but surely she saw the encroaching grin start to make its way on the colts’ face. As she realized what she just said, “Oh shut it will you… I’m talking about liquor, just follow me.”

“Can do,” Iron said with his head held up high, as he closed the door behind them and followed the mare out.

The walk to Graces’ chambers took little to no time at all for the couple, as they walked through the nearly empty halls of the castle in the evening. Many others have gone to bed by this point, and with little need to keep himself up after already viewing the reports, Silvertongue was nowhere to be seen amongst the few faces that walked the halls with them.

Grace reached the top of the stairs the lead up to her personal chambers. Greeting them, were two guards posted at either side of her doors to keep watch over her well-being as she slept. Instantly standing at attention as she approached, the princess simply waved them off with a gesture as they went back to their normal selves.

“Good evening, your majesty,” one sounded off as he went to grab the door, “pleasant night I assume?”

“Oh as much as one would expect,” Grace responded to him, “I don’t suspect any trouble with this one,” she passed a playful glare to the colt following her, “You two go ahead and take the night off… my treat.” With that, and a thankful nod from the guards, the door was opened and she led herself and Iron in.

Iron had never been in the royal chambers before. Even from the old king and queen, it was sort of an off limits area in his book and a line that even he wouldn’t cross… simply a sign of respect. Though as he walked in, his eyes immediately started to look across his surroundings.

Aqua curtains draped across the window frames that lined one side of her room, eventually leading to a pair of double doors that opened to a balcony for her to overlook the city. While inside resided all the amenities of a well classed home. Book shelves lined along one side of the room, stocked with what he would have suspected was half of the cities library collection. As a few love couches and recliners lined around a table set out in the center in front of a fire place.

With the seemingly fast approaching winter at their hooves, a fire was already roaring away as the heat and light from it filled the room. Only the moon from the half opened curtains lit the rest of the area, showing the colt an archway that he could only guess led to the princesses own bed and bath. Along with several random artifacts and pictures scattered around the room that were likely passed down from her passed family members.

“Don’t stare too long there,” Grace said, snapping him out of his gaze, “you’ll go blind…”

Iron simply shrugged his shoulders at the comment, “This is the first time I’ve ever been in the royal chambers… just taking it in, that’s all.”

“I see, give me a moment will you… and take a seat, please,” the mare said as she trotted off in to the arch. Leaving Iron to do as he was told for once, as he took a seat on the couch just across from the fire and rested his satchel next to him.

Crossing his legs, the colt positioned himself as he laid back in to the cushions. The first real time he’s had to relax sense waking up earlier, as his mind buzzed about what was said in the council meeting.

“I heard you’re a fan of vodka, is that so?” he heard the mare call out from her room, as the sounds of glasses rummaging about in a cabinet ever so slightly perked his ears up.

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Iron responded, “It seems you’ve done some snooping about.”

“Well you aren’t that hard to read,” he heard the mare say as she walked in to the room behind him, “Plus I always have Free around to talk to…”

Turning his head around, even in the dim light. Iron caught sight of the princess in a way he hadn’t before. Her regalia was all retired for the evening, no shoes, no tiara, not even a pair of earrings graced her. The only thing that adorned her, was the pony tail that she done her mane up in, the pair of glasses that she carried with one wing with a bottle in the other, and the violet evening gown she had covering herself up.

Pausing any other thought processes at the current moment, Iron focused on what he needed to keep his head straight. ‘Glass, take, now…’ “well don’t you look rather fetching,” he said politely, “Thank you,” and accepted the glass of clear with a simple flick of his horn.

“Thank you as well,” Grace tilted her head to him as she sat down in the recliner, crossing her legs just as he had. “I’m not much of a liquor mare, though I still know what’s good and what’s garbage…” Grace watched him for a moment. As the colt took the glass to his nose, before taking a sip. Instantly his eyes shot open, and although she could see his blood flushing his body from where she sat. Iron still maintained his cool composure, as he held the glass closer to heart. “I trust you like it?” she asked bashfully, already knowing the answer before he did.

“Seems you have some tricks up your sleeve,” Iron started to say, as he took another sip, “however, knowing your stuff isn’t one of them any more… good choice.”

“Why thank you,” she nodded from his approval, “Triple distilled, aged for two years much like a whisky, yet then filtered… Cloud Mist Vodka.”

“Never heard of ‘em.”

“Most grounded creatures haven’t, no offence,” she pardoned herself as she explained, “Pegasus ponies make it using the water used to make clouds, some of the purest liquid you can get.” Grace said, while topping her own glass off and taking a swig of her own, “usually it’s only available in shops high up in the clouds.”

“Whelp they’re certainly on to something there…” Iron said, savoring the drink as he finished the glass in one last go. Though before he could request, the mare already had a wing stretched out, filling his own back up. “… you trying to get me drunk?”

“Not at all, you can do that all on your own,” Grace pointed out to a tee, “I’m simply thanking you for a job well done…” she looked off to the side, paying attention more to the ground than the colt before her as something weighed on her mind.

Though the ever attentive colt he is, leaned in closer to the mare, and just stared from across the table. “Something else is eating at ya…” he said, watching her orbs flicker back and forth from him to the ground.

“Aren’t you observant…”

“No, I just point out the obvious rather well…” Iron leaned back in the couch as he brought the glass to his lips once more, “like that for example. Though what’s going on in that head of yours…”

“Well… needless to say, if you would be willing,” she paused for a moment to flick away the stray bang of hair that covered half her face, “I may have more use for you in the future on what else might come up over the impending war…”

“You want me to be a hired sword hand…” Iron didn’t wait even for the words to fully set in to his head of what she was saying, “Well I’ve always wondered what life would be like as a merc.”

“Mister Knight, this is serious…” she glared at him, trying to make what little sense she believed him to have, grasp what she was trying to say, “You are good at what you do, though making it up as you go can only get you so far.”

“Buck it, has gotten me through a lot of situations…”

“And it won’t get you through all of them,” Grace made her point known, “It’s up to you if you would want to or not, though given your nature, I suspect you will…”

“You know me so well…” Iron chuckled for a moment as he considered the consequences for this. Possibly dying for this country that he doesn’t really serve for, more than likely in another country he could care less about, while doing something for reasons he doesn’t full understand… “Yep, I’m game.”

“So soon to jump on the war wagon are you?” the princess peered more at him, trying to read past the poker face he was putting on.

“You said it yourself,” he tilted his glass to her, “I’m good at what I do…”

“…Speaking of which…” Grace leaned in a little closer, “for as much as you did over in the kingdom, much of your report remains blank on certain matters…” slowly but surely the snicker on Irons’ face grew with every word she spoke. And admittingly, so did her own, “would you care to fill in the blanks?”

‘Where to start?’ Iron asked himself as he mused over the question for a moment or two. There’s a lot he could roll in to, the mysterious mare that he’s run in to on more than one occasion now, the new tech that the gryphons have acquired, the fact that they have enough of this tech to virtually wage a war for years to come, or even the matter of with this tech it could wipe out all of Seren… ‘So much to say so little time…’ Instead Iron shoved his hoof in to his bag, and rummaged about for a second before taking out a little war prize from the factory.

Placing it on the coffee table before him, the single clawed weapon that nearly killed him on a few occasions laid dormant as Grace looked it over from a distance. Having not a clue what the contraption is, the princess simply watched it from where she sat, hoping for the colt to go in to some sort of explanation.

“That, is what me and Free found while there,” he pointed out, as he lifted the weapon with his magic and stripped it part by part before her very eyes. “At first when we saw them, neither of us knew what to make of it. After all, it looks so clunky and cumbersome… then we saw it in action.”

Iron took one of the projectiles that it fired out of the box that held many of them, and with a twist, separated it in to its individual components. “There’s a charge of black powder in the base that launches the metal projectile like an arrow out of the weapon…” Iron passed the round over to Grace, as she cradled it in a wing and looked over the metallic missile.

“This is what we should be afraid of?” she asked, looking down at the unassuming item, “It’s smaller than an ink well. I could do more damage with a letter opener…”

“That’s what you may think,” he pointed out, “but imagine an item that small, being fired like one of the older style cannon shots, with much better accuracy, in the claws of a single soldier…” as the colt laid it down for her. The princess found her eyes widening with every little step that he threw in, “not a pretty thought, aye?... and there’s more where that came from…”

Iron took the liberty of topping off his own glass as the princess leaned back in her own chair. Listening to what the colt had to say about some of the other things that they saw back in the kingdom, as he explained some of the tech to the best of his ability.

Whether it was the rockets that were fired at him and Free, that managed to nearly level an entire port. To even the larger weapons that he and his companion encountered that the gryphons opened fire with, or the massive factories that were cranking out these seemingly simple weapons at a monumental level. Enough to arm nearly the kingdoms entire standing force, at least a couple times over, depending what else they may have up their sleeves.

In the end, Grace simply sat there for a moment. Before putting her head in her hooves, “What have I done…” she asked herself out of pity.

Iron sat there, unsure by what she meant. If she was beating herself up for letting this situation of no negation spiral out of control, then yeah… it was kind of her fault. Though he didn’t need to be that blunt with it, “You did what you had to do, I’m sure,” Iron took a swig, downing the glass in one go. “The DDR and the Gryphons’ twisted your hooves, and you nipped them in the paws and talons for it… It’s only what they should have expected. After all, this sort of thing has been going on longer than either of us have been around…”

Grace looked up to him, he did have a point. The three nations on this side of the globe never really got along all that well. ‘Come to think of it,’ she pondered, ‘I don’t think there ever was a ruler that didn’t have to deal with a war starting…’

“Whatever you’re thinking, you’re probably right…” Iron smiled at her genuinely, catching the mare off guard as she flushed a bit.

“It’s just my luck that neither of the other nations had this kind of tech available to them in the past…”

“And it’s just your luck that you have a colt who is willing to level a city block, just to take out one enemy…” he grinned at her, feeling more proud of that fact than he probably should have.

Though the comment did raise one question to the princess’s mind, “Speaking of leveling things…” she peered at him, “Frees’ report said something along the lines of ‘Iron Knight terminated aggressors with extreme prejudice when it came time to make our escape…’ care to elaborate?”

Reaching in to his bag, Iron produced one of his contraptions. With a mason jar wrapped up in cloth and other rags, dipped in plaster to give it a hard shell. Grace didn’t know if he brought another thing back from the gryphons, or a new flower pot.

“That doesn’t tell me much…”

“Oh that? That’s a bomb.”

“And why do you have that still on you?!” Grace flipped on him for a moment, then immediately held her tongue. Questioning herself in how sensitive the device might be, especially given its creator.

“Calm yourself Gracie…” Iron picked it up in his hooves and held it to his chest like a foal, “It’s perfectly harmless.”

“You just said it was a bomb,” she deadpanned, “how is it harmless?”

“Well a letter opener is harmless,” he reasoned, “though apparently in your hooves, you could be a serial killer…”

“That’s not the point,” she shut herself up before the alcohol would take over and she would start rambling, “Is this what you needed the chemicals for? And the random bits and pieces of metal to work with?”

“Yep, overcharge the gem inside with a little magic, and they make one hell of a bang…”

“Another one of your pet projects from back home, hmm?” she mused.

“You could call it that, chemistry was never my strong suit,” Iron grinned recalling the several times he’d bitten off more than he could chew when it came to chemical reactions, “though I learn fast.”

“I take it they worked rather well in your favor?”

“Oh exceptionally… plus they leave one hell of a mess, and a message…” Iron snickered at the blood bath he left on the doorstep of whoever that mare was he and Free encountered.

For but a moment, Iron thought about relaying some of that information to the princess. After all, it would have proved him right all along about what or who himself and Free encountered that one night outside of the bar. Though something in his gut told him to hold off, that this wasn’t the time, or the place to do so. ‘Somehow ‘I told you so’, just doesn’t cut it’ Iron said to himself with a light grin on his face without even realizing it.

Silently though, across from him, Grace sat there. Reading his every move, every twitch of his eyes, and even the smile on his face. She analyzed everything about him… and still drew a blank. ‘An impossible colt to read,’ she thought, “Well… you certainly are a stallion of many trades,” Grace broke the silence with the simple opener, as she tried to fight back a yawn. “I’m glad you’re on my side…”

“I’m a loyal mutt, what more can I say?” he shrugged his shoulders. Though as the myth would suggest, the sleeping sand from the Sandpony crept up to him as well. Nearly cracking his jaw as he yawned, Iron took care to put the device back in his satchel as he rose up from his seat.

Meeting him, Grace did the same, “I take it you’re heading off to bed now?”

“Well naturally… Unless you’d like me to stay with my toys,” he rattled the end of the bag, watching as she cringed from the motion, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing when it comes to this sort of thing… however, you’ve been up longer than I have. I don’t want to keep you…” Iron said softly as he finished what little drops were in his glass and started to head towards the door.

“Mister Knight…” he heard called to him in almost a whisper.

Turning around, Grace stood there with an uneasy grin stretching on only one side of her face. Though even with that, Iron still had to shake the image of her in the gown before a fireplace out of his mind before speech would follow, “Yes?Something wrong?”

“I just wanted to say…” Grace clenched her tongue, and swallowed what she had left of the drink that stained her throat, “Thank you. Once again, for going out and doing this,” she awkwardly rubbed one hoof over the other, trying to do anything but look at him in the eyes, “I know it’s not what you expected when you first got here, and I know I’m asking you to do a hell of a lot more when it comes to other little tasks in the future…”

“Well hey now…” he smiled gently at her, “That’s half the fun, right? Throwing out the repetitive, and seeing what happens?”

The upbeat attitude on the matter from him, forced a sheepish smile back at Iron from under a vail of golden locks. As her eyes met his finally, “I’m glad you feel that way,” Grace watched as the colt opened the door up and started to head out, “sleep well… Iron Knight,” she called to him genuinely.

Watching as the colt stopped for a moment from hearing his name. Iron tilted his head back to meet her only with a single eye, and a sincere smile to match, “To you as well, Princess Grace.”

With that last gesture, they parted ways for the night. While the princess went about getting a quick shower in before bed, Iron simply walked down the hallway to the barracks that he resided in, mumbling to himself the whole way about everything that was going on in his life. Though as he reached the door that separated him from the comfort of his bed, Iron placed a hoof on the door, before looking back at the long hallway that he just walked through in a flash.

“…She ain’t all that bad…” he said, as he pushed the door open, and walked in.

Chapter 23

The sounds of the teacher at the front of the class room filled the back of Bronzes’ ears with nothing more than white noise, as she stared out the window at the trees rustling in the wind. Class was almost over, and with it, will come the weekend that she can spend in her fathers’ shop. As a parting gift before he left a few months ago, Anvil left a note on his work bench that gave her permission to use his tools and supplies for whatever she may want to make.

Not that she needed his permission in the first place, her dad always had her best interest when it came to expanding her horizons on her creative side. For not having magic to work with, or even a pair of wings to act as an extra set of hooves. The young filly still did rather well for just working hooves on all the time.

More often than not lately, she found herself in the shop where she felt close to her father. With him gone, all she had around was her mother, and while Aurora may be the best mom that she could have ever asked for. When it came to the mechanical side of her mind, dad always had a better time understanding what she would try and make, and he could throw is own thoughts in to the matter.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t go in the shop so much tonight…’ Bronze questioned her own thoughts.

Her mom had been trying to spend more time with her, do something together that they both would enjoy. Even though she might not understand all the gears and levers that were turning and pulling in her head, Aurora tried her best to help her daughter out any which way she could.

Whether that meant bringing out dinner to her in the shop, tending a cut or scrape from moving around the sharp edges of metal to fast, or even on the likely occurrence of carrying Bronze back to her bed after falling asleep on her fathers’ stool. Aurora did everything she could, to see that her daughter would be happy, even if it meant she had many a sleepless nights worrying about her safety and well-being.

On just as many occasions that she has been carried off to bed. Bronze has walked in and found her mom passed out on the couch, as she waited for her to come in from the workshop, if only to spend a few moments more with her before they both went off to bed. The thought that she was pushing one parent out, while another was gone weighed heavily on the fillies’ mind. It wasn’t until two days ago that she got a tear in her eye, when she walked in and Aurora was fast asleep in the living room, laid back in her fathers’ recliner.

Missing him just as much as she did.

That night she crawled up in her mothers’ lap and fell fast asleep with her. Waking up the next morning with herself held tightly in her moms’ hooves, close to her chest. It was the best sleep she had gotten sense her dad left. “I’ll help her make dinner tonight…” Bronze told herself, smiling at the thought after living in a memory, “Maybe afterwards we could read to each-”

“Bronze,” the unicorn mare heard the teacher call out from the front of the class.

Snapped out of her daze from the call of the mare, Bronze looked around for a moment to get her bearings, “Yes Ms. Parish?”

“What’s more important?” Parish asked to try and trump her student, “looking outside, day dreaming, or what I have on the chalk board that will be on the test in a week…” Looking past the mare, Bronze examined what was written up on the board.

The basic lesson on pony anatomy was nothing new to the filly, when she wasn’t learning more about how to work with her hooves. The makeup of her own body always fascinated her to no end in how it worked, and how it could be improved. Scoffing slightly at the teacher, Bronze grinned.

‘She spelled Tendon wrong…’ the filly remarked in the back of her head.

“Something funny, Bronze?”

“No… Ms. Parish…”

“Oh, okay then,” Parish nodded sincerely for a moment, before sending a calm glare her way, “So if that’s the case, please explain to the class the process that ones’ muscle goes through in order to get movement, and why you feel tired afterwards…”

Bronze looked at her, then to the board. That subject hadn’t been covered yet in class, so more than likely she had just missed it after thinking about home. Though with the readily available resources at the library in school… Bronze took her education a few grades higher than any of the teachers could have guessed.

Standing up from her chair, the young mare slowed her breath as she recalled all the information from texts that she read over the past years. “Oxygen is taken in by your lungs, and after seeping in to the blood stream through thin membranes. It’s taken to your muscles by blood, there it’s used by the mitochondria in the cells and mixed with the others sources of energy that your body uses,” ‘carbohydrates, and fats as such’ she mentally told herself to give a small pause, “after it’s mixed, the finished product creates energy for the cell to do its primary function… in the case of a muscle, to move…”

“However, when your body is putting more effort in to the motion then oxygen that it can take in, your body has to look for something else to sustain the process,” standing there for a moment. Bronze was already satisfied with the teachers’ jaw hitting the floor. Though just the drive the point home, she couldn’t simply stop there, “that something else, is carbon monoxide, one of the byproducts that’s created from your cells… using that though instead of oxygen isn’t as efficient, so as a result, lactic acid builds up in your muscles. Thus, giving you that burning sensation, and making you feel tired…”

For but a moment, the filly stood there in silence, just as her class had done the same. Taking her seat back, Bronze closed her text book in front of her and crossed her hooves triumphantly over her desk, as she looked back at the teacher, “Did I miss anything… Ms. Parish?” Bronze asked while keeping all the respect she could in her tone.

Choking on her own words, Parish half way was tempted to smack the twerp with a ruler for calling her out like that in front of the class. Though the teacher of many years knew better than that, after all, Bronze did answer her question to the fullest… and then some. “No, Ms. Bronze,” she swallowed the words she wanted to say, “I think that will be all, very well done actually. I see you’ve been hitting the books lately…”

“Better than hitting you, sometimes…” she muttered to herself.

A knock came to the door, halting the lesson that Parish tried to pick up with, though she didn’t pay attention to who it was. Bronze went back to looking out the window, seeing as she already knew she could silence the teacher if need be.
“Ms. Bolt…” she heard Perish call out once more. Looking back to her, Bronze simply got a gesture at first of herself being waved forward, “you’re needed in the principals’ office.”

Quietly, Bronze got up from her desk, leaving her books out. As she expected she would be done soon no matter what the case was… even if she did just call out a teacher. ‘In my defense, Principal Hawkins,’ Bronze mentally went over her rebuttal to the accusation, ‘I did answer the question to it’s fullest, and any insult I may have given, I didn’t mean in the slightest…’

It wasn’t a long walk thankfully, and by the time she reached the door, she already had the response memorized to a tee. Stepping in, Bronze noticed how quiet the main office was compared to some of the other classes, though that thought was ignored with in a moments’ notice.

“Mr. Hawkins will see you now,” she heard the receptionist call over top of her desk as soon as she came in to view.

Not being needed to be told twice, Bronze went ahead past the desk and down the hall. She already knew the way rather well, having been to the office on several occasions when it came to the torment of the others at her school towards her. Though this time felt different, this time she was being called in, instead of requesting to see him.

Knocking on the large wooden door, Bronze heard a muffled ‘come in’ from the other side, and pushed it open with her hooves. Stepping inside she had her back to those that waited for her at first as she closed the door behind her, though when Bronze turned around, she caught a sight she wasn’t expecting.

There stood on either side of the room two royal guards, donned up in full dress uniform, standing as silent and stoic as she ever could have imagined. At the desk, there was Hawkins, the principal of the school. One that the students knew as being an older stallion, stuck in a young colts’ body, as spry as ever, and could probably run laps around some of the older kids in the high school nearby. This time though, even Hawkins eyes laid dormant as his own met the young fillies.

“Bronze…” he called to her, though the call was ignored by something far more important.

There, sitting in the chair just across from him, was Aurora. “Mom?” Bronze said, not so much to get her attention, but as a question. Though when her mothers’ face met her own, it said all that was needed.

Stains from the tears already shed carved a channel down her mothers’ face that allowed the new ones to roll on by without anything to hold them back. Whatever was eating away at her moms’ heart, seeing her daughter just reignited the spark. Looking over her, Bronze could see her mane was a mess, her tail had knots inside and out, and even several of her feathers had been pulled from her wings out of absolute frustration.

Bronze couldn’t fathom what had gotten her mom so worked up, until she looked down at her hooves.

While she may have not been able to read what was written down from where she stood. Bronze heard enough talk from other kids around the school to know what it already said, plus the golden stamp at the top of the royal seal gave it all away. Add in the two royal guards who came to deliver the message to the family first hoof, and there was no doubt what the letter had brought them…

Though the most telling clue, was Bronzes’ own hammer, now held in her mothers’ hoof.

“Bronze… I’m so sorry,” Aurora said softly, as she got up to her hooves. The first step was trouble, as her hooves trembled from underneath her feet where she stood, “Something… something’s happened…” her mom said with a passing step closer to her. Though with that step taken, Bronze took one back, as she looked at all four of them in the room, and just uttered one word.

“No.”

With that, Bronze backed out and took off from the room. Clear of their sights in mere moments. “Bronze! Wait, please!” she heard her mom call out to her, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything, not her school work, not her home, not even the tools that she kept closer to her than most other ponies…

…all she wanted to do, was be gone from it all, for just a moment.

Tearing through the halls of the school, Bronze shoved student after student out of the way, barely hearing the scampering of hooves off in the distance as Aurora beat chase to catch her. If only to tell her that everything was going to be alright.

But how would it? How would any of this be alright anymore?

Everything that she thought made sense in the world, shattered in an instant. Hiking up her fore hooves, with one push she kicked open the front doors to the school and darted outside in to town. Everyone around her seemed like a stranger, like she just woke up in a new land where nothing was familiar, and everything was wrong to her. Ignoring any and all that gave her any heed, Bronze wasn’t even sure where she was running off to. All she knew was that she needed to run.

But running can only take you so far.

A bump in the road took her off guard, and sent the filly skidding across the dirt path. Laying there, seemingly stuck in time, the breeze picked up. As she stopped breathing, letting the wind run through her mane, and slowly let it work its way in to her nostrils. The sun high up in the sky, warmed her coat with its’ rays, and even if it was just for a split second.

Bronze found some sort of serenity.

“Bronze Bolt watch out!” she heard her mothers’ words chase her down through the peace and quiet. As she looked up, the only thing Bronze saw was the light of the sun…

…Glinting off the metal frame of a hay wagon.

Chapter 24

A few chunks of gem stone laid across Irons’ work bench as he stood in the production area. Separated from the others in his own work zone, the colt set about shaping each and every stone to a fine measurement to ensure a proper fit in to what he had planned. Behind him, his armor stood up on the mannequin, already having been repaired and buffed to remove all showings of damage from its’ yet another test trial.

Charging up one of the stones, the glowing emerald blended well with the dull steel coat of the metal that Iron left bare around its’ form, as it cooled down the from the process. Locking the tongs around the gem in the reinforced joint on his bracer, the housing he custom designed held the stone firmly in place so that it wouldn’t fall out in battle, and could be used for its’ intended purpose.

“Splendid,” he cheered.

“Looks nice,” Free said as he walked in on the colt. Looking around the room though, Free saw several scattered pieces of metal sheeting, along with what looked to be the notes from their mission that they found, “now… what do you have yourself working on?”

“Actually a couple things,” Iron pointed out. Bringing out a few of the bombs he made earlier, the colt had improved the design it seemed.

No longer were they cobbled together from what pieces and nick knacks he could get his hooves on. These ones were precision made, and fitted inside of a metal tube that he had form fitted for this purpose. The only thing exposed on them was the trigger gem, a simple ruby, that sat at the tip of the pipe.

Holding the device in his horns’ grasp, Iron brought it over to the armor, as it slid neatly in to a holster on the side that had been tack welded in place, “now, I have no more need for the satchel,” he smiled to himself.

“Interesting addition, should you need to take the suit out for another ride that is…” Free mentioned, clearly not having heard Graces’ previous remarks from last night, “and what of these gems?” he pointed to the ones in the joint.

“Those…” he paused for a moment to summarize the thoughts in his head, “I have a possible theory on how our mare could do what she did with her own ‘limbs’…”

Using his horn to remove one of the bracers, Iron guided it across his own hoof as it fitted over him and strapped itself on.
Once it was fully locked on, he took aim with the limb and swung it with all he could muster at the sheet of metal.

Although the sheet wasn’t as thick as some of the other pieces, no more than an eighth of an inch, the colt surely made his mark. With a loud clank from the metal striking another, the indent of a hoof marked Irons’ territory, as he withdrew his hoof without even a scratch.

Freefalls’ head cocked to the side as he tried to process what he had just witnessed, though as his mind tried to remember the days past of when he took magic theory (if only to understand what went through Irons’ head better). His brain still drew a blank, “Okay… I don’t know what to say to that one…”

“It’s an interesting concept, though not all that hard to do really…” Iron held the hoof up as the gem that resided in the armors’ joint glowed a tad brighter, from the energy of his horn activating it, “a simple telekinesis spell, imbued in to the armor, and forcing it to go where I want it to… with clearly more force than the average hoof could ever have mustered.”

“So you used the spell to increase the strength of your punch basically?” Free waited for the nod from his friend before he looked over the rest of the armor. Seeing that a gem resided in all of the knee joints that Iron had installed to give the suit more rigidity, now upgraded to make him punch like a train. “It’s moments like these that I ask myself what you must be teaching some of your students…”

“Oh don’t worry, I make sure they aren’t learning anything that might get them in trouble while at school…” he said with a sheepish grin, “now what they choose to do with this knowledge after school, that’s out of my hooves.”

“Now aren’t you a responsible colt…”

“Damn Skippy.”

Looking up at the work bench, Free could see that there was a far larger pipe laid out ready to be worked on, while right next to it were some of Irons’ own drawings and designs. Free may have not been the most technical pony out of the two of them. Though he understood far more of how Irons’ head worked than any other did, and sometimes better than Iron himself. Needless to say, it didn’t take long for him to figure out what he was planning on making next.

“Are you going to try and hook up that rocket thing that the mare had to your suit?” he asked bluntly.

Iron walked up to the pipe, and cross referenced with his drawings, “I was thinking about it, I mean you saw how effective it was.”

“At nearly killing us and spreading our remains like fertilizer, yes, yes I saw that…” Free stood next to his friend. Even
though he had seen better drawings on cocktail napkins, the Pegasus knew all too well that Iron understood them enough to make it all possible. “Do you really think that’s a good idea though?”

“No,” Iron admitted, “I think it’s a great one…”

“There’s just no getting through to you sometimes, is there?” he watched his friend nod in agreement again, as Iron went about in his own little world for a few minutes cutting the pipe out to the shape he would need with his horn acting as a torch.

Silently, Free admired him. The colt had always been fascinated on how his counterpart could become enveloped in what he was doing to the point of ignoring the entire world around him. If there was a will, Iron would make a way. For in order for him to do great things, he needed all the time in the world, and no plan what so ever… yet somehow it always turned out to either work, or blow up in his face, sometimes more literally than metaphorically.

“Still trying to make armor, to protect what isn’t on the outside…” Free commented as he watched Iron work.

Iron froze where he stood, shards of metal still hovering in midair as he tried to work. Though his friends’ words struck a particular nerve in the colts’ mind, one that he had buried a long time ago, ‘At least I thought I had…’ he remarked to himself, “In a way, I suppose I am… everypony needs a hobby. Mine are just a little more out there than some…”

“Whelp, you aren’t nearly as bad as when you and I first met,” Free pointed out as Iron slowly started to work again, “Besides, it is a healthier release, as opposed to our usual sorts…”

“Speaking of the drink…” Iron dropped the metal where he needed, while his horn went to work and fused it together, “have you ever heard of Cloud Mist Vodka?”

Thinking back a for a moment, Free drew a blank at first, before the name finally rung a bell, “Actually yes, I have… rather expensive for my tastes, but none the less, if you have the chance to get a glass, you need to take it.” The rolling of Irons’ eyes prompted that there was a little more to it than he had let on to begin with, “I assume that’s what Grace had to offer you?”

“Well she learned I prefer Vodka from somepony…” he glared at Free, whose expression never changed a shade, “But alas, yes. Tasted expensive, but I’d buy a cooler of it if I had the chance… the mare certainly knows her stuff.”

Free watched as a small smile began to grow across the colts’ face, without him even realizing it. Leaning in from where he stood, the Pegasus waited for Iron to notice before prying a little more, “So… how was last night then?”

“Well…” Iron started to let the smile grow voluntarily, as he replayed the brief, but rather pleasant talk he had with Grace from the previous night. “I have to say, you’re right…”

“On what account?”

“Grace…” Iron said unpretentiously, “she isn’t all that bad actually…”

“Grace?” his ears perked up at the sound of her actual name, “Hmm…”

“What?” Iron wondered for a second.

“Oh nothing,” Free smirked at him, “You just didn’t add any sort of insult to her name or make fun of her title or anything for the first time sense you’ve been here.”

“She’s…” Iron stumbled for a moment as he tried to put words in mouth, instead of his hoof, “earned, a bit of my respect. We had a nice chat about some of the report, that’s it.”

“That much I can see clear as day,” Free rolled his eyes. Though decided to change the subject, slightly, “So then what did you two discuss while you were there? I mean you don’t seem hungover, so I imagine that it was more of a casual drink than anything.”

“Whelp, I explained some of the tech to her, breaking it down so she would understand how it worked and how I saw it. Told her that the gryphons had enough of an arsenal to take over a small country… no pun intended,” Iron waved his hoof about as he spoke, moving chunks of supplies as he went about and fused them together to make the barrel of his weapon, “and, I showed her what I needed the chemicals for,” he held up one of his bombs in hoof. Before sliding it in to the clamp on the armor, “note to self by the way, never bring a bomb in a princess’s chambers…”

“You don’t say.”

“No, actually I did say that…” the colt sat down in his chair, before putting the finishing touches on his launcher. As he divided it in to two for either side of the armor, with several other smaller barrels settled in to the housing, “it was all just talk about work… and possibly going out on a few other missions as they come up.”

“She’s recruiting us again?” Free turned his head to face the colt as he asked.

“Not right now, maybe in the future though…” Iron looked back at his friend, only to see the paled expression of worry written across his face, “Oh come now, it wasn’t that bad.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Frees’ expression dropped a bit more, “I’m getting to old for this crap…”

“You aren’t even thirty.”

“You’re younger than me.”

“Only by a year and a day,” Iron pointed out, “If I can still do it, then so can you… and you bet that I’ll be signing up on the next go around to come through that door.”

The door to the workshop slammed open as both colts’ heads turned to greet whoever just walked in. Holding the door with a claw, Silvertongue stood there for a moment till he eyed the colt he had been looking for, “Freefall, your presence is requested by her majesty…”

“Oh crap,” Free groaned, “Already? Another one?”

“What?” the drake questioned at first, “another what?”

“Nothing, just nothing,” Iron cut in so they could all get to the point much faster, “What do you require of my friend, and will I be coming?” he started to beam.

“You, No. This is an official matter… unlike the last thing that she requested from the both of you,” Silver brushed off their black water mission, “the princess is heading out of the castle to a town on the edge of the country.”

“And I’m assuming she wants me there as part of her personal detail,” Free questioned.

“It would seem so…”

“Outstanding…” Free said as he started to head towards the door, “Why though are we headed out to this place?”

The drake held the door long enough for Free to get to the frame, as Iron went back to his own work and continued while they went along with their business, “It would seem that the gryphons made their first move…”

Chapter 25

While on any other official occasion, the chariot used by her majesty would have been used to move her to another town. Though in this special case, Grace preferred to fly her way to see what had been done to her own citizens. Amongst her in diamond formation, with her in the center and her trusted drake next to her, were the royal guards. Free at the head of them all, led the pack as they all beat wind and flew farther south than most of them have ever gone.

“Coming up to our target, your majesty,” Free kept the formalities up while they were in the presence of other guards. The distance may have been a days’ journey for a good stout stallion to make on hoof galloping, though for a capable Pegasus, it could be made in just a few hours.

Looking down below, expecting to see several buildings standing as they approached, all Grace saw was rubble. Stretching around the perimeter of what she assumed would have been the town had it still be standing, all the princess saw was heaps of broken buildings, charred husks of homes, and amongst them all…

Many rotting corpses of her fallen.

Landing on the ground, Grace covered her mouth with her wings, if only to hold back some of the stench of decay that lingered around the area. Overall, there was nothing left standing. Any and all buildings that stood the test of time, were wiped out by whatever had torn through this town like a whirl wind.

“There doesn’t seem to be any sign of life, ma’am,” another soldier commented as they moved down what was left of the main street that cut through the town.

“Fan out your search,” Grace ordered as she looked at the destruction, “look for survivors… if any, they may be able to tell us what happened here. If none are found, look for things… out of the ordinary.”

Nodding, all of those that came with her went on the search for answers, except for three. Freefall and another guard stood by their princess in case she required their aid, just as they had been trained to do. As Silver followed his old friend, like he always had. Quietly, the group crept through what remained of the town, finding not much of anything amongst the many dead that lied about.

The guard that accompanied them, investigated a body close by to them as they walked. The stallion on the ground wasn’t a soldier, he looked to be just a regular working class colt. The decaying plank of wood upon his flank, with both a hammer and an axe gave some insight to his trade, though why any army would target this town the colt understood little of.

“Many of the dead have been left out to rot, and were likely fed on by some of the wild life…” he commented, drawing their attention.

“How can you be so sure?” Grace asked.

Holding his tongue at first as the princess approached the body, the colt pointed to the many tracks that surrounded them and the meat that had been laid out for the taking. “I was a young scout at one point in my early days, I learned different animal tracks fairly well,” he brought his head closer to the prints that were set out for him, “some of these are wolves, while there’s also a bear that made its way through here at some point… though eventually the flesh was too rotten for their liking and they stopped feeding…”

“Please,” the princess hushed him, “Stop…”

“My apologies,” the guard lowered his head, “I didn’t mean to offend… though you might like these tracks.” He pointed to the others that approached the body in one direction.

Upon inspection by Grace, it didn’t take her any formal training to figure out where those had come from. With the three obvious claw marks that dug in the dirt in front, and the single one on the back. Any grade schooler could tell her that they belonged to a gryphon.

The Gryphons had made their first move finally, officially on record that is. It couldn’t have been anyone else in her opinion. ‘This town was a trade route for the kingdom with its ease of access from the water,’ Grace thought as she took in to account to what reason they would have to attack.

Though her companion read her mind, just as the mare thought it all out, “There isn’t much for the kingdom to take from this place,” Silver said to her in hushed tones, as his tuned nose pointed towards the sky, “I don’t even smell any sign of the DDR, let alone the gryphons…”

“Never the less…” Grace replied to him as she looked back at the tracks, “the marks don’t lie.”

“What was that, Princess?” Free asked as he overheard her.

“Nothing, Freefall,” she waved him off, “just talking to myself…”

Free simply nodded, as he took his own look at the colt on the ground. Whatever took him down, it wasn’t pretty. He may have not been a guard, but the brick house of a stallion went down swinging. Though one thing caught his eye, as he looked over his wounds. A single hole, dug in to the side of the colts’ skull, beckoned more attention than the other guard would have given it as he noticed the exit wound.

“Grace, a word please,” Free muttered as he trotted up to her side after making the discovery.

“Yes Free? What is it?”

“What’s the name of this place?”

“It’s a back woods town, one that most of the nation doesn’t even pay attention to,” she humbly admits, though now wished that she put more protection for those closest to her enemies, “Riverton was only watched by a small group of guards in the area, most of them were reservists, activated by the impending fight… one that seems to have gone hot.”

“Riverton…” Free said once more, drawing a simple cock eyed glare from the princess, “the boat that me and Iron took in to the kingdom passed by this place, it was one of the markers that the Captain looked for on his way… though we never saw it.”

The news perked Graces’ interest even more than it already was by the events that had taken place here. She knows not when this attack was carried out, though with the last report from those guards here, combined with Iron and Frees’ accounts. It gives her at least some sort of time table, “if that’s the case,” she thought about it, “Then Riverton was leveled less than two weeks ago…”

“It would seem so… though that’s not my point,” Free recalled his memory back to fighting the gryphons that were armed with their new tech, most importantly, the marks they left afterwards, “upon that colts’ head, is a small puncture wound, one that was blown out on the other side,” he took a breath, taking in all the lives that were lost around them, “it’s the same wound that their new weapons might leave… do you know what I think?”

Grace stopped for a moment as she put the pieces together in her head, “this place… was nothing more than a test bed?”

“Precisely.”

The thought that a town was leveled by her enemy, would infuriate any leader on its own. Though the idea that it was all done, just to test the effectiveness of some new weapons, before sending them to the battlefield. That, was the final straw for the mare.

Clenching her teeth, Grace grinded away at the enamel while she hissed, “That rocket weapon that you’d seen. Could it have caused this level of destruction?”

Free took another glance around him. From what he saw, it only took one round to sink a boat, and several to level a pier. In theory, there’s no reason to him why it wouldn’t have been possible. “It might have, though they would have had to have an entire force here to level a town…”

“That’s all I needed to hear…” Grace continued to walk quietly amongst the ruins, with Silvertongue in tow.

Both Free and the other guard with them simply looked at one another in confusion. “Princess, what are you getting at?” Free asked while Grace stopped in her tracks.

“The gryphons had thrown down one of their cards… I think it’s time we did the same,” she remarked, considering they had sat on the side lines far too long by this point, “whatever kind of new weaponry they were using to cause all of this. It must be stopped…”

“So what are you proposing?” Silver asked.

“That, I will figure out when we get back to the castle, Freefall,” she called to him, watching as the ever loyal guard popped to attention, “you and Silver take to the skies, document what you see so it can be brought to the council later on. That will force their hooves…” nodding to her, the pair took off instantly. Leaving only the princess, and the other guard with her, “you and I will go to meet up with the others. See what they may have found…” without even a word, the guard saluted her and followed her lead down the road.

Amongst the craters that dotted the remnants on the town, Grace and her guard walked. The eerie silence between them, only seemed to further the dreary outcome of this war should she fail her nation. With the new tech that the gryphons had displayed to her little scouting party, who knows what else they had up their talons.

‘The DDR will just have to be put on the back burner for now…’ the mare thought to herself.

The likely hood that the two separate nations had gathered the same tech may be slim to nil, but then again, Grace must take all things in to account. They already would be working together, against her, for their own benefit. Who’s to say that they haven’t shared a little more than just a common enemy? Though with this attack against her own nation, the Gryphons will be the first to feel the backlash from it. The DDR will have to wait their turn.

Rounding about what looked to be a desolated dinner, the pair ran in to the other group of guards, as they scavenged around the area. Looking for some sort of traces of the enemy that they had missed, the only thing that really was left behind were hundreds of metal casings lying about the ground everywhere they went.

“We found hoof-fulls of them, your majesty,” the scout deposited a pile of the metal cases in front of the mare.

The handy work was familiar to her, the same thing that Iron had shown her back in her room a nights’ back. How much time the attackers would have needed for such an operation, she couldn’t tell, though with these weapons at their disposal. It wouldn’t have taken much to wipe the town clean off the map. Dropping the spent round to the ground where it belongs, Grace looked around at the dozens of other cartridges that littered the remains.

“They were thorough…” one guard mentioned as he walked calmly out of the ruins of a building that barely stood together, “not a single creature was left standing. Yet the surrounding forest is untouched by whatever they used to do this.”

‘Methodical, calculating, concise…’ Grace thought for a moment, ‘the gryphons I know are usually more brash in their displays of power.’ She took another second to silently admire the precision of the attack that destroyed her own inhabitants, “Something else is in play here…” the princess muttered out loud as she walked past them.

Looking to each other, a majority of the guards were silent to their princess’s words. It took the higher ranking of the group to finally break the silence, “Ma’am, what would you have us do now?” he waited for her to turn a head to him, “there’s nothing left, no survivors, and not much else to go on about how they did this… what’s the next step?”

Before she could answer, Silver and Free landed amongst them. Giving the mare another moment to consider what had happened here, “Area’s documented, and destruction noted,” Silver said as he rolled up a parchment and tucked it in to small bag he kept under his wing, “with this I’m willing to bet my wings that you’ll get a declaration of war… if that’s what you’re seeking.”

Although this place was once a quiet and quaint little town, it now fell as just a test bed for the gryphons. The princess will just have to take the loss on it, as she accepted the defeat. A loss that won’t go unpunished, “Take to the skies, we’re headed back…” she ordered as they all started to stretch out their wings for the flight back, “this town was attacked unprovoked, and without warning…” she said to the guard that spoke out, “see to it that the guard posts in other outlying towns are set on alert, make sure that the unicorns there are ready to send a quick SOS message should trouble arrive at their door step.” The guard nodded as himself, and the others took off from there.

With that, the princess found herself on the ground, amongst her were only Free and Silver as they waited for her to make a move. ‘It doesn’t get any easier…’ she said to herself, catching one last look of the area, before taking to the sky to be rid of this place.

Chapter 26

With the order given a day or two ago, a small group of soldiers had already been assembled in a meeting hall for the counterattack against the Gryphons. With her knowledge of the kingdoms layout from her previous visits, Grace had marked out for her captain in charge of the operation where they should strike first.

Drawn out on a map that was hung on the wall, Free stood amongst the group of fighters ready for a fight. All the while, their leader went over the fairly simple plan that was laid before them. “Thanks to the princess’s knowledge and the councils’ blessing, we have the approval to go in to the kingdom,” the captain said half way through his brief, “the objective is easy enough… get in, disrupt their production efforts, and get out. No sticking around and waiting for their back up to arrive, this isn’t the final fight, it’s simply a jab in the ribs to throw them off balance.”

“How many factories do we have to hit, sir?” one soldier raised their hoof up.

“Three, one close to the docks along this water way,” he pointed to the map. A place Free and Iron knew already too well. “As well as two more a few miles farther up inland.”

“What kind of resistance are we looking at?” another asked.

‘Mostly smaller weapons with a large punch,’ Free said to himself, knowing their armament.

“That’s unclear…” the captain said simply, taking off his glasses he rested them on the table in front of them as he leaned closer to the group, “I’ll be honest with ya’ll, the word is the bird brains have come up with some new weapons. So there’s really no way to know for sure what we’ll be running in to.”

“What kind of tech are we talking?”

“The kind that will put you in the ground faster than a sword ever will,” the officer recalled the briefing reports he gathered as this little attack was planned, “distance weapons that are far more accurate and more powerful than their usual bolts and crossbows. Though they seem to still have a weakness to magic, though don’t expect your armor to protect you all that much, unless you get in close.”

‘Thank you Iron for that little discovery,’ Free told himself, bringing up the much needed fact of the Gryphons tech being stopped by his shields in his report.

“All in all the plan will go like this…” the captain brought a duffel bag out from underneath the table, “this bag, among the others, contains a rather large amount of explosives…” he waited a moment for the murmurs to die down, “now we don’t want to lose too many to these new weapons on the first go, after all, we don’t know fully what to expect. That said, the group here will be split in three, each team will assault a factory at the same time so they don’t have time to counter our counter…”

“A bold move,” the silent guard said to himself as he listened to the rest of the speech.

“Each team will have three unicorns to cover them from their weapons, try to work yourself in close,” he said while going off the reports the best he could, “their new toys don’t seem to work too well the closer you are, and you can move faster than they can. Get in close, and bring ‘em down…”

Off to the side of where the captain gave his brief, Iron stood by, watching and listening to how much the officer was telling them all about the hornets’ nest they were about to walk in to. The colt didn’t need to speak up at all, he knew what to expect, and if he really wanted to. Iron would have been there by Frees’ side through the thick of it.

Though his friend insisted that he stay behind this round, ‘there may be another rodeo that you want to join in on later’ Free told him the day before. “Yea… but who’s going to watch your back out there?” he asked to no one in particular, as he watched over his friend.

“You know, talking to one’s self is seen as a sign of a sociopath…” he heard the drakes tongue from behind him.

Having been around the princess’s assistant long enough, Iron didn’t even need to turn around to know who this forked tongue belonged too, “There’s so much more I should have been committed for by now, if that was the case, Silver.”

“No need to sound so brash, Mr. Knight,” Silvertongue held up his claws to back the colt down, “I merely came by to check up on the brief and give the princess word on when they would be ready to go.”

“Well by the sound of things…” Iron tuned back in, “I would say that would be rather soon…”

“Listen… I know it’s a gamble,” the captain said to them as forthcoming as possible, “but get in, plant the charges, detonate them, and get out. The unicorns will teleport you in close enough to get the job done. Though protect them at all cost, the rest of you here are capable of flight… though I doubt anypony here wants to try and fly out of this mess…”

All of those present chuckled at the cruel joke, knowing full well that he’s right about that. If any of them were to lose their way out, there’s little chance that they would be able to live long enough to see home again. The only ones that might have a chance are the few gryphons in the crowd that volunteered for the trip, knowing how to go one on one with their own kind.

With that last word in, and the dismissal from their leader of this attack, Free got up from his seat to make a few final preparations. Namely sharpening his blade, though first things first, “where is that colt?” he asked himself.

When he told Iron that he wanted him to stay back on this one, Iron huffed and puffed, but in the end agreed. On one condition, that he got to see his armor before he left. Sense then, Free hadn’t seen hind nor hair of either his suit, or the colt that took it. Though if it’s one thing he knows, it’s that the colt is a creature of habit, and just as he suspected from the moment he walked down their own production floor and heard the banging of metal…

If you need to find Iron, check the shop.

“They haven’t a clue on what they’re walking in to,” Iron said as he sensed his friend stepping in to his domain.

“I take it you were at the brief?” Free asked the rather obvious question before he continued to walk inside. Before him on the stand, was his own armor, that Iron worked on as they spoke, “They didn’t go in to the kingdom and see what they’re up against.”

“And we did… so who’s ready to send out condolence letters?” Iron cheered with a wicked grin to his friend.

All Freefall could do was roll his eyes, “you know very well that it won’t be that bad… hopefully…” though he hated to admit it, his friend maybe right when all was said and done.

Graces’ soldiers were well equipped throughout the years that they had gone against the DDR and the Gryphon Kingdom. Tried and tested strategies to work against their species gifts were put in place generations ago. Whether it was to fight against the Gryphons’ dexterous claws, or the dogs’ ability to dig for what seemed like miles. Seren had grown accustom to the fights they had with their neighbors.

Though with what Free had saw only a few days ago, the books on war may want to be revised here shortly. “Okay, so it might be a slaughter… but as you saw, if we get in close, then it’s just the same game as before,” Free pointed o

“And that’s where I come in,” Iron stopped working on the suit to show its owner.

Though on the surface nothing seemed all that different to the colt. Other than the few gems that laden across his fore hoof bracers. Free was sure that they harbored spells for him to use out in the field, however he knows Iron all too well then to just assume that’s all that was done.

“You have my attention…” Free said as he passed by his friend and took a seat on the stool.

“Right… well first things first, the chest,” Iron said as he picked up the chest piece to reveal the underbelly. Sitting right there in the center, was what looked to be a sapphire placed, as it glowed ambiently with the unicorns’ magic. “I used the same hardening process I did with my armor to make yours stronger as well as a tad lighter… not to the level of mine, sadly, but not bad for only a days’ work.”

“That I can’t thank you enough,” Free snickered, “though what of the sapphire?”

“Cloaking spell… just like mine. Though don’t stand in a bright light,” Iron pointed out to him, “the rays will shine around you and give them a silhouette to shoot at.”

“Duly noted,” the colt nodded while he looked over the rest of the suit to see if he was missing anything other than the obvious, “and on the fore hooves?”

Placed in a line were three gems, one ruby, one emerald, and one diamond. At this moment, Free wished that he understood how the unicorn picked these gems out. It might have made it easier for him to figure out what they were holding. “Care to explain?” he asked, not having the brain power to focus on it at the current moment.

“Simple… ruby, use it when they get to close. Emerald, use it when you need to take them out at a distance. As for the Diamond,” Iron thought about how to put this lightly, “you’re probably going to get shot a lot, so use it as needed.”

Somewhat lightly…

“Well the diamond then is clearly a shield…” Free pondered the two others, “what of the Ruby and Emerald then?”

“Ruby is a shock spell, and the Emerald is nothing more than an energy ray…”

“You say that as if it’s just another lesson that you’ve taught in class…” Free chucked for a moment. Before he noticed the ever growing grin across Irons’ face, “wait, did you teach the kids how to do this sort of thing?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny this information on the grounds that might incriminate me,” Iron defended himself with one of the rights set out in their nations articles of law, “that said… none of them have died, or clamed me as responsible for what they may do with this knowledge. So I think I’m in the clear.”

“For now that is…” Free rolled his eyes once again around his sockets. Though the stern look on Irons’ face brought him back quickly.

“Pay attention to this next part though, Free. This is important,” Free got off the stool as he heard his friends’ words leave his lips with every sense of urgency he could muster, “With my suit, I pretty much have an unlimited use of my gems. I can charge them as I go with relative ease, given the practice, as my own energy reserves build up while the gems themselves are used.”

The colt continued his lecture, as he went about taking the various pieces of armor off and fitted it to his friend, “That said, you’re a Pegasus… duh… you don’t have that ability. So you’ll need to use them only really when need be, and not just to try and be an amateur sorcerer. Use them too much and you’ll run out, use them too continuously, and the gem itself could crack from the energy,” Iron finished off the important bit as he tightened the last belt loop on his friend stomach, fitting it perfectly to him, “The shield is set on a diamond for a reason… you can use it more than the others, and it will hold better.”

“Never quite understood how you picked the gems to use…” Free admitted.

“It’s actually really simple, I could break out the math required to measure out what level of spells a gem can hold and how they can be used…” Iron waved his hoof around as he almost went in to a rant, but cut himself short, “however, simply put, the rarer and purer the gem. The better it holds a spell. A diamond will cast a spell for longer with a stronger effect, than a piece of quartz, for example.”

“So why not just use something like a diamond for all of them?”

“One, diamonds are expensive to all hell…” Iron said flatly, “and two, certain spells function better with certain gems. Protection spells work best with a diamond, but if I wanted to use an energy spell, that’s when you go to the more envious stones… greens. Like the Emerald.”

“Let it never be said that you don’t know your stuff…” Free chuckled, as he swallowed his pride for a moment and pulled Iron with a wing in to a hug. While at first the teacher struggled to get out of the embrace, for all his strength that he’s gained from keeping himself in shape at the high school gym, he could never compare to his friends’ wings.

“I’ll make it back, don’t you worry my friend,” Free snickered while Iron eventually gave up, and let in to the hug.

“Save it, Free…” Iron brushed it off, “if I was worried that much about you I would have knocked you out and taken your place by now…”

“Yea…” Free brushed off, “but then Grace would have worried about you…”

“What was that?” Irons’ ears perked up.

“Nothing!” Free said as he quickly sat his friend down on the floor, and began trotting towards the door, “I’ll keep the suit in one piece, and see you when I get back!” he called to Iron as he slammed the door and ran down the hallway. Hoping to avoid any and all questions from the colt about his comment. All the while, Iron just stood there, and started to snicker…

“…Go get ‘em, Free,” Iron whispered as a silent hope for his friend.

Chapter 28

Working with explosives is a fine art, as much as any painter. Too much bright colors, then the eyes looking upon the masterpiece may not see what you want them too. Too much darks, then it all can turn in to a blob in the end. Putting too much paint to begin with, and everything could meld as one and you ruin the entire work…

The same could be said for pyrotechnics. Too much powder, and you just get a loud bang. Too much shrapnel, and you won’t have room to put the charge to make it lethal. Too much chemicals of one kind, and you have a potential bomb on your hooves that will go off before you want it to…

While his trade may be a teacher on paper, Iron has dabbled in the works with fire for years. Having many of his hairs burned off over time, he’s learned the hard way how it should be handled. Though he still has all his limbs, and for being self-taught for the most part.

That’s a plus in his book.

“Fickle little bastards…” Iron carefully used his hooves to move the impact explosive out of the crucible that he mixed it in, as he packed it on to the front of his own rockets.

The design wasn’t all that hard to understand. Round hits target, ignites fuse, fuse burns to main warhead, and boom… jobs done. The fun part was making it on his own when the time came to do so. With the production floor empty as many of the citizens that worked during the day were given the time off to prep for the counter attack. Iron had the entire facility to himself…

Alone in a workshop, surrounded by chemicals, and metal at his disposal. What could go wrong?

Slipping from his grasp, a single rocket hit the floor right on its nose. While the subtle pop that went with the impact head going off, alerted the colt to its imminent detonation. Normally at this moment, the colt would have been in the ER by now. Though thanks to the fuse that he installed, Iron wrapped an aura around the shell before it hit that point. Containing his own device and its explosive blast. The stallion shuttered while he watched the other rounds rock from the small shockwave that vibrated the room.

Thankfully, they remained upright, and Iron would keep his hooves for another day. “I really should have some foam to put these things in,” he carefully disposed of the ash that remained in his shield over the trash bin, as he set about lying the other rockets on their side with the utmost of care, “Or at least some sand.”

With the dangerous part of his project out of the way, he looked at the near dozen rounds he had made, before checking his watch. “An… hour and twenty minutes,” Iron started to smile, “not bad for a novice demolitionist.” With that, he set about the next task.

Pulling out a copper wire, Iron started to coat it in a thin film of insulation. While it was nothing more than melted rubber, it would do the job. With every strip that he made, the colt fastened it to the inside of his suit, as he ran the wires ends to the end of his own launchers internal barrels. Six tubes laid inside the main housings, and each one would be loaded with his own round so they could be fired separately when needed.

Satisfied with the job, he went over to his table, and pulled the drawer out. Inside were a multitude of gems, most of which he brought from back home. Though any thief that would think of breaking in to the shop and making off with what they would hope to amount to at least a years’ salary, would sadly be heart broken when they brought them to a jeweler to pawn off.

All of them were rough cuts, and subpar gem quality. No merchant would have accepted them if somepony tried to sell ‘em. Iron got many of them from jewelers to begin with for next to nothing. So the colt may not be making a fortune trading gems, but they served his purposes quite well.

Taking a single emerald, Iron lined up a hammer before he dropped it. Spitting the stone, he repeated the process till he had just as much as he needed to complete the trigger. Levitating a bracer over to him, he began setting the smaller stone shards in rudimentary housings that he already installed, and with it, connected it back to the suit.

Finally reaching the final step, the colt fused the coated wires to the various gems so they would stay where he needed them too. Taking a step back, Iron had to admire his suit from where it had come from. At first nothing more than an after school project, had turned in to quite the impressive war machine in his eyes. Two sets of six barrels laid across either of his shoulders, ready for him to duck and fire a salvo of missiles should the need arise.

If that wasn’t enough, he had three of his own pipe bombs on either side of him, ready and at the go. Not even counting the various spells and enchantment that were already in place. If all else failed, he could always go back to basics. The joints infused with his stones would easily win him any hoof wrestling contest, let alone punch through a chest cavity.

“All in all,” he leaned back in to his stool, as he reached back in to another drawer and took out a bottle of Saddleoff Vodka, “not bad for a days’ work…”

As he tried to take a swig of his poison, the colts’ heart slumped in to the pit of his chest when he looked at the bottle. It was bone dry, likely from the days’ work that he’d been doing. “I always did work better drunk…” Iron hiccupped as he leapt from where he sat and on to his feet, in search of something more to quench his thirst.

If it wasn’t for the dimly lit magical torches laden through the factory, Iron would have easily lost his way by now as he went along the path. Though something else started to perk his ears up, not the usual sounds that one would hear while in this place. No, the sound of metal being forged and fired was instead replace by something far more solemn…

Crying.

Using his ears, Iron zeroed in on where the sound was coming from. It didn’t take him long at all, there aren’t many places to hid in a place like this. Opening up another shop used by a different artisan. He peeked his head around the corner, only to leave it stuck there for a moment, while he took in the sight.

Grace laid there slumped to the floor, as she propped herself against a wall. The normally so composed mare that he was used to seeing, a long distant memory behind the tired and bloodshot eyes of one that had been balling her eyes out moments ago. Her mane was a wreck as it covered nearly her entire face, while the rest of it draped over her shoulders.

Even her wings flopped to the sides of her, as they seemed to be the only thing keeping her balanced. With neither of her eyes paying him any heed. He watched as Grace picked up a bottle to tequila, and gulped down a few hearty mouthfuls in one go.

“Now I’m all for drinking away my sorrows,” Iron muttered just loud enough for her to hear, as her head popped up to meet his gaze, “but even I know when to call it quits.”

“You…” Grace sneered at first, before coving her mouth and face up after realizing her position, “What can I do for you?” she asked, trying her best to hide herself in her time of weakness, and recomposed herself as best she could. Attempting to get to her feet though, the mare stumbled and fell where she once stood.

