Bronze Tiara

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
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 27
Chapter 9

Chapter 1

Chapter one

“How did I survive that…” Bronze asked herself for probably the dozenth time that day.

Still having a clear view of her crashed airship off in the distance, the metal coat for which she was aptly named found itself stained with all the dirt and grime from her journey. Not that her jet-black mane or tail faired any better, but all things considered, she could have wound up a lot worse considering what she managed to pull.

In her final act before impact, what little magic remained in her horn was just enough to get her off the ship and on to the ground. Although, softly didn’t happen to be a word in that scenario. With her wings clipped, and working as a tripod on a taloned limb that had been beaten and put through the ringer. Bronze still found a way to get out of the initial impact and inside the capital of Seren, all to deliver a simple memento to the one that bested her in the end.

The trip in and out had taken longer than she’d expected, even with everything working against her. Pure determination was the mares’ gift, one that few could measure up to. If she had a goal, Bronze would beat herself to a pulp to meet it. Just like she had in the years leading up to these last few months.

A simple ambition was all that kept her going for years as she put her plans into motion. With the felling of a king, and a chief as well, it seemed at first, she might succeed. Had it not been for one other, and yet even as she was cast from her pedestal. The mare still had to respect the feat that he accomplished.

In one move, her dream had literally crashed and burned, but the seeds of which she’d sewn were already in place. With her eyes now starting to get sore from the lack of rest, the mare shook her head and turned towards the forest as she started her trek in to the unknown.

Something far easier said, than done.

Tripping over a tree root only a dozen yards into the line of foliage, and without another limb to catch her. Bronze quickly got up close and personal with the ground as she rolled down a hill, leading her just to stare aimlessly up at the night sky overhead. If she was going to go anywhere now in life, one thing was certain.

“I’m gonna need to patch myself up,” she said to herself while pushing back up to her limbs, and noted the change in the temperature as she walked. Whatever it was, Bronze knew she was going to be in for a long night.

***

Thunder cracked overhead as the various flashed lit up the sky for a few seconds at a time. Bronze managed to huddle herself against the base of a tree for the night with only a few branches that had broken off as cover while she had stacked them tightly, hoping they’d at least provide something close to a shelter for the night while she stored some of her energy.

For all her calculating, all her knowledge and creations, somehow wilderness survival never found itself higher on her list of skills to learn over the years. A fact Bronze resented, while some of the rain that started to pour seeped between the wood above.

She had always had someplace to sleep at, even in her later years the resourceful mare made something out of nothing. An abandoned shack, a cave free of wildlife, or an old mine long spent of its ore. Bronze had always taken the punches in stride. However, now with quite literally nothing, she stared at her only functioning fore limb and tried to put her mind to something she was familiar with.

Scolding herself.

“How could I have been so stupid,” Bronze mentally slapped herself at her overlooking of such a simple factor, “it was just a few gems, and it cost me everything.” Now the hardest part would be trying to find not only a place to rebuild herself, but also the resources to do it.

A snap of a branch brought the mares attention quickly to the entrance of her simple lean-to, and she waited for whatever it was to peer out of the dimming light. There scurrying inside stood a small a squirrel, just trying to get out of the rain as she did. Reaching out a talon to the critter, Bronze watched at it reeled back at first, unsure of the unusual appendage that approached it.

“Easy there…” she smiled at the creature softly, as it took her mind off everything else in her head, “I don’t bite.”

With a curious snout stuck out, the nostrils on the squirrel flared open slightly as it tried to take in her sent and smell the talons. With nothing there to fear, it headbutted the claw, rubbing its brow underneath it as it used the surface to scratch itself. Bronze just simpered and chuckled to herself, such a simple little encounter, and yet it can lift the spirts in a way-

The fangs of another animal latched on to the squirrel from the shadows, and without so much as a peep, the rodent found itself as ones’ late-night snack.

Bronze shot back against the tree, keeping her eyes peeled at the opening. Soon enough she heard the snarl from the creature, as a wolf poked its head through and stared at her, fresh blood and fur dripping from its mouth.

By reflex the mare whipped her forehoof, trying to bring out her hidden weapon to dispatch it. As realization dawned on her that limb was long gone, and the stump would be about as useful as a club to a mountain.

“Oh, damn it,” she muttered as the wolf jumped at her.

Latching down on her other limb, the predator crunched down on her metal limb and tried to rip it off. Though to its own surprise the mare remained firmly attached to her leg, as it thrashed left and right. Bronze wrapped her hind legs around the barrel of the wolf, keeping it from getting too much leverage against her.

With her now gripping it, and its mouth busy. The front claws tore wildly in to the night, trying to strike at her, and that they did. Adding on to her growing list of injuries, Bronze felt the fresh blood of her own running down her chest as the claws found their mark. With a final whip of its neck, the mare was tossed through her crude shelter out against the forest floor. As she looked up from a newly bruised face to the wolf staring her down.

Crackling of twigs off to her side quickly grabbed her attention, as her ears perked up, and found two more coming out of the woods to assist a member of their pack. Weighing her chances now more than ever, Bronze made the call and started to back petal, keeping the three in her view. With slow steps they approached, taking their time with their kill.

Something Bronze was all too happy for as it gave her a chance, ‘This is bad…’ she mentally told herself, doing some quick math on how likely it would be for her to out run them. Failing that equation, she had no other option given the situation and decided to use a some equines’ great equalizer.

Magic.

With a quick flash from her horn, a bolt of ice leeched towards one wolf and struck it in the chest. Dropping it even quicker than the spell was cast. Using that distraction to her advantage, Bronze darted out in to the woods as she beckoned her legs to carry her further and further. Running she found easier in the forest than walking, as she almost glided across the ground in leaps and bounds. Yet as she made great strides the sound of paws grew close to her heels, and Bronze saw one branch hanging low enough for her to use.

Leaping in the air, she used her weight to snap the thicker branch off as she grasped it with her talon. In one fluid move, and a twist, the heavily soaked branch found itself careening in to the skull of the wolf as it tried to close in for a quick kill. While it may have not been enough to dispatch it like the spell was, that hit at least dazed it enough for Bronze to continue on her way trying to lose them.

Hearing the running of water off in the distance, she made her way towards it and found a river below her from the edge of a short cliff with the other side not too far away. Looking behind her, she could make out the silhouette of the wolf as it tore towards her. Bronze scanned along the bank as she ran, seeing a stroke of luck in front of her in the form of a natural bridge made from a fallen tree.

Grasping on to the trunk with her talons for support, Bronze felt it wobble and slowed to a crawl, just as she felt it tremble even more. Looking over her shoulder the wolf had gotten the same idea and tried to join her to get across and continue the chase, as it yearned for a much-deserved meal after the effort.

Bronze planted her limbs on the ground and immediately started bucking the dead weight with her hind legs, watching as the soaked and rotting log started to give way after each and every kick. With wider eyes the wolf scampered closer to her side, but just a hair too late.

A final buck dislodged the tree and it fell in to the river below, the wolfs’ front paws barely scratched the side of the cliff before it tumbled in with it. Bronze looked over the edge at the water below, sure that it hadn’t actually killed the creature in the end, but it wasn’t anywhere close to her now. Another snarl greeted her, and there a long leap away stood the one with the smashed muzzle.

It couldn’t make the leap on its own. The wolf knew it, and so did she. All the canine could do was stand and bare its teeth to the pony that bested it. As all Bronze could do was glower at the creature for a moment before turning her back to the river, and heading back into the forest.

Taking stock of her situation now again, Bronze looked around and noticed that the rain still hadn’t let up, as she kept her eyes peeled at some of the trees around her. While there may have been lightning in the area still off in the distance, the mare reasoned that being struck by lightning would be a better way to go than being torn to shreds by fangs.

Carefully pulling herself up amongst the branches of a pine. Bronze braced herself as she lounged across the evenly spaced limbs, trying her best to distribute her weight and make herself comfortable to for the night as best she can, if only to get an hour or two of sleep.

Counting her blessings for the night, Bronze gently touched the wounds along her chest as they still seeped small amounts of blood that washed away on her talons. “I’m a mess…” she held her talon to the wound, hoping that it would stop by morning and she wouldn’t bleed out in her sleep.

Yet, even with her plans crushed, blood dripping along her body, having not eaten in days, and only having water a few sips at a time from the rain as it would pool, the mare still found a way to smirk in all this. Reaching in to the inside pockets of her cloak, but one thing took up the space inside.

A hammer, the simplest tool in any crafts bench, yet one that held so much weight for this mare.

“Not the worst I’ve been before…” she hugged the handle close to her chest and with that, Bronze let the sweet embrace of the night take her forever how long it decided to hold.

***

Whatever hours had passed during the night, to the mare it only felt as if minutes had been gifted to her to rest on. Within the pleasant grasp of her slumber Bronze found little comfort in her position, all she could do was try and enjoy the bliss of having gotten probably the first real nights’ sleep in a long time. While she moved about to make herself as comfortable as possible across her timber mattress.

Until gravity decided it’s time to wake up.

Tossing just a little too much in her sleep, those shimmering eyes snapped open and before her talon could gain purchase, Bronze found herself hitting what seemed like every branch on the way down. Quickly meeting soil with her muzzle, the taste of dirt coated her lips. She took only a few minutes there to sigh, and level with herself that this is what the foreseeable future will be like.

“I hate this feeling…” Bronze grumbled, still able to feel the phantom pains in her shoulder from where her wings once fused to her own form. However, a feeling of helplessness wasn’t foreign to the mare, it had just been a while sense she’d been this low in life.

Fighting to her hooves, the mare steadied herself as her joints cried out from the awkward position she slumber through the night in. With a quick stretch though, Bronze stabilized herself on all fours… or at least threes for now. Looking over those wounds from the previous day, she’s glad to see they had stopped bleeding, and didn’t seem to open up somehow from her fall this morning.

Unsure still where to go, Bronze looked around the area and listened to the water flowing. Rationalizing that there must be a sort of town or village along the water, she started to walk her way along it, hoping not to run in to her same visitors from the night prior. Looking up, the sky still carried that thick cloud overcast it’d had earlier. As she smelled the moisture within as it brushed around her in a breeze.

“More rain on its way,” she muttered to only herself, as she tried to think how long she was out and how much daylight there was left.

Between getting in and out of the capital, making her way through the woods, and having to expel more of her energy during the fight last night. Bronzes’ joints all felt about as lifeless as her horn. Touching the end of it with her remaining talon, Bronze could feel the dwindling reserves she had remaining, especially after the wolf encounter. There wouldn’t be too much fight left in her if she didn’t find something to top her off, and soon.

A steady clank off to her side drew her attention away from that predicament, and the hollowness within her gut. While normally that noise one would have probably mistaken for a piece of machinery, out in the woods that seemed far less likely.

Staying on her hooves, Bronze hugged the ground as she started to creep over the various tree trunks and roots that had fallen over time or protruded out the ground, providing her at least some cover. Getting closer to the sound as it marched on, the mare could only make but one certainty.

It was getting louder.

Poking an eye over the edge of a dirt mound covered in moss, Bronze watched as a squad of ponies in full armor marched stoically through the forest. Spears and short swords at the ready, she was more than familiar with the armaments they donned. After all, she armed them herself… hell, she’d created them.

Any other would have thought a group of ponies had lost their way during a morning drill, but the mare knew better. The way they walked, the armor they wore, and the soulless void in their visors would have stricken fear in the hearts of any at the end of their sword. All the clear signs to the mare that this wasn’t some of Graces’ lackies off on a stroll. No, it was a group of her own automatons.

Knowing their abilities, and their weaknesses. The scale in her mind swayed back and forth, before steadily falling in favor of stay low and- Snap.

“… Shit…” Bronze groaned, as she looked from the broken kindling under her hoof, to the mound behind her.

Already standing there, the group of her tin soldiers watched their creator. For a few moments, she observed as a little of her mane started to obstruct her vision, keeping a close eye on them. With her stump raised though, the mare knew they were only waiting for her to make the first move.

“Ahh… Morning!” Bronze said, quickly turning her body towards any direction that wasn’t them, and darted through the woods. Only a few moments later she was greeted with the sound of heavy hooves stomping their way towards her with only one intent, each with the last command the mare had passed on.

Kill.

With only one claw to work with, and little strength in her horn left. Bronze didn’t have all that many options as she looked around the forest to try and better her odds. Getting back to the river, she followed it in the hopes of running in to another creature, if only to slow down her own creations with a handy distraction. A spear landing to her side though gave her the little edge she might need.

Plucking it from the ground, Bronze balanced the shaft against her stump while those talons grasped the length. Quickly the automatons gathered around her, as one took the leap forward instead of waiting on the mare. Kicking the end of the spear up with her hind hoof. The weight of the automaton acted against it, as the tip broke through the thin plating protecting its one true weak point.

With a stab through its neck, and the shaft now sticking out the back. The automaton slumped to the ground with a dull thud once the length was pulled clean, as the others took their cue finally to finish her. However, they neglected but one thing their simple drive would always overlook.

She’s the one that taught them.

Bucking ones’ helmet off, the mare knew that wouldn’t stop it, but it’ll at least give her some breathing room. Drawing her attention to the other three, Bronze swiped left and right with the tip to keep them at bay as they grasped their swords in their fetlocks. Knowing full well they’d only need one good swing to cleave the mare in half.

With a wide swing from one, the spear was shortened down to a pike, but it still managed to find its mark in the one that delivered the blow. Going through the same weak spot in their design like a surgeon, Bronze pulled the sword as it fell from its grasp and held it to her chest. Watching while the last three danced around her, and the fourth hunted for its head.

All three charged at one, and forced her to dive from the collision, but not before one got lucky with a swipe. Digging in to the back of her hind leg, Bronze seethed as the fluids stared to trickle down the side of her leg, and her assailants re-readied themselves.

Tucking under the first, the sword found its mark and slashed the forehooves off in a clean swipe. Causing the rest of the body to continue across the ground and find a resting place amongst the fallen leaves of the forest. The last two brought their own blades down in unison, one managing to catch her sword, and the other being blocked by her metal stump.

Forcing their weight against her, Bronze felt the blades pushing back her own, and with a last-ditch effort sent what little she had from her horn out towards them. The kinetic shove may have not been much, but it was enough to get them where she needed. Leaping back to her feet, Bronze watched the fourth as its helmet was finally found.

Though a quick talon stopped that in its tracks.

Grasping along the glyph and gem held in the back of its neck, Bronze drew what little charge she could from it to keep herself charged, leaving the already soulless suit to fall to the ground without anything to drive it.

Beating feet now that she had a little refill, the mare once again heard the sound of the last two trying to catch up to her. However, with the extra pep in her step from the added juice, she could be thankful that as the trees passed the sounds of their hooves weren’t getting any louder, nor were they getting any more distant.

‘Why did I make them so persistent…’ Bronze grumbled while she ran, keeping the woods on her left and the river on her right, as she kicked herself for but a moment, ‘Oh right… I expected to be dead already.’

The clearing ahead of her brought the mare to a grinding halt as she watched the river split off ahead, with her now standing at the edge of the cliff to the water below. While her running may have stopped, the sound of hooves did not. Bursting through foliage, one automaton with all its mass failed to halt as she had and instead became a battering ram as it collided with the mare.

A wet cliff edge, and only having one working talon don’t make for a good combination as Bronze was all but body slammed off the side and fell straight towards the river. Looking up with just enough time to see the creations of her own skills standing ominously at the cliff as they watched down upon her.

With any luck they wouldn’t follow her in, their weight alone would certainly carry them to the bottom, and holding on to that fact Bronze rested her head back finally for a breather. It may not be a leisurely float down the river while she fought against the metal in her body, but at least with a few kicks of her hind legs she could keep herself on the surface.

Something however, was causing the water around to get faster. Bronze turned her head to see just how far she had gone down stream, and with the automatons quickly becoming but a speck off in horizon. Bronze knew she made far more distance than she should have for a river of this size. Growing in severity, the mare rocked against stone sides of the cliffs edge as she was thrashed about from the growing rapids.

Now wishing she had more armor plates put in her body, she tried to use her own talon as an anchor as she scrapped against the ground and rocky walls around her. The current however, proved too strong, and with every attempt, Bronze just found herself using the limb more as a shield to keep from smashing against the stones. All the while the mare was fed to one fundamental principal of nature.

Water flowed downwards.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Bronze shouted as high as her lungs would allow when she saw the waterfall before her. Its white water tumbling over edge to an unknown level of danger beneath, as her body took in every ounce of breath to try any hold itself over till she either came out the other side… dead or alive.

Chapter 2

Chapter two

With a hefty cough, Bronze spewed what water remained in her lungs on the banks of the river downstream. All the while her heavy head fell flat against the dirt and foliage, that grew along the edges of what could have been her watery grave. Looking up to the sky, what the mare saw to greet her were the stars above, as they twinkled away in the night sky. While the moon itself shined almost as bright it seemed as its day time counterpart.

“What do you want from me?” she asked to the heavens, and to the equestrian princess that called the lunar landscape home now, “I get that I haven’t been the best of ponies in these parts, but if you’re going to kill me at least make it quicker than drowning?”

With a sudden leap in her chest though, the mare immediately started to pat herself down as she tried to feel for it. As seconds later she brought out the hammer that had remained in her cloaks’ pocket and held on to his in her hooves like a memory.

Finding what little strength left in her limbs, Bronze managed to put one hoof in front of the other and knelt against the rivers’ edge. Gorging herself on the cool water to quench her thirst and stave off as much of her growing hunger as she could. The mare took a few painting breaths between gulps before turning her attention away, and marched her way down the banks of the river. Thankful that her creations didn’t bother to chase her down the falls and finish her off while she made love to unconsciousness.

With a smidge of luck given her day, Bronze looked onwards to a cottage just at the edge of the river. Even more so to the lights inside that all seemed to be extinguished for the night. Creeping her way to the property, the mare laid there prone, waiting and watching for any sign of some creature still afoot. However, with the night air as stagnant around her as it was in the house. She took it upon herself to creep over towards the shed built just away from the main home near the small field of crops.

Slowly twisting the knob with her talon, Bronze crept her way inside. Looking at the various farm tools used to work the fields, their weight alone told her most of them were of wooden construction, and all but useless to her. Until her eyes laid on the pipe of what looked to be a section of irrigation. Unable to see clearly in the dim light she held the metal up to her tongue, and Bronze tasted the metallic citrusy tang it gave off over her pallet.

“Hmm… copper,” she noted and braced part of the piping on the ground with a back hoof before gripping the other end with her talon.

A quick snap later, and she had a section of piping that could actually be worked for her uses. Still held in her talon, Bronze took a few breaths, and relaxed herself as she braced for the pain to come before finally just shrugging her shoulders to get it over with.

Ramming the rod of metal in to her stump, the mare arched her back over into almost a pretzel as she tried to push the agony out of her mind. Wary not to scream and alert those occupying the house. Biting down on her tongue, she felt the few tears drip down her cheeks as she fought to silence herself over having a piece of metal now grinding its way in to her stump as it wedged between the plating. Knowing full well that would only be part of the pain she’d be dealing with shortly.

Putting said stub on the ground, Bronze tipped her horn down and lit a small flame at its edge. Once again fortifying herself for what she was about to do; the mare slowly ran the flame along the joint from her stump to the pipe. Smelling the searing coat soon after the heat met her skin so close to the fused metal. She knew the brazing wouldn’t be all that strong, copper was a rather fickle metal after all. However, it would hold it in place so she didn’t have to keep stabbing it in to her limb.

Letting out a pained breath after gritting her teeth, Bronze sulked against the door to the shed already wanting to take another nap. Though with no intent on being caught by a farmer the next morning, she pushed herself and put pressure on the new leg.

At first the joint threatened to give way, but as she eased it more and more the crude replacement eventually took hold and supported her frame. Doing a few strides around the shed itself; the mare was satisfied at least that she’d be able to walk normal enough for the time being.

Poking her head out the door, Bronze walked amongst the fields of what appeared to be tomatoes in the lunar light. Swiping up several in one pass, she voraciously tore in to the skins and slurped down the juice on the inside. Downing one after the other to supplement half the river she drank.

At the front door to the cottage Bronze peered inside through the windows, and just as she figured no pony seemed to be awake at all. Resting a talon on the knob a gentle twist unlatched the door and welcomed her in to the home without heed. Keeping her limbs on the various rugs, Bronze kept the sounds of her metal limbs to a minimum as she walked through the lower floor of the home.

Eying a cloak hanging near the back door, Bronze looked down to her own. It remained well waterlogged from her trip down the river, and brand-new tears had been made from the rocks along the way. Quickly swiping the replacement off its hook, she threw it around her form. It was a bit large for her size, but at the very least there were pockets, and it was warm. Bronze immediately set about filling said pockets, feeling a little bad about snatching the ‘rainy day fund’ jar on top of a cabinet.

“I’m sorry about this…” she muttered to the family under her breath, and dumped the contents of the jar to help hold her over.

Satisfied that she isn’t going to starve in the next few hours the mare left the jar on the kitchen table, and made her way for the front door. Slowly opening it once more to let herself out, Bronze looked back to the quiet home and shook her head.

“I go from suppling weapons to countries in a war and trying to wipe them all off the face of this earth, to stealing from a cottage in the middle of the woods,” Seeing truly how far she has fallen since she was but a foal. Bronze took her leave and made her way to the road just next to the home.

Not before nabbing a few more tomatoes for the trip.

***

With a renewed sense of strength from both the impromptu rest along the river back, to the food now in her gut. Bronze reached the outskirts of what looked like just another boarder town to the country, just as the day began to break. The few guards here and there that she would have normally seen in such a small dwelling, now had swelled to half a dozen at a time roaming the streets in packs.

Shrugging her shoulders and pulling the hood up over her head more, Bronze walked with her eyes down low trying to avoid any direct eye contact to those that would likely be looking for her. Silently she remained thankful that the cloak was a few sizes too large, it may have nearly been tripping her, but her limbs were more than covered. The breeze was cold, so a pony trying to bundle up would go by unnoticed… her hooves, or lack thereof however, maybe not.

Walking along the different shops and buildings, she kept her make shift peg leg facing the structures to help draw attention away, knowing full well it would be a dead giveaway to any looking out with a keen eye.

Ducking in to a shop as a patrol walked ahead. Bronze looked out the window as the guards strolled by, before a creak of a floor board perked her ears up. Turning about, an older earth pony colt minded the store as he wiped a few shelves free from the dust that settled.

“Good mornin’ there miss,” he called out to her over the across his beard, having glanced at her for but a moment, “just opened up shop for the day, so everythin’ is freshly stocked, any questions just give me a holler.”

Bronze nodded to the stallion as she walked the aisle, “Much appreciated there,” she looked to the various goods on the shelves as she replied.

Jars of honey and preserved fruits, bundles of fabric for a quick clothing mend, and various tools for your average homeowner. The general store certainly lived up to its name it seemed, however, while she had a moment to breathe. Bronze poked her head around the corner to the colt.

“There does seem to be an awful lot of guards out this morning,” the mare made small talk as she looked over some of the goods from the shelves he cleaned, “Is there something that’s happened?”

With a quick sneeze from the dust getting to him, the stallion brushed his nose with a handkerchief, “you aren’t from around here are ya?” he quickly noted the odd limbs about her, seeing just the smallest protrusion from the hood of what could be a horn.

“I’m afraid not, just passing through actually after coming from capital.”

“Hmm… I see,” he nodded while stroking his beard, “Well the guards are on the lookout for something that dropped from that airship, and crashed near the capital.” He went back to work, putting the duster in his apron and moved towards the counter, as Bronze followed. “Seems there’s some sort of soldiers that doesn’t realize the fight is over.”

Bronze tried to keep her eyes as level as possible, even though they desired to grow with just those few details. Just that alone told her one thing. They likely weren’t keeping an eye out for her, at least not as their main target, “The guards told you this I assume? Seems like it’d be a sensitive matter.”

“Na,” he chuckled, sorting out some papers, “I’m friends with the old garrison leader here in these parts, so I just asked him when he last came over for supper.”

Sharing his smile, Bronze felt her talon drag against the ground for a moment before finally responding to her will. Looking down to the appendage, the gems along it may have not been the brightest to begin with, but this time though they looked as if the life had been snuffed out of them.

“Considering I’ve never been to these parts; do you think you can point me in the direction of a good drink?” she asked, keeping up the mask of just a weary traveler.

“Well, I don’t know about a good drink,” he snickered to himself, “but if you’re looking to get a warm feeling in your belly, I’d try for the local tavern, Bakers Barrel.”

With a nod and a thanks, Bronze took what little directions were needed to find the spot. Which given the size of the town to begin with, wasn’t much of a trek. The tavern looked barely able to hold more than two dozen creatures. Though as she walked inside the mare felt her joints almost lock up, even more than the draining vigor in her gems could cause.

Out of the two dozen that could be customers, at least half of that looked to be some of the guards stationed in this area. All of which remained armed, and armored in Serens’ colors even in this place of drink. Judging by the number of steins that were being passed around, Bronze figured they had all be here a while, and likely well under its effects.

‘I’ve handled drunk colts before…’ Bronze prided herself with at first, before quickly remembering in the end who bested her. While on top of that noting, not all these patrons were ponies.

A few gryphons dotted the ranks of those under the princesses’ crown, along with a zebra here and there, and a lone dwarf drake sitting idly as he drank straight from the barrel. A pony or two she could handle, but between the gryphons’ talons, the zebras natural speed and agility, and the drakes… well, fire. Bronze knew if things turned south, she’d be ash before making it to the door.

With a little extra pep in her step, Bronze sat at the bar counter and waited for the keep to work around to her. “Well seems every creature wants to be an early bird today,” the gruff looking gryphon chortled as he wiped his talons on his apron, “what can I get for ya there miss?”

“Mead? If you have it,” she answered and pulled out a few bits from the bag she swiped with a little levitation from her horn under the hood, “large crowed it seems, eh?”

“Ah I can’t blame them, Frakton over there just had a newly hatched son,” he pointed to a particularly inebriated gryphon, “got the whole day off, and decided to celebrate with some coworkers.”

With nearly another dozen drinks dropped off at the table of the lucky male, Bronze sipped slowly at her own, “As good as any reason.”

“So, what of you?” the barkeep asked, watching Bronze raise a brow from over her glass in an aura, “I know just about every face in this part of the woods of Seren, haven’t see you around before though. Passing through?”

With a simple nod, Bronze lined her story up with that from the shopkeeper, “just came from the capital and wanted a drink after trekking all night through the woods.”

“Ya came to the right place,” he smiles, refilling her mug, “though if you’d been out all night and were looking to get some shut eye, I’d check out the small inn a few doors down from me.” Looking over her shoulder, the gryphons’ smile grew ever wider as he watched one approach, “unless, someone pony out here catches your fancy and takes you home first…”

A moment later, one of the guards from the group sat right next to the mare and leaned against the counter. “Well good mornin’ there miss,” He smiled warmly at her, “May I buy you one? If you’d allow me.”

Meanwhile, Bronze kept her attention to the mug in her horns grasp and only glanced over to the colt as she sized him up. Unicorn, probably around her own age, and from the glassing in his eyes… at least a third his weight in alcohol down for the day.

Fluttering her eyes to the colt as she dropped the hood, she put on the same face she knew all too well for a male, “Why you certainly may.” With that fresh refill in her mug, Bronze returned the gesture to the stallion.

“The names Stellar Star,” he about hiccupped over his lips.

“Cobalt, Cobalt Shield,” Bronze followed up with, before glancing back at the rest of his party. Some of which couldn’t be more obvious they silently egged him on, and let the mare in on one thing, “So tell me… was it a bet that brought you over here, or peer pressure?” she replied with a husk of a grin.

“Ahh… hmm…” Stellar awkwardly scratched the back of his head, feeling some of the drink leave his system after the call out, “would you believe me if I said neither?”

“Perhaps…”

“Noticed when ya first walked in and I wanted to say hello,” he put on his best face, trying to convince her, “… I mean it’d be a shame for such a pretty thing like yourself to drink alone.”

“Well then… don’t let me,” Bronze passed him a wink, and hailed the tender to bring two glasses of bourbon. With a clank she and Stellar toasted their glasses and shot them back. If it hadn’t been for the other thoughts in her head, Bronze may have heard his friends clapping in the background to his praise.

***

“So, what of your horn?” Stellar slurred across from his mug, as he took in the gem encrusted appendage atop her head.

A number of hours had passed sense he sat down with the mare, and while many of his cohorts may have taken it upon themselves to call it an evening and get some shut eye before the following day. Bronze had to give him one thing at least, the colt was a tenacious. Though, in the end, she’d happily spend as little of the bits she procured while he was willing to get her tab.

“Injury from years ago,” Bronze answered like she had so many times in the past when the question would come up, “wanted to feel a little normal afterwards.”

“Well… it certainly doesn’t take away from the rest of ya,” he grinned like a colt trying to ask a mare to dance.

‘That’s the best you can do?’ Bronze thought in her head, forcing a blush to her face to keep the act going. “Why thank you kind sir,” she purred out from under her breath.

Looking out the window at the lights that have all but faded from the early evening coming this time of year, the mare noted that even with the hours that had passed. It seemed they were the last two in there for the night.

“I have been traveling for quite some time last night, and… it would be nice to find somewhere warm to sleep tonight,” she finished the rest of her glass and watched as his ears all but shot up at the prospect.

“Ha-ha,” he stammered over his words, “there’s an inn not far from here… I could walk you there.”

Levitating a few bits on the counter as a tip, Bronze hopped off the stool and beckoned the stallion to follow with all but a flick of her tail. “I’d be honored…” she left him with a purse of her lips, and slithered out the door.

It didn’t take long for the hormone driven male to almost gallop out after her, and soon they were walking along the streets towards the inn. Quiet for this time of night, Bronze still saw many guards walking about the town doing their own rounds. Thankfully paying no heed to the couple pacing towards their bed for the night.

A quick check in rewarded her with a key to a one bedroom, and with a thanks to the inn keeper the pair walked in to the quaint dwelling. A desk for those more inclined to work while they travel, one window overlooking some of the town as its lanterns flickered in the night, and a small but functional toiletries and bath. Something the mare could certainly use after the last few days she’s had. Granted some of that time was laying out in the rain and almost drowning, but there’s nothing like hot water to cure the aches and pains.

Just one thing though was left to attend to.

“May I take your cloak?” Stellar asked as he grasped the collar lightly with a tinge of his own magic.

“Why… of course,” Bronze whipped the garment from over her and on to him. Pulling the cloak off his head welcomed the stallion with the full view of the mare before him, and an immediate case of ‘hoof in mouth’ syndrome.