With a quick reaction, Iron already was by her side, giving her a literal shoulder to lean on. “I think in this case it’s more what I can do for you…” he peered down to her, “How long have you been down here?” he asked while keeping the mare steady.

“I…” she hiccupped, “Don’t remember, not that long.”

Though the empty bottle of gin in the corner threw that defense out the window the moment Iron saw it, “Right…” he said drawn out, while he guided the princess as he walked.

“Where are you taking me?” the princess asked with a sudden moment of coherence.

“If you’re going to drink, then may you drink with me,” Iron said as he pushed open the door, and picked up the half drank bottle of liquor. Before leading her down the hall to his own shop, “At least then you can’t hurt yourself.”

Throwing open the door to his shop, Iron plopped the mare down on the stool as she started to wobble at first. Though once she was settled, the colt went to work like he always had. Removing the rockets from the work bench, he slowly slid them in to the barrels with care. This time if something happened he wouldn’t be the only one getting hurt, and Iron would rather not have Assault on royalty added to his rap sheet.

With the new setting, Grace found herself just looking around at the cluttered, but at the same time well kept, work area. ‘Amber was right,’ she thought through her haze, ‘he does know where everything is,’ Grace realized as she saw how some of his mind worked. Saddened, that she could only see the inner workings of it through an inebriated mind.

“So what’s eatin’ ya?” he asks out of the blue.

Though in truth she should have expected that to come up at some point, “You… wouldn’t understand…” she tried to deviate the subject as best she could.

Though the princess doesn’t get her mind this ripe as often as Iron does, so needless to say, the colts’ quicker on his wit than normal. “Horse crap…” he said flatly to her, without even breaking eye contact with his work, “I’ve heard that excuse numerous times from my students, and not once have I not been able to understand something about what’s on their mind,” he peered over his shoulder to her, “So try me.”

Whether it was the blunt way he talked to her, the sincerity in his voice, or maybe the liquid courage coursing through her system. Grace took a deep breath, and spilled her mind, “I let them down…” she said quietly, watching as Iron froze for a moment from what he was doing, before getting right back to it, “all of them… a town was destroyed, and I had no way of stopping it.”

“You’re right, you didn’t,” he agreed with her surprisingly, “so why beat yourself up over it.”

“Because I’m the bucking princess!” she shouted, as she watched Iron nearly drop some sort of shaped pipe, before he caught it midair with his magic, “It’s my job to predict these things, it’s my job to protect those under me, it’s my job to stop any of this from happening,” she started to rant in her drunken haze, “this is the first time I’ve ever had to think of how to fight a war, and I just royally bucked up one town and allowed it to be wiped off the map!”

“Yes, a town literally at the edge of your nation was destroyed, by an enemy that was already right on their door step,” at first she couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Though then his words started to make sense, even before he explained them for her, “you couldn’t have known or even sent troops out to protect them in time.”

“I could have had troops already there and in the other border towns that dot the area…”

“True… though I’m fairly certain that you learned from that mistake, and that’s exactly what you’ve done now,” Iron looked in to her eyes, and saw the small click of understanding.

‘He’s in my head…’ she told herself, ‘I did do that after all.’

“My point exactly,” Iron pointed out to her, reading her thoughts, “you made a mistake, ponies died, and you learned from it… you can’t be expected to get it right all the time. Ya think I am?”

Grace slowly rolled her eyes as best she could at him, “You’ve been right about more than I have so far… the confidence, and feeling of being so self-sure just pours out of you.”

“I’m not nearly as sure of myself as you may think…” he led on, causing her brow to raise.

“Really now, I never would have guessed…”

“No, seriously,” Iron made his point as he slid the last round in to the barrel, and gave her his undivided attention, “I don’t know what I’m doing half the time… as I told you, I make it up as I go mostly,” he reminded her, “yea it seems like I know what route to take, or what choice to make, but that’s just because either I’ve done it before and have seen the outcomes of the wrong choices… or I’m shooting from the hip.” The colt went silent for the first time in a long while, as he walked right up to her side, and slid himself on the work bench next to her.

Sliding the bottle of tequila out from behind her, Iron twisted the top off as he took his own swig of the concoction, before passing it to the princess as she did the same. “You’re worried about what decision to make when it comes to war, and here I am telling you that there is no right decision,” she peered over top of the bottle before finishing her gulp, “soldiers will die, good ponies will die, some will be wounded for life… that’s just how war goes.”

“But not under my command…” Grace poised, as she glanced off to the side. Trying to hide a few more of the tears that begged to fall, “I’m supposed to know what to do, how to save them.”

“Sometimes you just can’t save them all,” Iron rested a gentle hoof on the mares’ shoulder, grabbing the attention that he needed to have, “all you can do is come up with a plan, hope it’s a good one, and when they bodies start coming back… learn to live with it.”

For on the rare occasion, Grace wasn’t sure what to say to the colt. Here’s an unassuming stallion, a teacher at that, spilling her a lesson about war and bloodshed. One that she never got when she was younger, and being groomed to take the throne. With a gentle nod, she accepted his words for what they’re worth. Yet couldn’t help but keep the conversation going, “That’s easy for you to say,” Grace huffed as she set the bottle between them, “you’re a fighter… you know what to expect from it…”

“Also, not true…” Iron started to snicker at her, as he picked up the bottle and took another drink to clear his nerves, “I’m not a fighter at all, I just fight when it’s the right thing to do… I don’t go looking for it.”

“And yet you’re so good at making instruments of war…” Grace gazed over to his ever growing suit, wondering to herself what half the attachments that she saw even do.

“Just because I’m good at something, doesn’t mean I always like doing it…” Iron told her, as she started to see even more of the inner workings of his mind, “a mare working in a brothel may be the best lay in the nation, able to pleasure and please a colt six ways to Sunday… but that doesn’t mean she likes doing it.”

Choking on her own breath from his example, Grace held down the burn that came from the mixture in her stomach, “Okay… good example, bad timing…”

“Hehe… sorry,” Iron smiled sheepishly at her, adverting his eyes away from the mare.

“Not your fault,” she waved it off with a hoof, “though that does paint a rather vivid image.” Grace smiled back at him, as she watched the smirk on his face mellow out in to a sincere beam, “So if you’re not the fighter that I see you as… why go out and fight in a war you want no part in?”

“Sense of duty, bringing evil doers to justice, moral obligation… sense of purpose,” Iron rattled them off as though he was reciting it in a mirror, “All in all, I like to help my fellow equine, and if that means picking up a sword to do it. Then by all means, I’ll sharpen my blade.”

Grace started to chuckle lightly to herself, drawing only a confused stare from the colt. Looking back up to him, the princess hid the rosy cheeks under her vail of hair. Though whether or not it was from the alcohol, or the simple banter between them, she didn’t know or even care. “I guess there’s more to you then it would seem…” she said simply to him.

All Iron could do was return the expression, “and to you as well…”

Looking up in to his hazel irises, the princess held her tongue as best she could while she allowed the words of Irons’ own friend to play in the back of her mind. Comparing it all to what she knows now about him, a different light shined over the colts’ shoulder as they sat there in the shop.

‘He does mean well,’ Grace told herself, ‘just doesn’t always end up doing well…’

“Exactly how much did you talk to Amber… about me?” he asked, catching her off guard.

“How did you-”

“Yeah, you didn’t say those last words in your head,” Iron pointed out her fumble, as Graces’ face flushed as a result.

“I… simply asked her about what goes on in that head of yours,” she played off a bit, not wanting to go too much in to detail. After all, she learned more from Free than she did Amber. “She said that you weren’t all that bad of a colt, and once somepony managed to get through your shell… you could actually be rather sweet…”

“Well drat,” Iron leaned back against the wall behind him, as he started to chuckle awkwardly, “the secrets out…”

“I guess it is,” casually Grace extended a wing on to his side, patting him on the shoulder from where she sat, before playfully winking at him, “though don’t worry… your secret’s safe with me.” After the reassuring smile from the colt, the princess started to look for something to change the subject to one a little lighter. Thankfully, she had to look no farther than the stand before her, “what’s with the barrels on your back plate though?” she pointed to the suit.

Instantly his eyes lit up as he looked at his armor once more, “Oh that, it’s a rocket launcher of some kind,” the confused expression from her begged further explanation, something he gladly delivered, “Okay so it’s a way to propel bombs really far from me, at a target of my choosing, really really fast…”

“I know what a rocket is!” she huffed playfully at him, “though why do you have them on your back?”

“Well… back in the kingdom we were attacked with something similar, it took out a boat in a single shot,” Iron pointed out to her, “I saw how powerful it was, so I wanted to make one of my own…” hopping from his perch, the colt wandered over to the contraption, as he drew out the bracer to show her the inner workings. “The rockets are set off from simple energy transfer from these emerald shards here,” he explained as he pointed to them, “their insulated from the other gems with a rubber resin so that way when I activate another spell or enchantment, it doesn’t set them off.”

“Okay, so you do have some safety in mind…” Grace added while she thought of it more, “have you tested it yet?”

“Have you seen anything flying about in the city lately, or random buildings missing?” he asked, drawing only a scowl from the mare, “then that answers your question… though I’ll get to it when I can. For now, it all should work, in theory. Gives one hell of a punch, just like these,” Iron turned the suit to her, showing off the holsters that held his own bombs, “a little more thought out than the one I brought to your chambers… I shouldn’t have to tell you what they are.”

“Creative, deadly… and likely to blow up in your face,” she left off. Though another thought buzzed around the princess’s head, one that she had been meaning to ask sense day one of hearing what he could do, and did do in his off time, “Though I have to ask… why armor?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Armor, and obviously weapons… I know Free in his spare time likes to draw and write fan fiction about some comics that he’s read. Silvertongue likes to meander in cooking as a hobby. I myself can get lost in a good book more often than not… and I’ll admit, dancing is always a fun pastime for me,” Grace started to blush as she looked over the suit once more, all the hours that he had put in to it, and for what? To sit in his class room or back at home gathering dust, until recently that is, “my point is… you have many other talents or skills that I’ve heard of or even seen. So why stick with something that either causes death, or protects from it?”

It wasn’t the first time that he had gotten the question, enough so that he had a response to simply divert it to a dead end that would end the conversation should he not want to go any further with it. Only two other ponies really know why he dabbles in this field, and both of them have known him for years to begin with.

‘Screw it… let’s see what she says,’ Iron throws in the towel, “I would tell you that it’s simply a hobby that allows me to show my students what they can do if they use both their natural abilities, and their own will. Something to give them reference to as what they could accomplish,” he starts off with the simple answer.

Though the all telling eye of the mare glared through the mask that he had on, knowing there’s more to it than that. “However, if you ask Freefall, or even Amber,” Iron took a breath, “they can tell you that I have a knack for trying to protect what’s on the inside, by making armor to defend the outside… ponies like to use what one has to offer,” the many times that bit him in the flank, created the stallion he is today, and one he learned to not mind being, “whether is money, stability… or even friendship. Many would drain you dry if they had the chance.”

With those last words Irons’ head dipped a little lower than she was used to seeing, as his eyes trailed off in to the distance away from her. The thought’s that he had going through his mind rearing their ugly heads, as the princess brought up a part of him that he didn’t like to chat with any more. Yet still would find an ear to whisper in to on occasion, as he was reminded of his faults.

While it took a moment for his words to sink in, Grace saw what he meant immediately. Simply looking at the change in demeanor from him a few moments ago talking about something he loved, to now a stallion who looks like he’s ready to off himself. Any creature could tell that there’s far more to him, than he ever lets on.

Here’s a colt, who on the face of things is vulgar to no end, as crude as a teenager in some cases, curses like a sailor at times, has a total disregard of his own safety, and probably should have been admitted to some institution years ago, yet somehow is now teaching the youth of the nation…

And all of it, is a mask, to hide the gentlecolt underneath…

The colt that he wants no one to see, because in the end, he fears that they’ll just use it, and leave him in the dust. Like many others seem to have done before to him. So to protect that, Iron pushes others away, and only keeps those close to him that know himself for who he really is… a sweet, kind, caring young stallion.

“I’m a kind hearted bastard with a heart of gold, problem is it’s ten karats so it’s strong, but not that pure,” Iron spilled the line that he has rehearsed over and over again to himself. All while he adverted his gaze from her, taking an interest instead in the broom off to the corner, if only to give him something to steer his eyes away.

Easing herself down from the stool, mostly so she could get her footing. Grace waltzed over in front of the stricken colt, as he never even noticed her approaching him. ‘Ever the strange colt… though Amber and Free are right about him more than I give them credit for,’ she noted in the back of her mind, “I see that now…” Grace whispered as she laid a hoof on his slumped shoulder, beckoning the colt to rise up. “I don’t know about ten karats,” her soft spoken words caused the colts’ ears to twitch, “I think it’s safe to say that you’ve reached about fourteen by now…”

“Oh you give me too much credit.”

“Oh contraire,” Grace pulled his head up so their eyes would meet. Standing up to his fullest, the mare bent her neck to stare him down as if he was an inch tall, “you don’t give yourself enough of it to begin with… you’re a good colt. Your friends can attest to that… I… can attest to it.”

“So that’s what we are now, huh?” Iron smirked at her, while he looked down at the mare, “Friends?”

“Well…” Grace took a breath and awkwardly scratched the back of her head with a hoof, trying to keep her eyes off him for a moment while she got her own thoughts in order, “I’m not calling you my enemy.”

All things considered, she wanted to kick the colts’ flank after meeting him for five minutes, though if she did that and learned what she knows now. Grace doesn’t know if she would have forgiven herself for showing so much malice, to a pony who wants nothing more than to be a good colt to those he cares for.

Without a second thought to the matter, the princess clenched her throat, and put her wings around the stallion standing a head taller than she. Pulling him in to the embrace, Irons’ heart and mind stopped for a second, before it finally started to beat a tune he hadn’t heard in a while, ‘Odd feeling… aint it?’ he questioned himself.

Leaning to the embrace, Iron put a hoof around her and brought her in a little closer with a squeeze, careful not to crush the petite Pegasus. “I was expecting a wing across the face from you, before I ever got this…”

“Hehe, well there’s still time for that you know?” she chuckled at him, before breaking off the hug, “You’re a good colt, remember that…” Grace let a sincere smile cross her face before she finished, “please?”

“Just how much of this is alcohol talking?”

“Oh probably a good deal,” she nodded her head vigorously, “though I’m not that drunk, I’ll still remember this in the morning…”

“You mean later…” Iron looked up at the clock. It had already been a few hours’ sense he was down here, and their little talk took up even more time. With the clock striking three in the morning, he looked down to the Pegasus rubbing her eye as the time and the drink finally hit her. “Come on, let’s get you to bed…” Iron put a hoof around her, as he once again guided the mare towards the door of the shop.

“I think I know my own way,” she started to push away from him playfully, before her feet decided otherwise and forced gravity to take over.

“Nope, I gotcha,” he caught her for the second time tonight, “besides, it’s a large castle… and I’m heading to bed myself anyway.”

“I hope in a separate one from mine?” she batted her eye lashes at him.

“Well unless you’re offering…” he paused for a moment, waiting for her eyes to grow from their sockets, “of course, your drunk so no… ask me that when you’re sober and you might get a different answer.”

Keeping her head away from his own, the mare started to giggle at the playful attitude that she mixed with radiating from him. Although she wouldn’t admit it out loud to any other, Grace did rather enjoy the little chat they had while sharing a bottle back and forth. ‘Perhaps again sometime…’ she started to smile at the thought, probably more than she should have allowed. Though Grace didn’t care right now, she wanted sleep, before the eye lids of hers took over entirely and she passed out on the floor.

“Thank you though…” she said quietly, watching as his face asked what for? Without even uttering a word, “For hearing me out, I didn’t mean to get completely sloshed down here… but thank you for hearing what I had to say, and doing some spilling of your own.”

Iron simply shrugged his shoulders, “It’s what I’m here for…”

“Is that so…” she looked at him coyly, before batting her eyes once more, “and don’t worry… your secret is safe with me… Iron.”

Looking down to her once more, a small smile started to stretch itself from ear to ear on the colt upon hearing his actual name again. Nodding his head lightly to her, he continued to guide the mare, “And thank you, for both listening, and keeping it… Grace.”

Chapter 30

Sitting idly in the chair that found itself in the center of the horseshoe table. Egyes twiddled his talons amongst one another, as he waited and watched as the council went on discussing his current situation and listened in on what the lone gryphon had to say about the war party that his own country was putting together against Seren.

“You come to us, an Armsmaster, in charge of the creation and management of the weapons that the kingdom has created,” Grace sat up tall in her chair, as she looked at eye level with the gryphon, “weapons that have slain countless citizens of mine, both fighters, and commoners… veraciously…” she spat out.

The gryphon sat there motionless for a few welcome seconds, as Grace and the others waited for either an answer, or herself to continue. With a sigh, Egyes cleared his throat as best he could, “I only saw to their production, I didn’t use them myself surprisingly…”

“And that makes it all better?”

“Absolutely not, your majesty,” he lowered his head, “when these new weapons were brought to our attention and their practicality was shown, I had tried to push their use to force your own hooves to bend to our will…”

The tension in the room readied to snap like a twig in the fire, as Grace rose up from her seat and glared over at the trespasser on her land, “so you wanted to use them against me to hurt my own.”

“Only as a deterrent… that was my idea, my colleagues had other plans,” he swallowed the lump that started to form in the back of his throat, “I knew you wanted to avoid a fight, so I hoped that we could use them to deter any scuffle from breaking out. Though with the effectiveness of these weapons, others sought to simply use them and take what they wanted.”

“So in the end… you were trying to help?” another advisor asked the gryphon, as he nodded in response.

Grace though sat there in silence, the fact that this gryphon had come to her castle was surprising enough. Though to hear that nearly her entire party that was sent out was wiped clean of the soil, enraged the mare in more ways than she even knew possible, as the broken chair in her office would attest. The only thing that had saved him from being skewered on the spot was Freefalls’ testimony, that Egyes had helped him escape, and even slaughtered his own kind to make it happen.

“So what of these weapons?” she snapped out of her trance as another question to the gryphon was posed, “what did you call them? Where did they come from?”

“Are there more that we haven’t seen yet?” another member added.

Egyes took a deep breath, as he collected his thoughts for the long explanation so he wouldn’t trip himself up. “The smaller ones that are held on our sides are called pistols, while the larger cousins are referred to as rifles… both are deadly accurate, far faster than magic, unless you’re a skilled unicorn. While both require little training to operate, and little to no skill to use…”

“What of the other one that we have in a previous report?” a general asked, as Grace noticed Irons’ report held in his hooves, “this launcher of sorts?”

“That one’s simply known as a rocket launcher,” Egyes spat out, “simple to make, and will leave a large hole in whatever it manages to hit…”

‘Such as a boat…’ Grace muttered to herself, as she rested a chin under her muzzle, “Are there more though from where they came?”

“Yes, your majesty, far more…” he regretted saying. Whether they knew it or not, Seren was going to have a fight on its hands, one that he would now be a part of if they would let him, “many of which are in their early stages of production though. Only the ones I just mentioned could be mass produced, the others require a little more skill to make… and more materials. But the payoff from what I know is far greater, and well worth the price to her…”

“Such as?” the chancellor next to Grace pondered.

Though Egyes started to shake his head, “I know not what they’re called, or what they look like, most of them were done under the close supervision of the one that brought this tech to us.”

“The her you mentioned… hmm?” Grace took note of what the others have missed.

“Yes ma’am… a mysterious mare had made her way to our king,” he started off what little he knew of the one that brought them these gifts, “she showed him and others what she could do, what she could make… and they ate it right up. She was put in charge of production to start things off, but moved on to bigger things as her talons wedged in to our nation…”

“You say she’s a mare, yet give her talons?” an advisor asked, trying to pick apart his words, “that doesn’t add up you know?”

“I know this… but it’s the truth, she is a mare of many secrets, only my once king has seen her without the cloak that she would wear…”

With that final line, Graces’ ears perk up. Recalling what Iron and Free had encountered that one night after finding something breaking in to the castle. Whoever this mare was, regardless if the testimony was coming from a traitor, she had been seen on multiple occasions by separate parties.

Something that caught this mares’ interest.

“I know you all have no reason to believe me, and I wouldn’t blame you,” he started to lean in closer to them, “but I have no reason to betray my own country, just to come here and lie to yours…”

“So why come at all?” Silvertongue posed, as he sat next to his princess, “why come here and risk it in the first place…”

“Because I have seen what ponies are capable of… the kindness they have, and the wisdom they bring…” he took another deep breath, “many years ago, I was in Equestria as a young Armsmaster. Learning about the different types of magic and how they could be used, the equestrians were all too willing to share their knowledge… though as I met some of their leaders, along with my group, and we traded knowledge. The lunar princess saw that I was envious of what you ponies could do…”

Raising his head to look the princess in the eye, Egyes showed the truth in his words, “I envied how you Pegisy could control the weather, how unicorns could manipulate the world around them with just a flick of their horn, how earth ponies while so simple, could withstand so much punishment and keep on going…” he clenched his talons to relieve the old tensions that built up, “though the wise mare saw this, and told me something to calm my nerves… ‘Envy gets you nothing, jealousy leads to disaster.’ Perhaps if she followed her own words, she’d be here right now,” he sighed for a moment of silence. Out of simple respect to the mare in the moon.

“She knew she wouldn’t follow her own advice, but sought instead to help another with their own problems, above her own… sense then I had thanked her for that little word of advice, and I wish I would be able to face to face one day,” Egyes gently stroked the ends of his talon with the other, “it was a simple enough encounter… but one that I saw again years earlier from your own fallen leaders.”

With that he looked in to the twitching eyes of the princess, as she stared right back in to him, “I met your parents when I was even younger as I learned my craft. They had come to the kingdom to visit on a diplomatic retreat, as you know they would do from time to time…”

“Yes…” Grace muttered, clenching back a tear, “I know…”

“I got to talk to them for a brief time, up to that point I had only heard the blatant mutterings of insults from those around me about your king and queen,” he regretted saying in front of the remaining bloodline of the two, “though as I saw them throughout my day, I saw the kindness in their hearts, and what they would do for each other and those around them… something as simple as a please and thank you, a sweet smile to a passing gryphon, or a ‘how are you’ to a total stranger… shed a new light on the first pair of ponies I had ever met.”

With a shortness of breath, he took a moment to finalize all he could say, “the kingdom and the DDR look to take whatever Seren has to offer, this mare though at the heart of it all, looks to wipe the slate clean… and finish any future fight before they even have the chance to start again.”

Silence took over the room as all those present started to look back and forth to one another, muttering their own comments, and keeping them close to ear. Only Grace and Egyes stared at one another, lost in their own thoughts. As Grace muttered a simple ‘thank you’ across to him without a word.

Raising up from her seat, she placed the tiara atop her head as she spoke, “Mr. Egyes, you have taken it upon yourself to jump in to the belly of the beast in hopes of joining us and our ranks, to fight against a kingdom you once called your own… am I correct?”

Nodding slowly, he never averted his eyes from the mare, “yes I have.”

“Good…” she smirked back at him, “let’s keep it that way…”

Iron and Free stood outside the meeting room, in a similar place they had been but a week ago it would seem after their own little mission. Looking over the suit of armor that Free still wore, the metallurgist of the two pondered different additions he could install on his friends’ suit…

If he could pry it from him long enough.

“What about the rocket launcher?”

“No.”

“Strength enhancing gems?”

“Nope…”

“Oh please,” Iron tried to plead with him, “What about a built in healing gem that would close wounds in seconds and keep you from bleeding out?”

“That…” he considered for a moment, “might actually be useful.”

“And what? The others wouldn’t be?”

“It’s not that, just the simple fact that I can’t always rely on the tech like you do most of the time,” Free pointed out, using Irons’ own words against him, “besides, the best defense I have is my speed.”

“Nothing says defense like an explosive…” Iron rolled his eyes at him, but sulked his head down, “though I see your point.”

“Good… now that that’s out of the way,” Free cleared his head a bit, “how many things are you going to add to your own suit? It’s got to be getting mighty heavy by this point.”

“Yes and no…” he tried to explain, “most of the weight is spread across my frame still, so it’s not like I’m pressing my luck all in one spot. Besides, out of the two of us, I’ve always been the stronger one,” he smirked at his companion.

“Strong, capable, talented, and has too much times on his hooves,” Free summed it all up, “yep… recipe for disaster.”

“Only if you’re at the end of my hoof.”

With that the door opened up, though this time the council wasn’t the one to file out at first. Ahead of them all, with doors closing in to let them discuss matters in private. Grace stepped out with the gryphon in tow close behind her. The missing ball and chain around his neck already told Free that they were willing to listen to the one that saved his life, though the smirk on the princess’s face confused him for a moment.

“I’ve seen that look before,” he pointed out, “everything went well I take it?”

“More than expected really,” Grace looked back to Egyes as she beckoned him to step up to her, “Mr. Egyes here will be joining our little cause… though obviously under the supervision of our own…”

“And by supervision I trust you mean me and Free?” Iron asked curiously.

“No… Just Free,” she smirked back at the colt playfully, catching his own expression in return, “after all I can’t have a traitor to his own country in the hooves of one that barely can keep his head…”

“I didn’t lose it when you sent us in to the hornets’ nest last time!” Iron belted out.

“Wait a second…” Egyes put two and two together, “are you two the ones that assaulted the other factory?”

“Guilty as charged,” Iron said proudly, not ever taking in to the fact that he may have put some of the gryphons’ own friends in the ground.

“Well then… Seems I’ll be in capable hooves,” Egyes nodded to him approvingly.

“Staff Sargent Freefall,” Grace summoned him to step up to the plate, “As I just said, Egyes here will be in your care. Take care of him, watch over him, and keep him out of trouble…”

“So everything you asked me to do with Iron?”

“Exactly.”

“Hey! I’m right here you know,” the colt pointed out to them as if he had just disappeared.

“I know you are, don’t worry,” Grace calmed him down, before turning her attention to the new addition to her force, “Free will take care of you, with any luck you’ll be able to help out on other issues that pop up with these new… toys, that the kingdom has acquired…”

“It would be my pleasure…” Egyes bowed politely to her.

With that Grace bid them ado and headed off to take care of other matters on the table. Leaving the gryphon in the care of those that stood by with him. Taking a once look over of the new comer, Iron sized up the gryphon with what he could see on the surface. Strong, tatted up, and clearly a fighter from the scars he could see through the feathers.

“Looks like you’ve seen your fair share of war…” Iron said bluntly.

“Enough to know that it’s never wanted by anyone but the insane,” he fired back without missing a beat.

“Whelp, you saved my friends ass back there,” he put a hoof around Frees’ neck and pulled him in closer. “I say that’s earned you a drink.”

“What did you have in mind?” Egyes asked.

Looking to one another, the colts’ minds melded as one like they have on many occasions, “Elixirs and Edibles.” They said in unison, while trotting past the gryphon that headed up the middle.

“Besides, you were in charge of production you say?” Iron asked as he watched the gryphon nod, “good, then I have many questions regarding how those weapons work… and how they might be matched…”

Far off on a border town the next morning…

Two guards stood their watch as they perched themselves along the borders of an outlying town to the capital. It may have not been large enough to be called a city by most citizens’ standards, though with that said, it had more than enough residence and businesses to call it their own. Taking stock of the surrounding area in the slowly rising sun on the horizon, the pair did their rove on the edge of the town, while they chatted amongst themselves to pass the time anyway they could.

“How would they expect any attack here now?” a gryphon, the junior out of the two, asked his senior, “There’s an army post set up here for just the reason of a quick response, why do we have to have a watch?” He commented about the small base that had been set up during the start of this cold war.

“As right as you may be, we still have a job to do,” the far larger drake looked down and said to him, as they continued to walk side by side amongst the small path that made the outline of the settlement, “Ever sense there was that other attack, the princess has ordered that a constant watch be posted on any and all towns along the border, simply as a precaution…”

“As if the Gryphons would be stupid enough to try an attack in the middle of the day, going head long in to a place that they know would put up a fight,” the guard scoffed as he kicked the dirt with a talon.

As a young member of the guard, he was still naive to how things worked sometimes. The dragon though thought to himself, as he ignored the comment for the most part, “the Gryphons may be too smart to try that sort of thing… though we don’t border the Kingdom now do we?” he pointed out to the youngster, “The DDR are rather hot headed, I would expect them to try something, if anything…”

“That much, I kinda have to agree with ya on,” the Gryphon nodded to him, as he looked off across the wide open fields with sparse trees that made up the surrounding area.

It wasn’t much to look at over all, the flat landscape would have made for easy pickings for Serens’ soldiers should the enemy come knocking at their door. With little coverage, any skilled unicorn, or Gryphon with a cross bow could reach out and touch even the stealthiest soldier that tried to get close in for a fight…

Though the DDR was never known for being stealthy…

“Ahh… Roughbreak?” the gryphon asked to the dragon next to him, standing on his hind paws to tap his counterpart on the shoulder, “what you said about the DDR being hot headed… you may have called it.”

The drake looked over his shoulder and to the field, though when his eagle eyes picked up nothing on the ground. He adverted his gaze to the skies, and there, he saw what the gryphon was pointing out. Airships were nothing new to the drake, having traveled most of the country, and in several others, he had seen small ones used to move passengers across the land that either weren’t capable of flight, or the distance was far too much for them to make it.

Though the several that he saw on the horizon line were different, far bigger than he had ever seen by others. Large enough that even a drake of his size, that had a hard time fitting in to most coffee shops, would have been dwarfed should he fly next to it. Without even having to see it up close, there was one thing that he knew, they were made for business… and business alone.

“Sidewinder,” he called to his cohort, trying to keep his tone as even as possible, “get to base, send a message to the capital, we got company…”

Chapter 31

Egyes was always used to sleeping in uncomfortable surroundings, being a soldier out on the field before he started specializing as an Armsmaster. The gryphon could call a branch on a tree home, just as much as he would the average cot in a tent huddled with two dozen of his brethren. Though as far as sleeping arrangements go, the counter top in a workstation isn’t one of the highest on his list.

Rolling to one side as he stretched his wings out, the gryphon quickly met the forces of gravity as they took him from his resting spot, down to the ground. Landing flat on his back with a dull thud against the brick flooring. “…Ouch…” he grumbled out, propping up on his hind while he looked around the room.

Where ever he was, it looked to be specialized in the manufacture of armor. While judging by the random metal sheets thrown everywhere and anywhere, he had to guess that whoever worked in this cubical, they were either good at what they did, or were a major slacker.

“Ugh…” he heard a groan from underneath him, as he looked down and saw the unicorn by the name of Iron Knight laying on the floor that he thought he landed on. “Egyes, I just met you yesterday… I need at least a second date before we start sleeping together like this…”

“Whoops! Sorry,” Egyes hopped to his feet, and gave the pony a talon to help him up as well, “didn’t realize you were down there, or even that we were in here…” he looked around the room once more. Piecing together the night from before and what they all had gotten themselves in to.

After heading out to the local bar that the two colts knew of, the unicorn of the group bought the first round as he had planned. So began the night with a hearty shot of whiskey that warmed their system for the many drinks to follow. After about the eighth or ninth shot of various liquors, mixing their lights and darks to no end, and chasing them with hard cider and mead. The last few things that the gryphon could recall was watching Iron flirt with the mare that served them drinks, while Free took a swing at playing the guitar (which even in their drunken haze, astounded the other customers on his skill).

Iron though took a look around the room, and noticed that his armor laid off in the corner slumped up against the wall. Finally, it dawned on him what he was working on while in his drunken bliss. Picking up a screwdriver, the colt hurtled it over to the suit and struck the helmet straight on the muzzle.

“Free! Wake up in there!” he shouted.

The armor came to life as the Pegasus inside stumbled to his feet and took a fighting stance against whatever attacker stood before him, “Come on let me at ‘em!” Free shouted, huffing through the nose holes of the metal.

“Stand down boy,” Iron called back to him, as he took a seat on his stool, “You’re among friends, and very well protected, trust me…”

Free fell flat on his rump and peeled the helmet off, dropping it off to the side, “Whelp… That was a hell of a night…”

“Nothing compared to when I turned of age to drink,” Iron chuckled, recalling the fond memory. Though as he looked around the room in disarray and the various bumps and scratches on his suit, he couldn’t help wonder. “Did we run in to another intruder?”

“No…” Egyes started to recall what they did when they got back to the castle, “though you two did get in to a fight in here while wearing your respective armors…” he remembered the rather vivid scene between the two colts that waged war against the other.

Though there were no marks on their own bodies to prove it, Iron simply allowed the work he’s done on his armor to explain that bit. One thing though he didn’t understand, “how did you get in my suit?” he asked his cohort.

“I think…” Free tried to recall, “I wanted to see how well I could use some of the enchantments…”

“And apparently some of the weapons…” Egyes pointed out, literally by pointing to the large scorch mark on the wall where several of the bricks were shattered almost all the way through to the next workstation.

“Whelp,” Iron judged from the impact mark, “Rocket launcher works!”

“You mean I fired that thing inside!?” Free shouted out as he looked back and forth to the launchers on his shoulder, and the mark on the wall, “How did we survive that?”

Egyes looked around at what they had to work with, noting that several of the sheets of metal were scorched just the same as the suits, and the wall itself, “I believe we made a shield at one point… though clearly it didn’t last all that long.”

“Yea… sounds about right,” the colt acknowledged the deduction, as he used his magic to draw a death stick from his suit, and lit it with a single flare from his horn. “I told you my suit was sturdy.” He smirked at Free.

“How we’ve lived this long I will never know.”

“Because of our cunning wit, and quick reaction to bullshit?” Iron quirked.

“Ugh…” Free groaned as he facehooved himself, “why do I have the feeling you’re going to be the death of me?”

“Na… you’re too fun for me to kill.”

Egyes looked at the two colts that were more or less his overseers, as they bantered back and forth with one another. The little to no formality between them, the total lack of self-preservation that they had from what he’s heard on their little missions, and the complete disregard for manners of any kind while under the influence. All made him wonder how the kingdom had never been able to beat back this country ages ago.

“If you two are anything like the army is as a whole,” he started off, leaning against the counter, “then I’m at a loss for words of how my own kind couldn’t beat y’all…” Egyes started to chuckle at his light hearted comment.

“Whelp I can answer that simply,” Iron took another drag on his smoke, “fact of the matter is, we have our own doctrines and manuals for war when it comes around… it just so happens that…”

“…We have not a buck to give when following them, or even reading them for that matter,” Free picked up where his friend left off.

The door to the shop kicked open from the other side, while a soldier in full combat armor soon followed as he looked around the room, spotting the Pegasus he sought after, “Staff Sargent Freefall!” he called out over the short space, deafening the three present, “There’s a mounting attack on another town, the DDR have made a move this time!”

“I hear ya!” Free yelled back at him to override the ringing in his ears, “Are troops mobilizing to move out?”

“Already ready and waiting,” the soldier responded, “Princess Grace has requested your presence to lead one of the squads of Pegisy, she said air power would be needed.”

Free and Iron looked at one another, wondering what Grace may have found out that they were still in the dark too. Getting up to his hooves, Free dusted himself off as he addressed the soldier, “I’ll be ready in five… I’ll meet you all in the courtyard I presume?” waiting for a nod, when he got it Free waved the soldier off as he started to strip away the suit.

With help from his friend, Iron grabbed the pieces that made up Frees’ own armor and started to layer it on him. All the while charging up the gems as he went with his own magic, “I’m going to make the offer and ask if you want me there along with ya?”

Free looked at him with all traces of alcohol out of his system, “Not at all… there will be another chance for ya, don’t worry. Though who knows what they DDR have in store for us.”

“Then who will watch your back out there?”

Hearing the cracking of a neck, the two colts looked over to the side and saw Egyes cracking his claws one by one, “That job will fall to me…”

“You’re serious?” Free asked him, “you just got out of the fray with that little stunt back at the factory, and you want to go back in?”

“You had the same stunt going for ya there also,” the gryphon pointed out. Ruffling through one of the bins that held finished pieces of armor, Egyes started to strap on what he could to cover his frame, “besides, I been waiting to pummel some mutts lately.”

Iron looked at the gryphon and nodded a simple thanks to him, “Whelp, I trust him… you two get going.” He slid Frees’ blade back in to the holster. As he picked one out from a weapons stand to fit the gryphons size, and tossed it to him. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

With that, the two heading in to the thick of it looked at one another, and without a word were on their way to take the fight back to the DDR. Along with whatever they decided to bring in on this little attack.

Roughbreak peeled out of the sky as he dove upon several groups of dogs that made an attempt to ransack the town below them. Dropping from their own airships above, the DDR had been deploying several groups of soldiers to take the fight to the ground, while their own vessels did their work on those that soared through the air.

The drake landed amongst the group, instantly whipping his tail around and smashing in to the skulls and torsos of those in his mist. Even through the rough cut iron armor that the dogs wore, they were little match for the hardened scales of a dragon that has seen war for generations.

Though that didn’t mean his comrades were any better off.

A dog lifted up his rifle and started firing off in to the group of Seren soldiers that sought to bring them down, as his rounds cut through their plate armor and sliced in to their flesh. Dropping many of them before he even had to reload. Like his brothers though, the dog may be larger than any of them, save for the dragon, by at least a head or two. But they’re slow when it comes to fighting, relying on brute force more often than not.

A lone zebra skipped between the falling bodies of those he charged with, expertly holding a spear in hoof as he galloped. He may be smaller, and not nearly as strong as the other ponies that once surrounded him. Though his kind was always known for their agility and skill while fighting on less than four hooves.

Sliding between the legs of the dog to avoid a swipe from his paw, the stripped equine in one move slid a dagger out of its sheath and in to the tendons of the dog. Quickly dropping him to the ground as the tissue gave out. Whirling back without giving the dog a chance to recover, the spear head was plunged between the plates on his neck, driving through his throat and pinning him to the ground where he once stood.

Pulling the spear clear of the wound, a small amount of spatter glistened across his black and white face from the spray, acting as war paint while the zebra marched towards the drake that had landed to give aid.

“Much appreciated there, my friend,” the pony cousin nodded to his comrade as he looked across Roughbreaks’ body to see if there were any wounds that needed tending, “though how have you not met your end?” he asked.

The drake simply grinned at his work, pushing the bodies of those he slayed out of his way while he checked his corners for any more that might be coming, “these new toys that the DDR have come across work well against flesh, Tankor,” he started to chuckle at the dark realization, “though scales seem to be far too tough for their liking…”

With a thunderous crack, a shot rang out amongst them, as the building nearby exploded in a shower of wood and bricks. Extending his wings, the drake covered both himself and the zebra with one move. Before he looked back up at the airship that made the attack, and the long barrel that stuck out of it, one of many.

“Though that might give your hide a run for its money!” he heard the familiar voice shout out, as the gryphon that it belonged to flew low to the ground.

Sidewinder rolled and tucked his wings in as needed to avoid the oncoming small arms fire that dotted the landscape from the zeppelins above. Moving in and out of the narrow streets and alleyways that made up the town, with the skill that would have made even the Equestrian Wonderbolts slacked jawed in shock. He had not a clue what the DDR had up there, but whatever it might be, it sure fired faster than anything the foot soldiers were using

Whipping around, the dragon took a mighty breath as he filled his lungs and flame bladder to the brim. Unleashing hell on the those above as the flames reached higher and higher in to the air. He knew that the full force wouldn’t reach the war ship, but he didn’t need it too… all he needed was the flame to set it ablaze.

The hydrogen on the inside would do the rest.

As the smoke began to clear up though, the dragons’ own jaw nearly met the ground. For even with small parts of the ship on fire, which were being put out by those inside. The raging inferno that he was expecting to dodge never came, only the sight of the barrels turning upon him met his own slit eyes.

As they narrowed even more.

Plucking both the gryphon out of the air, and zebra from the ground up in his claws, the drake beat wind. Avoiding the incoming shells with ease from his nimble, skilled wings. While the DDR may have gotten new war machines that turned the tides faster than even the moon was capable. Those machines still had their own weaknesses… like not being fast enough.

Freefalls wings burned as he beat furiously to lead the war party behind him. At first the going was tough, all of them in their armor had taken a toll on his winged brothers. Though once they saw what they were up against, a mixture of adrenaline and pure anger swept over them from what they were witnessing. Surging through their systems, the pain meant little as they met their enemy on their own turf.

Out in the distance, he could see the various spells being cast amongst the unicorns on the ground, and the enchantments bounced harmlessly off the canvas skin of the zeppelins above. The only ones that seemed to give the war machines any sort of flack were the various dragons that pierced the sky, either burning the outside of the blimps temporarily, or for the Glacier dragons of the north, freezing some of the guns in place.

“It won’t work…” he heard muttered next to him against the wind.

Looking over his shoulder, Egyes flapped his wings to catch up to the equine, an easy feat for the large gryphon. “Those spells and flames will do nothing against the machines that the DDR are using…”

Before Free had time to ask what he knew of them, the attention of a few ships were turned to them. Within a few moments, bullets started to fly amongst his own troops. Several were cut down without even knowing what hit them. Though having dealt with this sort of tech before, Free immediately tumbled to the ground to avoid the incoming fire, just as his squadron did the same and followed his lead.

Using their speed to their advantage, the group shot through the air while remaining close to the ground. Using the few trees and hills to force not only their own moves, but throw those that were trying to get a bead on them off. Though that didn’t stop the gunners from giving it a go at them still.

Cutting up the terrain, patches of dirt littered the air close to them as it was kicked up from the impacts of the bullets and shells. A few unluckier Pegisy and gryphons that followed quickly met their end either by a stray bullet, or a piece of shrapnel from the large shells that were lobbed their way. Though finally with the town in sight, Free urged those that followed him to press on, with the hope of getting in to what little cover they would have.

A lava dragon launched himself in the air, eyeing a group of dogs that seemed to be using some sort of canvas to gently glide down to the fray below from their ship. An easy target he saw it, as his eye narrowed. Extending out his claws, with the precision of a surgeon, he cut in to the fabric and only heard the screams of those that started to fall uncontrollably to the ground.

Snapping his head to the next target, he eyed one of the airships that to his surprise, wasn’t firing at those in the town. Looking off in the distance, he could make out the royal armor of those that would bring them back up from the Saving Grace herself. Trying to give them any aid he could, the drake closed in on the ship, if only to draw its fire.

Drawing close to what seemed like the pilot house of the ship, the dragon didn’t even attempt to attack it. Whatever the dogs had done, the ship was fully protected from any sort of fire on the outside. Even the glass that lined the pilots, didn’t change a shade of color as the flames withered away from previous attempts.

“But what of the inside?” he asked himself, watching as one of the massive cannons let off another barrage against those that would lend them aid.

Making up his mind, even if he wouldn’t live to tell it, the drake flew in close as the small arms fire bounced harmlessly off his hide. With another round fired from a nearby cannon, the drake closed in. Using his massive claws to latch on to the barrel, with one deep breath, he wrapped his lips around the metal tube. Holding it nearly half way down his gullet, the dragon let all he could give out in one go.

Fire spewed from his very soul, racing down the barrel and in to the housing inside. If it weren’t for the sounds of explosions around him, and the many shots that rang out through their once peaceful town. The drake swore he could’ve heard the screams that trickled from the inside of the war zeppelin. Smoke started to bellow out of the shell, around the edges of the barrel at its base, while the flames on the other side from where his eyes could see did their terrible work on the crew.

Another shot rang out like white noise in the back of his ears. While many of his brethren were able to dodge the incoming cannon fire with ease, so long as they stayed on their toes (or claws in his case). The drake made a fatal error, and stood still for too long… just the time another airship needed, to get him in their sights.

The shell tore through his back plates, bursting out his chest just as fast while it took a twisted string of entrails along for the ride. It may have not exploded on contact like many of the others, but it was still enough to nearly rip his own torso in half. The drake fell from where he once held himself aloft, letting the last breath escape him. Happy to leave with the knowledge that at least he did his part and took some of those bastards out with him…

Far more than he realized in his final moments.

With the flames on the inside doing their work, it didn’t take much longer for the airship to succumb. A final groan later of the oxygen being sucked out of the hull from the ensuing explosion, and the whole ship went up in smoke… flames erupted from its shell in a spectacular fireball that would have lit up the sky like a second sun had it been night time.

Over all the other chaos around the battle, the various rounds being cooked off on the inside and the screeches of agony that came from the crew echoed in the ears of all those that fought. With one final collapse of a bladder succumbing to the flames, the ship fell from the sky like a star, crashing in to the ground below just outside the town limits.

Laying as a burning husk of its old, once proud, self.

Roughbreak watched the airship fall from the sky, as it crashed in to the ground like a falling star he himself was hoping to cause. For but a moment, all those around him remained silent as they watched the display before them. Proving that while the DDRs’ new tech might be advanced in ways they could only dream of, that didn’t make it invincible.

Sidewinder locked his claws with the paws of another dog, taking him on as the soldier tried to reload his weapon. With the strength of the mutt breaking his own quickly, the gryphon drew back a talon and dug it in to the soft tissue that was the dogs muzzle.

Crimson mist encompassed the two as the dog reeled back from having its nose nearly torn off in a single swipe. Giving the gryphon the opening he needed to plunge his other talon in through his eye sockets and in to the vital flesh that was the soldiers brain cavity. Feeling the body go limp around his claws, Sidewinder withdrew his talon and wiped it clean on his own coat. All the while, he looked around at the other two that accompanied him, amongst the others that remained from the base.

“So those things can be killed? Aye?” he reckoned, watching as the drake nearby nodded slowly.

“It would seem that be the case,” Rough answered as he watched another wave of dogs coming in from the sky.

The group landed with their gear no more than a few streets over, and while the airships above may have been peppering the area with shells upon shells. The soldiers there still had a job to do, as the dragon looked at the several soldiers that remained with him alive and standing.

“Those ships we may not be able to stop any time soon, until we wear them down that is,” he noted, while all the others payed attention to his words. Rough may have not been the highest ranking one there, though there were few that would go against the word of a beast his size, “for now, we need to ensure the safety of those that aren’t fighting… protect the civilians.” With that, the drake led the charge of soldiers down the streets to where they hoped to find the dogs waiting for them.

A group of DDR soldiers herded together civilians that tried to hide amongst some of the ruins of buildings that once stood tall across the relatively flat landscape. Poking and prodding them in to a narrow group, the common folk cried and pleaded with the dogs for their lives. Though with a long in waiting fight finally upon them, the dogs would hear nothing of it.

“Begging will get you nothing!” a dog growled as he hiked up the butt of his rifle and brought it down on a shopkeepers’ head. Cracking the bone without any effort, the pony dropped to the ground in seconds. Pointing the end of his weapon to the rest of the group, all of them cowered away, hoping that the smile growing across the mutts’ face was one of mercy.

Though if it was, it didn’t show.

“Take aim boys!” the dog shouted, as the others followed suit and readied their weapons, “Drop ‘em!”

In a few seconds, the trained paws of the dogs did their work, cutting down the ranks of helpless civilians without effort. With each round that was fired, seconds later, another left the chamber just as fast. Fire, lock, load, fire… the pattern had been burned in to their minds ever sense they got their paws on the new toys they used this day.

A pattern that they were all too willing to practice.

“Oi!” the leader heard shouted out from over the shots that rang in his ears, turning his head, he had just enough time to catch the smirk that a Pegasus flashed him before the two collided.

Freefall barreled in to the dog, using his speed and the weight of his armor to topple the grunt on to his back. Rearing up his hooves, the bone crushing stomp was delivered to the trachea of the dog, and silenced him swiftly. Looking around him, Free watched as those that followed him took the same approach and leveled the playing field, quite literally.

Crashing in to the group to throw them off and unable to reload their gear in time, it wasn’t long before the new weapons were all but cast aside and instead the dogs turned to the paw of theirs that had helped them for generations. Swiping away with their hardened fists, the rock hard mitts brought many of those that tried to go one on one with them to the ground. Breaking bone on impact, denting armor, and even leaving a few coughing up their own blood as the shattered ribs punctured lungs underneath their skin.

Free trying to lend aid, saw Egyes locked with a dog in his grasp. Rearing up a fore hoof, the Pegasus tapped the gem on his bracer, and let loose a ray of energy that singed in to the very flesh of his target. Cooking the dog from the inside out as it eventually burned all the way through to the other side of him.

Egyes dropped the corpse off to the side, and passed a silent nod his way in appreciation. But not before he brought his own sword up in to the gut of another dog that got a little too close for comfort. Wrapping his tail around the legs of another, the gryphon brought the mutt down with one motion, and drove the blade through his spine.

Though that left him open for another to grasp hold of him.

While Egyes may have been strong for gryphon standards, having spent many hours in the gym honing his strength, they still paled in comparison to even the lowest rung DDR soldier. Feeling the very life being squeezed out of him through the armor, the gryphon tried to kick his back legs in to the soldiers’ gut to get him to be dropped. But to no avail, the breast plate went low enough to stop his attacks, and only left him dangling there while the air left his lungs more with every breath.

Until a single spear lodge itself through the ribcage of the dog.

Dropping to the ground, Egyes looked up to see others that were there to defend the town joining them in the fray. Amongst the group, were a few dragons that had been picked up along the way, as well as several zebras, and many of his own kind that fought alongside the ponies that dotted the battalion.

“Rather diverse fighting group you got there,” Egyes commented as he caught his breath.

“And by the looks of things, we’ll need all the help…” Sidewinders commented as well, when he caught sight of over two dozen dogs making a stand against them a hundred yards away.

Weapons were locked and loaded, ready to go in a moment’s notice. All they needed was to take aim at the exposed group that was already in many of their sights. While the dragons may have had nothing to fear from the small arms. Every other soldier would be cut down in a heartbeat should they not get to cover fast enough… and with the airships still going to work with their cannons, cover was few and far between.

“Any ideas…?” Free asked a single dragon next to him.

“A miracle would be nice,” Roughbreak said quietly, as be mentally prepared himself to take the full brunt of the attack, if only to keep a few of his fellow soldiers alive long enough to fight back.

“HI HO SILVER, AW-W-WAY!” a voice shouted from above, as a single dot started to fall from the sky.

Rolling past the airships above and avoiding any of their incoming fire, the figure grabbed the attention of all those below, while the dogs drew their weapons upon the falling star that had his own eyes dead set on them.

In a flash, several streaks of fire could be seen shooting out of the figure. Landing amongst the dogs with only chaos to bring. Fire scorched their coats, burning the skin beneath. While shrapnel ripped through their armor and in to their flesh, scattering many limbs every which way as blood started to run across the ground and amongst the bodies of those that fell. With another salvo at the ready, the figure peppered his target one last time for good measure, scattering remains to the wind as if they were just cremated in an incinerator.

“That’s a hell of a miracle…” a single unicorn mentioned as he kept his tail between his legs, still half way expecting to meet his demise.

Free though, peered closer and closer to the incoming figure, before a smirk drew itself across his face, “That’s no miracle.”

Iron Knight landed amongst them. Teleporting just in the nick of time before he would have had to be scrapped off the ground with a spade. Flashing amongst the group with a spell, his armor covered the colt head to hoof as he popped up the visor and looked around at the shocked faces of all those that surrounded him.

Except for two that is.

“Iron, glad for you to join us,” Egyes remarked as he stifled away a chuckle. “Grand entrance I must add.”

“Meh, I try…” Iron responded with a shrug of his shoulders, “Sorry I was late… had to reload the launcher, and get a few in me as well.”

Free walked up to him and sniffed his breath without a word, before his eyes shot open from his mind jolting awake, “How much have you had? I told you to stay back in the capital!”

“And when have I ever been good at listening to you?” Iron smiled at him egotistically, all while Free slammed an overdue hoof to his face, “as for how much I had? Enough to make me travel to another town using magic alone, witness the chaos around here when I reached the edge of the battle, then decide it was a good idea to land on top of an airship… before making my way down, in a rather spectacular fashion I might add…” the colt smirked through the essence of liquid courage, “your welcome by the way.”

“Much appreciated there soldier,” Roughbreak said proudly, seeing the light at the end of a tunnel.

“Though by the looks of things, you’re still in quite a pickle…” Iron looked up to the few airships that still soared above them, “seriously? How did you not take these out first…?”

“They’re a lot tougher than they look,” Egyes said, as he stepped up between Free and Iron, picking up where he was cut off some time ago when they first got here, “the mare that brought this tech to us was rather skilled as a mage. She probably had an enchantment put on the hull to protect it from direct attack, so the only way to really stop them is attacking the inside…”

“Well that much makes sense, after all that one dragon did light his flame through the barrels of their weapon,” Rough realized as it clicked in the back of his head, “probably cooked off some rounds before it went up as well.”

“I thought you didn’t know what they had in store for us?” Iron brought up, as the gryphon just deadpanned to him.

“I may not know all the tricks the dogs have brought to the table,” Egyes sighed, regretting his lack of espionage before switching sides, “but I am fast to learn how they work.”

Free looked up to the sky, they had only managed to take out one of them. Though six still remained airborne, and if they hoped to survive this at all. Than those blimps would need to become permanent residents of the ground. “So let’s go kill ‘em,” Free concluded as he fanned out his wings, “Gryphons and dragons with me, lets cause a stir amongst the other ships to keep their attention off the ground… anyone who can, land on them, and take ‘em out from the inside.”

“With pleasure,” Egyes smiled as he cracked his talons against one another.

“And what of me?” Iron looked to his friend and asked, as Free hovered there in place. Free simply smirked at him, knowing that Iron was going to have more fun with this than any sane colt possibly should.

“Iron… do what you do best,” his eyes glared at the colt, with a devilish smirk across his face, “Buck shit up.”

Leaving Iron to do his own devises, Free and those that followed took to the sky immediately. Hoping to take some of the fire off the ground so civilians would be safer, and the ground teams would be able to mop up any dogs that remained to terrorize the area.

Sidewinder grabbed one of the DDR’s fallen weapons. Bringing up the peculiar item to his side, it nestled itself in his grasp, almost as if it was made for it. He knew not what it was, or how it even really worked. All he knew was that it was effective against his own, so it should prove just as effective against the dogs.

Rolling past some of the burnt out remains of the town. The small battalion of troops that made up what was left of the resident base, and those reinforcements that Grace sent, moved through the area. Seeking out any and all traces of the DDR that still infected their nation.

A rocket flew out of the barrel of a launcher, and streaked towards the small group. With the screech puncturing each of their ears, the ensuing blast that followed only broke many of those hearing while they tried to clamp their claws, hooves, and talons around them to protect what little hearing they were going to have left by the end of this. Landing several yards from the center of the group, the rocket took out what remained of what seemed to be a quilt shop, as what held up the structure scattered itself across the team.

Roughbreak instinctively threw up a wing, blocking any of the debris from hitting his team mates, already seeing a pattern in being the groups shield starting to develop. Immediately after the bricks and mortar settled. Their attention was drawn to where the round had come from. Several dogs stood, with fingers already on the trigger, and rounds already coming down range as Serens’ soldiers quickly took cover behind whatever they could.

Another drake amongst them had grown tired of how things were starting to turn south for her nation. Sucking in all the smoke and death around her of the town that she had called home. The anger in her sucked out all the warmth in her flame that would never come, and instead replaced with a chill that would only be seen in the enemy after she was done with their corpse. Releasing her torrent, the ice shards danced across the ground in front of her, trailing their way to the dogs.

While lava dragons’ fire may be hot enough to ignite the air that they breath. Glacier dragons freeze the water in anything that gets in the path of their own ‘flame’. Chunks of ice shot up from the ground, protruding their sharp ends like a devilish snow flake towards the enemy as they got closer and closer. Encasing any of those that were too close to get out of the way in ice, while the frost quickly froze the inside of their bodies, turning it all to one solid mass.

The other dogs that managed to get out of the attack, paid little attention to their frozen brothers. After all, with many of them gone in one go, if they managed to kill the ones that did this. That just meant a promotion was likely in their future. Lining up a shot with the launcher, several of the dogs took aim at the wintry female while she recovered from her attack.

With the barrels primed and ready, not only did they set themselves up for a promotion, but also made the perfect powder keg for another drake.

Engulfing those with weapons drawn in his own flame, Roughbreak kept the press on, allowing his breath to dance across their bodies. The heat alone was enough to melt solid rock and turn it in to the molten earth that his kind was named for. Although to melt metal and whatever else was holding it… that’s foals play.

The rounds inside cooked off in seconds, while the combined blast was enough to shatter not only any and all those caught in the flame, but those trapped in the ice as well. Cracks ran along the bodies of the frozen, drawing no blood as it remained in their veins as solid as the rest of them. Breaking apart from the seams, the solid glacier in the town crumbled down to nothing but a small field of ice.

Roughbreak looked to his left, and eyed the drake that solidified half the group. “Well played there my dear,” he nodded in approval, “though I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, and we're kinda hard to miss.”

“Just transferred here this morning, good thing too,” she answered him, standing up on her hind legs once her lungs had their fill of air, “Names Perma… Permafrost.”

“Well, Perma,” Rough looked at the cubes along the ground, “Keep up with that work and we’ll be done here by dinner… drinks on me.” He left off with a wink, before the two went back to work.

While taking on an airship at first thought like a semi-feasible idea, Free quickly learned that his judgement skills were far worse than Irons’ while he was three bottles of liquor in for the night. Most of the time the colt found himself banking and trying to dodge the oncoming fire from the zeppelins themselves, and while a majority of those with him were able to keep up the game of cat and mouse with the gunners.

There wasn’t much else accomplished besides being target practice.

Egyes meanwhile had been going through the same ordeal, silently kicking himself for not picking up one of the DDR’s weapons when he had the chance. ‘At least then it would have been a somewhat matched fight…’ he scolded in hindsight, all the while rolling to avoid the incoming shell from one of the cannons.

Though with all the eyes on them, the ground teams had been able to keep up their game rather well against the dogs. As Free took notice from the ensuing explosion beneath him that shattered what looked to be a building sized block of ice. “We have to hold up our end of the bargain!” Egyes shouted out to Free from across the small span between them as they flew in tandem.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” he asked, all the while the hawk like eyes of the gryphon looked over the ships for a weak spot.

One talon extends outwards, as he sights just what he was hoping for, “There!” Frees’ eyes narrowed in on the sight.

The shells that were being fired from the cannons aren’t being stored in side of the ships, after every round is fired, the spent casing was ejected out from underneath. It’s not the most ideal way to get in, but given the size of the shells that were being lobbed towards them left and right. It might be the only way they got.