Tattered, beaten, and bruised skin dotted along her frame from the journey she had taken. As the appendages she had become known for by certain individuals, all but knocked the wind out of Stellars’ lungs without even throwing a punch.

Bronzes’ dinged up and dilapidated talon dragged against the grains of the floor boards, and the limp from her peg carried her closer and closer to the colt. Had he not been in the state he was in, the guard may have actually noticed them on their way over here, but like she had experienced before. He had just one thing on his mind.

Making her job even easier.

“Wha-a-a-?”

“Oh? What is it there Stellar?” she chomped on his name and gestured to the rest of herself, letting one talon run over his cheek as he backed himself against the door, “does this take away from the rest of me?”

“What are you?” he asked in shock, and from those words alone the mare felt the subtle stab at her image for what she had become in recent years.

“I… am the very last mare you should have tried to bed,” snapping her talon out. Bronze grasped on to his horn before he could move out of the way.

Sober he might have stood a chance, but with his reaction time dwindling to that of a snail. The mare was free to do as she pleased. A single pulse of energy laced its way through her limb and in to the skull of her victim, pulling what it needed from him and leaving nothing left.

The light in his eyes faded as the gems of her own limb started to charge back to their full potential. When he began to slip to his flank, she followed, sure to get every last drop she could manage. The silent voice on his lips begging the question of why to the mare, as she watched him helplessly start to shutter under the forceful incursion from her special talent.

With a thud, Stellar dropped face first in to the ground, and Bronze stood over top of her fallen prey. “Sleep tight… Mister Star,” she used the newfound energy to pick the colt up and lay him at the foot of the bed, as she watched him slump against its frame. “It really was nothing personal,” Bronze muttered to the comatose colt, as she slipped behind the bathroom door for a much-needed refresher.

Chapter 3

Chapter three

Given how the last few days have been for the mare, to actually wake up in a bed rather than half drowned or up in a tree is a mile stone she can thank her lucky stars to have. With the light of the rising sun peaking its way through the blinds and across her face. Bronze found her eye lids pressing tighter and tighter together to try and stave off the inevitable, and enjoy the accommodations at least for another hour or two. Though the kicking at the base of her bed quickly took that idea and heaved it down a well.

Flopping to the side of her bed, Bronze pushed off the covers reluctantly as she got to her feet… and peg. With a loud yawn and a joint popping stretch, a nerve twanged in the back of her head with a small shot of pain to go with it.

“Never… try sleeping in a tree again,” she muttered and rolled her shoulders, feeling the night a few days ago coming back to haunt her with a vengeance.

The mare walked towards the restroom, ignoring all else in the room as she splashed cool water across her face and glared at herself in the mirror. Stellar had reason to be frightened given how she looked. The injuries from the day’s past did a number on her with discoloration of her coat from the bruises, to the fresh scar tissue that started to form from the many cuts and scrapes she picked up.

A knock at the door made the mare jump as she heard the handle trying to open, “Housekeeping,” a mare called out from the other side.

Acting fast Bronze slid against the door and held it in place, “Ahh sorry miss! Little indecent right now,” she responded.

“Oh! my apologies,” the mare on the other side of the door answered, “Well if you need any fresh towels, I’ll be making my rounds, just let me know ma’am.”

Bronze thanked the mare and waited with an ear pressed against the door as she heard the hoof steps going down the hall. With a sigh of relief, she grabbed her cloak, and swung it over her ready to head out in to the open world once more, a little direction in mind.

The muffled yelp though quickly grabbed her attention, as she looked over towards the one that unwillingly helped her last night. Stellar laid there still half in a daze, but upon seeing her once more the colt snapped out of any and all hangover he might have had and back to the real world. With no way to untie himself from the makeshift bindings made from a few bed sheets, the colt could only tremble and watch as the mare walked up to him with all the grace of a siren going in for the kill.

“Don’t worry there, Stellar,” the tantalizing mare almost hummed to him, and ran her talon against his cheek, “I already got what I needed as it is… you’ll be able to get out once back to your full strength.” If only to add the icing on the cake, and maybe thank him in a sort of way. Bronze planted a solid kiss against his horn.

With a roll of his eyes to meet the back of their sockets, the colt once again went limp and hit the floor. Allowing the mare to look at him in with only a small chuckle to escape her lips, as she made her escape through the room’s door. However, not before putting the do not disturb sign out front.

Leaving the guard to his own devices, Bronze trotted amongst the town goers as much as she could to blend in this time around. With it being significantly busier this morning than it was yesterday, she reasoned getting lost in the crowed would help draw little attention to herself from the guards out roaming around for her creations.

Though for all the tech she had created in the past, the layers upon layers of planning that went in to the orchestra she set up between three nations, and all the conniving ways she might possess. Bronze never put in to the thought of one thing…

“What do I do now?” she asked herself while walking among the crowed.

Her life was dedicated to getting revenge on those that waged a pointless war over crops, ore, and other resources that they could have gone to outsiders for. Instead, those three nations decided to turn on one another like savages, and try to squeeze the life out of the one country she harbored herself in at the moment.

She couldn’t go to the Diamond Dog Republic. Regardless of how she turned her creations against those she once helped. The dogs would tear her limb from limb for simply being a pony. Plus, she was in no shape to try and deal with their harsh terrain. The Gryphon Kingdom was off limits in her book as well, they were probably too busy trying to take care of the automatons just like the DDR were. Though the gryphons had seen her around much more frequently and likely would have pieced together that she needed her head on a pike.

Bronze never thought she would have survived the fall of those nations should her plans had gone completely through without a hitch. Even if they didn’t and she was found out. Bronze thought for sure she would have wound up dead once way or another. Teleportation or not, she hadn’t expected to survive all that long outside the airship. A gryphon talon through her skull, a diamond dog crushing her in its paw, or even one of Serens beheading her on the spot.

Now she found herself in an odd sort of purgatory. The guards seem to be more focused on hunting down her creations and not her for the time being, if they had even been given orders to do so. There aren’t many who would even dream her being alive, except for maybe one colt. While to add to all that, she’s worked herself further and further away from the capital where there are even fewer to try and capture her should it come to that… her future plans were in a fog, but that hadn’t meant she was about to go belly up without a fight.

Moving towards a familiar establishment, Bronze opened the door to the general store once more as the colt there moved a few boxes along his back. “Well good morning there miss,” he said with the tip of his head, “Surprised to see ya here, I figured you would have already been on your way.”

“Oh, I aim to be soon,” Bronze smiled back at him, having learned that being polite draws far less attention to oneself, “Though I am still unfamiliar with these parts of Seren it would seem, and was wondering if you might have a map of the local region?”

Shuffling his beard with a hoof, he thought back to his entire inventory as is displayed itself in his head. In a few moments a hoof shot out from under him, as he pointed to one aisle, “third shelf down on the right. They aren’t the best, but they can get you to where you need.”

Bronze nodded in thanks and went to check them out. Unfolding one carefully with her talon, the stallion was right. They may not have been the most detailed, but they did give her roads, towns, even basic terrains here and there.

“Where are ya headed?” he poked his head around the corner, “If I might ask, perhaps I can save you a bit or two by just pointing ya in the right direction.”

With a gentle shake of her head, Bronze dismissed the offer, still figuring it all out for herself. “While I appreciate it kind sir, I do plan on moving about for quite a bit… I’ve been looking to stretch my legs.” She lied as sweetly as she could to the colt.

“Ahh an adventurer I see,” he chortled there for a moment before heading over to the main counter, “Whelp best get that out of your system while you’re still young there miss.” With a few taps of the register, he turned back to her, “That’ll be two bits, unless there’s anything else you might need for the road.”

Bronze reached in to the pockets on the cloak and pulled out the swiped coin, “No, that’ll be all sir.” She answered with a nod, and a farewell before heading back out in to the street to try and get her bearings before heading out.

Looking over the map one thing was clear. Traveling by water way while unconscious was certainly the way to go if given the chance. ‘I’ve really gone that far?’ she asked herself, using the crude scaling on the map to measure out about twenty miles from the capital. Looking around the map though, she found the nearest town was only several miles more away, and while she may be scraping by for the time being. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t dealt with before.

“Whelp, let’s hit the road,” she said to herself as she tucked the map in the cloak pocket next to her tool.

Clanging metal and shouts snagged her attention as she turned towards the road. Curiosity still drew her towards the sound of the commotion. It wasn’t hard to find, just follow the citizens that were running to their homes, and go the opposite direction. Rounding a corner, Bronze immediately ducked back in to cover as she poked her head around to watch the site that started to erupt in the town’s open marketplace.

A few of her automatons seemed to have made it all the way here, and were giving some of those that patrolled the streets a run for their money. Steel blades met rugged armor as those creations of hers swung their own edge. With little information to go on about how to combat them, her automatons made short work of those that stood before them.

One after the next, guards fell left and right to the blades created by her own mind, and in the back of her mind the body count on her talon started to rise once more. “It’s scary how ruthless I made them,” she smiled at her own craftponyship, feeling all the pride of an artist after finishing a canvas.

Shrugging her shoulders, Bronze once again turned towards the road. It wasn’t her fight, it wasn’t her town, and she had no loyalties to those guards. The only thing she had to keep an eye out on was her own-

“Daddy!” the scream pierced her ears as Bronze whipped around.

There slumped against a cart laid an injured colt, sliced across his leg and unable to get anywhere fast. While curled up to his side a colt shook his dad to get up and away from those attacking, completely unaware of the automaton that made its way closer and closer to finish the father off. A nerve of familiarity switched on in the back of her mind, bringing up a memory all too close to home for her.

‘It’s… not my fight,’ Bronze told herself, as she felt her hooves picking up speed.

It wasn’t.

‘I should walk away,’ she answered in herself while she took a leap.

She should.

‘I’m going to lose my life acting like this,’ she said while bringing back the talon into a fist.

She might, but not before saving one.

Rocketing her clenched fist in to the helmet of the tin soldier. The straps holding it in place snapped like liquorish and left the rest of the body stumbling from the surprise impact. Bronze looked down its hollow neck at the rune imprinted on the metal, with a charged gem in its center to give it life.

Grabbing hold of the gem with her talon, with a quick rip she held the gem in her grasp and drained what little energy was in it to hold her over for the fight. With nothing now to power it, the armor tumbled off to one side and went still.

Looking to the fallen colt and his son, the father shoved his son behind him away from the strange mare. “Please…” he winced from the pain, while pressing a hoof to the open wound, “Don’t… hurt him.”

Cocking one eye brow up, Bronze tilted her head in confusion, “I’m… not going to… I wanted to help.”

The eyes of the mare looked at the colt shuddering behind his father as he looked back up at her in fear, before regarding what seemed to be the fallen creation of hers, and then her own talons. Shared craftsmanship that bore striking resemblance to the scrapped suit of armor.

‘I’m not like them…’ she wondered for a moment.

The clanking of metal though behind her started to grow with every step they took. Turning about Bronze found that while the guards may not have known of their true weak points, they still managed to get a lucky shot in here and there before the last one of Seren fell. All that remained were two more tin soldiers, and with no sign of any guards coming from the streets, they looked to be all hers.

Deflecting a swing of a sword with the peg. The tip of the soft metal cleaved off and left her with a dull point as she grabbed hold of the blade with her talons. Ripping the weapon free from its owners’ grasp. The mare slashed in wide swings to keep them away from the pair behind her, and Bronze steadily backed them up as they avoided her own wild attacks. While one may be disarmed, the other grasped on to its own spear waiting for an opening.

With an over swing on her part, it found it. However, a thrust from its spear ended with it being cleaved in half, and the mare grinned at the strength her limbs gave her. Though even with that loss, the automaton took a play from its creators’ book and still stabbed at her with the pike. Landing a solid strike against her hind leg. Twisting the tip in deeper, Bronze grunted in pain as she bucked against the creation and knocked its grip clean from the shaft.

Using her magic to rip the tip from her, she shot it back at the assailant with the precision of an archer and drove the point deep in to its neck and the glyph on the inside. With one more down and one to go Bronze felt the full weight of her creation as it tackled her to the ground with its heavy form, knocking the blade from her grasp as well.

Punching wildly, the mare was forced to swing her head side to side to avoid the strikes that would likely cave her skull in with one hit. Charging up her horn, a bolt of energy lanced its way from her temple and struck the automaton in its forehead. Not nearly enough to finish it off, but more than enough to take it off guard.

With a daze of confusion forcing its stumble. The creator rammed her makeshift peg leg in to its neck. Dropping the tin soldier for good as she withdrew her crude weapon and steadied herself against the ground.

Trotting of hooves echoing down the street told her only that more guards should be on their way, and she didn’t feel like having to explain how she managed them so easily. With one last look at the stallion struggling to his hooves and leading his son away to safety. Bronze started to back petal to the same road she had planned to leave from not moments ago. As a group of guards came in to view and saw some of her handywork.

They may have been shouting for her to stop, running away from piles of bodies and empty suits of armor did look a tad suspicious after all. However, Bronze didn’t hear them on her tail either, as she beat her limbs against the ground and put some distance between her and the town.

Chapter 4

Chapter four

The steady grind of her joins to the ground told Bronze all but one thing. She was in need of topping off her gems once again. It had only been a week sense fighting those automatons in town, and sense then from the few towns she passed through. She was unable to repeat the events of the bar and keep herself charged up.

Holding the talon under her cloak for some darkness, the slight flicker in them screamed that they needed a boost. “I’ll have to make due,” she sighed, and concentrated on her horn.

Drawing the magic through her body by sheer force of will alone. The energies leeched through her body from the tip of her horn and down her frame, replenishing what they could along the way as the dim light in the limbs gems slowly started to brighten up after being fed as her horns own dimmed. Taking out the map, the next town should be right around this bend in the road that she found herself on, and hopefully from there she could get in to a unicorns’ bed.

Or have another fight.

The town itself seemed just like all the others she had passed through recently, blurring in to one. Ponies, gryphons, zebras, the occasional drake and dragon would go about town doing their own business like they had likely done for their whole lives without a care in the world. Though something seemed off with this town.

Everywhere she walked the friendly nature of those citizens of Seren poured out to one another. Yet behind the smile lied an unease that she read as if it was a sign around their neck. Something wasn’t right with many of the township.

“Extra, Extra!” a small gryphon chick shouted from his crate alongside the road, “armored attacks on the rise! Princess Grace urges citizens to remain calm!” he yelled as a paper waved in his claw.

Digging in to her dwindling bit supply, Bronze reasoned that hearing what the princess had to say about the matter was worth the coin it took to view it. Scanning over the parchment, apparently since her visit to the capital not too long-ago Grace had done an interview regarding all that happed in the war. If you could call it that.

‘It should have turned out better…’ Bronze grunted in the back of her mind, while she took the paper to a bench and set about reading.

“Citizens of Seren,

I stand before and declare that the fighting between our nation and its neighbors is at an end. The buildup of arms for the cause of war has been wound down to a near standstill, and instead has turned to a sense of research as to those arms they brought to the table in an effort to quell any future fighting…”

Bronze huffed over the top of the paper, “So now you’re going to arm your country and use my tech as a means for peace?” she wished she could roll her eyes at the mare face to face.

“…With my rescue from the Gryphon Kingdom at the hooves of another, and the death of both Chief Reinhart and King Rhorkin. My message to the new leadership that will take their place is this; aid will be given in the future after a new treaty is written like it always has been, and some given now to help stabilize the area. Any act of aggression towards my nation though will be swiftly quelled, and sanctions put on the nation responsible. This fighting started because of being given an inch, and trying to take a mile. It will not occur once more…”

‘But the Gryphons didn’t have you?’ Bronze glared at the words and even reread them through once more. “I had you, I had you in my grasp! Not them!” she shouted, before quickly glancing up at the few faces looking at her. With a sheepish chuckle and probably the most shifty smile possible, the mare looked over the paragraph once more. ‘With my tech there’s little either of her neighbors would be able to do to match Seren now,’ Bronze reasoned, ‘You’re welcome Princess,’ she said to no one and dived back in to the article.

“…To those in my own nation however, a threat still looms out there hidden around each of our territories that deserves our attention. A new sort of soldier resides in the remnants of those armies, and now find themselves scattered around our lands as well as our neighbors. They are dangerous, well trained, and likely well-armed still. I urge my citizens that if you see any of these ‘Tin soldiers’ to please stay clear and let your local guard garrison handle the situation. No more blood should be shed for this pointless cause.

To all my citizens, keep your wits about you, and we will get through this as one.

Sincerely,

Princess Saving Grace.”

For what seemed like hours Bronze sat there on that bench and stared at the paper in her talon. Nothing, not even an honorable mention of ‘hey there’s this mare that caused all this to our nation’ was conveyed in Graces words. ‘It’s as if I didn’t even exist in this war,’ Bronze looked up as she stared off in to space. Wondering in the end what she really even accomplished with the amount of her life that she dedicated to this cause.

“All I wanted to do was wipe the slate clean…” Bronze whispered to herself as she held the paper still, repeating that idea from before, “kill the leadership that took everything from me, give them all something to fight instead of one another, force them to work together as one… And now Grace is holding both nations by the throat, as she rightfully should granted… That’s not what I intended though,” she sighed and shook her head.

Her motives really were only known to her, and it would seem to the outside it was to end everything… but it wasn’t. “I just wanted the fighting to stop,” Bronzes’ eye clenched for a moment. However, when she looked up to those that walked about. She saw what she really managed to accomplish in the end.

Fear.

Fear for if they would come under attack once again.

Fear if a group of her tin soldiers would make it in to town.

Fear that the guards might not be able to stop them.

Couples walked with their kin closer to them down the street instead of letting them run around as children should. Those children that should have wanted to go out and play cowered behind fences in their yards wondering what might be out in the town ready to strike. Even those guards she has seen around town couldn’t hide their unease with their visors, and barely kept the sweat from trickling down their necks.

Bronze watched as the third party she always was, and only felt disgust in her throat for what she caused in the end. Wiping the slate clean she didn’t expect to be pretty, but she didn’t expect it to cause all of this before her. She wanted the nations involved to settle down and come together, but instead…

“I drove them all apart, and filled the gaps with dread…” she shuttered, and started to make her way out of town, “I made everything worse.”

***

If she had still been a foal, Bronzes’ head would have been low enough to be dragging on the ground by this point. Though, even as a full-grown mare, she still came pretty close. The path she took from town thankfully remained barren in her travels. She hadn’t gotten anything to eat while milling about, and with her power still failing. Bronze knew she wouldn’t get very far if something attacked, and she had to drag her talon through the fight. The rumbling in her stomach was ignored though, as more pressing matters found their way to her head from what she saw in that town.

“Wipe the slate clean…” she rehearsed the line to herself once more for the dozenth time while on this path.

It was a simple goal to her, one that she dreamt about frequently after getting her first limb to work all those moons ago. Now however, looking back she wishes she could talk some sense to that young filly, or at the very least tell her not to underestimate a certain unicorn. With her hooves starting to wander off the roadway, Bronze continued without a care. Maybe a walk about nature would clear her head of the doubt.

“They always fought, always, and nothing was going to change that,” she said out loud to the trees. ‘These three nations have always been at each other’s throats for decades,’ the mare thought as she stepped over a log and went further down the rabbit hole of her thoughts, ‘nothing was going to change. Unless someone did something radical.’

And she was just the mare to do it.

She had the will to make it happen after losing what she loved most in this world. A younger Bronze may have not understood why her father had died, or why for that matter Seren was always so controlling of its resources.

Yet, even an older Bronze still couldn’t care about the politics involved in keeping a country working. She wanted her dad back, to visit him in his shop. She wanted to see her mom again, curl up in the evening and talk with her over the kitchen table and a cup of tea. More importantly, the mare wanted to give them both a hug and cry in their shoulders.

Though now after what she’d done, ‘Would they return it?’

That thought stopped her in her tracks, and Bronze hung there lost in time. If the DDR and Gryphon Kingdom went to war with Seren forgoing her gifts the fighting would have been over in a few months. Seren always would have beaten them when it came to supplies, and her neighbors would have waved a white flag as soon as their stomachs ached from hunger or their troops couldn’t be armed. The number of lives lost in the end might have stained the newspapers for a year, but they wouldn’t be more than a footnote in the history books.

However, with her help. The two had enough of a force multiplier to level the nation as a whole. Countless civilians died from her test, but it was a field test. ‘Those are supposed to test its effectiveness,’ Bronze told herself, trying to rationalize her slaughtering of a town. Yet even left unspoken, she still managed to taste vinegar in that thought. ‘The automatons on the loose now are targeting soldiers… mostly,’ she tried to use the thought to quell her mind. What of those that weren’t soldiers caught in the cross fire? The orphans that would be created, or widows that would have gotten the same message her mom had. Only one thought seemed to do anything for her subconscious, and calm the fire burning, ‘In time their numbers will dwindle and then Seren will likely help her neighbors mop up their own infestations. Bringing the nations together.’

What if they couldn’t be stopped though?

‘I made them tough granted, but they aren’t invincible,’ she reasoned to try and rationalize setting them loose on the unsuspecting countries, ‘and there are only a limited number of them. Production was supposed to stop after I sent out the kill command.’

For the average guard taking down one was a hassle in itself, and the body count after trying to clean up the whole country along with the surrounding lands would be higher than she may have intended or even dreamed. So much so that the very infrastructure of those nations that tried to remove them might just collapse all on its own.

‘Wipe the slate clean… and bring the nations together,’ Bronze mused at the juvenile thought that formed in her younger brain and festered over the years. They couldn’t be brought together if there wasn’t a nation to being with.

The mare could feel her parents looking down at her in disgust for what she had done. That stabbed more of a knife in her than when the spear tip when into her leg. She may have had the will to try and make a change, but that didn’t give her the right to do so. With a single signal from her horn, she all but likely doomed the nation she resided in. Her legacy would be that of destruction, and whenever she met her own end. Her parents’ backs would be the only welcome she would receive.

A tear trailed down from the edge of her eye to the tip of her muzzle as it fell off and raced down the cliff face of the waterfall the mare resided at. If she had been paying attention, she may have actually noticed how far she had traveled while lost in thought. There wasn’t a soul around, and only with her own thoughts did she find herself in the company of.

A company she didn’t want.

“I… I’m… sorry mom and dad,” the once proud mare that challenged countries on her own with all the strength of an army, reached in to her cloak pocket and pulled out the tool she carried with her still. Looking down at its worn handle from years of use and memories etched in to the grains of the wood, Bronze did the only thing she could do.

She wept like a foal.

Tears wouldn’t fix it in the end, and there was little she could do to begin with. Her limbs were in shambles, her power was failing, and all she wanted was for one of her creations now to come out of no where and finish her. She was in pain, and she wanted that pain to go away. As she watched her tears join the raging waters below the mare let a calm breath escape past her lips.

How deep it was, she had no idea. If there were any jagged rocks on the bottom, not a clue. How high up was she, hopefully high enough, it certainly looked larger than the last one. With anything and everything clouding her mind, Bronze set on to one thought that kept coming up, “Maybe I can tell them that in person…”

With that, and a single step. She went over the edge to join her tears.

Chapter 5

Chapter five

A steady stream of coughing brought the mare back from the brink on the edge of the river bank, as the torrent of fluids escaped from her chest. ‘I’m making a habit of this…’ she groaned after her lungs settled, wondering how she could mess up even ending it all.

“Oh, she’s awake,” a stallions’ voice carried over in to her ears. Immediately snapping the mare too, and bringing her attention to the group coming out of the forest. As well as the guard laying by her side. With a careful hoof lifting her head up to let any extra water out, the colt looked her over, “Are you alright ma’am?” he asked her while his comrades joined them, their eyes peering out in to the overgrowth. Seemingly looking for something.

“Never…” another fit of coughing interrupted her as she steadied herself, “…Ugh… Better.” Bronze kept a close eye on all of them, looking for any bindings or chains that might give way to her near future. Still unsure of Serens intentions should she be found.

“Well, that’s good to hear there miss,” the same colt helped her up to her feet, and held Bronze steady as she started to wobble, “I was walking along the river side when I saw you fall, and when you didn’t come up I thought you might have gone down permanently.”

Bronze grinned off to the side, only showing half her face to the colt, “Yeah, the rocks up at the top were rather slippery,” she lied through the thin gap in her teeth. ‘Figures my torment isn’t done yet.’ With that the rest of the squad started to move on towards the woods, and with a gesture the guard that saved her beckoned the metallic mare to follow.

Not much was said by the others in the group for the first few minutes, which made Bronze wonder if they were trying to take her quietly, or hadn’t a clue who she was. She may have been omitted from the papers, but for all she knew there might be some orders under the table for her head still.

Though if these guards were after that, they certainly didn’t show it. “What brings you to these parts anyway?” her rescuer asked, “miss…?”

Shuffling her nonexistent feathers Bronze tried to think on the fly. “Tungsten, Tungsten Edge,” she nodded lightly to him.

“Pleasure Miss Edge,” he returned the gesture, “I’m Glimmer Knight.”

“…You wouldn’t happen to have a brother, would you?” she prayed and crossed her talons it wasn’t so. However, with a shake of his head she relaxed once more and continued on, “and I’m just travelling at the moment is all. Went to the waterfall, and well… took in the sights a little too seriously.”

“Mighty dangerous if you’re close,” another guard piped up, looking over his shoulder at her, “Even without what prowls these woods now.”

“You mean those soldiers?” her mind put two and two together.

The guard that rescued her quickly gave her a questioning eye, “Yes… those ones, you’ve seen them I take it?”

“Ahh actually I have,” Bronze tried to pry out an answer from the back of her head, “a few were killed in a town not far from here. Plus, I had read about them in the paper.” Looking down at his blade it remained unhinged and ready to strike if needed. However, there weren’t any other species in this group besides ponies, and at that all of them were earth ponies so she could still make a run for it if needed.

Though the change of intrigue portrayed on his face confused her when she saw the switch, “Really? Some were killed?” the light lit up on his face as if she had just given him some hope in the end, “Did you see how they did it?”

With a mental sigh of relief Bronze calmed herself down, and stopped trying to look for gaps in their formation to escape from if the cuffs came out. “It looked as though they went for the neck area,” she held a talon to the back of her own, “Like where the spine would be… I assume.”

“You got all that from one encounter?” the guard to the rear of the formation asked.

“I like to consider myself observant,” she rattled off without missing a beat, “In case I were to encounter them myself.”

“Good to know there, we’ve heard that some had fallen before after some time, but having an edge would do wonders,” Glimmer smiled at her, before turning his eyes onwards, “we’ve been out here patrolling to see if we encounter any ourselves. Try and clear them from the area.”

Bronze mentally went over the map she had purchased, likely ruined by now from her dive. Given how far she was from the other town, and on top of that how far off the capital was. She thought it unlikely they would have reached this part of the nation yet, at least not for a few more days.

‘They’re systematic, cunning, and relentless… but still kinda stupid,’ she summarized, listing off their traits in her head as if she would an adversary. This being one she knew well, ‘all they know is to kill, mostly soldiers and those that get in their way. So, they should still have to work their way here.’

Finally, after some walking the group found themselves on a main road and started to head south from what Bronze could tell. The long road though left the mare to her own thoughts once again, this time without a cliff to take her mind off things.

‘I could try again…’ Bronze pondered for all but half a second, then the mental hoof to the side of her head silenced that thought, ‘Dad never encourage me to take the easy way out.’ she smiled at that small reminder of him. When she did meet her end, she wanted her parents to look at her once more with pride about what she did in life, not with sorrow at the legacy she left behind.

Taking a leap off a cliff in an attempt to end the pain in her heart wouldn’t stop the pain in the end. There was only really one way to do that, and that was to be the mare her parents always knew she could be. No, having this random colt rescue her from the watery fate wasn’t her punishment for creating those things. It was a reminder that there were other options in her book.

She had to see it through that they were taken care of in the end. Either with the help of her own hoof, or by the hooves of another. Bronze may have wanted to level everything at first, or at lease enough to make a change, but to let them all run freely in the vast lands of Seren was border lining on reckless. Especially without knowing how many were still out there and where they were to strike next.

Something her younger self never understood, but a mature mare saw.

“Miss Edge?” Glimmer brought her back to reality.

“Sorry about that,” Bronze waved it off, “What were you saying?”

“Oh, were heading to town and should be there soon actually,” he answered as he tried to judge the trip from memory alone, “If you lost anything in the waters after your fall. I know they have a decent general store.”

Feeling the light rumble in her stomach and the twinge of her claws already answered that question as it was, and with an eager affirmation Bronze thanked him. “That is very much needed,” though the light rattle in her pockets already told her she wouldn’t be able to get everything she needed for travel. One thing though would be needed if she wanted to even start setting things right, “Say… Do you know if they have a jewelry store?”

***

A small bell rang as the door to the shop opened. Having left the guards after reaching the town, and thanking Glimmer for snapping her back to some sort of reality. The mare went searching as the directions given by the colt may not have been the best, but still managed to put her in the right area.

All along the display cases before her rested the elegant adornments for mare and stallion alike. Even a few pieces looked to be specifically made for those creatures with dedicated claws. Decorated rings lined one case, some small enough to fit a gryphons’ talon, and others with the size to fit a dragoness perfectly. Whoever owned this shop sure knew how to cater to those varied citizens of Seren. However, the mare wasn’t so much caring for who would wear the pieces, but for what they contained.

Every gem she could have hoped for laid perfectly in its cradle for each embellishment. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, diamonds, and garnets danced in the back of Bronzes’ eyes while she tried to keep herself from drooling. The store even held a few pieces that were adorned in some of the gems she had used previously. Onyxes, and Amethysts for those patrons that still wanted a little bit of flash, but only for a coin or two.

Those ones however, were largely ignored by the mare. Low quality gems got her in trouble once already, and she aimed higher this time around. “I just have to pick out the right ones ill need to fix me up,” she glanced over the sets. The earrings, necklaces, tiaras, and anklets all had the size and quality of gems she needed.

With the costumer in the room looking over the merchandise, a light trotting was heard from over the counter as another mare came up to Bronze. “Welcome to Trinkets Gallery!” the Pegasus beamed at the metallic mare before her, “all of the gems you see here, and raw materials themselves, are sourced locally from some of the mines in the region…”

‘Could care less where they came from,’ Bronze mocked to herself as the mare went on about the creation and artistry put in to each set. Tuning her out, Bronze started to put together a checklist of what she’d need to make each new part of the limb, ‘Let’s see, some easy to work metal to start off with, a few gems broken in to shards for the claws and kept whole for the major joints.’

Looking back at the mare still going in her rant, Bronze couldn’t help but smile as she turned her head away, ‘Maybe if you were a unicorn, I could just drain you now and take what I need… it’d shut you up at-… least!’

With a little surprise the mare grabbed hold of her and placed her in front of a mirror. Bronze once again looked at her lightly frazzled mane, and bruises across what little of her coat the cloak didn’t cover. Still, going for a dip did wash much of the dirt and grime from her that she picked up after walking through the woods… even if she didn’t intend to wake up after that step.

“Let’s see how this fits you there dear,” the merchant said as she placed a necklace, with a rather large breast piece, around Bronzes’ neck using her feathers.

“No thank you, it’s quite-,” though taking a look of her reflection silenced any words for but a moment as she took it in. Whatever this mares name was, she did know how to pick out a good set to match the buyer.

The diamond cut citrine in the center sparkled in a brilliant pairing to the tint of her eyes. While the rubies on either side cut in to heart shapes remained inlaid in to the gold and silver embroidered and etched breast piece. Bronze didn’t have a fashion bone in her body, her idea of jewelry was a bit more on the rocky side, but the piece still looked marvelous as it twinkled in her eyes. Even with her rather rugged appearance, the war-mare still was left in awe as the merchant clipped the back clasp to hold it on to her neck.

“- alright,” Bronze finally managed to finish her sentence after taking it all in, and a much-needed breath to go along with it.

“You look splendid darling,” the mare tutted as she looked over Bronze, satisfied with her own choice, “That one my employer came up with on his own, like he does most of the pieces you see here.”

“He certainly knows his way around a stone,” she even had to admire the creator’s work. Whether it was making weapons, jewelry, or for that matter armors. All crafts were an art in their own form, something Bronze could more than respect. As much as she may have liked it though, the mare knew very well she didn’t have the funds to outright purchase the piece as is. “However, I am sorry to say that I’m more so looking for a friend,” she watched as the merchants face sulked just a little bit, “He’s looking to get something for his wife, and asked for a mares’ opinion.”

“As a husband probably should from time to time,” the Pegasus perked up and chuckled as she removed the necklace, “Though I do hope that this one, let alone all else we have to offer, made a good impression.”

Bronze nodded vigorously, already knowing where she was going to do her shopping when it came to that. “Oh, very much so there miss, I’ll tell him to have a look in your store as soon as he can.”

“Well tell him to stop by soon, we will be closing early today around six,” she replied as her fellow mare made her way to the door, “If not we’ll be open tomorrow morning at eight.”

“Wonderful to hear,” Bronze waved as she stepped out the door frame, and started to add the times in for when the sun was getting dark, how long they’d be closed, and the likelihood of the guards patrolling late in to the night around town. “You’ll be seeing him, very soon.”

Chapter 6

Chapter six

From across the vantage point at her bench in what seemed like the towns square. Bronze watched the mare from earlier leaving the store for the night. All the others in the town had started to dwindle down to only a fraction of the citizens that were out previously that day. Even the guard patrols had started to slow down doing their rounds for the night.

“All according to plan,” she muttered to herself, looking at the store from underneath her vale.

If there was something forgotten, the mare would have been back shortly for it. So, Bronze thought it better just to lie in wait and count the ticking of the clock. A rather boring prospect at that, though patience was a virtue, and one she was all too familiar with.

“Thirty seconds…” Bronze watched as a guard patrol rounded a corner and started their pacing in front of the several stores that dotted the strip. She had gotten it down to mere moments now of how long it would take for them all to make their rounds, and even only going off of the local clock at the top of the towns hall. Bronze still managed to find the pattern that each patrol would give up the more she observed.

“Ten seconds…” she got up from her bench and waded her way over towards the jewelry store, and as the seconds ticked by, the patrol when around the opposite corner once more, “Now ten minutes.”

Darting up against the side of the building, Bronze creeped around the corner to the narrow alley way between the stores. While she wasn’t expecting to make all that much noise, she still didn’t want another patrol to catch her sulking around where she probably shouldn’t be at this time of night. Keeping her horn at the ready should she have to use a last bit of magic to get out of a pinch. The mare looked up and around the wall to the store, and with the glint in her vision, she saw her opening.

A narrow window several feet off the ground may have been closed, but needless to say it was a small obstacle for one such as herself. Latching on to the brick and mortar with her talons, and pinning her hind legs between the two buildings. Bronze clanked her way up the side and finally reached the window, and with a small tap and a crash, punched a hole in to the pane with her peg.

‘Sorry about that,’ she muttered to the store owner, and slipped her talon inside while bracing herself using her hide hooves.

A quick latch later and the window swung open, letting the mare slither herself inside what appeared a store room undetected. The hard part was done, as she didn’t worry all that much about the guards outside seeing her from the store front. Opening the door to the room, Bronze looked out at the same display cases she saw just hours ago.

“Well, hello there,” she ran a talon across the glass cases in the dim light of the street lamps coming through the store, even eying the necklace that adorned her earlier.

While it would have been a tempting grab, Bronze knew she needed something a little more substantial. Working past the various cases, and to the door that the shopkeeper had come out of before. The mare opened up the door to the back rooms and flipped a switch, quickly finding a tinkers’ dream there before her eyes.

Small files, jewelers’ pliers and screwdrivers, even a smaller crucible for melting down the softer metals such as gold and silver all scattered themselves around on various workbenches throughout the room. If she had all night, then Bronze may have been able to make a full limb right here to replace the peg.

However, what the room really contained that she needed were the larger uncut stones in cases scattered around on the shelves. Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, topazes, and even a few of the citrines like she had admired. All laid ready and waiting to be worked on for future adornments of others.

Nabbing a small sack from a bin, Bronze set about going through her pick of the litter. Certain gems were easier to charge and control for a non-magically inclined pony such as herself. That’s half the reason she stuck with cheaper gems in the first place. This time though, she knew the limitations and didn’t want to set about have the same reaction as before from her limb blowing up in her face.

“Diamonds the purest I can get, might be able to charge them, but could never control it,” she pushed the sparkling stone to the side and picked up one of its green cousins, “Emerald works better with raw energy…” Bronze scooped up a good talon full of the gems. Nothing worth trying to sell to a buyer, but certainly good for what her intentions are, “…would I need any for spells?” she asked herself while looking at the other shades.

Her horn was mainly what she cast spells from, and while it may be tempting to shoot fireballs from her talons. The first thing she had to try and focus on was getting on all fours once again. Improving on the designs could come later once she was out of those woods.

Along on another shelf the mare saw the few smaller ingots and sheets of the more precious metals, along with some of their less lustrous counterparts. Sliver and gold ingots laid next to various plates and thinner sheets of brass and copper. They may not have been as valuable, but a good polish on brass can make any piece shine just as much as gold would.

“Hmm I wonder what you’d be able to come up with,” Bronze asked herself while thinking of the owner, having paid little attention to some of the actual pieces out for sale during the day.

“Should come during the day and find out.”

She heard a voice from over her shoulder, and before she could turn around. Bronze found herself in the dark once more as the lights were flipped out. Though, the energy pulse shot through the air did light up some of her vision when it smacked in to her chest and forced her to drop the sac of gems, as she tumbled back against one of the benches.

The tingling spread through her body as each muscle started to spasm before finally coming to a halt. Whatever kind of spell it was, it wasn’t lethal. ‘Still hurts like hell…’ Bronze groaned as she got back up to her hooves, “I’m terribly sorry about doing this.”

“I don’t know why you’re taking something from back here,” the pony, a stallion from what she could make out from the sound of his voice, said as the pitch black of the craft room hid his location, “the merchandise up front is far more valuable.”

Another energy bolt shot through the air, this time though, she was ready for it. With a quick duck, Bronze hit the deck and rolled out to the other side of a work table to where she could only imagine was right in front of the owner. Reaching down to her pocket, the mare plucked out the hammer and swung it in to the open air hoping to hit something valuable.

And that she did.

The crunch of tissue and bone under the blow, while a crude swing from her skill level, still had the desired effect and sent her attacker back in to a shelf full of parts from what she could make out from the clattering. Giving Bronze the opening she needed, she leapt up on to a table away from him, slipped the hammer back home, and trotted towards the light of the front room. However, the stallion had other ideas.

Grabbing on to her back legs, Bronze may had been a little heavier for her size given the augmentations. Though that didn’t stop her from having her legs pulled out from under her and tossed around like a rag doll. Landing on to another bench, the stallion held down her talon and peg with his own hooves as he charged up another spell. Twisting her head out the way, the singe on the wood of the work bench blinded her for but a second, as she kicked up her own hind legs in to that which made him a male.

“Cheap… shot…” he groaned there as Bronze pushed him off of her.

“Call it what you will,” she tutted, brushing herself off, “I call it effective…”

A quick right hook though stopped any other comment from her as her own side shot with pain from the punch. Whoever this stallion was, he wasn’t going down without a fight. Bronze side stepped from the silhouette that moved in the dark around her. It may have been a low level of light, but even after his spell, her eyes adjusted to match the environment.

Just as his did the same, and he blocked any jab or punch she might have thrown his way. Standing a few feet apart from one another, the stallion still remained between her and the door. Bronze could deal with the guards at this point if they tried to catch her, she was fired up enough and just wanted to get some rest after this day. The stallion though had to be taken care of first.

“Alright, enough of this,” she grabbed hold of a stool and threw it towards him.

A sloppy attack, but as he caught it in his magic the aura lit the room up just enough, and he didn’t have time to catch the mare leaping over top the stool as it hovered in midair. With a cold talon, Bronze grabbed on to the stallion by the horn with the utmost of care. He had already gone back and forth with her long enough, and she was running on fumes at this point. Whoever he was, he wasn’t in the wrong for defending his own property, and Bronze wasn’t about to kill the colt just out of annoyance.

A single surge shot from her talon as the mare drained what little she could from the stallion, not overdoing it like she somewhat did with Stellar, but just enough to knock the wind out of him. Even with her gems recharging from the new life breathed in to them, Bronze could still feel the stallion she held on to resisting the flow.

Some creatures gave it up easier. The weaker the mind, the easier it was to pull every last drop of magic they had to spare at once. Though some, like this one, always seemed to be able to hold off on the draw as Bronze fought for the drops she received. Sweat dripped down her brow, and even her own hooves began to shake from the own will she was having to muster to fight back against this stallion.

Soon enough though, to her own thanks, he fell and remained on the ground with a shallow breath, “It’s… not personal,” Bronze repeated once more as she watched through the twilight the colt lay there looking up at her with some vendetta in his own eye, “… I just couldn’t afford to keep fighting.”

With that the mare pushed herself to her own hooves and shambled her way towards the door, glad to be rid of this place for the night, as she picked up her sac of gems and kept her eyes forward.

“Can… you,” she paused in her tracks, listening to the colt out of pity, “afford to duck?”

‘That’s an odd-’ with that last thought, Bronze felt a cold smack at the back of her skull before the warm trickling of blood started to make its way down her neck. Hitting the ground on a knee at first, she knew it wouldn’t be enough to kill her, but she wouldn’t be able to run either in that kind of daze.

Using the new found energy in her horn, Bronze charged up a spell in a last-ditch effort to poof her way out of this one like she had done so in the past. Though another smack, although a lighter one, against her head threw that idea in the trash as the stars in her own vision danced and small birds flew their way above her head.

“…Crap,” the mare muttered as her face hit the floor of the shop, and the world around her turned as black as the room.

The stallion may have been on shaky legs from having most of his energy zapped from his body in one go, but that didn’t mean he was out for the count. Dropping the gold ingot, he used as a make shift baton. He flipped on the light and took a look at the back of the mares’ head, hoping that he hadn’t swung too hard.

“No… just a flesh wound,” he checked the bleeding and found that it already was starting to clot. With a gentle touch he rubbed the underside of his jaw where she had socked him moments ago, “better than what you deserved.”

Though with a gentle push he rolled the mare over to see if she was still breathing, and from there he had to check his own to ensure it didn’t stop all together as his rump met the ground just as her body had. From the metallic coat, to the tom coltish short black mane and tail, the mare before him was one that he had known all too well.

“No… there’s no way, could it?” he questioned while looking her over once more, not at the injuries just sustained, but all those self-inflicted.

The makeshift metal horn atop her head, adorned with gems along its shaft. The false limbs that protruded from underneath her cloak, one that seemed to have far more care put in to it than the other. What really grabbed him, was the handle sticking out from under the cloak, of a tool he’d seen only once before.

Using the remaining magic in his horn, the stallion grabbed a few rags from the drawer of a workbench and wrapped it up underneath her head to help with any residual bleeding that might come back. As well as with a careful hoof pulled back on an eye lid to the mare to check for a reaction.

With a steady contraction of her iris, a heavy breath escaped the stallions’ lung as he knew for sure then and there she was still of this world. Just out cold for the moment. “I’m sorry, Bronze …” he said, while the beginnings of a single tear begged to fall from his own duct, “What happened to you…?”

Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Having almost drowned a few times, slept in a tree, and woken up before now with a stallion bound and gagged at the foot of the bed. Bronze had to admit at least feeling something in her body was a welcome sensation to have after her little scuffle the previous night. Even if the sensation was a pounding in the back of her head.

“Ugh…” she groaned while rubbing the back of her head with a talon, though the bandage that met her claw threw her off as her eyes shot open and got a look at her surroundings.

Single bedroom, book shelf in the corner with a fainting couch and her cloak draped over its edge. The shelf full of random books with no particular order or genera. Definitely a spare bedroom. Though to who she couldn’t imagine, there weren’t any pictures on the walls, or even a poster. Just the simplest, yet vibrant, aqua paint around the room kept things one step of decorum above white washed walls.

A knock though made her immediately grab hold of the blankets and cover her chest, as in trotted a stallion. The charcoal mane has been slicked back with all the care of a business colt, while his grey coat to keep with the dullness of the room didn’t have so much as a speck of dirt about it, all tidied up from hoof to his cutie mark of gold and silver chain wrapped gems. Whoever he was, he certainly knew how to maintain himself, especially from the stature of a stallion who looks almost built as sturdy as a granite countertop.

“Ahh, you’re awake,” his eyes to almost match the walls met her own, a pair of spectacles that rather enchanted the mare the more she admired them for the first time as they flickered in the light of the room. That was until something finally clicked in the mares’ head.

“It’s you?!” Bronze snapped at first after recognizing the voice from the previous night, and put any thought of his orbs out of her mind.

Immediately the mare tried to charge up a teleportation spell to get her out of this predicament just like the night before. Without so much as a fizzle or even a pop, she looked up at the vacant spot at the top of her head. Her horn was gone, the very thing she envied his kind for had been taken away from her.

“Looking for this?” he asked, and held up the appendage in his own magical grasp.

So close, yet so far away, but with that simple gesture Bronze remained stumped for most words in her vocabulary, “How? How did you manage that?”

“The tools you saw in my shop weren’t just for show, Bronze,” he answered and took a seat across from her on the fainting couch. “You attached it; I can detach it.”

“Okay I figured that much, but how did-?” she stopped cold in her tracks. If it wasn’t for the blanket still across half her body, she may just have chocked it up to the draft of the open window, but the shiver across her spine would argue against that.

A slow creeping smile started to grow across his own face as her eyes grew, “Yes… I know who you are,” he beamed at her, strangely without a hint of malice in his voice. Not one of warmth either, but not hate like she would have expected.

“Okay, aside from my original question,” Bronze shook her head, “How… do you know me?”

Almost instantly his smile fade, and instead of the anger she waited for, Bronze watched as something else started to paint across him. ‘Sadness?’ she asked herself.

“You don’t recognize me… well I figured that, it has been a number of years sense I’d seen you,” he waved a hoof through the air while he talked. Bronze started to wonder if this was somepony who she may have crossed paths with in the past and left on a sour note. Looking out the corner of her eye to the window, she started to wonder what the likelihood of there being something soft to land on at the bottom was, before the pane closed in an aura. “No, you’re not jumping…” he said, having watched her eyes.

“Well, if you’re going to turn me in, now would probably be the time,” she tutted and crossed the talon and peg across her chest, “not much I can do in my current situation anyway.”

“Oh, there is Bronze, I know how determined you can be when you set your mind to it,” he snickered at her, and watched as her eyes still questioned his relation, “I can see you managed to put those few gems I gave you back then to good use.”

With that the bag of bricks above her head fell finally and smacked the mare where she laid. If she even just had one wing attached then she might have still took a chance with that window dive. Tower of a castle or single-story home, either would be a better option than running in to the last stallion she’d thought she see once more… okay maybe second to last.

“M-M-Marble?” she quivered like she had in the past.

The bully in school who had made her life a living hell, sat before her with his hind legs crossed and all the poise of an aristocrat. She may have gotten over her fear of him a long time ago, particularly after a good swing with a hammer, but sitting face to face now with him. Bronze weighed out her options, who knows how long he held on to a grudge, even if they may have broken bread so to speak.

“In the flesh,” he presented himself before her and got up, slowly making his way over to the bedridden mare.

He might have been the one to give her a charged gem fragment all those years ago to help her in a time of need, and even tried to talk to her about some of the designs she had made that would soon become her own body. That said, habit was a hard thing to kick at times. As if by instinct Bronze started to shake as she could sense the hoof of him getting closer, though the ringing of her neck never came, not even a punch like he delivered the night before.

Instead, his hoof found itself on the back of her head, checking the bandage.

“The bleeding’s stopped thankfully,” he said removing it and patting the area with a damp cloth, “I didn’t think I hit you that hard.”

“Ha-ba-zwa?” a nerve ending in the back of her brain failed to fire, while Bronze tried to put together what was happening.

“I’m tending to your wounds… nothing to make a big deal about.”

“I tried to rob your store!” she shouted at him, though what would have normally made some jump, Marble only shrugged a shoulder at her.

“And you failed at that, the spells I had learned to help prevent theft if I was working late. Non-lethal as they might be, I’m still impressed I had to use an ingot to stop you,” he rolled his eyes, and put the damp cloth down on the end table, “Though now considering your current predicament, I believe I’m owed some sort of explanation.”

Clamping her lips shut like a clam, Bronze sat there and wondered how much he really knew of her past and what she had been up to. Though given a group of guards weren’t knocking on his door already, she summarized it didn’t seem like much. With a sigh, and the relaxing of her fight or flight response arguing in the back of her head. The mare just looked at him with defeat across face.

“…What… would you like to know?” she surrendered.

“Well firstly… why were you stealing?” he jumped right to the heart of the matter, “you probably were the smartest one in our school, and certainly could have done a lot with what you managed to build for yourself,” Marble gestured to her engineered limbs, “What happened to you?”

‘That’s… refreshing to hear from him,’ Bronze almost gasped from getting an actual complement from the stallion, though time was of the essence when it came to this and she already had somewhat of a truthful answer for him. “I didn’t have a lot going for me after I graduated,” she slid the puzzle pieces together as she went, “my dad was gone, my mom was gone… where else was I supposed to go? So, I started traveling, picking up odd jobs here and there,” ‘like trying to overthrow countries and level kingdoms,’ she once again tasted the vinegar of her own thoughts.

“Sometimes getting a job is easier than others, though with my… special needs you could call them, it sometimes makes keeping them harder as well,” she brought out the talon for him to see up close, “the gems need to stay charged in order to work, usually I can get a charge from draining a creature that can use magic…” Bronze cringed there for a moment and looked up at his horn, “Sorry about that last night, I know that doesn’t mean much, but it’s about the only thing I could do.”

Though to her surprise, the usually more callous colt brushed it off as if it was a crude joke, “I’ve always recovered fast, no worries.”

With another sigh, and the knowledge he wasn’t going to strangle her for that move, Bronze pressed on with her little act, “the other way was to just drain gems themselves, all gems-”

“-Have an inherent charge of magic in them,” he recited the explanation as if reading it from a textbook, “this is why gems are able to hold spells in the first place. The purer the gem, the more charge it has naturally.”

Blankly Bronze stared at him. The colt that would kick the snot out of her for being smarter than he was, was now tossing out lines from scripture as if he was in a lecture hall. “Yes… they do,” she got back on track, and put her thoughts in order, “I’ve been running on fumes here after a dry spell, and needed a charge, otherwise I wouldn’t be going anywhere.”

While she may have been a near master at reading others like a book. Marble had gotten far better at hiding what he was thinking in the later years, or she just didn’t have the time to figure him out all those years ago. He looked over her frame, back up at her eyes, and mulled over her words for what must have been minutes. The clock on the wall begged to differ and said less than twenty seconds had passed before he opened his mouth.

“It looks like you still wouldn’t be going anywhere,” he gestured to her peg, “I know you’d try and fix yourself up better than that if you could.”

Looking at the sorry excuse for a limb, Bronze just chuckled, “the gems in the old one were… burnt out, little else I could do but cut the dead weight.”

Marble looked up at the clock on the wall, and once again to Bronze as she wondered what was going through his mind. “Well you’ve been running on fumes more than just in terms of gems,” he looked over her body once more, where ever she had been in her travels, it was taking a number on her. Getting up, the colt turned an eye to her over his shoulder, “You can walk I assume?”

“Yes, though why?” Bronze asked as she got up to her feet, thankful that she still managed to get some sort of magic drawn from him.

Following the stallion out the room, the rest of the home was a far cry from the guest bedroom she woke up in. Little trinkets dotted along on shelves as they walked, paintings of lakes and mountains that all seemed to have some of the same hoof strokes, likely from the same artist. Yet most of this was lost on the mare, as she followed the stallion down the stairs to the ground floor.

Marble stepped inside of the kitchen and held the door for her as she walked in past him. Without a word, yet still the smallest hint of a smile, the stallion opened up the fridge and with the expert touch of his horn started pulling out ingredients. All the while, the mare stood dumbfounded as she wondered how she just went from petty burglar to house guest.

‘It’s going to be laced with poison, he’s going to beat me to death with a pan…’ she wondered while the colt worked, ‘…cook me in an oven?’

Getting something in her stomach before hitting the road, with or without his permission, may have been a good idea. It was the morning now, and she could cover a lot of ground in one day when her mind was set to it. Though something about it just seemed, wrong almost, to Bronze as she by second nature started to back up. She was close to the door already, and with Marble so intently whipping up whatever it was he was making, she could have easily-

“Hi-ay there!”

Bronze about shot off the ground, even without her wings, from the voice behind her. Turning around on her peg, barely up to her chest stood a unicorn filly, no more than ten years old. The deep emerald eyes of the youngling lit up before the older mare as she back peddled further in to the kitchen.

“Dad I didn’t know we were having company,” the filly exclaimed, “I would have brushed my mane.”

“You look fine there, Topaz,” Marble smiled across to his aptly named daughter, as Bronze saw the same gem she was named after matched both her coat and her fathers’ eyes, while he soon went back to working the kitchen, “This is Miss Bronze Bolt, an… old acquaintance.”

‘To put it lightly…’ Bronze kicked herself, “Ahh… good morning,” she politely held out her talon for a hoof shake. Unsure what else she should even say to the young one. She didn’t have to wait long though; Topaz already had eyed her up and down.

“That looks so cool!” the filly yelled and started looking over Bronzes’ limbs with the utmost of interest. An interest that lead the mare on back to the table, and in a seat, “I’ve never seen prosthetics like these before, did you make them yourself? How do you get them to move? Can you even use magic? Are you a sort of arcane blacksmith? Did-?”

A plate of pancakes, eggs and hay bacon quickly occupied the fillies’ vision and silenced her onslaught to the mare. Bronze shook her head to try and get all those questions in order, before a similar plate met her own vision and her eyes turned to that of a smiling Marble fixing himself one. Just as quickly as Topaz started rattling off questions, she started shoveling flapjacks in her gaping mouth. How the young one managed to do that without choking, Bronze had little clue.

“Yes, she made them herself, getting them to move is her own special talent, she can use magic just in her own way, and Miss Bolt is a little bit of everything,” Marble answered for her as he sat down, took a bite out of his omelet, and turned his attention to the mare across from him who was still trying to process half of what she just heard, “This here is my little girl. A wonderful student, adept trouble maker around the house, and probably the chattiest pony I’ve ever known.”

A smile, a genuine smile crossed his face as he looked at the food filled cheeks of his daughter. Bronze just looked back and forth from one of them to the other, unsure what to say or what to even do at this point. So, she did the only thing she could, she took a bit of her pancakes, “please to meet you little one.”

Topaz nodded eagerly from across her diminishing stack of cakes at the newcomer and quickly dived back in to it, much to the joy of her father who simply just chuckled at her. Bronze though still wasn’t sure what he was trying to play at here, “So… you’re feeding me?” she asked the obvious.

“The food on your plate should give that away.”

“I drop in… unannounced,” she chose her words carefully from over the fork in her talon, “and you’re feeding me?”

“Well, it would be cruel to ask you to fix a few things around my shop while still hungry, or around the house for that matter,” he raised a brow to her over a glass of orange juice, and watched as her own brow followed his, “After all there’s always something to be fixed up here and there, and I’m sure with your skilled hooves… or talon, you’d be able to get the job done. I work with gems and small tools, not bigger ones.”

Bronze took another bite of her stack and crunched a slice of hay bacon in half, while her eyes inquired to what he was getting at. ‘You’re really letting me pay you back like this, or is this going to turn into blackmail?’ she asked herself between crunches, “I’d be… happy to. There must be something else though I can do as well to, repay, for the hospitality?”

Marble just shook a head at her and waved off the comment with a hoof, “Oh it’s nice to see an old face… as hard as that might seem,” he looked up at her from over his fork, “besides, it’s better than traveling in and out of towns all day. Gives you something to do, keep your nose clean… so to speak.”

While blood flushing her cheeks wasn’t a completely unknown phenomenon to the mare, it was something she wasn’t inherently used to either. Even with the purest intent pouring out from his eyes that he had shown, Bronze couldn’t help but wonder what was possibly making those gears in the back of his head turn.

“Thank you… Marble,” she about brimmed up with a tear, before beating it back down to the lowest part of her eye. Settling for her own genuine smile, she only hoped it conveyed how much a helping hoof mattered right now, even if she had always been a reluctant one to take them. Especially given how they had run into one another, “I wasn’t expecting this when I… came to visit,” she kept up the mask around Topaz, as Marble nodded in acknowledgment, “But thank you for the warm welcome.”

A loud belch from the bottom of the youngest’ stomach broke any sort of thought train in Bronzes’ mind, as Topaz covered her mouth up just a little too late to save it, “Sorry about that dad.”

Marble however, just waved it off while he finished up his plate, “Oh it happens, complements to the chef,” he continued working on his plate and kept pace with Bronze, “Why don’t you go get cleaned up, myself and Miss Bolt have a few more words to have.”

With a nod and a scamper Topaz trotted out the door and up the stairs. Once she was sure the young ears were out of range, Bronze looked dead in to Marbles eyes. “You’re letting me pay you back, after trying to steal from you no less, by fixing a few things around your store and even home?”

“Well, you did break in, and made somewhat of a mess of the back room,” Marble rolled his eyes, “It only seems fair.”

“Life isn’t fair… I should know,” she ground her teeth at that no truer aspect of existence, “there has to be some small print in what you’re saying.”

Something in the back of his own mind flipped, as Marble winced from that remark. It may have been subtle, and he may have not even realized he did it. Though Bronze at least knew him enough to pick up on that little cue like so many others give away.

“Bronze, take it for what it is,” he looked back at her with only a light beam, as he tried to hide something behind it, “You said you’ve been down on your luck, who would I be to not offer a hoof.”

The mare sat there and just stared at him, whatever his intentions, he managed to hide them well. Arguably better than she had ever been able to. There wasn’t much she really could say to an offer like that, after all what other option did she have?

“Well… I’m going to need my horn back,” she blushingly grinned at him while they both continued munching on their breakfast.

“Understandable,” Marble nodded to her, “And don’t worry, your hammer is still in the cloaks pocket,” he watched as her eyes shot open slightly from the mention of it, and the stallion rubbed his jaw, “Just keep it holstered this time around.”

Chapter 8

Chapter eight

Standing up on her hind legs on top of a stool with her cloak draping over her backside. Bronze used her talons to pry the broken shards of glass from the window she slipped through the night before. While it was an odd offer to be given after such an act, with the alternative likely being turned in to the local guard station, Bronze couldn’t find a single complaint in the back of her mind.

Looking over her shoulder at Marble in the main display room, he took inventory of what sets he had to sell, and what seemed to be going off the shelves faster than others. The mare watched as he put his trust in her, even after all these years, that she wouldn’t slip out the same window and just take off.

‘I probably could make it out of town before he even noticed,’ she thought for a moment, but looking back at him once more, the once tall mare found herself sulking, ‘then again he has been very welcoming… even after attempted robbery.’

With that last thought she went about her business of cleaning up after herself. The store was closed down for the rest of the day as it seemed, and with an assortment of random parts and supplies in the storeroom she had snuck in. Bronze had all day to put the pieces back together, in some ways more literally than figuratively.

With the sharp edge of her talons, Bronze scored a spare piece of glass, and after several passes broke it along its seam. One of the perks of having metal limbs, you never had to worry about wearing gloves, as the mare handled the still sharp metal with ease and slid it in to the cleaned frame of the pane she broke. A few dabs of wood glue later, and it looked like as she stepped down that there hadn’t even been a break in.

A small chuckle escaped her throat as she looked at her work, “From being a war maiden and supplying nations, to fixing windows,” with a shake of her head Bronze turned around, “Oh how the mighty have fallen.”

“What was that?” Marble asked from the doorway after doing his morning task, looking over her work all he could really give was a sincere nod of approval, “Like I said to Topaz, you’re a little bit of everything.”

Bronze just shrugged her shoulders at the simple task, “It was nothing really, I’m not much of a carpenter, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know my way around.”

Following him to the back room, the mare hadn’t realized just how much of a mess they had made in the short scuffle from the previous night. Tools, parts and miscellanies sets of supplies laid scattered around the various work benches and floor. Shelves that had once held gems found them tossed to the ground like common trash, and even a few of the shelves were crooked on the walls.

“We did all this?” she wondered at first.

“Being tossed around like a rag doll will do that to you,” Marble pointed out and used his horn to pick up several gems at once and placed them in their own cubby slot on a still partly intact shelf, “All that said, things in here I normally have in my own set up, so…” he turned his head and looked at her, “I’ll organize, you store?”

A semi sheepish grin grew on her face as she stepped amongst the mess, “I thought this was supposed to be my punishment?”

“Don’t think of it as a punishment, more of… righting a wrong,” Marble pointed out as he set about putting items together in groups for easier storage, and Bronze went to work on the actual storage places.

The shelves themselves weren’t all in a bad state, better than what it seemed at first glance. Bronze looked over the first few next to the one Marble had placed those first batch of gems on and gathered a parts list of what she’d need to set them right, before going back to the same store room she fixed the window in. Returning with a box of parts on her back, mostly consisting of extra nails and braces. The mare went to work, righting a wrong, as her company put it.