Nodding to one another in approval, each of them targeted their own ship respectively, while a few of the other more gutsy gryphons followed their lead and seek out a target for the days kill. Free latched himself underneath one of the guns, and after nearly having his ears blown out from the shot, waited for his go. The trap door opened up, and before the dog inside knows what hit him, the shell in his paws was charged up with electricity from the gem on Frees’ suit. Frying him in seconds as he dropped to his knees and nosedived right past the guard on his way to the ground.

Taking the opportunity, Free leapt inside the compartment, staring down the occupants that resided in the cannons chambers. “Ahh… hey guys!” he shouted with an awkward smirk.

Grabbing their side arm, one dog barely was able to get the gun up to his side, before Free swiped it with a hoof. Only to have the round go off next to his head, just another deafening experience to add to the many that day. Grabbing the dog by the paw, he slammed it in to the breach of the cannon, and whipped around to close the door. Crushing the paw in the process as it hung on by a few tendons.

Not allowing the other dog to get the drop on him. The guard tapped the ruby, as sparks surged in to the metal deck, lighting up the DDR soldier and stunning him. Fighting back the pain though, a single paw swiped down and struck Free to the floor. Feeling his mind rock back and forth in its skull, he hiked his back hooves up and leapt in to the chest of the dog, slamming him in to the wall.

All the while, another pair of rear hooves was delivered to the jaw of the dog still caught in the breach. The force of the hit enough to knock him out cold in a quick one two buck. Dealing with the one currently at hoof though, Free slammed his hoof to the soldiers’ chest. Not expecting to do anything to the metal plate armor that the dog wore on his own, the dog simply started to laugh as he picked Free up and started to bear hug him.

Even through the metal plates across his body, Free could feel the ribs in his side failing as he was crushed under the might of a dog that spent his whole life digging in the dirt. Pushing the hoof against his chest once more, the mutt continued to grin.

“You think you’re just gonna push me away like that?” he snarled.

Though to his surprise, he got a rather toothy grin in return, “Not a chance…” the envious glow beneath their plates shined out the sides between them, and just as it was made to, the ray of energy shot through the metal like an arrow through wet paper.

Dropping to the ground, the dog didn’t even bleed as his wound was cauterized in place, and from having his lungs and heart torched in one go. He keeled over without so much of a peep escaping his breath.

Free looked around at the compartment, there seemed to be a single hatch that led to the rest of the ship. A gunners’ seat took up one side of the gun, while only what he could imagine was the loader stood opposite of him. Picking up the new rounds from the shoot and dropping the old ones out of the ship to the ground below.

“Well this would be a hell of a place to rig something up…” Free said out loud to himself while he looked at the pile of canisters ready and yearning to be used. ‘on second thought, scratch that,’ with his mind made up, the Pegasus made his way to the door. Slowly creaking it open, he looked down the hallway that went in either direction, likely to the other cannons that bristled the sides.

“Whelp… left or right?” he wondered. With a shrug of his shoulder, Free turned left and trotted along the path, wondering what he could find that would help this little predicament of destruction.

Iron’s suit has been worked on for countless years. Adding up to at least several dozen months spent on his own, or with friends, slaving over an open forge as he would pound away at the old piece of armor and make it new once again with every addition or perk. Many times he had been told by others that there was no reason to have the thing any more. After all he was a teacher, when would he even had needed it, other than for sentimental reason.

Though if he could, Iron would swipe each of those naysayers with a back hoof right now.

Given that many of the dogs were far stronger than any pony could’ve hoped to be. It didn’t take much to pick up even an armored colt, and hurtle him in to the side of a building. Cracking the brick behind him. The emerald colt shook off the attack as he thanked his lucky stars for spending so much time with his hobby, as it paid for those long hours with every hit that he took.

Feeling the strong paw rest on top of his shoulder, Iron broke from his trance as he grabbed the dog by the wrist. Sensing the emeralds in his joints lighting up as they’re being summoned to life, the spells had worked just as intended and super charged his joints with a strength that few would ever know. Iron twisted around and flipped the mutt up and over top of him without even a drop of sweat. Slamming him down in to the ground with back breaking force that vibrated his hooves even through the bracers. Judging by the eyes rolling in the back of his sockets, something very important broke on the soldier, that put him down for the count.

“Probably a vertebra or two…” Iron summarized, as he looked back to the group that he was with.

While the DDR weapons were effective at range, up close and personal, they did little against more agile foes. Some of the dogs were still lucky enough to get a few shots off here and there, though many of them resorted to swinging their rifles like clubs, or throwing them over their shoulder and going back to basics with their paws.

Sidewinder heard the worrying click coming from the gun he had picked up, with no bang on the other end, the gryphon whipped around and hurtled the weapon end over end towards the nearest dog. Smashing him right in the face as the soldier collapsed to one knee, right at eye level with the sharped spear tip of Tankor. Though another shot rang out, and before the striped cousin could with draw his weapon free, the round tore through his fore hoof.

Dropping his trusted spear by the handle, the zebra hit the ground as he looked up and saw the dog already reloading his weapon. The stone face of a soldier that has been taught nothing else other than to be a machine, plastered across his brow. With a heavy paw, the sights lined up against the breast of the stallion, and with an even heavier claw.

The sights left.

Ripping the weapon from the dogs’ grasp, Roughbreak bent and twisted the contraption with a clench of his fist. Before another claw wrapped around the neck of the dog, “You don’t hurt my friend!” he shouted in to the ears of the dog, as his grip tightened even more. With a small pop, the neck collapsed in on itself.

Dropping the headless body of the mutt to his side. Iron watched as the drake, the zebra, and the gryphon all headed back in to the fray, without a single care in the world what was going on around them. “An odd trio I must-” he started to say, before the whole ground started to shake and what looked like a supernova erupted from one of the airships above.

Ripping across the enchanted canvas like a snake slithering through the grass, flames started to consume one of the airships in a matter of minutes. Dropping the conflagration to the ground with roar like a falling star. Whatever the air team had learned about the zeppelins, it had worked, while even a few of those on the ground stopped to take in the sights for a few seconds before they turned their attention back to those that they had to deal with.

Iron looked back in front of him, catching a dog looking up at his countries’ ship as it fell to the ground. “One of your friends on there?” Iron asked to grab his attention, with an eerie chuckle in his tone.

Without so much as a glare or even a war cry, the dog lunged at him and laid a clean fist straight in to the covered muzzle of his suit. Whipping Irons’ head back, he felt several of his own neck bones crack in the process while stars started to dance along his vision. He was never much of a fighter while he served, and usually would wind up getting his ass kicked more often than not in a scuffle.

Though two things were always true about the colt. One, he knew how to take a hit, while making his armor more than capable to taking what he couldn’t. While two, the colt always managed to get right back up in the end, and dive in to the fight once more.

Shaking off the impact of his own skull against the back of the helmet. The second swing from the dog was much slower thankfully, and that allowed Iron the moment he needed to duck just in time. A different crack rang in his ears, this time from the dogs’ knuckles meeting the brick wall behind him. As he withdrew his crunched fist in agony, the colt grabbed at the opportunity.

Reaching along his side, he pulled off a familiar looking pipe, before tapping the end and shoved it straight in to the mouth of the screeching dog. Clamping his mouth shut around the odd intrusion, the dog glared down at the pony without even realizing what was going on. Though as he tried to remove the device that started to glow brighter and brighter. He felt a kick to his legs that buckled his knees backwards and dropped him to the ground.

Clamping a spell around the mutt quickly, Iron poured what magic he could in to the enchantment as the cries of the soldier died out just as his bomb went off. Slowing breaking the spell down, a puff of smoke escaped the shield. All the while the foul stench of death penetrated the colts’ nose, splattered across the ground in a painting of fur, bone, ash, and what once was blood.

Iron had been waiting for a moment like this to make some sort of witty remark, though as he took in a breath to humor no one but himself. He got cut off by another sound from above. It was the third airship to drop today, and just like the others, this one fell all the same. In a towering hell storm that looked like it was sent straight from an alicorns’ horn, consuming itself and its crew, as it gave them a wondrous chariot to carry them all to Tartarus.

He needed no comment to be made after that, simply a grin washed over his face as Iron saw the tables turning in their favor. Looking back to a few more in his group having minor scuffles with some of those dog that remained. Iron cracked his neck, and instantly regretted the sharp pain that he felt. But paid it no heed as he smiled at the dogs that were still spotty around the town, giving him the target rich environment that he so much enjoyed.

And the wonderful part about technically not being in Graces’ army, and just a ‘non-combatant worker’ as his pay check said… there were no rules of war for him.

Freefall galloped through the p-ways of the airship he had crawled in, landing in the proverbial hornets’ nest if there ever was one. Running through a hatch, the colt slammed the metal door shut and held it firm against the frame with his back, as he charged up one of the emeralds in his bracer.

Welding the frame to the door with the energy ray, the colt knew that it wouldn’t hold forever, not against the rather pissed off DDR soldiers that he managed to meet. The task had started out simple enough when he left the chambers of one of the guns. Keeping his head low, he managed to evade a few of the crew that were out in the area. Though when he walked in to a new chamber, he turned around to meet the eyes of an entire unit of soldiers getting ready to drop and give back up to those below.

To say that both parties were a little stumped for words at first, would be an understatement…

Though the outcome was inevitable, Free running for his life as stealth was thrown to the wind, as the colt beat hoof to lose those that noticed him. All the while, scanning for anything around him that would hamper the efforts of those that control this vessel of death.

Leaving the solid door alone, the colt looked around the new compartment he was in. Thankfully, whoever helped to design this thing had done in a similar way to some of the Equestrian airships, as well as their seagoing vessels, both of which he had toured during a few visits to the country. In every space there was a placard that had both the level and the frame of the ship. The smaller the frame got, the further forward he was, and vice-ver-sa.

“Finally, some common sense in a military…” Free scoffed, if they weren’t trying to kill him at the moment. The colt may have turned around and just shook the paws of some of the dogs for thinking of it. “Let’s see, Level 8, frame 40…”

Looking around the colt stood between two large bladders that took up nearly the entire space that he resided. Clear to him that these were what helped keep the entire contraption afloat, Frees’ own gears started turning in his head. Though this wouldn’t be the best place to try and sabotage it, not while he was in here at least.

‘Maybe if I head down I’ll find another gun chamber,’ he pondered to himself, keeping his sword close by in case the need should arise. Considering letting a spell lose in here was the last thing he needed.

Finding a single stairwell, the colt took his chances and started to make his way down. After all, the guns were along the sides of the ship. Though not really built in to the canvas frame above, as much as they were just an upper level of the command deck, that spanned further along the entire ship. So in theory, if he headed down, there should be yet another long corridor that would lead to several of the other guns.

Once he got there, it shouldn’t be hard for him to lug up one of the shells, and make a crude bomb out of it. Doing so in the gun chamber would have been too close for comfort, with little room to make a powder trail to give him time to get out. Though along the catwalks of the bladder room. That’s something that he just might be able to manage. Having already felt the shockwave and hearing the ensuing blasts off in the distance, Free can only guess that they managed to take out a few more of the ships that the DDR brought with them.

One more will just help their cause.

Reaching the base level of where the stairs lead. The colt eyed a lone hatch, and throwing every precaution to the wind for the sake of getting out of here as fast as possible. Free shrugged his shoulders, “buck it…” he muttered as he turned the latch and kicked the door in with a heavy hoof. Tucking his hooves in, the Pegasus rolled his nimble body in to the space as he held up a fore hoof with the opposite one primed and ready on the emerald. Though looking around, he didn’t find though the long passage way he was hoping for…

No, he found the bridge of the airship, with about a dozen other dogs looking back at him.

“…Damn it!” Free shouted at the top of his lungs, while he kicked himself, “this is the second time today!”

One dog rose up from his chair to look upon the intruder, as all the others took the silent nod from their captain to stay put. Turning around, the dog started to chuckle, after just seeing one pony stood before him. In a heavily decorated suit, while he pointed a gem stone at the captain himself.

Looking at the equine through his smoky eye, the dog spoke, “And what brings you to our humble vessel?” the dog said as he took a few steps forward, “looking to surrender? Or just get a better view of the fight below?”

“Ahh… I have come here to ask of your surrender!” Free shouted to him, trying to seem as intimidating as possible to one that stood several heads higher than him, “or destroy the ship, I’ll take either at this point.”

A hearty laugh started to erupt from the cabin, resonating all through the metal plates that made up the frame and even shook Frees’ plate armor where he stood. “You’ve come to challenge me?!” the mutt yelled back at him, cracking his knuckles within his own suit of armor that he wore. Draping and covering him from neck to paw, the dog didn’t seem to wear the helmet that sat on his command chair, and just left it there. “We have come from our own nation and shredded apart your forces! Yes, you have brought down a few of our ships, and even more of my fighters, but there are always more where they came from and with this new technology, nothing that you do will stop us in time!”

With every step, the dog drew closer and closer to Free, causing him even to take a step or two back to avoid being stepped on. Quickly feeling his confidence fade, the colt looked up to the dog before him. As the mutt in question leaned in further, “So…pony, what have you to say?”

Free clenched his breath at that last question, what could he say? He knew that the DDR had gotten a hell of a lot more powerful, and that was nothing to say of the Gryphons. The weapons they had would easily wipe Seren off the map if they had enough of them, and there was little that Grace or any of those in her nation could do to stop it…

Other than one thing.

“Fight,” Free said to his face, as he reached to his chest and tapped the gem stone on the breast plate.

In an instant, the dog went from staring at a pony that looked on the brink of turning to run, to a colt that spat in deaths’ face, then to nothing but the wall that he stood in front of. Rubbing his eyes to see if they betrayed him, the dog looked around the room and took notice that several of those that watched from their various control seats had the same expression that he did.

“Where did you go!” the captain shouted out.

Right then, a heavy hoof impacted in to his back plate, pushing him in to the wall. Turning around, he saw nothing for a moment, but then the equine appeared once more. With a wink, he was gone in a tap of his chest. As the dog looked around the room, all of those that weren’t needed to keep the ship in the air he summoned to stand and search.

While many of them didn’t know where to start looking, it didn’t take long for them to not even need to. In a jump, Free became visible once more, tapping his chest to conserve its power as he lunged at one of the dogs with his sword.

Without even having the chance to stop the colt, the blade slid neatly in to his chest cavity. Between the fourth and fifth rib, the fastest way to a dogs’ heart, and withdrew with just as much skill and precision that left a clean cut that spurted blood as the cork was pulled. All many of them saw was their comrade falling to the ground, few saw the colt, and only one saw the trick that he was pulling.

“… Invisibility…” the scarred dog looked at all those that followed him.

The enchantments were something that he was becoming more and more familiar with the more he worked with a certain mare. Thanks to that little insight, he knew that it wouldn’t be long before he had his own opening. So some of his soldiers may die in the process… he wasn’t lying with what he said earlier…

There was always more where that came from.

Another dog met his end at the tip of a blade to this throat, seeing the smirk on the Pegasus’s face for only a second as he swiped it across his jugular. One mutt stood behind him and saw the pony disappear in a flash, trying to lunge at him. He only managed to catch the dead body of his brother in arms, and as he dropped to the ground. The colt appeared once more, plunging the sword through the both of them.

Looking behind him at the roar of one of the hounds, Free whipped around and jumped off to the side. Using his wings to power himself around the room between bouts of hiding in plain sight, and cutting in to their ranks. Pegisy were always known for their agility, which came quite in handy during very early fights against a few Zebra nations to the far south. Though after Serens’ early occupants made peace with their striped cousins, many of the fighting styles that the agile zebras used, soon were incorporated in to the training routines for the Pegisy that would come to serve the crown.

Add in to the fray a Pegasus that has a cloaking enchantment… then you have a tornado of death that whips around as if it was hidden in the night.

Three more dogs fell, all to the same blade that one soldier embraced. As the captain of the ship watched the silent killer make his way around the room, before picking his prime moment to step in.

And the colt to step in to too much light.

Reaching out with his paw, the canine grasped the colt by the neck. Even while he may still be hidden, he knew that he’s got the pony right where he wanted him. Reaching out with the other paw, the captain tapped on to the gem in the center of the chest piece, and watched as the pony was reviled once more to his eyes.

“A clever trick you got there, colt,” the mongrel said with a slight chuckle, even after watching some of his bridge crew get slaughtered.

“Eh… I try…” Free managed to say between clenching his breath, and trying to hold in what he can. As he fights against the strong paws of the mutt holding him up.

“Though Invisibility doesn’t work that well when it’s still bright out…” he deadpanned, calling out the equine on his careless mistake.

Wrapping another paw on the back of the pony. The dog grasped on to the pair of wings that he sports, feeling as the feathers danced between his claws, and even slight tickle as they brushed against the pads of his paw. Though that’s a feeling that annoyed the dog to no end, and with a crunch and a twist, he snapped the wings along their very frame.

“AR-R-G-GH-h-a-a!” Free screeched out, before clenching his breath and biting down on his tongue. Trying to deny the enemy any feeling of pride from literally snapping about a dozen bones all in one go.

The dog looked back up at Free, holding him close to his face as he watched a stubborn tear start to roll down the side of the colts’ eyes. Though even with the obvious pain that he’s in stamped across his brow and screaming in the very core of his orbs. Free clenches back on any more show of weakness to him, as he stood tall once more, even if his feet were off the ground.

“Well you’re a fighter, aren’t you?” the dog asked the obvious, as he walked over to the windows that dotted the cabin and looked to the chaos below. “Here, let me show you how I made it all the way to becoming a chief…”

With a hefty draw, Reinhart pulled back his arm and swung the pony forward. Hurtling the crippled Pegasus out the window as the pane of glass cut deep in to the already damaged wings, dicing them to shreds and adding insult to injury all the same. Not even bothering to look at his kill, the chief turned around to those that were present before making his next call.

“Contact the other ships, tell them to head back now while we can…” the others didn’t question their chief in his words, and only did what they were said. While this battle may be a technical victory by Seren, in kill count it was a draw. The DDR had lost quite a few soldiers and three airships all together… though Seren lost who knows how many in the wake of what the Diamond dogs brought to the table.

Sitting calmly back in his chair, Reinhart leaned back as the word was passed. All the while he watched his ships drop a few more shells on Serens’ soldiers before changing course. Could they follow him and catch up to his airships? Of course, they weren’t known for speed after all… though would it be worth the trouble if they did?

Absolutely not, and he’d make sure of that.

Free felt the glass shred in to his wings and along the side of his muzzle. While the armor that he wore may have saved him from most of the injuries from the sharp shards. The wings had to be left free to move, in order to get any flight out of them…

Something that was completely lost to him right now.

Silently he cursed the chief that he had run in to, for keeping his flag ship higher than the others. It made for a much longer drop than Freefall would have hoped for, and right now, he just wanted the crunching in his wings to go away. While at the same time he cursed at himself, for not recognizing the dog that he was tangoing with. If he had known, then he never would have tried to go one on one with him.

Finally, the colt cursed at his parents for giving him the name they had…

“Seriously?!” he shouted out above the sounds of the wind rushing past his face, laughing eerily as a few tears parted from his eyes and raced him to the ground, “Freefall? And this is how I die?!”

He waited for a moment to hopefully catch the laugh of Iron that he would have expected from the sheer irony of his situation, but alas, he was alone up here. Taking a deep breath, the colt repented about all that he could think of off the top of his head, for the fall was quickly starting to come to an end, and forgave all those he may have wronged or been wronged by in the past. Free never believed in an afterlife, though if he was going to die.

The least he could hope is that those left behind, would finish what he tried.

With that last thought, he felt a hard crunch across his body, and then the whole world went black.

Chapter 32

‘…It’s with the utmost of condolences that I deliver the news of your sons’ death. He was a valued fighter and a friend amongst his colleagues that he fought with, and will be sorely missed in the coming future battles that they will face now with one less of their own amongst them.

I am truly sorry for the loss of your kin, not speaking as a princess or royalty, but simply another pony that has seen far too many reach the last day in their lives.

With most sincere apologies,

Princess Saving Grace’

Writing out the last line, and rereading it several times over. Grace took a moment to rub the sore eyes that beckon her to rest her weary brow. Many of those that were sent out to the town under attack never returned, and have made their way to the eternal resting place in a far off land of their own. Though one princess will not know rest for some time now, as she sets out adding a personal touch to ever letter that will be sent to those that have lost a son, daughter, mother, father, brother, or even sister…

An act that further drained the life out of the mare, as she signs off the letter before her.

“So many…” she said in hushed tones, and looked at the ever growing stack of mail to be sent out to those awaiting the dreaded news.

“Though never the less, it has to be done…” she heard the soft raspy voice of a friend over her shoulder, as she turned from her seat in the office. Grace looked past her desk and there stood walking in was Silvertongue, holding a small try in his claws, with a few mugs atop it. “Thought you could use a little pick me up…” he said setting the cup of coffee down on the desk.

Reaching over, the mare took the cup in hoof and in one gulp, downed a third of the glass. Scorching her throat in the process, she could have cared less at the moment. After all, there were many that would never get to relish in the small things for an eternity, now that their life had been cut short.

“Thank you… Silver,” Grace said as she let some of the sugar at the bottom of the glass trail over her tongue, “you always knew what I needed at the end of a day.”

“Meh, I’ve come to know you quite well over the years,” he started to chuckle a bit.

The drake had served her parents before her in the past, and when Grace started to come of age and take on more ‘princessy’ rolls. Silver was there to back her up and teach the mare a thing or two, which allowed more than enough time to figure out how this ponies head worked, and what her body craved at certain times.

Shifting her eyes to the stack of letters, Graces’ head started to dip once more, “though it doesn’t look like it will be the end of my day any time soon…”

The drake followed her eyes to the mound of paper, one that was sure to grow before everything was said and done with. Taking a deep breath, the dragon placed a claw down on the desk and took a seat in the chair across from it. Grabbing a few of the letters that had yet to be reviewed as he started the process.

“What are you doing?” the mare asked the rather obvious question.

“Whelp, you’re plumb tuckered out…” he smirked over top of the letter, “and I can forge your signature.”

“That’s… not the right thing to do,” she tried to reason with him. Hoping that keeping true to the citizens and her truest condolences would really be her own, and not that of her staff.

“Yes that may be true,” Silver agreed with her for a moment, before shutting it down once more, “then again, you’re about to fall asleep at the desk, and I don’t suspect you sleeping all that well in the first place…” he raised one brow to her, driving the point home, “besides, don’t you think there’s another you might want to see at a time like this?”

Quietly, Graces’ ears splayed back against the side of her head. Granted it was a low blow, sort of at least, though at heart the princess knew that he’s right. After all, the colt had been through a lot with the recent events. She had to check up on him at least, see if there was any change in the slightest.

“I will, Silver,” she nodded in defeat, “Thank you.”

The drake simply shrugged his shoulders in the chair, and etched down a perfect replica of her signature on one of the parchments. As Grace started to head towards the door and wondered how long he had been practicing her script. “Don’t worry about it, just make sure after you see them, you get some sleep now…”

That last line though caught the princess in her tracks, as she turned her head over her shoulder to look at the smirk on her friends’ face, “How do you know I’ll be going to see him as well?”

Silver simply chuckled in his seat, “because I see more than what you let others, and far more than what you let on…” he let those words sink in. Watching the mare try and hid her cheeks with a wing, as she hastily made her way out of the room.

Walking in to the quiet room of the medical wing, at a time like this many of those have gone to bed for the night, besides the few medical staff to assist the needier patients of the battle. Only one in the room seemed to be awake at all, while he used his claws to flip through a book that he had picked up on his way here.

Egyes rested there in a chair, fighting back the eyes that beg for some sleep at this hour. Barely getting a couple hours sleep in here and there sense he got back to the capital, and with the fight the previous day still draining his energy reserves. The gryphon was hard pressed to win this battle with his eye lids.

“You really should rest now…” the soft words fell on his ears.

Getting up upon the sight of the princess a few feet from him, the gryphon did the same thing he always had done in the presence of royalty. Took a courteous bow before them at their feet, “I find myself unable to rest that well lately.”

“Please, rise…” she beckoned him, “you have earned more than enough respect from me to deserve that at least,” Grace spoke the truth to him, resting her eyes on the one in the bed that Egyes sat before, “this is the second time you saved his life after all…”

Freefall remained tucked in bed. Armor stripped away, IVs’ going straight in to his veins, painkillers pumped in to him, while most of his body was covered up in bandages of some sort. Though most of the damage were to that which made him who he was.

The wings that carried him for years, laid shattered across two pillows on either side of him. The doctors had at first attempted to set the bones so they could heal, though when the colt shot up in pain and tried to fight a few of them from the act, they sedated him. Now only left to remain in a magically induced coma, while the bones healed naturally however they could, before the doctors would once again come in and try to set things right.

Though some breaks can’t be fixed, and at this point, there’s little the doctors could do.

“They’re recommending amputation?” Grace gasped as she read the clip board at the end of the bed, over viewing the results from tests and what was being pumped in to him. While at the bottom were comments made by several of her medical staff, all of which, pointed to the same outcome.

“He’s in a lot of pain, princess,” Egyes nodded to her humorlessly, “even if the breaks did heal completely, Free wouldn’t be able to fly any more. They’d be too bent out of shape to even fold up right, and would never support his weight in the air.” The gryphon may have not known Free, or even Iron for long. Though from what he gathered from the two, they were one hell of a pair of colts, and whether he said it out loud or not to them. After seeing them both in combat, he harbored more respect for the duo then they would likely ever know.

“So they want to just cut them off?” she almost snapped at the thought, having wings of her own, “just like that?”

“It would be better than trying to live with two broken limbs dragging you down all day for the rest of your life…” The gryphon said grimly, knowing full well what that’s like after seeing it in many of his own kind over the years.

Granted, they all could have had their wings removed as well. Though there’s a pride aspect in gryphons that few other creatures can shake a stick at. Asking to remove their wings, no matter how useless they may be, is like asking them to take a dagger and slit their own throats.

Calmly putting the chart back on the hook, Grace avoided sending it through the wall, or even hunting down the doctor that signed off on the suggestion. None of it would help her friend out of his predicament, the only thing they can do now is make him comfortable, and wait for him to wake up.

“Does he know? How long’s he been out?” she started to ask a few of the other questions that buzzed around her head like a hive of savage hornets, sounding more frantic with every question that popped up, “What of his other injuries?”

“Calm down Grace,” Egyes put a gentle talon on her shoulder, easing her burden, “Free’s a fighter if there ever was one, the only one that’s probably stubborner than him would be Iron…” they both eerily chuckled for a moment at that sad fact, “His other injuries are just regular combat scratches, cuts, and the occasional bruise. The armor that Iron helped improve for him worked wonders.”

“He’ll be pleased to know at least that he just may have saved his friends life,” Grace looked over the bandaged body of Free, “though again, does he know what the doctors are thinking?”

“Sadly… no, I hit him pretty hard when I tried to catch him in the air. Didn’t have much time to slow down, and that seemed to knock him out in the process,” a heavy heart answered the mare while he noted his own fumble, as Egyes took his seat back and leaned in to the cushions, “after he was brought in yesterday afternoon and promptly after being woken up from the pain… sedated, the doctor hadn’t woken him up sense. His body just needs time to rest, don’t worry though, nothings getting worse at least, and from what the doc says all his other injuries seem to be healing up…”

“What has… he said?” Grace asked nervously, hoping that her concern should answer who she was referring to.

Thankfully, the gryphons’ smirk answers her fully that he’s caught on to her drift, “Iron stopped in twice now actually, when he first heard about what happened, and this morning,” looking off to the side, Egyes recalled the bags under the unicorns’ eyes that he saw him sporting at their last meeting, “sense then I hadn’t seen him… I think he’s slept less than I have, if at all.”

After seeing how the two worked together, both through records of their past exploits, and what they managed to do while here. Grace can all but imagine what Iron may be going through, “He’s hurt almost as much as Free is… trust me,” she informed Egyes, while she kept her eyes adverted from his gaze, “I know that much about the colt at least, in the short time I’ve known him.”

“He said something about ‘fixing a problem for Free’…” the gryphon mulled over what the colt could have possibly meant, “that there may be a way to help the colt after they took his wings. Though I couldn’t possibly imagine how…”

Knowing Iron, Grace knew that could only mean one thing in the end, and if she was going to check up on that colt as well. Then she would have to go down to the place he probably spent more time in than his own bed… or a bar for that matter. “I’m sure there’s something up the colts’ sleeves,” she responded, wondering what Iron could be pulling out for Free, “Though I should be checking up on him too…”

Holding up a claw, the gryphon waved off any sort of further explanation, “Say no more, Grace,” he said, closing the book and resting it on his chest, “I’ll still be here whenever Free decides to come back to us, and I’m sure Iron could use the company right now…”

Nodding gently to him, the princess hid some of her features that betrayed a few inner thoughts on the colt, that were likely on par with what Silver had probably been hinting at. Though did the drake need to know that much of what was going on inside her head? Not at all… for now, she had a colt to track down, one that likely wasn’t going to be hard to find.

An envious wave erupted from the stone as it was pushed past its breaking point. Shattering the emerald in to tiny fragments that scattered around the room, and put a particular colt on his flank. Iron looked up from his seat, resting his back against the wall that he was promptly thrown in to from the shockwave. It wasn’t the first time it had happened tonight, and likely wouldn’t be the last. He had a job to do, one that he would finish.

Even if it put in medical next to his friend.

“Too much magic, too fast,” he summarized while trying to look over some of the notes that he had swiped from the mysterious mare. Her hoof print was terrible, even when it had claws to help it. Though Iron couldn’t say much, his was worse than some of his students, even when he used his horn.

That said, being a teacher had led to many hours of deciphering cryptic homework assignments from students that were likely trying to bullshit their way through the “showing your work” part of the grade. Allowing the colt to become almost fluent in the “chicken scratch” that he was trying to pick apart at the moment.

The mare had done something with her limbs, something that he couldn’t quite figure out. Using the emeralds in his suit, he could increase his strength. It was a simple enough concept, move the joint this way and that way. Though the mare had to be an earth pony at birth, how else would her body have been resilient enough to withstand the heavy amount of changes to it?

But what he didn’t have an answer for was how she managed to keep her gems charged. The ones he had seen produced spells, though from some of the drawings showed a few smaller ones built on the inside that he suspected were for movement. Those however would need to be charged very often from the use that she put them through, so if she couldn’t charge them…

‘How did she do it?’ he wondered for the longest time. The wing designs that he had uncovered told him the same concept applied to them as well, inside along the main frame, were tiny holes to hold gem fragments. How though she managed to get them to bend to her command, eluded him.

At first…

A knock to the door next to him urged the colt to right himself up on all fours, before he brushed himself off and pried open the door. To his surprise, there stood the princess, with bags under her eyes that rivaled that of even his own. Yet somehow, to him, beautiful in every way, shape, or form.

Shaking his head to clear his mind a bit, Iron stepped to the side as she walked in with only a genuine show of concern at first. “I’m sure you know why I’m here?” she asked, while looking at the rest of the room to see what he had been up to.

“Well my best friend’s in the hospital…” Iron rolled his eyes casually, “so no, I couldn’t imagine why at-”

“CAN YOU TAKE NOTHING SERIOUSLY?!?!” she snapped at him in an instant. The weight of the day finally taking its toll on the mare and eating away at her mind for long enough to snap something inside, and to watch one colt act so carelessly or sarcastically towards one he would call friend. That just tipped the already full glass over on its side, “Freefall could have died! Do you not see that?! One of the few friends you have in this world, and he could have been taken out of it with the splat against the ground like an egg!”

The mare continued to fume over the colt, as he stood his ground, and only craned his neck back to avoid getting to close to her ever approaching face. “Yet here you are, making a joke of it like a punchline to a cruel one-liner! Why?! What is wrong with you? Do you not feel pity? Do you not feel sorrow? Do you not even care that he could have-”

With a single hoof, Iron placed it firmly against the enraged princesses shoulder. At first the action almost made her swipe it away so she could get her two cents in still while she had the colt cornered, though when Grace saw the glare of pure murder in his eyes piercing in to her sockets like a dagger. Any and all malice left her mind and withered away in to nothing, as Grace was left simply disarmed at the hooves of the colt.

“Don’t think my coyness and humor, to mean cruelty and bliss…” Iron gritted at her through his teeth. All the while the tables were turned and he himself found that the princess had taken to her flank, as he leaned down to her face with his own, putting her on the floor, “you yourself should know that much about me as any, considering the chats we’ve had before…”

Rearing back a fore hoof, Iron cocked it in place before driving it straight in to one of the drawers of the workbenches cabinets. Splitting the wood along its grain, the two halves separated from one another and left only a cockeyed dangling door attached, as the other side hit the floor and made the only sound in the room.

Not even wincing from the pain, Irons’ muzzle nearly touched Graces’ where she sat, as she felt the angered colt’s breath pass by her nose, “I’m just as hurt as you are… trust me. I just deal with it in a much different way…” he spat out at her, before turning around and got back to his work.

For several minutes, that’s how they remained. Iron quietly did his work, while Grace sat there in both shock… and sadness. She had never seen the colt act like this, even when he was mad at her for dragging him along here after twisting his wrists, there was still some glee in his step and voice. Though this was pure anger on his tongue. One that she brought on from snapping at him first, one that she had to make right…

“I’m sorry…” she muttered from under her breath, watching as his ears perked up from her voice, “I didn’t mean to snap at you like that… It’s just been… a very long day.”

Several seconds passed in the still silence, before finally something more was said to quell the situation, “Don’t worry about it… I understand.” He sighed in defeat, knowing full well that she had been through the ringer all on her own as well.

Carefully Grace wiped away a shameful tear from her eye that begged to fall, though she wouldn’t do that now. There had been enough tears shed for today, and far more that would be shed in the coming future. “I’m glad that you do, Iron,” she remarked solemnly to him, thanking her lucky stars that Forgiveness was is his nature as well. Keeping her head low, Grace only allowed the floor to fill her eyes while she spoke, “I just came from Frees’ bedside, he’s still passed out… if you didn’t know.”

“Oh I figured that much,” Iron said simply without any emotion behind it, as that hollowness in his tone twisted the mares chest more than she expected it to, “If I’d been in his predicament, I know I would be as well…”

“Though you can take solace in the fact that whatever it was that you did to his armor, probably is why he’s still alive now,” the mare lightly smiled under her muzzle. Silently thanking the colt for his gift to his friend.

“Egyes told me that when I saw him,” Iron replied, writing down a few more notes of his own after copying them from the aged parchment. As he started to flip through a ‘Magical theories’ book off to the side, “Though I plan on giving him something else that will help later along the road…”

The colt sat his own notes down as he walked over to the mare that still rested on her rump. Extending a single hoof down to her, Iron watched as Grace looked at him with a tinge of worry and sorrow in her eye still for what she had said earlier. Though with a caring smile, he helped to wipe away some of her apprehension, as she took his grasp and the colt helped lift her up to her own four hooves.

“Ever the gentlecolt, aren’t you?” she sheepishly smirked back at him. Thankful to see him in a somewhat better mood.

“When have I ever not been?” he replied, while beckoning her over.

Grace made her way over to the work bench that he had stationed. She saw several of the drawings and sketches, she saw the various supplies that were littered everywhere across the table, and she saw the many times the colt had tried to make something of nothing.

All she didn’t see was how this would help their mutual friend.

“Is this what you’re trying to do for Free?”

“Yes, actually…” Iron answered as he read over the notes once more. Most of them were only half complete, while the other half must be in the mares’ own mind. “This is all a level of enchanting that I haven’t mastered yet… though when its works, then it should get Free off the ground…”

“How do you know it will work though?”

“Do you recall the mare that Free and I had told you about when we fought out in the city, and the subsequent mare that Egyes had told the council of that brought these weapons to the DDR and the Gryphons?” he asked just to ensure that both Grace remembered, and that they were on the same page, “whoever she is, and however she managed to do it, the mare could make use of this kinda tech.” Iron brushed it off to her, before he went back to bending some of the light metal frame work of a wing he was making. All the while his eyes scanned the open book nearby, “and I think I know how… sorta.”

Grace watched over the colt with curiosity, never questioning what he said lately as she started to build more and more trust in him than she originally thought possible. If whoever was using this equipment could get it to work to their benefit, then perhaps there was a way to get Free airborne once more. Looking over his shoulder, the Pegasus was familiar with enough magic from her family to know different levels of enchantments and what they were capable of.

Though these spells and incantations that she was seeing failed to register in her mind at all. “Where did you find these?” she asked, while trying to figure out how old the book really was.

“I snatched it from your library actually…” he said casually to her, watching as her face scowled down to him, “not your personal one, don’t worry… just the public one in the castle.”

“But… I’ve never seen these sort of spells before?” she wondered while trying to wrap her head around it.

“That’s because it’s a lost art on all those in this day and age… if they would’ve ever been able to get it to work properly,” Iron sighed heavily at the passages of time and what would be lost to those that cared little to preserve it. Such as this wondrous concept that he had managed to find, at least in theory, “It’s called Imprinting…” he started off while trying to explain a subject he really understood little of, “the energy of a spell was imbued in to a gem like you would any other, though instead of being released by a touch or a magical charge that drained it all in one go. It’s allowed to flow out when commanded, and then returned back to its vessel when not in use…”

He took a breath to reread another section in the book that covered some of the concept, “it’s mostly a lot of theories and philosophies really. Though the concept is once the energy is released, it would flow in to what the gem was attached to and bring it to life, almost like an extension of the one controlling its own body,” Iron summarized the entire section as he read over past accounts of the idea, “yet any unicorn that seemed to try it in the past, couldn’t get whatever they imbued to respond properly. Except for one mare now, that figured out how to get it to bend to her will… and function flawlessly…”

Iron rubbed away at his tired eyes, after skimming over the same section once more for probably the fifteenth time today. It all told him stuff he already knew to begin with. Every pony, no matter the race, had magic in them. Unicorns were simply the most adept and skilled with its use, able to project it any way they wanted, like spell casting. Though Pegisy also harbored magic in them, as well as Earth ponies. Pegisy needed their magic to give them the ability to fly, and allow them to interact with the weather like they did. While Earth ponies needed it to make them as strong as they were, while at the same time building their bodies to be as tough and resilient as they would need them to be against nature.

Simple enough idea, one that most of his kind learned in grade school. Though for a unicorn to be unable to control this level of enchantments with their own magic. Then how did an Earth pony manage to activate the enchanted gems in her limbs, get them to bend as if they were literally part of them their entire life, and have the energy return to the gem to be reused. All while only using her own, weaker, magic to control it.

“Perhaps this mares’ will is stronger than you may have guessed at first…” Grace answered after thinking about his last spoken words, as Iron sat in silence, and contemplated his own thoughts. “You give one the right motivation, most anyone can become unstoppable.”

“Yep… and that’s the part I’m worried-” the colt stopped midsentence as he was cut off from his own yawn. Cracking his jaw in the process, it nearly unhinged itself while he took the deep breath in that was needed. Though when he finally brought it back together and lapped his lips, Irons’ eyes fell on that of the princesses.

That were an inch from his own.

Looking closer at the colt, than probably originally intended. Grace noticed even through her sleep deprived eyes that Iron has seen far less of a bed than she herself has. “Iron…” she grabbed his attention with the simple muttering of his name, “how much have you really slept sense you’ve been back?”

Mulling it over silently in the back of his head, even through the dancing images of the Sandpony trying to make his way to his eyes, the colt couldn’t find it in himself to lie to the mare. “Ahh… Let’s call it at probably an hour or two…” he guiltily scratched the back of his head.

“And while you’ve been clearly working this hard…” she motioned to the various supplies that were thrown around the room from a colt on a mission, “how are you still awake? Have you even eaten anything?”

“Ahh…” he awkwardly chucked, more to himself, for the mare wasn’t laughing, “I’ve been running off of some rather concentrated coffee, and possibly a sandwich here and there…” Iron grimly answered. Already feeling himself stepping foot in his own grave.

Dropping her head for a moment as she sighed, the only thing to raise itself was a single hoof, pointing straight towards the door. “Food. Then Bed. Go… Now.” She ordered to him.

“But I-” he tried to reason.

“Nope go…” she got behind Iron and started to push the larger colt with her fore hooves against his back.

“This isn’t fair!” he whined like a foal being ordered by his mother.

“Life’s not fair,” she informed him of that surprising news, “Besides, you’ll have a better time trying to help Free later, with some decent sleep under your belt, and some food in your stomach.”

Though as they reached the door frame, the stallion caught the edges of it with his hoof as he turned his head around to meet her own. “I’m not under your command, Grace,” he reminded her with a grin, “And there for, I can do as I please…”

“That may be true,” she looked back up at the colt with her own weary eyes, hiding a hunger in the back of them that he hadn’t seen yet, “although if you are going to be up for what I have planned…” Grace tried to say without sounding both too eager, or too desperate, “then you might want to be well rested and fed.”

“Oh? And what might that be?” he contemplated as his interest perked.

“Ever heard of the expression ‘cut the head off the snake, and the body dies…’?” she asked curiously. Watching as his eyes started to grow in anticipation as to what she was about to offer to him, “I think it’s about time the Gryphons’ King and the DDRs’ Chief were paid a little visit… don’t you?” Grace mused with a roll of her hoof, hiding the thirst for vengeance in her tongue terribly as it started to spill over in her words.

“Eh… I’m always up for a party…” he broke his hooves from the doorway, as the two started to walk in tandem with one another down the hall, “Though I am starving…” he muttered to her, hoping that she would catch his drift, “Care to grab a bite before bed?” Iron offered to her. After all, it was late at night, but then again the kitchens of the castle were always open for those that worked late.

“Oh I reckon I could grab something…” Grace giggled, as she felt her own stomach gnawing away at her for eating about as much as Iron had.

“Excellent,” Iron almost cheered in the back of his head that she was going to join him. Before he leaned down to one of her ears, “however…when I meet their leaders, I’m finishing it whichever way I please,” he reminded her with a whisper. As the grin barely hid itself on his face.

All the while, a devilish smirk of her own started to grow, “Don’t worry, I was hoping you’d say that…”

Chapter 33

After being assigned a similar room to that which Iron and Freefall resided in, Egyes realized this was probably only the fifth time he’s actually gotten to sleep in the bed that came with it, sense he turned sides in this war and started serving Seren. The gryphon had been running around helping so much around the castle, and going out to assist those that brought him in, to even have the chance to really enjoy a goodnights rest.

After being woken up by one of the medical staff, the mare had urged him to get some much needed rest, and with the soft batting of her eye lashes too him. The gryphon was hard pressed to tell such a pretty little thing “no”.

Laying softly in the bed, he had long kicked up the covers. For while the air around him might have a chill to it, Egyes was simply too involved in the personal affair he was having with his mattress to give a damn, and remained passed out amongst the few pillows, as he brought them closer to his chest. Dreaming as if they were the cute nurse that he had just run in to.

‘Ugh…’ he groaned in his dream, looking down at the mare passed out on his feathered breast, as she used it like a down pillow. It didn’t take long for him to realize that this wasn’t happening, and just his mind playing tricks on the stagnant male. But as with the covers, Egyes could simply care less, as he enjoyed his mind at peace for which it hasn’t known for so long…

One that wouldn’t last the five more minutes, before his alarm finally went off.

A hefty knock to the door shot the gryphon clear out of his bed, as he stood on all fours, with the pillow still tucked to his side with a wing. “Maybe another time…” he started to snicker, tossing the pillow on to the bed. Righting his feathers with a hefty shake to pat them down to his skin, the gryphon opened the door, only to find none other than Iron standing there.

In full combat armor.

“I’m still dreaming…”

“Not a snowballs chance in hell,” Iron replied with a hidden smirk under his visor.

“and I have five more minutes,” with those simple words leaving his beak. Egyes slammed the door in the colts’ face, as he retreated back to his bed for those precious moments that he had left.

Iron hadn’t exactly expected that sort of response, though now he realized how Grace must have felt when they first met those several months ago back at his home. ‘Wow… I’m a dick…’ the colt realized to himself for a few fleeting moments while he waited for the gryphon on the other side of the door to enjoy what he could of the peace.

Waiting there patiently for what time he had to spare, Irons’ smile perked when he heard the ringing of an alarm and the subsequent silencing of it from a claw. Tapping his hoof to the ground, the door once again opened as the two looked at one another again. “Feel better?” Iron asked casually, knowing full well he interrupted another’s sleep cycle.

“It’s the little things that count really.”

“Aint that the truth?” Iron responded, as he gestured to be let in.

Stepping off to the side, the colt passed by his avian friend and continued to stand there, not even bothering to sit down. “I’m sure you have a reason for this, Iron,” Egyes pried, as he went over to the side of the bed and pulled his sword out, “Though I can imagine what it might involve already.”

Chuckling underneath the vail of his lowered visor, the colt steadily raised it up to reveal the grin plastered across his face. “We have a job to do it seems…”

“We’re off to kill the DDR leader…”

Stopping his mindset in its tracks, Irons’ words failed him as he looked at the smug expression that traded faces from his own to the gryphon. Before the obvious finally came to him, “Grace already got to you, didn’t she?”

“Yep,” Egyes smirked at him, as he turned around and opened one of the closets.

There stood not only the suit of armor that he had worn while trying to protect the border town less than a week ago, but also a couple of the rifles and other side arms that the dogs had been carrying as they attacked. Iron walked closer, and viewed the small arsenal that the gryphon had managed to swipe from that assault. As he looked back to the soldier with a sly grin.

“Prepping for war I take it?” he asked modestly.

“Always ready for it…” Egyes admitted as he strung the armor on, and holstered his sword for a backup weapon. Before he took one of the rifles in his talons and placed it over his back. Grabbing a satchel, the gryphon reached down at the floor of the closet and started packing in as many of the ammunition clips that he could fit in to his bag. Before doing the same thing with the smaller pistol.

“Ready to go then?” Iron mused, watching the soldier go through the motions that have been burned in to his mind from training, “After all I had come up here originally to bring you down to the brief that Grace had prepped for us.”

“Cocked, locked, and ready to rock,” Egyes twirled the pistol on a single talon, as he watched the pony before him cringe slightly, wondering if it would go off. Putting his friend at ease, the gryphon expertly slid it in to a holster on his hind hip without even a second thought.

Leaving the room, the two headed down the barracks hallway and out the main door, chatting to themselves as they went about some of the smaller details of their mission. Stepping out in to the courtyard that had been set up for the small force that would be heading out to do the princesses bidding. Lined in ranks, shoulder to shoulder, stood a few dozen gryphons and Pegisy alike. Each one hardened and ready for combat, as their blades were sharpened, armor polished, and bags filled for the trip that would likely take a day or so in its own right.

Stepping up to the plate, so to speak. Iron filled in behind them all, as he and Egyes did their best not to draw attention to themselves from the others. After all, they had slightly different orders from the princess.

“My soldiers of different races, who give themselves to me…” Grace started off her little speech, “It has come that time that we no longer can wait for the next attack on our own citizens to take place, before trying to defend what we have to live for… so with that, our next move will be to strike out at their very heart.” She paused as two unicorns to her side projected a map of the Diamond Dog Republic behind her.

“The DDR will be the first to feel our own wrath, as they were the last ones to launch an attack. With that… here is your mission,” taking a pointer out of her wing. She laid it directly on the Dogs capital that resided in the epicenter of their nation, all roads lead to it… as well as rails. “The capital, Opal, is where you will find the Chiefs’ fortress… surrounding it are a few of those factories that have been making the weapons that he so loves to throw in our faces, along with their supplies. The Chief Reinhart is your primary target, ideally capture him.”

She waited another moment to take a breath so they could process it all, “but if needed, kill him without mercy…” the hushed whispers amongst the group, and the various nods of approval told her that if even one of her soldiers found him. Reinhart was going to have a fight on his paws. After all many of those she gathered here had family that was in the town that got attacked, or even siblings that were stationed there. They had a grudge match against the dogs… the exact reason Grace hoof picked them all. “If you are unable to reach the Chief, or he eludes you. Then your secondary targets are their warehouses, holding what goods they have… remove them, and they will fade.”

With that the entire gathered team started stomping their hooves in approval or clapping their talons together. It was a wonderful thing to see in the eyes of the princess, one that her enemy would come to dread. Though what caught her eye, was what she was hoping to see. The two standing at the back, neither taking part in the applause. As they stood there with a simple smirk on their faces, as she passed an easy nod to them. Raising up a hoof to calm the group, Grace continued.

“Know that they are strong, and what they possess we have seen the capabilities of… so don’t underestimate them,” Grace urged them all to consider, “Remain vigilant… and you shall return home.” With those last words of encouragement, the princess stepped down to allow one of her commanders to deliver the plan of how they would actually be getting in to the Republic.

Leaving her the time to go to the two she had been waiting for, “Well it seems you two dropped in right on time,” she said calmly as she approached both Iron and Egyes, “Sound speech, was it not?”

“Better than I’ve gotten in a while…” Iron smirked back at her, “Though don’t worry, if we can bring Reinhart in peacefully, we’ll be sure to do so…” he waited a moment or two to watch Graces’ face turn sour. Before he was unable to even hold the straight expression any longer, “I kid, I kid… I know what you told me before.”

“To which he relayed to me on our way here,” Egyes quickly followed up.

“Good, now let’s keep it that way,” she cleared her face of any doubt, smiling at the two. Before leaning in on hushed words, “Make sure that Reinhart is never able to lift a paw against Seren or its citizens, ever again…”

“It would be our pleasure, ma’am,” Iron tipped his helmet down to her out of simple admiration, “For Free.”

“I may have not known the colt long,” Egyes said as he took his helmet off, to respect the injured equine in the med ward, while he held it to his side with a wing, “but this one’s for him, from me, as well.”

“Good to know that Freefalls’ managed to pick such loyal friends,” Grace smirked at the two of them. Nodding her head in a showing of true gratitude, not for what they’ve done, but what they’re about to do.

Reinhart’s a tricky mutt, and would likely cut and run the moment the flack hits too close to home for him. Though with these two on his tail, the chief had little chance in Graces’ mind of making it out of his country alive, and threatening her own once more. ‘Soon, Rhorkin…’ she cursed the kings name, ‘soon you will know the same fear that your cohort is about to experience.’

The light applause from the rest of the group, signaled to the trio that the rest of the brief was over with, and they would soon be on their way. It mattered little to the two heading out that they missed how it was all going to go down, they had gotten their own briefing pack from Grace herself.

“It seems you two must be off…” the princess said with a slight tinge of worry, as she looked at but one in her mists.

“Tis the life of a soldier…” Egyes said casually.

“He’s a teacher,” She deadpanned.

“He’s also a rather skilled odd ball,” the gryphon responded, “that much I gathered already.”

“And he’s also standing right here,” Iron reminded them of his presence, “What am I invisible?”

“No… you haven’t activated your enchantment…” Grace teased him coyly, snickering at the colt while he did the same with her.

Though before he turned around to the leave, a simple raised brow from the mare caught the colts’ attention for the split second she needed to get him to stay. Leaning in to him, Grace planted a simple, but sweet, kiss to the side of Irons’ cheek. Looking up at him after the act was said and done with, she noticed that parts of his brain stopped working, while words seemed to utterly fail the colt… Almost.

“Umm…Ahh… well then,” was all Iron could muster. While he started to flush, turning his coat to that of Hearts warming eves’ colors, “For good luck I’m assuming?”

“Well… for that,” Grace giggled under her blond lock that blocked out half her face and eye, not even caring if her cheeks were going through the same motions that his were, “As well as good hunting out there… and please, be careful.”

Serens’ territory had long left the sights of those that would defend her by traveling in to the belly of the beast. The varied terrain of everything from forest to mountains, lakes and rivers to flat plains and tundra that the soldiers riding the train had come to know and love. Gave way after a few hours to the DDRs’ rocky, mountainous surroundings that made up the majority of their own nation.

The entry had been simple at that... While a large portion of rails passed through Seren herself, traveling from the Gryphons’ kingdom to the Diamond Dog Republic, those rails were shut down ever sense tensions between the nations started to spike. Now only the railways that ran from the Republic to the Kingdom were largely in operation, as the two nations traded goods between themselves to continue their fight against Grace.

It hadn’t taken much to travel outside the boarders of Seren to neutral territory, and board one of the train cars under the cover of the setting sun after their departure that morning. With the few Gryphons that were running the locomotive already having their pockets lined with bits for their troubles, they had little care who would control the supplies when the fighting was all said and done with.

No matter which side won, they’d still need rails to move goods.

Iron laid back against a sack of flour in the cargo hold of a car, resting his head while he looked through the open visor of his helmet at the passing terrain from the open door. It was a peaceful thing to watch, one that he remembered vividly from the few times he and Free would travel while they both were still serving with one another. Though unlike those times, where he could pass out after a few moments from the serenity of the setting, the colt found himself unable to drop his eye lids as his head buzzed with too many thoughts.

Whoever that mare was that he ran in to before, clearly had a hoof in all that the DDR and Gryphons were accomplishing. Her technology was magnificent in its own right, and made her a very talented foe to deal with. Though how could he turn it around, to help an injured friend? Something about her, quite literally, drove those limbs of hers. Something gave her the will to force the control of her own limbs, even where others had failed more often than not to accomplish the same thing.

“Though what was it?” Iron asked himself out loud, “What’s your drive?”

“Who are you talking to?” Egyes asked from his own flour pillow.

“Just pondering a few things to myself,” he said mechanically, not even thinking for a moment that he was talking to someone who might have dealt with her at one point or another, “the mare that you said brought these weapons to your old kingdom… have you met her personally?”

Egyes recalled the few times that he had run in to Bronze, never once really one on one with her, just during the meetings they would have with his once king. “Not really on a personal level, I was just another face in the crowd… why do you ask?”

“Because I hope to use some of her tech to get Free back in the air,” he stated simply, “her wings are magnificent, though I don’t know how they work.”

“And if I knew, I would share…” Egyes shook a little from the chill that he seemed to get every time the mare would get close to him. He couldn’t quite put his claw on it, but something about her was off to him… something she was hiding, “I just tried to avoid her as much as I could.”

“How come?”

“Because that mare’s nothing but trouble…” he spat out in response, having his chill replaced with disgust, “if she hadn’t been around then we might still be at a negotiation level with the kingdom, DDR probably not… but Rhorkin could be reasoned with… at one point.”

“Even after he’s waging a war against a nation you now serve, you still hold respect for him?” Iron questioned curiously.

“He was my king… it’s a gryphon thing, respecting power and authority above all,” Egyes mused with a twist and turn of his claw in the air, “Rhorkin was always good to his subjects, and cared greatly for our safety. He originally was the one who posed a treaty with Graces’ parents in the first place, even when he himself was just a prince learning the ropes of a monarchy.”

Iron considered the thought for a moment, from all he was taught before. Rhorkin was a good king in every aspect, and one of the few that while he was of status of a prince, would go out and fight his own battles with his soldiers and not just watch on the side lines. That earned him more than enough respect from his followers, to the point they would die for him without even a second thought.

“So you think this mare’s been in his ear a bit too much I take it…”

“More than too much, ever sense she showed up, she’s had nothing but a vendetta against Seren it seemed,” Egyes recalled the words that they exchanged at one of the meetings a few months ago, “always pushed for a fight. Said that it would prevent future scuffles, if Seren would fall now.”

“Whelp… we’re about to do the same actually,” Iron pointed out, “prevent future fights, by killing the bastard that’s helping promote it.” Both he and the gryphon laughed a bit to themselves. All while the others that made the trip with them enjoyed the sleep that they could manage before they would reach their final destination. “Though I ask one more thing…”

“Yes?” the gryphon wondered, “what is it?”

“Do you know her name? Even an alias, anything she would call herself?”

Thinking back to all the times he had to deal with her speaking at the council meetings, or the times that he would catch both herself and the king walking beside one another in his own castle. That one fact eluded him just as much as it had the colt beside him, “Sadly… no, I only ever knew her by ‘that mare’.”

With that simple response, Iron decided that it was prime time to get some sleep as well. Nodding to his short known friend in thanks, the colt flipped the visor down to catch some shut eye as enough questions were answered at the moment to keep his head at bay. They’d be reaching the edges of the DDR Capital by the morning, and once they got there, there would be no time to take a break…

So for now, the colt had to enjoy it while he could.

A steady screech from the rails, announces the presences of the train pulling in to the station, as its wheels’ grind against the metal struggling to stop. Till after a few dozen feet, the entire locomotive and all its cars settled down to a halt amongst the rest of other cars there to help fuel the DDRs’ war efforts. The two countries had been trading supplies to help build their strength after being all but cut off by Grace.

Grains, fruits, meats, and vegetables. Along with simple raw materials such as wool, wood, and straw. Flowed along the iron blood lines of the nations, doing their best to support one another when they had the surplus kicked out from under their knees. Though even with the open trade between the Kingdom and the Republic, things weren’t going as smoothly as they could have hoped.

While the DDR had more than enough raw materials to power and create all these new and fantastic weapons of war. They lacked on crucial thing for an army… fertile soil. Something to grow what they would need to feed those soldiers that would actually be using the weapons. Any good commander, or even Ensign could tell you, ‘an army marched on its stomach’. The force that Iron and Egyes came with could take out weapon plant after weapon plant till the metaphorical cows came home. Though to really hit them where it counted…

They needed to spoil the DDRs’ dinner.

“Load the crates and sacks up on the conveyors!” one dog shouted out to those workers under him, wanting to get this last load in for the night before they could all turn in for some much needed shut eye.

Watching those do their part, the sides of the train car were opened with hefty pairs of paws, as they went to work lifting and hauling the goods to where they were needed on the unloading platform. All so they could be moved out to the waiting warehouses for storage before they could be used. Picking up one box marked ‘Flour’, a dog dropped it on to a belt that was already spinning, instantly carting the container off and away from him as he continued the motions over and over again without a care in the world…

The box zipped along the line, as its counterparts followed shortly behind it. The efficiency that the DDR had managed to get in the last several months would have astounded Grace had she gone out here and seen it for herself. Though right now, it’s only making a few stowaways sick to their stomach as they’re whipped around left and right on the belt moving at breakneck speed.

Using the oldest trick in the book, or one that would have made for a great B-rated spy film. The group had paid careful attention to remove their own weight in flour before stowing away in crates, so as not to give any indication that these boxes had suddenly gotten heavier. After all, those that would have been handling them, probably had done so hundreds of times, and would have likely known when something was up.