Though after several minutes working in silence, it gave little for her mind to do than wander, something she didn’t want to do in the first place. Bronze shook her head for even thinking about darting off minutes before, after being given a helping hoof that she needed, admittingly or not.

‘I couldn’t do that to him,’ she answered, going through the motions of removing a cracked plank and replacing it with a fresh one, ‘I’ve been MIA for years, and he just goes and lets me in to his home to stay… as a handymare at that.’

Picking up the various gems he had piled up, Bronze started lining them along with the first one on the shelf as she went on repairing. Though with her residing at his place for the time being, one thing pressed itself in her mind the more she thought of his family situation, “Ahh Marble?” she asked over her shoulder, and waited for him to turn, “while I do appreciate the offer to stay and help out, far more than you may realize, what will… the misses say?”

Marble for a second locked up his legs and stood there, dropping the bundle of tools he had in an aura with a clank to the ground. Clumsily the stallion started to scratch the back of his head as his limbs finally relaxed, “That… won’t be an issue.”

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Bronze quickly threw in to the conversation, “I mean if you’re separated, I understand it can be a sore subject.” Once more the mares blood flushed to her cheeks, a crowning reason she preferred machines to work with, “I just wasn’t expecting you to have a daughter there this morning, and I didn’t want her mother to get any wrong ideas.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he went back to picking up the tools, keeping his eyes off the mare. Yet from her keen vision, Bronze could see the tear fighting to leave its home, “Pommel Stone… passed away only a few years after she was born… heart problem.”

Quietly the stallion went back to work, about as mechanically as one of her own automatons would go about killing. Bronze felt her legs stiffen, she never really understood the finer points of social interaction, unless it came to manipulating others to better herself. Basic conversation was always boring, and to say the mare had friends would be a blatant lie in its own right.

This however, she understood the pain he held. Here was a stallion who lost one that he loved, something she could relate to, “I’m sorry, Marble…” she spoke softly, and if only as a gesture to convey her sorrow, placed a careful talon on his shoulder as he once again froze, “I know what it’s like to lose someone close, as you know. I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

With a shake of his head, Marble dismissed her, “No need to apologize, I can understand why you asked,” he assured her with a calm smile across his lips, “if anything I should consider myself lucky… she did pass, sadly, but Topaz is still with me, and in a way Pommel lives in her.”

Bronze, satisfied that she quelled that situation, went back to work with her head held a little higher, “and a wonderful daughter she seems, certainly a questioner.” She recalled back to the barrage she had gotten this morning.

“That’s from her mom,” Marble chortled for a moment, “as well as her eyes honestly.” With that a few more moments of silence followed as they went about their work. Though even with all the years that had passed, the colt felt there was something more to say, “I never did apologize for what happened.”

Bronze stopped and gave him an odd glare, knowing there were about several… dozen, instances in the past where he could and should have said Sorry, “you’re going to have to be a little more specific with that.”

“About your parents,” he went right for the head of the nail and watched as Bronze winced as if struck with the very hammer she was using, “Given how I was back then, I wasn’t sure how to even say it, and by the time I heard about your mom you had already disappeared.”

With a heavy heart, Bronze relived the days following her mom’s passing after her graduation. Aurora had always worked herself to the bone to provide for her after dad died, which gave little time for her needs. Though a pony can only push themselves so far, and after knowing Bronze would be out on her hooves, there was nothing else Aurora could teach her.

She passed in the night with a heavy heart of her own, missing her love Anvil.

Holding it back once more, Bronze clenched the tear till it sucked back in to her eye, not wanting to break down here, “It’s alright… it’s in the past. My dad helped me accept what happened to my mom, I had come to terms with her passing faster than his.”

“Never the less,” Marble said as his ears perked up from the bell to the front of the store ringing, knowing who would be dropping by, “from one that has gone through loss himself, I’m sorry.”

With that she watched him trot out to meet their guest, and as he did the mare could only mutter under her breath, “Thank you.” She said as she held back, refusing to relieve her aching ducts.

Using her horn to hold the board in place with a gentle application of magic. Bronze went back to work driving nails home with her hammer clenched tightly in her talon, slowly but surely the shelf was put back together, and with a nod of satisfaction. The mare turned around to put the gems back, and once again leapt a few feet off the ground.

Topaz sat there watching her work, almost admiring the various movements and steady clanking of her metal digits as they handled tools, “Morning again, Miss Bolt,” she beamed and rocked along on her flank.

“Hello little miss,” Bronze smiled back, finally getting her heart rate under control. Looking over the top of the daughter, Marble stood there snickering at the pair, the mare not even realizing they came back in the room.

“So, you made those yourself?” Topaz asked, looking at the different joints and gems still in her talon. Bronze almost felt obligated as she held out the limb for the little one to examine. Every single rivet that she put in it, every gem fragment placed, and every pound of a hammer was an ounce of care she had tried to instill in her project to keep her mobile.

Bronze almost admired the intrigue the filly was showing for her appendage. Normally most would be fearful, one of the main reasons she wore the cloak to keep a low profile. Topaz though looked at it with nothing but wonder, “Yes I did, took me quite a while to do, but every part of that is my work.”

Topazes’ eyes turned to her peg as she looked over it, almost as if it was night and day compared to its counterpart. “Did you have two of them at one point?”

Bronze shook there for a moment, remembering the feeling of having energy forced in to her limb and over loading the gems placed in it. It may have been an appendage with no nerves, but the mare swore she could feel it being taken from her as if it were actual flesh and blood. “I… did,” she lowered her head slightly, not enough for Topaz to see, but certainly another took notice, “I lost it though, and haven’t been able to fix it.”

“Topaz,” Marble called to her, “be a dear and grab a few more supplies for Miss Bolt from storage, will you please?”

“Sure dad!” with a hop, the filly almost bounced out of the room leaving the adults to talk once more.

“Sorry about that,” Marble said to Bronze before young ears returned, as he kicked the floor beneath him, “questioning as she may be, it does leave little for privacy.”

“Oh, it’s alright,” Bronze brushed it off, really not being able to fault the little girl, “I was the same way at her age.”

The sound of what seemed like fireworks grabbed the attention of both them as their ears perked up, moving towards the front of the store. The pair saw several citizens running in the streets, as guards and soldiers alike rushed in the opposite direction. With Topaz returning to them, and wiggling her way up between her fathers’ legs, the filly looked out at the commotion.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Marble wondered to himself, “little early in the day to be doing fireworks.”

“Yeah… fireworks,” Bronze repeated, feeling the growing pit in her stomach already getting deeper as they decided to poke their heads outside for a better look.

Further down the street more citizens darted into their homes, businesses, or even just buildings to get out of the open. Bronze however, along with Marble and Topaz, took the opposite approach and stepped outside as they tried to get a better view of what was going on. Along that street there was little to see, but as they rounded the corner the true scene stood before them.

Several soldiers went back and forth with a group of automatons, all pony versions clad in armor and with melee weapons. The mare noticed one thing though, a few of Serens troops had her old tech, as a unicorn floated a pistol and the gryphon soldier with him held a rifle in his own talons.

‘Grace got those issued faster than I was expecting,’ she admired and lost all concentration as she watched her contraptions go to work, well-oiled just as she intended them to be.

“We should probably get back,” Marble said as he levitated Topaz on to his back, “I’ve been hearing stories about these things, and they are dangerous.”

“Awe! Dad I wanna watch,” Topaz pouted, rather enjoying the display of combat, much to Bronzes’ surprise.

Bronze turned around with them, content to let the soldiers fight her old creations. If they were already being issued her weapons. Then the mare doubted with the stagnate numbers of the automatons that they’d be much of a match for the might of this whole country hunting them down as if they were wild prey.

‘Eventually my tidbit about the weak spot will spread, and with enough bullets they-’ a single shot struck her in the talon, as the slug dug deep in to the metal appendage. Bronze reeled around as she first thought Seren was finally targeting her, though much to her amazement and worry, it was one of her own that took the shot.

There up on a roof stood a gryphon in full armor, head to tail, without so much as a feather left uncovered. What made the sweat trickle down her neck though, was the hollowness behind the visor, and the rifle clenched in its talons. An expert pull of the bolt, and a swift reload later, the gryphon took another aim at her.

“Shit…” Bronze muttered as she got tackled in to an alley, missing the shot by a hair.

Marble took a deep breath as he rolled off his old classmate, and Topaz looked down at Bronze as she laid there unsure what happened. “Are you alright?” the colt asked as he helped the mare to her hooves.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” she shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Whether she liked it or not, she had been made a part of this fight, and was the only one that could likely end it soon. “Look I had run in to these things before… traveling, you need to take Topaz and go back to the store.”

“And what will you do?” he asked, ushering his daughter behind him.

‘Right some wrongs,’ Bronze wanted to say aloud, before reason took over her words, “Try and help those guards,” she said with the utmost of conviction.

Poking her head out of the alley, the gryphon that took the shot kept his eye trained on the corner waiting for her, and with another narrow miss. Bronze felt the brick shatter and spray pieces over her face, “Oh it’s going to be like that is it?” she muttered and ran from the alley, zig zagging her way between shots as the gryphon tried to pick her off.

His eyes though weren’t the only ones fixed on her. With a few of the soldiers now dead, other pony automatons turned their attention to the mare as well and charged. With the first one coming close, Bronze leapt up and stomped her hind legs down on its helmet, sending the tin soldier in to the ground. Her main target had to the be the gryphon, if she could take out the ranged fighter, then the melee ones would be child’s play.

A round lodged in to her shoulder and forced the mare to tumble as she lost her footing. Looking off to another part of the street next to a fruit stand she saw another gryphon sliding the bolt on his rifle back. Though a magic pulse quickly caused the enhanced soldier to seize up with its joints locking. Taking the opportunity, Bronze ignored the other pony creations and went after the rifle barer, and with an expert jab of her peg she found her mark before the gryphon could come too.

Grabbing the rifle with her talon, Bronze slid over a counter top and sheltered in a fruit stand as the one on the roof took another shot. “You’re bleeding,” Marble pointed out as he approached, and hid in the stand with her.

“I thought I said to get back to the store?” she almost snapped at him, not wanting to have his death or his daughters on her mind. Looking at his horn though she noticed the smoke coming off it and put a few things together, “Wait, you shot it?”

“Shock spell, same thing I used on you… just charged it a little more,” he winced there as he felt the headache coming on from using more magic in one go than he was used to, “I saw that other one taking aim and couldn’t let him hit ya.”

“Well… I’m flattered…” Bronze smiled through her annoyance, racked the bolt back and slammed it forward, “Though take care of Topaz.” She said and held the rifle along her peg as a support.

Lining the gryphon on the roof up with her sights, the two stared at one another for a second as they both had the other on target. Bronze was just a hair faster, and she knew the gryphon armors weren’t as thick as her pony creations. The powerful round ran along the gryphons’ own rifle and tore itself through the face plating, and down in to the rune inside. Dropping the creation instantly.

Another pony one jumped counter top of the stand and joined the pair, sword already drawn. Immediately slashing out at the mare, Bronze used the frame of her rifle to block its attacks and deflect them as much as possible. With only having one talon to work with, trying to load another round in the chamber proved nigh impossible, and put her in a rather precarious predicament.

Thankfully though, there was another who had her back.

Shocking the pony just as he had the gryphon, Marble took a knee at the expenditure of energy, though the effect it had on the pony was the same as the gryphon. With its joints locked up for a few moments, Bronze swung the stout weapon like a club and struck it in the helmet as if hitting a homerun. Exposing the rune and gem to her vampiric talents, the mare grabbed hold of the engine that drove it and sucked any and all life from her creation just as she had done to the one in the forest.

With a clatter of its armor to the ground, the mare tended to her counterpart. “Are you alright?” she asked, lifting his head up as he shook.

“Yeah…” he lied though his ever-pounding head, “your hammer hurts worse.”

“I imagine so,” Bronze still managed to chuckle even still given the current situation, “but seriously… go back to Topaz, keep her safe, I’ll be okay.”

Not really being able to argue at the moment due to his headache, the stallion relented and got back up to his own hooves. Checking to see if the coast was clear, he opened the side door to the stand and slipped out to get back to his store and daughter. With Marble gone, Bronze racked another round in the chamber and took aim at another pony coming at her makeshift bunker. Trigger pulled, round shot, tin can dropped. The same sort of repetition that the Diamond Dogs trained into their soldiers when the war was brewing. Bronze just had more time to practice with her own toys.

With Serens soldiers turning the tides using her gifts, and likely getting a few lucky shots in with their weapons. The few automatons left dropped faster and faster, as Bronze heard another shot ring out that wasn’t her own or that of Seren. Scanning the area, a third Gryphon hovered above the town taking pot shots with a rifle.

Given the range Bronze did a few calculations and figured she wouldn’t be able to hit a hoof sized target from this far, a wing on the other hoof… lining up the shot, the round tore in to the canvas appendage. Ripping the fragile metal skeleton of the wing apart, the weight of the armor the gryphon had took over and plummeted it to the ground. Even with its lighter construction to allow them to fly, the mass alone of it crunched the rifle under it and bent the barrel.

Though the creation still rose.

Eying the mare in her cover, Bronze smirked and sighted in the clipped bird of prey.

Click.

“Figures…” Bronze groaned and rolled her eyes.

With three of its limbs still working, the gryphon charged at her as she did the same. Meeting it half way, Bronze pivoted and attempted to buck the armor in the chest. Though its nimbler frame slid and avoided the attack all together. Grabbing on to the mare with its own talons, the gryphon wrapped its grip around her peg and lifted her off the ground, slamming her back down in to the ground.

With a snap, the weld from her makeshift leg gave way, and gave the gryphon a good baton. Seeing the sharp end from the break coming down at her, Bronze rolled to avoid the strikes as the gryphon stabbed the ground beneath her. It was a battle of attrition at this point, all it would take is one slip and she’d have a hunk of metal through her skull.

Thinking on her hooves, the mare swiped the leg of the gryphon and dropped it down to her level. Using her own magical grasp, the old limb was ripped from its own and driven straight through the armor of her attacker. Just as it intended to do to her. With its limbs now still, Bronze hoisted herself up to her flank and sat there for a few more seconds as she caught her breath.

A shadow approached from behind her, as she heard the metal clanking getting louder with every step. Clenching the metal rod in her talon, Bronze waited for the target to get closer before she made her move. Kicking up on her hind legs, the mare whipped herself around and brought the rod to her attackers’ head.

Before bringing it to an immediate halt.

Glimmer Knight stood there with his hooves up in defense, “Easy there, Miss Edge.”

Looking past him, she could see that the rest of the automatons were wiped up. Leaving just a dozen or so battered, bruised, and shot up guards left standing. Easing herself down, the mare relaxed as she tried to balance herself on three legs once more. “I take it my advice worked,” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Marvelously,” the soldier remarked with a smile, as he noticed the wound still bleeding from her shoulder, “Wait you’ve been hit,” Gimmer jumped up to her side and gave her some support, “come with me, I’ll get you to our medic.”

“It’s quite alright…” Bronze tried to push away, if only to not complicate matters. Though with the rush of the fight now leaving her, the pain in her shoulder finally started to ring home as she clenched her teeth and stumbled. “Okay, maybe a little painkillers will do.” Letting the colt lead her off, the mare looked back to the fallen gryphon automaton once more.

It was of her own creation, of her own design, and her own will. Yet she wasn’t commanding this one, and they weren’t supposed to have been around still. Only one thing pinged in the back of her mind as she watched the hollowness of the helmet there on the ground, and the lack of the soul she never gave them.

‘Are you out there too?’ she asked only to herself.

***

With a medic bandaging her shoulder, and a few pills working their way in to her system. Bronze laid there in the medics’ tent that had been set up shortly after the attack by the local barracks. Glimmer had left to attend to other matters, which the mare was thankful for, ever glad she didn’t have Marble wondering why she was being called Miss Edge.

Said colt had found her shortly after the fighting stopped, and with Topaz there along her side, the older mare just relaxed and let the professional do their work. “There we are,” the gryphon commented, as he used a pair of forceps to pull the round out from her flesh and deposited it on a tray.

“I appreciate it, sir,” Bronze winced from the site as the round was removed, barely feeling any of the pain from the medication.

“Oh, just doing my job,” he waved off, as he grabbed a few bandages, and went to work patching her up more. With a liberal amount of ointment and gauze, the gryphon started wrapping up and around the upper part of her limb, taking subtle glances at her false one. “That is quite exquisite,” he admired the talon that reflected his own, “who did your work? If I may of course.”

Before Bronze could answer, Topaz jumped in on her behalf, “She did!” the filly said proudly, leaving the mare biting her own lip from the outburst, “Miss Bolt made them all by herself.”

“Really now…” the gryphon took a closer look at the craft work that went in to them, “My that is impressive,” his eyes trailed from the metal to the tattered cloak she wore, “I know I wouldn’t be keeping something like that under a vail, they are remarkable after all, it’d be a shame to hide such works of art.”

“I’ll consider it… maybe,” she answered with a worrisome grin, knowing that she hides them for other reasons. ‘Although, if he isn’t calling for me to be arrested now, or killed,’ she considered while the gryphon continued, ‘perhaps I am in the clear.’

“He does have a point,” Marble said while she threw the idea back and forth in her mind, “They are striking, and it’d be a shame to hide them away.”

“… Maybe if I can get the one repaired,” she held up her stump in longing.

Being handicapped was no stranger to the mare, but to be missing her wings, and one of her legs still was a thorn in her side. The wings she could do without, at some time or another she’d get back to the drawing board and fix those up. Her talon however, that was something she missed more than anything, even if just for the convenience of daily life.

“Hmm… I might be able to help with that one,” Marble pondered as the mare questioned him without a word.

‘What are you planning?’

“Alrighty, all patched up,” the gryphon said proudly as he taped the bandage down and examined it once more, “keep the wound clean and you should be right as rain.”

“Much appreciated again, doctor,” Bronze thanked him again, before getting picked in an aura.

With relative ease Marble levitated the mare up and on to his back as she hung over his sides, but before she could make any sort of protest, she found a hoof held up to her mouth. “You might be fiercely independent. However, I’m not letting you walk all the way back to the house on three legs,” the stallion answered and silenced her, “the shops already closed, and anything more to fix can wait. So, don’t worry.”

“… Fine,” Bronze lightheartedly rolled her eyes at him, as they left the tent and headed back. Topaz with her front row view of the helpless mare looked at her from behind her father, giggling all the way.

Chapter 10

Chapter ten

Marble strode his way down the road to his neck of the woods, the most subtle pep in his step as he walked. While his home may not be quite off the beaten path, it was further from town than some others. Something that he enjoyed, with having his own privacy, and little prying eyes to any of his new creations for one of his stores.

Reaching his home, the colt strolled in and brought the bags of groceries to the kitchen. No sooner had the bags met the counter as he was greeted by his daughter, “did they have them?” the filly almost fell in to the bag as she looked for the treat she had hoped to find.

With a jingle of its contents, Marble held up the chocolate covered pretzel box with his aura as he waved it above her, “Yes dear, they stocked up recently it seems,” though as she leapt up like a fish to catch them, the colt held her prize ever higher out of her reach, “that said, you can have some after dinner, I’m about to start cooking anyway.”

“Awe… dad…” Topaz pouted as best she could, trying to win him over with eyes only a father could love.

Though it was a face the father knew all too well, “Nope, that hasn’t worked on me since you were a foal.” He started to chuckle at her, forcing his daughter to break the pose.

“Ohfine, worth a shot at least,” accepting her defeat, Topaz trotted around helping to put the other groceries away. Already having her desert in mind for the evening.

“Has Bronze woken up?” he beckoned for an answer, having seen the clock, and knowing that she must have been out for a few hours at the very least, “I doubt she wanted to sleep the whole day-”

“She’s under the house.” Marble twisted to look at his daughter, as she held a few cans of stewed tomatoes up, “What?” the filly protested, stacking them in the cupboard, “she asked what needed fixing around the house, you’re not exactly the best when it comes to repairing anything but jewelry, and so I might have mentioned the leaking pipe under the house.” Topaz started to scratch the back of her head with all the innocence she could muster, “I mean, were you ever going to fix it? The shower head su-u-ucks ya know?”

“I was getting to it…” the colt tried to answer to the best of his defense.

“Sure you were dad,” Topaz rolled her eyes at him, having heard that excuse for a month now, “She said she wanted to help out, and it was the least she could do… what did you want me to tell her?”

Marble simply set down what goods he had in his grasp and face hoofed, his kin did have a point. Ask him to resize a ring, or repair the smallest of chain links on a necklace he could do it. Though when it came to things around the house… that was better left the professionals. As he had even said to Bronze before, though the stallion wasn’t expecting her to jump at the opportunity of making it up to him so soon.

Without a word, and just a snicker to Topaz, Marble made his way outside the house and to the opening of the crawl space underneath. Just in time to see the dust and dirt covered face of Bronze pop out from the side.

“If I had known you were going to be down there, I would have bought more rags,” he said to the mare.

“Ohplease,” Bronze lifted her bare self from the crawlspace and up on to the grass, “I’m used to working in less than stellar conditions after all.”

“Never the less, I do appreciate it,” Marble helped her up to her hooves with one of his own, “I know Topaz will be happy about the water.”

“Good to know,” Bronze beamed inwardly to herself. It wasn’t a large feat in the slightest, but even this much was a start in her book, “I re-brazed the piping to those bathrooms, so they should be able to take the extra pressure.”

She may have not grown up working on plumbing, or house work in general. Though her dad taught a variety of things when it came to hardware, enough to keep her talons busy with trades far from leveling a country.

“As myself and my kin so lovingly put it, I’m not the best when it comes to fixing things around the house,” Marble kicked the ground below him, plodding his hoof about, “I’ll try to do some patchwork when I can, but bigger tools aren’t my forte. Plus, this last week has had some of its own unexpected… enjoyable highlights, that got in the way of things,” He glanced over to her.

Bronze looked away hiding her flush as they started walking to the front door, not sure if that was a good thing to be coming from him or not. “I needed to give my talon a workout anyway, and see what it could do. So, fixing something around here, like I already agreed to anyway, was perfect,” he held the door for her as Bronze thanked him with a nod and stepped in, “besides, I have my trades, like you have yours… and I have to say, you’ve excelled at them just fine.”

“Why I appreciate it there, Bronze,” he thanked her as they went through the house, “My customers seem to be rather satisfied too.”

“And the other employee at the shop sure knows how to doll a mare up,” Bronze tittered, drawing a curious glance from the colt.

With no elaboration from the mare, the colt let it slide, “That said, I do have to leave in a few days out of town,” Marble said to her as they stepped in the kitchen. Now devoid of a little one running around. The parent of the two could only imagine what kind of trouble his kinfolk is getting in to, as he talked to his counterpart, “usual periodic excursion I make out to one of my mines that supply the gems and ore for my stores. Check up on them, see how things are, that sort of overseer work.”

“That’s what happens wh-… Wait…” Bronze finally caught up to her own thought, “Your mine? Stores?” she paused in the middle of the kitchen as those words went on repeat, “how much have you been up to since school?”

Marble stopped there and grinned back at her. Knowing that she never really understood how much his family was grounded in the trade of things shiny while they were younger. “Ahh… how about save that for the trip?

Once again, Bronze raised a brow to him, “Trip?”

“Well, I’m seeing if you’d like to join me on the train ride there,” Marble said as he brought out a few ingredients for a veggie stew. Potatoes, celery, carrots, and onions that he had just picked up laid across the counter while the colt chatted, “It’d be boring to stay here for the day or so I’d be on the rails, and Topaz usually stays with one of her friends while I’m gone, so it gets you out of the house… who knows, could be fun.”

Chopping the vegetables with the knife held expertly in his horn, Marble waited to hear from the mare in response to his offer. Though after several seconds nothing came, looking over his shoulder, Bronze did something else to his surprise. Using her own talons and a knife, the mare started cutting up the other items just as he had, wearing but the surface shadow of a smile on her face.

Slicing neatly though an onion, without even a tear in her eye, Bronze kept her eyes on the blade while mulling it over. Though that wasn’t a decision that took long, “I’d love too honestly… It’s been a while sense I did anything just for, fun, let’s say.”

Returning the gesture, and scooping up the ingredients from her cutting, Marble placed them all in a pot as he added water and vegetable stock from the fridge, “Wonderful, I can show you around the production areas and such… something that will probably get your own gears turning.”

With a titter from her, Bronze set about cleaning off the table of anything not needed for dinner. Various painting supplies, likely from Topaz while she slept, a few cups of coffee that had lingered from Marble previously that day, and even the towns paper she stacked on the counter nearby. Within a moment to herself as she watched her talons go through the motions, the mare froze at the realization of her actions.

‘I’m cleaning up… for dinner… with my previous tormentor, and his daughter,’ Bronze about pinched herself with a talon to make sure this wasn’t all a dream, as she started to operate almost on instinct when it came to the daily life of normal citizen. With a deep sigh, the mare simply shook her head as she thought about what had happened in such a short time.

She went from running through the woods on three limbs, to fighting her own creations and wild life out in the forest, trying to end it all and let gravity take her pain, stealing gems to try and rebuild herself. To now having some sense of self, or at the very least a goal, even after everything in her previous life fell apart.

‘What the hell did I do to deserve this?’ she asked herself, looking back at the colt in the room, as he added other ingredients to his stew.

“… If I may, of course,” Marble said as the mare caught herself up with his question.

“Sorry about that…” she blanked out for but a moment, “day dreaming, what was it?”

“Oh, I was wondering… about your back,” Marble asked once more, looking to the wounds that she had patched up, “What happed there?”

Thinking how to best put it, Bronze didn’t see any real reason to lie about what she had accomplished. He’d already seen what she could manage after all, “Those were from another set of… appendages I had created.”

“What? Like wings?” Marble started to snicker, though that was only met with silence from the mare again as it began to dawn on him, “wait, you’re serious?”

“Well… they weren’t perfect,” Bronze thought of the various ways they could have been improved, something that few likely saw in them given how impressive they were.

The design could have been refined for sure, more streamline and such. The gems used certainly should have been of a purer value, that would have made her even faster in the end. Then there’s the weight, she could have used a lighter metal to build them like copper. Never the less, they got her off the ground, a feat that few could touch.

“Far from it, but they were glorious,” Bronze thought in her own little world. Lost in her mind she once again relieved soaring through the air on her own power for the first time.

Having left the DDR’s chief after discussing further plans, she leapt out a window, and just before hitting the ground those wings flared out in all their might to keep her from smacking into the surface below. Sure, before she had taken test dives from the tops of cliffs with water below them, if only to give the chance of breaking her fall should something not go right.

However, leaping away from the chief and into the open air was the purest moment of bliss she had felt in a long time. A sense of true freedom where nothing could touch her, the wind rushing past her face, and the breeze caressing her body as she went through the air. Almost as if she’d been with them since birth.

It was something no earth pony had every experienced, and something she wouldn’t forget any time-

“What happened to them?”

Soon.

Marbles’ question brought her once again back to the real world she lived in, as the crushing failure from before painted itself across the fore front of her mind, “They were, lost… in a crash.”

Sure, they weren’t lost in a crash, though they might have well been. Having been torn from her body by another, just as her airship was about to detonate and scatter her automatons around the land. The mare had her wings clipped not too long after one of her talons had been blown off by the same colt, yet another slice of her removed. Feeling them being pulled from her shoulder blades like real wings. Bronze quivered while a tingle went up her spine, as she felt the burning in her shoulders from where they used to connect.

“I’m sorry… to hear that,” Marble lowered his head, not being able to say much more to sympathize with her.

He never lost a limb, he never had anything taken from him of that sort from his very body. The closest thing would have been his parents, though he never was on the best of terms with them to begin with, so it mattered little. His wife was the only other link he could have had with her pain. Though hers was physical, his was emotional. As he looked to her from his pot, the colt had to just admire the one before him. Whether she saw it or not.

Here was a mare who had lost so much. Parents who loved her, as much as she did them. Her limbs in a tragic accident when she was younger, to be replaced later on by her own skills. Even then, they weren’t set in stone, as she had her body literally torn away from her yet again over the years. Time and time again Bronze had been knocked down, and dragged through the mud. Yet, with every punch the mare got up, wiped the blood clean, and kept going.

‘You’ve been through a lot,’ Marble looked at her in reverence, ‘and you still keep pressing on.’

“Ahh… Marble?”

“Yes?” he shook his head to get his thoughts in order. Still having the various thoughts of approbation dancing around.

“What’s that look for?” Bronze asked as she scooped the excess cuttings from the veggies in to a trash bin.

“Nothing, just wrapping my head around the idea of you flying,” he looked back at her, while mixing in the pot various spices, “a rather wonderous thought, if I might say.”

With a rosiness tint returning to her face once more, Bronze held back her tongue while she helped him out in the kitchen as best she could. Fighting back the yearning to be in the sky once more, like her bloodline never intended. It was a dream she would have loved to have again, but it was something that could hold off for now. She was standing on her own four limbs again, that was something far more to be thankful for.

“Why thank you,” she took a curtsy, proud of at least one of her achievements, “It truly was a wonderful feeling, while it lasted that is…” with a sigh the mare finished setting the table, tossing about the different ideas of how she could improve the design of those appendages she had lost.

Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

Train rides weren’t something lost on Bronze. She regularly made them to and from the DDR and the Gryphon Kingdom during their dealings. As well as before hoof when she was on her own trying to build up some designs to impress said nations, or finalize her own plans in the shadows.

Just like she had so many times before, the mare looked out the window at the passing terrain as the trees and grassy hillsides of this part of Seren started to finally give way. In their place spouted the dullness and strife the DDR had been known for as they bordered between the two nations. This time though just as the young filly at the house had suggested, Bronze decided to let her coat breath for once and left the cloak at his home. Showing her true form off for the whole country to see.

Meanwhile her companion sat just across from her in the booth; Calmly reading over the paper in his hooves as his legs were crossed in comfort. Periodically Marble would look up from over his coffee cup to watch the mare, silently staring out at the passing land.

Though one can only stay silent for so long. “So, you make this trip often?” Bronze perked up finally, if only to pass the time with some small talk.

“Occasionally,” Marble answered her as he placed the paper down and gave her his full attention, “it is good to show your employees that you care, which can be something as simple as showing face at their place of work,” looking out the window with her, he had traveled this route enough to know from landmarks how long it would take to reach their destination in the end, and with one glance he knew they had still one or two hours to go.

“Just how well have you done in this business?” she asked while they entered a tunnel, casually taking a glance over towards him, as her talon held her head up.

“Ahh… I had always been involved in the family business of mining, even from the deepest end of it,” he thought back to how much his father had groomed him as a replacement over the years. From seeing the work everypony would have do to at the lowest rung of the ladder, all the way to the administration side of the house, “though after the folks passed, I decided to expand… hired a few craft workers, worked on pieces myself, and started making and selling jewelry. I already had my own supply, why not give the next step a go?” he asked while taking another sip of his drink, “this is actually a reserved train car that I have with this line. So, you could say the expansion has been… good, to me.”

Even through his small chuckle, Bronze as she looked at him could see that it wasn’t made in snobbishness or even detest for those of a lower class. The colt had worked though his family business all his life and climbed the ladder, and this was his reward for all those hours that he had clearly spent in his own shop tinkering. A sense of accomplishment she could feel coming off of the colt.

‘I should know that feeling all too well,’ Bronze thought to herself as she recalled the many nights and days spent building up her own creations.

“Regardless though of all those little things that I have managed over the years,” he spoke in a far softer tone, and Bronze started to see the twinkle grow in those miraculous orbs of his, “the best gem I had ever gotten in life was Topaz…”

“A gem you should be very proud of,” Bronze shined at him, knowing what kind of pride a father can have in their kin, and only hoping that she can restore her own in her fathers’ eye where ever he may be, “if I may…” she waited for the ushering gesture of his hoof to keep her going, “if her mother was anything like your kin, then she must have been a wonderous mare in her own right.”

Marble simply smiled at the memory of his late wife, and how little time there was to see their daughter grow, “She was… truly,” he scratched an eye with his hoof, keeping the memory from spilling over too much, “Pommel was probably the only mare I had met who could put up with me at the time. She had her own elegance about her, even in the way she walked, or in her brush strokes.”

“Brush strokes?” Bronze questioned.

“Oh, some… actually most of the paintings you see at the house are hers,” he said, rather proud of her still being around even as he were to walk through the halls, “she had me try my hoof at painting once or twice… but that just ended poorly and with far more of a mess to clean up,” after a short snicker, Marble once again seemed to find himself lost in thought for but a moment, “Still, somehow she found a way to help me with my issues, the same ones you had dealt with when we were younger… rounded me out a lot over the years.”

The mare watched him as he slowly returned to his paper, steadily getting back in to the article as he tried to pass the time once more. Meanwhile, Bronze found herself hard pressed to keep her eyes on anything else, “Yeah…” she muttered under her breath, “I can see that.”

***

Having already stopped at the smaller town that bordered Seren with the DDR. Both Marble and Bronze walked down the path leading out of the town limits. Following his every foot step, the mare didn’t want to get left behind anywhere near this territory, especially if she was without anything to cover herself up.

If any of the dogs had made their way across the border and recognized her out here, they surely would have lunged at the opportunity for a little pay back. Not a situation she wanted to leave the colt in.

“You can buy your own train car, but can’t get a carriage to get to the mine,” Bronze snickered at him while she kept pace.

“Oh, a little exercise never hurt any creature,” Marble returned the gesture as they came across a small hill top and he was able to get his target in site, “Besides, where here.”

Bronze looked over the rocky mountain side that made up what seemed like half of Marbles operation. Dotted with various holes and tunnels dug into it, creatures of all shapes and sizes pulled out ore on carts, and brought them to one of the buildings set up for the mine. Getting closer, the couple were passed by a few fully laden carts as dwarf drakes hauled wagons of raw materials up and along the same path they had just came to town.

Inside the encampment the organized chaos of a full production area was set to high gear. Gryphons shoveled carts of ore in to processing machines as they pounded the materials down and broke apart it in to more manageable chunks. While on the other side of things, unicorns used their talents to fish out the various gems that were trapped away behind dirt and muck as it passed on a conveyor belt to a hopper below waiting to be carried away.

“I figured you’d love the machinery that I had working here alongside everyone,” Marble looked to his companion while her eyes seemed mesmerized by the disorder, “As you probably already know, many unicorns are very adept when it comes to sniffing out gems hidden away in rocks. So, from some of those that grew up around rock farms, I hired them at my mines to sort out the higher quality ones from the rest of the bunch.”

Bronze watched closer as one of the mares picked up what seemed like a solid chunk of dirt, and with a quick twist with her magic, broke it apart to reveal the roughly shaped sapphire inside. ‘Hmm sapphire, best used with frost or even cloaking spells,’ she mentally went over like a textbook. With a shrug though, the mare holding the gem tossed it in to a container behind her that was slowly starting to fill up with gems of similar value.

“What of the rest?” Bronze asked as the raw soil went through the mill.

“Treated further at another one of my sites, after all I have to get the metals from somewhere,” Marble pointed out as they continued through the site, and the mare stared more to the process unfolding before her.

Feeding the entire plant, earth ponies trotted too and from the mouth of the mines pulling their precious cargo as they went. Like a fine-tuned and well lubed machine that almost made her mouth drool. Bronze watched as every creature was where they were supposed to be and somehow in all the running around, things just flowed like hot syrup.

The only thing that seemed to put any sort of halt to their step was when Marble walked past them, and with a smile and a head nod the greetings came forth in droves. “Good morning, sir,” a drake said as he hooked up to a cart.

“Morning there Tapered Anvil,” Marble replied back.

“Mornin’ there sir, an’ ma’am,” a gryphon tipped his cap to both Marble and to Bronze as he saw her, all while passing by them.

“Good morning Tussler,” Marble answered back without missing a beat, “how’s the chicks doing?”

“Getting bigger before my very eyes,” Tussler called back with a grin in his voice as he went back to his duties.

Bronze looked back to the gryphon as he left, and then to the next dozen or so employees of his. As they would pass by they would give their own greetings and warm welcomes to their boss. Yet in each of them, it didn’t seem to have any level of brown nosing. Even those around that didn’t get the chance to say hello, still looked just as happy to see him present as they were with their jobs.

Sure, there was sweat and dirt on damn near all of them, that’s just the nature of what happens when one works underground in the mines all day. However, at the same time none seemed to complain or even give any sign of letting up until the work day was over and done with.

By the time Bronze lost count of how many employees greeted him, she finally had to ask the obvious, “Okay, so have you memorized all of those that work under you?”

“Thank you, Quick Stitch,” Marble said to one of his area managers as they handed him over a clipboard with their processing reports, looking over it quickly he just as fast turned his attention back to his company, “you could say that… it took a while, but out of the several locations I have, whether it be a mine, a processing plant, or a store, many of them stick around for years. You learn their names quick when you keep seeing them.”

“Have a wonderful day Mister Marble,” a unicorn mare called out to him with a wave as she sorted out a few gems.

“To you as well Miss Marigold,” he called back to her as him and Bronze went towards the one of the cleaner looking buildings in the area, “Plus I’ve learned that the closer your employees see you to them, and the kinder you are, the better they will work not for you… but with you.” He answered while they walked in and saw the countless other creatures running the numbers with typewriters at claw, as a few Pegisy put reports in their mail bags.

The sign above reading Field Office already told the mare all she needed to know, “And as you can probably imagine this is the actual paper pushing center of the entire operation,” Marble held out his hooves as he showed the wonderous makeshift office setting to the mare, and promptly watched the dead expression on Bronzes’ face grow with every second, “Yeah it’s not my favorite place either, though as you know it’s still needed to make everything you saw outside flow smoothly.”

“And the better we do with that flow,” Bronze looked over Marbles’ shoulder as a zebra mare sashayed up to him with a few stacks of papers on her back, “the better Mister Marbles day will go.”

“Ahh Miss Saksire,” Marble beamed to her, “I trust the day has been going well so far?”

“So far indeed it has, little time for me to sit still,” with the last line though the stripped equines face turned sour for but a moment, “however, another you should speak with, if you will.”

With a thanks and a little point for direction, Marble and Bronze walked between the few desks that dotted the space and came across a young unicorn colt sitting before a gryphon typing away at his desk. From the tapping of his hoof to the ground, to the sweat dripping down the nape of his neck. Bronze already knew this colt was on not only the seats edge, but the edge of his mind as well.

“Good morning there, Burnbite, Lager,” Marble greeted the gryphon and colt respectively, “what seems to be the problem?”

“Mister Marble,” Burnbite started, “it would seem that Lagers’ wife had just started having contractions for the foals she’s carrying, one of his relatives came here to tell him that she was being taken for the delivery,” he continued to type away furiously at the keys while talking to his boss, “We were just making his request for paid absence so he may be on his way, as per policy.”

“When did this news first arrive?” Marble asked as he glanced up at the clock on the wall.

“About thirty minutes ago.”

“And…” the colts’ vision glowered down upon the gryphon like the setting sun, “why can’t he come back for the request later, or have it brought to his home by one of our couriers?”

For a second the gryphon took a breath, though those words fell before they could even leave his tongue. “I… don’t have an answer on that one sir,” he tried to think of any and all excuse, “Policy dictates that he has it, before he leaves?”

“And I make the policy,” Marble turned his attention to the colt sitting there still shaking his leg as if having a seizure, “Lager, the papers will be delivered to you once they are done, see to your wife.”

Leaping up from his seat, the colt called out a thousand thanks over his shoulder before even reaching the door and rocketing down and out of the site. Meanwhile, Bronze stood there and watched the small event unfold before her, as Marble turned his attention to the gryphon still there typing.

“Burnbite, see to it that those papers make it to his home when you are finished, please,” he nodded to the gryphon.

“Say no more sir.”

With that the pair continued their way down and out of the office area, following the same path as the colt that had left a fire trail behind him as he dashed. Bronze on the other hoof just looked at her tour guide, as he continued his strut through the grounds that he owned. Before long though, the colt took notice of the attention he was getting, and not just from his employees.

“Yes? What is it?” Marble asked.

“Oh… nothing,” Bronze looked over the few events that she saw when they first arrived at his site, “between what I’ve seen with your employees, and how you take care of them… you’re certainly right.”

Passing by him in his tracks, Marble stopped as she did and glared up to her, unsure what she had meant, “Care to explain, Bronze?”

With a light smile towards him, Bronze looked over her shoulder, “You’ve certainly rounded out over the years.”

In only those few words the colt quickly grew the same expression on his own face as he caught up with her. The pair walked in tandem as they approached the mouth to one of the many mines in the side of the mountain. “I’m glad you think so,” Marble said as they took in the workers coming to and from its gape, “that’s some pretty high praise coming from you… considering everything in the past.” with a sheepish smile the overseer of the entire operation stepped up to a gear locker and pulled out a pair of helmets. “Whelp, shall we continue the tour?” Marble asked as he tossed a mining helmet to the mare, and she caught it expertly with her talons.

The mare held the cover for but a second as she pondered his previous words to herself, ‘You’re not the only one with regrets on the past, Marble.’ Slipping it neatly overtop her horn, with it going through a hole cut in to the top. Bronze buckled the strap around her chin as she stood by his side, “by all means, lead the way, Marble.”

***

With a heavy pair of eyes, Bronze rested her head on the window of the train as she watched the now darkened landscape in front of her pass through the night. After going down the opening of the mine, the pair had spent another couple hours rummaging around the various veins that had been dug clean for the workers to pick from. It seemed that almost every fifty feet they were stopping to talk to more of Marbles employees, and with every chance Bronze saw how attentive he was to their wants and needs.

“A happy worker is a happy boss,” he had repeated on several occasions since they went down the shafts.

Even after the shifts had started trickling out for the day, Marble still walked around and looked over his equipment. If only for his own piece of mind that it was being kept up in working order with a quick glance. The lights for helmets he could see if they were all bright enough just with a look, and other items like the fans that brought in air to the deeper under-ground areas all had logs on them to show they were maintained. Something he scrutinized to no end.

It wasn’t the day trip that most mares would have appreciated, but for one like her. Seeing that kind of industry going at full sails was something that could keep her mind a buzz with fascination. Needless to say, by the time they had gotten back to the town and made their way to the train for departure, even with the little sunlight left. Bronze had been tuckered out just from the amount of walking done alone.

“I might need a recharge after today,” she looked over a few of her gems to see how bright they shined, something that was far easier to look after in the dim light of the cabin. With several still shining lustrously in the night, the mare quelled any worries then and there. ‘These new gems are better than I expected, I guess I’m just tired then,’ the clicking of the latch however, turned her eyes towards the door as Marble popped inside.

“That was probably far more than you bargained for today,” he looked over her tired frame, as it leaned against the window frame for support.

“Oh, I’ve walked for days before, but I just don’t know why today was worse,” closing her eyes for a moment, Bronze immediately snapped them open after repeating those words in her head, “No I didn’t mean it like that! I loved seeing how far you’ve gone after taking over, and seeing how well you take care of your-”

A single hoof though from the colt begged her to stop, as Marble just grinned, “Don’t worry, I know what you meant, it was a lot of running about… hence why I put something together,” Marble offered up his hoof for her, with Bronze looking at it skeptically, “We still have a few hours or so till we get back to the station, figured we’d grab something to eat from the meal car… and yes, I already went ahead and let them know to have a table ready.”

With a slight grin of her own, Bronze took his hoof with her talon and he hoisted her up to her hooves, “That sounds wonderful, though I might need a little-”

“Already asked them to bring two cups of coffee,” Marble said as he led the way.

“… You just think of everything don’t you?” Bronze snickered at him.

Stepping in to the meal car, the two looked around at the tables that had been set up and bolted to the floor. All the while even at this time of night, several of the tables still managed to find their own patrons to enjoy a late-night snack. Almost as soon as they stepped in, a gryphon female jumped up from her seat to greet them as they took in the surroundings.

“Mister Marble, wonderful for you to join us,” she took a few menus in claw and tucked them under her wing, “and to you as well Miss. My name is Desiree, please follow me, we have your table ready.”

Taking her lead, they followed her to the table just in front of one of the windows, perfectly placed in the dim lit car to let the moon light cascade over their table as the flames from a candle danced. Placing the menus down for them, and with a tug of her wings, the gryphon pulled the chairs out for her guests as they took a seat. Each with a cup of hot coffee in front of them, just like Marble had said.

Though from the corner of her avian eyes, even in the light of the moon. The glint from the mare grabbed her as she took in the site. “Oh my, those are lovely,” the gryphoness looked over the tireless details that had been put in to the limbs.

Bronze on the other hoof, sat there as her talons started to fidget with the menu and coffee mug in them under her gaze, “Ah… thank you?”

“I don’t mean to intrude,” Desiree held up a talon, “my grandad had a false set of talons on him as well, but his were never as vibrant as what you have, let alone functional,” she observed and watched Bronze hold on to the menu under her own power.

“Oh, it’s taken quite some time to get them the way I wanted,” Bronze commented, looking over her own creations once more.

“Ah an artist, are you?” she fluttered her eye lashes at the mare, still looking at the spectacle on both the stumps to her forelegs, and now the one atop the mares’ head, “one with a medium you should be proud of.”

“… Oh, you’re too kind,” Bronze beamed at her, thankful to have another that sees her appendages and things of amazement above repugnance.

With that final word, the gryphon took out a pen and paper to take any additional drink orders, as they took a few minutes to browse the menus. Yet even with the various food items listed, Marble still found his eyes wandering up to his companions, “You don’t hear that often, do you?” he asked while Bronze quickly passed a glance towards him as well.

“There have been many over the years that have lost limbs to various reasons, some from war, others from accident… yet what they have been given to compensate usually makes them a husk of what they once were,” Bronze held out one talon for him to see as her other grasped the menu. Dancing it around in the light, and flaring out all her digits, the subtle clicking made its way to his ears as the tips of her talons met the frame of the limb, “to see something as unfamiliar as a limb, to which moves on its own, puts a fair number of folks on edge… something I have gotten used to over the years.”

With that Bronze slowly picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip. Letting those words mellow over in her companies’ mind, as she got back to the decisions at claw. While she may be famished from the day of walking, Bronze is more thankful to have a cup of coffee in her talon than anything else. That said, she knows her stomach will wake her once they get home if she doesn’t satisfy it soon. Something that both her and Marble can agree with on their own accord.

“Your scotch on the rocks, sir,” their waitress sat the glass down before Marble, as she plucked the wine glass off her tray, “and the Red Rose Moscato for you madam.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Marble replied with a nod.

From that the gryphon grabbed their orders for the night, and left the two to mellow and chat over a drink. With the coffee finally reaching her system on the empty stomach, Bronzes eyes had managed to hold themselves up once more as herself and Marble both polished off their first glasses for the night.

“I have to ask honestly,” Bronze opened up with after the gryphon brought another refill for her, “of all the things you could have done with your mines, and the materials they bring up… how’d you get in to jewelry?”

Marble leaned back in his chair as he took a more delicate sip from his glass, thinking back to those years ago where he got a hankering for the decorations of one’s body. “Hmm… I’d have to say it was when I fixed a piece that my dad had bought my mom, cheaply crafted, fell apart probably the third time she wore it,” he about gagged at the memory of that piece, hating every little thing about it.

From the stones used, to the design, to even the metals that had been plated to it. The colt couldn’t stand it to be worn by anypony, even if he may not have gotten along with that pony in the best of ways to begin with.

“You saw it, and decided you could make one better,” Bronze pictured the young colt in her head, pounding away at a piece of jewelry, for a mare that could care less of what he had to offer.

“And it earned me something in return,” he looked down at his flank to the gold and silver chain wrapped gems that adorned them, “Dads first question was where I got the materials, and mom thought at I ruined the necklace…” not the things a young colt would have hoped, yet even with the scorning tongue of his folks, it was something that still stood out to him, “but for whatever reason, that trade stuck.”

Bronze recalled the various sets and patterns that she saw when she first walked in to the store, granted it may not have been with the best intentions at the time. Never the less though, she still had to marvel at how intricate some of them were, especially the one the Pegasus had adorned her with at first.

“Though, my turn…” Marble set his glass down on the table and leaned in closer, taking another look at the mare and her creations, “How do you do it?”

“… Come again?”

“Get them to move and such I mean, you had told me some of it all those years ago, sure,” he asked and watched as with every little fidget or subtle move the limbs seemed like they had a mind of their own, yet at the same time that mind was commanded by a greater one bringing them together, “I may not have been the best when it came to magical study in school… that award went to you,” he gestured to her, earning a giggle from the mare, “but what you’ve done here is nothing short of… amazing.”

“Well…” Bronze took another sip of her glass as she mentally went over every single scrap of parchment and literature she learned over the years about the matter, “It’s what some would call a lost art, used mostly by stage magicians to make props move, Imprinting as the name goes,” her memory went back to the first day reading that from a book about magic, already having lost her limbs. It wasn’t much at the time she thought, but in the end, it’s what set her down this path of hers, “I had gotten it from an older book, Magical theory of the ancients, which taught me what I needed to know. Afterwards though, I just needed a charge, and a lot of will power.”

“And as you told me back then, the charge wasn’t much,” Marble smiled at her, remembering swiping a few gems from his dad to help the mare out, “but will power?” he inquired.

Nodding simply to him, Bronze waited as Desiree placed their respective meals down. The mare having opted for the special of broccoli cheddar soup, while Marble went for the sunflower sandwich and hay fries. With the waitress taking any empty glasses from their table and clearing it up a bit, the mare continued while enjoying the meal.

“Especially for one who normally can’t use any bit of magic, it takes a lot of inner strength to pull the energy from a gem and bend it to your command,” she tipped her glass to him and took a spoonful of her soup, “you knew me back then… do you need me to spell out where that will came from?”

Marble just held up a hoof, knowing all the trials and plight that the mare had gone through all those years ago. Some from his own hooves, “I can figure that one out all too well… but it looks like you’ve put that will to some good use.”

“Yeah… good,” Bronze gracelessly leered off to the side, knowing full well that both Rhorkin and Reinhart were cursing her name from Tartarus. With a little wiggle though from having downed a few glasses already, the mare was silently thankful that nature was making a call tonight and getting her out for a moment. “Ahh, will you excuse me for a moment,” Bronze blushed for a second as she got up and made her way to the mares’ room.

Opening the stall inside and sitting down, Bronze let nature take its course as she looked out the smokey window that concealed the room from the outside. Yet even through that haze, she still could see the vague outlines of the terrain flowing from the outside as she finished up her business.

‘What am I doing here,’ Bronze asked herself as she opened the stall and stepped up to the sink, making sure to wash her talons.

Though the blood that stained them could not be cleaned with simple soap and water. No matter how much she may try and scrub, no matter what she may try and do to make up for it. At the end of the day, she still was a mare that had caused the near collapse of nations, all for a vendetta that had no grounds the more she thought of it.

‘He doesn’t even know the truth about me, only this mask I’ve been wearing,’ she scoffed at herself in the mirror, seeing once again a mare that barely registered in her mind of a face she once knew.

A crash from the window all but shattered the mindset of the mare as much of the pane of glass, while shards landed around her. Looking to the open gape created, Bronze only saw the paw of a creature as it reached in and grasped on to her from around her limbs, and dragged her from the car, on to the outside of the blaring winds.

Tossed along the roof of the train car like a partially eaten apple core, Bronze dug her talons in to the roof as best she could to halt her tumble before making it off the edge. Finding purchase in the thin sheeting finally, the mare stood up on her hooves, and even through the wind beating against her face, got a look at her attacker in the moon light.

Plated in full armor, the DDR soldier stood there atop the train car as his hind paws dug in to the roof all the same as her own talons. With a calm and steady stride, it approached and planted its paws on the roof as it made its way towards her. Bronze on the other hoof, could only imagine how it managed to get on to the train in the first place.

‘Did it leap on to the car after we departed the station?’ she thought while dodging a swipe of its heavy paw, knowing full well one good hit and she’d be at the mercy of gravity, ‘We were close to the border, some of them could have seen me from afar.’

With a quick leap of her hind legs, the mare jumped to its shoulder and along the back of her attacker. Across the strapped down gear it held, her talons found the roof below it as it made a wide and hasty swing. Something that threw it off balance, and gave the mare an opening. Using her talons and their sharpness, Bronze dug her a few claws between the plating, and deep in to the tissue of the hind legs as the dog overshot her. Knowing full well that no matter how big and strong a foe might be, if you take out their legs, every creature was on the same level.

Yet, even with her digits dug a few inches in to what should have been soft tissue, the dog still stood and only glared down at the mare unfazed with its visor. An act that spelled one thing out for the confused mare. Even with all the hate that its nation should feel towards Bronze, the mare only saw an emptiness in its soul that she knew all too well, one the same strain as her own creations.

The hollow suit kicked back and launched Bronze once again across the top of the train car, as she skipped across like a stone. With a slam her talon sliced into the roofing, bringing her to a halt, and allowing the mare to see her assailant in the clearing.

‘It’s… it’s one of mine?’ she asked to herself, unsure if she could even bring herself to believe what her eyes had clearly spelled out. Though if her eyes didn’t want to believe that, they would believe the weapon it pulled off its back.

Unseen from when she ran across it, the Gatling gun to which she had crafted in days past now turned its barrels towards her, as the automaton dog grasped on to the handle. Dropping any and all sense of doubt to what she was facing, Bronze dived off the side of the car as she held on to what she could. All the while the ‘dog’, if one could call it that, cranked away at the mare and sent lead chipping in to the car of the train.

She knew those rounds may have been smaller compared to the one she had gifted the chief, but she also knew they would certainly do the job if enough of them hit anything soft. What she needed was an opening, just a few moments to try and attack. Her mind held more knowledge of the weapons than all of the three nations combined, and with that she’d just have to wait.

The clicking of its barrels signaled that opening, and like a firework Bronze swung herself on to the top of the train car and darted down towards her attacker. The automaton with all the chunkiness and heft of a boat pulled out another magazine of ammunition and fed the belt in to the weapon as she approached. Something he was just a tad faster at than the mare could count on.

With a trained crank of the handle, several rounds dotted along the metal surface of the roof, as they raced towards the mare, with little to no time to react Bronze quite metaphorically bit the bullet and took the hit in stride as she barreled towards the creation. Latching on to its’ shoulder with a talon, Bronze tried kicking the weapon away from him as best she could. Though the powerful grip on its handles made that effort for naught.

Out of nowhere a blue spark leeched its way into the suit of armor, forcing it to seize in contractions and jerk about. Bronze looked towards the rear of the car where the hit had come from. Poking his head just over the edge of the car, Marble hung on to the side ladder and looked at the pair.

“Oh bugger,” the colt muttered after realizing it didn’t drop the dog outright, though that little lapse in time gave Bronze a moment to see what was up ahead as she looked over the tin soldier.

Dislodging her talon from the horrid creation, the mare galloped towards her companion as the dog once again grasped on to the handle and started to crank away. In the night sparks could be seen as the rounds skipped across the haul of the train, forcing Marble to keep his head down for but a moment as Bronze approached him and only hoped that her timing could be right.

“Catch!” the mare shouted out as she slid across the top of the car and in the gap where the two cars met. With an outstretched talon, it quickly found its home in Marbles own hoof as he wrapped a fetlock around her appendage and held on to the mare with all his might.

The dog meanwhile continued to fire round after round from where she seemingly went over the edge, never bothering to check behind its back for what was rapidly starting to approach. With a mighty smack, the wall of a tunnel rammed in to the creation with the momentum of the train that once held it, as it quickly found its body caught between the train cars below and the ceiling above.

Scraping against the two like a cheese grader, the plates that made up its body were quickly torn apart as the leather snapped and the gem that gave it life found itself unceremoniously ripped from its frame and scattered to the wind as if it was saw dust against sand paper.

Bronze and Marble both kept their heads low as they heard the gut-wrenching grinding of metal against the rock overhead, and could only hope with any amount of luck that it wouldn’t be getting up once again after that treatment. Yet even with the circumstances, one amongst them still couldn’t help but start chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Bronze asked the colt, wondering if this is where he would put it together that her being around was bad luck.

“Oh nothing… I’m just wondering,” he said as they got their footing finally and opened the door to the rest of the car, “Do you get in trouble like this often?”

“Eh… depends on the day,” Bronze brushed it off and buried the thoughts of what could still very well be out there, and likely was, deep in to the back of her mind. ‘Now… where are you?’ she wondered to herself. As they made their way down the car and past the other onlookers that saw her rough and tumble appearance.

Opening the door to the food car, Desiree looked to the guests that just stepped in. Quickly having to regain her hold on the tray balanced on her wings as she looked at the mare from head to hoof.

“Ahh…” she mused for a moment, before looking between the two of them and seeing the tired eyes of the pair, “…would you like me to box up the meals for your cabin?”

With Bronze nearly falling on to his shoulders after the short, yet eventful ordeal, Marble looked from the mare on towards the gryphoness and gently nodded. “That would be very much appreciated, Miss Desiree.”

Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

If it hadn’t been for the cup or so of coffee then the pair might have just crashed after arriving at the station. Thankfully though, with a small amount of pep in their step, both Marble and Bronze slowly made their way down the trail leading towards the colts’ home.

The father of the two might have hoped his daughter had gone to bed on time, but with her at her friends, that was unlikely. It at least gave them the house to themselves, something they could use after a trip like that.

The pair after the door opened barely made it past the frame before a mighty yawn took hold of the mare and quickly jumped to the company she kept. “It’s been one hell of a day…” Bronze rubbed her eyes with a talon, feeling the few morsels of food she had during her meal finally wearing off just as the caffeine did the same.

“I think yours was far more exciting to be honest,” Marble commented as he stepped inside and looked around the room once or twice to make sure everything was in order, “all I did was follow the thumping, you took the brunt of it.”

Feeling the few tosses and bumps along the train across her body from the short scuffle, Bronze cracked her hind knee with a sharp pop as she relaxed there for a moment. “Eh it was-” though after a quick bite of her tongue she silenced the slight yelp she wanted to let loose from her lips.

An action that didn’t go unnoticed by another. Marble turned his head to the mare and watched as the wince on her face slowly gave way and Bronze started stumbling on her limbs, exhaustion taking hold, “Are you alright?” he asked, looking over her with a fine-tooth comb.

“Yeah, I’ve been worse…”

“And you’ve been shot… again,” Marbles’ eyes rested on the dots along her abdomen and leg that already had healed over to stop the bleeding, but still likely held those rounds lodged in them.

“Oh please, this is nothing, honestly,” Bronze commented, already starting to wobble from under his gaze.

She had known about the injuries, but didn’t want to make him worry. If anything, she had planned on removing them herself with the handy dexterity of her talons, and probably a few shots of the whisky she saw in the kitchen.

Yet with the cat out of the bag, and the colt slowly rolling his eyes at her, the mare was hard pressed to find any other excuse to ignore the wounds she sustained. Bronze opened her mouth to say something more, and quickly found herself greeted with a hoof in the air from Marble as he hushed her. With nothing more than a gesture, she was waved up the stairs to her bed room with him not too far behind her, nudging her almost with his muzzle to keep her afoot.

“Lay on the bed there Bronze, I’ll be back in a second,” Marble said as he parted ways from her door and went further down the hall.

Bronze meanwhile for once did as she was told and laid there on her back. With her hind hooves stretched out and her fore legs curled up to her chest. She wasn’t used to taking orders from another, let alone following them. Yet, in the end, he was the one that allowed her to fix what had been broken. The least she could do was listen to him, even if it did put her like this.

“Probably not my proudest moment…” she thought for a second noting her position, before quickly jotting this down on the ever-growing list of low moments in her life.

The sound of some hoof steps welcomed the colt as he stepped in the room with a medical bag in tow. Placing it down, Marble went through and pulled out everything he might need for the occasion as if he had done this before. Much to Bronzes’ surprise, as he laid down a few towels on the bed next to the mare and sterilized the forceps with some alcohol.

“Why do you look like you know what you’re doing?” her curiosity got the best of her, while his horn took up every instrument like that of a surgeon.

“I’ve had a daughter that likes to get in all sorts of trouble when it comes to play time…” Marble mentally groaned after recalling the number of times he had to help Topaz whenever she’d get hurt, before taking her to the doctor, “needless to say, I took it upon myself to learn a thing or two about first aid.”

“And yet here you are looking like you’re about to give me field surgery?”

“What can I say? I made it to Alicorn in the Colt Scouts of Seren,” Marble rubbed his hoof on his chest, rather proud of that achievement from the past that had still managed to help him throughout the years that would follow, “Besides, otherwise we’d have to drag you all the way to the doc in town, and he’d likely still say to come back in the morning.”

Bronze on the other hoof just rolled her eyes and let him go to work on her, “Alrighty, then in that case let’s get this over with…”

“Way ahead of you,” Marble said as he took the forceps and using his magic, wiggled them inside of the first hole in Bronzes side.

While the subtle burn from the alcohol still on them didn’t help her mood at first. Bronze was more worried about him hitting something that was vital for her well-being, especially when she looked down and saw him with his eyes closed. However, before she could say but a word, Marble calmly whispered a simple hush to her from under his breath as the burn started to subside.