Feeling the wooden cage around them coming to a much needed stop, and the subsequent sound of paws leaving their presence. Egyes flashed his sword out from inside the box, as he punctured it through the already weakened edge, cracking it open so he and his companion could get out. Looking to his left and right, he saw several other boxes similarly brought up and set out just as his own was.

All had gone to plan so far, getting in similar boxes had put them all in some sort of storage room, while the group remained intact as a result. “Well then… that worked better than expected,” the gryphon remarked as he looked at the other swords and various blades being used to remove the occupants from their personal cargo hold.

“Now that we’re here though,” another gryphon looked to his counterpart for guidance, “what do we do? We could chase after the Chieftain, though we just got handed their supplies to mess with on a silver platter…” he remarks to the various storage containers holding the raw materials that the DDR had been using to fuel their own soldiers.

‘Primary target was Reinhart…’ Egyes pondered for a second as he considered it. Though the temptation all around of their goods did make for a compelling argument, “then again theirs no harm in screwing with their food while we can too…” the gryphon started to look around.

Scanning the various crates and barrels that held their supplies, those with him eyed the gryphon curiously, “And to what is it that you’re looking for exactly?” one colt asked from over his shoulder.

“Straw, wood… ideally grains and flour…” he answered flatly, piecing together how this would all work, “get enough particles in the air, and you can set it ablaze… though I’ll need some explosives…” Egyes started to look around for the one colt who could help more in that field than any other here. Though as he really started to take account for everyone, he noticed that said colt…

Was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Iron?”

Looking around them, the others there finally took notice to the colts’ disappearance, “Who did he get in a box with?” one gryphon asked.

“I don’t think he got in with anyone,” another brought up, “he took one of the smaller boxes, though it was still flour… shouldn’t he have come here?”

The posed question did raise other inquiries regarding the stallions’ whereabouts. Though with little time to do what they came for, before they would likely be found out, Egyes pressed on his search. “Iron’s a talented colt, he can take care of himself for now…” he left off with, while the others took their place behind him, “we need to get down to business here, before going out to search for the colt… assuming he hasn’t gotten in to any trouble that is already.”

“He’s only one stallion,” a younger guard popped in, shrugging his shoulders at the gryphon that stood taller than he, “how much trouble could he get in?"

‘I just screwed the pooch with this one…’ Iron thought as he peered through a pin hole that he had made on the side of the box. From his position, the teacher has watched as the other boxes and crates containing his back up were off loaded on to belts and sent out for storage. Not the best plan, though after being thought of in the span of about five minutes, a pretty solid one at best.

Though what he didn’t count for was where his box may have ended up…

The colt never got loaded on to the belt. Instead he was carted off by another dog as he headed through the few streets of the small city that made up the capital of Opal. Largely being dotted with several plants and warehouses that powered their war engine, only a few smaller businesses made up the rest of the city, apart from the occasional apartment complexes that likely housed those workers that made up the back bone of the DDRs’ production.

Pressing his luck, Iron remained quiet to see where the wind would take him. The wind being a dog who hadn’t a clue as to what he was hauling around, as he brought the concealed colt closer and closer to the structure off in the distance.

“It can’t be that easy…” Iron asked himself out loud, watching as the DDRs’ fortress was finally brought in to view.

Massive towers set out in a hexagon outlined the forts walls, as ramparts were lined with the patrolling troops of the chieftain himself, all armed to the teeth with their new toys. Though while the castle like stronghold wasn’t much taller than the rest of the buildings that made up the town. The educated colt knew that, for diamond dogs at least, the largest parts of the place were likely underground.

The dogs had a knack for that sort of thing after all.

Approaching the gate, the cart he was placed in sat with several others along with it as Iron stayed perfectly still. Even going to the extent of holding his breath to negate any and all sounds that could betray his position, as he listened in to the two dogs conversing mere feet from him.

“…Yep, fresh off the train,” the mutt that catered him around said as he lightly patted a paw on the same crate Iron had hid in.

“Good, Chief Reinhart will be happy to know of that…” another voice said, likely a guard doing his duty as he checked over the boxes, “just bring them inside and put them up in the kitchens, we’ll have need of them soon, Reinhart would like to celebrate a bit. Plus, she’s eager to hear how it played out.”

“You mean she’s here?”

“Not that I know of… Chief would just like to send word to her later on of how well it went,” the dog rolled off of his tongue with disgust that only Iron could taste on his own, “after that little scuffle with Seren recently, she’s eager to hear about how those playthings of hers functioned, and if there was any way to improve them.”

“Probably make them fire proof…” he heard the chuckle of the one pulling the crate.

“Yeah, it would seem that even with the enchantments, you get a fire going inside of one and it all goes up like a tinder pile,” the guard mulled over for but a moment, “though there was something she left for the chief here, don’t really know what they are… only that they’re really too quiet for my liking.”

With nothing more said, Iron felt the wheels on the cart take hold to the ground once more, and he continued deeper in to the fortress. Only one She could be mentioned around here as far as he was concerned, and it was a mare that Iron was starting to get sick of either running in to or having to deal with her own creations.

‘Where are you, my mystery mare?’ Iron pondered after hearing the words discussed between the two. Ignoring the motions of his disguise, while wondering where the mare could have gone. ‘Probably chatting with King Rhorkin to set up another attack…’ he spat out the thought, ‘it would seem you’ve been rather busy… what do you have in store for me this time?’ thought the colt. While at the same time wondering what it would feel like to wrap his hooves around her neck and crush her wind pipe.

Whoever she was, she was the cause of all this in his mind. All the senseless killing, all the slaughter, all the bolstering by the kingdom and the DDR. Without her tech, nothing that they had done would have been possible. She had brought it to them, and helped create it every step of the way.

If by some miracle they were never able to get to the King or Chief, then this mare would be the next best thing to the stallion. As this turned in to a game of not so much cutting off the head of the snake, but the heads of a hydra. Yet, Iron didn’t even know what this she went by… though whether the mare was here or not. The colt could answer that question later.

He still had a job to do.

Feeling the rolling of the cart stopped, Iron braced himself as he caught his breath from the box being lifted off of it and carried over in to what he could make out to be a kitchen worthy of feeding an army. Even through the little hole, the setup of several dozen ovens and stove tops, along with boilers, and countless cutlery to match hanging off the walls. Gave him all the sign he would need that his trip had come to an end.

Feeling a heavy paw grab on to the top of the crate, Iron braced himself for what was to come next…

Egyes cracked open a crate, far back in one of the many warehouses that had been erected to house the supplies needed to keep the DDRs’ soldiers functioning. Cotton, mostly used for their blankets and tents to create canvas, was just one of the few ingredients that started to turn the gears of destruction in the Gryphons’ mind. He had flour to work with, given enough particles in the air, it would set itself ablaze. While on top of that he had straw, used for cushions in whatever they may have been creating in some of the other factories nearby.

Laying out the bundles of cotton and straw all around the storage room floor, Egyes made sure that enough of the other wooden crates were covered so that once it was set alight, there would be little that the dogs could do to put it all out. Satisfied with his work, the gryphon nodded at his success to making a rather large mess under the noses of his enemy, as he calmly stepped out the door to a side corridor that ran in this section of the warehouse.

Waiting patiently there for him, was the rest of the team that had been sent in. “Are you ready to light your cake?” another Gryphon asked him.

“Not just yet…” he mused, “I’d like to get something a little more volatile in there…”

“Well my Ex is nowhere in sight, so what’d you have in mind?”

Looking around, he had skimmed over that bit while trying to get the tinder pile built. What he had gathered would burn rather nicely, though to really get things going, required a more explosive touch…

“I… Might have an idea actually…” the gryphon answered, as he took a stroll down the hall.

Careful not to alert any passerby of their presence, thankfully the patrols were light. The DDR were never expecting their enemy to be right under their noses after all. Especially not in their own capital. Though as one gryphon looked around for the parts to make a crude bomb, the rest followed close behind him. Keeping their own weapons close to hoof and talon should they be needed.

The trudging sound of armor filled Egyes’ ear as he leaned closer to the wall, waiting for the soldier to get close enough to get the drop on him. Seeing the muzzle of a pony passing my, the gryphon held himself for a moment at the near attack of one that was likely a friend in their cause.

“What the hell?” he asked aloud, watching as the armored colt continued to walk by without even the slightest care in the world that he was marching around in enemy territory.

“Is that one of ours?” a Pegasus asked.

“I don’t think so…” a gryphon peered over the shoulder of Egyes, both of them staring the colt down, “did the DDR start taking new recruits?”

“Doubtfully…” Egyes responded flatly.

While he may know that the DDR would trade with ponies on a regular basis. At the heart of the dogs, they despised the equines with all their might. Those of the republic were a very violent group of individuals, while ponies were more or less the complete opposite. Suffice it to say, they never saw eye to eye that often… there was a reason they never really traded with the Equestrians.

Taking a chance, the gryphon tip toed closer and closer to the mysterious colt. Watching as he stood there silently, over watching this portion of the hallway that lead to much of the storage area. “Hey buddy…” that simple tap on the shoulder warranted a quick response.

Whipping around on his hooves, the colt flashed out a blade from his side with expert skill. Only a quick beating of his wings from pure reflex saved Egyes’ neck, as he swore he could feel the feathers take a close trim job. Though the assault didn’t stop there. Immediately after failing to attack the gryphon, the colt lunged at him with the blade. Tacking the full grown male down to the ground with the added weight of his armor.

Normally this would have been a fight that Egyes would have won easily. Gryphons were naturally stronger than ponies, and this one was no different… or so he thought. Though once he had the colt on him, Egyes could feel the blade inching closer and closer to his neck line as his own talons started to give way to the sheer power behind the colts’ own hooves.

A thunderous crack was heard, taking the stallion off of him instantly from the impact of the Pegasus flying full force in to hit target. Gleaming down in to the empty glare of a visor, the Seren stallion beckoned some sort of response, “What is wrong with you?!” he kept his tones muffled while expressing the concern, “We’re trying to-”

With that the colt felt himself being lifted like a feather by the strange armored form, and before he even knew what hit him. He was dropped on to the awaiting armored bracer of a hoof. Cracking his spine in several places from the hit, the Pegasus crumbled off to the side, not even getting a word out as a blade was thrusted in to his chest to ensure the job was done.

Slowly turning his neck around to meet the rest of the intruders, the standing stallion never broke his stride as he withdrew his weapon from the fallen and began to gait towards the group like nothing could kill him…

No sense of fear.

No sense of self preservation.

And no sense of mercy in those hidden eyes.

Grabbing on to his side, Egyes lined up a shot from his rifle, already knowing full well that no matter how well the armor may have been made. Unless he had a shield ward going, the colt was as good as dead, and last he checked. The stallion didn’t have a horn.

Letting the sound of the shot fill the small space of the hallway between them all. Egyes put a round clean through the helmet, right where the left nostril would have been could he see the face of his attacker. The round burst through the front plating, leaving a clear hole and even ruffling the decorative mane that adorned the head dress. While with that, the soldier dropped for a second to his chest, not moving an inch, as the gryphon slung the weapon across his shoulder.

“Not so spry with a round through your skull, huh?”

Eerily though, to all of their surprise, that question earned itself a response…

One hoof rose up slowly, stumbling before it finally got its footing. Quickly being followed by the other three as the figure rose up once more, and continued his stride towards them with sword drawn, eyeing for the kill. As if the round that hit his helmet was cast at him with nothing more than a Childs’ slingshot.

Rearing back a hoof, the armored stallion took aim at not them this time, but instead a small red push button valve on the wall. Likely being fed by steam pressure, before the sound even got to any of their ears, they all knew the game had changed.

“Oh… Crap…” Egyes hear several of them mutter, as they all took off down the hallway, listening to the sounds of the alarm bells being rung in the building they occupied and several of those nearby.

All the while, behind all that sound going on, they still picked up the audible clunking of the soldier gaining on them with every stomp of his heavy hoof.

“What the frick is that thing?!” another Pegasus asked aloud, hoping that his companions knew something he didn’t.

“I’m not sure!” another pony answered, as he flapped his wings to gain a little more footing, lest he be grabbed by an armored bracer, “But whatever it may be, I just hope he doesn’t have friends!”

Egyes took up the middle of the group that ran through the passage way, silently cursing himself for not having a fall back plan. While at the same time wondering if his aim had gotten worse sense he last picked up one of the new guns. ‘Not possible,’ he concluded, ‘it went right through the head…’ he answered as they reached a very familiar looking door, and all took cover inside.

Looking around, the group had wound up right where they started off… in a storage room, surrounded by tinder, waiting to be lit a blaze.

“Horse apples…” another colt muttered.

“So now we’re trapped, in a room, with nothing but boxes and straw for cover…” yet another responded, “Why do I not see this playing out too well?”

“Whelp…” one gryphon answered, going over to some of the crates he lifted it with relative ease, as the stout male tossed it on to the floor in front of the door, “let’s work with what we have, eh?” Taking the hint, a few others started to grab what they could as they piled it, making any sort of blockade that they could managed. If only to keep those that would do them harm at bay.

A heavy pounding at the doors edge made note of a particular stallions’ arrival, while the sound of a blade glancing off the frame only gave them all more drive to build a defense. “Persistent fella, aint he?” the same gryphon that started the pile mentioned between them, turning his eye though to another, he took notice of Egyes scrummaging around the area, “now what are you thinking?”

“The dogs will be here shortly enough, right?” he watched as his companion nodded in response, “and with that some of their new gear… which includes…” Egyes tried to imply, as he watched the face of understanding slowly dawn on the fellow male.

“Clever, devious… but clever…”

A dog quickly found his head shoved in to one of the ovens, as the door was brought on to his skull repeatedly, smashing it more and more with every blow. Caking his armor in the mist of red that he finds himself missing more and more of in his blood lust, Iron whipped back around and with a powered hoof drove it straight in to a chefs’ chest. Breaking sternum and puncturing something important underneath as he watched the mutt hit the ground in a moment, coughing up blood with every breath.

The split second that the educator had, gave him the drop he needed to take on the one that opened his little gift, killing the dog quickly with a short blade from his bracer to the neck. Iron crawled out of is box and in to the open kitchen, though the colt didn’t have a watch on him at the moment, and if anything it would have told him of one crucial fact…

It was dinner time.

Several of the other cooks that were present saw their fellow chef drop to the ground, and the stallion responsible emerge from his hiding place, right in their sights. Many of them were previous soldiers in their own time, all retired from the trade and with the will to still serve, chose to take up a simpler life cooking for the new generation. Though, that didn’t mean their killing skills have diminished with time.

Being picked up clear off the ground, Iron found his feet dangling in mid-air for a time as he was thrown across the room and on top of a burning stove. Feeling the heat rise up in his flank faster than he cared for, he quickly rolled off to the counter and grabbed the pot of boiling water in his magic, hurtling it at the one responsible for a flaming hide.

The concoction seared the flesh clean off of the mutt in seconds as he fell to his knees, as the pot was thrown right over his head once more and he got kicked in to a cabinet from an overcharged hoof. Taking him out of the fight, the stallion was left to glare over to the few of those that remained.

“Okay there gentlepups… It’s already been a long day, and I’m sore from a bumpy train ride,” Iron took his stance. Putting a hoof forward, while sliding one back where he stood, “Can we get this over with so I can head out of here?”

Not even needing to hear another word, the few dogs that remained grabbed on to what tools of the trade they could use. Knives, cleavers, large paddles, and even one grabbed a lid to act as a crude shield. Every one of them had trained in unconventional combat, and this was no different, as they darted towards the lone pony.

Sliding neatly to the side, Iron dodged the over taken swing from cleaver as it dug in to the ground. Turning back with a hoof, an energy pulse was sent in to the dogs’ head from his hoof, taking him out quickly. While he grabbed the crude sword from his fallen grasp and whipped it around in to the chest of another mongrel.

However, with his attention drawn on him. Iron missed the paddle swinging towards his head, taking the stallion clean off the ground, he flew towards the other pooch. Meeting another bash from a cover, that sent him on the ground in a daze. ‘Okay, not what I had planned,’ Iron groaned under the vale of his hood. Looking up through the slits, the glimmer of the pot top met his own blade as he held it with his might.

Summoning up what he had left in the emeralds on his joints, Iron could feel his body struggling to fill the energy of those enchantments the more he used them. Though as of now, they were really the only thing keeping him alive, other than his quick footing. Charging up a simple spell, the flash of light put the dog in his own daze that the colt had experienced a moment ago. Giving him the small opening he needed to fry the dog to oblivion with the static charge built up in his gems.

Getting to his hooves, Iron stared down the last dog remaining, as he gripped the paddle with his paws. “Ya ready there horsy?” the mutt mocked him, beckoning the colt to close the distance.

“…Eh… screw it,” Iron lifted up a hoof and let loose another energy ray, neatly cutting the metal paddle in half as it had the same effect on the canine.

Walking calmly by the enemy that had taken a knee, Iron placed a single hoof on his head, and tipped the corpse over on his side. “Well that was easy…” he mused, before a heavy hit delivered itself to his own side.

As of now, the unicorn was starting to feel what it was like to be a Pegasus, as he went through the air for the third time in less than ten minutes. Glancing behind him from where he got hit, all he saw was another chef standing there, one that had likely walked in at some point and he missed him. While in the dogs’ grasp, held the tenderizing hammer that acted like a golf driver, and Iron was the ball.

Crashing through the kitchen door, it swung back and forth on itself while Iron lost every chance to right himself. Face met table, and momentum from the impact didn’t slow him down, as he slid across the surface, scattering bits and pieces of food every which direction the more he went. Before finally coming to rest at the end, with a rather disgruntled foggy eye looking him over.

“Nice of you to fly in here… Pony.”

“Ahh…” Iron felt the ever growing headache getting larger with every passing second, “Mr. Reinhart I presume?”

Chapter 34

Ducking behind a crate once more, Egyes felt the chunks of wood that made it up drape over his coat after narrowly missing the incoming shot from another dog. Rearing back his legs, his once cover transformed itself into a large wooden bullet, as it careened itself over the short space and smashed in to the unsuspecting pooch. While the mutts may have had the advantage here on their own turf, those of Seren gladly used the area to give them the upper claw whenever possible.

Loading up another clip, the expert trigger of the gryphon quickly dispatched a few more soldiers that turned the corner at the wrong place and time. Though those that fought with him weren’t as lucky in many cases. The other gryphons had learned quickly, and picked up the weapons of those they fell, using them to the utmost of advantages with the little knowledge they had on how they worked. However, the Pegisy that followed didn’t have the luxury of apposable appendages, and were left to mostly fight with the blades they had come with.

Something that was starting to mount their own body count… though not without a fight.

Using the short sword to his advantage, a colt in the tight space, sliced through the paw of a dog readying up his side arm. As it literally dropped it and his actual arm, while in another flick of the wrist the tip of the blade went neatly across the unarmored throat of his target and put the mutt out to pasture in a few seconds. Though in those seconds time, a few of the other mongrels steadied their aim, and placed three consecutive shots through the ponies’ chest plate. Leaving him to fall next to his own victim.

All the while, the strong hind hooves of a stallion reared up and struck a pooch in his gut. Forcing the enemy to drop his own weapon where he stood, as he crumbled down to the ground in pain. However, as the tip of his blade was brought up over his head to end the dog from where he laid. The quicker paw of his adversary drew out his pistol, leaving the Pegasus both baffled for a moment as his eyes grew wider, soon followed by the single shot that landed between his very eyes.

Another Pegasus fell as a round went clear through his chest, soon followed by several shots more to just ensure the job was done. Yet where he fell, another took his place and charged at the few attackers without a hint of fear in his eye. Whipping the short sword from his wings holster, the equine danced between his aggressors. Cutting and slicing neatly in to their soft tissue, while he dropped those that he could as they reloaded.

Until a pair of armored hooves snagged the stallion around the neck, and in one crunch, snuffed the life out of him.

“Our friend is back…” Egyes remarked over his shoulder to another gryphon, as he watched the one under his command fall.

The armored equine dropped the corpse still in his grasp, as his hidden eyes pierced darts through the very souls of those that opposed him. Breaking out its own blade, the pony slowly took each and every step closer to those which he fought, knowing full well that they couldn’t hurt him even if they tried. A gryphon whipped a stolen rifle over his side, and took a precision shot in to the equines torso that only caused him to stumble a bit, before his stride came back in to its own.

‘Whoever this is, they seem to take bullets rather well,’ Egyes remarked having witnessed the shot. Those amongst him all took several paces back as the pony started picking up speed towards them, all the while they attempted to hold off some of the dogs that still managed to sprout up here and there in the maze of containers and crates.

Deciding against his better judgement, Egyes leapt at the approaching pony. Tackling him to the ground in a simple attempt to keep him busy while his comrades dealt with the others present. Ripping the blade from his grasp, the strength of one so much smaller than he was something to marvel at still for the gryphon, as he felt the near death grip fight back against him every step of the way.

Twisting himself around him, Egyes managed to place one arm up and under the soft part of where leather mostly made up the armor on and around the neck. Bullets may do little to hurt him, but every living thing needs oxygen. Tightening his grip, the gryphon locked his arms with one another to prevent any sort of break. Though while what he may have thought was the ponies luck fading in his clutches, in fact was the surge of anger coming from the armored form.

Reaching up and over top of him, Egyes didn’t so much get out a yelp as he felt the hooves grab on to the base of his wings as leverage, and heave him over top of the equine. Drop kicking him as face met floor, the brawny soldier toppled like a bowling ball in to a few of the dogs that approached to take on the others. Leaving Egyes resting in a pile of rather annoyed mutts.

Though the fact that he basically just attacked some of those on his side, drew little to no reaction out of the steed, for all he did was go over and grab his sword from where it laid on the ground. Caring little for those in his way, the armored form galloped at full speed to those that he fought against, never breaking a sweat from the previous excursion of having lifted a full sized gryphon over his own body.

Attempting to help their comrade, who still rested in the sights of a ticked off colt, those that fought with Egyes came to his rescue… or at least tried to.

A short sword from a Pegasus tossed like a spear, pinned the charging stallion as it pierced through his bracer and imbedded itself in the ground. Meeting the armored visor with his own hind hooves, the airborne pony nearly felt his calves crack under the impact, though thankfully it had the desired effect. The armored colt fell to the ground in an instant, though that’s about as long as it lasted.

Pulling the blade from his own bracer with a hoof, the colt drilled it in to the Pegasus as he tried to flee the clutches of the blood thirsty stallion. Though where he fell, another took his place, in the form of a gryphon armed to the beak.

Planting a well-placed kick to the chest, the equine fell over backwards on to his own rump, while the soldier of Seren cocked back twin pistols that he had acquired. With every squeeze of his talons, rounds flew from the barrel and imbedded itself in to the armored form, causing the pony to twitch and turn from the very impact alone. Finally, all that was heard between the two was an audible Click, as the empty clips fell from the handle to the floor.

Wasting no time at all, the bullet riddled pony wrapped both fore hooves around the waist of the gryphon. Crushing him with nothing more than brute strength alone, the tell tail sound of cracking ribs started to echo in the warehouse between the few pot shots that were heard. Dropping him to the ground in agony, the equine at least had the decency to finish him off quickly, with nothing more than a curb stomp to the throat to silence any more screams of pain.

Egyes stood up from where he fell, and instinctively grabbed on to a few of the fallen mutts around him as he pushed them in the way of the oncoming soldier. Though without even a second thought, they were cut down instantly from the expert hooves of the maddened stallion. As he kept the gryphon trained in his sights. It wasn’t until the final dog, a rather large one at that, was hurtled in to his wake. Did the equine finally meet his match.

Collapsing to the ground under the weight alone, it mattered not to the charger. Bringing up the blade through the chest of the mutt, the silent curses were the last thing to fall from his lips as the corpse that resided was pushed off to the side. Though as he rose to his hooves once more, through the visor he noticed only the ever growing smirk on the face of the one he had been trying to end.

Egyes tilted his head over to the few remaining of those that stood with him against the DDR, “Y’all might want to start backing up for this…”

Slowly but surely, from behind his back. The gryphon presented several pipes, all of which had a warhead of their own, as well as stabilizer fins on the ends for when it would fly through the air. The armored colt looked at him with curiosity, before its attention turned to that of the last dog it had slain in his way. Across the corpses back, was a single rocket launcher. Though the additional pouches on the waist that would hold extra rounds…

Remained empty.

Cocking back his arms, Egyes whipped the crude grenades at the target of his aggression with the precision of a surgeon with a rusty chainsaw. It didn’t have to hit him right on the money, after all, they were explosives. Though the pony wasn’t really even his primary target, no…

The kindling that still remained around them all was.

Caught in the crossfire from several rounds going off at once. The armor around the pony shredded itself to pieces from the concussive waves alone, and tore the equine down to all but nothing inside the fire ball. The thing that had stood up against both blade and bullet alike, was done in by good old fashioned black powder. Egyes never got to see the end of what he hoped to kill, he was hurtled by the blast, and used his wings to shield him from the wave as much as possible.

Collapsing where he landed, the gryphon looked up from where he rested at only the blank spot where the pony once stood. Now taken up by the ever growing inferno that started to run itself across the storage room floor. All the cotton, wood, straw and even hay took in the raw heat from the flames and returned it with a welcome level of destruction that only a demolitionist could appreciate.

“That’ll do…” Egyes said as he rested his head back against the crate that broke his impact, “…that’ll do.”

“Wondrous sight,” a gryphon said as he rounded up next to his comrade, “With any luck it will spread to some of the other factories here and hamper much of their storage…”

“Though we still have to live long enough to ensure we can tell of it…” Egyes remarked while he finally came too, and rose up to his own feet.

“I wonder though, what happened to the other pony that was with us… the unicorn?”

“Probably getting in some of his own trouble here and there,” the gryphon that could say he knew the colt well enough to know that attested, as he slung the rifle from over his shoulder in to his grasp should it be needed again. All the while, those that followed him made their way out of the building that was quickly being engulfed in flame, “although… if we can’t find him, I’m sure he’ll find us… we did just lite off one hell of a beacon.”

Scraping his visor against the ground, after being driven across it by a heavy paw from the back of his head. Iron started to wish more and more that he paid attention during the hoof to hoof combat fighting styles of boot camp, and not necessarily the plots of the few mares there were in training with him. After the third time trying to get the drop on the chief, the colt had only met with failure at his attempts. Though he can’t entirely blame himself for this one, Diamond dog hierarchy is usually determined by the one who is the most ruthless…

Which in this case is the mutt he’s dealing with now.

Rolling on to his back, Iron whipped out his fore hoof. Driving the pure energy of his ray in to the armored chest of his opponent, giving him the slight breathing room he needed to get back up on his four hooves. Panting heavily, the colt looked across the dining area to see Reinhart standing there with the smuggest grin on his face, as if he’s enjoying every second of this.

“The least you could do is look like I’ve given you a hard time…” Iron toyed with him, trying to buy himself some time so he can think of a different plan of attack.

“And why would I do that?” the chief played in to it, humoring the colt, “after all, I always enjoyed when I get to try and snuff the life out of one of your kind…”

Grabbing hold of the arm chair in front of him. Iron pulled it closer to him with his horn, before super charging the joints across his armor and bucked it back at the chief with as much force that he could hope to muster. Spanning the short distance, the projectile was caught by the paws of the chief as he continued to hold the grin on his face. Until a powered hoof broke through the seat, and struck him square in the jaw.

Iron never hoped to hit him with the chair, he was just hoping for a little distraction as he got in closer to his target, and that he did. The hoof knocked the oversized canine head over heels, as Reinhart toppled on to his back and in to a wall. Resting calmly against the brick, which even started to crumble from the impact. The chief looked up to see the colt readying another attack, as Iron clapped his hooves together and drew them apart to reveal the frosted surge of energy between them.

Casting his hooves forward, the chill in the air grew ever more as the DDR leader could feel his very skin and armor plating start to frost over. Breaking from the wall, Reinhart picked up what remained of the broken chair and used one half as a shield, as he hurtled the other at the colt.

Snapping his concentration, Iron rolled quickly to the side to avoid the incoming arm. As he watched the mutt shake off the frost from his coat. Normally the colt would have had some sort of snappy come back for something like this. Though after watching spell after spell fail against the dog, the teacher realized that he’s getting schooled all the same.

Looking across the armor plating that the dog wore. Iron looked for something, anything, to confirm what he can only imagine. That sign being given away the moment he saw the glimmer in the suit as it absorbs the last of the spell, and returned to normal from the energy being drained away.

‘So that’s what he’s been doing,’ Iron told himself in his mind. Making a note of the chiefs’ little trick he had up his sleeve the whole time.

Reinhart moved quickly, slashing his claws across where the colt once stood, only to turn and try the same attack whenever Iron would move and dodge. It wasn’t the best fall back plan, but it was one he was willing to make if it kept him alive long enough to figure out how to kill this pooch. The armor absorbed magic that was used against him. That explained why he had been getting his rump kicked for the last half hour… most of his attacks were magical.

Trying to get in a sword fight with one almost three times his size would be a losing battle in its own right. Reinhart would simply over power him without even needing to stop and yawn. The rockets on his back… that might work, but who knows how strong the enchantments on his armor really were?

“Only one way to find out,” Iron told himself as he ducked underneath another swipe from the massive paws that sought to end him.

Jumping up and over top of the chief with a little help from his joint gems, Iron landed square on the table with the precision of a ballerina, as he turned to face the chief head on. Throwing his shoulders forward, the barrels on his back pushed up enough so the colt wouldn’t be harmed from the blast as he used his whole body to take aim.

With the lighting of a single gem from his horn, the domino effect took over and trailed across the various different rounds. Iron didn’t even pay attention to what the chiefs’ last facial expression would be, he just wanted to wipe that smug grin off of it once and for all. With the final second passed them, the first of many rockets flew from their saddles on to their target.

The fact that the two hadn’t been joined in on from any passing DDR guard had perked the colts’ curiosity. Though the fires that he saw just out the dining halls window told him that the other members of his team were likely having their own fun. That said though, the very ground shaking from beneath his hooves from his salvo, that likely rocked the rest of the stronghold, should have alerted every guard in the building to come take a look at least.

Happy to finally see the smoke settling from around him, Iron looked in the hopes of seeing nothing more than maybe a single paw on the ground flicking him off, as it rested in a pile of mush from its’ once body. Though what he got in return was something far more painful for the eyes of a colt that was ready to call it a day and take a nap…

Reinhart stood up from where he locked his bracers together across his face. The armor that covered him glowed ever brighter as it raped all the energy that was being thrown at it, leaving the user completely unharmed, as it dissipated the energy off. Looking up from his spot on the ground, the only area in the room really without some sort of soot built up on it now from the blast. He smiled back at the colt, baring his yellowed teeth proudly for Iron to see.

“I see that it’s finally clicked to you… has it not?” Reinhart said as he stood up fully, wiping what little debris that had landed on his shoulder off.

Looking over the stallion, through the fight he saw many different gestures that the hidden colt tried to keep under wraps. However, the chief was one for reading others like an open book, and he saw straight through the colt’s visor as if it wasn’t even there.

Peeling back the mask, Iron flipped up his blind to look the chief straight in the eye. “That suit was a gift from her… wasn’t it?” he asked, if only to fulfill his curiosity.

Reinhart slowly started to walk around the room, not closer to the stallion, but towards the end of the table where he once sat down for his meal. All the while he kept a keen eye on his opponent, “Ah… I see you’ve met my little partner?” he waited for the tell tail twitch of an eye brow from the colt to tell him all he needed to know, “she does have that aggravating effect on you, doesn’t she? Can be quite frustrating trying to read that one…”

“You’re stalling…”

“And you could be dead by now…” the chief pointed out as he reached for a goblet of wine still sitting on the table, “you interrupted my meal. So now I’m just taking the time to play with my food, of a different kind.”

“Didn’t you mother teach you better?” Iron took a stance, ready for whatever the chief might try to throw at him.

“My mother taught me to treat a lady with respect, especially when she comes bearing gifts…” he held out the glass before downing the rest all in one go. Turning it upside down, he set it neatly back on the table, “yes this suit was a gift from her, and yes it’s been enchanted, as you’ve figured out by now…” one paw went from the empty glass to just under the table, “though it wasn’t the only thing she gave me…”

Bringing up a contraption the likes Iron had never seen before. The large crank on the side that the chief grasped, hooked itself up to a box that held several barrels sticking out of it all in a circle, all with what the colt could only imagine was an ammunition box on the side of it all. As Reinhart took hold of the forward grip, he pressed the edge of the main housing against his hip for support, and left Iron to swallow the growing lump in his throat.

“Whelp…” he muttered out under his breath, “I’m boned…”

“Come now, let me test my new toy,” with those last words, the powerful body of the chief started to turn the crank like butter and spin up the barrels. Leaving Iron to drop his visor with a nod of his head as he took off through the room. He may have not known what it was built to do, though judging by the ammo box on the side.

It was going to fire a lot of bullets, really, really fast.

Like a garden hose, the bullets started to fly, riddling the air with projectiles as Iron weaved in and out of the firing line. Using his strong, but nimble form, to slide in and out of behind cover. There was no place he could stick to for very long, he dived behind a chair, the rounds ate through it in seconds. Tried using a silver tray as a shield, if only to slow the rounds down, it was turned in to a colander instantly.

It wasn’t until he rolled under the heavy oak table end that he managed to catch a breath, already hearing the rounds digging their way in to the top just above him. The colt needed a moment to think, making it up as he went wouldn’t get him very far, as he heard the words of a mare pass through his mind…

He needed a plan.

Perking his ears up at the sound of silence, the slight clicking of machinery told him what he could have guessed. Peering over top the table, the chief had begun reloading the weapon. Pulling another belt of rounds off a satchel on his back, the colt had wondered what those were for up to this point. Though to kill this dog of war, he was going to need to strip him of his armor, though how to do it?

Thinking back to all that he’s taught over the years, Iron mentally went over every lesion he could conjure up. Before finally resting on one crucial fact that any B grade unicorn wizard knew by heart… anything that can absorb magic, or energy in general, needed to be able to let go of it.

Rolling out from under the table, the final hinge was turned on the weapon as Reinhart brought it back up to his hip and started turning the handle once more. Spraying a wall of lead at the colt, Iron quickly brought up his own ward, holding all the rounds in one go. It wasn’t a perfect defense, though it would buy him the time he needed to get closer to the chief.

Holding the spell, Iron took one step at a time, and made his way closer and closer to the chief as he poured rounds in to the stallion. With every passing step, the ward he held up filled more and more with rounds that the chief was all too willing to throw at him. It wasn’t until Iron was merely a few feet from him, that Reinhart broke his grasp from the handle, and finally let the unrelenting wave of projectiles stop. Just as Iron had hoped.

Throwing the wall of rounds back at the dog, the still hot lead fused around the chiefs’ armor, soldering on to it with the help of Irons’ own magic doing its thing. Diamond dogs may be strong, but they weren’t gods. The weight of the armor, in addition to the weight of several hundred rounds fused on to it, slowed Reinharts’ swings down to a crawl. As he tried to push back the stallion.

Looking over his once proud suit, it looked back at him with nothing more than a dull grey to it from the sheen being taken away as a result from the spells electroplating. “What did you do to me?!” Reinhart shouted back at the colt, as he tried to bash him with his own weapon, though fell short the moment he felt the joints lock up slightly from the intrusive metal running in to them.

“Kinda locked you in your armor…” Iron explained as he ducked under another clumsy swing from the chieftain, “Lead has an interesting effect to it actually… it’s one of the densest metals we have, and also one of the heaviest…” another hefty swing missed its mark by the hooves of the skilled colt, as the stallion lined up a shot with his own horn and sent it in to the chest of the dog.

The blast was enough to lift Reinhart clear off his own paws, as he lost his grasp on his weapon, and was sent sprawling across the ground in a pain he hadn’t known for a long time. With him shuffling up to his plot, he watched as Iron slowly took a step forward towards him, “though as any unicorn can tell you, magic and lead don’t really mix that well…” Iron started to grin sinisterly, while Reinharts’ own eyes bulged out of his head, “it tends to trap it inside, and never gives it a point to release from…”

Hiking up his fore hooves, the gems on either one powered up to their fullest as ray spells from shot from each of them and buried themselves in to the chest plating of the chief. The mutt could feel his suit absorbing the energies in to its enchantments just as it was designed to do. Though what he didn’t see, was the tell tail glow it would give off as it burned the excess away. The plating on his chest, and soon the rest of him started to burn in to his skin, being pumped full of more magic than it could have hoped to contain.

Though even with the demise of his enemy in sight, Iron didn’t let up. Powering up his horn, a third charge leapt from it, as all three rays were sent in to the single point of their mark. Fueling the ever growing fire of revenge, Iron pumped what little he had left in his energy reserves after the fight with the chief, in to this single attack. Holding nothing back, and giving no faith for Reinhart to grasp.

With a final snicker, the last of what Iron had to offer drained in to the chiefs’ armor as it soaked in it all like a sponge. With the lead shell on the outside, the only place all the pent up power had to go was one place, as it took the path of least resistance like a lightning strike.

The chiefs’ body.

Dumping in to the dog, the very nerve endings of his body were singed to pieces while the rest of him didn’t fare much better. Hair burned off, blood boiled, and bones cracked under the immense heat radiated off from the suit that trapped him like a pressure cooker as it ruptured the marrow deep inside. Finally, when it was all said and done with, smoke started to rise up and out of the silent open mouth of Reinhart, as he tried to scream out in a terror he didn’t know existed.

Though his words would fall silent in this case, for his lungs were long burned away by now.

Iron straightened up his legs the best he could from the amount of energy he put in to casting the spells and powering his own gems all at the same time. Now moving mostly under the stored power still in the emeralds on his joints, he walked up to the target of his retribution, as the colt stared long in to the hollow eye sockets of the one that fell from his own hooves.

Using what little energy he had left, Iron pulled out a cigarette from its case, as he used the tinder box before him to light the end, “That… was for hurting my friend.”

With little to no reason to stick around any longer, Iron trotted up to one of the windows as he puffed away, and took in the sight once again of a few of the factories and warehouses that the DDR had built, now burned down to the ground. Along with their own goods that they would have needed to supply a war effort. Cracking his neck, the colt was satisfied with what he had managed to do, even if he only played a small part in it.

Hearing a slight creak from the door opening, Iron whipped his head around at the sight of a possible intruder, though quickly regretted it sense the only thing he saw first was the stars dancing in his vision. Though the next thing he heard was like music to his ears, or the soft hush of a mother, after a day like this.

“Whelp, I think it’s safe to say Reinhart’s taken care of,” Egyes mused as himself and those that followed him, entered the room and saw the still charred remains of the chief in his lead casket, “had yourself a nice showdown I assume?”

“One for the record books…” Iron groaned in response, before shaking his head to get his thoughts in order, “Is everything nice and burny for marshmallows later?”

“If you mean that we shouldn’t have to worry about the DDR putting up much of a fight on our way out…?” another gryphon stepped in to say his piece, “then yes, they kinda have a burning city to deal with.”

“Excellent…” Iron starts to stumble out of the room, as the others quickly follow behind.

“So how do we get back exactly?” Egyes tried to figure that question out sense they had gotten here, though he never really got an answer when he asked on the train ride.

“Same way we came in…” one of the few Pegisy that remained answered, “after all, I doubt they’d be guarding any of the trains at this time…”

“Capture a train, high tail it out of here, get back, take a much needed nap, and then…” Iron said as he continued to stumble down the hall and onwards to the reward he set for himself at the end of the tunnel, “I need a drink.”

A shower, a bed, and a glass… though maybe not in that order.

Peering through the slit in his visor, Iron cursed the fact that the second train they took after getting out of the republic didn’t take longer to reach Boralus. Though through the groggy eyes of the stallion, the one drive he had at the moment was simply to forgo the bed and drink waiting for him and hit the shower instead (having already weighed his options out like a chart in his head on their way back).

Though stepping off the train, something instantly turned in his stomach, as the colt saw the guards there at the station keeping their head down more so than usual. Having been a guard before, he knew when something was up amongst them, and knew when they had been ordered to keep things on the down low.

Then again, Iron wasn’t known for keeping things subtle.

Walking past the others that had come on the little trip with him, Iron trudged over to one of the guards that he had run in to more than once. While Egyes followed closely, already knowing something was up in the colts’ head, “What are you thinking” he asked.

“The guards’ are acting strangely…” Iron said flatly, “they normally avoid eye contact anyway, but to do so with fellow guards that just got out of a fight… that’s usually reserved when there’s news that none of them want to share…”

Walking up to one of the guards there on duty, the single tap to his shoulder caused the young colt to jump where he once stood, as he clenched his spear, “Who goes there?” the pony turned around to see the face of another stallion that annoyed him, “Oh… it’s you.”

“Don’t scoff at me, Argo,” Iron peered daggers in to the colts very soul, “I’m not here to bust your chops, I just want to know what’s happened sense we’ve been gone.”

Argo went silent for a moment, questioning how the colt before him could have figured out something already, “but… you just got here? How did you-?” Iron cut him off with a simple raise of a hoof.

“I’m an ex guard, I know how we function, I know when things aren’t right… blah, blah, blah,” Iron said as he waved his hoof around in the air, “look I already explained this to Egyes here, and I’m sure the reader doesn’t want to hear it every time somepony asks… so spill,” just then his eyes changed to that of one Argo had never seen in the colt. Genuine concern, “what… happened?”

Swallowing his heart from where it sank when he heard the news himself, the still young guard held back the silent tear he wished to shed, “It’s… It’s about Princess Grace…”

Chapter 35

Grace sat patiently across from the still body of her friend. Freefall, according to some of the doctors, had finally regained some sort of consciousness. Though it only seemed to come and go as it pleased, while the colt still has a long way to go before he was running and galloping around with the other guards.

Sadly, this only started after Iron had already left that morning, however he’ll be happy to know that is longtime friend is well on the path to recovery. Quietly enjoying the serenity of his light smile while he slept. Grace remained quiet to her own thoughts while watching the Pegasus’ chest gently rise and fall.

Though even in her own little world, she can’t help but look at the many bandages and scars that he will now wear because of the actions of others, and her own. ‘All this for a little more land, goods and ore,’ the princess shook her head at the trivial circumstances that lead her nation to war with its neighbors.

A war that with what the others have at their disposal, Seren may not win, should the bonfire be lit up completely and not the few little fights here and there. ‘No pony, dragon, gryphon, dog, zebra or any of those under either of our commands deserves this…’ Grace told herself over and over again. Mentally making a note to try and reason with the new leaders of the DDR, should Iron and Egyes prove successful on their own mission. ‘I just hope that whoever takes over, is at least a little more negotiable than Reinhart.’

Should their efforts succeed, then they can move on to the same means of negotiation with the kingdom. Rhorkin always was more willing to talk than the DDR, if it hadn’t been for this mare digging her ‘talons’ in to the kings’ mind. He might still be willing to talk to Grace and settle things out with words, and not weapons.

‘Though whoever she is, she certainly is good at what she does,’ the princess’ eyes trail across the wounds of war that Free had sustained as she took it in yet again for the night. “I hope you’re being careful out there, Iron… I, admittingly, would like you to stay out of this place…” she said out loud in a whisper.

“You were an utter pain in my flank when we first met, and probably one of the most uncouth colts I’ve ever seen…” Grace kept going as she talked to herself in a silent prayer for the guards’, turned teacher, safe return, “though dare I say it… I would miss your true nature, should you wind up hurt… or worse.”

Though with a stir, the bed in front of her began to move, and silenced the mare.

“Ugh…” Free groaned out as he came too a bit from the long rest he was taking, “…why does it still feel like I got hit by a train?”

“Well… that’s what happens when you live up to your name,” Grace eerily chuckled across from him, watching as his ears perked up from the words of another, and his soft eyes found her own.

“Well then, didn’t know I had company…” he tried to sit up in his bed, though was quickly pushed back down on his back by the mares’ wing.

“No, stay put… you’re still very weak ya know,” she urged the guard to help himself, while easing her own mind at the same time.

“That much is certain…” he trailed off, looking over himself at the mess he’s become.

Wings shattered and likely to still be removed, body torn up here and there, with probably several other smaller fractures along his body that haven’t been detected. Yet after lying in a coma for the better part of a few days. Somehow, he’s still alive. ‘I can work with that much at least,’ the ever confident Pegisy told himself once again.

“Does it hurt?” Grace asked simply, knowing full well the answer she would get. She silently regretted ever even asking such a thing, but in the end, it’s the thought that counts.

“The meds they gave me are pretty damn good…” Free started to snicker from some of the very, very vivid dreams he’s had off in the night time realm while being pumped full of drugs, “then again, I already know what the doctors are planning on doing to them…” he said while gesturing to his wings.

“That will take some getting used to I know,” she said solemnly, knowing that to take a Pegisys’ wings was like to cut the horn off a unicorn. You rip a part of their very soul out of them, and while it may heal physically… mentally, some can’t deal with the loss. “Though if our mutual friend makes good on his work, you should still be able to get air born… to some extent.”

“Don’t tell me, Iron’s working on a project,” he waited for the mare to smile and nod his way before he bothered continuing, “whelp, they may shoot lightning bolts from their feathers by the time he’s done with ‘em, though at least I’ll have some sense of normalcy.”

Grace simply chuckled at the comment, knowing that there would likely be a whole new set of bells and whistles for the colt to uses when Iron’s done. Though as she looked her eyes back to him, she noticed his head pivoting back and forth around the room as he got a lay of the land.

“Where is that colt anyway?” Free asked, noting the stillness in the room, “I expected him to have at least dropped off a bottle of scotch for me, should I wake up.”

“Probably getting himself in more trouble than he can handle…” the mare rolled her eyes at first, before catching the quizative brow perking up from her words. “Iron had left this morning with Egyes and a small team,” Grace started to fill him in on what’s been going on sense he’s been out, “they’re headed to the DDR capital of Opal, in an attempt to cut the head off of one snake… so to speak.”

“Oh my,” Free faked a gasp, as he tried to stifle a chuckle, “well I almost feel sorry for them…”

“Don’t be, Iron was more than willing to go out to set things-”

“No no, not Iron and them, I mean the DDR,” Free corrected her before she got too far, “Seriously, you should see him when he’s in a fight… may get thrown around a lot and have the snot kicked out of him a few times,” he recalled the many times Iron has had to repair his suit after a fight from taking one too many punches, “but he’s sure to cause hell in the ranks of where ever he goes…”

“Exactly why I suggested it to him…” Grace held a hoof to her chest with all the regal poise of a proper princess, “I know he’s good at what he does, it just so happens one of his past times is figuring out how to make things that go bang.”

“Though I wouldn’t worry about him too much…” Free said, cutting her off, “he hates going to medical about as much as a four-year-old does going to the dentist.”

Grace froze where she sat, grasping the sides of the chair from the ever growing smirk on Frees’ face that he showed her. Her face spelling out sheer confusion, while his only played that he knew something she didn’t, as it finally dawned on her. “How much did you hear… exactly?”

“Oh… enough,” he mused with a chuckle, while he calmed her nerves down, “don’t worry, that will stay between you and I,” he let off with a little wink.

Silently Grace nodded in appreciation, while she fixed the one stray bang of hair that made its way across her face, if only to give her something to do, “Thank you… Free…”

“Not a problem at all, Grace…” letting out a yawn, sleep finally started to take over the colt once more as he laid there, “a little rough around the edges. Though all in all, not a bad colt, as you probably figured out by now…” Free passed her one last smirk, and in the dimly lit med ward at this time. Grace was thankful that it probably hid some of the ever growing amount of blood flushing her cheeks.

“Yes… yes I have,” she replied softly to him, almost saying it to herself more than any other present. “Take care Free, I’ll check up on you in the morning,” she ushered him to sleep with a simple blanket being brought up and over his chest, before making a hasty retreat from the teasing of the stallion.

While during the day the castle that she resided in would have been swarming with guards and other patrons of the crown going about and doing their bidding. At the wee hours of the morning, such as now, the halls were all but barren to the princess as she walked them tirelessly. Left to her own thoughts and devices.

Yet, even with the cooling breeze that brushed past her legs and ruffled her feathers. Grace couldn’t fight back the warmth in her face from the previous remarks. “Could I really be any more obvious with this?” she asked herself, before pondering some of the interaction she had with the lively colt, and finding it hard to keep a smile of her own off her face, “…Okay, so maybe half the time I would banter back and forth with him, it was for fun… and I might have been flirting a good bit of it…”

Pausing for a moment where she stood, the mare looked around her to make sure the coast was clear, she cocked back a wing and plowed it right in to her face. Giving her the mental reboot she hoped for to get her ducks in a row, or at least in the same pond.

“Alrighty maybe a tad more than half, in either case, you need a drink…” she groaned slightly from the smack, before stopping once more to realize what she said, “… and now you’re starting to sound like him.”

With one final groan from a deep part of her throat. Grace continued her walk back to her room. Going up stair case after stair case, she wondered why she didn’t just move her bedroom closer to the ground level, to prevent the long impending walks like these that would allow thoughts to plague her mind. But then whenever she thought of this, she remembered one simple truth…

The mare liked the privacy of having essentially a tower to herself.

Calmly trotting up to her door, Grace nodded to the lone guard that stood there on watch over the course of the night. “Good evening Leon,” she said to the gryphon, as he tightened the grip on his spear, “easy night, isn’t it?”

“Slow and calm ones always go by the slowest,” he started to yawn a bit, while the third hour of his watch struck. As he watched the princess canter up with a little more pep in her step than she should have had for this time of night, “Though you seem a little spryer than I was expecting for this hour.”

“Oh… It’s just been an, eventful few days,” the princess responded with a slight smirk as she kept her eyes off to the side, hoping that some of the warmth in her face had died down on her way here. “Why don’t you go down and get some coffee?” Grace offered to him, mostly to give her some time to calm down, “I doubt we’ll be having any trouble here tonight, so I think you can afford the walk.”

“…Thank ya kindly princess,” Leon said with a tip of his helmet, before extending the same courtesy to her, “anything I can grab you while I’m down there?”

Thinking about it now, she may have wanted to go to bed, but then again a good cup of tea always helped to put her mind at ease. “Hmm… Mint Tea? Could you?”

“It will be done, your majesty.”

With a light bow, Leon made his way down the hallway, as Grace turned herself and walked in to her room. Closing the door behind her, she noticed the same ghostly chill in the air, as if a window was left open during her absence. Turning around though, the princess looked around the room, and only saw from the flicker of the fire place a lone figure there residing in her chair.

The light of the flames waved across the various metal plates that dotted along the mares’ body, as they made up the frame for her prosthetics and held them in place so she could function normally. While the false wings on her back remained folded up for comfort, and with an eerie glow. From around the metal horn, the decanter beside her rose off the table and filled the glass next to it.

Snapping her eyes to the princess that just disturbed her, the shadowy mare slowly started to grow a toothy grin on her face at seeing the prize she had been waiting for, quite literally walk right on in through the door. All the while, her metallic eyes took on a new shimmer to them from the flickering flame.

“Princess Saving Grace…” Bronze rose up from her seat, “A pleasure to make your acquaintance…”

Tasting the venom in those words, Grace made an attempt to beat feet and run while she was still close to the door. However, a pair of heavy hooves put a stop to that thought instantly as Grace found herself lifted off the ground and dropped in to a chair facing the other mare.

Looking over her shoulder, the princesses’ eyes met only the empty visor of those that followed the one before her, while they remained silent and draped in full combat armor. “A pleasure indeed…” Grace tried to say simply, without sounding too bitter as she talked to the mare that caused so much trouble for her already from behind the curtains, “… to who do I owe the visit, Miss…?”

“Bronze…” she stated flatly, “Bronze Bolt.”

“Well, Miss Bolt…” Grace treaded her hooves lightly, “I know the who now, so to what then do I owe your visit?”

Bronze started to smile at her once more, not the venomous smile that Grace was expecting, but one that was full of pride and sincerity. “You and I have… unfinished business, to attend to…” she started to explain, watching as the confused face on the mare in front of her grew with every passing second. Reaching down on to the table with her talon, Bronze lifted up a glass steadily, “Care for one? I have to say you do have rather good taste…”

The princess sat there for a moment, but then graciously took the glass in a hoof as she eyed it curiously. If the mare went through all this trouble to sneak in here just to kill her with a poisoned drink, then she would have outright killed her by now. Sipping gently on the brim, the mare knew the beverage all too well, having shared a recent glass with a colt that’s been on her mind more as of late.

“I know not of any business you and I have to discuss…” Grace said, “After all, this is the first time we met.”

“The first time you and I met, yes… but not the first time our paths have crossed…” Bronze hissed at her, watching as Graces’ eyes peered at her talons that started to dig in to the chair that she sat in, “and I’ve been waiting a long time for this, dearie…”

Gulping down a third of her glass in one go, Grace swallowed with it the lump in her throat before she even dared speak, “Is that why you’ve been helping those two neighbors of mine? To get back at me for something that I didn’t know I did?”

Taken back by the response, Bronze started to chuckle, “Actually, they’re just a part of the plan… you’re why I’m here though, you… we’re my drive…” once again, the princess face painted itself the pure expression of confusion at its finest, “Allow me to elaborate… lets go back quite a few years, shall we?”

Sitting calmly at her work bench, Bronze looked over the many text books that she had acquired on the subjects of magic and their properties, keeping ‘Magical theory of the ancients’ close to hoof should the need arise. Everything was set just as it should be, she had her new limbs that would help carry her a little better. She had the right incantations and runes on the sides of the slot that the gem would go in, to better transfer its energy to the limb.

While on top of all this, Bronze even managed to get a hold of a unicorn willing to help her out and charge a gem for her. She wasn’t sure if it was because news of what happened to her father got around the school, or that a short time later Bronze was hobbling about a broken filly with her head hung low everywhere in town she went. Yet something about her situation, made the one unicorn she would have never expected, help her out in her time of need.

“Thank you, Marble…” Bronze silently gave some simple words of appreciation to the one that sought to help her.

He hadn’t been nearly as mean to her in the later month or two sense her incident. For the most part, he just hung his head as low as hers, and kept to himself. Maybe he felt guilty for all he had done to her over the school years, maybe her life falling off the deep end finally gave him the smack in the face he needed to right himself, maybe things weren’t all right in the young stallions life and seeing Bronze like this brought it a little closer to home. Whatever the case may have been, when Marble saw her drawing out some designs with her teeth one day at school, the curious colt swallowed his pride and asked what she was up to.

Bronze was hesitant to respond at first, and while even for being a unicorn, Marble may have not been the sharpest knife in the drawer. He at least listened long enough to get the grasp on the concept when she explained it to him. To which after a few minutes, she was more than happy to go in to her little project, and some of the details. Even if he had made her life a living hell for most of her education, talking to him did bring some sort of smile to Bronzes’ face, if only for the connection.

Later on the next day, Bronze went to her locker, and found a small envelope taped to the outside. In it, was a pair of emerald fragments, giving off the ambient glow of the energy coursing through them… the smile she got from Marble that day, told her all she needed to figure out who dropped it off.

Gently placing the gems neatly in their holders, Bronze crimped the metal pegs on the side up and over the gem to hold them in place. Looking over to make sure everything was set for them, the young mare used what she could with her teeth to unhinge the old legs she had been given to make way for the new. It was a troublesome process, and while she could have easily asked her mother to help her. Aurora was passed out at this time of night on the couch, getting some much needed shut eye before the early shift at a local dinner.

Eventually though, with a decent level of effort, Bronze managed to get both limbs off of her. Swapping them out with her new ones to replace them. “Okay… let’s see if this works…” she cleared her head, focusing all of her mind on the one action she wanted most right now. Move, she told her limbs. Trying to bend all of their spirit against itself to do her bidding.

However, after several minutes of sitting there meditating in anticipation. Bronze sat their defeated, as she looked over the limp legs still on the table. Leaning her muzzle over, she tilted the pages of one of the books to another section that she skimmed through earlier. Looking for anything she may have missed.

“Let’s see here…” she continued skimming, ‘with gems in place, the pure power of will is needed to force ones’ magic inside them to do their bidding…’ Bronze read to herself in the back of her head.

Will… that was a strong word in itself. The young filly would still have to find a way to drive her pent up magic inside her to flow how she wanted it to flow. Though what could she use to poke and prod it in the direction she needed? A simple strong mind wasn’t going to make it happen, she needed something else, something that took her mind and put it in a place where she didn’t want to be…

A place where she felt scared.

A place where she felt angry.

A place where her own will, would be driven by those emotions alone.

“Hey small stuff”, “You little twerp!”, “Ain’t nothing natural about you! You hear me?!” slowly but surely. The various insults that had been thrown at her over the years started to get to the mare, fueling a fire inside that she seldom had ever seen. Whether they came from classmates, ponies walking past her and mumbling, or even some of her own teachers. The years spent under the constant barrage of affronts hadn’t done much to help the mare along, other than give her something to cry herself to sleep at night over.

Though now… she may have a way of directing all that pent up anger.

“You’ll amount to nothing, Bronze… remember that”, “Poor little Bronzy, crying over in the corner like the worthless snot she is!”. After every one came to her mind, she felt a new sense of energy surge up in her. Like a wave crashing against the beach, it slowly started to grow and grow. Going from a low tide, to a high tide, and eventually reached what she could only describe as a hurricane on the shores of her mind.

Traveling through the years in her head, Bronze relived every insult over and over again, twitching as she felt them hit her in her very heart. While some of the times, she simply recalled the beatings she would get from other kids at school… another string of thoughts came to her mind.

Ones of a different sort.

“That a girl, Bronze,” she heard her father call to her, as if he was standing right behind her. “A wonderful job there dear,” Aurora said to her daughter once after helping to fix a cabinet that was broken. The simplest of memories, brought up the biggest pain in her body as they were all taken to the fore front of her mind. “Child of mine, you’re going to do great things in life… you just don’t know it yet.”

There in her mind, stood her father getting ready to walk out the door for the last time, as he looked down to her little eyes. “I love you,” she heard from her father that day, “I love you, my little Bronzy,” she recalled her mother saying many times while she rested in the hospital. So much pain, over nothing at the time.

One scuffle, that tore a family to bits.