“Translucent spell… plus a little De-sensation to help with the pain,” he muttered, as his eyes fidgeted around under his lids, “probably way too much experience… but I can see everything clearly, don’t worry.”

Putting her trust in to his nimble hooves, or horn in this case. Bronze laid there and let him go to work as he played in her insides. Before she knew it there was a slight tug on her skin that was barely noticed through the rest of her body. As the first round was brought out and placed on the towel. The mare laid there in bafflement at his skill from both jewelry, and apparently the medical field as well.

“So… the scouts taught you to do surgery?” she asked, hoping not to break his concentration, but at the same time feeling awkward to be just laying there as he went about.

“Not quite…” Marble answered, having already pulled out another round from just above her hip, “they taught us the spells needed, and how to use them. That’s about it, anything else we learned was from practice or just learning on the go.”

Bronze watched as he pulled yet another metal slug from her body. If those cartridges had any more punch in them, she might have bit the dust, thankfully the weapons in her automaton’s claws seemed to be a little less engineered than if she was overseeing their production. ‘Maybe moisture getting in to their powder?’ she pondered for a moment.

“Have you done this sort of thing before?” she asked as he went on what might have been the last hole, if she had bothered counting how many times she was shot.

“Had another scout fall with an arrow in his aura once, got lodged in his leg,” Marble said as casually as if it were a sunder morning breakfast conversation, and finally dislodged the last round he could find with the spell, “had to get it out somehow, so between the four or five of us there, we managed quite well.”

“Well, aren’t you a hero,” Bronze chuckled for a moment as she winced, already feeling his spell wearing off from the nerves finally starting to fire up once more, “I thank you for this, it was better than what I had planned.”

“What? Were you just going to dig them out yourself?”

The blank stare from the mare as he laughed quickly silenced the colt, realizing just how serious she was about that prospect, “I mean I could have… these are pretty useful after all,” Bronze held up her talons for him to watch as they fiddled.

“You… don’t have to worry about trying to do it all on your own…” Marble mused as he brought out some gauze and bandage wrapping. Gently applying some healing ointment to the cloth, the colt did his best to avoid the gaze from the mare as she looked his way and watched him work in her own silence. “No one would fault you for asking for some help here and there.”

‘I would… if I thought I deserved it,’ Bronze summarized in her head for a second as the colt stopped there.

“What was that?”

‘Oh shit! Not in my head!’ Bronze stammered for a moment while putting her cards together, “nothing, nothing at all… I’m just, surprised, that you’re being this good to me.” She lied from the deepest part of her throat.

“What…? I’m supposed to let wounds go untreated with you?”

“No, no, no not like that,” Bronze shook her head, trying to sort out her deck as best she could, and give herself an out, “I mean that after all these years, I still wouldn’t have expected this much of a change out of you…”

“I’m going to start sounding like a broken record if you keep bringing that up,” Marble said with a smile as he gently wrapped the bandaging around Bronze as she laid there, careful to have her move only when need be to help his work, “I have a number of things to make up for in the past, and I’ll try to, piece by piece.”

With those last words the colt finished with his wrapping of the wounds, and snipped the bandaging with a pair of sheers. Looking over his work once more, the colt was rather proud that he still managed to keep the skills in the forefront of his mind. Even with it having been a while sense Topaz took a tumble. Packing up what he had brought out from his kit, the colt quickly caught the eyes of the mare staring back at his own while he stood there stashing his supplies away.

“What?” he asked, wondering what was going through her head.

Bronze simply sighed, unsure which card from her deck of tricks to pull out and play, so instead she played the honest truth. A card she was playing more often than not, “You’ve grown to be a wonderful colt, Marble… Don’t let your past tell you otherwise.” The mare said to him with a wide beam, recalling all the kind gestures he had given to both her, and those that he knew.

If she had seen what this colt would become while they were still in school, she would have only believed it to be a dream. Yet here he was, with a delightful youngster of his own, a sprawling business that he can be proud of, and a life that he can live one day at a time. As opposed to hers, which went a mile a minute when she was in the thick of it with her dealings, not justly knowing when it would crash and burn around her.

With a shake of his head, Marble stammered there for a moment as he tripped over his words, and levitated the kit over to him, “It’s… well, kind of late isn’t it,” he looked at the clock, and knew that the sun would be up no sooner than when he crawled in to bed, “tomorrow, or later in this case, I’d like to pick up Topaz before checking out the store for a bit, after that the day is ours…” he looked over the bandages once more to make sure everything was in order, “if you’d be up for it that is.”

Bronze simply snickered at him while she slid deeper in to the covers of the bed, careful not to pull against her fresh dressings. “I think I can manage a day out, especially with the care that you put in to patching me up,” the mare esteemed the covering work just as much as its artist, “Thank you, Marble. It probably would have been a lot messier if I had tried to do it myself.”

“Oh, I’m sure you would have managed,” he rolled his eyes at her, with only the slightest tinge of blood going to his cheeks as he stepped closer towards the door. With a hoof on the light switch, he looked at the mare once more, “Until later, Goodnight Bronze.”

With a flip of the switch, and a goodnight as well. The mare laid there in the bed, and let the ointments do their job, thankful to have him around to patch her up if need be. Yet, even with that thanks, and what he had said he was trying to make up for. Bronze still knew one thing at the end of the day was true.

“No matter what debts you think you have…” she looked towards the door he had just departed from, feeling the filthiness on her tips, and ignoring her own words, “I’ve far more blood on these talons from the past than you can imagine.”

***

With a wide yawn on her part, Bronze shook her head free from the tired embrace of sleep, while trying to whisk it away after the morning had come all too fast it would seem. Both herself and Marble saw the creeping sun coming up from their respective windows, and knew that the day was going to start with or without them regardless.

So, with her body washed clean from the sandponies clutches for the time being, and with a vigor in her step from the bandages having done their work over the night and now retired for the day. After a quick wash yup, and breakfast. Bronze and her companions made their way through town as the noon day sun started to approach.

Her cloak was long gone allowing her coat to breath, yet even as she walked through the clear day with the sun against her back, and the heat warming up the legs plating. Bronze could feel the gaze of quite a few of those around her looking at the oddities that adorned her body in every which way shape or form.

From the spire atop her head she stole from another ponies kind after her birth, to the appendages of the stumps from that of another species. The mare quickly started to wish she had brought a cloak with her this time around, regardless of the warm welcome she had gotten on the train.

“Pay them no heed, prosthetics aren’t really all that common, and certainly none like yours,” Marble said as they walked past a few other citizens, and he took notice of their gestures out the corner of his eye, “They just aren’t used to seeing such works of art.”

“It’s not really art that they’re staring at…” Bronze commented as she saw a few that passed do a double take and look back to not only her, but him as well. Herself she could understand, though doing a once over from him, that she hadn’t had an answer for, “why would they be looking at you though?”

Marble continued down the street stone faced for but a few more moments as they went, before his stoic looking glare turned in to a grin, and soon in to a chuckle. “Let’s just say I’m pretty well known in these parts… and it’s not like they see me with another creature by my side often, at least a mare.”

Those words went in her ear, but it took a few moments for them to finally register what he was saying, “… Bullshit,” she laid out, kicking the words out the other side,“…I find it hard to believe that you’ve been a bachelor this whole time,” Bronze raised one brow to him as he walked along the path, unsure if he was merely being coy or was actually telling the truth.

“And I get that answer a lot when the subject comes up,” he shook his head as they approached a doorway along the main street, “I never really got out much after Pommel passed, especially with Topaz running about… and running… and still running,” with a steady knock against the door with his hoof, the two waited for the sounds of little hooves to grow louder as their greeting approached in seconds anticipating their arrival.

Within moments, Topaz burst through the doorway and latched herself on to around her fathers’ neck line. If she had been any stronger, she may have just put him in a choke hold. Though with her little filly hooves, she only managed to hold her father in an embrace that any parent would adore.

“Morning dad!” the filly beamed as the adult to her supervision approached.

“Good mornin’ there girly,” Marble looked down upon his daughter and nuzzled her, before turning her attention to the mare of the home, “I trust she wasn’t too much trouble, Peachy?”

“Oh no more than could be expected,” the mare answered as her own kin ran past her legs and welcomed the new comers, “her and little Berry Swirl had a grand old time here.”

“You bet!” the other filly beamed while Topaz held on to her dad.

Meanwhile Bronze stood there and only could watch in the exchange of affection and friendship. Having not known it for the years she had been around in this world, and only recently having known the feeling of being close to another in any capacity. With a hug to her friend Berry and her mom Peachy, Topaz met her dad along his legs as the trio went down the path to the main road and waved to the small family in their departure.

Walking along the road way of the town, the three made their way down a now familiar street to Bronze as they approached Marbles’ store. Stepping inside, the ring of the bell announced their presence to another there behind the counter.

“Welcome to-” the same Pegasus that Bronze had encountered her first day in town stood there on her hind hooves, before quickly dropping to all fours, “Oh good morning Marble, and to you as well little Miss Topaz.” She beamed from over the counter at the pair, seemingly missing the older mare in the group.

“Good morning to you too, Miss Gust,” Marble nodded to her as he looked around his store.

“Ah it’s you again!” the mare finally pipped up with a warm smile after seeing Bronze standing there behind her employer, “Decided to come around and look at what Mister Marble here has to offer?”

“Actually, I was just following an old friend around,” Bronze answered while keeping an eye on her host, “I was in town before and ran in to him not long after leaving from here.”

Marble looked over to her, knowing full well that she hadn’t come for him, and that she must have checked out his store first before trying to rob it. “That’s right, I knew Bronze here years back, figured I’d show her around…” the colt played along with her act, “she’s helping me fix up a few things as well.”

“Didn’t realize you two knew one another,” the mare extended a wing to her fellow mare, “Ashburn Gust miss, pleasure to meet you, well… again.” She started to chuckle as Bronze looked at the wing.

Taking it lightly in her own talon and with a gentle shake she returned the gesture, “Bronze Bolt, and likewise.”

“Oh, those are spectacular,” Ashburn looked over the ornate limbs that the mare across from her was sporting, not hidden behind the vale of a cloak this time. Taking it up in her wing, the mare examined it from hinge to tip as Bronze just stood there. Getting used to either having creatures stop and stare from aversion, or gawk at her appearance in esteem. “Whoever did your work truly did a marvelous job at it.”

“Bronze did those actually,” Topaz piped up as she hopped up atop the counter.

“Did you now?” the Pegasus continued to ogle, tracing over the limbs with the tip of her feather.

All the while Bronze just stood there still unsure how to take all the attention, as she grinned awkwardly off to the side at her companion, silently asking for help. Though, Marble never lifted a hoof in her aid. He was too busy looking over his own pieces on sale and snickering to himself at her demise from over his shoulder.

“Why ahh… thank you Miss Gust,” Bronze finally had pulled her limb free from the mare and back down to her side, wishing she had brought the cloak once more.

“So sorry to bother you about that, I just hadn’t seen anything like them,” the mare looked at them once more before turning her attention to her boss, “Though what can I do for you Mister Marble?”

“Oh, nothing really, just thought I’d pop in and see how things were going,” he slowly turned his attention to the mare with him, “and see what else might need fixed.”

With Bronze rolling her eyes at him, sharing the same grin he had worn not too long ago. The other mare present shook her head at him, “I’ll be quite alright their sir, it’s a slow day. The suns still out, and its warmer than I was expecting, why don’t you spend time with your little one?”

With a glance from Topaz, and a swift sweep of her leaping off the counter and on to her hooves. The little filly already stood by the door ready and waiting for them to depart, “Come on dad! The park should be pretty clear at this time,” seeing no objection the little filly said her goodbyes to the shop keeper that day and already had her tail out the door.

“Hmm… think they hopped her up on sugar before you picked her up?” Bronze mused to Marble as he just shook his head once more.

“Enjoy the rest of your day Miss Ashburn,” he called out with a wave and stepped outside with his friend, answering her, “I sure hope not too much… best case scenario I have to carry her home on my back after it all comes crashing down.”

Chuckling with him, Bronze and Marble quickly caught up to Topaz as she almost hopped along the road with them as they made their way to the park. Slowly though as they went the filly started to die down in her spunk and settled for walking happily with the adults on either side of her as she beamed and hummed to herself. Bronze on the other hoof looked at the little one with her own expression of satisfaction, reminiscing on the days that were so much simpler all those years ago.

Going into town with her own mom and dad, in much the same position as Topaz was. Finding supplies Anvil needed for projects around the town, or what Aurora might have needed to try baking the newest recipe she’d come across. All of it brought a smile to the mare, of a time she could have spent an eternity in, and one that reality took away from her in a blink.

‘If I could do it all again,’ the mare clenched her teeth together, ‘oh how much could I have-’

“How was your trip?” Topaz popped up as she looked between the two awaiting an answer, “hopefully the train ride wasn’t that bad for ya.”

Looking to one another, both adults bit their lower lips as they tried to think what to tell the little one, and at the same time found themselves coughing and sniffling a tad bit at the previous day as they bounced around the subject. Usually, Marbles’ excursions out to the mines had been uneventful, but this last one added a whole new chapter into his book.

“Well, the train ride wasn’t that bad…” Bronze started.

“…Boring as you might expect…” Marble picked up.

“…A few bumps here and there, but nothing major…”

“… I showed Bronze around the mine, all the ins and outs of the job…”

“… and I do have to say it’s quite an operation…”

“…The train back was much the same,” Marble looked away after lying to his kin.

“Yep, just kinda boring,” Bronze mused as she took the same route and diverted her eye from him, “except for dinner,” she watched as his eyes snapped back towards hers for a moment, as she answered it with a smile, and a wink, “That was particularly… enjoyable, really.”

Breathing a sigh of relief that she didn’t go further than that, Marble relaxed and even returned the motion. Yet, the fleeting moment the two made eye contact hadn’t gone unnoticed, and a fit of giggles started to erupt from the little one between them. As they looked down at her, Topaz had been trying to cover her muzzle up and stifle them, though after hearing them go back and forth. She was rather hard pressed to succeed.

“You both looked too cute just then,” she continued with her titters, much to the dismay of the mare next to her who immediately locked her jaw up and tried her dandiest to hid her face from the colt across from her.

Something that didn’t help the filly recover in the slightest as another wave came forth from her muzzle. Leaving her father standing there rose faced and wishing he could bury his head in the sand, “Bronze… I apologize on her behalf,” he said with a groan as he ran a hoof down across his face.

“You… Don’t have to worry about that,” Bronze straightened herself out as she mentally shot her thought process with a rocket, and crashed a zeppelin into it to for good measure, “It’s quite alright.” The mare made sure to keep her face away from his own as they went.

“Oh! Would you look at that,” Marble quickly changed the subject, “We’re here!”

Looking out, they indeed had reached the park of the town. If just to give her something else to look at. Bronze took in the swing sets, jungle gyms, and even play ground castle that made up the center. As on the outskirts dotting around were several picnic tables for families, trees for those that just wanted a little shade, and of course more than enough open field for any group of kids to get some sort of game going. All the more things for the mare to steer her eyes towards, and away from the filly.

Before he could even say a word to his kin, Topaz had already started darting towards the castle to claim her throne. Leaving Marble there to smile and wiggle his legs to get the blood flowing and muscles stretched, “It’s going to be one of those days… I can tell.”

“There’s that sugar rush we were talking about,” Bronze joked with him as he limbered up, “if it makes you feel any better, I can probably carry you home if needed.” She tapped her recently injured leg without so much as a grimace from the pain.

For a moment the colt considered the idea, “…I might have to take you up on that, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Her affirmation of a grin answered that much for him, “You wouldn’t have it any other way though I’d imagine,” she said watching Topaz climb up the rope net to the side of the castle as she rolled over the wall, waiting anxiously for her dad to join, “I’m going to take a place under one of the trees, enjoy some of this fresh air… you go play dad.”

Nodding lightly to her as he cracked his neck, Marble quickly chased after his daughter as she started to make her way around the fort and play tag with him inside. While her wounds from the fight earlier might have patched up rather well, the mare still wanted to enjoy some of the calm day while it lasted. Keeping her head on a swivel, Bronze looked out past the few other families that were there with them as she kept her eyes out for anything that might ruin their fun and shatter the innocence of this quaint surrounding.

‘If you had managed to get in to town once, you could do it again,’ she thought to her creations as a whole, wondering how well Seren had been working to mop up her little parting gift.

This town may not have had the same unease about it from them roaming the woods as another that she had visited. However, a few more encounters with them and that would soon change. Bronze only hoped that with the little advice she had given to the soldier that it’d spread and help out the rest of them throughout the nation.

‘If it’s not too late…’ she pondered once more, knowing full well what she encountered on the train, ‘those shouldn’t even be around… let alone the gryphons, I hadn’t dealt with those since before even contacting the DDR and the Kingdom.’ Bronze thought back to all her dealings and how much prep time was put in to building up her master plan, even before she got any of those nations involved, ‘but if they’re still active… then it might be too.’

Looking out to those in the park, the mare got a renewed sense of dread in what she had released in her hate. All the laughing and smiling faces of those family members out for a simple day at the park with their loved ones, or just to relax on their own, had now been put at risk. She may not have the hammer from her dad on her right now, that was back at the house, but she could still feel the weight of it on her side as her parent’s eyes peered down to her.

With her eyes drifting upwards, Bronze looked out to the clouds as she pictured her folks watching over her, “I’m trying to make it right, and I will… no matter the cost.”

Resting her head back against the tree. The mare turned her attention to that of those she had come with to this tranquil setting, and after seeing the colt she once knew as nothing but trouble, now laughing and playing with his own daughter. Bronze could rest happily in her own mind that she’d figure something out, knowing that thanks to citizens like that, there was a reason to not take that step off the cliff once more. If only to prevent the same news she’d gotten while younger, from being delivered to another. With that, her lungs let the breath escape as her eyes nodded off for a well-deserved nap.

How long she had rested there the mare hadn’t a clue. Whether it had been a few minutes, or even an hour it mattered not. The soft tap to her nose quickly roused Bronze from her slumber as she shook her head and looked around wondering what had awakened her. The only thing that could be the culprit being Marble as he laid on the ground, letting the cool grass of the shade calm his hot back from the sun.

“You’re it,” he smirked back at her from his position, peering at the mare through a half open eye, “and no tag backs.”

Looking around, Bronze quickly saw Topaz dashing away from her and zig zagging amongst the playground equipment. “You really want me to play?” she asked, already knowing the answer, as she felt the blood in her body kicking up a few beats.

“It’s hot, I’m tired now, and I thought you might like to join in on the fun,” he rolled his head over and watched his kin, “Plus she asked if I could get you in on it.”

“… sly little demon,” Bronze chuckled for a moment as she got up.

“Yeah… but she’s my sly little demon,” Marble sighed a deep breath from his chest, and finally got his breathing under control, “by the way, this tree is safety.”

With that the full-grown mare peeled off towards the filly. Topaz saw the metallic coat glint off the sun as she approached, and the little one was forced to take some evasive maneuvers. Rolling under one of the swing sets, Topaz leapt up to the monkey bars and swung atop them with all the grace of a gymnast, as Bronze stalked from below like a shark.

“I knew you’d want to play,” she beamed down to the mare, while walking atop the rungs, careful not to get to close to her hunter.

“Oh, I just needed a little nap,” Bronze answered with a small yawn, “Besides, it had been years since I had done anything like this, and I was not about to pass it up.” Smiling to herself, she reminisced once more on those days’ past, and the sad truth, ‘wait, who had I even played with back then besides mom and dad?’

Topaz leapt from the frame to the top of the castle, using her magic to carry herself just a tad further as needed. The mare had to stop there for a second, knowing full well that self-levitation was an impressive feat for one her age. With a quick shake of her head, Bronze got back in to the focus of the game and used her talons to scale the side of the castle in record time.

Though as she popped her head over the edge, the filly was nowhere to be seen, only the flicking of a tail going down the enclosed slide welcomed her. Dropping from the wall, Bronze rolled over to the slide as Topaz already beat her hooves against the ground to get away from her older counterpart. The mare hadn’t the slightest clue how she was managing to put distance between them, but Topaz was certainly doing it.

‘I’ve been running my whole life,’ she said to herself between careful controlled breaths, ‘this should be easy, shouldn’t it?’ Bronze put the press on, trying to catch her before she reached the tree.

Something she was steadily failing at.

With a single bound, and a roll, Topaz neatly put on hoof on the bark marking her safe from her pursuer. Leaving Bronze in an attempt to grind her limbs into the ground to stop. Though with her talons finding better purchase than hooves, it only sent the mare face first to the ground as she started munching on the grass. Much to the enjoyment of both Marble and his daughter, as Bronze added this new fact to the back of her mind.

Bronze Bolt, leveler of towns, war monger of nations, talon in the death of thousands… loser in a game of tag.

“Okay… you win,” she rolled over flat on her back and rested there, “I fold.”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” Marble chuckled as he got up and waded over to the mare, “you gave it your best go too.”

“Come on! Let’s go to the swings,” Topaz called out as she already headed that direction past them.

With a shake from her head, and a helping hoof from the colt, the mare watched the little one take off, “It never ends, does it?” Bronze asked as she got up and followed Marble after his daughter.

“What? Her energy?”

“Seriously, if you could put that in a gem, imagine what kind of power it’d have,” she started to think if for a moment, before drawing the line at draining little children of their magic for her own goals.

With herself neatly situated on the first swing, and her father behind her. Marble steadily pushed her as Topaz rocked back and forth, allowing the two adults to more or less take a breather as the filly still had her fun. Judging by the sun, from Bronzes’ perspective at least, she had to guess they had been out here a few hours by now after her nap. Likely to be heading back soon… if Topaz ever tired out that is.

“Now little miss,” Marble got the attention of his daughter, “What would you like for dinner? While we’re out I figured we could stop by the store.”

“Cake!”

“No.”

“Brownies!”

“Guess again.”

“Cupcakes!”

“Still a form of cake.”

“Why would you ask me if you’re not gonna to take any suggestions?” Topaz questioned back at him.

“Because I wanted to see if I’d get a sound answer from you, or if it’d be an endless trail of sweets… like you haven’t had enough of those,” he chuckled for a moment, and watched the eyes roll before him. Though the small tune of a cart perked his ears up for a moment, as he peered out and saw the pony that works an ice cream cart come to the park, “Think it over, the both of you. I’ll get you something sweet, but you’re having an actual dinner later as well, keep that in mind.”

Turning his attention to the mare, Bronze just held up a talon before he even spoke, “Of course… I don’t mind pushing her.”

“That answered my first question,” he smirked, “flavor though?”

“Eh… surprise me,” she returned the face, as the stallion went to fetch their sweets.

Leaving the two girls there alone. It wasn’t long after Marble was out of hearing range that Topaz turned her head to look at the mare over her shoulder, and caught Bronze staring back at her dad as he walked away. From this point however, the filly caught site of something else just past the mare.

“Ugh…” Topaz said in disgust.

Looking out that way with interest, Bronze quickly saw a trio of fillies that couldn’t be much more than a year older than the filly herself, though something about them just screamed trouble, “I take it you know them?”

“Sadly…” Topaz groaned with even more distaste, “they usually give me trouble in school when I’m alone,” she started to pout, a face that Bronze had known all too well.

Whether she realized it at first or not, the back of her teeth started to grind against themselves as if by reflex, and it took most of her will to settle her composure back down. “Some ponies are like that to others… I should know,” Bronze took another glance at the colt off to her far side, “Though you know how I got over them?”

“… How?” Topaz asked through gleaming eyes.

“I beat them with a hammer.”

For a few seconds the two remained silent, though it didn’t take much longer than that for both Bronze and Topaz to snicker. The mare knew that this filly may not have believed her, but it’s something that the little one’s father would be able to back up all too well, if he hadn’t told her that much of their past already. In the end, it brought the young mares’ attention away from the others in the park, and with that they went back in to the steady rhythm of push and swing.

Until Topaz piped up once more, “So… I have to ask,” she wasn’t quite sure how to say it at first, and watched as Bronzes’ eyes looked on curiously to where she was going with this.

“Yes? Topaz,” Bronze pressed slightly, urging her as she pushed the swing gently with a talon, “What is it?”

“… Do you like, my dad?”

Nerves wanted to fire, but somewhere between her ears, mouth, and brain. Bronze blew a fuse as her next push on the swing missed Topazes back entirely, and almost put the mare off step. Stumbling over her words she tried to organize them any which way she could, while Bronze found her eyes going back and forth from the filly to her father as he paid for their cones.

“I mean… ahh… he’s gotten, better since I last seen him,” she bounced around the subject, thinking how best to word it without saying too much as she resumed gingerly pushing the filly, “Plus, Marble’s grown up a lot,” she started to go over a few of the reasons in her head, if only to satisfy the filly, “Great job that he loves, a little family of his own that he adores, a wonderful home with everything he could ask for, certainly not sore on the eye-” Bronze choked for a moment as she let that last bit slip. Watching now as the snicker grew on the filly’s own face, “you didn’t hear that one…”

“Oh, I heard all of it,” Topaz giggled once more to herself at the mares’ fumble, “Is that… yes?”

“I never said that…” Bronze scratched the back of her head, taking more interest in the rusting bolt of the swings frame work that likely needed replacing, while she tried to divert her attention away from the little one.

“It’s also not a no,” Topaz pointed out.

“Hey! Looks like he’s on his way back,” Bronze continued to push her and try to play if off like everything’s cool.

Though, the filly had other ideas as she kept up the appearance and went along with the act for a second, “if it makes you feel any better,” Topaz said under her breath to the older mare as Bronze bit her lip with unease, and watched Marble get ever closer, “I think he likes you too.”

With that mental reboot running at a minimum, Bronze was all but oblivious to the chocolate cone of ice cream held in front of her face. “If you want something else, I can always go back,” Marble pointed out as she stood there blank faced.

“Nope! Chocolate is great!” Bronze finally picked back up, and took a bite out of the confection. Thankful that the cool treat was helping to take some of the heat off from her face. Even if she had to pay for it with the roof of her mouth freezing over.

Looking back and forth between the two girls, Marble had little clue what they had discussed, and could only ask the obvious. “Ahh, everything alright you two?”

“Great dad!” Topaz answered as she looked over to Bronze in her blunder, and gave her a slight wink.

“Yeah… everything’s just… wonderful,” Bronze replied, returning the showing of good faith to the filly.

Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

With the paper held in the grasp of his horn, Marble sipped on his coffee as he read over different articles that had recently come out with the Sunday paper. It had been a few days since their little park outing, and after reaching the weekend, the father was more than content on letting his daughter sleep in a bit. Leaving himself to enjoy the company of another there in the room, as the mare in question toiled around the kitchen.

“Hmm… Light crisp,” Bronze muttered to herself, watching the hay bacon cook in the pan. Plucking one out with her talon, the mare chomped on it to see how far along the wheaty confection was coming, before pulling the pan off the burner.

Scooping its contents on to the cutting board, with the expert talons of a chef. Bronze diced up the bacon alongside the onion and peppers she had set aside for this purpose, before turning her attention to the bowl of eggs. Beating them with a fork till the whites and yoke mixed, for good measure the mare added a few extra yokes for heartiness, and just a dash of water.

Pouring the whole bowl in to a pan set to high, the searing heat immediately flash cooked the bottom. Leaving Bronze to spread out the freshly chopped ingredients on the still cooking upper side.

Marble on the other hoof, sat there and only peered over top his paper as he watched the mare go to town, “You really didn’t have to worry about this,” he had repeated for what was likely the fifth time that morning, “I usually make breakfast for Topaz on a daily basis, and you certainly didn’t have to go to all the trouble for just me.”

“You’ve been treating me very well here as your guest since you… found me,” Bronze answered with one eye, as her talon held a spatula and lightly lifted the egg from the bottom to keep it from sticking, “Figured I could do something for you in return.”

“And you’ve been helping me around the house since then,” Marble pointed out the flaw in her reasoning, “those talons of yours have been busy these last few days remember? Back room of the store is all fixed up now, and the pipe work you repaired seems to be holding quite well.”

“Small change, considering what you’ve given me,” Bronze answered as the ding off to her side signaled her. The careful dexterity of her appendages never so much as cracked the crust, as she placed the toast over top the plates set aside. Holding up the talon for him to watch, the mare ran her digits through their motions and sighed once more in envy at the beauty of their function.

“So, I helped you repair your limbs… I couldn’t very well let you walk around here for the foreseeable future with a peg,” Marble answered as he took a sip of his coffee, before clenching his throat for a second at what he said, “Assuming, you still would like to stick around that is?”

Bronze thought on it once more like she had since he made the offer. While she may have fixed what she had broken, such a thing meant more than what the colt could have imagined to the metallic mare. A literal part of herself now returned. Something that she would never be able to pay back to him in full, no matter how many things she patched up for him… yet for her, it was a start.

“So long as you’ll have me… I still have a lot to make up for,” Bronze answered while pulling the pan off the burner and folding to omelet with a flick of her wrist, “Plus, I’m sure there will always be something to fix around here…”

From the day she had started to carve her path. Bronzes’ life had been a mix of trickery and shadow work. Constantly on stage but never in the spotlight. Trying to maintain her presence and ensuring the pieces would line up properly when the dominos started to fall. That sort of stress and persistence in one’s life can wreak havoc on a body and soul.

So, to have a time where she can still try to pay back for what she had done, ‘…maybe even right some of my own wrongs,’ she answered to herself. Was a beautiful reprieve that was held dearly to her chest.

Sliding a plate in front of him, the mare sliced the omelet in two as she shared the portion for both herself and him. Topping her work off with a light dash of black pepper and garlic salt from the shaker for good measure. The colt was hard pressed for words, as he smelled the dish before it even touched his tongue, and could only wait for the mare to join.

“Are you sure Topaz won’t want any?” Bronze asked as she looked over the rest of the counter for anything to throw together for the filly, “I’d feel bad if she were to wake up and see us eating without her.”

“Don’t worry over her, she usually sleeps in on the weekends and when she does get up, the first thing she’ll grab is a bowl of cereal,” Marble quelled her worries with the hard facts he had learned over the years. Before finally taking a bite as Bronze sat down with a glass of orange juice.

With a burst of flavor from the fleecy eggs, the colt held his tongue as he regretted not letting it cool down a bit more. Then again, with the several things Bronze threw in to there, he could deal with a little scalding on the roof of his mouth. Even going to take a second bite while the first continued to seer its way into his tissue.

“So… do you like it?” Bronze asked as her company all but dropped his paper and started to keep pace with her.

“Oh, it’s wonderful Bronze,” Marble used the toast to help cool down his mouth for a second, allowing him to speak, “I’ve never been able to get my eggs this fluffy before, even after years of cooking for the little one… Topaz might kick me out of the kitchen if she tastes it.”