Bronze clenched her teeth in her mouth, grinding them down to what felt like her gums. She didn’t care if she was crying at her workbench, she didn’t care that she had lost her limbs, she didn’t even care for the pain that was building up in her stumps from where they were fused to her ‘limbs’. All that mattered to the mare, was mending the pain that her family had felt. Her father, for losing his life, and her mother, for doing more than her health should have even allowed. All to ensure that Bronze herself was taken care of, over her own wellbeing.

“Mom… Dad… I love you,” Bronze said quietly to herself, all the while the pent up energy in her started to surge around.

She could feel it, the storm raging on and on in her small frame. The hurricane was growing, and it needed more than a swimming pool to contain what it had to offer. Snapping her eyes open, the young filly looked to her limb that had been thrown together from whatever she could get a hold of. All of her ambition, all of her focus, and all of her will… driven in to one simple word, and goal.

“Retribution…”

And with that, the hoof moved.

“You see now why I’m here?” Bronze asked to Grace as she finished up with a synopsis of what was likely the turning point in her life… or at least one of them.

“You blame me…” Grace hung her head with guilt, not for herself, but for what had happened to the young mare.

Clearly the pony sitting across from her had a talent that she couldn’t, and very few others could likely, shake a stick at. Perhaps, under different circumstances, Bronze may have wound up teaching at a college or being a famous inventor. Though the cards she was dealt gave her a different story to be told.

“In a way, yes,” Bronze answered flatly, “your parents saw to it that a fight would have been adverted, though one still broke out… and helped to take probably the only colt I ever loved, away from me.” The mare clenched back her own tears for a moment, trying to remain strong in front of who she saw as her enemy, “it tore me apart… and watching what happened to my mother over the years, as she worked more and more to try and make up for it, did nothing to help.”

“What of your mother?” Grace tried to reason with her on a different level, “What would she say to you about what you’re doing now?”

“Nothing… My mother died just before I graduated high school,” the mare said hollowly without a hint of emotion in her eyes, “she stuck around for a while, longer than I was expecting her to, seeing how she would work herself to the ground nearly every day… but we all have our breaking point,” a deep sigh passed her lips while she rested back in her seat, taking a drink from the glass, “she died, and considering I didn’t have anything to go home to anymore… I moved on too much bigger things.”

Grace bit her tongue, trying to gauge the expression on the mares’ face across from her, “I did none of this though,” one last ditch card was thrown on the table by the princess, “I didn’t send your father out there, I had nothing to do of that. Even now I tried to stop the fighting, and stuck to the treaty!” she let her tongue loose for a moment, before quickly reeling it back in.

“Tut-tut…” Bronze snapped from her mouth, “it’s not polite to yell you know? Especially not now, someone might-” The sound of a handle turning set them all on alert in a moment, with in a second, the door swung open and in stepped a single dragon made up of pure silver.

Silvertongue had trouble sleeping, and while he was recently having issues, he knew very well that his friend had been going through the same thing lately. Hoping for a late night chat, with possibly a glass or two of her friends’ personal stash, the drake moseyed himself to this part of the castle. Opening the door without a second thought.

Until that is he found a blade held to his throat by a strange armored pony.

Looking around the room, Silver took in the sight to behold. Grace clearly struck with fear for his life as she shot up from her chair to see him, the various armored colts that stood about not even paying her any heed. All the while, a single mare sat in the same place she was when he first walked in, to now even half a minute later.

Resting is eyes on the mare across from him, he watched her grin start to grow ever more prominent, “good evening…Silvertongue…”

“Evening, Bronze,” he purred across his tongue to the mare, “I wish you had told me you were going to make an appearance tonight.”

Grace meanwhile, stood there in total disbelief, as she watched the dagger from his neck get placed back in its sheath. None of it made sense to her, here was her friend of years, sense she was but a filly herself. Now talking to a mare that sought to destroy her very existence, or at the very least, her country.

“But… how… wha-… huh?” she stammered out, while Silver took a few more steps inside.

“Don’t act so shocked now, Grace,” he replied to her simply, trying to numb his words as much as he physically could manage, “there’s been a lot that’s happened behind closed doors.”

With a quick contraction of her gut, Grace mustered up enough snot and mucus to spit on the one she considered a close friend. “How could you do this to me?!” she shouted at the top of her lungs in his face, before cranking back a wing and smacking Silver square across the face.

She may have not been the strongest of mares, not by a long shot, though her body she kept in shape with a regular workout routine and a preference to fly on her own to most places she had to go. Rearing up a pair of hind legs, her hooves met the muzzle of one of the ponies behind her. With a dull thud, the helmet was rocketed off of its seat, snapping straps of leather that kept it connected to the rest of the suit as it smacked the wall on its own. Turning around to try and get a drop on the stunned colt, Grace instead found herself staring at not a face.

But a hollowed shell.

Halting her advance, the mare fell to the floor on her flank as she tried to scoot away from the headless stallion, while her brain processed what she had just seen. As she still swore she could feel the piercing eyes staring back at her, “Wh-w-what are they?” she mumbled out.

Bronze calmly rose up from her seat, and picked the helmet up in her talons before depositing it back on the headless horse. “They, are my loyal subjects,” she answered, as the colt shook the helmet to ensure it was properly in place, “I call them Automatons… hollowed suits of armor, with nothing more than a rune place inside, along with a charged gem for energy, and an advanced level Possession spell bonded to it.” Bronze stroked the false mane on the back of the helmet, “The spell gives them a soul of some sort to run off of, while still allowing them to think on their own, being trained and imprinted to only respond to the one that created them… namely, yours truly.”

With a light pat on the head, the colt that quite literally just lost his, took his place alongside his brothers at the side of the room. “They feel not pain, nor remorse, and certainly not mercy… they’re the perfect soldiers,” she almost forgot about the others in the room for a moment, as she admired her creations, “with the power and intellect of an actual brain, but the obedience and efficiency… of a machine… rather fitting, wouldn’t you say?” she asked while looking over her own mechanical upgrades that adorned her body.

Grace looked at both Bronze and her subjects. Each of them created in her own mind, from her very soul, and if they were anything that she just described. Then each of them were capable of being a one stallion army in their own right. Slowly, the princess shook her head at what she just saw, while taking in to account everything else that she’s learned of the pony before her.

“You’re insane…” the princess muttered.

“No… I’m motivated,” Bronze said as she got closer and raised Graces’ chin up, so she could meet her own eyes, “that’s something I must thank your country for doing… giving me the drive I needed in life, to see what I was capable of.” Falling back to Graces previous statement, before they were interrupted by Silver, Bronze elaborated, “see you may have not been directly responsible for what had happened to my family, but you inherited the blame when you picked up the crown… I’m merely finishing the game.”

In the still silence of her gratitude towards Grace, the princess had but only one question on her mind, and the more she thought of it. The more it nagged at her brain like a tumor, “Why…?” the whisper fell from her lips on to the nearly deaf ears of Bronze, “Why are you doing this? You were dealt a bad deck of cards in life, but so have so many others… so I ask you, why?” she looked up in to the brassy eyes of her aggressor, “why do you have the right to wage a war in the shadows against my country.”

Slowly but surely, Bronzes’ smile left her face, only to return with a different tune to it. All as if this was the one question that she had been waiting to hear from the mare, “because for the first time, I have the means to end the fighting… and prevent the loss of further life for all the-”

A twist of the knob garnered the attention of all those present once again, as the door slowly swung open to a gryphon walking in slowly on the scene, “Your majesty?” Leon said as he looked down at the tray to ensure none of its contents had spilled over, ignoring all that was going on around him, “I hope you don’t mind me barging in like this, but-” he stopped the moment his eyes caught on to the prospect before him.

Grace remained on her flank with Bronze standing mere inches from her. Silvertongue had his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the mares talking. While in the dim light of the fire, Leon could see several strange soldiers lined up on the side of the room, silently standing as over watch to them all. All eyes turned to him in an instant, though only the mares had their expressions change. Graces’ went to full fear in her eyes, while the other mares’ smile twisted itself in to something even more sinister than before.

The gryphon wasn’t the smartest one in his class, not by a long shot, but even he knew this was bad. Dropping the tray with a dull clack to the ground, he grabbed on to his rapier with a talon and drew it out to his side. “Weapons! Drop em’!” he shouted to the other soldiers there in the room, and towards the mare that clearly didn’t belong here.

“Oh come now…” Bronze rolled her eyes to the intruder, “what do you have to bargain with? You have no play here…”

Again, not the smartest one…

Looking off to either side of him, Leon realized that he was in fact, alone. He had no back up, and while he paid attention to those in front of him, he missed the two armored colts closing the door behind him. Silvertongue wasn’t reacting in any way to try and help, and even though in his mind gryphons were naturally stronger than ponies. Something didn’t seem right about those that stood around him.

With a soft sigh, Bronze steadily raised a claw to the male, “I don’t have time for this,” a simple flick of the wrist later, and a lone barrel was produced as it extended out of her fore limb.

Leon eyes widened just in time to meet his demise, at the short and quick execution of the mares’ own gun. Landing to the ground with a sound similar to the tray he just dropped. The only other sound there for the time being was the soft whimpers of Grace, as she looked at the remains of her fallen subject, and one she had known to some extent over the years.

Silvertongue lifted a foot up and moved it a step back, keeping it out of the ever growing pool of blood that started to stain the carpet of the bed room lounge, “I wish you hadn’t done that… now how am I going to explain this?” he asked to Bronze.

“Simple…” she replied, as her horn flashed quickly with a new silent command to her troops, and they started to move as ordered, “Tell them you came in, and found that guard dead, with the princess here… missing.”

Raising a scaled brow to her, “Where are you going with this?” the drake wondered her angle.

“Thanks to a nice little tip off…” Bronze winked at him, as she turned her attention to the mare still on the ground, “I know that some soldiers were dispatched to the DDR to eliminate Chief Reinhart… which means, when Seren hears of their beloved princesses capture… where will they go hunting?”

“…To the only ones that weren’t being dealt with at the time,” Silver answered as it dawned on him of her plan.

With a snap of her talons to one another, she made note of the light bulb moment her acquaintance had, “Bingo… Seren will come marching on the Gryphon Kingdom, all on their own, I just need you to stick around to strike the match,” with that said. Bronze made her way closer to Grace, who instinctively started to back up on the floor away from the mare, “don’t be afraid now… not when there’s much more to be fearful of later on,” she leaned down to eye level with the princess, “you’re coming with me.”

A second later, as Grace let out a slight squeal, a bag from one of the automatons was draped over her head and everything in her vision went dark. Not only because of the bag, but also because of the heavy hoof cracking against the back of her skull. Sending the princess in to a dream landscape that quickly became a nightmare.

Chapter 36

Back in Boralus

“It’s been three days’ councilor…” Silvertongue urged the meeting of the council to press on with the subject on the table. As he looked to one of those that sat on the committee, all the while the councilor simply looked upon the others for some sort of guidance.

“This I know, Silvertongue,” he remarked to the drake, “It’s a largely known fact now that the princess has been taken by our enemies… likely to force our own cards on the table.”

“What else would you be proposing?” a Brigadier general questioned, “They have our nations’ leader, in my eyes there’s little else we can do other than an all-out fight…”

“One that would likely result in the death of Princess Saving Grace herself,” another answered out of turn.

For three days Grace had been gone, for three days the council (of military as well as civilian leaders in their respective fields) had taken the rungs of the nation to lead it in her absence, and for three days… they have done nothing but bicker about what to do with the situation that they had been dealt.

Going back and forth with those at the table, Silver had put in his two cents here and there when needed, attempting to steer the conversation and debate back in the favor of the mare he works for. Right now he had them all teetering on the edge of just rolling up at the Gryphon Kingdom with spears sharpened and ready for the go.

Right where he wanted them to be.

‘Bunch of children…’ he chuckled at himself, while watching the shouting match between two of those present grow, ‘no wonder she wanted to wipe the slate clean.’

Calming down, the female gryphon that acted as an overseer, on the medical side of things to treat those that would be wounded in a fight, took her seat back after going off on a colt across from her. Clenching her fist to keep from pounding the stallions head in, she took a deep breath, “As hard as it is to say for one in my profession,” she exclaimed her distaste for what would come next, “I believe that Mister Silvertongue here has made a point…”

“And as easy as it is for one in my profession to agree,” a chief arms-master spoke up, “I would still say it’s a bad idea.”

“With what the Gryphons have at their disposal, it’s a wonder they haven’t come to our front door step already,” a mare spoke out as she tried to make some sort of point, while putting more facts out on the table, “Either they’re waiting to see what we’ll do, or planning something else.”

“Perhaps they’re just not as bold as they once were, especially considering they don’t have any reinforcements in the matter…”

“She’s right you know,” the Arms-master added to another councilors’ comment, backing them up, “Early reports from the few scouts we have out in the other countries tells us that the DDR have all but stopped a majority of their production, and even has begun disarming most of their troops.”

The brigadier General started to smile at the sound of his enemies’ demise, “seems that when their leader was taken out, they lost all motivation to keep the fight up…” he tasted those sweet words like honey on his lips, “perhaps if the same were to happen to King Rhorkin, then we wouldn’t need a large fight… at least not in one place.”

Raising his scaly brow to him, Silvers’ interest instantly perked the moment he caught on that at least one of them at the table may have had a plan. “What are you suggesting there, General?”

“Simple, don’t just attack their capital like they would expect…” using the horn atop his head, the officer called upon a simple spell to draw it out for them, as lines started to trace themselves across the top of the table. “You see here, there’s many water and rail ways in to the gryphons’ country,” he pointed out as they all started to take shape on the map, “If we used those, then we could attack quite a few cities and towns that have their bases at the same time, giving our force that would go after the capital to the princess a fighting chance. Considering they wouldn’t just be able to call in for back up all that easily.”

“And what of their new tech?” the medic gryphon asked, picturing the numbers of casualties in the back of her head, “after all the bodies that I saw from the scuffle in the border town against the DDR, I doubt the Gryphons would have a reason to hold back at all.”

“While sadly hooves don’t seem to work all that well with the toys that the gryphons have mustered, talons and claws do…” the General answered, having read several of the reports on the uses of those guns in the capable hands of their own troops, “should our soldiers get a hold of their weaponry, then they should be instructed to use it against them to its’ fullest capability.”

“Fight fire with the proverbial fire hmm?” a Master Sargent mused over in his mind.

“Precisely,” he motioned to his subordinate, “Grace can be secured, while the gryphons are dealing with their other bases being attacked… should their fair king get caught in the cross fire, that’s just a bonus.”

Looking around the table, Silver took notice of the silent stares that were given to the General. As much as many of them didn’t want to admit it, he did have a point. They all wanted to see Grace returned home to them safe and sound, and if that meant sending company after company of soldiers out in to a foreign land to likely meet their own demise. Then so be it…

…Just as the drake was hoping for.

“We’re out of options, time, and ideas it seems…” another that directed produce responded, “I’m no war dog, not by a long shot, but then again this is all we got going for us.”

“Does anyone here second this motion?” Silver asked to see if any would oppose the thought by speaking out, though as he saw a few of those present raise their hooves or claws for it. The drake simply began to smile, not because they had finally come to a decision, but because it was the one he was sought.

Getting up from his chair, the drake looked to them all, “Then it would seem we have some work to do… go get what you need ready for a fight.” He said to them all, as he watched the committee disband after a wave of his claw.

Silvertongue may have not been royalty, or even in the military, or for that matter even hold a position other than a glorified secretary. That said, he has been around the royal family for countless years, and watched the young princess come in to her own, while helping her late parents with their own political troubles. For that alone, his word was as respected and trusted as if it had come from Graces own two lips.

Resting his claws on the table for a moment after they all had left, it did pain him for what he had helped do to Grace. But in the end, he was hoping the reward would outweigh the cost. After all, she had no reason to get hurt in this matter… Bronze had told him that much.

Shaking off the thoughts going to his head, Silver looked around the room for a moment to see that the coast was clear. Before he walked over to one of the back doors of the chamber, and slipped out of sight from those that might wonder where he was.

Being a creature of habit, it was never hard for one to track down Iron should one desire to find him. Even a new comer to the area that had really just gotten to know him, soon discovered that if you wanted to find the colt on a late Saturday night. Closest place you had to go, was the local bar…

Egyes walked through the doors of Elixirs and Edibles, as he poked his head around the area looking for the young stallion. Eventually though, his eyes sat on the emerald coat that belonged to him, while Iron remained at the bar chatting way with the mare running the show.

“Whelp, I can’t say I blame ya…” Able said to the colt as she filled up his glass once more.

“Tell me about it,” Iron started to groan from over top the brim, stirring the glass lightly with a twist of his magic, “And the worst part is, what do I have to offer? Other than just being a good colt?”

“Meh… if a mare already could have anything else she wanted, that might be the only thing she’s looking for,” the mare mused with a light wink to him, as she watched a peculiar gryphon walking up to meet them. “Evenin’ there sir, what can I do ya for?”

Egyes smiled lightly back at her, “just here to pick up a… friend?”

“We’ve been through a few battles now, so we sure as hell aint just acquaintances,” Iron sheepishly started to chuckle.

“Well if that’s all it takes, then I’m glad to have you on my side,” the gryphon laughed lightly with him.

“Ahh so you’re here for this one,” Able responded without even paying their comments really any heed, slowly letting the smirk from her and Irons’ previous conversation grow, “We were just talking about somepony you might have some input on.”

“Able, zip it…” Iron snapped back at her as he grinded his teeth together, enticing but another grin out of the mare as she started to giggle.

“Well never mind then… anything I can get cha?” she asked to the gryphon.

“Just a mug of mead, if you would be so kind,” watching the mare nod in response and go about her business. Egyes turned his attention back to the colt that he had sought, “have you talked to Free yet?”

“Na… every time I go in there he’s still passed out,” Iron remarked as he took a sip, wishing that he had spent more time around his friend. Then again, he knows Free would be telling him to go about his business as normal even if he were conscious, “but I hear he’s getting better at least. Shouldn’t be much longer till he’s awake full time, those are some powerful drugs they’re pumping in him.”

“Tell me about it,” Egyes rolled his eyes. Fondly remembering some of the trips he had to the med ward, and then the trips he got taken on while there from the meds. Though meddling with the past could be done later, as of now, he had to make sure the colt knew what was going on, “did you hear any rumors about what Seren plans on doing? Sense the news of the princess,” he asked in hushed tones. Watching as the ears of the colt perked up in interest, while Iron still remained lip locked with his glass as he shook his head.

“Two days from now, full scale attack on those of my kind…” he watched as the colt started to choke up on some of his drink. As the gryphon gladly took his own in claw when Able came back with it, and chugged some of it to brace his nerves, “The council apparently believes that if they attack several places controlled by the gryphons at once, then it will give the real rescue team a better chance at getting in and saving her.”

“… Stupid fools,” Iron muttered under his breath, just enough for the one sitting next to him to catch on.

“What makes you say that?” he asked, wondering of the colts’ judgment on the decision, “It’s better than sitting back and arguing about what to do.”

“That might be true, but what you don’t realize is Grace is very much liked by those that serve,” Iron made his point known, or so he thought. The curious eye of the gryphon telling him all he needed to know about his friends’ confusion, “think of how this will all play out… Seren will make a big show of force in an attempt to save her. Though once she’s carted out in front of those that fight with a noose around her neck, her wings clipped, up on to the edge of a tower… do you really think any of those soldiers will continue to try and fight?”

Egyes held up a single claw in an attempt to make a rebuttal, though his words quickly fell on deaf ears. Namely his own, as they failed to make sense in even his own head. “Alrighty, you have a point there… all of Seren will want her to be safe, no matter the cost.”

“Even if it means losing a fight to do so.”

The gryphon watched as the colt continued to sip on his glass as if everything in the universe was all fine and dandy. How the stallion could be this calm during a time like this, Egyes would never know. Unless there was something already brewing in the back of his head that would sort matters out.

“I take it you have a plan?” he watched as the colt stopped mid drink, and sat the glass down, all the while the smile on his face grew ever wider.

“Get to her, before the army gets to the kingdom…”

“Could you elaborate a little more than just leaving it sounding like a suicide mission?”

Iron huffed for a moment before leaning his fore hooves on the bar top, “you’ve severed under them before trading sides, you know their stronghold where the king resides, correct?”

“Like the back of my talon,” Egyes answered proudly, “So I’m assuming that you think Grace will be in the same place?”

“Where else would they keep her?” he didn’t even wait for a response to that before continuing, “Grace will probably be somewhere tucked away at their fort, along with the king. Ideally, we put a blade in that gryphons’ throat… though I’ll be satisfied with just getting her out.”

“Will you now?” Egyes teased, as Iron froze for a second where he sat.

“Shut it…” the colts’ eyes narrowed down on him, “you have the knowhow of the place, and I have all the bells and whistles to cause quite a stir in their home while there…” calmly picking up his glass with a hoof, Iron looked at him once more, “what do ya say? Are you willing to follow me in to combat once more?”

Smirking at him, Egyes couldn’t help but raise his glass to Irons’, “Screw it, why not…” he finished as they clicked their goblets together.

“Good…” Iron said as he got up and polished off his glass, before dropping it on the counter with a few bits, “now meet me at the shop in about… meh, an hour or so.” He said to the gryphon after looking up at the clock without another word and waltzed out.

Right on schedule as the clock struck seven in the evening, Egyes opened the door to the colts’ work area, and inside found exactly what he was expecting to find. Iron had a few open tubes set off the side as he filled them with what looked to be black powder, before topping them off with a generous coating of shrapnel. As he gingerly placed them inside the tubes of the launcher on his armors’ back.

“Prepping for war I take it?” Egyes said, grabbing the colts’ attention.

“Actually hoping to end it…” he remarked, “think about it, if the DDR pulled out after losing their Chief. What do you think will happen if King Rhorkin met his demise?”

“Depends how much they’re beaten… Gryphons are notoriously stubborn…” he started to smirk a bit at that notion, “Although, I have the sneaking suspicion that our Marefriend is behind the princesses’ capture.”

“Ya think?” Iron deadpanned as he looked over his shoulder at the gryphon, “she seems to have her hooves in a lot of this now… or talons, I guess.” The colt started to shake his head, hollowed at the fact that usually this was the sort of mission he would find himself doing with another more often than not, “If Free was feeling any better he’d be fighting me to come along…”

“Think we’ll need the back up?”

“… You know how they say there’s no such thing as a dumb question?” Iron asked as he watched the gryphon facepalm himself, “Yea… that was one of ‘em.”

“Well if I had thought of it I would have asked the princesses secretary when I last saw him…” Egyes mulled over with a wave of his claw, “I’m sure he would have helped, no matter how dangerous this would have been.”

“Silvertongue?” Iron perked up, thinking where he himself last saw the drake, “I already tried to ask him, though couldn’t find the guy… odd how a dragon of all things, is the one that’s lost in the crowd.”

“Speaking of Silvertongue,” Egyes brought up a question that had been going around his mind ever sense Iron had left the bar, “how exactly are we supposed to get in the kingdom itself? After all, last time you did have a little assistance.”

“I’m glad you asked…” Iron put on his most surreal expression he could muster, before telling the gryphon what he had planned, “We’re gonna steal a train…”

For a moment or two, there was nothing but silence, and then the laughing started. Egyes didn’t know why he was laughing, perhaps it was the insanity of the suggestion, or that maybe Iron was just trying to get a good laugh at a time of rather low morale. Two soldiers, trying to take over an entire gryphon locomotive for their own means… sounds crazy enough, right? Though all it took was the straight forward expression still plastered on the colts’ face to tell the gryphon one thing.

“Wait… you’re serious?”

Chapter 37

The cold brick against a soft coat was never the accommodations that one of royalty would get used to, something that Grace learned as she stirred awake within the confines of a cell. It took a moment or two for the gravity of the situation to finally catch up with her, but when it did, it smacked the mare like a ton of bricks dropped from the ramparts.

“Hello!” she cried out, hoping that in the very least this was all a terrible dream and in a frantic attempt her voice would rouse her slumbering body awake. “Is anyone out there!” Though the more Grace remained still, the faster she realized that everything here was all too real, and she sunk down to her flank in the middle of her chamber.

“So now… you’re awake,” she heard the all too familiar voice of a friend she once knew.

Hearing the drake stand up from the dimly lit room, the mare watched as he came more in to view of the small ether orb that shined its own light from above them on the area. Silvertongue slowly sat down next to the cage, barely even looking at the mare that he had firsthand betrayed after so many years.

Though with the growing silence that beckoned to drag on, Grace knew somethings had to be said, “You did this…” she muttered out under a hushed breath, knowing full well that his attuned ears would still pick it up, “…you helped in every part.”

“Not… every part,” he started to scratch the back of his head, feeling the words sting from her, “I didn’t know she would have gone and tested her gizmos on Serens’ citizens. Nor did I know the effectiveness of all the weapons she would bring.”

“And so that justifies it?!” Grace snapped back at him, watching as the sliver in the scales that gave him his name turned pale white, “how much intel did you feed her on what we were planning and doing? How many died because of what you told her? How many more were put at risk because you let this mare seep her talons in to your scales?!”

“I didn’t play the spy game with her, Grace,” he held his head there for a moment, before raising it up to look at her, “I merely helped to steer the direction of Seren to what she wanted… I have for a while now actually.”

Then and there it dawned on the princess what Silver meant when he told her there was a lot that had gone on behind closed doors, “How long ago did she get to you?”

“Sense before she even went to the DDR or the Gryphons,” he answered calmly. Remembering the short time he met Bronze when she found him out in town. The cloak that she was known for, draped over her body as the mare broke down her plans to the drake, over a few glasses at a tavern.

At first he all thought it was treason to the crown he had served for years, but having been around for a decent amount of time, the drake knew one thing. The circle of going to war over the same thing, only for it to end in another treaty after a few fights, that would eventually be broken after several years. Would keep on going round and round, unless someone put a stop to it.

“You want to know the sad part?” Silver asked rhetorically, “the more she talked, the more it all made sense.”

“What did?” Grace asked, curious to hear what could have turned her friend away from her, “What did she plan on doing in the end.”

“Total war…” the dragon let it slide off his tongue better than he would have hoped, “Give the other nations what they would need to fight against Serens’ vast resources, so in the end, it would fall.”

The mare rolled her eyes, as she held herself up to the bars of the cell staring the drake down, “and what would that have accomplished? The destruction of an entire country!”

“Yes… but sometimes to go further in life, you have to take a step or two back,” he told her as a little life lesson, “with Seren out of the picture, then both nations could have access to whatever they needed without restraint.”

“All while my own country falls away in to the dust…”

“A necessary loss… but that doesn’t mean the residents couldn’t reside elsewhere?” he proposed to her as a little incentive to get the mare to see it from his own eyes, “all the killing that would be saved, by simply using the voice of the nation…” Silver gestured to Grace as he spoke, “as a lever, to bend them down and submit…”

Grace sat there speechless.

Here was a drake that she had looked up to for years, that had helped teach her the ways of the political dog and pony show throughout her time learning, while at the same time helped her own parents when they were still running things. Yet he had just pulled the oldest trick in the book on her, a simple blind side…

While the handle of the knife, still could be felt in her back.

“Don’t seem so down about it…” Silver used a careful claw to raise her head up from the ground and looked in to her cobalt eyes, while they tried to hold back a dam ready to cave, “there will be no harm that will come to you as it all goes down. After all, kind of hard to bend the will of a nation, if you’re already broken.”

“And how can you be so sure they’ll come for me?” she pressed, “I may be a favorite among the citizens, but the council isn’t stup-…” freezing right there, Grace realize what she was about to say. “Okay… so maybe they are a little bit of a dunce sometimes, but they aren’t completely incompetent.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that… they plan on sending troops by tomorrow morning,” Silvertongue narrowed his eyes down on her, while he watched the last shred of hope in the mare fade to nil, “And after a little display is put on of what the Kingdom has at their disposal, with you as a captive… then Seren will bend at their knees to save not only your life, but their own as well.”

Breaking physically was out of the question in his mind. If she were to pass away, then they would have no card to force Serens’ own play. Then again, the mares’ mind was something that wasn’t off limits, and while it pained him more than Grace would know to see her like this. It was something that Silvertongue had hoped to see, in a twisted way…

She was silent, broken, and her will was all but gone.

More questions buzzed around her head than she would have the lifespan to ask, and even more fitting words came to mind of what she wanted to flat out tell the drake across from her. Though no matter what she could go and do, Grace had seen what Bronze had brought to the table, and in the capable talons of the gryphons. Then it was sure to be a massacre the next day when both armies met face to face.

“You’re just as bad as she is…” Grace muttered to herself, finally finding the strength within to raise her own head up and look at those slits that belonged to him. Nearly crying out through the tears in her eyes from her words, “she may have been the puppet of death with what she provided, but you’ve been playing at my own strings to see to it that the show went on…”

“And on it shall go, whether you like it or not,” Getting up from his seat, the drake made his leave, with just one last turn to the mare, “Rest easy now… Grace, it will all be over soon enough.”

Alone now in the quiet of her cell, Grace laid flat against the ground. Curling up to provide some sort of comfort, the mare let her eyes flicker back and forth from awake and rest. She didn’t have much else to do after all, “May whoever’s headed in to harm’s way for my sake, have mercy on them,” finally a single tear fell while muttering that simple wish, to whoever was watching over her, “may their mind be at peace, and their judgment sound.”

“Was this part of your plan?!” Egyes screamed at the top of his lungs to the colt just across from him. While the two grabbed on to whatever they could atop a train car to give them a grip, and some much needed cover.

“Most of it!” Iron shouted back at him, as he took aim with an out stretched hoof at a gryphon that was cranking away on the handle of another gun.

The plan hadn’t completely backfired on them. They had managed to get on a train, after breaching the kingdom and intercepting it on its way to the capital. The same gryphons that were paid off to get them to the DDR, knew the schedules of the others on the rail, so it was an easy bribe to make. That said, the contents of said train was never really discussed between them.

Crawling onboard, the two met face to face with what amounted to several dozen other gryphons. Each one guarding the cargo of weaponry that was being shippped in to the capital for the coming fight the next day. Which in hind sight was probably a bad idea to try and commandeer one of their trains at a time like this, considering now the gryphons have full use of all the toys it carried.

Rounds littered across the top of the train car, as the Gatling gun fired away with blazing speed from the trigger finger of an energetic gryphon. If he wasn’t having so much fun playing with his new knick-knack, then he might have seen the fire ball that was heading straight for him soon enough to get out of its way. But alas he didn’t, and only met the feeling from the flames scorching away at his face as it burned in to his skull.

Dropping the gryphon, Iron perked his head back up at the others that were continuing to crawl out of the various cars along the rails. Each of them armed with some sort of tech that the two could only hope to match with their own will and firepower.

Grasping on to an incoming rocket with an aura from his horn, Iron held it in place long enough for the propellant to die out as he shot it back at the aggressor that tried to get the better of them, and obliterated a few of his pals in the process. Stomping his leg on to the roof of the car, several of the metal plates that dotted it curled upwards. Giving himself and his companion a sense of security from the barrage, as Iron lifted up a hoof and clipped the wings of a gryphon with a well-placed energy bolt in midflight. Only to watch the victim tumble down off the side of the ravine that they traversed.

Egyes lined up his own shots, popping them off one for one with the rounds that came in, as he did his best to give them some sort of breathing room. The gryphon had packed quite a few of his own guns for the trip, though as they started to run dry, he found himself swiping whatever he could get his claws on from those that got a little too close for comfort.

Grabbing the barrel of a rocket launcher that stuck itself out of the car below. The gryphon yanked on its end and pulled the head of the enemy holding it in clear view of himself, and the pistol he held in one claw. Expending a single round through the forehead, Egyes hiked the launcher up on his shoulder from the limp gryphons’ grasp, and with little to no aim let a round loose at the back of the car. Having no real distance to travel, the rocket impacted before those that attacked them even saw it coming. Leaving the end of the railway carriage a smoking shell that crackled away from the burning embers inside.

Reloading for a second go, the male looked at the rest of the train coming in to view from behind as they took a long curve through the mountains on their way. Seizing the opportunity, and ignoring the various shots that sparked away as they hit the metal cover. A second volley found its mark in the heart of several cars down that held quite a few soldiers taking pot shots at the two. With nothing more holding the carriages together, the two halves of the train started to drift apart, while those gryphons that took to the sky found it nearly impossible to keep up with the speeding locomotive.

Letting his companion be for a moment to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Iron trotted along the top of the car to make his way to the actual engine of the train. Thanking his lucky stars that they hadn’t gone through any tunnels sense this gun fight ensued, as they fought for the most part on the roof. Slipping between two of the cars, the colt landed atop a gryphon that readied himself to come up just a tad too late. While under the weight of a full grown colt, along with the armor he carried, the soldier found himself pressed down between the meeting of the cars, and with a quick kick from a hind leg. Iron sent the gryphon to the rails below and a grisly end.

Landing behind him, Egyes loaded up another rocket in to hopper as Iron took note of his company. “Probably a bad idea to use that thing in close quarters…” the colt did as he always had and stated the obvious, as he watched the handle on the side of the launcher slide another round in to the chamber, “I mean explosions are kinda fickle like-”

“Oh hush… this whole trip has been a complete cluster buck anyway,” he said readying the launcher on one shoulder, while his other talon grabbed on to his pistol and held it up to his side, “let’s see how much worse it could get.”

“Now that’s the kinda thinkin’ I like to hear, besides we’re making good time anyway,” Iron said as he mentally went over the map of the kingdom and how far they must have traveled, “By my calculations we’re probably only half an hour from the capital.”

“… What calculations?!”

“Eh… I’m still working on ‘em,” the colt shrugged as he simultaneously whipped a cigarette out from his suits holder, lit it as it was tucked in his lips, and reared up a hind hoof, “ask me again in about thirty minutes if we’re not there yet…” leveling the door to the steam engine car with a swift kick to the frame, and a little help from his enchanted joints. The heavy oaken door snapped halfway off its hinges as both Iron and Egyes piled in to the car.

Looking around the surprisingly spacious compartment, the few of those inside jumped from their stations to take on the new company they found themselves with. While those out on the train may have been soldiers bread for fighting. These gryphons were nothing more than engineers, given the simple task of keeping the train up and running. A few of them grabbed what they could to fight, and Iron quickly found himself holding up a bracer to block the swing from a shovel. Countering the attack with his own sword.

All the while Egyes raised up one talon as one of his own kind closed the gap holding up a short rapier. Not even caring how close they were and if the rounds could ricochet around the room, the gryphon threw caution to the wind and emptied the entire clip of his pistol in to not only the one that tried to attack him, but those around him as well.

Moving from target to target swiftly and efficiently, three shots were placed in his targets. Two in the chest, one in the head, and dropped them quickly. While the final gryphon fell, Iron still held the shovel in the grasp of his horn, as he looked at his companion with a limp cigarette in his lips.

“You really aren’t in the mood are you?”

“… I don’t like getting shot at…”

“Well, right there with ya brother,” Iron proudly slapped him on the back as he trotted up to the controls of the train.

Iron was a colt of many trades, and a master of a couple of them. Ask him to repair a leaky faucet, he’s your colt. Task him with tailoring a tuxedo for a special occasion? Still quite capable of doing it. Heck, give him the challenge of uprooting a third world country… challenge accepted. Though out of all these random hobbies and skills he had, from cooking to sewing, metallurgy to masonry, or even field medic to basic chemist…

Train conductor, was not on his résumé.

“You don’t know how to drive it… do you?” Egyes slapped a heavy claw to his face as he ran it along the side of his beak.

“Well I never said I did… besides,” Iron said as he looked around some of the controls, hoping to find the only one he really cared for, “I don’t need to.”

‘Slow <------> Fast’ he read on a single handle, and with a shrug of his shoulder, slammed the lever forward. The two of them quickly found their footing all but forgotten as the train picked up speed miraculously faster than they were expecting, having skidded across the floor and pushed them in to the back wall at first. Egyes snapped his head to the colt, after seeing the scenery pass by them from the side of the car in a blink of an eye.

“Are you insane?!”

“Never officially diagnosed!” the colt responded proudly as he looked out the window and glared at what he had hoped to find sooner rather than later, “the risk I took was calculated… but boy, am I bad at math…”

Looking out the window, and barely being able to see anything from the wind blinding his vision and ruffling his feathers. Egyes still was able to make out the lights of the gryphon capital coming in to view finally after the long train ride. Though one question burned on the males’ mind as he put not only the speed of the train in to the equation, but also the sanity of his host.

“So…” he looked over to the colt again, watching as the devious smile started to break and show its true colors, “how do we go about stopping?”

“There they are,” a gryphon working the station said to his partner as they eyed the locomotive off in the distance. Having been out here for several hours already as part of work detail, they were looking forward to getting the job done and some much needed shut eye, this being their last load for the day.

“Took ‘em long enough, I was expecting them here half an hour ago…” his companion responded, catching a glimpse of the train himself.

“Nah, Reynolds loves to take his time passing through the mountains,” the gryphon replied, “says he likes to look at the scenery and such.”

Nodding in approval, the male also enjoyed the view during the many times he himself was on the railcars. So for them to be a few minutes late in his book, he couldn’t exactly blame them. Looking down the track though, what once was a spec off in the distance, has grown to a full sized train a mere mile away.

“Ahh… doesn’t that look like it’s-” Another word is never said by the male, having been tackled to the ground off the side of the station by his friend.

With its decent down the mountain range, along with Irons’ meddling. The train picked up enough speed to skip off of the rails and plow itself in to the rest of the station, the soft stop at the end acting like nothing more than a speed bump. Puncturing through the brick walls that made up much of the structure, the locomotive performed flawlessly as a battering ram, and leveled a considerable amount of the building itself. All the while, car after car stacked up from the impact and started to accordion behind the first one.

Though what shook things up wasn’t the derailment of a typical train, but the leaking boiler…

“You alright?” the gryphon asked to his comrade, as they both looked up from the side of the station at the box car hanging off the edge of the station platform.

“Yeah… I think so,” he looked around at the devastation from just a simple crash, wondering how many others that were working the rails that night got out of the way first. Before his thoughts turned to those on the train itself, “oh man… Reynolds is so-”

Being cut off for a second time that night, this time there would be no more words said, as steam from the locomotive tore itself from the riveted boiler, popping it at the seams. Raking through the area and flash frying most of those that were living. The superheated water charged its’ way across feathers and flesh alike, and any of those in the work detail that wore armor quickly found themselves treated like shellfish and steamed alive. All while what fragments of the train were light enough for it to pick up, soon became crude but effective grape shot. Leveling most of what remained of the station.

… all at the hooves, of one colt.

Moments earlier…

“I wished you had told me…” King Rhorkin said as he leaned over the conference table in the room that adjoined his own, as a map of his own country laid spread under his claws.

While he may have hated to bring his work home with him, having the ability to conduct day to day business from what amounted to a private apartment in ones’ castle did have its perks. Most of the fortress that he called home resided in the capitals’ very center and served to be exactly just that, a point for his military to call home as well, where they could be dispatched should the need arise.

Though Rhorkin didn’t like to be far from those that served under him, especially those that took arms up when he asked them to. So under his reign, the fortress itself was extended to give not only those that formed the political side of things a place to work from. But also gave the king his own headquarters to direct his entire nation out of.

The fact that it’s fully loaded to level another country? That’s just a bonus in his book.

Though as of now, all the weapons and soldiers in the world would mean nothing, if the mare before him had jumped the gun and screwed the entire plan. “I just did actually,” Bronze said, as she leaned on the table with half of her flank, as her false wings resided by her, “Besides… I don’t take orders from you.”

“Do you take orders from anyone?”

Giving him a pause, the mare simply shook her head with a grin as the King grumbled, submitted, and did the same. Granted, she may have just stolen one hell of an ace card from Serens’ deck, but unless played right, it could turn out to bite them pretty quickly.

“So you managed to sneak in to the Seren, take the princess, and get back here…” the king ran over in his head, “all while neither nation knew you were even there while it was happening…” after a moment, Rhorkin raised both his talons and started to clap, “Bravo there, Ms. Bolt… bravo…”

“Awe… you flatter me, King,” Bronze held a regal claw poised to her chest as she spoke, “though I would imagine that Seren has likely figured out where she had gone by now…”

“And what makes you say that?”

“Let’s just say… I have friends in high places,” she passed it off with a wink.

Letting the comment roll over him, and never bothering to question it. Rhorkin simply smiled at the mare, as she sat on the table and fiddled with a few strands of her hair in a talon. “So what do you have planned then?” he asked to take his mind off other matters, watching her eyes perk back over to him, “clearly you have something going on in that mechanical head of yours… am I wrong?”

Shrugging her shoulders, the mare couldn’t deny it, “No… I suppose you’re not,” leaping off the side of the table. Bronze trotted up alongside him, paying close care to brush her canvas wings against his natural ones. Ignoring the slight shiver of the male next to her, Bronze took her own talon and ran it across the map.

“Seren will attack quite a few places before they get here, so needless to say, more troops than normal have been sent to bolster your defenses for the coming attack tomorrow.” She revealed to him, “That said, once they see that their leader is in your clutches, then they will bend to your will…”

“… Swift, sweet, and satisfying…” Rhorkin looked over the mare, as he questioned whether he was talking about her plan or not, “… I like it.”

“Good to know,” Bronze gleamed as her eyes danced across the map and of her companion, “plus, many of those that have been sent out are my own soldiers, so yours need not worry.”

“Ever so concerned about the lives of others, are we?” he flicked his tail to her own.

“Not really, just good at balancing the forces of life and death,” she said flatly, as if it was rehearsed in a mirror.

Plodding his claws amongst one another, the matters of business had already been discussed that needed to be. So right now, for her to stay any longer, was just a congenial visit. Though one thing had hankered on the males’ mind for quite some time now, something he had asked a while ago, but never got a straight forward answer.

“So… what of afterwards?” Rhorkin waited for her attention to turn to him, as her face turned to be mere inches from his own, “after the fighting, have you thought more about my offer?” the king asked as he fought some of the blood going to his cheeks and ruffling his feathers.

Little did he know, the offer hadn’t slipped her mind…

“I have… actually…” purring across her tongue and letting the muscle roll with the word, Bronze found herself in the same predicament as the king, though she was far bolder than he could have hoped to be.

Wrapping a single talon around the back of his head, Bronze pulled the king down to her level with the strength that still impressed him even to this day. Though not did he fight it, but accept it willingly, after the last few months flirting with the mare back and forth. Rhorkin figured that it was bound to happen, and with that last thought, muzzle met beak in one of the simplest displays of affection possible.

A kiss.

Welcoming it with open talons, Rhorkin draped his wings against her wounded form, feeling the canvas of her wings splay across his own as he picked the mare up and sat her on the table. Listening to the slight yelp that she let out from the act, probably one of the only feminine things he’s heard her do sense knowing her, the king pressed himself deeper into the mare. Even with the cold clutch of her metal touching against his own warm down hide, the king simply couldn’t resist the caress of the mare with eyes as cold as her touch.

“You… are still a mare of many secrets,” Rhorkin said when they finally broke from the moment, allowing each of them to take a breath.

Permitting only a tinge of pink to caress her cheeks, Bronze looked at him past her horn, “And you’re a king that has some unfinished business now…” she chuckled behind a vale that he couldn’t quite place.

Hopping up from the table to her feet, the mare slowly started to trot off towards one of the doors, while the kings’ eyes grew ever wider and wider at what she was implying. Bronze pushed the door open slightly, revealing the bed inside that he shared with no one else, and looked back at the king with only a single eye over her shoulder. With a simple wink, the mare trotted inside, leaving him galloping in pursuit.

Chapter 38

Silvertongue walked his way patiently around the fortress that he had come to know after working with Bronze. Silently leaving himself to his thoughts, as he pondered what the next day would bring when both sides came marching towards one another. The blood that would be spilled, and the likelihood that Seren would crumble away entirely still painted a terrible picture in the drakes’ mind.

One that made him regret making a deal with the devil.

“No…” he shook his head, causing a few of those that passed by him to pay him some heed as they turned their heads over a shoulder for but a moment, before carrying on their way, “this will all work out in the end… Seren may fall to dust, but it will allow the other nations to pick back up. Those that are displaced will still have the ability to make a life, without the fear of more war in the future,” he thought for but a moment.

The Gryphons may have had their disagreements with Seren in the past, but most of the fights had been with the DDR in the first place. With them out of the picture after a rather nasty beating to their moral. Silver assured himself that the Gryphons would at least show leniency towards those that were under Grace, and allow them to live as such in their own homes.

“Come to think of it,” Silver wondered, “if Seren and the Kingdom had just joined forces, they could have wiped the DDR off the map, and there would have been more than enough goods to go around…” he realized and threw the idea around in the back of his head. ‘Perhaps now with the DDR cut down to pups, Grace would stand to have another negotiation?’ the drake started to try and do the math of how much trade would be cut away from the Republic and sent to the Kingdom instead, wondering if it would be enough to satisfy them.

Though with a shake beneath the arch of his claws from the whole castle moving, any other thought was banished as the drake immediately looked out the window to see if he could tell what the cause was. The dead giveaway being the large cloud of debris that filled the air over part of the city off in the distance, and started to litter the surrounding area in scrap metal and building fragments.

Picking up his pace tenfold, Silver darted through the halls until he came across a few soldiers preparing to head out, “What had happened out there?”

“Not sure really,” one answered him as they slipped a helmet on and cocked a rifle back, “seems that perhaps one of the trains at the station had an issue or collided with something, we’re just heading out to see if everything’s alright.” He threw his head forward, gesturing to the automatons with him to follow, as they mindlessly did what they were told.

Taking the explanation with a grain of salt, Silver calmly made his way through more of the fortress, as he soon rounded upon a large pair of heavy wooden doors. With a stern knock against the frame, the attuned ears of the drake picked up quite a bit of scuffling on the inside and the squeaking of a bed, as the footsteps started to get closer. Finally, the door opened, revealing Bronze standing there with Rhorkin a few steps back from her.

“Yes Silver? What seems to be the problem?” Bronze asked, all without letting any of her guard slip, “Was it that sound off in city?”

“Precisely, some of the soldiers are already going to check that out,” Silver answered her first, “they seem to think that a train had a malfunction or crashed… possibly,” he raised a brow, sure to show off his distrust that this was all that’s going on here.

“Hmm… I see,” she nodded in a silent agreement, “keep me posted as you know more, I’ll see to it that our… package, is safe in a bit.”

With that the drake nodded and went to go about the business of checking and rechecking with the surrounding patrols that everything was alright. Meanwhile, Bronze turned herself back in the room and looked away from the one present for some time as she thought.

“Is everything alright?” Rhorkin asked concerned, having heard some of the conversation.

“Not a chance…” she mused for but a moment, before looking back up to him, “Grab the gear I gave you and get ready for a fight.”

“You think something’s more at play here than just a train going up…”

“Unquestionably,” Bronze said confidently, having already done the math in her mind, “Chief Reinhart was killed by a small force that had made their way in to his fortress… it would stand to reason that those running Seren may think to try the same thing, even if they have a much larger force on the way.”

“So I guess I’m…” Rhorkin thought about it more, “Bait?”

“In a sense, yes,” Bronze watched as some of his feathers ruffled from being called something as low as that, “Don’t worry… if you perform like you did moments ago, you’ll be just fine,” she winked at him before tucking herself out the door, the mare galloped down the halls as she muttered under her breath, “I know you’re out there…” the mare started to fume. Having had enough of the one that was likely to blame for this.

Slipping in to an unlocked shed, the pair from Seren held their ground as they listened to the commotion from outside of what they caused. All the while, Egyes still looked over himself to ensure that nothing was left out to dry in the crash, or the ensuing explosion.

“I don’t know how you did it, but you did…” the gryphon pondered, as he found all his feathers and hairs still attached to him.

“I’m a unicorn,” Iron muttered flatly, stating the obvious, “I teleported us before the train hit, really not that hard.”

“No not that,” Egyes corrected as they creaked open the door to make sure the coast was clear for their way through the city, “what I meant was, how the hell was somepony of your caliber and destructive mindset ever deemed sane enough to serve under your crown,” he said, while they broke from the main streets and went through an ally way, “let alone get a job teaching the youth of your nation.”

“Hey for all you know I could be perfectly normal,” he mused for a moment while turning the tables around, “maybe everyone else is just plain crazy.”

Freezing where he stood for a second, the gryphon pondered the thought for about half that time and started walking once more, ignoring the colts’ words as he spat them out. Holding his rifle to his side, Egyes brought it up to his shoulder as he peered around a corner and saw a few enemies coming their way.

Only a few of them, nothing that him and Iron couldn’t take care of. Not after seeing how the colt could hold his own before. His sights were locked in on the furthest gryphon, while his targets moved closer to the train station to see what had happened. ‘Easy pickins,’ the gryphon muttered in the back of his head as he placed a claw on the trigger. Though with a hoof lowered on the end of his barrel, the gryphon looked to the colt curiously.

“What?” he said in hushed tones as the patrol passed by the ally, “Trying to stay subtle now?”

Iron shrugged his shoulders as he watched them pass by, before moving on, “That plan with the train went off flawlessly…” he paused for a moment to think about the previous shoot out, “sorta… either way, I don’t see them searching around for intruders all that much? They think it was just an accident.”

The colt calmly waded his way through the streets and narrow channels that cut through the city, already seeing the high walls and towers of the fortress off several blocks from them, “besides, I can go invisible… you not so much.”

Nodding his head in agreement, Egyes had to admit. At least the colt knew when to keep a level head, and when to level a building. “So stay stealthy till we reach our target?”

“That’s the plan,” Iron piped up, soon seeing what stood between them in those few blocks and their destination.

A couple production compounds, turning out various goods and machines for the Kingdom, resided in the properties that the two found themselves having to travers. With smoke stacks piled high sending pillars of thick black soot in to the air from the furnaces below. If the DDR was hard pressed to get food for their troops because of their nations terrain, Iron had a pretty good idea what they were trading with the gryphons to get a cup of sugar out of the deal.

The blanket of smog above showed that any and all resources that the DDR had shipped the kingdom over the last several months was being put to good use, as not only were the factories turning out nonstop. But there had been several new additions to the gryphons’ fortress sense Iron had last saw it, when he still officially served.

“Well that’s new,” he motioned his head over to the hangers that resided inside the forts’ walls, yet still managed to peak over the fortifications, “I’m assuming that’s where their Zeppelins are?”

“That would be correct,” the gryphon said as he and the colt made their way up to one of the plants, “though there might be a slight problem for the rest of Seren… you know, should we die or something.”

“What might that be?”

“There weren’t that many hangers when I was last here…”

Both the colt and the gryphon looked at one another from the ever amounting threat that the gryphons were starting to build seemingly overnight. With a hard swallow of the lump in his throat. Iron placed a hoof on the outside of a door, and used the gem in his limbs to force it open, bending it at the seams. Gaining them entry to one of the plants.

Going around might have been easier, but there was little to no cover for the pair outside. At least in here they were sure they could find some sort of machinery to hide behind as cover should the going get a little tough.

Hunting around on the inside, the pair took their time in their approach on the Gryphons that worked the grounds. Each of them had a job to do, and were self-absorbed in whatever task they had been given as part of the kingdoms plans. So much so to not even pass an eye to the pony or gryphon, that quietly made their way around the factory floor.

“Well this is new…” Egyes pondered as he looked at exactly what they were creating, reading off the designs that designated the creation as a Tank.

A study metal hull resided on the hook of an assembly line, as with every station new parts and components were added to it. Though large enough to be a wagon, the gryphon hadn’t seen anything of this sort before.

A pair of tracks were added to the side, riveted in place along an axil frame. While another set of workers attacked a swiveling mount on the top of it once the chasse was placed on the ground and moved along. From there though, something Egyes was familiar with was fitted in place on the machine.

A single gun, or cannon as they were called, was lowered in place and fitted to the internal workings by those craftsmen on the line. Set right and ready for a fight, the finished product had one final component added in to it before the top plates were fastened in place with metal pegs. The power house, a small boiler, was finally lowered in to place and attached to all the inner workings. From start to finish from what they saw, it only took those working but ten minutes.

“We better get going,” Iron said, factoring in the amount of time it took to created one of these weapons of war, “at this rate they’ll have an entire armada at their disposal by the morning.”

“Assuming they don’t already…”

Continuing through the factory, both in the party were relived to finally see the other side that got them one step closer to the fortress in the distance. With these new toys, along with the amassing fleet of airships ready for take-off, plus the various weapons for their single troops on the ground that the kingdom had managed. There was little doubt in either Iron or Egyes’ mind that when the bullets started flying, in the end, Seren was going to be looking at a new order in their mists.

“Who are you two!” A shout from behind them quickly turned their blood cold as they froze in place.

“So much for stealth…” Egyes groaned as they heard the steady steps of their soon to be attacker approaching.

“You should notice a pattern here,” Iron rubbed an end of his hoof on his breast plate, waiting for the target to get closer, “we come in all quiet like, then low and behold, we’re found out…”

Turning around swiftly, with a single touch of his bracer. The gryphon that hoped to get an explanation out of the two, instead got a dart of ice embedded in his skull. As Iron sat there in his pose for a moment... before he chucked from the deepest part of his throat.

“Let me guess… there’s more of them…” Egyes facepalmed.

“Just a few…” Iron took a few steps back before he beat feet and ran, quickly followed by Egyes on his hooves as they darted to the exit.

“You either have the worst of luck, or the best!” Egyes shouted at him from over the sounds of a few rounds landing amongst them from the angered workers, “How are you still alive?!”

“Quick wit! And…” grabbing a hoof on the handle, the colt swung it open as himself and the gryphon piled outside and placed their backs against the door. Only to be staring as three of finished creations waiting for them on the other side. “…Sarcasm…”

The hatch on top of one of the creations creaked open, as a gryphon inside popped half his body out to meet the two. Staring them down behind a pair of goggles, with a steady talon and a smirk, he brought them up to rest on his helmet, “Odd predicament you got yourselves in chaps… wouldn’t ya say?”

“Not the worst…” Iron muttered under his breath, as he turned his attention to the male, “Well we seemed to have just lost our way gentlemen, could you point us towards the Fortress?”

“Or a tavern would be good right about now…” Egyes suggested for them.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” the tank commander asked.

“Not answering that!” with a quick charge sent, an entire pod on Irons’ back was drained of the rocket munitions as they closed the small gap and made short work of the metal hull.

Fracturing the boiler inside, the chassis split apart at the seams and littered the area with shredded metal while both other vehicles took aim at the two. Lining up their cannons on the pair, Egyes and Iron picked their targets and made like trees.

Taking off to avoid the shot, Egyes soared above them all as he watched the tank back up to get a better shot at him. While Iron teleported every which way to Sunday to avoid his own target. He didn’t know what these things were capable of, but they had a crew inside, just like the zeppelins. Which means they had to have a weakness.

The hatch opened up, and out popped a gryphon manning the Gatling gun mounted on top. As he started to litter they sky with bullets. Soaring lower to the buildings to at least give himself cover. The two tanks started to separate themselves from each other as they hunted down their respective targets. Though with the rate of fire from the gun on top this monstrosity, Egyes had to wait for his opening and just try not to get killed in the process.

With that thought, the crewmen stopped to reload a new drum on the side. Whipping out his rifle, the trained gryphon practiced strafing runs against the tank, popping off round after round. Peppering the hull and the gryphon that tried to shoot him down. Though the crewmen didn’t handle it so well, the tank was another story. With every one that hit its mark, all he saw was the slight spark it gave off when it glanced off the metal.

‘Armor’s too thick…’ he thought, trying to look at a new angle. Explosives would work yeah, but the gryphon had a better plan after this was all said and done for it.

Seeing the small slit on the front, the soldier saw his opening. Landing swiftly atop the tank, he draped himself over the hull till his eyes met those inside through the visor, while the barrel of the cannon swung overhead. Before those inside could react, Egyes shoved the barrel of his pistol through the slit, and emptied the clip in record time as the machine went still.

Grabbing hold of lifeless body blocking the hatch, Egyes flung it aside and slithered in. Ignoring the bodies around him as he looked at the crude controls. He realized they really were built to allow even the simplest of creatures to pilot them. With a claw on either handle, the gryphon yanked back and brought the machine in to a full reverse, as he backed tracked to the original fight next to the factory.

There Iron still had his magic flowing, bouncing all and around the area to avoid the fire from both gunners. With the fire rate of the crank gun, and the explosive effect of the cannon, the crew inside flushed him out everywhere he tried to take a breather. Leaving the colt hard pressed to get a clear shot off from his other pod.

Dropped.

Locked.

Loaded.

Egyes looked through the sights of the periscope that showed him the outside along the barrel of the main gun. As he lowered it on the other tank in the streets. Just as the turret turned around to see him aiming at their boiler. With a squeeze of the trigger, the cannon blast rattled the inside of the tank almost as much as the shot did from detonating his opponent. Though with his ears still rattling, Egyes found himself in a daze as he swayed back and forth in the metal hull. Even as a familiar face came to greet him.

“You alright in there?” Iron asked as he peaked his head through the open hatch, only left to look at the inverted face of his friend staring at him in confusion.

“What?!” Egyes shouted while the ringing started to subside.

“I said, are you alright!” Iron bellowed at the top of his lungs.

“Oh! Yeah I’m good!” he still shouted as the colt climbed inside, after barely making out the words on his lips.

“Quite the nice toy you have hear,” Iron looked around the inside of the cabin. Various canisters for the main gun lay loaded up on the side, while smaller boxed undoubtedly fueled the gun on top. As various bags of coal gave the heat needed to keep the water boiling, and the thing moving.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” the colt asked, eyeing the various canisters for the cannon still laying unspent.

Having heard that much clearly, with the help of some lip reading. Egyes grabbed a full bag of coal and tossed it in to the loading port of the boilers’ burn box. “We’re gonna be running hot here… but this is a nice piece of tech they got.” He slid in to the drivers’ chair and grabbed hold of the handles, “What do you say we go knock on the fortress doors?”

Having read the simple instructions on the side placard for new crewmen, Iron loaded a new shell up in to the gun and steadied his aim for whatever might stand between them and their target. “Oh bring it on… I got one hell of a knocker…”

Several patrols hunted through the streets of the Gryphons capital, hot on the trail of whoever it was that came beating at their own door. They may have gotten the drop on a few of their comrades, but from what those searching for the raiding party heard, it was only a few of them to contend with. Something that should be easily mopped up in a few hours time, once they managed to find them that is.

Though from all those searching through the streets themselves, going nearly door to door to find the elusive pair. They never thought to search any of the vehicles that were part of the many patrols.

“Is this really working?” Iron asked as he looked through the scope on the gun.

Time after time they drove by other gryphons in their own chariots of war or on foot, and time after time it played out the same way. Those searching them out, never paid the tank any heed, and just went on their merry way to hunt the two down.

“Well… they probably weren’t expecting to find us in one of their own creations,” Egyes responded as he worked the controls, and continued to drive them down towards the path on to the fortress.

Eyeing up and down the sturdy walls, Iron tried to look for any entry point they would be able to muster out of the cannon. “Any suggestions where to point this thing?”

“Give me a minute…” the gryphon replied as he continued to drive, eying the tall hangers even over the fortresses walls, “there’s got to be some sort of hanger door for those things to get out in the open sky…”

“Or they just go up,” the colt pointed out, “they are zeppelins.”

Nodding for a moment, the gryphon stopped the tank in its tracks as he looked through his own visor slit. A wooden door, big enough to fit the tank through, resided at the edge of the fortress walls. Undoubtedly used to dispatch the same creation he found himself piloting, Egyes looked back at his companion and nodded.

Taking the que, Iron lined up the easy shot, and with a magical squeeze of the small trigger. The cannon shot off, tearing the door off its very hinges and breaking it open wide and clear. “It won’t be long till they realize they’re looking in the wrong place…”

“I know,” Egyes muttered as he drove straight forward, through the remains of the door itself and in to an open court yard, “but with any luck, a vast majority of those inside have taken up the pursuit of us outside the walls…”

“And luck just seems to be on our side, now don’t it?” Iron smirked, as he loaded another shell in place and peered through the glass. Though as Egyes drove forward, they reached the edge of one of the hangers. With an open door to it, just begging to be explored by the pair.

Stopping where he was, Egyes locked in the breaks and grabbed his weapon from his feet, readying himself to head out, “This thing won’t do us much good in there…”

“Scared of scratching the paint?”

“No… just this thing’s armed with a cannon… and those things inside, are full of hydrogen,” he stated flatly as the colt quickly met with the same action and gathered himself for the trip outside.

Popping the hatch open, Iron looked around with an out stretched hoof, ready for the first sign of trouble. But trouble came in many forms, and in this case, it was one that would be seen in the days to follow.

“Whelp, they certainly expanded their arms…” Iron said in awe of what laid before him, as himself and the gryphon climbed out and took the sight in.

All the hangers in a row remained connected to one another, and with each new bay that was built in the several months that had passed. A zeppelin to match went along right with it, already fully stocked and ready to fight. The entire ground floor of the hangers were laden with tools of the war trade, and munitions to fuel the aerial assault that was sure to take place.

“Oh this aint good…” Egyes muttered in hushed breaths, “they let these things loose on the field tomorrow and its game over for Seren. Heck we saw what several could do, what do you think these will manage?” he asked, eyeing over a dozen airships ready to take off.

Mulling it over for no time at all, Iron didn’t even grace him with an answer. He just accepted Serens’ fate should they be allowed to fly. Though if the sheer scale of them didn’t surprise the colt, then the fact that not even a guard had come out to meet them did. Here they were, standing in the heart of the Gryphon Kingdom, at their capital none the less, and they didn’t see a soul around.

“They’re full of… Hydrogen, correct?” he waited for the gryphon to nod in response, before Iron even stepped forward off the tank.

The gears were already turning in the back of the colts’ mind, as he took in what he had to work with on his own body, and what the gryphons had so willingly provided him with at his hooves. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but whatever it turned out to be, would be sure to leave a hole in the Kingdoms’ ego.

“You’re really predictable; you know that right?”

Iron turned around to see Egyes tapping a claw against the ground as he waited for the colt. “Eh, I never said I wasn’t… though how about you say we level the playing field?” using his horn, Iron slid a single rocket out of the launcher and broke off the impact explosives on the front, leaving him with just the warhead, as he removed a grenade as well “let’s get to work.”

Bronze stood outside a single wooden door, collecting herself from her earlier tryst, as she waited for a moment to walk in. Just like clockwork, two gryphons ran up to her side as they were left panting from the excursion of having to run around the fortress trying to find her. If only to keep the mare up to date on the situation developing outside their walls.

“Ma’am,” one said as he caught his breath, “there seems to be Seren soldiers in the city.”

“As expected… trains don’t just blow up,” she deadpanned without even meeting his own eyes, having known that an attack of any sort wouldn’t wait till the morning, “how many? How well are they armed? Is it a full attack?”

The second gryphon stepped forward with her answers, “from what was relayed to us it’s just a couple of them, not armed too heavily, but they’re still causing one hell of a ruckus in town.”

Finally turning her gaze to her, Bronze eyed the pair for but a moment, hoping that they would get her subtle message. “So search them out… they have to be coming for her majesty, find them before they get here!” she shouted, dispersing the two as they went about their own duties.

And she went about hers.

Turning the handle of the door, Bronze walked down the aisle of the various cells before reaching the one she was waiting for. Grace laid there, curled up with her wing draped over her frame for warmth against the cold ground. The princess was a light sleeper for the most part, but the recent events have left her nothing sort of drained as she simply let the events around her play out. There was little she could do from the confines of a cell after all. Still unaware of her presence, the mare simply started to chuckle, as everything had started to fold along the lines of her plan.

“I don’t know if you’re spiritual or anything,” she called out, causing the princess to stir in her slumber. While the metallic eyes soon met Graces’ tired ocean waves as they woke, “but if I were you, I’d start asking for some luck right about now…”

Rolling her eyes at the mare, Grace was humble enough to admit her position, so she just laid her head back down on the ground. “Why bother? I’m assuming you’re here to gloat about how my entire nation will fall come tomorrow,” she watched as an eye brow raised up curiously from the mare, “and you’ll lead the Gryphons on to their own reign of my citizens?”

Though the expected scoff as she called her plan out never came, the only thing Grace got in return was a simple smile, “Oh don’t think you have me figured all out… I’m a creature of much simpler things really,” she said as she brushed a metal talon against her breasts coat.

“So then why are you here?” Grace asked, if only for the sake of having some company to talk to.

“Oh because I still have plans for you, my darling,” Bronze batted her eyelashes at the mare coyly, mocking her position, “all in due time… besides, it’s unbecoming of a princess to look so down when this is all a move towards the future.”

“What kind of future are you living in?!” Grace shouted at her, rising up from her place and staring the mare down at an equal height, “the fighting will never end, don’t you get that? Even with your weapons and your power, those of Seren will not bow!” she watched through angered eyes at her counterpart, “Some may falter, but so long as their freedom is gone by the oppression you and the kingdom will bring. Then there will still be those willing to raise up arms and fight!”

The same cynical smile that she had come to know as the mare, once again graced her presence. Just as it was followed by a hollow chuckle from Bronzes’ throat, “if only it were that simple, I don’t wish to oppress your citizens…”

Stopping in her tracks, Grace paused, but held her ground against the mare, “so then what is it you hope to do?”

“Ah ah ah… that would ruin all the fun,” Bronze waved a claw back and forth before her, “besides, I would have you know that a few of those under you have taken it upon themselves to see to your rescue…” she watched as the princesses’ eyes shot open instantaneously, “so stop looking so glum now.”

“You mean…” the mare froze as her legs locked up. Having been read story books of a princess being rescued time and time again as a foal, Grace never thought for once she would be in the same position.

“Don’t worry there Gracie…” Bronze brought her back to the real world, “I’ll fetch you when I’m ready…” with that the mare departed. Leaving her counterpart stuck in the cell with something new to think about.

“Someone’s here to rescue me?” she thought once more on her own in the quiet of her cell. While she had expected it come the next morning, the princess never thought it would just be a few to take on the task. ‘Though who would be crazy enough to…’ at that last thought, all other words seemed to fail the young princess, even in her own head. As she realized who must be among their ranks to try such an imprudent thing.

“… oh that poor fool…”

Chapter 39

Sliding down the sides of a ladder to the ground, Iron landed on all fours as he looked up and saw Egyes slipping out of another port on the airship they had just finished with. Fifteen airships, fifteen weapons of war that were created for the express purpose to destroying Seren, and now fifteen toys that Iron had the guilty pleasure of playing with.

“All set on that end?” he called over to his feathered friend.

“Ready to go,” Egyes answered as he pulled the rifle off his side, loading up a fresh clip, “now that that’s done though, let’s try to make this little rescue mission quick…”

“I think for once when it comes to safety, I’m with ya on that one.” Iron chimed in as he looked at his holster devoid of explosives, and they trotted towards one of the corridors that led deeper to the castle.

While the pair may have been in the hanger for at most half an hour, they still hadn’t managed to see a single guard there along the way to meet them. From what Egyes had implied earlier, it seemed that all, or at least a majority of the guards, had left the castle to search for them out right in the city itself. Even now as the two walked through the gryphons’ own fortress, passed down through the generations of their very kings. There wasn’t a guard, butler, or even a maid walking around the castle.

Just a soldier that once called this place home, and a teacher far away from his classroom.

“I think… I read this part in a book before actually,” Iron mentioned in a whisper as they continued to walk about the lonesome hallways, as the curious brow of the gryphon piped up, “Yep… this is where we’re either ambushed, taken captive, tortured and killed… or we run in to our arch nemesis and have some sort of epic showdown.”

“Then again, this isn’t a book,” Egyes pointed out to him, “Though an ambush I can picture rather well…” he said as they approached the doors to the great hall.

Already picturing the massive troves of soldiers that would likely be waiting for them on the other side. Though if they wanted to silence the king, and rescue the mare, the gryphon knew at least one of those objectives would be in there.

Pushing open said doors, the pair creeped past the edges as they looked around and found the largest chamber in the whole fortress… barren. Not a soul in sight, something that Egyes was even starting to worry about. No matter the time of day, from noon to midnight, or even four in the morning. There was always at least one creature here in the hall. It was the meeting place for the king, but also a common area for him to be with his subjects.

The door slammed shut behind the two as they entered, and standing by were two tin soldiers that stood guard ominously over the area. Though as Iron and Egyes both drew their weapons to fire upon them should they charged, they noticed something stranger than the setting they found themselves in.

Neither of the guards had moved.

“This is the legion that Seren has sent upon my door step…” Egyes heard the tell tail voice of his once king call behind them, as the pair turn about to meet him, “… two soldiers, just two of you, yet you managed to cause all this chaos in your mists…”

From above the ground, high in the rafters, Rhorkin left his perch and descended to the center of the room. The king wasn’t one for glam and jewels, even his usual battle armor that he wore was nothing more than a common run of the mill suit that his own soldiers used in combat. Minus the simple crown that was etched on the breast plate, and the one riveted to his helmet. Though what landed before them was something far from what Egyes was ever used to seeing.

Adorned across his suit were the gem stones that Bronze had become known for in Irons’ book. Dotted along the bracers of his claws and even up to his chest piece, every one of them glowed with a fierce sort of energy that just screamed to the unicorn, they were going to be in for a fight. While holstered up and mounted on his back were the two swords the king had carried in to combat on a regular basis, with now the addition of his own side arm mounted on his hip for quick access.

Though even as he raised his head up to meet the pair, the gryphon that stood before him could see in his elders’ eyes the determination that told him this fight had gotten personal. It’s why the castle was empty, why the two guards hadn’t moved… if the intruders were here to kill him and try and rescue the princess, then they would have to go through him first.

“You, hatchling… speak,” The King ordered as he gestured to his counterpart, “who are you?”

Slowly stepping forth, the gryphon still maintained the modesty he always had with his king. Even in this setting. “My name is Egyes, I once served in your army as an Armsmaster but sought a different path.” He took a breath, trying to gauge the others face, “especially after seeing my leadership and country fall from such graces, and seek out war.”

“You, Egyes… betray your own kind to fight with him,” Rhorkin pointed to the colt standing next to him, “it is you that have fallen from graces… and became lost along the path.”

“King Rhorkin…” Egyes stepped forth, “By your lead… and with respect, I ask for you to stand down.”

Iron shot his counterpart a glare, trying to read his game, just as the king did the same. “And why would I do that now? There isn’t a large force behind you now, that part comes tomorrow…” he eyed the juvenile, “what reason could you possibly give, that would make me submit?”

“Respect…” the gryphon stated simply at first, “I had served for you, and with you for years. You’ve earned more respect and admiration than I had seen any leader before, and much of it from myself as well,” Egyes took one last step, hoping to reason with his old leader if only to spare his life. It was himself or his king, but if there was a way he could save both of them, then he owed that much to at least try. “Think of reason here, King… please.”

“…Hehe…” Rhorkin chuckled under his breath, “If you had come to me months ago with the same proposition, I might have taken you up on that offer…” he watched as the eyes of the other gryphon widened in hope, “but now I have the means to take it all in one go.”

With that, Rhorkin drew his weapons against them, and readied his stance. Sealing the chance for redemption in Egyes’ eyes, and his own fate in Irons’.

“Valiant effort there Egyes,” Iron said as he trotted up to his side, “But I think this is the showdown I was talking about…”

Rhorkin out stretches a talon whist keeping the sword in his grasp, from the bracer. The ambient glow of the enchantments flowed outwards along his arm to the end, where it manifested as the solid pulse of energy he had sought. Lacing towards the gryphon, Iron brought up a shield around Egyes to spare him, as he withdrew his own blade for the fight. Pushing the emeralds in his legs the colt leapt at the king, meeting him head on with his short blade missing by mere inches, blocked by the duel swords.

Rhorkin had been around for enough years to know an unfair fight when he saw one. Here was one soldier that could use the same arms as his own troops, and had trained with them it would seem. While at his neck now was a colt that seemed to be able to whip an enchantment seemingly out of midair without a second thought. Then again, the king had prepared for a fight as such, thanks to the input from another.

Raising up his own ward, the king nimbly blocked the incoming rounds that Egyes fired off as he fanned the trigger. While fresh clip was thrown in before the other even hit the ground. Out the corner of the gryphons’ eye, he saw the two guards still standing there as solid as statues at the door. All while the king in command, fought before them.

Slashing left and right, Iron couldn’t hope to push back the kings’ strikes with his short blade. Only thanks to the enchantments in his joints, did the colt manage to muster enough strength to hold his own. As the regal figure continued to pummel the colt with the skill of a warrior trained throughout the years.

Having slid back from a particularly hard blow, Irons’ hooves scraped against the ground, as he finally came to a stop several yards from the king. Watching him raise up a claw, Iron met him with his own hoof, catching the ray of energy in mid stride as he sent it. The colt knew that he could recharge his own gems, though just like Freefalls’ suit. Any other creature using magic without being able to do it on their own, would soon fail to keep up the attack as their power weakened.

Sensing the end of his attackers’ strength, Iron watched as the gems along the kings’ suit started to die in light and flash. Just as his spell started to do the same. Breaking off the attack, Rhorkin stood there as he watched the colt rear up for another strike. With just a flick of his hoof, an arch of lighting struck out against the gryphon, skipping across the metal in the suit before it cracked in the air.

An attack that would have fried any normal living creature should they had taken it directly. Though for the king, Rhorkin simply smirked back at the colt with pride. ‘What in Tartarus?’ he asked himself, watching as the gems on the kings’ suit started to glow to their fullest once more.

Delivering a sincere stock to the side of his helmet. Rhorkins’ head rattled left and right as he doubled over from the strike, as instinct kicked in and he distanced himself from the gryphon that delivered the blow. Egyes had hoped that the hit would knock him out, though it seemed the kings’ armor had gotten an upgrade in more ways than just what they saw.

“We might have a problem…” Iron said as he reformed with his partner, “my magic won’t work against him.”

“How so?” Egyes asked. Watching the king come to, and he looked for a different means of attack, “It seems his suits stronger, but that doesn’t explain why a spell won’t work.”

“The gems he has absorb incoming magic, to recharge themselves,” he stated, readying his stance once more to face off against the king, “Anything I hit him with, will just make him stronger…”

The two became cut off by the twin blades sliding between them. While the king took them on head to head at the same time. Egyes had little to no problem blocking and striking with his own blade, though every hit he landed only glanced off the hardened suit of the king. While Irons’ own attacks were seemingly all but useless at the same time. Sword play was never his forte, then again swish swish stab isn’t that hard to learn either. But the same suit stood in his way just as it did Egyes.

For now, the two were left to only evade what swings came their way, or block the ones they can’t quite find their way out of. Egyes reached off to his side as Rhorkin held one sword a hairs breath from his opponents’ scalp, pulling up his pistol, at point blank range the shots rang out against the kings’ chest.

Rhorkin for all his confidence and talent, couldn’t have stopped the simple attack. Though as he winced, expecting to feel the burn of a freshly opened wound growing in his chest. The eyes of the king slowly creaked open, and he noticed the same thing that his attackers did. The rounds hadn’t even left a scratch against his suit. Rearing up a paw, the kick landed square in the colts’ chest as he pushed him off, if only to take the gryphon on one on one.

With every swipe he felt against his feathers, Egyes could feel his own stamina draining, as his superior of many years proved his worth on the battlefield. Never had he fought in open combat with the king, though now he found himself going against him in the most unlikely of cases. Loading a fresh clip, the gryphon wielded both blade and gun as he blocked and shot his equal. Forcing a stumble here and there, but never a break.

Iron had felt hits before, but to come from that of a full sized gryphon square in the chest. Even he had to admit, it took the wind out of him more than the diamond dogs had. From where he stood on, he watched his fellow comrade fight against his old king, going shot for shot with him like a college student at a party. Though in this case, the colt knew eventually, the elder would win.

His suit had stopped the rounds that Bronze had brought them. It had taken years to build up the protection of his own armor, a feat that Iron wondered how long it had taken the mare. Yet regardless of that answer, one thing remained clear. The suit had to go, if either of them hoped to walk away from this scuffle in one piece.

Looking to his own armor, Iron focused his horn and the magic in him on what he willed it to do. Draining the gems along his fore hooves, he pulled all the pent up energy he could from them. Only to deposit it in to the ones that would actually do him some good. All Iron hoped was that the joints would be able to take it.

Egyes broke the hold that Rhorkin had caught him in, forcing the king to stumble where he stood. While most of his body was covered head to paw in armor plating of some kind, all of which stopped the incoming rounds, even the chainmail. Looking in to the kings’ eyes, the gryphon realized one thing, his face remained unprotected.

Whipping the blade up in a hope of slashing him against the breast plate. Rhorkin was quick to block the attack as he crossed his swords, just as Egyes had hopped. Once his talons were occupied, the gryphon brought his pistol out from his side once more, and placed the barrel against the beak of his counterpart.

The two of them froze where they stood. Each looking at the other in anticipation of what was to come. “It’s over, King Rhorkin…” Egyes said calmly, slowing his heart beat so his lungs may catch up with them, “stop this madness now… give us Princess Grace.”

“That was never an option… not even in the beginning,” Rhorkin said soulfully, realizing that he may have fallen far from the king he once was. But with what he was capable of now, there was a way to right it all.

“Not even now? As you’re staring down the barrel of gun?”

“You don’t understand child, do you?” Rhorkin started to chuckle eerily, “Even if you were to kill me, right here, right now. That mare has a vendetta against Seren…” the pair of eyes that had tasted the chaos that Bronze could bring, looked ever deeper at his counterparts’ own, “I might fall, yes. However, she won’t stop till everything Grace has built is burned to the ground.”

“… Then we’ll just have to stop her too,” Egyes eased his final breath, while he forgave himself, and the king where they stood… as he pulled the trigger.

Click…

The sound echoed in the empty chamber for all those to hear amongst themselves, as it resonated in Egyes’ ear drums like a punch to the face. Rhorkin silently thanked his lucky stars, as he slapped the pistol from the juniors’ grasp with the brunt of one blade. Sliding one foot around the other, the king managed to bring the side of the other sword cracking in to the wing that Egyes held close to his side during the fight, shattering something fierce. Just as the edge was brought down on to a bracer holding the final weapon against him.

While the gryphons’ own armor may have been able to stop a blade, it never lessened the impact like the kings’ seemed to. Dropping his weapons from the shock against his talons. Egyes crumpled down to a single claw, as he felt his wing go limp along the ground from where he laid. The gryphon looked up at the slowly approaching king, and only took a step back as he watched him inch ever closer. With nothing but murder on his mind.

Though in that narrow vision, it left a colt with an opening.

Wrapping his hooves around the waist of the king. Iron pushed all he had in to his legs, as he picked up the seemingly weightless leader over top his own head. The power surging through the emeralds in his joints lit up like a second sun, shining brighter and brighter with every passing second. Till the colt reached his peak, and hurtled Rhorkin across the room like a rag doll.

Stoically holding himself up, Iron looked down at his fallen comrade from where he resided on the ground. “What? No snappy comeback, no remark, not even a chuckle?” Egyes asked, already trying to patch himself up with a crude sling wrapped around the limb to his side.

Iron simply huffed back at him, catching his own breath, “I’ll think of one soon… though let’s deal with him first.”

The colt didn’t even wait for his friend to try and get back in the fight, and instead charged head long against the king on his own. Rhorkin had just dusted himself off after the toss, when he saw the colt heading straight for him. Smirking away at the arrogance of the actions, the gryphon readied up a talon and sent bolt after bolt of lightning arching through the air against the pony.

Though the colt never even flinched, he simply slid left and right to dodge them as they came. His only focus was to close the gap between the two of them. Once that time had come, Rhorkin heaved his blades up and over his head, dropping them down on the colt. At first what would seem like a clean strike, and a kill at that.

Proved to just be a miss.

The blades had struck in to the ground where the colt once was, and in a flash Iron was behind the king. To go hoof to claw with an armored target was suicide in the simplest sense, and while Irons’ sanity may have been called in to question several times before in the past. The colt surely was an odd one at times, but he certainly wasn’t stupid.

Driving a hoof square in to the gryphons’ back. The enriched punch from the energy flowing through it dented the metal that it struck, dispelling any sort of strengthening technique that may have been done, and turned Irons’ own hooves in to forging hammers.

Rhorkin had felt that hit through his entire suit, vibrating all his bones and shaking him down to the core. As he twisted around to try and strike, he was only met with open air, and what seemed to be a smiling stallion that disappeared in a flash of light. Just to reappear to his side, and deliver another earth shaking blow to his ribs.

Bones cracked under the pressure from the hit.

And the king for the first time in a long time, took a knee, and bowed before another.

Fighting to get up, he clapped his talons together and surged all the energy he could muster to them. With a kick, the king sent himself in to a tail spin, letting the energy of the enchantment spread across the room as he mowed down anything that got in its way. Chairs against the wall were left cut cleanly in half from the ray of pure energy, the stones that made the structure became stained with a permanent char in them. Even his own thrown that was kept there, was set ablaze from the outburst of power.

Though from tired eyes, the fruits of his labor laid barren.

As he looked up, the colt was already atop him, falling from the sky.

Iron landed with a sturdy hoof to the chest, just as Rhorkin had done to him moments ago. Though with the force of the hit, the king found himself planted to the ground against the stature of the armored colt. Without a moment to spare, the colt laid in to his enemy.

Blocking wasn’t even a concept in the gryphons’ mind, the punches from the armored hooves delivered too much a kick in the teeth. What claw he had raised in an attempt to save his skin, merely cracked under the force of the swing, and crumpled to his side. In seconds, the once tall king, was reduced to a foot soldier that had just gotten their first taste of combat.

Though as a final insult, Iron latched his hooves to either side of the kings’ torso, and ripped away as hard as his suit would allow. Rivets popped out, leather tore from its fixtures, and the king found himself sliding across the ground from where he once laid. To a new resting place, now bare chested, against two capable attackers.

Across from him, he watched Egyes get back up to the colts’ side as they faced him down. Wings tied neatly to his torso for support as he would fight. The stallion still wielding the armor plate that served him so well, unceremoniously tossed to the side on a whim with a clank. Getting to his feet, Rhorkin slumped down on his flank, tired and exhausted from the scuffle. The energy that he had in him earlier now gone, after realizing that he could be beaten.

The back plate fell off from its place, having nothing to anchor it from the other side. It too joined its partner on the ground. Leaving the king further exposed, and open to his demise. The grip on his blades faltered, as they dropped to his sides. Looking up, the pair said nothing, and waited for him to collect himself.

“It’s over now, isn’t it?” he asked.

Iron beat Egyes to the punch, as he held up a hoof, “It would seem that way, King Rhorkin…”

“I’m going to die… aren’t I?”

“If not by us…” Egyes said quietly, as he saw the king still left with no redemption after the fight he put up, “then by those that come tomorrow…”

“Face it Rhorkin… you lost,” Iron added in, kicking the armor plate over to the king so he could see his failure in the reflection of himself.

Though out of the shadows, in the silence, only one thing was heard.

A voice.

A chuckle.

Of a mare left with more to say.

“He may have failed,” Bronze said, stepping out from one of the decorative curtains as a vail. Calmly the mare walked up to the kings’ side, and steadied herself against the two that opposed her. “But it won’t be either of you, or anyone of Serens’ minions to end him…”

Iron huffed out from under his nose at the mare, acting like a bull ready to charge head long in to a red cloth. While Egyes steadily grasped his sword, and checked to ensure his pistol was loaded this time around. Though Rhorkin from where he sat, could only smile at the mare that had come to his own rescue.

“Grand timing there, Miss Bronze,” he tipped his head to her.

Together the two picked up a blade of his own for the pair of them, as they readied themselves for the fight. Bronze looked to the colt that she had seen several times already in her business, while Iron looked at the mare that had started to become a thorn in his side as much as he had hers. All the while, both gryphons faced off against one another. A king to a deserter of his own army, and a gryphon that resided under a different crown.

Rhorkin flared his wings out, ready to charge against his counterpart. Though just then, something stopped him in his tracks, a small burn at first. Quickly started to grow into an inferno the more he felt it twist and turn inside him. Though as he looked down, all he could see was a blade sticking in to his chest…

And a mare on the handle, with a wicked grin stretched across her face.

Rhorkins’ body went limp from where he stood, collapsing to the ground as his eyes met those that he looked in to with so much passion earlier. Now breathing nothing but hatred for him. Bronze stepped up to his form, with the least of concern should she stand in the ever growing pool of blood at her feet.

“But…w-w-wh-hy?” he asked, choking on his own tongue.

“War… is an infection that spreads past those that fight, Rhorkin…” she spat on him in both words, and actions. All the while the two present remained still trying to figure out what happened.

“Though… w-what did I-I-I do-o-o?” he reached out a claw, grasping on to her own talon and hoping she would at least do the same in his last moments.

Though the jerk of hers away from him, silenced any thought of the matter, “You continued a fight… many years ago, and never thought to wonder who it would hurt,” Bronze answered, never bothering to brush the tear from her eye that started to fall. Having long accepted that this moment would come, after so many years of planning. As she grasped the blade with a talon of her own, “This… is for my father.”

With a quick twist, the blade dug and tore in to any and all soft tissue that the king had left. Silencing him without a word, and leaving him there to rot in his own castle. At the claws of one he had just started to trust.

“Well…” Egyes tried to find the words, after the silence had crept on them for what seemed like hours. Though nothing came to his mind, that wasn’t the same of his counterpart.

“So wait, are you on our side?” Iron pipped up and asked, “Because if so then this is one hell of a plot twist here.”

“No I am not on your side, you idiot!” Bronze shouted at him. Silencing the colt before her, “I am, my own team in this little game… I came to Chief Reinhart and King Rhorkin, with a gift they couldn’t refuse,” Bronze started to chuckle. Stepping away from the motionless body, as she started to walk circles around the two, “if only to give me the means of doing one thing, and they played in to it b-e-a-utifly.”

“Sly… Sociopathic… and cunning to all hell,” Iron listed off out loud, “Wanta grab a drink sometime?” he mocked, blowing her a kiss to top it off.

“Oh hush now you twat…” Bronze dismissed the colt with a wave of her talon, as she turned her attention to the window outside. The city still on full alert and searching for these two she had before her, while it worked away to put the final part of her plan in motion, “I got the chief and the king to eat out of my claws… Reinhart I had to please with just weapons of war to trust me, Diamond Dogs are simple creatures like that,” the mare passed a glance over to the King lying there.

“Though Rhorkin… he was a smart one. Then again the quickest way to a males’ heart, is giving them something they want,” she winked at the pair, already telling them everything they needed to know… and probably a little more than they bargained for.

“So what? Your goal was to kill them in the end?” Egyes asked, clutching his sword as he dug his nails in to the handle at the rage coursing through him. He respected his king, and thought he would have had a chance to turn him back around and see the error of his ways.

Though he didn’t account for the wicked mare, playing in to the basic urges of a male.

“More or less, I would have gotten to that mutt Reinhart first… but you beat me to the punch,” she turned her attention to the outside once more, all but ignoring the two and their presence in the room with her, “though I needed them still for something… something I couldn’t do with my own power.”

“And what might that be?” Iron asked, already having an uneasy feeling building in his gut.

Bronze smirked, as she turned to them both, “to help wipe the slate clean…”

She waited for only a moment as the two looked back and forth to one another. Neither of them knew what the mare had meant by that, though whatever it turned out to be. It couldn’t bid well for the mare still in her clutches, or even Seren at that.

“You I know…” she pointed to Egyes, “I’ve seen you around, and I know you used to serve under Rhorkin… I don’t care about you,” Bronze brushed him off without even a second thought. Instantly turning her attention to Iron, “but you, Iron Knight… you’ve I’ve seen several times now in various places, always causing such trouble. You’re obviously skilled at what you do,” she motioned to his whole suit, taking in the craftsmanship once more, “but what are you exactly? Princess Graces’ personal guard trying to get her back? Armsmaster bent for war? Lone talented mercenary that the princess sought out for your skill?... tell me, I’m curious.” The mare started to purr, as she anticipated what the colts’ responses could possibly be.

Iron stopped for a moment to think, there were many things he could tell her as a smartass remark, or even just say to piss the mare off like he so much enjoyed doing. Though as he looked down to the built in watch on his bracer, a simple smile found him, as he realized the best answer. After a few minor calculations in his head involving time…

Was the truth.

“Na… you give me too much credit,” he started to chuckle, “…I’m a teacher.”

Somewhere in the castle, far off in the hanger bays, the time that the two had spent… just became worthwhile.

The whole fortress shook from the detonation, even to the point that all three of those in the hall almost lost their footing, as they watched some of the dust up in the rafters that had been there for years. Get kicked up from its place and fall through the air. Once she had gained her footing, Bronze immediately looked out the window to see what had happened.

And to her surprised, and horror, she watched some of her dream literally go up in smoke. Fire and mortar skipped across the sky and to the outlying buildings of the city. The explosion that started in what she could have only guess as the main hangers, quickly found its way over top of some of the wall. As many of the burning debris already started to set fire to some of those factories that resided close to the fortress for protection.

The flames would eventually die out granted, but not before it took out a hefty sum of the forces in the city to combat them. She may have brought the technology, but you still need soldiers alive who can operate it after all.

Turning her head slowly to meet the colt, all she saw was the smug grin she had come to know him for, plastered all over his face.

“A teacher with way too much time on his hooves…” Iron finished off his last line.

Though to his surprise, the mare soon started to share the same expression as she stared down the two, “you think that’s the only card I have?” her horn started to glow an emerald hugh as a spell powered up, “I still have a few up my sleeves…” releasing the enchantment, the pair had expected to be hit with some sort of spell.

Though as they checked themselves, they found nothing had changed around them. “Don’t think it worked there, Bronze,” Egyes narrowed his eyes on her.

“Oh… it did,” the mare quickly flared out her wings as she took to the sky.

While the grand hall was, as its name suggested, grand. It wasn’t the best to fly in, and soon enough like a crow trapped in a house. Bronze made her way to one of the stained glass windows that adorned the wall, breaking through the pane like paper, and left the two standing there motionless for a moment.

With the realization that this mare had something else in store for them. That moment quickly passed, and the duo beat feet towards the staircase in the back. Not even waiting to find out if the two guards at the door had come too, and decided to pursue them or not. Egyes lead the way to one of the ramparts nearby, breaking through the door frame with a heavy shoulder. His wing may be down for the count, but his mass never faltered. Standing out amongst the burning embers of the buildings around them, they hoped to at least get some sort of glimpse to where the mare went.

“Give us that nice long speech, and then ditch us…” Iron huffed out, as the two ran in full strut across the wall, “and now she’s making us run for this!”

“We already took out what she built to attack Seren with tomorrow!” Egyes shouted over the sounds of the inferno that grew with every second outside the walls, “where would she hope to go?” Though a low sounding groan from overhead answered that question for the two, as they looked up to find something they had missed in their walk around the castle.

“Ahh… I’ll give ya three guesses,” Iron said as his jaw nearly dropped to the brick beneath his hooves.

A sixteenth airship, creeped its way across the night sky before them. Far bigger than the others that they saw the DDR using, or even the ones in the hanger bay. Its massive structure dwarfed those that remained burning below, as the hull that hung underneath only gave a glacier look as to what must be going on inside of the massive contraption.

Iron looked across the frame, noticing that this was the only one that had a name given to it instead of a number. “Aurora…” he mouthed, having no idea the meaning behind the word. Though right now, he could care less, as he almost admired the mares’ flag ship, “She’s up there… she’s gotta be,” he looked back to his companion with heavy concern in his eyes, “Both of ‘em.”

“I won’t do ya any good,” Egyes winced after having the pain in his wing catch up to him finally, “Wings sprained from the fight with Rhorkin… I wouldn’t be able to catch up to it,” he said watching the ship already starting to put a distance between them.

“Don’t worry, I’ll teleport-”

“Not after what you were doing in the fight as well,” the gryphon cut him off where he stood. Watching and seeing which way the ship had been heading, “you used too much strength against the king, you wouldn’t be able to get us both there, and hope to fight her as well…” Egyes watched the colts’ head lower nearly to the ground, as he quickly realized the gryphon was right, “Now go… before they’re too far.”

Nodding in acceptance, Iron pulled the energy out of his joints and focused it back to where he needed. Staring off at the zeppelin, he pictured his destination, before he concerned himself over his friend once more. “And what of you?” he asked, as the spell started to reach its final form, slowly engulfing him in its shroud, “How will you get back?”

Egyes started to chuckle, “Don’t worry about me,” he said, taking a page from the colts’ own book, “…I’ll make it up as I go.”

With that last thought, the light pulled Iron in to the abyss, and one step closer to stopping all the madness this mare had done.

Chapter 40

The Aurora lumbered through the sky in a steady crawl. While it may have been bigger than the other airships that were built before it, the flag ship also far out matched any of them in terms of speed. A single flash in the night, dropped a pony along the top, as he fell a few feet to the heavy canvas hull.

Landing with his hooves barely getting a grip, Iron could feel himself sliding across the edges as the wind pushed against him from the ship moving forward unto its target.

“How do I get myself in to these sorts of things…” he muttered while trying to trudge himself along the outer skin.

Though the losing battle, finally caught up to him. A gust of wind from this high up managed to knock the colt over on his side, as his hooves scrambled to get hold of anything they could reach. Yet with the sleek design that the ship had, Iron found his hooves empty in their attempts. Flexing out his wrist, the short blade extended out as he shot it in to the canvas.

While any sort of high speed projectile would have been stopped by the enchantments along the skin, the slow and steady blade cutting in to it could break between the fibers of the fabric itself. Giving the colt the grip he needed, as the blade tugged against the skin.

“Oh thank the stars for loopholes,” whipping his other hoof, another blade shot out as he drilled it in to the skin. Feeling the skin push back against him as he went with more speed this time, Iron steadied himself against the fabric, and slowly started to make himself across the skin, one step at a time.

Eventually, even with the wind pushing against him and slowing the stallion down to a crawl, Iron reached an exterior hatch on the roof. Flipping the lid, the colt poked his head inside to get a lay of the land, as his visor met that of a tin soldiers. Grabbing it by the shoulders, Iron heaved the heavy stallion up and out of the hatch as he threw him across the canvas hull. Tumbling overtop the skin, a short axe brought it to a halt, as the armored equine steadied himself against the hull.

Staring down his target, it brought out a second axe as it watched the stallion hold his ground. With all the strength it could muster in its metal joints, the creation heaved itself up and over to Iron, trying to end the fight as quickly as it could after getting its orders from its creator. Though one factor never crossed the equines’ hollow mind all that much.

Wind.

Slowing his leap down to a skip, the tin soldier fell flat on his face against the canvas skin, giving his opponent the opening he was expecting. With a graceful slide across the hull, Iron whipped himself down and across the skin, sliding his hind hooves square in to the stallions’ face as the impact dislodged him from the airship, and ripped the axes from his grasp. Without a sound, the creation of Bronzes’ talons was sent bouncing across the hull, till it finally reached the edge and plummeted to the ground.

Satisfied that no matter how much armor these things may have on them, that kind of fall would kill it, Iron grabbed on to the side of the hatch and slithered his way back inside of the ship. Quickly making sure he was the only one around before moving even an inch from where he stood.

Sticking closely to the walls, the colt moved his way down the hall. For every inch that he made, he scanned around to ensure any patrol or enemy he saw would pass him by without a second thought. Though with his hoof held firmly over top the gem in the center of his chest plate, waiting to go to glass in a moments’ notice, the colt took note that for as big as the ship was. There wasn’t anypony around him as he stalked the halls.

“You’d think this thing would need an entire army to operate it?” he questioned himself, as he wandered about.

Reaching a ladder well, Iron grabbed on to either rail and slid down, immediately bringing up a bracer for whatever would be waiting for him in sight after he landed. Yet unlike the hatch to actually get in here, Iron hadn’t run in to any at his hooves. All he seemed to be doing was passing by bladders of hydrogen for the ship to use, and while at first the colt had started to contemplate a bomb. He quickly realized that he’d likely still be on the ship long after it detonated.

Reaching a large hatch, the colt cracked it open as he pressed a hoof through to clear the way should he meet any of Bronzes’ tin soldiers once more. Though as he opened the gap more and more, Iron realized why he had run in to only a single soldier sense making it aboard, as he stared at the cause down below.

Battalion after battalion of automatons fell in to rank behind one another in the airships own hanger bay. Each one armed, armored, and ready for a fight. Beside them stood dozens of the tanks that had been produced in the factories that once stood back in the capital, as soldiers loaded them up to the brim with their own munitions. While on top of all this, on the outer edges of the rows of soldiers, bombs longer than the average gryphon were rolled about to the various Bombay’s where they would be dropped on whatever target below.

A heavy lump settled itself in the back of Irons’ throat as he looked down at the amassed troops for the fight. What he and Egyes had done to the other airships and the gryphons’ war effort, laid only as a simple dent in the war wagon that Bronze had prepared. However, a click though from the speakers fixed through the hanger bay, drew the attention of all present, and even the ears of the stowaway they didn’t know of yet.

“Attention my loyal combatants,” Iron heard the mares’ voice cut through the air, like her talons scratching on a chalkboard, “the time has come for us to take the fight to those who helped to start it all… Seren.”

With a chill, Iron shuttered in his armor, “Of course that’s where she’s headed…” he face hoofed himself. Even with all that was destroyed, from just what he saw below, Bronze would still be able to wipe half the country off the map.

“While your brethren who still reside with the Gryphons, or the DDR go to work fulfilling their purpose, you who ride with me will soon be doing the same once we reach the shimmering pillar on the horizon… the eye sore that still blinds me to this day,” with a second click, the mic that Bronze had been using was hung up, as those in the hanger bay went back to work prepping for war.

As one colt prepped for a fight all of his own.

“…The eye sore that still blinds me to this day,” Bronze said in her command center of the airship. The bridge itself was as open as it was massive, two full stories rested as she could observe the work from the second, while command it from the ground floor. Everything she needed to drop the bombs, mandate her troops, or even launch those in the bays to combat. All laid at the tips of her talons.

A chuckle escaped from her lips as she leaned back in her control chair, taking stock of the whole situation at once. While the ship itself resided on autopilot, using an enchanted gem on a map to guide itself as if it had a mind all on its own, the engines along the sides trudged the ship along. Leaving the mare to almost admire the situation all to herself… for the most part. So much planning had been done in the years leading up to this moment, and so much had been lost. Though in the end, all of it had been worth it to the mare.

The teasing and taunting that she endured while young, molded her mind to what it is now. While the accident that took her limbs and crippled her, gave her a purpose that she could only imagine, and a drive that no creature alive could hope to stop. As she rested now staring out the window, a smirk finally managed to grace her lips, and her eyes met those of the mare that rested there with her.

“You already know where I’m headed,” she narrowed her eyes at the mare, “don’t you?”

“Boralus… the spectacle of Seren,” Grace answered hollowly, barely raising her eyes up to look at those of Bronze.

“Smart mare, aren’t you…”

“All this… just to settle a score?” Bronze saw the eyes of the monarch meet hers fully for the first time in a while, no tears, no hindrance, just the truth from them. “A friend once told me… in war, soldiers will die, good ponies will die… that’s the way war works,” the mare recalled as she tried to bring up the stallions’ words as best she could, “all you can do is come up with a plan, and when the bodies start coming back… learn to live with it.”

Somewhere in the back of her mind, that struck a nerve with the metallic mare. As she narrowed her eyes, while looking at the bound princess there, tied to a railing, “Is this your grand gesture?” she asked, “is this how you were hoping to get me to call off my army, just with your words?”

“No… this is just the words of a mare, who is in over her head in a position she knows little of,” Grace admitted to her of her own position. “Your father died in a fight long ago that the gryphons started, my parents did what only a leader could do and retaliated. Your mother died after years of trying to take care of you, and bettering your life after your accident, all on her own…”

She watched as the pupils of the mare started to dilate from just the words leaving her lips, “…you lost both your parents to something senseless in the end. Just as mine were taken from me while out on travel. They succumbed to a fire at the Inn they were staying at for the night,” the princess allowed the memory of hearing the news the next day to come back to her.

Even after all those years, it still brought a fresh tear to her eye, “none of it happened with reason, all of it could have been prevented, but those events left both of us with an everlasting impact… yet I moved on…” Bronze hadn’t moved an inch sense Grace started talking, and still stood there with a single talon raised mid stride off the ground, “…Don’t you think it’s time, you do the same?”

Bronze stood there still motionless, contemplating the mares’ words for a second more. Before she pushed them off to the side, “What’s done is done, Princess Grace…” she started to walk away from her counterpart, “I intend to wipe the slate clean, just as I always planned on doing.”

“… You won’t win.”

“And who’s going to stop me then? The soldiers of Seren? Your vast armament of advanced weaponry?” she asked, turning her head just enough to look at the mare over her shoulder, “Your colt?”

“He’s… ahh… not my colt,” Grace started to blush for a moment, “but… I wouldn’t put it past him to at least try.”

“Try as he might… assuming he's even reached my ship, he won’t make it out of this alive.”

“And…You’ve probably said that once or twice already,” Grace smirked at her, while Bronze brushed off the comment and ignored the mare.

Iron slid his way across the deck of the airship, having already a general layout of the structure. It didn’t seem that hard to find the bridge, If Bronze was going to be anywhere, it’d be there. And if she was holding Grace, she likely wouldn’t let the mare out of her sight. Though with the war effort mustering behind him, there was little that went through his mind that eased the colt should this whole plan go up in smoke.

“Come to Boralus, support the war effort, supply troops to better the fight,” Iron muttered to himself. All while he made the mental note that this all started out as a simple twist of his wrists, at the hooves of the mare he was trying to save right now, “Call that irony.”

Looking up to the sign above, all he read was the simple word that he had been looking for. Bridge, marked atop the single hatch that he had hoped to find eventually. With a sigh, and then with time a deep breath, Iron placed a hoof on the latch and swung it open. Holding a hoof out to cover his mark, should the mare be standing in front of him.

Though in front wasn’t an exact statement, as his hoof was quickly grabbed by a pair of talons and the colt found himself pulled through the doorway. Unceremoniously being tossed across the room. The heavy armor skidded across the ground as Iron came to a stop just across from the other one he had been seeking.

“Mornin’, your majesty,” Iron half saluted from his position, as he raised his head up.

Even through her demise, a smile started to present itself across Graces’ features. A simple gesture that told him all he needed to know about how she was holding up. However, that was short lived, as the metal scraping against the deck quickly brought Grace back to her senses. As Iron sprung up to all fours, and stared down the metal mare.

“And so we meet again,” Bronze said as she took a few steps closer to him, though the colt didn’t move an inch, “you’ve leveled nearly an entire city, killed countless gryphons and diamond dogs, survived against a fleet of airships once before, squared off against a king and a chief, and on top of all that… fought against me drunk, and still lived,” the mare watched as Iron took a step to meet her own, “tell me… when do you think your lucks going to finally give out?”

“Hopefully long enough for me to wipe that grin off your face,” Iron cracked his neck, and started to roll his shoulders. Already knowing this was going to be one of those fights, with a flip of his visor, the colt brought out a cigarette to his lips as he started to puff away on it.

“A soldiers’ last smoke?” Bronze questioned, “I think I can let you have that much.”

“Not a soldier, remember our little talk?” he asked, all while taking in as much of the nicotine as physically possible from one breath, “you know the one just before we blew up half the kingdom?”

“True… so in that case…” Bronze cut to the chase, dropped her shoulders, flared out her wings, and leapt across the close gap between the two of them.

Just as Iron dropped the visor.

Egyes stood on, watching as the city he once called home burned all around him. Iron had left moments ago to continue his own story, as the gryphon now had to figure out a way to ensure his would reach tomorrow. If only to keep good on his words.

“Make it up as I go…” he pondered for a moment, as he turned and started to head back towards the great hall.

Reaching the hall, the injured gryphon stuck closely to the walls as he peered around the corner, hoping only to see the two guards that were there gone. Though he had no such luck. Just as they were trained to do, the pair remained stuck to the sides of the door, until their next orders told them otherwise. Though unexpectedly to the gryphon, the doors swung open, and a familiar face that he had started to know came prodding through.

Silvertongue panted and heaved from where he stood, along with the two soldiers next to him. Having come from the outside where much of the city lie in burning ruins of its former self, the drake had breathed in more fumes and soot than he cared to in his life time, and for one that can muster fire on his own. He couldn’t imagine how the gryphons with him were coping.

“Bronze!” he tried to call out over a hoarse tongue, “Bronze! The place is going up in smoke, I would advise-”

The drake would have finished, though the sight of the king lying there dead on the floor, with his own sword put through his chest put a damper on things really quick. Looking every which way he could, neither he or the gryphons with him saw any remnants of the mare they sought. The only sound that filled the room from their silence remained the crackling of the fires raging outside of the walls.

“We have to get out of here,” he muttered to himself, before turning around to head out. Yet as he did, both of Bronzes’ guards had placed themselves in front of the door, blocking their way, “Clear a path,” the drake commanded with a motion of his claws and the words upon his lips.

However, with seconds ticking by, the two soldiers failed to even flinch at Silvers’ words. As Egyes watched and waited to see if those that had just entered would instead charge up the stairs, the same ones he found himself on. With no response still, Silver had grown tired of the dilly dallying.

“Automatons!” he shouted, in case they had somehow gone deaf, as he marched towards the open doors, “I gave you an order! Move!”

This time though, both guards looked up to meet his gaze with their own. Just as an envious shimmer flickered through their visors. Each one using their hoof, pressed the doors shut as they started to march on towards the three. Having dealt with these things before, Silver halted his advance, knowing that they were never much of the talking type.

Though the two gryphons with him hadn’t exactly gotten used to the idea of having a pair of hollowed armor following them around, and each of them took a step back. Just as the two equines reached the drake.

“Well?” Silver patiently waited for a response, “What is it?”

Without a word, each of them pounced on the drake. Pushing him down with just their weight alone, the desk ridden dragon was little match for their combined strength. Only the aqua fire he started to spew gave him any sort of breathing room, as the flames tore in to the armor of the figures atop him.

Yet even with the heat, that did little to slow the two. A heavy hoof clasped to the open mouth of the drake and held it open, just as his brother did the same to the upper jaw. Leaving Silver lying there on the ground coughing on his own breath as he fought to try and get control of his own mouth… but to no avail. With one mighty yank, the tendons and connective tissue that held his jaw firm, tore out from their sockets and his mandible was left dangling on the ground just as he flailed about.

The two gryphons that had come with Silver knew not what to do. They had never seen the armored creations turn on one of their own. All they could do was watch as after the drakes’ jaw was snapped, one raised up both his fore hooves and brought them down on to the throat of the dragon. Silencing him once more, as Silvertongue choked while working against his own tissues.

Heaving on the ground, and close to death as it would seem. The two hopped off him and quickly turned their attention to the two gryphons standing there, as they started to back up from the pair advancing steadily towards them. Though what seemed like a mystery to them, to one in the room, all made sense now.

Egyes watched as the entire scene unfolded before him, from the shimmer he caught in their eyes, to the fall of the dragon, to now the slaughter of those two gryphons that never expected it to come to this. With the grace that only trained killers could manage, the gryphon held his tongue as he watched both of his old comrades fall to the ground, drowning in their own fluids from where they lied.

‘Wipe the slate clean…’ Egyes repeated the mares’ words in the back of his mind, ‘that’s what her play is, that’s what she wanted to do all along.’ He put it all together finally, “She’s just going to kill… everything…”

With that last word muttered, both of the armored equine snapped their heads to the corner that Egyes hid himself behind. As he watched through only a half hidden face the emerald eyes stare him down, striking daggers in to his own pair. A second later, the two slowly started to make their way over to the gryphon.

Knowing the gig was up. Egyes upholstered his pistol, and drew his sword as he showed himself to the two. Flying away wasn’t an option at this point. So for now, the gryphon checked his clip as he slid it back in to the handle.

“Whelp…” the gryphon steadied himself against the ground, and stared the two down, “…Shall we?”

Chapter 41

“O-o-ou-uch…” Iron groaned as he stared up at the ceiling of the bridge. While stars danced in his vision, just as they did the late night sky outside.

For all his armor enhancements, the colt was still finding it nearly impossible to get the drop on the mare. Here he was, on her turf, one on one, with only his wit to guide him. A wit that was starting to fade fast.

Climbing up to his hooves, Iron flipped his visor up to wipe the blood off his nose that he took from the last hit. Thankfully, the mare across from him seemed to enjoy the time they were sharing, as she watched and waited for him to gather himself before even speaking.

“Please, take as much time as you’d like, Mister Knight,” Bronze rolled her wings along her side, “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

More tired of seeing that smirk than his own body was, Iron brought up a hoof and launched off a flurry of attacks. From the simple ray spell, to even the lightning bolts that he had used on occasion. All of them the mare met head on with her very own enchantments. The gems in her limbs shined bright, while they fed off her own magic that she had gathered to fight his. Leaving the mare with just a yawn to escape her breath while she toyed with him.

Breaking off the attack, the colt dove in for a more direct approach, as he swung left and right at her with his short blades. Matching him, Bronze brought out her toys as well, as the two slashed and parried back and forth along the bridge. Iron may have been stronger, more than capable of pushing through her block. Though Bronze was far more agile than he could hope to best. With every move that brought him closer to the mare where he’d have the advantage, she managed to slither her way out of his grasp to a better position.

Taking both of his weapons in claw, the metal on metal did nothing to injure her, as Bronze lifted herself over top of him and snapped off the blades from their mechanisms. Locking her hind legs around his neck, the mare flipped Iron square against the ground, before kicking him off to the side.

Meeting Grace once more, the colt shook his head as the kind mare looked down on him. “Iron…” she paused to grab his attention through the ringing in his ears, “You’re getting your ass kicked here.”

“Comment duly noted, Gracie,” he turned around and grabbed hold of a console.

Using his augmented limbs, the colt ripped the hardware straight out of its stand, as he hurtled it at the mare. Having little time to dodge having attempted to lunge at him, Bronze met the cold metal face to face, and was sent flat on the floor. The weight of her own tech holding her down. Leaping atop the contraption, Iron brought hoof after hoof back to the side of his head, before slamming them in to her own.

Faint visions of the life that she once lived, clouded up in the mares’ mind. Having gone through her fair share of beatings from colts and others like Marble, Bronze rolled with the punches, and kept her stare fixated on Iron through his visor the entire time. Though what of her life the colt never knew, all he could tell was that the mare was used to this sort of treatment. As he opted something a little more old-fashioned.

With a final head butt from his helmet meeting her flesh. Bronze reeled back against the cold ground, and let off a burst of energy from her horn as it pulsed out her body. Shooting the colt and the console off her, the mare quickly took her chance and grabbed on to one of the rocket pods on his back. With a massive tug from her claws, the welds that held it on broke off, and in her spin. The tube of metal found its mark against the colts’ temple.

Dazed from the hit, Iron stumbled back against his hooves fighting to drop him to the ground. The second swing to make contact added to the first, and only further sent the colt in to a tailspin. As he literally spun around on his hind hooves. Catching himself before he hit the dirt once more, Iron ducked out of the way of the third swing, and rammed the mare in the side. Forcing Bronze to drop is own weapon from her grasp, as she locked with him.

Feeling her own hooves scrape against the flooring, the mare pounded away against his back plating. The colts’ stride never broke, and the mare quickly was slammed in to another console. The enchantments that he had spent so much time on, finally were paying off against her. As with every use, the mare could see his own gems recharge from his magic to their fullest.

A gift, that gave the mare an idea.

Blocking each successive attack with her own built in bracers, Bronze rolled across the console as another one hit. Driving his own hoof through its face, and out the other side. Iron looked up from his trance, and saw the mare sliding away as she repositioned herself once more against him.

“Running isn’t going to do you any good you know…” he called to her, the sarcasm vacant in his voice, as he ripped his hoof from the console.

Across his shoulder, the steady glint of the sunrise off in the distance finally greeted them. As the two rivals stared down one another. Even through the few hits that she had taken, from the swollen cheek, to the couple cuts across her brow. Bronze pushed some of her metallic strands from her face as she looked past him, and unto the horizon.

“It won’t do Seren any good as well,” she motioned for him to grasp the full situation.

Looking outside, even off at this great distance. The spire of Boralus still could be seen, the beacon of hope to many that had traveled here. Now set itself as the impending fate of all those below, while Iron realized that time had never been on his side. The speck of light would soon be much more than that, and even as he fought the mare. Her troops would still go to work on those in the city.

“How I have hated that sight all these years, until now that is,” Bronze monologued, as even Grace turned to see her own city coming in to harms view. “Do whatever you will, Iron Knight… destroy my weapons, kill my creations, remove my allies…” the eerie chuckle that he had started to know her by, reared its ugly head once more, “in the end, both our fates are already sealed.”

Using what strength he could muster in his telekinesis against her. Iron drew the mare in closer with a flick of his horn, before grabbing her by either side of the face and putting it to the ground. A move that the mare had been hoping for.

With his attention on one thing, her canvas flared out, and pushed the mare above him. Just as the heavy hoof landed where her head once was. Latching herself around him, Bronze held on to the colt. As Iron bucked every which way to dislodge the mare, but to no avail, and in no time at all.

Her cold talons, found the very gift he was given.

Digging hard against the bone, the horn atop his head, cracked away at the stump.

The nerve endings in the tissue shot directly to the colts’ brain, registering the injury in seconds, as he felt the burning from an open wound right on his skull. Having been exposed to cast spells better, Iron had left himself with a chink in his armor that almost gave him shivers at night. And right now, caused all the colts’ limbs to lock up at once, as he hit the floor.

“A-A-A-ar-r-rgh!” Iron screeched from the deepest part of his stomach that he could without losing his breath. Through the sound piercing wale of his own, a squeal from the tied mare across the room echoed from his loss. Clenching his teeth to keep the tears at bay, the colt winced his eyes to barely a slit as he fought to right himself back up.

“You. Cankerous. WHORE. Monger!” the shout resonated through the room, as it came from the princesses’ lips. Staring down the mare from her position on the ground, it wasn’t much to be afraid of. Though even if she wasn’t the one that took the hit, Grace could feel the pain her friend was dealing with.

“Oh shut it you…” Bronze in one sweep of her talon, brought a section of rope from behind the princess and gaged her. Silencing the mare, and leaving Bronze to toy with the colt once more.

All the while, Iron watched as the mare held his own appendage, dancing it amongst her talons like a trophy. Tossing it to the ground, Bronze placed a claw over top it and pushed even harder. Across the grinding of his teeth, Iron could hear the cracking of the bone against the weight, while he focused every last bit of nerves against her.

“Our fates our sealed…” she grinned, wallowing in his dread, “yours ends with knowing Boralus burned, and there wasn’t a thing you could do to stop it.”

Grinding to dust the last of the bone, Bronze shot across to him. As Iron brought up his hooves as best he could to fend her off. With his means of recharging the gems in his suit now lost, it became just another suit of armor like any other guard would wear, with a few additional perks he would have to use sparingly. Against a mare like this, and all she had up her sleeves, that was next to useless to him.

Hit after hit he blocked, parried, or dodged. Trying to keep some sort of distance between himself and the mare. Though with every step he took, Bronze took two more to catch him. With his abilities they were evenly matched… to some extent. Though with his card now called, the colt found himself at what little mercy she had.

Bringing both hooves up to block a punch. The mare shoved in to him, pushing the colt on to his back with a boost from her wings pushing herself. In seconds Iron found the mare clawing away at his suit, trying to tear against the metal itself. Until she managed to get a grip on his helm, and rip it off.

Grace watched as Irons’ helmet slid across the floor near her. Staring blankly at her in defeat, but no more so than the colt was at the mare atop him. In a hush, the princess whimpered all to herself. Watching as the mad mare leaded further down to the colts’ muzzle, and her wings pushed firm against his hooves to hold him down.

Though even through the obvious blank stare of dread on his brow, Iron never once let a tear fall. Something that even Bronze had to admire to some degree. “You’ve lost there, Iron…” Bronze tutted, lightly guiding a talon across his jaw line as she teased him, “Your skills could have done you right by me. Yet, you chose her side instead.”

“What can I say?” he joked through the blood on his tongue, “I’m a loyal bastard.”

“Loyalty misplaced.”

Whipping her claw out, the pistol that called it home protruded itself from the housing. As the barrel lowered down to the colts’ forehead, at the base of his horns’ stump. Grinning to him as she pulled the internal trigger, Iron closed his eyes…

And ripped a hoof free.