“Water,” Bronze answered as she took a bite, finding herself hard pressed to hide the grin from his comment. However, the moment of silence through that followed told the mare he hadn’t heard that trick, “add a little water after beating the eggs, when it cooks, the heat boils the water, makes steam and poof… you get fluffy eggs.” She all but tooted her own horn, happy in the fact that her knowledge extended past making things that caused death.

“Something you picked up when you were younger, I take it?” Marble asked over top his coffee.

Bronze simply nodded to him in return. Working in a shop may have been her father’s realm, but anything involving the kitchen was her moms’ territory. Something Aurora had been more than happy to impart on her whenever she had the chance.

“One of the little tricks… my mom passed on to me,” Bronze grew somber while letting the dances of memories from a younger year waft over her mind.

It didn’t happen too often; she was always more of daddy’s little girl and such. Yet, those times where Aurora took her under her wing, sometimes literally, and tried to show her a thing or two. Those days would always have a special place in her heart, right next to the memories with her dad. While some of the things Anvil had taught might keep her on her hooves, what knowledge Aurora passed on would warm her stomach on those lonely nights. Something that was equally as priceless.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” Marble brought her back to the table and out of her train of thought, “I could always learn a thing or two in the kitchen, even after having to think on my hooves for years.”

“You want me… to teach you?” Bronze cocked her head almost to the point of snapping at the joints.

“Sure, why not?”

“I’ll admit the kitchen may not be completely foreign to me, but the workshop is still my home base,” Bronze tried to play off, taking a sip from her juice, “You’ll probably be able to teach me far more, you’ve actually had to care for another over the years.”

“Everyone has different experiences, doesn’t hurt to learn from them all,” he trumped her once more, and continued eating, “just as I wouldn’t even mind learning, or at least seeing, how you’re able to make metal bend to you with your techniques and that Imprinting spell you had mentioned.”

The technique wasn’t exactly secret the more Bronze thought. She had gotten it out of a book that most others could purchase at a local store anyway. Though she just seemed to be the only one to make it work so very well, at a level none tried, in the end. Never the less, it was something that the more it went back and forth in her mind, the more she wanted to pass on that knowledge. Just like she had tried to teach him a bit of all those years ago at school.

“Hmm… I already agreed to with Topaz, and It would be fun to try and teach another,” she threw the idea around once more, already knowing where it was going to land in the end, “there’s just one problem… what would I make to demonstrate on and build?”

“Well,” Marble held his hoof to his chin as he worked it over, “Why not your wings?”

With that Bronze dropped her fork to the plate as she stared at the colt, trying to gauge whether or not he was serious on that offer. Though his stoic glare answered that, “Really? I already made myself whole once more, and you’re going to let me just do something extra?”

“If you’re worried about this impacting my supplies, no need,” Marble answered as he tipped his coffee cup to her, “You’ve seen my operation, do you really think I have to worry about raw materials?”

An answer like that forced the mares’ tongue back in her throat, and Bronze was hard pressed to say anything more, he did have a point after all. A gem or two here, a bit of canvas there, and several good chunks of metal wouldn’t harm him in the slightest. With almost as much giddiness of a filly about to ask her crush out, Bronze looked over to him as they both about finished up their plates.

“Well… if you’re serious about the offer, I already know the design,” she mentally went over it once more, piece for piece, “Though I’m going to owe you a hell of a lot more than just fixing a few pipes here and there for this.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Marble chuckled at her, took the last bite from his plate as she did hers, and scooped them up to the sink, “I know I’ll enjoy seeing it and helping work on it as well, plus, if she ever gets up. Topaz would love to watch ya work on something once more,” the father let the small video replay in his mind, “after all, she had a wonderful time watching you explain everything with your talons, call this the icing on the cake.”

With that final affirmation, Bronze picked up a sponge in her talon and wet it under the sink as she started to scrub against the pans, “I really can’t thank you enough for this, Marble… but first things first, let’s clean up,” her eyes began to glisten at the next words, “Then we can go play in the shop.”

Marble about watched the mare bounce through the ceiling from those words alone, her being let loose in her natural habitat, leaving him to only chuckle, “I’ll get another pot of coffee running.”

***

Rolling from her bed, Topaz enjoyed the comfort of her blankets as they wrapped around her, and gave the warmth that would trap one for the entire morning if they would allow. Though for one as energetic as herself, the filly managed to pry free from the grasp of her sheets and get out of bed.

Walking down the hall and stairs of the home, the filly could smell the remnants of cooking that were left likely by her fathers’ hooves she thought. Though, she couldn’t see any of the adults there around as she poked her head through the door of the kitchen before made her way to the cabinet. Grabbing the closest box of bran and a bowl, Topaz filled it as much as she could before listlessly putting the box away and opting for the carton of milk she fished out of the fridge.

As she sat at the table with no other there, the filly looked around at the tell tail signs to her that her dad and his friend had been up on their hooves already. The paper on the table still, the dishes placed in the drying rack, and the lingering smell of eggs. They were already busy this morning.

Though what spoke more to that, was the chatter coming from the back area of the home.

Having finished up her bowl of cereal and placing it in the sink to tend to later. The young filly crept her way along the walls of her own home as she listened to the sounds of the two others that occupied it with her going about their day.

“I designed this to fit together seamlessly,” Topaz could only hear the voice of what had to be Bronze, as the older mare groaned with a playful hint.

“Listen I work on jewelry, not ponies… remember?” her dad responded behind the closed doors, “Cut me some slack here.”

“You’re the one who said you wanted to learn a thing or two,” the coo of the mare played, hidden from the young one’s eyes.

Poking her head around the corner, the young mare managed to catch Bronze in once again her own world as she seemingly tuned out everything around. This time however, the mare had another to occupy that world with her. With the appendages Topaz was used to seeing adorning her older counterpart, the filly had little clue as to what her eyes were witnessing now.

Bronze laid across one of her fathers’ work benches, limbs draped across its edges as she let the colt work on her a bit. Picking up what looked like the boney frame of a wing, Marble screwed in the hinges to the plates on the mares back as she squirmed for but a moment as the bolts she was aptly named were tightened. As with a wiggle of her shoulder blades, the mare ensured the fastenings would stay tightly to her frame.

“Ahh that feels wonderful,” Bronze looked them over and to her companion, “you know, even if they aren’t moving yet.”

“Hmm… thought you said you could pull the same spell from your other limbs to command them?” Marble wondered as he pressed himself back from the bench, “I mean this was just a fit test after all, but I did kind of expect something to be shown from it in the end.”

Bronze pressed herself up her haunches with her talons, and looked over the dead weight that rested on her shoulders, with a steady shake of her head the mare all but dismissed his thoughts. “No, no… they may fit perfectly, but they still need their own drive to get them working.”

With a stable aura from his horn, Marble brought the screwdriver to the mares back and started to back out the bolts holding the appendages to her form. With one, two, and finally three dropping from her, a wing fell from her shoulder blade. The weight off of her now letting the mare remain comfortable as he went to work on the other.

“I must say though, even without an actual demonstration,” Marble spoke as he went to work, “we certainly made good progress on them for just a morning.”

“Well, this time around I actually had some help making them,” she answered him warmly, as the other wing fell from her body, “don’t worry though, it will be amazing, once it gets working… trust me.”

“Huh? This is something new,” Topaz announced as she finally stepped in to the room and joined them.

Jumping on to the work bench, the filly made her way to the back of the mare and finally started to pay attention to the spots open up on her back. The hinges themselves graphed on to her bones and anchored in place. Allowing even the slightest flex of the joint to bend the appendage to her will.

“You’re finally awake,” Marble commented as he scooped his daughter up and flooded her with a morning kiss.

“UGH! DAD!” Topaz finally managed to wiggle herself free, as she landed next to the fallen limbs.

“Good morning, Topaz,” Bronze responded to the little one, after a rather tiresome morning of her own. “hope you found something in the kitchen?” she asked, still feeling guilty for not making something for her earlier.

“Eh a bowl of cereal, probably nothing compared to what dad whipped up this morning,” she trotted along and looked over the curious designs, blissfully unaware of the glances the two adults were paying one another, “That probably was the best eggs I’ve smelled him throw together.”

“Well… I’ll have to make them again sometime,” Bronze answered as she stuck her tongue out to the colt, welcoming the praise and garnishing much of a surprise to the young filly.

“You made ‘em?” she popped up.

With a gentle nod from both Bronze and Marble, the latter worked his way around his offspring to the other side of the workbench and to the proverbial drawing board of the mornings project. “Bronze here showed me a little something new when it came to eggs,” Marble pointed out, “she does have many tricks up her sleeve it seems.”

With a snicker from the older mare, both Bronze and Topaz went up to the colts’ side as he brough up the frame of the wing with his horn for his kin to see and the mare to examine. Only the metal frame work had been finished, and to the untrained eye all it would need to be completed was the actual canvas sheeting to make up the membrane. Yet, something of this sort was hardly an item that was come across often, and likely even a trained eye wouldn’t be able to put together the finishing touches.

Pressing it down to the workbench, Bronze opened up the many indentations cut along the frame with her talon. Spreading the teeth on those indents just enough to work with, Marble started to levitate a small container from across the room to them as his daughter watched the mare work.

“What kind are you looking for?” Marble asked as he sifted through the container of gem fragments.

“Ideally emerald,” Bronze answered, as Topaz continued looking over her shoulder.

“Are you really making wings?” the young one asked.

The mare scooted back from the bench, giving the filly some room to look over her project. Curiously Topaz lingered around the frame, admiring the work put in to it more than probably any other her age would. Something that Bronze even took note of from seeing the look in the young one’s eyes.

“Why yes I am,” the mare said as she followed the fillies’ eye as she traced over the frame, “your dad said I should try and make them again… plus, it’d give me a chance to show you like you asked.” She left off with a wing towards her.

Snapping her head towards the elder, Topazes’ eyes shined brighter than the stones she got her name from, “Really? You’ll show me how to make wings?”

“Well maybe not wing for yourself… but it’ll be something along my artistic talents,” she replied while pulling another stool over to her side, as Marble went rummaging through some of his stock for the proper gems, “I never really had another take this much interest in creations like mine… well, sort of.” Bronze looked over to the colt, watching as he trotted back up to her side.

“So, does it matter the type of gem?” Topaz wondered as her dad dropped several emerald fragments on to the table, “I thought magic attached to them all the same.”

“It’s not just attaching I have to worry about though. For a pony like me who normally can’t use actual magic, the stronger the gem, the harder it would be for me to control,” she pointed out while taking a few of the fragments and seeing which ones would suit the frames best, “Diamonds are the purest gem there is, but I could never hope to control it given that I’m an earth pony. Emeralds are easier, and they’re better at storing raw energy, just exactly what I need them for.”

“What was it?” Marble asked from over her shoulder as he looked for some more candidates, “diamonds can store the most magic and are best with defensive spells, sapphires are good with optical and water-based spells, rubies do good with heat spells in some way, and emeralds are the choice for energies?”

Bronze sat there for a moment and just watched the colt as he pieced through the back part of his mind to put that all together, “You’ve been doing your homework.”

“Eh I may have not learned a whole lot in school, but I still picked up a few things.”

“So, what about a topaz?” the aptly named daughter asked, “what would they be good for?”

Bronze thought as she mentally reviewed some of the same textbooks that Marble likely just went over, “Well natural topazes are brown or yellowish… but if were talking like a blue topaz, like your namesake would be,” she pointed out, garnishing a giggle from the filly, “it would be the same as a sapphire, optical or water, so like cloaking spells or ice.”

“Is it all color based?”

With a shrug of her shoulders the mare felt like she should start breaking out an actual chalk board for this one as she relieved all her years of teachings. “Sort of, I guess?... in a way.” For all the knowledge the mare had, some parts were just not covered in school or books, “No one is really sure how or why certain spells work better with certain gems.”

“I think most ponies have just thrown their hooves up and accepted it,” Marble answered as he brought a few more fragments over for the mare to work with, “how many more do you need?”

“This… should do fine,” the mare put the last gem fragment in the wing. Using the ends of her talons, Bronze carefully started to pinch the crimps around the edges of the fragments to hold them in place as she worked.

All the while, the two who stood there with her just watched the mare work on her own tech. something that intrigued the little one to no end the more she watched, “Why so many gems? If it’s just for one part, won’t one work?”

“Think of it like a muscle,” Bronze started to explain as her talons continued to work, “a normal wing doesn’t just have one muscle to do all the work, it takes a few to carry the load.”

Looking over her handywork, the mare took a deep breath after seeing it all finally paying off. For the better part of the morning, she was able to complete a part of her that before hoof had taken maybe a week to create. Granted that was the first time attempting it back then, but never the less, having another there with her to help the process had undoubtedly made it easier.

With a motion of her head, Bronze urged the filly to come in closer to the finished frame as she went over it. “The spell used is called Imprinting, it’s an older one that many overlook, but it’s still powerful if you know what you’re doing,” the mare pointed to the various gems along the frame before resting her talon to the larger one at the base, “the gems that dot the actual limb only need to have a small amount of energy to them, just enough to get moving. The larger gem at the actual base is what has the spell in it, and that’s the one that actually brings the limb to life.”

With a larger stone in talon, the mare used her tips to carve out a small rune at the base. Before fitting the base into its home. Larger crimps went over its edge, locking it in place, and a nod of approval at the work was all Bronze needed to give.

Watching it in silent awe, Topaz brought her hoof out and touched the roughly shaped frame work of the wing as she saw each dent that was put in to it from its creation, “Does it ever run out of energy?”

“Over time it will, but it can take a while depending on how much they’re used,” she explained while tracing her talon across the frame from one gem to another, “the energy stored usually flows out and is moved how I’d want, then goes back to the gem when not moving, but some is lost along the way.”

“How do you… I dunno,” Topaz tried to think of how to word it, “Recharge?”

“That’s… depending on the situation,” Bronze cringed to herself, already feeling the eyes of the colt there on her.

“Gems have a natural charge in them as they are, even without a spell,” Marble popped in before her, “helps Bronze keep herself topped off.”

“… This is so… cool,” Topaz gushed over watching the mare work, and her dad taking his place at the bench and helping her. It was a kind of tech that she had never seen before, something that didn’t even seem real at first. Hunks of metal moving on their own? Who would have thought? Yet here she was, seeing the mares’ talons move as if a part of her since birth, and a pair of wings that would do the same in time, “You’re like a story book hero, all you need is a name.”

Amidst the snickers of the filly, Bronze could only try and hid the blush she wore, “I don’t know about a hero presa… but I appreciate the gesture.”

The steady knock of the door to the home disrupted any further inquiry to her talents, and brought several head turns to those present in the back room. Stepping out of the workshop, Bronze followed Marble as he held Topaz on his back to the front door. Already through the pane glass that made up its frame the mare could see the spear tips showing before he even opened it, as the breath in her lungs started to choke.

What creatures in the country carried spears with them? Besides a few of her own creations.

‘Whelp… This is it…’ she thought, accept it with a close of her eyes, ‘they found me finally.’

To her there would be little other reason for the guard to show up to Marbles’ other than herself. The options playing in the back of her head weren’t exactly stellar. If she tried to fight, that could put the colt and filly in the crossfire. If she tried to run, how far would she get before being gunned down. No, from her point of view it would be better if she went quietly with the guards… and against everything in her nature. Over her own thoughts, Bronze heard the door open finally.

“Mister Marble I presume?” the scruffy voice of the guard asked.

‘Is a mare here by chance,’ Bronze already planned their questions as she waited for it to come, ‘I wonder if they have any guards surrounding the house?’ she tried to give herself another out.

“Yes, that’s me,” Marble answered without a clue to the worry in the mare behind him.

“Owner of Dimfalls mine?” Bronzes’ eye twitched after hearing that question, as if the guard veered clean from the script she was writing. Looking up, the guard there in the doorway held up a parchment as he read from it, “It seems there’s an incident at your mine, one that concerns the crown dearly,” if either of the colts had been paying attention, they may have caught the sweat starting to grow on the back of Bronzes’ neck, “Her majesty, Princess Saving Grace, is requesting your presence as soon as possible.”

‘Oh…shit,’ the mares’ throat clenched as she wondered not only the prospects of the incident, but also the chances that the princess could have called on the resident she currently found herself in.

Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

It seemed like it was just a few days since they had been on a train to one of his mines. Yet, here Bronze and Marble found themselves once more, riding the rails. This time however, for far different circumstances. The mare looked over the letter written to the mine owner for what must have been the fifth time since she took hold of it, as her redonned cloak covered the rest of her form.

‘There… really isn’t anything in here about me?’ Bronze asked herself once again, as she finally passed the paper on to Marble, “have you gotten any other word from the mine until now?”

“No, that’s why this all is a surprise,” Marble answered as he got up in the cabin and looked out the window to the terrain passing by, “It’s like they just went and dropped themselves in the shafts.”

“Hard to imagine they did without any creature seeing them,” Bronze knew all too well her creations weren’t what you’d call stealthy, “could they have gotten in another way?”

“Hmm perhaps, there are a lot of spent veins that were mostly abandoned after they dried up,” the colt tried going over any and all blueprints to the mine in question he could, “hopefully they haven’t hurt any of the workers…” in a snap his face turned from questioning to worry at the thought.

“You’re worrying too much about this,” Bronze tried to lay out some encouragement as she got up and stood by him, looking over his calm expression that still told her wonders about the turmoil that plagued his head. “A few of these tin soldiers made their way in to one of your mines, you didn’t get any reports of lives being lost, just employees being drove out of sections…” ‘at least no lives lost so far,’ the mare continued trying to paint the lie in her mind that everything with this mine would be alright.

After a sigh and a slow shake of his head, the colt worked himself away from the window and to the door of the car, “Well hopefully you’re right… I’m just sorry I had to drop Topaz on her friend once more, especially without warning.”

“Well, you can’t exactly have her trying to run around with all this commotion going on,” Bronze tried to lighten his mood, “plus she hates train rides, and I would really hate for her to be around if we had one as eventful as the last.”

“On the other hoof she would have loved to meet the princess,” Marble gestured the mare to follow him, and with a small pep she was up by his flank as they walked down the train car. “It can’t be too good if Princess Grace is making her way to my mine as well.”

“Or she’s just taking this matter seriously?” Bronze offered as another bead of sweat started to trickle down her neck, already thinking of back up plans when they reached their stop.

“You have an answer for everything, don’t cha?”

“Eh you could say,” she rolled her eyes at him as they stepped in to the dining cart and were once again greeted by the gryphon from before.

“Well fancy meeting you all once more,” Desiree chirped as she grabbed a few menus and brought them to a table. Pouring a few glasses for the couple, the gryphon looked across the bar counter for what stock of bottles they had, “I’ll start you off with some water, unless you have any other preference, and let you look over the menu.”

“Much appreciated, Miss Desiree,” Bronze nodded to her as she draped her cloak on the back of the seat and the gryphon bounced off. Leaving the mare to turn her attention to both the menu and the colt before her, “Though I will offer this…”

“Yes?”

“Considering the last few encounters, I could always offer a helping hoof to those that might enter the mine,” she set on the table for him to mull over, and sipped from her glass as he thought on it.

“Ahh… so you do just go looking for this kind of trouble,” Marble raised a brow to her.

“No, no… I just have a knack for it whenever it raises its head.”

“I still couldn’t ask you to do this.”

“And you didn’t ask,” Bronze pointed out to him, the colt blissfully unaware to the penance she sought, “I offered.”

Pondering it once or twice more, the colt brought his glass up and waited for her to do the same. With as stubborn as she was in the past. It was a debate he couldn’t see himself winning after all, “I would say let’s get some wine, but if you’re really serious about going down there, then you’d probably want to be rather clear minded.”

With a brow raised to him, the mare set her glass down and closed her menu, “Oh I can handle myself regardless, besides the night is young still, and we won’t be there till morning.”

“In that case…”

Bronze watched as he called over their waitress and ordered some a wine bottle likely as expensive as it sounded. The name she hadn’t been paying attention to in the slightest, as the train of thought stuck on much more pressing matters. Every rail it could run in her mind of past projects, lead to but one question Bronze was left to ponder.

Why they would be seeking out a mine of all places?

‘What’s going on with all of you?’ the mare asked herself, and let that thought linger around her mind.

***

The morning sun greeted the pair as the train came to a stop on its rails right in front of the station. This time however, it was a far different view as they arrived. There on the platform were several royal guards with standard soldiers mixed in, each with either some form of their standard armaments, or one of Bronzes’ designs.

‘Well, they’re prepared at least,’ the mare told herself as she and her companion stepped forward.

“Mister Marble I presume?” the Sargent asked as the colt in question nodded in response, “Princess Grace asked us to escort you ourselves.”

“Much appreciated sir,” Marble responded as he looked at all the firepower they had, “Though were you expecting a war?”

The chuckle under his breath died though the moment it left his lips. Leaving each of those there under Serens crown to just look to one another grimly, knowing far more than he did. Yet, the mare present knew more than all those combined.

“Hopefully, that is not so… right this way,” with the pair falling in line behind him. The Sargent led the way down the road to the mine.

Some towns handled the almost invasion of those into their boarders well, this one… not so much. As they passed through the town Bronze started to get a very familiar feel about it, like she had at another before. Every citizen that inhabited this town, that likely popped up due to the mine as a business, had the same face of fear she had seen caused by her creations.

“Everyone here is quite worried…” she said to the colt with her if only to break the silence, as she looked to the stricken faces of those that hurried through the streets, or even closed their windows and blinds.

“This mine does have a lot of workers from the town,” Marble answered, keeping his eyes forward not wanting to see the sorrow, “They’re probably worried about their loved ones.”

With a silent understanding, they drew closer to the mine, and the once flowing machine of production had come to a standstill from the infestation. Workers lined up outside with one another on one side packing their equipment in lockers, as those answering Serens’ call worked with a few to map out the shafts and possible routes for attack.

“Her majesty is up in your offices,” the Sargent stepped to the side at the entrance.

Without a word, Marble and Bronze stepped inside, as the mare waited for the door to close to make her move, “I’m… going to use the mares’ room.”

Though before she could get to far away, Marble called out to her, “You don’t want to see the princess? It would be better if you really wanted to help down there.”

‘Think… Think! Anything at all right now,’ Bronze turned her head around to meet his own, only giving away half her face of truth as the other half showed the lie, “I’m just… nervous around royalty, especially after they pretty much ordered my dad to… you know? Fight…” ‘Well not a total lie.’

“Oh! Ahh say no more,” Marble plodded the floor with his hoof, knowing the wound he wanted to keep from opening, “I’ll talk to her then.”

With a smile of thanks, the mare made her way down the hall, realizing she hadn’t a clue where the princess could be and hoping she didn’t run in to her herself along the way. Looking at the signs, the mare followed her way around till she found the main office entrance, and then promptly went to the room next door.

Putting her ear to the thin walls, Bronze calmed her breath and heartbeat to try and get a good tune of what they were saying on the other side, and in a few seconds from what sounded like the door being open she heard the regal voice of the mare.

“Hello there, Mister Marble,” Bronze could only picture the snooty face on Grace in her mind, never the less she put that picture out to listen in.

“Your majesty,” Marble paused, likely as he was taking a bow, “How can I be of service?”

“It would seem that some pests have infested your mine,” Grace paused there as Bronze heard her hoof steps going through the room, “according to your employees that encountered them, they were largely forced further away from some of your old caverns.”

“Those areas had been spent of ore long ago, and the few gems that remained aren’t worth the trouble,” he explained, “we just closed them off, though they should still have vents leading to the outside.”

“We had figured as much, though what I called upon you here for was to see if you knew of anyway to… bury this problem?”

“What?!” Bronze yelped, before clenching her tongue.

The silence on Marbles’ part spoke more than he ever should have needed after that suggestion, “you want me… to collapse the mine?”

“Oh no! not entirely I mean,” Grace stammered to herself, the mare on the other side of the wall hearing the shaking of her head at how that idea must have come off. “You said these parts of the mine were not used, so would it be possible to collapse them, without harming the rest of your operation?”

‘You might as well level the who damn thing and be done with it,’ Bronze rolled her eyes, wishing that the princess could see her own expression. Though the silence this time from the colt seemed more deliberate, as if he was mapping out the structure and planning the whole operation.

“It… could? Be possible,” Marble stopped once more in his thought process, as the mare on the other side of the wall nearly pressed her ear through, “the tunnels leading to the caverns have their own supports, so if you were to destroy the structures keeping the caverns themselves intact, it shouldn’t affect the others.”

“Wonderful…” Grace all but purred over her tongue, “while I wish these things to be out of your mane, and mine as well, I don’t want it to disrupt your business either.”

“I appreciate the consideration, your majesty.”

“Kiss ass…” Bronze grinded her teeth at the praise he was giving her.

“We should have more than enough explosives to do the job too, and my workers can show your troops how to rig them,” the shuffling of papers left the mare blind as she listened harder, “I can bring up some old schematics of the layout to those caverns, mark where to place the charges for those you brought.”

“That would be very much appreciated, Mister Marble,” Grace paused as hoof steps once again made their way through the office, “I will leave you, and those that serve the crown to get to it, talk to Sargent Frostfire whenever you’re ready. Your service, will not be forgotten either.”

“…Your majesty?” Bronze heard the regal mare halt in her tracks, “I have a friend that had come along with me,” for a moment the mare in questions heart stopped, waiting for his next words, “she had dealt with these, things, on a few occasions. If it’s all the same to you, she had volunteered to assist with them.”

“Hmm… where is this friend now?” Bronze even through the wall could hear the gears of the less than mechanically inclined counterpart turning.

“She’s… rather shy of royalty, though I swear, she’s as trustworthy as they come.”

The breath in her lungs left the mare, as Bronze about fell to her rump at that proclamation. ‘Trustworthy? Me? I’ve lied to you sense day one of meeting again,’ The dread and guilt started to build up once more in her gut, even with all that she tried to do, with every wrong she tried to right. ‘Just how many wrongs are going to be added to that list?’ Bronze held a sorrowful talon on the wall, before slapping it against her side.

“That’s very brave of her,” Grace replied almost as if it was a record, “please, give her my thanks, and the best of luck to the both of you.”

With the door to the office closing, Bronze rushed over to the door to her own as she poked her head out in the hall. Watching the mare, she had once held captive not too long ago, walk away with her own guards. With all her weakness and loss Grace had then while in her talons, at the mercy of herself and the combine strength of the DDR and Gryphon Kingdom. Not a trace of it survived that battle, as the regal poise of the mare held firm like solid granite.

“She’s changed…” Bronze muttered as the blond tail of the mare disappeared around the corner.

Waiting a few more minutes, the mare crept her way to meet up with the colt, as she opened the door and saw him flipping through schematic after schematic. Every tunnel, every shaft, every ventilation duct, all had its own different paper detailing its structure and dimensions.

“So… did it go well?” Bronze tried to play the dumb card.

“Better than expected honestly… she wants to see if we can collapse the part of the mine that’s lost,” Marble continued going through his papers, making markings along the lines.

“Well… it’s not a terrible idea,” Bronze rolled it in the back of her head, wondering how likely it would be to get out of there should something go wrong.

“Hey it’s probably better than just sending soldiers in to fight them,” he said with a small chuckle under his breath.

Looking over some of the details listed, Bronze saw that the cavern in question was certainly a large one. A few hundred feet in length and width, with even more in height. The spiral rampway that spun along the sides seemed to be the only real way in and out of the hole. A simple design, but one that didn’t really need to be improved upon either. One thing though that intrigued her though, was the huge hollowed out area along on the side.

“This is quite impressive…” she pointed to the hollow, “but what is that supposed to be?”

“Air duct,” Marble said simply, before bringing the blueprint closer, “See this is one of my family’s oldest mines, so before there were pumps to move air, we had to rely on just big holes built with the mine.”

Judging by the size though of the duct compared to the rest of the mine, Bronze had to tack on to his statement, “You mean really big holes… it’s almost a tenth the size of the whole shaft.”

“If anything, that explains how they would have gotten down there,” he examined under a more scrutinous eye, “they were boarded off from the surface, but a determined individual could get through them.”

“Aren’t you worried that collapsing it will cause the whole mine to come down?” Bronze pointed out, now getting the full picture of the scale they were working with.

“Oh, trust me, if there’s anything my dear old dad did right, it was build something to last,” Marble brought out a different schematic, one that showed what looked to be the whole mine, and one that took up the better part of the table. “You see, we have a few shafts just like it. All with their own support and access tunnels, so losing that one won’t do any harm… hopefully.”

The door to the office opened up as another colt covered in dirt entered before dusting himself off. “Sir, you called for demolitions?”

“Yes, I did,” Marble turned his attention away from the blueprint for a moment, “I need you to talk to a Sargent Frostfire, and work with them on getting munitions ready to hit these locations,” quickly bundling up the parchment of the shaft in question, he passed it off to his employee.

Without even a question, the demolitions pony that came in was out the door just as fast. Leaving the two there alone. A silent moment though can breed many thoughts of worry, much to the dismay of a mare.

“Are you sure you want to go in there?” Marble asked with the utmost of sincerity on his breath, “fighting them is one thing, but blowing up part of a mine is another.”

Bronze had been thinking of that since Grace mentioned it, whether he knew it or not. Being buried alive wasn’t a prospect she would be looking forward to. Then again, neither was trying to fight her own creations in the first place in rather tight quarters. Even so, she was probably the one best suited to deal with them.

“I’ll be alright,” she reassured him, waltzing over to the window as the demo pony and several of the soldiers started grabbing crates of explosives, setting themselves up to make charges for the operation, “let’s be real here, I’ve been through worse than you can imagine.” Her dealings behind closed doors, and the creations that spawned from them came to the forefront of her mind. “Laying some explosives is… Child’s play.”

Though the smile she tried to show him only was half confident in its words, even with his slight confusion. As Bronze waited to see what he had to say on the matter further, with a deep sigh of defeat, Marble simply joined her at the window and watched things unfold.

“Just… be careful, please?” he looked over to her with a caring eye, as Bronze held her breath unsure quite what to say.

So, with the best mask she could put on, Bronze tried to reassure him against the unknown, “I’ll do my best.”

Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

With this being only the second time, the mare had ventured down the shafts of a mine, this trip was starting to unsettle her gut far more than the first. As Bronze trailed a few of Serens’ soldiers in front of her, and even more behind carting the explosives. Subtle as they may try to be to one another, she could still hear the occasional question one would ask another of who the cloaked figure was with them.

Until, one actually caught up with her as they walked, “Pardon miss,” the gryphon male kept up the formalities. “What brings you on this little venture? Seems a tad dangerous, with what we might be facing.”