Pushing the barrel away far enough to avoid his head. His ears rung from the shot glancing against the metal floor next to him, but it was the last thing on the colts’ mind. Grasping on to the barrel with a hoof, Iron charged what left he had in most of his gems to one goal.

An electric surge.

The arc skipped neatly across his suit, forming the perfect circuit as it jumped to Bronzes’ own metal. While she may have not felt it at first, her body was the last thing the charge was sent to. The gems in her talon shimmered, as they sucked up all the power they could absorb from the spell forcing itself in to them. And one by one, it started to be too much to handle.

Gems shattered across her false leg in an irruption rivaling that of a firework display gone wrong, and with every one that broke. A little more control was lost by the mare. The gun quickly crumbled to her side, as did her body, and Iron heaved her off of him. Pinning her to the deck just as she had done to him. Yet this time he wore the smirk. The energy the gems gave off, weakened the metal that held them, and before long. Iron ripped not only his hoof away from her, but the limb from her very body.

Pushing him off of her, Bronze slid herself across the floor. “H-h-how? How is that possible?” she wondered, looking to him for answers as if she just became a student once more.

“I’m no stranger to charging gems, Bronze…” he replied, righting himself up as he pushed the thoughts of pain from his mind. “I never really used my horn to control my spells, I used the magic in me, something you should be familiar with,” picking the limb back up. Iron tossed it over to her, so she may look at her own failure, “though I used quality stones in all my works, able to hold a charge to them easily without over doing it,” calmly the colt took a step forward, and watched with glee as she slid back from him, “it took me a while to identify the stones you were using, and while easier to work with… they don’t do so well under pressure.”

“You… you used my own gems against me!” she said, almost sounding hurt. As the mare righted herself up on three legs.

“You tried to play a game I know all too well,” Iron calmed the gems of his own, saving what little juice they had left, “you’re just the player… but I’m the coach…”

Enraged at her own fault in this game, Bronze realized all along, that he was right. She upgraded the appearance of her limbs, their function, and even their strength… though she neglected the very thing that gave them life. Weaker gems were easier for a non-magical equine such as herself to control, never once did she think she would have to upgrade those as well, they worked so well through the years…

Until now.

Flapping her wings against the deck, the mare shot across and rammed the colt square in the chest. She didn’t care if her head would be hurting later from the impact, all that mattered to her was destroying the one that had done this to her. First it was Grace on her list, then Rhorkin, and Reinhart… though Iron quickly found his way scratched on to the parchment in the back of her head.

Swiping against his unprotected face, the claws dug deep in to the colts’ coat as he reeled back in a moments noticed, tossing the mare away to his side. Though with a new energy thriving through her, Bronze didn’t let a simple slip up such as losing a limb stop her. After all, she had dealt with that before.

Sliding out her blade from her wrist, the mare slashed against his open flesh. Though with his blades out of commission, Iron blocked against her with his bracers, holding steady against the blows. Until another window would present itself to him. For unknown to her, this wasn’t his first go without being able to use magic.

Stomping on the blade after the mare over shot, Iron shoulder checked Bronze, ripping the blade out of the mechanism that held it in place. Not waiting a second longer, the colt saw as his chance opened up finally, watching as she stumbled to the ground under the weight of only three legs.

Pouncing atop her, with only three quarters of her body able to lift. Bronze couldn’t fight the stallion against her, as Iron brought back both his hooves and slammed them atop her wings. Grasping on to the frames, with a supplemental surge of energy going through his joints. The very thing that Bronze had admired Graces’ kind for, were ripped from her shoulder blades.

Arching her head back in agony, Bronze clenched her tongue to fight the pain. Yet the mare didn’t see the hoof coming to bare against the back of her skull, and in one quick strike the soft tissue met hard metal. Knocking her out cold for a moment, Bronze collapsed against the floor underneath the ex-guard, as Iron looked at her to ensure she was out.

For a moment, the colt teased at the idea of bringing a hoof up and crushing her skull right then and there. At the very least tossing her out the window so she would know what his friend had to go through. However, as he looked up to the sun starting to rise up even more, Iron saw that he had more pressing matters to attend.

Galloping over to the mare that saw it all, Iron quickly worked at the ropes that bound the mare, as she muffled something from her breath. Cutting as fast as he could with what stumps remained of his own blades, the bindings fell to Graces’ side and she seemingly ripped the section muzzling her off in one go. Wrapping her hooves and wings around the armored shell of her savior, Grace looked at Iron straight in his eyes with almost a tear in her own.

“You crazy… CRAZY FOOL!” she yelled at him, though if the colt was wondering if it was an insult or not.

He didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Without him even having a second to catch his breath. Iron found the princess’ lips pressed against his own, and for a moment there, the colt didn’t need to breathe. Wafting the scent of the mare up his muzzle. Irons’ hooves quickly started growing a mind of their own. Enveloping her in his grasp, Iron accepted the gesture willingly, as he gave in if only for a moment of peace amongst the chaos and pulled the mare in even closer.

Breaking away from the embrace, Iron leaned his forehead to her own. Completely unaware of the missing horn atop his head, while they both found a smile creeping on their muzzles from the purity of the moment, “Crazy… yes, though I don’t hear you complaining,” he left her with a wink, before picking Grace up to her hooves.

Across the room, as the two shared their much needed moment… Bronze dragged herself across to her command chair, if only to destroy the very serenity that she found herself in. Reaching up, the mare pulled herself in to the seat, and with a weakened touch from the blood being lost along her back.

The talon cranked away at one lever along its side.

The sound of a siren yanked the two back in to reality, as they looked across the short space, to the one who had brought them here to begin with. Even with parts of her bone ripped out from where her wings once were, and holding herself up on three legs now, Bronzes’ smile could still never be broken so long as she had a card to play.

Perking his ears up to the sound of the horn, it didn’t take a sorcerer to figure out what the mare had just done, “You just set this thing to blow…” Iron narrowed his eyes on the mare, “didn’t you?”

“And scatter a few of my troops across the land, call it a parting gift, Iron Knight,” Bronze winked at him, while feeling the ship itself rattle from her chair, “hydrogen’s such a volatile gas, all it takes is a spark, as you should know well.”

The airship rocked back and forth, from whatever mechanism the mare had set in motion kicking to life. Without even a second thought, Iron in a single motion ripped a console from the floor, and sent it hurtling towards a window. Blowing it out so at least one of them could have an escape.

“How are your wings?” he asked to the mare by his side.

“Functional,” Graces’ voice started to tremble, “but I’m not leaving you here…”

“Grace! There’s no-”

Pressing her muzzle against his, Grace silenced the colt as her eyes did all the talking she needed to. Though a few words never hurt, her at least, “I said. I’m. Not. Leaving. You here!” the mare snapped at him, forcing Iron to lose a couple inches in his ego, “Do… what you do best, make it up as you go…”

The Aurora rattled heavily, tossing itself like a ship in a hurricane, as both of them lost their footing against the metal. Even Bronze herself slid out of her chair, coming to rest against the ground as her face looked out on the rising sun. Though for the colt with a new life breathed in to him, his eyes took on that of what he was at heart.

A tinkerer.

Snapping from everything in the room he had at his disposal, all of it seemed more than useless to him… until they eyed but a single thing, still resting on the floor from where he removed them.

Bronzes wings may have been attached to her by surgery, but they still had a metal frame to it that he could work with. So long as the gems in them still had a charge, they may just be of some use to the desperate colt. Galloping over to them, with what magic he still had left in his suit, Iron brought each of the wings to the back plate. Welding them in place as much as his reserves would allow, the joints that fixed on to Bronzes’ shoulder blades did their part.

Commanding the new additions with much concentration from his own magic of his body, Iron flared the wings out to their fullest, the enchantments in them still holding some sort of charge after the fight. As he grabbed Grace by her hoof and lead her head long through the open window.

From her place on the ground, Bronze watched as the two leapt to their fate, leaving her in a place she knew all too well. Alone.

Pushing herself up on her flank with her prosthetic. Bronze for a moment could feel her parents standing there with her, as her fathers’ words passed through the shattered mind once more. ‘Child of mine, you’re going to do great things in life… you just don’t know it yet,’ the mare silently heard them echo. Holding back a tear as best she could, with the warm sun filling her with at least some level of comfort, the horn atop the twisted mares’ head started to glow with the dwindling energy it still had.

“I’m sorry Dad, I’m sorry Mom,” Bronze sniffled, wiping her nose with a careful talon, “I tried to…”

In a single flash, it was all over.

Free falling like his friend was aptly named for, wasn’t something new to the colt. Though having a few seconds to learn how to control a pair of wings, given that your life quite literally depended on it, was something that Iron was quickly starting to gain more respect for his air born cousins for contending with on a daily basis.

At first his form was that of a rock, then it slowly turned in to a new born bird, as he brought them out to his side. Turning the colt in to a make shift glider, gingerly he soared against the air around him, “Oh I could get used to this…” Iron mused as he felt the wind rush past his face.

“Now’s not the time to day dream!” Grace shouted at him.

From overhead, the two saw a flash of light, before the sound ever reached them. Though when it did, it beat against their ear drums like a buffalo tribe. Rattling the pair in their escape, Iron jerked left and right in his armor, while Grace simply held her hooves over top her own head to protect from any shrapnel. Yet curiosity was a fickle thing, and something the colt was known for, as he turned his head if only to get a glimpse.

All the munitions that he saw stored within the ship, all the bladders that were needed to keep it up in the air, all of it… lead to the hell fire that started to rain down just behind them. Before either of them got caught up in the down pour, the pair quickly lurched their wings forward, speeding themselves up as best they could.

Something that for one of them, quickly was starting to wither.

Ever sense he took control of them, Iron could feel the wings starting to lock up from the flight. However Bronze may have used them, she must have recharged the gems somehow on a near constant basis, if only from the others stored around her body. Something that with his own enchantments all but drained, and his horn out of commission, the colt would only be left to wonder… as he fell.

Locking up after one last bead of strength, the joints seized, and for a moment Iron felt the wind stop. “… Shit…” he muttered, while gravity quickly took over to finish his sentence.

Dropping like the rock he had started out as, the ground below him never looked so hard as it did this time around. Even with his armor across him, that left Iron as nothing more than a smashed can against a brick street, to be picked up with a spade later. It’s times like these that the colt almost enjoyed, giving himself moments of clarity.

‘Hmm… Whelp these could have worked…’ Iron pondered to himself, having already imagined how his funeral would look.

Closed casket for sure, with maybe a few pictures of when he was younger, then in the guard, then as a teacher. Many of his students would probably attend, surely all the teachers would. Freefall wouldn’t be far from his corpse, nor would Amber, hell even his new friend Egyes would be close by. ‘Grace…’ his mind reminded him of quickly, as he closed his eyes, simply to accept his fate on a high note.

Up until he felt something hit his chest.

Cracking his eyes open, they widened somehow farther than his sockets could physically allow, as he saw the mare wrapped around him mid drift. “Grace!” he shouted above the rushing fate, with them both tumbling in the air, “What are you doing!”

“Saving your emerald ass!” she barked back at him, flaring her wings out to their fullest.

It would have completely stopped a pony of her size, though given that she was trying to support an armored stallion, it merely acted as a wind breaker did against a storm. Thinking on her hooves, Grace pushed her hooves against the limp canvas appendages with all the might her body held on to. Splaying out, the fabric caught the wind, and matched her own wings as they tried to break the fall as much as the two could have hoped.

Iron felt the rush of air slow down, though as he saw the ground coming closer with every twist they made in the sky. The colt looked down at the mare, who was trying her hardest to ensure they’d at least live to see a tomorrow, as he silently made his own choice.

“I’ll see ya around,” Iron managed to almost whisper in her ear, causing the mare to look up at the genuine smile across his lips, as he gave her a quick peck on her own stunning her, “…Gracie.” With a thrust of his body weight, the colt repositioned himself with his face to her… and the skies above.

With the ground coming seconds later.

Chapter 42

Pain.

From tinkering with chemicals, to scalding hot metal, Iron had become accustom to the feeling over the years. Though all of it was his own doing for the most part, it left him still with a rather high tolerance of the sensation. Seldom did he take pain meds, or even cold medication at that, the colt usually just left things run their course to heal up.

In his mind, it made him stronger in the end, as it forced his body to adapt and change.

That said, when the colt was forced to take medication by a doctor, or it was injected in him while he was out cold from whatever injury. It typically left his mind trailing behind in what seemed like a different dimension, while he skipped along his neurons’ path.

‘Oh this is just… great…’ the colt stretched out in his head, letting the subtle magical energies flow through him, as he could feel the mind it had working all on its own. ‘Maybe this is why I don’t do drugs?’ Iron pondered in a mind all on his own, ‘I probably wouldn’t stop.’

Though with him finding the most comfortable position he could in his head, something began ticking along in there with him. Not loud enough to disturb the colt should he pass out again, but just enough to draw his attention, as Iron could feel his eye twitch from every tick that went by.

‘I’m going to k-il-l-l whatever that is.’

Silently, he could feel his body twitching more and more from the steady tick of what could be described as a metronome. First it was his eye, then followed by his jaw, and soon the rest of his body followed suit as he rested. Beckoning the colt to do but one thing…

Wake up.

Steadily reading the reconnaissance reports of the crash site. Egyes sat there by himself in the med ward, just across from the colt that still laid there sleeping his pain away. He didn’t wish to try and wake him, as far as he was concerned, Iron would come around when he’s ready.

“Any change?” another voice asked as the stallion walked in to check on him.

“Nothing yet…” Egyes answered the colt, making another glance over to the bedridden stallion, “maybe if we both leave he’ll wake up sooner, like he did with you?” the two of them chuckled for a moment, before Freefall checked the clock on the stand next to Irons’ bed.

“It’s almost midnight now, and I haven’t slept for shit,” Free said quietly, drearily rubbing his eyes after being up sense his return from the field, “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go hit the hay. Want me to bring you something to eat before I go?”

Waving the offer off with a claw, the gryphon continued looking in to the reports, “Na… I’ll be good,” he answered, picking up a mug of coffee, “besides, I’m enjoying a good story before bed.” He held up the report for his friend to see.

“I’m going to break that fricken clock…” they heard a hiss from the bed, as the colts’ eyes slowly started to peel open, “Seriously? Who puts a clock next to a pony who’s trying to sleep?”

“Well… I was going to ask how you’re feeling,” Free said as he and Egyes got up to meet Iron by the side of his bed, “but considering you haven’t lost your humor, you’re doing rather well?”

Iron ran a steady hoof across his face, wiping his eyes clean of the sand that started to cake on their edges, “I’m high as a kite right now, so I suppose I can’t really complain…” he started to giggle, though quickly stopped when he realized that even with the meds. The pain was very real out here in this world, “Ugh… Is this what it felt like for you?” he asked his winged friend.

“Meh… more or less,” Free answered while he read Irons’ face, knowing what broken bones looked like on a stallion. “Though I had someone heftier to catch me, that said, I still gotta give it to her,” he looked over to the bed next to them, “She seemed to have done her damndest to help save ya.”

Iron turned his head to meet the one he had to thank, and laying right there, was Princess Grace. A few bandages trailed over her body, from what he could see above the covers, but for the most part she looked unharmed. Battered, bruised and bloodied in some places, but alive none the less. Slowly a smile started to grow on the colt, as he realized that his final move before they landed, may have just worked to save her life.

Better him crunch in to the ground, than her land with him on top.

“How long have we been in here?”

“Couple days now…” Egyes explained, “you two landed in a farm a few miles from the capital, actually on top of a barn to be more precise.”

“Hell that’s the reason you were able to get in here so quick,” Free commented, “the farmer came out originally to watch the airship crash just off part of his property, when he saw two figures go through his barn.” The Pegasus looked back over to Grace, noting her injuries for what was probably the dozenth time across her lilith frame. “I’m still wondering how you managed to take most of the brunt, while Grace here nearly walked away unscathed.”

“Because he’s a idiot…”

Grace slowly but surely rolled her body over to meet them all face to face. Stretching out as best she could, the subtle wincing of her eye told them all they needed to know that the mare wasn’t completely in the clear. Though as she looked at the two standing with a smile, it grew ever wider as she looked to the one in the bed beside her. Before it turned to a playful scowl.

“You brought your back to the ground, hoping to break my fall under you?” she asked rhetorically, never paying attention to the faces that the colt was getting from his friends for his actions, “was your suit supposed to be more comfortable?”

“Oh I’m so sorry your majesty,” he held up a single hoof, “would you rather have dealt with the barn then?”

“Well next time we’re tumbling through the air to our death, I’ll let you know.”

“Planning to try and kill me now, are we?” he raised a brow to her.

“What?” the mare asked sounding surprised, “and miss all the glorious adventures that seem to follow you along?”

“I told you then, and I’ll tell you again,” he paused, grinning from ear to ear, “I don’t hear you complaining…”

From that alone, Graces’ face went red as she started grinding her teeth in to one another, staring daggers at the colt. However, those blades of hers were dull, and even with the most serious face she could managed. It didn’t last long given the nature of the two, and shortly both bedded parties were sniggering back and forth with one another. Leaving the other two present to just look back and forth for answers.

“Okay so you both seem to be fine then…” Free answered for himself and Egyes, before turning his attention to the gryphon, “you see what I mean?”

Not missing a beat, the gryphon started nodding vigorously, as he tried to suppress a smirk of his own. “Oh I see it as clear as crystal…” Egyes watched as Iron and Grace snapped their attention to the two of them, “Would be cute, now wouldn’t it?”

Those words alone, told Iron all he needed to know about what the two were talking about, and soon his own weapons were staring down his winged friend. As Free tried to look as innocent as possible to him, “Free… I will kill you,” Iron hissed.

“Na, you’d miss me too much,” the Pegasus stuck his tongue out at him.

“Okay before we go about trying to slit one another’s throats,” Egyes held up the report in claw, before dropping it on the table between the beds. “Would either of you care to hear what has happened sense you were out?”

“Fire away there, Egyes,” Grace said calmly, as she settled herself, and calmed the fire burning on her face.

“Well, for starters… the gryphon leaders that took Rhorkins’ place, after his untimely death,” he looked to the colt that was there, “have called for peace. Their army’s devastated in terms of moral, weapons, and even personnel for that matter.”

“But there wasn’t even a large scale fight with the gryphons?” Grace brought to light, “how did they lose enough soldiers to pull out of a fight?”

The gryphon leaned himself against the bed, preparing himself for the rather gruesome explanation, “Being around Bronze, I’m assuming you got the chance to see some of her toy soldiers?” the words alone brought up memories of herself in her bedroom, having beaten the empty helmet off one of them. With the shocking image still fresh in her mind, Grace simply nodded to him, “It would seem that before Bronze left the kingdom to fly here, she let off one last spell…”

“A spell the likes of…?” Iron asked curiously.

“She wanted to wipe the slate clean, by any means necessary,” he emphasized those words of the mare, “all her automatons were scattered between the gryphons, the DDR, and what she probably brought with her to attack Boralus… though upon her command, they were set to kill everything,” Egyes let that sink in for a moment, before he picked back up.

“I saw them myself turn on other gryphons, and even that drake that was once under your command…” he pointed to Grace, never uttering his name, “they ripped them apart, and the few that were left over after the crash did the same thing to some of those that searched the area, before they were brought down.”

“And it’s not just the Gryphons,” Free took over from there for him, “we’ve gotten word of the same thing happening over in the republic, troops being slaughtered by the very soldiers that were created to help them… or so they thought.”

“And what of the crash?” Iron asked, leaning forward to them as much as his body could allow, “What else did you find there?”

Egyes looked to Free for a moment, before nodding to him, “Nothing,” the gryphon answered, “it was a burnt out husk that still smoldered by the time any patrols got there. The weapons were nothing more than twisted metal from the heat, any gem stones that brought the thing to life were long detonated from the blast…” finally Egyes got to the part Iron was looking for, “and there was no trace of the mare either.”

“That fire melted away most of the metal, and just fused it to one another,” Free answered Irons’ unasked question, “any trace of her that was there, is now part of the machinery that she created.”

Irons’ mind stopped there, as the three continued talking about what was found or remained of the wreckage. Tuning them out, he turned his mind to the mare, as he tried to think of any avenue she could have taken to get out of her own fireball. But with her wings clipped, and drained from the fight from what he could tell. Bronze was in no position to lift a claw, let alone escape a combusting airship. Though, instantly his mind jumped to but one thing.

Looking on either side of him, the colt finally realized he wasn’t in his armor any more. Dotting his eyes around the room, thankfully he soon rested them on the very piece of hardware that saved his skin a number of times over the last several months. All the nicks and dents he would have to repair, the weapons he could add given the ideas in his head, and the improvements he could make. It all started to make his mouth water, but one thing caught his attention.

“Her wings…” Iron pointed out, as the others stopped talking, “Where are her wings?” he asked as he looked at the barren back piece.

“Oh, those had broken off as you were hauled in here actually,” Free commented, looking over the pile of metal, “they were left with it when I was last in here, but were probably scrapped by one of the doctors when they had to remove your suit.”

“Well now… that’s a damn shame,” Iron looked at his friends’ back, or more so his wings. All the damage they went through from Reinhart, he could still see under the wounds that healed. From the subtle twists or chinks in their form, to the missing feather to two, he knew they wouldn’t carry the Pegasus very far in the future.

“What are you thinking?” Egyes asked.

“Kinda throwing the idea around of making a prosthetic pair of wings for Free,” he stated, watching as the pony in question just rolled his eyes at the comment, “What? You saw how well they worked for Bronze, what could it hurt?”

“I don’t feel like having my wings shoot out rockets, or ray spells, or damn daggers…” he shot his friends idea down, “so to answer your question, Me.”

Crossing his hooves with one another, Iron pouted at him, “Party pooper…” his mind started to wander once more to a different mindset, “Though that doesn’t mean I couldn’t make a pair for my suit…”

Grace looked at the suit herself, which admittingly, she was grateful for him having at the time. Otherwise she would have woken up to the news of his death, instead of his sarcasm. ‘I’m still trying to figure out which one I would prefer…’ she pondered in silence as Iron and his two friends continued chatting with one another. Though the more she looked at the trio, and to the colt in question, the more she already knew the answer.

“…He does seem to grow on ya,” she muttered under her breath.

The doors of the ward opened up, and in came a young unicorn colt making his rounds for the night. Checking off notes on a clip board he held in front of him, he got to the beds before realizing that the two had finally come around.

“Ah, good to see you two are awake,” he took a respective bow towards his princess, “welcome back your majesty.”

“It’s good to be back,” she replied, gesturing him to get back up, “though I guess the next question would be when could we leave here?” Grace felt the many tinges of pain in her body, and could only imagine what Iron was going through, but the question still had to be asked.

Flipping through their charts, the unicorn did some quick mental math as he calculated and added their injuries up to something they would understand. “Whelp, for starters… it’s a wonder you two are alive.”

“…Shocker there.”

“Don’t be rude, Iron,” Grace silenced him for a moment, as the colt did as he was told to her surprise. Before she turned her attention back to the nurse, “Ignore him, please… continue.”

“As I was saying, Princess Grace your wings have sustained quite a few tears from the crash,” he looked over the diagram of a Pegasus wing for reference of the notes, “along with similar cuts and bruises. However, the tears are just muscular and will heal in a few days, just keep from flying all that much. The rest is just superficial.”

Flipping the chart on the princess over, he looked over the colts’ injuries, and that’s where his jaw line started to cringe all on its own from the many details that were listed. “Ahh you’re a whole different story… Mister Knight is it?” he waited for the colt to look at him, “you have about a dozen torn ligaments across your entire body, several fractured ribs, a severe concussion, multiple burns from exploded magical gems, and a missing horn…”

That last one on his list Iron had been waiting for, though as he was about to lay in to the colt, a single stare from Grace silenced ever thought he had. Sighing heavily, Iron looked back up at the nurse and changed his statement, “Not the first time I had to live without a horn really,” he pondered the thought from his earlier years, “Will I be able to at least walk soon?”

“That I personally would say yes to, the tonics and potions that are literally being pumped in to you,” he pointed to the several IV’s that dotted around the stallion, “have been helping to heal you up quite nicely. Though you will still have a few months of pain and discomfort before you’re completely healed.”

“And…” Grace wanted to ask, “what of his horn?”

“That will heal just as fast as his ribs will, which will take the longest. It is just bone after all, and will be of use to you once more when it’s done,” the nurse answered sincerely, “I’m still learning as a med student, however the doctor tomorrow will be able to give you a more formal and in depth explanation of your injuries, though I still see both of you out of here in a few days…” he looked over Iron once more, “that said, I would still recommend somepony keep an eye on you for a bit, just to be sure that concussion doesn’t come back to haunt you.”

“He’s already delusional,” Egyes pointed out, having figured that much about the colt already, “how much worse could it get?”

“Still, it couldn’t hurt…” the nurse remarked, ignoring the glares that Egyes was getting from the stallion in question. As Free and Grace relished in their friends’ demise, “for now though, I would say wait till morning and get some rest for the time being. The doctor will see you then.”

Hanging their clipboards up on the foot of the beds, the nurse turned around and walked out to continue his rounds. Leaving the four there to themselves. Though with the night finally taking its toll, Freefall yawned wide at the prospect of sleep, knowing that his friend was going to live to fight another day.

“As I said earlier though, I’m going to hit the hay,” the colt stretched from where he stood, resting a gentle hoof on Irons’ bed. Giving him a gentle embrace with what remained of his wing, as the colt gladly returned the gesture, “glad to have ya back, have a goodnight you two, take care Grace,” he turned his attention to the mare before parting ways.

However, as science has proven, yawning is contagious. With Egyes soon following the stallion, his eyes started to droop even after the cup of coffee, and it wasn’t long before he said his own parting farewells to the two. Now only the two remained in the room, awake, but more drained than they felt before. Surviving that much will take a lot out of ya, as Iron and Grace found themselves laying their heads back down on their pillows.

Yet with them now to themselves, Graces’ mind was left to wander, and it found one thing she hadn’t quite gotten to say just yet. Given the current circumstances, “…Iron?”

“Yes, Grace?”

“…Thank you,” she whispered enough for him to hear under her soft breath, “Thank you, for everything.”

Although she wasn’t looking, Grace could feel the colt smiling back at her, and the only confirmation she needed. Was his next words, “Remember, It’s what I’m here for…”

Chapter 43

“And it’s a welcome to have you back, your majesty,” all of the council members took a respective bow towards their leader, as Grace took her seat and beckoned them to join her.

“It’s a gift to be back,” she smiled at them with all the warmth that she could manage, thinking that there’s at least a dozen different places she’d rather be.

With the pleasantries out of the way, the file on the airships’ crash was brought out by each of them and placed on the table. As one of her advisors looked to Grace, “I’m sure you have read the reports?” he waited for her nod, “needless to say, it’s quite a cleanup operation.”

‘One that I’m sure you have plenty of ideas to go about…’ Grace mumbled to herself, blissfully watching the lips of her various council members move as they rambled amongst themselves, while she nodded in acknowledgement.

“As you have been recuperating in the ward, there has been many things that have been tossed about this room,” another member piped up, grabbing her attention when it was really needed, “and as a result, there are a few things that-”

Grace held up a single hoof, silencing him and all the others from their little side conversations. “For far too long… I have sat in this chair, listening to the arguments that have waged between all of you… I’m sure you all have great ideas of how to handle this situation that we have,” the princess stated, forming the words in the back of her mind as she spoke.

“That said however… you are my advisors, here to toss in your own two cents when it’s suggested, and run things in my absence… following my order,” Calmly, the mare got up as she places her hooves on the table, looking at every single one of them. Narrowing her vision to the point that several started to lean back in their chairs, if only to get away from the snake like gaze.

“My country has been at war for the last several months now, we have lost a good deal of our own soldiers from various little fights here and there, with many of our own displaced from their homes as a result of the fighting,” she pauses to catch her breath, “I’m not a queen, I’m not a politician, that’s why I have all of you… but what I am is a sensible pony, and one that knows when something must be done.”

“And we just want the same,” another member rose with her, “your maje-”

“Then explain to me why when this council took more power after my parents passing, processing and efficiency seemed to take a down turn, and nearly grind to a halt,” Grace asked the same member, watching as their mouth shut and seconds later took their seat. “My point is… for far too long I have let you lead me, without doing some of the leading myself.”

Steadily, one of the council members took a gulp in their throat before they even dared speak up, “So what is it you’re asking of us… Princess Grace?”

With all the sincerity and pride that she saw from another mare in her eyes, Grace imbued in to her own as she glared at them all, “how about a change of pace,” she replied with, “I’m going to work to wear the title that I have.”

“So I shut them all up…” Grace said proudly as she pounded back her third cup of ale, holding herself steady as she sat in the middle of the trio with Iron by her side. Gesturing for Able to come over and refill her glass with the same brew, while the other three digested what she just told them, “they will advise when I ask of it in matters I may not know, they will take charge when I am not around but will follow my orders that are laid out,” the mare took another sip of her drink, savoring it more this time around, “and lastly, when I make a call, they’re to only advise in its possible change… not just do it behind my back.”

“And just like that, they all submitted?” Free asked, drinking from his own glass.

“At the time they couldn’t really argue with me,” Grace summarized the many reactions, and some objections, she got from them, “besides, what I had ordered to be done wasn’t really as farfetched as they might have thought.”

“This is very true; you ordered that many of the same weapons Bronze created, formed in your own nation, to help keep the DDR and Gryphons in check,” Egyes started to ponder how much of an arsenal Seren could pump out, given its vast resources. “While on top of this you amended the treaty between the other nations that if another threat is made against your own, there will be no negotiations, only a war they couldn’t hope to win… given your upcoming armaments.”

Grace smirked at her last change she made with the council, happily taking a large gulp of her drink, “I’m not a politician, but that doesn’t mean I can’t sort ‘em out when need be.”

“So you finally got a backbone against those that advised you…” Iron snickered at her, “Bravo to you, Gracie.” With a light smack to his side, Iron winced from the minor shot of pain, knowing she held a key advantage to use so long as his ribs were still healing.

“Well now I had it put rather well to me not too long ago…” she pondered for a moment trying to recall the exact words, “I’m the bucking princess of Seren… I believe you said,” returning his smirk with her own. The colt had nothing to say to that one and only clanked his glass with hers.

“I’ll drink to that.”

“I know you well enough to safely say, you’ll drink to anything,” Grace held up her glass with his, and brought it to her lips, “though I couldn’t agree more.”

For a time, they all quietly sat there at the bar counter. Relaxing to themselves, as they let the stresses and worries of the last several months’ melt away for a time. Relishing in the simplicities of the drinks they were served, and the company they had with them. Though at a time like this, it leaves ones’ mind to wander in to the unknown, as one stared to wonder but one question.

“So… what happens next?” Grace looked up from her half empty glass.

Egyes sat there for a time in silence, fiddling with his glass before making up his mind. “Whelp, your majesty… if it’s all the same to you, I think I could take you up on your offer.” He watched as the princesses face of confusion turned to that of a smile, as she traded the baffled expression with one of the colts next to her.

“Oh? What might that have been?” Free asked, looking over the top of his glass.

“Given the untimely death of a certain drake… an assistant spot just happened to open up in the castle,” the gryphon rolled his eyes about, snickering that the dragon in question got what he deserved, after hearing the whole story from the mare. “I may have to brush up on my paper-pushing skills, but I think I’m up for the task… so it seems I’ll be sticking around the area.”

“Hehe… you’ll have Free to keep ya company then,” Iron pointed out, “plus when it comes to heading out in the field, at least then I’ll know that he’s got someone to watch his back.”

“As much as I hate to admit it…” the Pegasus looked back at his tattered wings, waving them wistfully against the air, “he’s got me there, I’m not nearly going to be as good in a fight as I used to be.”

“Plus you have to go automaton hunting, there’s still quite a few out there…” Iron pipped up, “especially after Bronze decided to salt some of the land from her ship.”

“Thank you… Iron, for reminding me,” Free slumped down in his stool, already not looking forward to the thought of having to go hoof to hoof with those armored devils.

“Don’t worry there, Free,” Egyes cracked his knuckles against themselves, “I’d be more than happy to lend a claw in breaking a few of those cans down.”

An eerie chuckle escaped the mares’ lips, already starting to tally up some of the casualties of hunting down those remnants of the mare that she left behind. However, with these two working together, she had little doubt that they couldn’t get the job done. Yet one question was left in her mind though.

“So what of you then, Iron,” she almost cooed to him, beckoning his full attention, “what will you do?”

The colt upon hearing her question, sat there for a time, pondering her words. Granted, he’d love to stay around and play with some of the new toys that the nation would soon have to work with. Hell, Iron probably could come up with a few of his own. It’d been a while sense he had been around Free, plus the new friends he made along the way. Pitching a tent up back in Seren a second time around, wouldn’t seem so bad.

‘Then again, my calling is elsewhere now…’ he told himself at the time, “For lack of a better term, my work here is done,” Iron said quietly as they all tuned their ears to him, “I still got a job back in Degus to return to after all… besides,” the colt shrugged his shoulders, trying to brush off the minor loss he was feeling inside, “its Wednesday, so if I left sometime tomorrow, then I could still make it there before the weekend.”

Silently, the other three patrons of the group nod in acceptance. They knew the colt loved his job, none more than Freefall. It was only expected that Iron would have to go back to his roots eventually when this debacle ran its course. Sensing the moment was right for what he had been waiting for only about half the night to say, one gryphon took it upon himself to raise a glass to the air.

“Then may I say this,” Egyes pounded his chest, working out the air that had built up in his gut so he may catch a breath, “may at some point, we all meet again… under better circumstances the next go around.”

After a chuckle from the group, they all clanked their various chalices together, and took that wordless oath to return to one another. With those words said though, they got back to the comfort of what the tavern had to offer them.

A cold drink, and good friends.

It goes without saying that some creatures can hold their liquor better than others. Ponies typically come around midrange on the tolerance scale, donkeys the lower end, and all things considered… never challenge a dragon to any sort of drinking game. Though for the last two remnants to walk out of the bar to be a pair of ponies in a heavily diverse region, that’s something to be said.

Free had enough not long after their toast, the weight of realizing he would have to return to duty sooner than expecting took its toll, as he ventured to at least attempt to get an early start to the day. While Egyes taking his duties as “Royal Paper-bitch” (as dubbed by Iron) rather seriously, wasn’t far behind him, if only to get him settled in the new quarters he was given. Leaving only two left to walk out on to the streets by themselves.

“This is why I normally drink in my own chambers,” the princess murmured as she stumbled on her four hooves, “there isn’t that much distance between my couch and my bed.”

“Well as long as it doesn’t turn out like the first night I drank with Free sense my return…” Iron looked up and around every which way, if only to ensure no one was lurking around, “I think we’ll be fine.”

“Ever the one for a clever comment, aren’t cha?” Grace turned her glassy eyes to the colt, as he helped lead her down the streets to her castle.

“Hey I would suggest you to fly us there…” Iron smirked over his shoulder down at the mare, “but I think we both know how that turned out last time.”

At this point from the many comments and jokes made in the bar to now, Grace had had enough, and barely able to stand to begin with. Found herself balling on the ground in a fit of giggles. Iron didn’t have a chance to keep her up at this point, granted he was making fun of their near demise, but then again. At least he was making good humor about it. Besides, a mare, drunk out of her mind, laughing her flank off well past midnight, in the middle of a street… and a princess at that. Some moments you don’t want to pass up watching, and you just have to save them in the back of your mind.

Managing to get herself under control, Grace climbed up to her hooves, with some help from him. As they continued their way back to the castle, “… I might have wanted to kill you at first,” she watched the ever knowing brow of the colt stand on edge, “Okay… I unquestionably wanted to at least strangle you,” she corrected her statement, “But I have to say… I’m gonna miss you, Iron…”

And just like that, the silence returned to them once more.

Though this time, the colt was ready for it, “This isn’t a goodbye you know,” he brought her chin up a bit as it began to drop, with a nudge of his muzzle to the side of her own, “School years almost over, you realize that right?... being a teacher has its perks, for example, I can do whatever I want these next coming months,” Iron began to think on it more, “actually I think this is the fastest the year ever gone by for me…”

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” she smirked with him, the colts’ words bringing a smile back to her face, “… or when you’re almost getting killed, but then again I think you liked the thrill.”

“Oh it was a guilty pleasure of mine, I admit that… however, I can probably still get scrolls by magic, sending them might be tricky, but I’ll manage,” he said as they headed up to the castles main gate, and a pair of guards let them in. Never questioning the colt that Grace had in tow, “All I’m saying is an extended visit in the near future, wouldn’t be out of the question… I’m like an STD,” he watched as Grace stopped mid stride from where she walked, and turned sober if only for a split second, “you aint getting rid of me that easily, sweetie.” He left her off with a wink.

Processing the comment as best she could, Grace righted herself, as she caught back up with the colt, “Horrible reference… yet oddly fitting,” they finally reached the cross roads of the castle where they would have to part ways. Stopping there she watched as various guards went about their patrols of the night, while others on shift did their duties, “Unless I get down there first that is.”

“I think you owe me another drink by now anyway,” he grinned at her, as if she needed a reminder for the quickest way to his heart.

Grace considered the sentiment as she nodded politely at him, before putting her hooves out to him, and the two embrace one another once more. “Then again… by this point, I think I owe you a hell of a lot more than just a drink…”

Though the mare got the drop on Iron as he remained lost in the moment, and had a few brain cells fried from the thoughts trailing. Leaning up even further, the mare planted a sincere kiss on the side of his cheek. Yet unlike the first time she had acted, the colts’ brain seemed to retain most of its function, and Irons’ eyes simply started to droop as they eased down to hers.

Mustering the sincerest words he could, given the state of mind he was in. Iron hugged her a little tighter, “Have a goodnight, Miss Grace…” the colt bowed, and kissed the end of her hoof, “I hope to see you soon.”

“And to you as well, Mister Knight,” she returned the gesture with a curtsy, “on both accounts.”

Chapter 44

Axton held a few books up in his claws as the drake leaned against the wall. All the while Misty rummaged through her locker between the class periods. Levitating out the notebooks she needed for the upcoming class, the mare slid them in to her satchel, locked up, and turned her attention to the drake.

“There we are, shall we?” she began trotting down the hall, Axe close in tow, “our report’s finished in this book, already proof read and everything… now we just have to see if this Sub will even ask for the work.”

“Or forget about it like last time?” the drake started to chuckle for a moment, as the mare subtly bumped her flank against his hip.

“Him forgetting about the work just proves his incompetence as an educator,” she stuck her nose up in the air, maintaining the posh manner that her mother tried to instill in her, “… I just hope Mister Knight isn’t gone for the whole school year…”

Having known the mare for the last several years, whether it be in school, or even meeting her out in town like they did. The drake picked up on all her subtle cues and mannerisms, then again, dropping ones’ head nearly to the floor with a pout wasn’t all that subtle.

“Easy there, sweetheart,” he rested a calm claw across the small of her back, “he can’t be gone forever, he’d miss us all too much… especially Onyxs’ gimmicks.” That comment at least brought a grin to the mares’ face, and with that much satisfying him. Axton pushed the door open for them as he held it for the mare.

“Thank you, Axe,” she winked up at him.

“Anytime, doll face,” he returned the gesture.

“Well aren’t you two just touching…” and one colt broke the moment.

From that voice alone, the two forgot about each other for a time and turned their attention to that of another. Right there, sitting calmly on his stool, was their teacher, Iron Knight. Legs crossed with one another, which to this day none of them understood how he could balance himself like that. A smile across his face, just as much as the rest of the class had. While even in his words, it sounded like nothing had changed in the slightest from the day he left… even with the several bandages they could see on him, and the obvious lack of a horn for the most part.

“Judging by the heavy blush that the two of you have,” he analyzed the pair, hushing any questions they had, “would I be right to assume you just came from the bleachers by the fields?”

Shaking their heads, if only to dispel the idea going though Irons’ mind, the two fessed up. “No Mister Knight,” Misty answered first, “we just didn’t know when you were going to return… we’re a little surprised.”

“Besides, we were at the fields yesterday… Misty here had to grab something from her locker, otherwise we might’ve been,” Axe followed up, receiving a playful shove from the mare as they made their way to their seats. As several of the students even started to snicker and rave at the drakes’ words. Before it spread through the class, raising the endorphins in the room two fold.

Iron had missed this.

All of it.

Even for the best workshop he could ask for, all the money in the country, or the supplies he could only dream of. Nothing of it compared to the pride he got while teaching those that he found before him once again. After what seemed like a life time of being gone.

“Glad to hear you two have finally came in the lime light,” he nodded to them simply, pushing the matter no further. Adopting a grin, that all of them came to either love or hate, Iron stared them all down, “That said… playtime’s over, and I’m back in business, so please turn to-”

One hoof shot up, silencing the colt where he sat. Gesturing to the colt, Onyx dropped the hoof as he almost got up out of his chair, “Wait a second… Sir,” he maintained at least the respect that Iron asked, “you leave for the better part of the school year, we get stuck with probably the poorest excuse of a substitute that the district could drag out from under a rock,” the many heads nodding confirmed Irons’ silent fear. Them being taught, by one with a personality inclined to a loaf of bread.

“All we hear is multiple rumors floating about of where you’ve been summoned to, and what you were doing. Then one day you just randomly pop back in to the class, act like nothing’s changed, and glass it over with a ‘playtimes’ over’…” he stared down the unicorn, just as much as Iron had them all, “With respect, sir… that shit don’t fly…”

Iron sat there motionless, and more impressively, wordless for a few minutes as they all waited to hear what he had to say. Granted, walking up to the Abby this morning in his condition nearly put the mare in shock. Though she’s a tough nut, and could handle the surprise, the mare would hear about his debacle in time. Then again, his students wanted to know now, and whether he wanted to tell them or not. They weren’t going to take No for an answer.

“Whelp… let me ask this first,” he waited for Onyx to take a seat, “what kind of rumors did you hear?”

“You were enlisted in the army.”

“Princess Grace had personally taken you away.”

“You had died somewhere in the Gryphon Kingdom!” another student shouted out last, as they all answered at the same time.

With all the rumors coming at him at once, Iron just wondered how things got out this fast in a small town like this. Then he remembered one crucial fact, this was a high school… news spreads like wild fire here.

Holding up a single hoof, the class silenced themselves far faster than he ever remembered. “Okay first of all… No, I wasn’t a solider, I just built suits of armor… kinda. Secondly, yes and no, Grace came to get me, but it was to convince me to help.”

“You mean, Princess Grace?” Ash asked, picking up the use of her actual name.

“No… the other one,” Iron diverted away from a story that would have had all the girls in his class going googly eyed, “And lastly… well I obviously didn’t die,” he pointed out to his still very breathing form, “Though I did come close to it a few times.”

At that last statement, all their eyes went wide, and only one gryphon found the courage to really say anything further. Syllia raised up her claw, and Iron already picked up on the steady tear that held itself in her eye, from just the thought of losing her favorite teacher. “So… then what did you do?” she asked cautiously.

“Hehe… you wouldn’t believe me if I told you…” he watched their minds try to figure out how much they could handle.

Before one finally had an answer, “Try us,” Onyx said.

“Went to be an artisan, ended up being a spy, which soon turned to soldier. Went to war with a king, and a chieftain… ended up killing both, in one way or another,” Iron caught his breath, as he proudly rubbed his hoof against his chest, “learned quite a bit about some new tech, learned even more about some new friends. Met two mares along the way, one trying to kill me from time to time, and one probably wanting me dead at several points… became the death of one, and probably saved the nation,” the colt stood up from his stool, and waltzed over to his desk with more pep in his step then they had seen usually, “then decided to come back to work.”

Blank expressions.

Blank expressions everywhere.

From all that he listed, to just come back to being a run of the mill teacher. Not a single student knew what to say to something like that, as the colt had single hoofed ripped the words out of their mouths.

Except for one.

“Bullshit…” Onyx, ever the stubborn one, disagreed.

Though with his words, Iron just shrugged his shoulders, “Believe me, or not… that’s your choice, either way I kept up on my word and told you what I had been up to,” he picked up his personal notebook for the class and started flipping through the pages. “All that said… please turn to-”

Yet another disruption, this time in the form of a scroll, appeared before the colt. He may not be able to reply to them, but messages sent by enchantments can still make their way to the individual no problem. That much at least brought a smile to his face, as an ever larger one started to appear as he noticed the seal on the parchment.

Ripping it open, it unrolled as the colt instantly found himself lost in the words. Skimming through them slowly, Iron couldn’t tell, but each of his students were making note of the subtle changes in a stallion that all of them liked to think they knew rather well. From the blood rushing to his own cheeks, to the giddiness in his hoof as it fidgeted back and forth. To even the simple twitching of his eye brows. They all saw a different side of the colt, one that they couldn’t quite place.

Though one student picked up on something many of them don’t, from her position right in front of his desk. A small zebra mare peered closer at the parchment, noticing the seal instantly, and especially what’s placed right next to it.

“Excuse me, if I may, but I believe I have something to say,” she brought Iron back to their attention, as the mare called it out to the class, “this letter has two seals, of which it bares, one of the crown… and one of a mare?”

Flipping it back over the instant he finished reading the last line, Iron looked closer next to the seal, and just like the youngling said. Right there next to the seal of the crown, was a simple pressed mark, of lip stick.

‘You sly little filly…’ Iron started to chuckle at the nuance, while the rest of them remained oblivious.

“Is it possible that our teacher, a fare Knight,” the zebra leaned in a little closer to him, reading his own expressions as her species always seemed to do, “has found a female, for which he will fight?”

Unable to wipe the stupid grin off his face, Iron opened up his drawer and slid the scroll neatly inside, before he turned back to them. “That class, is a story for another day…” he closed the drawer, looking at the letter before it disappeared from view, “… now… where were we?”

The satchel on his back hit the ground with a thud, as the several pounds of paperwork weighed it down and reminded the colt he was in for a long weekend. Almost an entire year, almost a whole year of ungraded papers and reports he had to do before the end of the school year. “I’m going to kill that substitute…” Iron groaned to himself, as he dragged the satchel over to his couch, and propped it up against the edge.

Granted, some Subs were actually very astute at their job, heck they were nearly teachers themselves. That said, a lot that he’s run in to at least were nothing more than young adults that thought it would give them a quick paycheck.

Reaching down in to the bag though, Iron pulled out but one parchment. The same scroll he got in class, as he confirmed one thing. “… Six o-clock,” he noted, looking up to his own clock on the wall, “hmm… about an hour and a half.”

Carrying the scroll up to his room, Iron plopped it on to the dresser, as the colt himself made way to the shower. It had been a long day, and considering he rolled back to his home late last night. The stallion was overdue for a shower; the least he could do was make himself presentable.

Rubbing his hooves through his mane and across his coat. Iron still felt the tinge of pain shooting to his mind at every broken bone or burn he sustained, all of which will just remind him of his little adventure for many weeks to come. While the scars that follow, will be there to jog his memory for years. Though with himself satisfied with the grime and dirt from the day scrubbed out, the colt made stepped on to the mat.

Concentrating his mind, Iron prepared to do something he had done hundreds of times before. A simple drying spell. The energy formed, he released it… then Iron leapt back as the back fire sucker punched him straight in the skull. Rubbing his temple from the overload, he reminded himself of another injury he hadn’t had to deal with for quite some time.

“Ugh… this is gonna be weird getting used to again,” he placed a gentle hoof over the nub from his horn that remained, as the colt opted for a towel instead.

Cleaned, dried, and refreshed. Iron walked back in to his bedroom, and immediately went over to his bags. Having not even cared to put any of his stuff away from his time gone, he might as well do it now while the energy was still in him. The armor he could set up and deal with later, for now something else had gathered in his mind.

Rummaging through the small bag, he dumped the contents out on the desk, as the loose papers scattered across the surface. All old designs, making up prosthetic limbs, each one better than the last, as he could personally attest to. The mare had quite a talent after all. She understood machines and how they worked better than many of those Iron had met in the fields. Yet at the same time, she didn’t just understand the ones of their time, but made new ones of her own.

Most of which would bring about death and destruction yes, however, many of them could also do so much good for those that have been injured. Sifting through the pile, Iron found one such design. A pair of wings, canvas flaps, with a light brass frame on them for support and structure. While all across them, he could see the holes cut out for where the charged gems would be placed to bring the objects to life, at the will of the user. It was something he could make, something that would help his friend. Even if Free may not want ones that could shoot rockets, or were fire proof, Iron would get him off the ground at least.

“Now… how to work from this?” he asked himself, pushing some of the other designs off to the side as he focused on the wings.

However, with that motion, something else got his attention. A small clank of something hitting the floor, drew the colts’ attention away from the designs, and he looked down to see but one thing. A piece of paper, folded up over itself. Unfolding it, Iron felt his heart clench in his chest, not just from what the paper was, but also what it contained.

Nothing more than a family photo. A single Pegasus mare, held her earth pony daughter in her hooves as the little filly smiled with delight, while a unicorn beamed at the lovely family that was his own. An image he had seen before, many months ago. Yet what drew his attention, was what remained folded in the crimps of the paper.

A bolt.

A bronze bolt.

Worn down from years of use, reshaped and threaded at the hooves of a skilled artisan such as himself, and one that had a past to it he personally never knew of. It was a memento that he been given, something just to remind him of who he had faced. Iron admired the craftsmanship that was put in to the piece, probably even more so than the one that had actually created the thing.

“Your family would have been proud of you,” He whispered to the simple hunk of metal, “no matter what you may have done, they would have been proud… like any parents would their kin.”

As if it was a family heirloom, Iron held it close to his chest, before he placed it neatly on the dresser. Along with the picture next to it, as a simple keepsake. “I don’t know what had happened to you, for you to hold such a grudge… Bronze,” he spoke as if the bolt was still attached to the mare, “but perhaps the next time you show face… if you’re still out there, your gift won’t bare so much malice.”

Gathering the remains of the notes he had taken, Iron slid them in to his own desk, as he looked down at his watch. Deciding it was time, he looked himself over once more in the mirror for good measure. Before his eyes fell to the bolt yet again.

Dipping his head down at the object, the colt showed at least in parting that much respect for the fellow engineer. She may have been trying to kill him more than half the time, and Bronze may have basically attempted to wipe three nations off the face of the planet. Yet, in some way shape or form, something had created the mare in to the monster that she became. Bronze wasn’t born that way, but something had happened to rip the smile off that young fillies’ face.

“Where ever you may find yourself, take care out there… Miss Bolt,” with those final words, Iron headed for the door.

Chapter 45

For one of the few taverns in the town, the crowd that gathered here this Friday night paled in comparison to some of the other nights that Amber had faced down in the past. Largely working the counter by herself, the mare had time to even make her own self a little snack as the night pressed on, and the other servers that worked there tended to the needs of patrons that filled the tables and booths.

Leaning back against the counter, Amber hiked one leg up against the edge of the bar top as she held herself firm. Thankful that she managed to get the renovations done that she desired, if only to keep her friend from making more comments regarding her posterior… and just like that, the thought of the colt had come to her mind once more.

For months she hadn’t heard a word from Iron, he had been here one Friday, and just like that. The stallion never showed up again. Amber had figured it had something to do with the princess coming to see him, who knows what sort of trouble he may have gotten himself in out there in the capital. Especially considering some of the rumors she heard that went about town. Though all that said, as much as she may have told him No in the past.

Right now she’d say Yes… if only to have him back.

“Where ever you are, Iron,” Amber dipped her head down, as she tried to hide a tear away from those around her, “Please… just be safe.” The mare turned herself around away from the others in the bar, holding herself up with her fore hooves against the counter, “I don’t know what I’d do if you had gotten hurt out there.”

“Well I’m pretty sure that I’ve been through worse…” the mares’ head shot up, as her body whipped around and her eyes meeting those of her friends’ as he sat there on a stool. The bandages, wounds, and the missing horn that he wore tore away at the mare as she wondered what he had gotten himself in to over the last several months. Though with the coy smile that he found, it all became too much for the mare. “Tis but a flesh-”

Hoof met face.

Face met floor.

Iron laid there for what seemed like a few seconds, as his brain re-calibrated itself from the impact, and he tried to find those words that would save him from the obviously fuming mare.

“…You hit like a girl.”

Wrong words.

With his motor function out of commission for the time being, and his body tired from the fighting it’s had to go through recently. Everything seemed to fail the stallion as he laid there, and the mare leapt up to meet him head on, as she pressed against his chest to keep him on the ground.

“IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?!” she fumed, breathing down his muzzle from her own.

Then again, Iron had stared down death more often than not lately, so a mare wanting to kill him hasn’t become all that uncommon. “Well hello to you too, Amber,” he kept up a simple smile.

“You leave after one night, I get a random special visitor, then you don’t show face for the next several months!” the tears that started to build previously to his arrival finally gave way, as they started to fall and saturate the colts’ coat. Amber could handle the embarrassment of the display in her own establishment that she was giving her patrons, she'd seen enough mares and even a few colts do the same thing.

All that mattered to her was she had her friend back…

“Where did you go?! What did you do? And why in the love of everything high and mighty did you not at least say you were safe and sound!” With those final words, the strength that Amber had left her. Like a rock, the mare fell on to his chest in a fit of tears. “I hate you… I hate you so damn much sometimes,” she sniffled, pulling her head back to look the colt in the eyes, “but I’d rather know you were hurt and injured, than out in some random country probably dead… and never hear about it.”

For a second there, the colt was still. Then a gentle hoof placed itself against her cheek, as it began to wipe the tears away, “That… is probably the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Iron started to chuckle a bit, before he helped himself and the mare to their hooves, wrapping her up in an embrace the moment they were steady. “I’m sorry I didn’t write or anything… needless to say, I was a little busy.”

“Clearly…” the mare returned to her former self with a chuckle, as she noted the injuries once more. Cantering herself back around the bar, she met him as he took his seat, and poured a glass of cider for the colt. “So… then would you care to tell me what in Tartarus you’ve been up to?”

“Oh I’d love to… but that might have to wait for another night, perhaps dinner?” the colt shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, “least I could do after keeping you out of the loop for several months.”

“Oh you’re going to be paying for this for at least the next few seasons…” Amber made a mental note. Intending to never let the colt live it down for as long as physically possible, “Though why not start now?”

“Hehe… this requires way too much time to cover,” Iron started, thinking of the best way to word the next part, as a smile grew, “besides, I’m supposed to be meeting someone here.”

A friend she hadn’t met? Something sparked the mares’ interest, especially upon seeing her friends’ reaction. “Someone special I may assume?” Amber tutted over, snickering at him.

“Oh…” Irons’ ears perked up upon hearing the door open up, and the bell ring. Looking over top his shoulder, even with the long cloak over head to keep the cool winds of the evening at bay, the colt still recognized that walk from a mile away. “… you could say that.”

Sitting on the stool next to him, the pony never caught the attention of Amber, as she still tried to read her friend. Though with a graceful hoof, the cloak hood was thrown back, and with it golden locks draped themselves over the mares features.

“Miss Ale looks like she either wants to kill you, or give you a hug,” the mare noted her counterparts position, “…Iron.”

Hearing her name, Amber snapped out of her daze, and from that moment. Lost most of her mental function of words, for a time that is, “Ahh… umm…” she shook her head, “Well this is a surprise.”

“Well she kinda tried to do both a few moments ago…” Iron mentioned, as he turned his attention to the mare of his interest, “I thought the doctor said to keep off your wings for a bit?”

Grace just rolled her eyes, her guards had said the same thing after all, “He may have, but it wasn’t that bad of a flight. Besides, I got an early start this morning and paced myself.”

“Well good evening, your majesty,” Amber finally realized to bow before the presence of royalty, “I’m sure you have quite the story to tell, one that Iron also will share… given that he hasn’t kept me up to date sense he left.”

“Oh is that so…” Grace muttered, glaring at the stallion, “under any normal circumstance I would allow you to interrogate the colt against his free will…” the princess watched as the stallion only chuckled at the thought, while Amber forgot for a moment that this was the mare running her country. “However, this isn’t exactly normal… so He’ll fill you in later though.” She left it off with a wink, one that only two mares would understand as Iron remained oblivious to the exchange.

“Much appreciated, princess,” the mare nodded gingerly, “May I get you anything though?”

“Have you Cloud Mist Vodka?” Grace watched as Ambers’ own memories of the drink filled her mind, and with an exasperated affirmation, her question was answered silently, “I’ll take a double shot… and please, still call me Grace.”

“Coming right up, Grace.” As the mare went about her duty, sure that she’d have a more entertaining evening to look forward to now.

The Pegasus in question turned her attention to the colt before her, “You kept her out of the loop?”

“Ahh… kinda?” Iron already knew he was going to get an ear full from the mare at some point about this. Hell he’d probably hear it from both of them actually. But it was a bullet he was willing to bite, “I was rather busy, you know running around different countries working two different jobs really.”

“Didn’t have to accept that second one…” Grace sent an appreciating nod as the glass of the clear liquid found her hoof from the fellow mare, “But I’m so glad you did.”

“Still one thing I don’t quite get…” she watched Iron sip slowly on his own drink, pondering whatever his thought was as much as the concoction he was drinking, “Why do it?”

“You mean… Bronze?”

“Yes, why go through all this trouble to try and wipe out everything between three countries?” he questioned out loud something he had wondered for a while now, “There was so much she could have done with her gift, why remain dead set on destruction?”

“That… I can actually answer,” Grace sipped the glass of her preferred poison, thankful to enjoy the crisp taste once more, “Bronze lost those that she cared about to war between the nations, whether as a direct result of the fighting, or just another domino in the chain. In the end, she blamed all three countries that took part.”

“Mom and Dad I’m to assume?” Iron asked the question he already knew, “That explains the picture then…” the colt muttered.

“What was that last bit?”

“… Nothing… nothing at all,” the colt brushed the experience from earlier off, “still though, it had been a while sense the last fight. Long time to hold a grudge, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes, but it also gave her plenty of time to practice… something that didn’t matter in the end, she got what came to her,” Grace threw out there, as she took another drink. Though in the silence over her words, her eyes drifted back to those of the stallions, a pair of orbs that told her more than words ever could. “You think she’s still out there, don’t you?”

“… Not exactly saying it’s impossible,” Iron admitted to her, “There wasn’t anything found left of her, yet most of her tech left behind some remnants of its existence.”

“Hard to believe she’d survive though,” Grace backed up with, especially when she considered that they barely made it out of the ship, “if she does rear her head though, next time around… we’ll be ready.”

“I don’t exactly think that will be a problem…” Iron thought back to the bolt that he found.

No, he never took the picture... From what he can recall at least. Yes the bolt he never remembered crafting himself. Yet if he did just come across it and it got mixed up in his own bag of items. How did it get folded in with a picture, that would cause so many memories to come back in the future? Had the mare put it there, she could’ve just as easily slid a knife in his chest and Graces’ while they slept…

But she didn’t.

“Bronze… might have cleared her head with the little fight,” Iron threw his own opinion out there, mulling around how much he should really say on the matter, “If she did survive, I don’t think we’d ever know, and that’s how she’d like to keep it…”

Grace pondered the words for but a moment, before accepting them for their worth, “You might be right… assuming she is still out there. For her sake, I’d ask that she stay clear of Seren, or at least keep her head low,” the mare felt for her counterpart, “I know what it’s like to feel lost, and she was just dealt a bad hoof.”

Iron lifted his glass up in a hoof, and gently tapped the side of her own, “Though with that out of the way… lets switch to something a little warmer hearted, how long are you going to be down in my neck of the woods?”

“Well being a princess still grants me some time off here and there, counting in the memorandum I set forth with the council, they should be following my guidance even without my presence,” Grace thought about her decree, it was about time she grabbed the rungs. “That said, unless there’s another war, I should be free most weekends now… I think it’s time I learned more of those towns that lie further out, than I’m used to visiting…”

“I’m sensing a lot of travel in your future,” Iron looked down upon the coy smile of the mare.

“Well…” Graces’ eye lashes started to flutter, “I don’t think there’s any harm in starting with this one.”

“Oh really now,” the snicker of the colt met her own, “now who can we get to give you a tour about the area…” Iron started to wonder out loud, keeping a hoof to his chin as he rocked back and forth on the stool.

“I can think of one stallion who will have his schedule open in a month or so,” the mare reminded him of that fact, as if he forgotten it. “If he would be willing to act as my guide that is.”

Mulling it over in his head, Grace for a second had to ask herself if he was just being playful, or if he really had to think on that one. Though with the smirk growing as the seconds passed, it didn’t take long for her to figure that one out on her own. Iron placed a gentle hoof across her own as she left it resting on the counter top, and the action grabbed the mares’ attention two fold while their eyes met one another’s.

“I’d be delighted to… princess.”

Whether it was the brew she so loved going in to her veins, or the fact that none of the other patrons here this night had even recognized her yet, something gave the mare a little more encouragement this time around from their last encounter. Flaring a wing out, Grace wrapped it up and around the colts’ midsection as she pulled Iron in to her side, and with his hoof carefully wrapped around her. The two met in the middle, and expressed their affections like two young lovers often do.

As Iron and Grace let this little corner of the world melt away, creating their own domain. The kiss lasted longer than either of them intended, then again, a couple hooking up in a bar wasn’t something that was all that uncommon. Many of the others there didn’t pay the two even a second glance, so using the time they had to just savor the moment came at no extra cost to them.

To Amber on the other hoof, that’s a different story, as she now was short one plate in her stock after dropping it to the floor upon seeing the two.

Breaking away from one another after some time, a silent hush escaped either of their lips as the words they wanted to say fell on deaf ears for the night, but instead were spoken through their eyes. With only the subtle cues to egg them on, the pair simply relaxed in the comfort of their embrace, as Grace leaned her cheek against his shoulder. While Iron rested his chin atop her own head.

“So… Mister Knight,” Grace all but purred at the prospect of getting to spend some quality time with the colt, without a war looming over their head this time around… and probably getting the chance to annoy him, if only for some payback, “What do you say… we start with that drink?”

The end

Chapter 1

Some years ago…

Bronze Bolt packed up her school books after what arguably was the longest week of her career. Between a new project that was due on the following Monday, another one that required a partner for which she had none, and the usual antics of the other school kids. The bell dismissing them for the weekend had been very long in waiting for the young earth filly.

Stowing away her sketch book, Bronze simply paid little attention to her other classmates as they filed out of the room and chatted about the plans for the upcoming weekend. With everything in its place in her backpack, the filly slung her belongings across her small frame and started towards the door.

“Now just a long walk back…” she mumbled to herself as she passed by the other kids, trying to draw as little attention to herself as she could.

Leaving the school yard, the filly managed to avoid any contact with those she was taught with, as she entered her own little world. Blindly walking past the other town folk while they went about their own business, none paid Bronze any heed as she made her way down a side street onwards to home.

‘However, what should I do for the project?’ Bronze thought to herself as she reached the small towns’ boarders.

To many of the other kids who made a similar trek, a simple walk down a dirt path seemed more inclined to torture by their parents. Rather than a simple way of getting from point A to B. However, for the young mare the long walk to and from school gave her the alone time she very much desired at times.

That is, when she could get the time alone.

“Hey small stuff!” the piercing voice called out from the still spring wind to her ears. Bronze didn’t really even have to turn around to know which one of her tormentors this one was.

“Y-y-yes Marble?” she flinched by pure instinct as she looked behind her shoulder to see the colt a few grades higher than her, with a few of his pals, slowly closing the distance from where he stood.

“You know very well ‘what’ you little snot!” the far larger colt shouted out at her, once they were safely away from adults’ ears, “how dare you show me up like that with the report we had to do.” Marble huffed from his nostrils drawing mere inches from Bronzes’ own, “I worked all week on it! yet here you go, in one day I hear, put together a report talking about Fancy-Dancy technology that no pony has ever heard of, and blow mine out of the water!”

This is what her life has come to. The ritual that plagued Bronzes’ existence every time she did her school work, and did it just a little better than the class president… okay, maybe a lot better. However, that’s not the point. Bronze turned her work in, scores higher than Marble, then Marble and his friends (who she personally thinks are either just afraid of him, or really, really stupid) hunt her down after school and

give him her weekly beatings.

‘I just do my work and get it done,’ she thought while looking up at the older colt, watching out the corner of her eye as the others with Marble surround her, ‘it’s not my fault that I just out do him with less work.’

“Well?! Have you nothing to say?” the enraged colt ground his teeth till they hurt, waiting for a reply.

“I-I-I just do my work Marble,” Bronze tried to explain for the hundredth time, “it’s not my fault that it just come natural-”

Without another word from her mouth, a hoof was sent in to her chest, and skipped the filly across the ground as she gasped for breath. For being such a large pony for their age, Bronze even had to admit that Marble moved pretty fast, but then again that didn’t seem as surprising considering that Marble from even a young age as a unicorn, learned to teleport. Still, he was fast enough that before she even stopped on the ground. Marble was over top her once more.

“Natural? Aint nothing natural about you, you hear me?” he insulted his lesser once more, pressing down in to Bronzes’ ribcage to keep her steady, “for an earth pony such as yourself, how can you be so smart? You shouldn’t even be an earth pony by all counts.”

Yet another thing Bronze had to admit. Her fathers’ side of the family was heavy in unicorn genes, while her mothers’ were scattered with Pegasus ponies and unicorns. At the very least she should be able to teleport her away from this little encounter, but no, fate has punished her with just legs to keep her up. Yet even they weren’t that strong.

The only thing it seemed that she got from her parents was the same low cut black mane of her father (that barely met her shoulders) as a similarly tinted tail graced her hindquarters, and the metallic bronze coat and eyes from her mom for which she was aptly named. Yet that subtle reminder that she was their little filly did little to bolster her, as Bronze took another hit to the ribs.

With the air retreating from her body faster than she could suck it back in, Bronze didn’t even have time to call for help before Marble picked her up in a magical aura and threw her across the road way in to a tree. If her bones weren’t logically stronger from being an earth pony, they probably would have broken, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Mrpmh!” Bronze yelped out under a tight jaw from the impact as she slumped to the ground.

“Nice toss there, Marble,” one of the bullies’ fellow unicorns commented.

“Why thank you, Crab Apple,” he acknowledged with an overly polite bow, “Crosswalk, any pony coming this way?”

The Pegasus colt leaped up in to the sky to check around them for a moment before he touched back down next to their ringleader, “nope, you still got time to play.”

“Excellent…” Marble sneered, moving in closer to his prey. All the while he watched the very young filly lay there in a slump. Not even trying to get away, or move for that matter.

‘This isn't going to stop,’ Bronze thought back to all the teasing she had gotten throughout the years of being in this school.

Whether it was her parents being both a unicorn and a Pegasus, and her only being an earth pony. Bronze having a fairly ‘coltish’ sounding name, and being better in most fields that colts’ normally specialized in. Heck even her scoring higher than pretty much every other student, and yet being an earth pony. Bronze knew that this is how every school year would be, even as this one drew to a close in a few months.

“I’m talking to you, twerp!” Marbles’ voice broke her train of thought as she felt the cold hoof of her attacker on her shoulder. Turning her over, Marble wasn’t met with the pity filled filly he attacked on a regular basis. Instead the only thing that greeted him was a hammer being swung in to his face.

Bronze never left home without it, it was her trusty tool, and one that got her out of a few sticky situations. Mostly with small projects that she had, this is the first situation she ever used it as a weapon, a rather effective one at that.

Marble landed face first in to the ground, while a thick stream of blood pooled on the ground as he tried to pick himself up. As he did, he only saw the tear filled face of a young filly he had made fun of one to many times. With her hammer clenched firmly in her teeth, Bronze stood there as Marble remained only on his fore hooves staring up at her. Even his friends were unsure what to do from the sudden turn of events that they just saw with their own eyes.

“This… stops… now!” Bronze shouted out as she swung the hammer as hard as her neck would allow in to her oppressors’ leg. The impact caused only the gut wrenching crack of bone to fill all their ears, soon followed by the screams of a colt as Marble fully collapsed on to the ground on his side.

“You. Little. Wretch!” he bellowed between sobs and tears, as he fought up to his legs and stabilized himself on only three.

Bronze simply stood there, unsure what came over her. Whether it was that the torment had just piled up over the years, or if she finally saw her hammers’ handle sticking out of her bag. Something just clicked in the fillies’ mind that told her enough had been enough, though it didn’t seem like this would be the end of it. Bronze slowly started to back up away from Marble, as Crab and Cross closed in.

“You aren’t getting away that easily…” Marble growled as his minions got closer.

With a single flash from Crab Apples’ horn, Bronze could feel her body being lifted up off the ground in a telekinesis spell.

The colt wasn’t much older than her, and clearly hadn't been practicing his gift that much. Crab was barely able to use magic to move a pencil, let alone another pony. With a flick of her neck and a bit of luck, Bronzes’ trusted tool found its mark on the muzzle of the opposing unicorn. Causing him to break the spell just as the hammer nearly broke his nose.

Landing on all fours, and not waiting for the flag to drop, Bronze ran by the two unicorns on the ground. Picked her hammer up in her teeth, and galloped down the dirt path to home. Not before though she managed to pick up the tell tail whoosh of a pony taking off from the ground. Glancing over her shoulder, Bronze looked up to see Crosswalk flapping fast to catch up to the nimble filly.

They all may be stronger than her… but she was faster, more agile, and smarter.

With a quick duck, Bronze rolled off the path in to the woods, hoping to lose him in the canopy as she galloped across the grass. But with the day light at its highest, Cross still saw a clear path leading him to the young pony, as he stayed on her hooves from above.

Looking around the forest, Bronze recognized these parts all too well. They’re close to her home finally, here she had the home field advantage. ‘Now where are you… I saw you a few days ago,’ she mumbled to herself, before eyeing her prize just in front of her.

The fresh spring flowers that have popped up this year brought around a critter that one would expect, bees, and thanks to her parents having a home off the beaten path. Many of them decided to make their hives in the surrounding area, so as not to be disturbed by many ponies. Eyeing one hive that was closest to her reach. Bronze leaped up off the ground and landed on the branch next to is as the sounds of her pursuers wings grew in her own ears.

Her mother taught her how to respect the stinging insect, just so much so they could gather what honey they may want, and leave the rest for the bugs. A simple little trade off, bees aren’t bothered much, and they get some honey. It’s the little lessons that a mother gives, that can help you out when you most need it… such as now.

Using the claw end of her hammer, Bronze leaned out and hooked on to the end of the branch. Pulling it back as much as she could, before she counted the seconds between flaps, and how fast her heart was racing. ‘One… Two… Three!’ she went off in her head, finally releasing her bio weapon against torment.

Just as his friend Marble, Crosswalk didn’t know what hit him. Only the sudden feeling of splinters being shoved in his face, along with the rest of his body back flipping in midair until he hit the ground filled the colts’ mind. Looking up in a daze, he eyed the filly still up in the tree.

“Is that all you got?” he questioned, “a little comic book trick?”

“That’s not all of it…” Bronze mumbled under her breath.

All of a sudden, Cross realized that she stayed up there not because she was afraid of him, but what she had done.

The first sting he barely felt, the colt was far more focused on picking wood from his face, but by the second, third and fourth. Needless to say the colt soon found himself sprinting faster on his hooves from the damaged hive than he ever could have with his wings. Leaving Bronze to slowly crawl down from her perch, listening to the cries of her enemy as they fled. With a smug smile across her face, the young filly trotted her way through the rest of the woods to the clearing of her home.

A simple little cottage built in to an old oak tree, with several additions built in as her parents had her, and her fathers’ work grew. As off the beaten path as it may be, Bronze would rather be nowhere else when it came time to relax and rest her mind. Coming up to the front door, the filly opened it with ease and stepped inside to find her mother in the kitchen making supper.

“Hi sweetie!” Aurora called out to her daughter over her shoulder as she filled a pot pie to get it ready for the oven, “how was your fri-” the mother cut herself off upon seeing her babies face.

Dropping the pie on the counter, Aurora rushed over to Bronze and instantly started cupping her body amongst the feathers of her wings holding her close. “Bronzy what happened to you!” she asked while slowly stroking her offspring’s form. Making note of all the scratches and bruises, “did you have a run in with those mean colts again?”

“It’s… alright mom,” she winced when one of her moms’ wings went over her ribs, “I-I fell, that’s all.”

“Bronze Bolt,” she scorned her daughter, watching as her child shrunk down a little in her lap, “it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes ponies just have the need to pick on other ponies, but it’s not something that can be allowed still.” Sitting her daughter in a stool by the kitchen counter, Aurora set out in the cabinet, before she brought out some bandages and ointment.

“I know mom,” Bronze lowered her head a bit, “I tried to be nice to them, it just doesn’t work. The class president-”

“So that’s who did this?” her mother cut her off.

“Yes mom,” Bronze sighed, “he gets so mad that I score higher than him without even trying, so he just takes it out on me.” The young filly shuddered as the cold sanitizing cream was applied to her wounds.

“That still doesn’t make it right,” her mother reminded her as she wrapped the injuries in some bandages to keep the ointment on.

Cradling her child in her lap, Aurora ran her hooves across her daughters’ ribs, already able to tell from the ting of pain that stained Bronzes’ face that there was bruising to be tended to. With a firm grip on the bandages, the mother opted for a different care. As she picked up a bottle of liquid heat to help relax it away. The mare was used to patching another up, after being married to a blacksmith for years, you learn how to treat a wound or two. A trait that just carried over when Aurora was born in to motherhood.

“There… that should keep you together,” Aurora winked at Bronze as she giggled, watching her daughter leap off the stool and on to the floor.

“Thanks mom,” Bronze beamed back at her, even if her side started to burn a bit.

“It’s what I’m here for,” Aurora playfully rolled her eyes, “however, your father will want to see this…” Bronze froze in place as she walked through the kitchen.

Knowing full well that her dad will have no colt laying a hoof on his little girl, she can only imagine his response.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to face her mother, “Where is he?”

Chuckling from ear to ear, Aurora simply started to snicker at her, “Do you really have to ask that question?”

Giggling, Bronze headed out back to the shop her father had set up for himself.

Being a master of many trades, Anvil became the local handy colt for those that have the little home projects that need fixed up. Whether it’s a leaking sink, a fence post replanted, or even a new wood stove forged and welded. Her father had always been able to find a way to mend whatever problem he may encounter in his average working day. With this type of freelance work, it allowed him flexible hours to do his own projects around the house, and teach his favorite daughter (and only one) a good trade or two.

“Dad!” Bronze called out loud enough so he could hear over him welding a few pieces of metal together with his horn.

Pulling the mask up, Anvil looked around and saw his little girl standing there before him. With bandages across parts of her body. “Oh dear what happened to you?” the moderately built colt asked, using his magic to set her down lightly on the counter next to his tool shelf, “you look like you just got in a fight with a dragon.”

“Well not exactly…” Bronze bit her lip. Unsure what to say next, or how to tell her father what she did. He instead beat her to the punch.

“Colts at school still giving you trouble I take it?” he asked the obvious. A simple nod confirmed his suspicions, as he plopped himself on to the work stool next to her, “jealous about you being smarter than them?”

“Yep.”

“Giving you a hard time because you weren’t given any additional traits like wings or a horn?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“How’d you know?” she asked, watching her father got up from his seat and walked over to his other work bench, before he pulled out a pair of lollipops for them both.

“Meh call it a fathers’ intuition,” he chuckled with his daughter as she enjoyed the strawberry flavor washing over her tongue, “and I’ll probably sound I a broken record from your mother, but some ponies are just mean…” the little glare he got from Bronze told Anvil that it’s exactly what his wife had said moments ago, “though I have one question.”

He paused for a moment to watch his daughters’ ears perk up from the change in tone that he dropped, “What is it dad?”

“Did you give them something in return for the beating they gave you?”

Bronzes’ body shut down for a second as the last word left his tongue. Had her father really just asked her if she fought back against them? ‘Well what would they expect me to do after so long?’ she asked herself, ‘they’ve tried talking to Marbles’ and the others’ parents, but it just doesn’t seem to work.’ She reasoned. Lowering her head, Bronze accepted full responsibility for what she did.

“Yes I did father, and I’m sorry.”

A moment or two passed between them, at first Bronze thought that her dad would have beaten her for sure for hurting another pony. Even if they had done the same to her, both her mother and father have said on many occasions that violence wasn’t the answer. So what gave her the right to raise a hoof to them?

But instead all she felt was the warm embrace of her fathers’ hooves, as he held her in his chest, “That a girl, Bronze…”

“W-W-what?” Bronze called out surprised by his words, “but I thought you and mom said before that fighting wasn’t the answer?”

“Aye I have there Bronzy,” Anvil acknowledged, before setting her back on the counter, “however as much as me and your mother have tried to reason with the parents of those colts, it just doesn’t seem to be working. Your mother would want no part in what I’m about to say, that’s no lie, but mark my words, Bronze Bolt,” he said, making sure he had his little fillies’ full attention, “if they don’t leave you alone when you’re minding your own business, then make it your business, to make them leave you alone.”

Bronze looked away from her father, not fully able to think what he just told her. It went against everything that she’s ever known and was taught. But with a gentle hoof under her chin, she looked back up in to her fathers’ eyes with a single tear about to fall.

“There there sweetie…” he said as he brushed it way, “it will all be alright. Those colts will either learn the easy way, or the hard way not to mess with my little girl,” he left her with a little wink, “That I’m sure of.”

“How can you know, Dad?” Bronze wondered out loud, as her father picked her up and brought her alongside his project.

“Because I know ya, my little filly,” he winked at her, “you’re a smart little one, and you’ll find a way to settle things with those ponies, I know you will.”

Bronze hopped down from her fathers’ back as she watched him once again go to work. Silently having the many memories of her watching him build over the years, teaching her what tools to use for what, and helping her with her own little projects as time had passed by. How she wished that time could just go back to when it was much simpler. Instead of all this drama with other kids at school… but alas, ‘it’s just part of growing up I guess,’ she summarized. Unknown to her, a frown started to grow her face, but the ever wary eye of a parent picked up on it.

“…Hey,” she heard called out softly from her fathers’ breath. Looking up just in time to catch a screwdriver in her mouth, Anvil lifted her once more atop his project as he looks in to his only child’s eyes, “Child of mine, you’re going to do great things in life… you just don’t know it yet,” he watched as her frown started to fade, only to be replaced by the eager smile of the daughter he has loved and cared for over the years, “now how about help me with this, like old times?”

Leaping in the air with glee, Bronze was barely able to contain her excitement, “sure dad!”

Chapter 8

Bronze Bolt sat at the desk in her room with school work thrown askew around her from the start of seventh grade, while the start of the new year may have brought around her twelfth birthday, it also brought with it the dreaded new year at school. However, even with this pile up of work that has to be done for the youthful filly, she can only listen to the sounds of her father packing up a bag in the room across from her own.

It happened last week, a single royal guard came to their front step with an official scroll from the king and queen. She wasn’t sure exactly what it said, her parents wouldn’t let her read it, all she knew was that it called at least one able bodied colt to serve the crown in their time of need. With her being an only child between her parents (and a mare at that), the logical volunteer was her own dad.

Her dad wasn’t a soldier, or even a guard for that matter. Anvil simply went and served one contract under the crown so he could get money to further his studies, and pick up a few new skills along the way. Though with that one enlistment, it put his name almost ahead of the line when it came to finding volunteers for whatever the crown was looking to do.

“Did they say you had to be there so soon?” Bronze heard her mother Aurora ask, for nearly the fifth time in the last hour.

“Yes they did, dear,” Anvil responded coolly, recalling how this thing would work during his time in.

“And they absolutely need you,” even through the walls, the filly could hear the worry in her mothers’ voice, “I mean they can't go get any other volunteer? Ones without… family?”

“Because of my prior service, me and many others were put on the top of the list…” he responded, lowering his head a bit, so he didn’t have to see his wife start crying.

Thankfully they both were facing away from the door, otherwise they would have noticed their daughter slowly making her way out of her room and to the door frame so she could listen in on their conversation. Aurora stood there, a single hoof covering her mouth as she tried to hide some of her tears from her husband. Though even with that, it failed her miserably from the start, leaving her only to soak her hoof in tears.

Turning around to finally face her, Anvil put on his best caring smile he could muster while hiding his own concerns. As he embraced his wife and calmly stroked her mane, “Don’t worry dear, it will be alright,” he tried to settle her, “the nations neighbors are simply bickering over goods like they always have done, no pony thinks there will be a fight. The gryphons will fluff their feathers, the dogs with dig themselves in the dirt, and the king and queen will simply stand strong till they settle themselves… that’s how it works with them.”

“But what if they get upset?” they heard the familiar voice of their daughter ask from her little vantage point. Slowly Bronze stepped in to the room, trying to read the uneasy expression across her mothers’ face, while her fathers’ held firm. “What if the dogs and the gryphons don’t settle with the king and queen?”

Smiling gently to try and wipe away any worry, Anvil reached down, and scooped up his daughter in his hooves. Holding her gently to his chest, he sat back on the bed while his wife stood opposite of him, stroking their daughters’ mane like he had done for her moments ago.

“They always fuss about how they are being treated, my dear,” he eased her fears, as best he could that is with the little knowledge of the situation he had, “yes there have been little fights here and there, like you had with that one colt last school year…” he reminded her with a gentle tap on her muzzle from his own.

Yes, the memory was still quite vivid in her mind. After so long of torment she finally dished out the same sort of treatment that she received all those times from Marble and his ‘friends’, if you could call them that. After that day, she never really saw much of them other than the occasional passing in the hallway. Anytime they even thought of trying to get a little retribution, their nerves seemed to always fail them after seeing the hammer sticking out of Bronzes’ back pack.

“Like that scuffle, this one will be over quickly,” he kissed the top of her head, a last little gesture of reassurance to the filly.

“Where do you have to go now?” she asked, beaming slightly from the tender touch of her father.

“Boralus, the king and queen want the volunteers to group there before they join in with the rest of their army. Plus, then the young Princess will be able to see how some things are run,” he said while packing the last remaining items. Not that there was much to pack, after all they would be supplying what he needed for war. Though with the soft sound of hooves scraping against the ground, Anvil looked to see his daughter scampering out of the room.

In a few seconds time, Bronze rejoined them, though this time with her trusted tool in her mouth. Getting up on the bed, she deposited the gift in to her dads’ bag, while she watched both of her parents look at her with an air of curiosity.

“The hammer will keep you safe…” she said patting the handle with a gentle hoof as she said goodbye, for now, to her old friend, “…just like it did me.”

With that sweet gesture bringing tears to both her parents eyes, they all embraced once more. Anvils fore hooves wrapping around the two most important females in his life. Kissing them both as he hopes it won’t be the last time doing so, the clock in their room struck, ringing the bell inside five times before silence took over the family once again.

“I…I have to get going,” Anvil said, wiping away the tears quickly for his daughter and wife before slinging the bag across is back, “the train will be leaving soon and I don’t want to miss it if I’m to get to the capital on time…” he said as they all left the room and followed him down the stairs to the front door.

Opening up the door to the evening colors of gold and orange glistening across the sky, Anvil took a moment to pause while he took a deep breath, savoring the moment. Turning back to his family he kissed his wife once more while whispering their I love you’s, allowing the soft breath of her to exhale across his face before turning his attention to his little filly.

Leaning down on all fours to be at eye level, the colt tapped the handle of the hammer in his bag, unable to keep the sweet grin off his face. “Do you recall what I told you that day? When you came home after using this?”

Bronze stopped there for a moment, having a flash back to the exact moment she opened the door to his little work shop and started talking to her dad. Though his words are the first thing to come to mind, ‘Child of mine, you’re going to do great things in life… you just don’t know it yet,’ she repeated once more to herself like she had done so many times before. Nodding to him, Anvil smiled as he placed a tender hoof to her chest over her heart.

“Remember that for me, my little Bronze Bolt… I love you,” with that before it got too painful to leave. Anvil walked down the path, not daring to look back to his daughter and wife while they stood at the door watching him leave for the time being.

Although she didn’t say it while he was there with her. Bronze opened her mouth just as he was going down the path and starting to cross over the hill out of sight, “I love you too, dad.”

Chapter 27

Bronze stumbled about in her fathers’ workshop, hobbling upon the crude prosthetics that were given to her at the hospital, while she tried what little she can to take the pain off her mind. It all happened so fast, the last thing she saw was the wagon coming towards her. After that, it all went black.

The young filly woke up in the hospital, with the pounding in her head from where the bottom of the cart hit her skull. At first she had tried to sit up, but that’s when Bronze realized that she couldn’t move her fore hooves any more… or feel them for that matter, they were gone.

As Aurora explained to her after coming to, and suffering a panic attack from the shock of seeing her stumps. When the wagon hit her head, she fell forward and blacked out, keeping her unconscious as the wheels of the fully loaded cart rolled over her front legs.

It didn’t cut them off out right, but for her age, it mangled them enough to the point that any sort of repair would have led to surgeries throughout her life. Even then, the possibility that she would have gained full control of them once more was slim to nil. While the pain Bronze would have suffered throughout the years, of her body trying to grow on distorted limbs, only would have increased as the years passed.

For now, all Bronze could do was gimp along on the ridged limbs that were bestowed upon her. Having no use of her own hooves to grasp even the simplest objects, she took for granted, now with the ability completely gone to her. She would have given anything to have even the mangled legs back on her.

Or so she thought…

“…I would give my hind legs, just to have you back,” she said to herself. Looking at the empty shop that remained, without any newer projects from her because of her injury.

Looking over to the tool chest on the floor, the only thing that stuck out in her eye, was the handle of her old friend. After her incident, and she calmed down, her mother told her what had happened to her dad. In the small scuffle that wasn’t expected to happen, he was struck down in the battle by the gryphons just as the fight started to turn in their favor.

‘He made sure that you would get this back…’ Aurora told her a month ago while she lied in the hospital bed. “And now I have it back,” she smiled for the first time in a long time, but it quickly died once more with the weight of her life story coming back to haunt her, “but all I want is you…”

Her father would have known how to fix her up, he would have known how to give her some legs that she could actually have a life on, Anvil would know how to make it all right once more. Aurora was trying her best to take the burden off her daughter, but she could only do so much.

The pension that they got from Anvils’ parting helped more than they could have ever hoped for, but it could only go so far for them. Having to work overtime at a few of the small businesses to help with the house hold, Aurora found herself picking up extra shifts even when she didn’t need the money. If anything it was just to get keep her mind off how much had changed in such a short time. Regardless of what she would do though, Aurora made it a point to meet her daughter at school so she could fly her home.

Even after the incident, Bronze insisted on going back to school the moment she had a chance, having only been there for a week now. She noticed the change in a lot of the ponies that she learned beside. They all still ignored her, and they also didn’t pay her any heed… but at least they weren’t picking on her any more. With her mom taking a shift or two on the weekends, it left Bronze at the house to do as she may.

Alone… to her own thoughts, and her own devices.

“But what do I do?” she asked herself, while sitting amongst the many discarded projects that she tore apart when it all came crashing down around her, “where am I to go now, that I have nothing I can go with?”

Struggling to get up in the stool, the filly slumped her head down on the counter, before eying one of her fathers’ old books that he kept around. ‘Magical theory of the ancients’ she read to herself. With little to no drive to do much else, Bronze hoped that a good read in a textbook would satisfy her craving for something more.

If only for a moment.

Cracking open the first page of many. The dust between sheets told her that Anvil hadn’t opened this one in quite a while, which made sense to her, after all he was already good at his own craft with his horn. What more could he need to know? As she sat there and started to read, the subtle ticking of the clock on the wall left her ear, as she became enveloped in the words on the page.

Bronze hadn’t really tried to dabble in magic, seeing as she wouldn’t have had the ability to get any of the projects to work on her own. Though the more she read about the relation to magic in unicorns, and a similar magic found in all ponies, the more the filly found herself drooling. As the gears in her head turned, the spark in her mind set off in motion, while Bronze started to formulate how she could use this to her advantage…

“Sweetie…” she heard called over her shoulder. Turning around, there stood her mom. The bags under her eyes from the long day, grew closer and closer to the ground with every passing hour. “It’s almost dinner time you know… is there anything, special? You’d like?”

Bronze couldn’t help but smile at her mothers’ efforts, “No mom… whatever you feel like making, you know I’ll be happy.”

Aurora beamed at her for a moment, pulling back some of the bags from her eyes, “Okay dearie, I’ll let you know when it’s ready.” She watched with admiration as her mom went back in to the house.

“She tries so hard, to make my heart smile… even if it means putting her own on hold for a minute,” Bronze said to herself, as she went back in to her book.

Using a pencil tucked in her mouth, she started to draw up a simple sketch of a leg. Nothing fancy about it, just a rudimentary leg, one that would get her on her feet… so to speak. Looking around the room, she eyed the various things she could use to make this all a reality. Her father may have been gone, but he did leave her with everything she needed to make her new dream a reality.

Except for one thing.

“A charge,” Bronze said out loud. The gem she would need to make it all work in the end, would need a charge to get it kick started, according to the books. She didn’t know any unicorns, at least on good terms personally. There were many at her school yes, but she didn’t talk to them… would they help her?

“Maybe, if I have something to give in return…” but what could she give that she hadn’t already? She tried to be nice, and they spat in her face, she tried to be mean, and they avoided her at all costs. “Perhaps out of pity I could get them to charge a gem for me. I don’t need much,” Bronze confirmed while looking over the text, “not even enough to make a light…”

Talk to a pony at her school, get them to charge a gem with a little magic, then she could go from there. ‘But where can I start now…’ she thought as she processed all she had to work with. Throwing caution to the wind, the filly jumped off the stool to get started… and promptly landed on her face as her false legs gave out from under her. “Okay… foal steps here.”

Using her mouth to work with was nothing new to Bronze, after all for an earth pony they learn to use their mouth for just about everything. Though not having a pair of stable hooves to hold down what you’re working on can put a damper on things rather quickly. But with the perseverance of the fire lit in her eye. Bronze chugged on with her efforts, cutting out a few blocks of wood here and there. She nailed them together as best she could with the hinges she had available to her.

Would it be crudely fashioned? Yes, but would it get her off her feet? Also yes. From there once she had something to work with, Bronze could improve as she went. The funny thing about hitting rock bottom is, the only place you have to go, is up.
In what seemed like minutes, the filly had taken what she drew down on paper, and had a pair of limp appendages to go off of. Breaking out a file and knife, she began wildling down the sides to give them at least some sort of smoother edge for comfort. The stout wooden legs would give her the stability she would need to carry herself, while the hinges would allow her the flexibility to further her efforts.

Taking a hoof drill in mouth, Bronze sat her stump inside of the holster of the limb to hold it steady. As she slowly started to crank each and every turn with as much effort as she could muster. Fiber by fiber, the grains of the wood started to bend to her will, and gave her the proper seat she would need for what would power her new form.

“There… finished,” she admired her hoof work, or in this case, mouth work. They were uglier than she would have imagined, but so long as they worked, Bronze could care less. “Hideous in every shape of the word,” the articulate young mare spoke to herself, “But they’ll do…”

“I think they look great,” Aurora said to her daughter, as she watched her put the finishing touches on her project, “Anything that gets my little girl to smile again.”

She was smiling, wasn’t she? Bronze had hardly noticed the grin spreading itself across her lips as she worked. Though her mom certainly caught it, ‘moms have a way with that sort of thing,’ Bronze told herself.

“Dinners ready, Bronze,” Aurora said to her as she held the door open for her daughter, “come on inside.”

Although there may have been more that she could have done to her project. Bronze knew that in the end, it would all be for nothing if she couldn’t get the charged gem installed. Though that could wait for another day, she was going to enjoy the comfort of her mother for the night.

Chapter 29

It’s an interesting feeling to be brought in to a ball of light where you once stood, only to be suddenly thrown miles away in a few seconds. Free had never gotten used to the idea of teleportation, and on the few times that Iron would offer, he always preferred to fly his way anywhere he would need.

Though with the skill of the unicorns by their side, the groups traveled miles upon miles at a time across the lands. Quickly entering enemy territory within a few minutes, and with a final warp. They found themselves a mile or so from their own destination.

With the other groups bound to be in position by now, Free found himself further in the kingdom than her particularly wanted to be. Landing amongst a small forest seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It looked to be his group would be taking the last factory by storm… something that left an uneasy feeling in his gut. He knew what to expect from the first one next to the dock.

Though this one, who knows what they had in store…

Free made sure his blade was tight against his side, as well as checking his armor to make sure that everything was in order for the fight that was bound to come at some point. With the wave on from their groups’ leader, himself and the others trotted their way between trees left and right as they headed to their target. While many of them were grateful for the cover it provided, none of the mostly air born group liked that the forest would hamper their escape aspect if they were unable to get above the tree line.

Though through the calm and quiet sounds of the forest, their ears started to pick up the steady pounding of progress off in the distance, “We’re getting closer…” Free said to himself, as he caught the ambient glow of the smoke stacks off in the distance and the fires beneath them.

With the sun starting to turn its head to the horizon, they picked a perfect time to attack in their books. Pegisy had an uncanny skill when it came to stealth attacks, easily using their wings to slightly hover as they took weight off their hooves and allowed for a more silent approach.

Using their training, each member of the group made their way to a way point that they had spied from distance. The transport means of the factory took the shape of several train tracks that lined through the forest, going every which way that the kingdom may need. Though this gave a clear avenue of attack for the group.

Closing in on the factory, two guards were posted at the entrance way of the trains, that all bottle necked in to one single path. Looking to his leader, Free got the word without even a word. Silently Free both thanked Iron for making his suit a little lighter, and giving him the camo enchantment. With a tap of his chest, the Pegasus went completely clear instantly, as he creeped in between the two guards.

Their conversation of favorite sweets was cut short, as Free made his move. Tapping the gem in his center with one hoof, the colt used his other to bring the blade up in to the base of one gryphons’ neck. If it had been any sharper, he might have just managed to sever the head entirely. Though the quick reaction by the other guard forced his hoof, as be brought the blade around to catch the one aiming at his wings.

Blocking the initial attack, with a leg hiked up, Free sent the armored bracer in to the gut of his opponent. Knocking the wind out of him with ease, just as the tip of his blade was sent in to the wind pipe of the gryphon.

Causing any chance to yell for help, to die with him.

With that the rest of the group quickly caught up to him, and looked at the efficiency of their fellow soldier. “When I heard you were a castle guard, I wondered why you had chosen to go on this mission with the army,” his captain said as he looked to the two bodies off to their sides, “Whelp… now I know. Interesting suit you got there.”

Free wiped his blade clean against the ground without a word at first, as they made their way further inside, “let’s just say I have a friend back in the capital who knows a thing or two about magic…”

“Well…” the captain paused against a corner, as he waited for his mark, “Would he be open to make some modifications on mine?” he asked, quickly grabbing a gryphon that walked past without checking his corners.

Slamming him in to the box car they used as cover, with a quick hoof to the throat, the captain silenced him as the gryphon gasped for a breath between the collapsed wind pipe. The name of their game was stealth, the more they were hidden, the more likely all of them would make it home in one piece.

With that doctrine, the group made their way further and further to the factory. Passing through the rest of the train yard without issue. They finally reached an access door to the base of the building. Holding the handle, one soldier counted out to his partner to three before he finally opened it up for him.

With a quick scan of the area the coast was clear, as one by one they filed inside. Finding themselves in what seemed to be a staging area for the shipments to be sent out. Putting his sword away, the captain called them all in to a small huddle, as a few of them kept an eye out for any other guards that might come their way.

“Alrighty, this place is larger than I expected… so needless to say, lets split up from here,” he pointed to the group as he started to separate them, to make the most of those he had. With them divided up evenly so that each group had a unicorn for protection, and a few gryphons for good measure. He reached in to the bag across his shoulder, and the officer dispersed the munitions he carried amongst them. “Each team take a different part of the factory, I personally don’t know what to expect or what we even really should be targeting… though if it looks big and important… probably a good idea to take it away from them, wouldn’t you say?”

With the slight chuckle from a few of his troops, one asked the ever important question, “Sir, how much time is on these bombs?”

“The timer on them are set to go off twenty minutes after arming, so depending what you place it next to. It would be a good idea to leave once it’s set…”

“And where’s the rendezvous place when it all is said and done?” Free posed.

“Out in the woods where we came in,” the captain answered as he looked to each of them and nodded, before dispersing them all.

With the element of surprise still under their wings, so to speak, Free and the group he traveled with headed deeper in to the factory. Following the steady mechanical white noise radiating from the inner walls, they get closer and closer to the production floor. Calming the pounding in his chest to a slow and steady rhythm, the Pegasus slowed his trot in to a tip toe as the others quickly did the same. Stepping out amongst the pile of boxes, the group watched as they found the heart of the factory there were here to destroy.

While the kingdom may have not had the amount of resources that Seren had, the gryphons have always been good at making do with what they could get their talons on. And from what Free could see, in their capable grasp, these new weapons required little to bring to life.

Row after row of arms laid being mass produced on a scale that Graces’ own nation could have only dreamed of. With the little materials that were needed for them, whoever brought this tech to light, must be making a fortune off of their efforts. “Iron would be drooling at this point,” Free noted, as he watched from a distance the same rockets that almost took himself and his friend out, being put together one by one, with a series of machines to match the product.

The last time the guard had been in the kingdom, as diplomatic protection detail, he saw gryphons making weapons in the same style. Though at each step, was a new artisan doing his own part to create a final product. This amount of automation though left those days of old in the dust, and paved a way for a new age of modernization to the kingdom. How they haven’t gone on the full attack yet, Free didn’t know. For if each of their soldiers were armed with the gear that he and Iron saw…

Seren would have stood little chance.

“What would you say there, Locknut?” the parties’ leader asked another under him, knowing that Locknut was a blacksmith under his armor, “Where would you target if you wanted to sabotage your own forge?”

Looking around, the mechanical mind of the soldier started to turn as he looked at the larger version of his forge from back at home. Off on one end of the factory, he could see the flames from one of the smelters bellowing out of the top of its shell, as it melted the raw ore down to something the gryphons could use.

Pointing with a hoof, the soldier made his point, “There, that would put a real damper on their spirits…”

“Good choice,” the leader looked at the target, and simply nodded in approval, before moving the group down to get there.

Covering a factory from its warehouse, where boxes and carts were stacked for easy cover, was one thing. Having to cross over an open ground of moving parts and machines that would more than clip a wing or crush a hoof with a single false move, all the while avoiding any prying eyes, was a completely different ball game.

Though even with their best efforts, some things just don’t last forever.

With the scope dialed in to the range of the production floor, perched up in a catwalk, a soldier took aim. Getting one of the ponies in his sights, all it took was a gentle squeeze of the trigger to drop his mark.

The shot rang out in their ears, as it reverberated over the inner walls of the factory, barely being drowned out by the noise of the machinery at work. All around them, the group scattered, taking cover behind what cover they could, as they tried to zero in on the attacker.

“I don’t see him,” Locknut muttered to Free beside him, as their party leader laid in the middle of the floor, with half his skull blown out from the well placed round.

“What kind of magic was that?” a gryphon asked, as he tried to look for any contrails of the enchantment being cast.

“That wasn’t magic,” Free said calmly, as both of them looked at the mostly silent guard, “it’s their new tech… and it is deadly…” looking up over his shoulder. The Pegasus eyed a little prize for them. One of the long rifles stuck over the side of the conveyor belt that they chose as cover, just within reach of his hooves.

Pulling it off, Free handed it over to the gryphon, as the confused bird looked at him wondering what to do, “these weapons were made for creatures with more dexterous appendages,” he pointed to the talons on him, before going over the basic parts of the weapon, “pull this to fire, use the sights here to aim… I’ll draw him out, you take the shot when you can.”

Tapping the diamond, a small shield spell cast itself on the one side of the pony. Holding it in the same direction as the entry wound of their pack leader, Free waited for the shooter to take the bait… and that he did.

Peering through the sights, in the dimly lit surroundings, the sniper couldn’t catch the glimmer of the spell as it was cast. With a single shot that he was expecting to put between the ponies’ eyes, all he saw was the fragment of his bullet, rebounding off of the spell and imbedding itself harmlessly in to the floor.

While the confused gryphon looked over his long rifle to ensure his sights were in order, another of his own kind, aligned his own on target to where he saw the flash. For never having fired this sort of weapon, the gryphon did rather well. The single shot found its mark in the chest of the one above, and only down the barrel did he see the target slumping to the bottom of the cat walk without a sound.

“Interesting device…” the gryphon muttered, taking a closer look at it, “this is what they have now?”

“As far as we know that is,” Free admitted, as he walked over to their once leader and picked the satchel containing the charges off him, “who knows what else they might have in store for-”

With the few rounds that were fired only a minute a part, it gave the others protecting their factory more than enough time to find the culprits. Before they even knew what hit them, round after round poured in to their position. Those that hastily stood up after the sniper was killed, quickly were cut down themselves, as in a blink half of the party already was wiped out.

Free silently thanked Iron once more, as he drew up his shield to protect himself, and draw the fire away from those with him. “Well don’t just lie there!” he shouted at the others, “fire back!”

Nutting up, the unicorn in their party took a deep breath and with a crack of his horn, a spout of energy leeched off of it and in to the various ranks of those attacking. The weapons that the gryphons have come across may be powerful, but magic is just as much of a match to it. With the armor they wore shredded, the energy beam tore through the flesh and feathers of those that tried to stand against it, with no mercy shown to them.

Only the sounds of progress around them, muffled the screams of those that literally were set ablaze from the enchantment, if it didn’t kill them outright. Though the unicorn wasn’t the only one that could partake.

While many of the others with his group were Pegisy, the gryphons that were amongst them had one key advantage, they could fight fire with fire. Following the lesson learned by their brother in arms, each of the gryphons reached up and grabbed whatever weapon they could lay their talons on.

A few landed themselves a long weapon like they had just seen used, another wound up grabbing two smaller versions of its larger cousin, while the last one came out with some sort of tube weapon with a hopper on the side. Looking over the cumbersome contraption, he started to look down the barrel, before a shout quickly drew his attention.

“Don’t do that!” Free warned, as he dropped his spell so not to use the charge all in one go. Taking cover behind a large metal press, he allowed the gem to cool down after having Irons’ words pass through his ear, as he gave those with him a lesson of their own, “Aim just like you would with a cross bow, and pull the trigger!”

Taking the ponies advice, all those armed ignored the rounds coming in, for the sake of returning the favor. Aiming through the crude sights, with no knowledge of when these weapons would run out. The gryphons commenced giving their counterparts a taste of their own medicine. While they may have never used these weapons before, it didn’t take a mathematician to figure out how they worked…

Trigger is pulled, projectile leaves, and bad guys hit the floor…Over all, a simple enough concept.

Until you get the one soldier with a rocket launcher…

Bringing the large tube up on his shoulder, the gryphon took aim along the sights on the side as he aimed at a group of them off in the distance, with a single pull of the trigger. The tube almost left his grasp from the shock of the power he held, though even with the fumble on his part. The reaction from his action still was rather impressive, if not accidental.

Having jumped up from the firing, the round followed the same path and started to make its way up in to the ceiling of the factory. Hitting several support beams, the metal structure started to cave in and made its way to the floor with the force of gravity on its side. Getting hit with an explosive is one thing, though having half a ton of metal scrap land on top of you is a closed casket if anything.

Silence reigned in, from the rocket that was fired after some of the dust settled in the distance. Free looked up from the hole in the roof, down to the ground at the mangled twisted hulk of metal that made the tombstone for those attackers’ moments ago. “Unconventional, but efficient…” Free commented as he and the group that was with him left their cover to continue their job.

With the entire factory undoubtly on alert from their little scuffle, they all knew what they had to do, and they had to do it fast.

Hovering up and off the ground, several of the soldiers with them started placing the charges along the hinges of the smelters that allowed them to pour their contents. All the while, the rest of the group stood guard, the gryphons amongst them, holding their new found toys close to their chests.

Free placed the last charge, just behind a hinge, as he scanned the surrounding area. Catching the glint off in the distance, the Pegasus tucked his wings in to his side as he dropped. Dodging the incoming fire within a hairs breath of his torso. Hitting the ground with a thud, the guard quickly got back up to his hooves, as he took cover with those around him.

Sadly, Free had been the lucky one. Another second passed, and with it, a few more of the soldiers with them met their end. Caught in the open from planting their explosives, they dropped to the ground like flies, long dead before they ever impacted.

Free looked over the corpses that laid around him. The bringer of this new found tech certainly made sure that they had the training to use them once they were outfitted. With the enemies sights dead accurate, there was little any of them could do from where they held up. Getting close in to use their blades wasn’t an option, and as the guard took stock of who he had left. He realized that the only ones still standing was the unicorn and the few gryphons that came with him.

“Blast it…” Free cursed to himself, knowing that getting out already was looking like a dim prospect.

Taping the emerald on his bracer, he held his hoof outright, while he used the entire limb to aim. Leeching forward from the gem, the trail of energy ray jumped in to the few targets that he could see at this distance through the smoke and haze of the forges around them. Even if he couldn’t fully make out a target, where ever he saw a flash from a round being fired, the guard delivered his own barrage.

Looking up from his cover, the lone unicorn of the group was awe struck at the sight of the enchanted armor that the Pegasus he never knew brought to the table. Finding what courage he had left in him, the soldier lit up his own horn, while he followed suit down the path that his winged brethren had laid.

Summoning up what spell he could, several shards of crystal left his horn at blazing speed and repetition. Dotting the surrounding area with their sharp edges as many of them imbedded themselves in to the walls, crates, and whatever else stood in the way between himself and those that fought against him. Those that found a harder target though, shattered like a glass vase hitting the ground, and peppered the gryphons with shards upon shards of glimmering stone.

For a moment there, the unicorn started to smirk a bit. Finally, the training that he had gone through back in basic training, and the subsequent combat spells that he learned were starting to pay off in the end. He might just have a good story to come home with and tell his folks about, other than the mundane drill work that he is used to.

A single round though, silenced any and all prospects of that dream.

Caught in the neck, the unicorn slumped down to the ground as he grasped what he could of his throat, as the warm red liquid from inside started to flow over top of his hoof. He never even saw who shot him, though he was sure that whoever it was, they were probably snickering just like he had been moments ago.

Free leaned back in to cover, just in time to see the last breath taken by his fallen brother, as a limp hoof hit the ground. The Pegasus doesn’t need to check him, he knows what neck wounds can do to a pony, and given what he has seen the gryphons’ tech do. Free knows all too well that there is nothing he could have done to save him.

Though just like the snipers’ round did to his spell, another does to a mechanical roller nearby. The sharp sting that Free felt from between his plates in his hip, is the only indication to him that he finally has gotten hit by a ricocheting round. Slumping down to his plot, the lone guard watched as the gryphons that fought with him, slowly start to fall.

For having to kill their own kind. He did have to give it to them that they will go till the last one is standing. Though with the better skill of the enemy apparent, it doesn’t take much for them to mop up the little mess that Free and his group had made on their home turf.

With the fall of the last gryphon, the lone Pegasus listened as the shots that once rang out, start to die with him. The steady clicking of talons against the floor grow louder with every passing step, as they approach his position. Thinking on his hooves, Free tapped the sapphire on his chest piece, and went clear. Just as a gryphon rounded the corner of the press he hid behind.

“That’s all of them,” the gryphon soldier informed the others, “here at least, fan out, and search the rest of the area!”

With a simple nod of agreement, the others with him spread out away from Free, as he sat motionless against the press. Holding his breath in until the last one left. Once the coast is clear, the Pegasus hobbled up on his hooves, and made his way slowly through the maze of corridors that made up the inner parts of the factory. Hoping to find anywhere he could hold up for the few minutes he had to patch himself up, before things around here got far too hot for comfort.

Limping his way down a dim hallway, Free allowed whatever soldier to pass by. He was in no shape to put up a fight against any more than maybe one or two of them, and that’s with using his suits new tricks heavily. Though the lone guard found solace in what appeared to be a storage room, tucked in the back of one of the hallways, far away from the blood shed that ended his little party.

Ramming the door in, Free held it shut with his frame as he looked around the barely lit room. Nothing more than extra materials to work with, a few rolls of paper, some canvas here and there, and a coat rack holding just a simple cloak on its hook. Taking stock of what he had to work with, the guard got to work patching himself up as best he could.

Unrolling some of the paper, he tore off a section as he began to fold it. It may not be gauze, but it would still help to absorb some of the blood leaking out of him for the time being. Doing the same to the canvas, with the makeshift bandage held firmly over the wound. Free started to wrap a strip of the material over top of the paper, tying it tight with a square knot to hold it in place, as he clenched his teeth to drowned out the pain of the round still in him.

“So… you’re the one they’re looking for,” Free snapped his head up, to see a single gryphon standing there in front of the door. He never even heard him come in, and now he blocked the only way out. “Causing so much trouble, with so little to back it up against what the kingdom has brought to the table…” the gryphon continued to speak, as he took a step closer and closer to Free.

There wasn’t much he could have done. With his hooves preoccupied on bandaging his leg up, and the wound giving him a clear weak spot, open to attack. Free just sat there, as he swallowed the lump in his throat, and watched as the gryphon got within a hair of his muzzle.

“Not a very smart move… was it?” the gryphon asked, as he gazed further in to the colts’ eyes, trying to judge something that Free couldn’t pick out.

“Well…” Free muttered, “Wouldn’t be the first one I made.”

“I figured as much,” the gryphon said, as he produced a blade from underneath his own armor, “and it won’t be the last.” He finished, cutting off the excess canvas that dangled over the wound.

Looking at the gryphon as he put the knife away, Free froze in place while he tried to piece together what just happened. All the while, the enemy soldier in front of him, backed away as he checked the door. Peeking his head out and looking all around, he quickly brought his head back in as he looked to the grounded Pegasus, “grab your gear, we have to head out soon…”

“Wait a second…” Free held up a hoof, “what kind of game are you playing?”

“The one that saves both of our arsis in the end,” he said with a wink, before helping the guard to his hooves, “I saw what you planted on the smelters… and I would guess we don’t have long to get out of here. Am I right?”

Free held his tongue at first, though at this point he didn’t have much to lose. After all, if the gryphon were to stab him in the back right now, he still wouldn’t be able to get to the charges and remove them safely before they went off.

“We have about…” he calculated, “six minutes…”

Watching as his eyes filled his sockets, the gryphon grabbed on to Frees’ sides with his talons. As he rested the Pegasus against him, “whelp then we better make this fast…” he said, kicking open the door as the two nearly jogged down the hallway as best they could, while supporting the pony.

“Why are you helping me?” Free questioned between huffs of breath as they went, trying to make their escape.

“I have my reasons… don’t worry, if we make it out of here in one piece,” he looked around for a moment to get his bearings, “I’ll tell ya.”

Crossing the hallways in leaps and bounds, it didn’t take long for the two to finally reach the main production area. Barreling through the open doors, the machines around them continued to keep working and fuel the kingdoms’ war efforts, as the smelters nearby continued to bellow out flames from their tops. Though along with the machines, stood a dozen gryphons that had come back from their little searching party.

Free looked around to each and every one of them, knowing full well that given his current condition, he stood a snowballs chance in hell against the group. ‘Bastard led me right to them on purpose,’ the colt thought to himself at first, before looking at the face of betrayal.

Though expecting to see a sly grin plastered across the gryphons’ face, Free instead got a face full of worry, as whoever this soldier was looked at his cohorts with the same wide eyed glare that he had just given them. Finally, as it dawned on all those present of who just walked in and what he brought, the leader amongst the group stepped forward with open talons.

“Well done there,” he clapped his pads together, “you found the twerp hiding in our mists… we already rounded up the bodies of the others that he had brought with him…” with every passing step that the soldier drew closer. The one that held Free up stood his ground, never flinching an inch.

“Let’s finish this then, shall we?” the gryphon said, producing a weapon from his side holster as he slid a mechanism back in a flash and took aim at the pony.

Free clenched his teeth, and waited for the round to paint the wall behind him, thankful that it would at least be a quick end. However, with a second to spare, the gryphon holding him up stepped in the way of the weapon. Clenching his own side arm in his talon, as he brought it up to meet their mutual adversary.

“What? What are you doing?” the gryphon that stood against them asked, as the others started to draw out their weapons.

“Something that should have been done long ago…” his eye flickered away from one target to another, as he eyed one of the devices that Free and his group had planted. Whipping the weapon around, with a calm breath, he squeezed the trigger.

Without any time to react, the round hit the explosives and set it off only a minute or so before it was set to do it on its own. Though even with that, it still had the desired effect. The smelter that held the molten metal broke off of its hinges and started to topple over on to its side, right where those that stood against Free and his ally remained.

Splashing across the surface of the ground, the searing hot liquid embodiment of armor oozed its way across and over to them. Scorching and splashing on those that weren’t fortunate enough to take flight in time. With their paws and talons burned off to the bone, only screams of agony filled the air, as those that were trapped in the metal fell in to the pool as it spilled over top of them. Tearing through their chest cavity and silencing them once and for all.

With several of their comrades burned and buried alive all in one go. Those few that fluttered off the ground took aim at the one that had caused them this trouble, as he stood just out of the reach of the cascading flow. Though whoever this gryphon was, had the same mindset.

Rolling Free in to cover, the gryphon at his side took aim with his own weapon, and took pot shots here and there at those that fired back. While he had his own cover, the others were caught in the open of the air. They couldn’t land, for the ground beneath them was quite literally lava, and with the sounds of other explosives going off behind them on the other smelters. The entire production floor was under almost a foot of pure metal spilling across the deck.

While his small arm skills may have not been the best, the gryphon still was able to find his mark at this range. He didn’t need to hit them in the chest, or even the head. Even a clipped wing was enough to send the other gryphons tumbling in to the pool of death below. Not wanting his savor to have all the fun, Free rolled over to his side, and hiked up a hoof on the edge.

“What are you looking to do?” the gryphon asked, as he seamlessly reloaded the clip and laid down more fire.

“You’ll see…” Free said, as he charged up the emerald. With a single pulse, and a hole left in the torso of his enemy, the gryphon that he got in his sights fell.

Silently nodding to him in approval of the tact, Free and the gryphon went shot for shot at those that still tried to fight back against them. But it was a fight, that they could only lose. One by one they fell in to the fiery crypt, and before long, only Free and himself remained standing.

“A shameful way to go…” Free looked back to those that remained in the fire, as the smell of burning flesh started to fill his nostrils to the brim.

“But one that just saved our skins…” the gryphon looked around for a moment to make sure the coast was clear, before standing up fully. “Your leg’s damaged… though what of your wings? Can you fly still?”

Smirking back at him, Free stretched them out to their fullest. The gryphon may have not been around many ponies lately, though in the end, he was impressed by what the Pegasus had brought to the table. “Damn straight I can…” with that, the two took to the sky, as Free lead him through the large open hole in the roof left by his fallen soldier, ‘thank you, my friend’ he thanked the parting gift that was left for him. As himself and the gryphon had ventured out of the factory and in to the open air of the sky above.

“We have to get out of here, fast…” the gryphon looked around on the ground below to see if any of his once brethren had been mobilizing against them yet, “the kingdom will not stand for traitors to the crown…”

“As if they have anything that could get us from up here…” Free started to snicker, knowing that the skies were owned by only those that had the power to take to them. Though as an eerie silence grew, he looked back at his companion, only to see a grim look on his face. “What aren’t you telling me? You bust in to a room without a sound, I expect you to kill me, but you let me live, then you go and expertly pick off some of your own comrades without a second thought…” he summarized, looking to see if there was any flicker of regret in the gryphons’ stoic expression, “what’s the deal?”

“Let’s just say that the kingdom, and the DDR, have both acquired far more weapons than you’ve probably seen today…” the gryphon said quietly.

“Well, you have a lot of explaining to do when we get back…” Free said as he spotted some of the others that he came in with, down in the woods. Though by the looks of things, with the few numbers down there that he could count out at this distance, the other parties didn’t fare much better than his own did, “… a lot of explaining.”

“And I will tell you all that I can,” he held a talon to his chest, “you have my word.”

“I have your word, yet I don’t even know who you are,” Free commented, hinting on what he was looking for.

“My name… my name is Egyes,” he answered truthfully, “and your princess will want to hear me out.”

Author's Note

To whom it may concern... This chapter along with the ones to follow might appear a little differently, using a new browser to upload them and it somewhat changed how they were loaded on.