‘I could probably end you before you took your next breath,’ Bronze glared at him from under her hood. It had been a while sense one looked at her with worry of her own capabilities, and it wasn’t a feeling she liked getting from others. Though with a sigh, and the relaxing of her jaw, Bronze gave the male the benefit of the doubt. “I am here on the behalf of Mister Marble, the owner of this mine. Having dealt with these things before, it was thought that I might be able to assist.”

“Wait, you’ve dealt with them before?” the gryphon about stopped in his tracks and caused the one behind him to bump in to his flank, “Like fight them? Or just see them getting fought?”

Bronze rolled her eyes from behind the vail, debating how much to feed the soldier, but at the same time not seeing the harm in throwing them a bone. “Actually both, different town from here obviously… want some advice?”

“Why certainly,” he said with a perk in his tone, as Bronze saw a few of the ears from those around even start to tune in.

“The neck, it seems that whatever is giving them… life, is housed there,” she brought a talon to the nape of her neck like she had shown Glimmer Knight what seemed like many moons ago. Unsure how much that word to him had gotten around their ranks. Bronze looked back to the various armaments that those with her were carrying.

On top of their usual weapons, Grace certainly made good on her part and ensured her troops were armed with the best. For those with the more dexterous abilities, namely the gryphons and unicorns with them, a rifle found its place either slung across their back or held up in an aura. Leaving a pistol to rest against their hind legs or side as a backup. Even a few that carried the explosives walked with a rocket launcher on their back.

“Hmm those should be able to do the job quite nicely,” she pointed to the arms that the gryphon carried. Ignoring the metal tube of destruction, the thought of using that in such tight quarters made the mare twinge, “I saw a few other soldiers using them before… newly issued?”

“Oh these?” the male swiftly pulled out the pistol as she showed it off to the mare, unaware of her familiarity in the tech, “hot off the presses it seems, I guess they pulled them from those dogs and the kingdom.”

‘And they certainly started mass producing them,’ Bronze had gone from seeing a few of Serens’ own carrying her weapons, to now entire parties having them in record time. Slowly the gears in the back of her mind started to turn once more as it went towards furthering her technical prowess.

‘Seren would have even more resources at my claws than the Gryphons or the DDR, imagine what kind of works I could create, or at the very least improve with it all,’ larger weapons, more specialized air vehicles, better hand-held versions for troops. As many ideas that started to pile up in the mares’ mind, one finally broke the surface and silenced all the rest. ‘No time for war games… still have to work on fixing things.’

Getting back to the task at hand the mare continued down with the party, keeping a close eye out for her creations as they reached closer and closer to the sections in question. As they did, Bronze could feel the uneasiness in her stomach grow with every step they took.

“Ma’am?”

“Yes?” Bronze inquired, wishing she could see more than a few feet past the unicorns guiding the way with their horn.

“You had talked to Mister Marble I heard,” the gryphon asked, “and what had been put out to us is that were supposed to cave in part of the mine, correct?”

Slowly Bronze started to remember why she had created the automatons in the first place. They didn’t ask questions that she didn’t feel the need to answer, never the less, the soldier beside here wasn’t a hollow suit. “The idea’s simple, the part they’re supposedly in isn’t used, break those supports, and crush them under the weight.”

“And… how do we get out?”

“Lay charges on a fuse and run,” the uneasiness though from his grimace didn’t help ease his mind, even if it wasn’t hers to ease in the first place, “besides, there are plenty of tunnels around the shaft, more than enough avenues of escape.”

That seemed to satisfy the male more than anything as he picked his head up, “Sounds like a solid- PLAN!” with a dull thump and the clanking of metal, a few of the unicorns in the group came over to check out the sound.

With the light of their horn, the gryphon laid face first in the ground. Though a quick shake of his head later he seemed to walk it off, “You alright?” one of the unicorn mares asked, as she shined the light of her horn around looking over him.

“Yeah, just tripped over something.”

A few of those with torches, and the unicorn in question turned their gaze to just behind them, and there on the ground they found what must have been missed by those up front. A scattered pile of scrap metal it seemed laid tossed in the tunnel like trash. “Poor waste of good scrap,” the gryphon picked up the section, the mare with them however, knew better.

With a clank the cylinder of metal he had picked up opened on its hinges, as the straps designed to hold it on hung by their rivets, “That’s not scrap,” Bronze pointed out as she picked up a few more of the pieces. A breast plate here, part of a visor there. Nothing that would make a full suit, but diffidently more than one had been expended by the looks, “it’s all armor sections.”

“But… aren’t we the first ones down here?” the unicorn asked her superiors.

The Pegasus mare, that Bronze had identified as Frostfire, stepped back from the front of the group. “We are, at least by all accounts… though if these things are hollow suits of armor,” she pulled her blade out as her eyes turned towards the depths of the tunnel, “Then this might be where they’re putting those suits to use.”

‘I was afraid of that,’ Bronze gulped almost loud enough for it to echo along the walls like a drop of water as they pressed on.

Walking further now after tossing the pieces, two things were noticed to the group. One, as they looked to the edges more closely, they started to see more and more scattered parts of armor. Dents, cracks, and rust all indicating why there were tossed to the side out of imperfection. And two, there seemed to be a draft that was growing with every pace.

Finally, the dim light of the end came to their focus when they rounded a corner, as the group slowed to a crawl and scrapped their way forward. Frostfire fell back from her position and came up to Bronze, “As I heard you’re here because you’ve dealt with them before, and on behalf of the owner, correct?” she asked, making it painfully obvious that some of her attention was going to the mares’ odd metal horn.

“Yes,” Bronze answered flatly, waiting to hear what the Sargent had in mind. Whist ignoring the obvious.

“I need you then to sneak up front to the opening with a one of my guards, take a look, see what we’re dealing with,” without even a glance the Sargent volunteered one of her own, “Dartwing here will accompany you.”

The gryphon that had been chatting with Bronze popped to at the drop of his name, “Roger that Sargent.”

With a gesture, Dartwing started creeping his way up front past the group, as Bronze followed leisurely behind him. The light from the cavern in question couldn’t have been much, only torches and what might have been carried by air ducts the mare had figured. ‘A lot of scouting we’re gonna be able to do…’ she shook her head, never the less her and her companion stooped to their stomachs as they exited the tunnel.

Moving between various carts and equipment that had broken down along the slope. The pair slowly would peer from around the corners of countless piles of debris to check if they had a bead on them yet, or if there were any scouts above looking for intruders. Dartwing looked behind him at the mare and urged them both forward. Keeping their silhouette low to the ground once more.

From their vantage point up in the cavern, the pair could barely make out the movement of those on the ground floor a few hundred feet below from the offered light. Though the automatons moving along the sloping edges that lead down where it was a tad darker, told them they were in the right place. Pony, gryphon and Diamond Dog types all crept along as they stood guard and carried various sections of armors down to the ground floor to be worked on.

‘Why are you still going?’ Bronze asked to herself as she watched her creations bring the raw materials down, with only one purpose she could think of in mind for them, “You were supposed to stop…”

“There…” Dartwing pointed out from across the way, as the mares’ eyes followed his talon, “I was told we were looking for support beams… not a miner but that’s one if I ever saw it.”

Indeed, even with all her professions and skills, mining never was one of them. Though Bronze still had to agree, if there was anything down here that would be helping to hold it up, that was it. Crisscrossing the span of the shaft, the logs of wood a few ponies wide braced themselves against one side as they angled up in to the opposite to keep the walls from not so much collapsing, but toppling over in to the open space that made up the mine. How they lasted this long without rotting away on their own, the mare had little idea. As Marble said though, his dad did build things to last.

Only giving the soldier a nod, both of them knew they’d found what they came for, and Bronze followed him back to their group as a few torches were brought up as they approached. Frostfire stepped up to the plate as she looked at the two, “Well? How screwed are we?”

The gryphon bit the back of his tongue for a moment before he thought how best to put it, “Well… you’re probably right with your earlier assumption Sarge.”

“… Damn…” the Sargent pulled out the map that Marble had written on and marked up, calling a few torches over for more light she looked over where the charges had to be placed, “Would these points still be viable from what you saw? To your knowledge that is, you were with Mister Marble while he was marking them.”

Bronze looked over the map, there wasn’t much to the plan in the first place. Put charges, light them, run, place goes boom. Though the more she looked it over the more she saw they’d have to get closer to the base of the shaft in order to make it work, a place the mare didn’t want to go if she didn’t have to.

‘Nor would I want any of them to have to deal with it too,’ Bronze told herself as she tried to think of this plan moreover, not from the view of a miner, but the view of a pony who’s done her fair share of destruction.

“We want to avoid the ground floor, I can say that much,” she started off slowly, putting the pieces together as she went, “if this is where they’re being made, then we could still follow this plan with little change, those closest to the base however, will have to keep them busy.”

“Hmm… Makes sense, most of them would be at the ground likely too,” Frostfire looked over the mare for a moment, before asking the obvious, “So what did you have in mind?”

Bronze pointed to the upper support and the two below it, “We don’t have to destroy all of the supports, that’ll take too long… but what we could do is destroy the first couple at the top, them falling, and the weight alone should break the rest on their way down.”

“Should break, key words there,” the Sargent looked over the schematics once more as she considered the idea, “Still… it would give more time for us to get out as they fell, and we brought more than enough explosives to continue the job if need be.” Looking at the back to the rest of her troops, and then towards the cavern a head, Bronze could hear the mares’ own gears grinding in her head as she tried to think of every possible pro and con to the plans.

“We’ll go with yours,” Frostfire answered after a few more moments of debate, as she called those with the explosives ahead to her. “Those fliers I have with me will take charge of setting the goods, we’ll have a sixty second window though after they’re all set off to vacate.” Turning her attention to the rest of the group she tried to keep herself down so as not to give them away as she briefed the mass, “the rest of you on the other hoof, will have to cover us, they have some of the same arms we have now and are likely more proficient with them. They have range, power, and skill… but we got surprise,” Frostfire gestured a few of hers right below in command up front, “those planting the bombs will go out after you have their attention, keep em off us, got it?”

“Yes Sarge,” they said with all the enthusiasm of addressing the princess.

“Alrighty… lets get to work.”

While she might not have been a mare totally unfamiliar with war and fighting, to be apart of it so closely, and on this scale, was a new story for her to tell. She had watched from afar as it was waged, and supplied the means to cause destruction on a mass scale. Yet, even with all the background of a cool-headed tactician, Bronze still found her heart fluttering in the base of her chest as she stood side by side with those of the nation she once tried to decimate.

“Do you need me to explain it again?” Dartwing asked as he saw the blank expression on the mares’ face while she held on to the rifle.

Shaking to get her wits back, the mare dropped rounds in to the box magazine and slid the bolt forward chambering one, “I think… I got it,” she tried to play dumb at first, hiding the knowledge behind her grin.

“Well, you’re a natural,” the gryphon snickered for a moment before looking at his group laying along the cliffsides edge as they looked over in to the cavern, and then down the tunnel they had come from. Lined now with gryphons and Pegasy rearing to go like a flight strip, “You don’t have to be here though; it will be fairly dangerous after they notice us.”

Bronze thought for only a second of walking down that tunnel and letting them go at it with her talon work, but with a mental kick to even the idea of leaving them to clean up her mess, the mare stood firm. “Not happening, it might be dangerous… but no more so though if they were to remain and I didn’t do my part.”

The gryphon looked to his left, as another of his comrades got the go ahead. Lining down the sights, the unnatural equine across the space from him only felt the first punch of the round as it blew the side of the neck plate out. Before any action can be done, a quick follow up shot finished the job and dropped the living suit to the ground.

Two shots, kick starting dozens of others.

The pings of metal over the stone around her sent Bronze to the deck for but a moment at she gathered herself once more. The mare had been shot at before sure, but not so many of her own creations had turned their barrels towards her at once in the past.

‘Steady now,’ the mare closed her eyes and breathed, with the calm exhale she opened as focus returned to them, and a coolness that could bring a morning frost.

Laying the length of the rifle along the edge as a support, her sights found themselves on the first target. Gryphon automaton, flying up the opposite wall of the cavern. A steady trigger-pull later, and past the flash of her muzzle the mare saw it start to drop as she worked her way to the next target.

Diamond Dog version, holding one of her gatling guns up in its metallic paws. The projectiles flew from its own barrels like a firehose. With many of those with her ducking their heads to get out of the fire, the mare followed suit, leaving the gravel to pepper across her face as it fell. Spitting the dirt from her lips, Bronze waited as the crank continued to turn and spew out lead.

‘Wait for it…’ she told herself, not to get too eager to be in the open once more, ‘wait…’

Just then the stream stopped, the hopper on the side of the gun ran dry. Flipping open the feed of the weapon, the dog didn’t take heed of the pony lining up their rifle. Leaving yet another victim to fall as Bronze pulled the bolt back and ejected the round.

Amongst her own kills, others joined their fallen as well from the well-placed shots of those that Bronze found herself in the company of. From the corners of her eye, she could see the discipline that had gone in to learning the new skills needed to operate such tech. A deadly new skill at that.

Though as one would fall, several more rose to take its place from the darkened depths. Dog versions of those past creations of hers continued to come up from the pits along the swerving edges, only to be followed soon behind them by their counterparts of different varieties. All of which held arms to match Serens own in some respect.

The gryphons flew past the Dogs that acted as a shield, leaving them to open up with their own rifles. Picking off any of Seren that stayed out of cover for just a tad too long. All the while, the pony variety advanced on towards their cover without so much as a hint of falter from walking in to the muzzles of gun fire. With the extra support the mechanical mutts in question were given free rein to open up with their arms once more.

Widening her eyes in fear, and with nothing more than split second decision on instinct. The mare rolled further to one side as a metal tube was raised up one a dog’s shoulder, and let loose on their position. A few of those unluckily enough didn’t die right away from the blast, they instead found their new home somewhere on the bottom of the shaft without so much a peep.

All around her, whatever remained of the soldiers will to fight and to try clear this place started to dwindle. Some of those that held firm at the edge of the shaft, now found themselves taking cover amongst the metal wagons that once held raw ore. With a tug of her tail, Bronze found herself unceremoniously dragged back further to better cover by the gryphon that had made the trip down.

Backing themselves against the sturdy metal plating of a cart, Dartwing checked on his side bags. “Are you good for bullets?” he asked while reloading himself.

A quick nod later, and a peek of her head, found Bronze joining him back from behind their makeshift shield as several rounds started to spark against the hull. Leaning back and bringing her rifle up overtop the cart, the sights fell on to at least one of the aggressors. A bullet later, and the back of the gryphons’ weak point was torn out.

While Bronze may have been focusing on those coming up to greet them above and below, and tried to avoid being blown to pieces. Another had been watching the intended idea of keeping them occupied fall apart before her eyes. With a reluctant shake of her head, and a stretch of her wings, Frostfire lead those that held the package up into the cavern.

Turning her attention up to those soaring overhead the various pieces of equipment that had made their embankment, Bronze watched as they shot past the metallic gryphons occupying the skies with them. The Sargent herself even taking one down on the way, separating the head from its body just below the enchantment point. Quickly though, with a new target in site. Many that put fire down on her turned their barrels skywards.

With barrels spinning, the guns from the dogs peppered the sky leaving rounds to skip off the surfaces above and spark like small stars. A few found their mark, and brought a flier or two down in a death spiral. Never the less, the Sargent persisted and soared higher with those that followed to carry out the task. A kind of determination one mare could admire.

With a kick to his hind, Bronze drew the gryphons’ eyes back down to the ground, “Come on! They need our help.”

Throwing caution to the still air around them, the mare took aim at those that would seek to bring down the party. One shot from her rifle became two, then four, and soon a volley was brought against the antagonists with help from the combined arms of those around her. Dartwing cycled his weapon like one of the DDR soldiers when she had first instructed them. Calm, cool, and collected as he put round after round through the chamber.

It wasn’t a large turning of the tides, not even a ripple. To the mare though, anything would help with finishing the job at hoof, and hopefully, burry some of her past regrets along with it. Between having to target both above and on ground level, more of the automatons met their end, now matching Serens’ own losses.

A rocket on the other hoof, tends to tip the scales a bit.

The blast from behind her broke even more of the cavern slopes, causing them to cave in to the bottom like they had before. Dartwing shot back and flexed out his wings steadying himself, but before he could grab hold of his companion, Bronze watched as he disappeared in to the dust kicked up from the explosion. Leaving her to fall amongst those not gifted with flight.

A second of thought, and Bronze regretted not getting those wings finished when she could have. Working with what she had, her talons scrapped in to the sides of the cavern. Digging in to the stone and soil, she felt her fall slowing a bit, but not enough to completely stop. With a thud, and likely various amounts of cuts and scrapes across her, the mare found herself covered head to hoof in soot and dirt at the bottom.

Peering up above and using the tattered remains of her cloak to shield her from the fine particles, she could barely see the light that made it down to the caverns as she covered her mouth to stop from coughing. Down here though, it might have well been a walk in a cave at night, even the few glints that reflected off of what Bronze could only assume were exposed gems higher up, gave the impression of stars. Looking around she could get an outline of those that had made the fall with her, unlike her though, they remained still.

Gulping from the stagnant surroundings, a stark contrast to above. Bronze paced herself along the ground, trying to watch her step as best she could. ‘Alright, I didn’t give them night vision or anything, so it should also have a disadvantage,’ she tried to calm herself, ‘and if there’s slopes leading down, all I have to do is find one and get out of here… before they set off those charges, yeah… easy enough.’

With a grimace still from the trek she’ll have to make, Bronze stepped up and over a rock, as it slid out from under her and she fell to the ground once more. However, the rock came back. Swinging from over her head, the mass pushed a gust of wind that ruffled the mares’ mane and sent more dust kicking up. When she looked up though the settling debris, what greeted her was a sight for far less than sore eyes.

A dull shimmer of jeweled envy rose up from the base of the cavern. Holding at eye level with her as it stared in to her own, picking her out even without a trace of light to shine. As she moved from one side or the other, so did those glowing orbs as if tracked her. Bronze stopped there knowing it was pointless to try and outright run. Her blood running cold as she saw the glow, and started to pace back.

It hadn’t attacked since she’d been down here, which gave her a breather, but also showed the mare a view she hadn’t expected. Something in these eyes seemed different than what she remembered; it wasn’t the same admiration she once knew. No, even with only a pair of orbs to paint the picture, she could still sense the betrayal it felt.

She held her breath, waiting for it to strike, though to her surprise it just stared. “It’s over, boy…” Bronze muttered, just barely audible over the dulled commotion above. Raising up her talon, she tried to reach out towards it, “things have changed, it’s time to stop,” but the form shirked it away like a foul stench. From that action alone, eye lids or not, Bronze could feel it peering into her.

Bronze watched, holding her talon still hoping it would concede. Though the only answer she received was the tilting of its head before her, as the seemingly floating orbs glaring up to the fighting over top them. With that, the head raised up higher and higher, several of its own over hers as it continued to stare at the spectacle of conflict above. The rustling behind her told her what she couldn’t see.

Intentional or not, the tail that swiped towards her almost made contact, almost. Bronze ducked beneath, and let the limb snake past as she followed the length to the body. Running past, she expected it to try and strike at her finally, though as she kept her ears open more than her eyes. The mare became painfully aware that the space around her was getting a lot less cramped than before, and her presence became an afterthought to it.

“Stop!” she yelled hearing the clanking of claws against the walls, racing towards the sound instead of the sane approach and running from it, “Please! I said stop!”

Leaping towards the noise more than anything, and hoping for the best. Bronze latched on to a few of the plates that ran along the frame, holding on with all her gems would allow as she rose with it from the darkness. She didn’t know how fast those soldiers would be able to plant the charges, all she hoped is that it would be fast enough to bring this thing down with the cavern.

Sargent Frostfire landed on a pony creation with her full weight and speed from the decent, crushing most of the suit under her. The battle taught mare made full use of her skills, as she avoided the few shots that those armed tried to plant. Instead, she met them with her own blade, using her wings to get in close to where their weapons were useless.

Helping one of her soldiers up to their feet, she called out to her ranks with a voice only a leader could muster. “Let’s go! Full retreat!”

While hearing your superior saying that to you under normal battle field conditions would mean your rapidly approaching demise by the enemy, this time it screamed to those with her to clear way to finish their job. Fighting tooth and nail with what remained in front of them to get clear, those that had the bullets left shot on to clear a path as the ground beneath them began to shake.

A talon grasped on to the side of the ledge, then another, each the size of a gryphon on its own. The rattle amongst the cavern earned the attention of both the Sargent, and all those present as Frostfire looked with a mix of bewilderment and shock as she found herself locked in a trance at what was coming forth from the deep to meet them.

A form of the fully grown dragon in the mine shaft wouldn’t be a surprise to most as they would try to seek gems, and would sometimes go to the source itself. However, if their enemies halt of the attack didn’t tell those present that this wasn’t an ordinary drake, then the glare they all received certainly made up for it. The seemingly unworldly glowing green eyes that stared down the mare, sent a chill down Frostfires’ spine in a way she didn’t know was possible.

The carefully laid sheets of metal formed each plate on it clanked from every motion it took, though the soldiers that had come to crash its party didn’t seem to be of concern. Its heavy claws strode across the edge of the shaft above them, grabbing on to the edges not far from those of Seren as more of its frame came in to view. From snout to tail it radiated its power like its flesh and blood relatives, though in this form it was an abomination only the most insane could muster.

Frostfire, a flier herself, saw the folded-up appendages along its back, as canvas stretched from vein to vein in support. How it’d even be able to take off with all that weight, she couldn’t imagine, but if real dragons could do it… why couldn’t this monstrosity?

Amongst its folds however, she caught sight of something, and while many of those that joined her were awestruck. Some didn’t seem to pay the new comer any respects of its power. The heavy armor it donned reflected the rounds fired at it as if they were gnats, and the emerald eyes turned towards those that tried, as even the other automatons outwardly backed off from their own onslaught.

One swipe of its tail later, and several more families would be getting news now of their loved one’s perishing. They too joining those at the bottom of the shaft. One that would not fall to join them however, continued to grasp firm on its back plating.

Bronze didn’t know how she would from this vantage, but if those that came with her were leaving, then it must be done. “It’s over! Do you hear me!” she shouted towards it, ‘not like this, don’t let it end like this.’

Clawing her way up, the head that loomed above twisted its neck around to view his carryon. It didn’t speak, it shouldn’t be able to by her design. Yet, even with its lifeless jeweled eyes, Bronze could see the wounded thoughts that ran through its stone mind and soul. It was in pain, and she brought that pain to it.

Throbbing its back too and froe, the mares’ talons scrapped against the metal as they looked for a place to latch on once more. Between the plates she had been fine, but with it bucking she soon found herself falling again. With nothing to grab on to from her place, Bronze stared as it went up.

Just as the flash joined past it.

The shaft rocked almost as much as the dragon did when it threw her, causing already looser pieces of shale and stone to crumble from the sides. Bronze couldn’t care still; she couldn’t even feel the shaking from her predicament. The only thing she saw was the dragon reaching one of the vent shafts Marble had pointed out, along with who knows how many of its creations.

Her creations.

Closing her eyes once more, Bronze waited for it to come, fighting the one tear she held for it, ‘I wonder which will kill me first,’ she asked, not daring to look back as the falling supports above started to give way one after the other, ‘the impact against the bottom, or the debris…’

The clenching of hooves around her waist though asked a different question, “Why are… you so… heavy!” Frostfire asked as her wings heaved the mare up and to the exit, not so much flying but gliding most of the way under the weight.

Heaving from her lungs and gasping for a decent breath in the ever-clouding air. The Sargent tucked herself up in to a ball, as she and Bronze tumbled towards their entry for cover. Hitting the ground almost as hard as she did not too long ago. Both mares found themselves with their eyes peeled towards the ceiling of the tunnel, ignoring the collapse from the shafts if only to have a breather or two.

The few moats of light left in the cavern quickly found themselves extinguished as the rest filled in. The supports from the entry tunnel thankfully holding firm as the entire party were once again basked in darkness. Those with the ability lit their horns as they assessed the damage, leaving the pair to take a moment.

“Thank… you,” Bronze coughed out between breaths, turning her head towards the mare to see if she was going to make it.

“Don’t mention…” Frostfire coughed out a wad of dirt, “it…” leaning up to her own hooves, she waved off those in her company that tried to help her as the stubborn mare finally found her footing. The looming question on her mind pressing with each ticking second, “What the hell was that thing?”

“I couldn’t tell you…” Bronze lied like she had done so many times before, as she joined the Sargent on all fours, ‘… I made it.’

Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

Working the needle back and forth with her horn, Bronze used her talons to hold the canvas against the frame on the workbench as she lined up the individual sheets to cover the different veins of her wing. Watching the needle pass through the fabric over and over again. The entranced eyes of the filly remained in awe as she sat there on the bench while the older mare practiced her craft.

“How fast do you think you can fly with them?” Topaz asked curiously, having heard of the many speeds achieved by Pegisy over the years from school.

Shrugging her shoulders, Bronze went about the motions of tying off the thread she used before cutting it free, “It would depend how much energy I would be willing to spend,” she answered flatly as if by automatic, “normally if it was just casual flying the charge would bleed back in to the gems after use… but the faster I beat them, faster I’ll burn them out.”

“So… what if you run out of energy while in the air?” a curious eye looked at the frame and how much dead weight it’d be.

“That… well that’ll be a bad day,” the shiver went down her spine at the thought of falling from the back of her creation, and having that happen with even more mass to pull her down, “luckily I should be able to glide with them as well.”

Yet, even with the company of the filly. Bronze found her thoughts constantly going back to the mines, more specifically, what she ran in to. Going through the motions, the mare threaded a needle again and again in an effort to finish up her project. Any hint of enjoyment she normally got from working with her own talons was lost, to the mare this was the only thing she could do to try and stave off the many lingering questions that started to pile up in the forefront of her mind. The effort however, while valiant, was an uphill battle like no other.

“You’ve been busy,” Marble said as he walked in to the work shop, “We only got back from the mine this morning, and you’re already about finished.”

“I work fast…” Bronze answered while concentrating on the stitches as she sat motionless on the stool.

The colt looked over the project that she had in her lap. Working together with her previously, they made good time with getting to this stage in the process he still understood little of, “I would have been happy to help though finish up if you’d have liked,” he pointed out to her, and watched as her eyes barely even lifted past the fabric in her grasp.

“It’s fine, I didn’t want to be a bother,” the mare said as she tied off another finished section, and rethreaded the needle for the home stretch.

Even if it wasn’t said, there were more tells about her that Marble picked up. The clenched jaw, the worry in her eyes, short almost mechanical responses. Bronze was always a cool, calculating mare back in school… this behavior however, was off to him. Something was up with the mare, something that was weighing on her.

“Topaz, why don’t you start getting ready for bed?” the father asked as he looked towards the clock on the wall, “it’s almost bed time anyways.”

“Awe… I’m not even tired though.”

“You say that now, yet in an hour I’m going to be the one carrying you up those stairs,” he pointed out to her, a fact she couldn’t really dispute. With a huff the filly hopped down to her hooves and went out the door, leaving the two there in silence as the mare worked. With a small flash of his horn, the door to the hall closed a bit more to keep out young ears as the colt turned towards his friend. “You never really did tell me what you found down there,” Marble opened up with as he leaned against the counter.

Bronze having finished up the last of her stitching looked over the finished product for anything that might give way during a flight. “There’s not much to tell honestly,” she said mirthlessly, bringing her talons to each of the gem stones and giving them just the smallest of charges to get going, “there was a bigger one, a dragon version, and it got away.”

“And you haven’t been the same since you got back from underground…” he pointed out, while trying to get more from her in any form, “You retreat to the shop, pour yourself into your work, haven’t seen you eat all day, barely drank a thing.”

The metallic mare shrugged her shoulders to him, trying to blow off the questions, “I just wanted to get back and finish this up, came so close to doing so before you got called away.”

Marble however, raised a brow to her, “and you were much the same way on the train back.”

Bronze let each word go in one ear and out the other as she turned her attention to the larger emerald at the base of the wings. With a little concentration and the outreach of her horn, the gems steadily started to take on their envious glow as the spell leached from her own body to the new appendages.

Using her horn, she lifted up the folded wings and brought them to her back. With a half-smile Bronze looked at the colt still waiting for an answer, “Help me out a bit?”

Marble stood there for a few more moments before he rolled his eyes and grabbed a screwdriver, “Sure thing… but I’d like to know what’s eating you.”

“It’s nothing… really,” she lied as he tightened the screws to the joints.

“Bronze, I have a kid… I like to think that I’m good at figuring out when someone’s lying to me,” Marble finished one side and went around to work on the other, “Seriously you can tell me, anything at all.”

‘There are some things you shouldn’t know,’ the mare waited as he finished up and put the tool down. With only one talon held up to him to stop any further questions for the moment, Bronze closed her eyes and stood there.

Flexing and rolling out her shoulders, the wings went with the motion from her body working on its own. No magic at first, she just wanted to see how they felt, and how well attached they were. Balancing them out along her frame, the mare went back in to her mind as she focuses on the gems along their frame. Feeling the outline of her own magic, she reached from her core, to her shoulders, and on in to the frame. As if reaching to the familiar wings that had long been torn from her.

Opening her eyes, she looked to the wings on either side of her as they flex out on their own. The gems in each giving off their own ambient glow from the control of their master taking hold. “It’ll take some getting used to again,” Bronze said as she folded and unfolded them a few times for exercise, “but these should be more than enough.” With worry still in her eye the mare looked at her host and could only bring herself to curl part of her lips, “I can’t thank you enough for this Marble, truly.”

Seeing them stretched out, even Marble lost himself there for a moment while she moved, “Don’t mention it… it’s just a few gems and metal,” he smiled at her hoping to have it returned, yet the same dead expression on her persisted beckoning him even further, “Bronze… please, what is it?”

Folding her wings back to her side, the mare shook her head more so to herself than him. ‘I shouldn’t,’ she took a deep breath, ‘I can’t ruin this,’ her thoughts fell in order, ‘why am I doing this?’ she asked and turned around to face him. With a single tear falling down her cheek, Bronze answered, “I built it.”

A second passed, and another, and another. Marble stood there as he too shook his head, “You built… what?”

“The tin soldiers, the weapons they use, that bucking monstrosity in the mine… I created them!” she poured out and fell back as she leaned against the bench with her gaze to the floor, “Everything that Seren has going on now, from the new tech to the automatons attacking, I caused all of it!” Bronze snapped her eyes back up to him, forcing his silence, “I’m the one who went to the DDR and the Gryphon Kingdom, I’m the one who gave them this edge to try and beat Seren. I’m the one who sent my creations on the hunt after it all crashed and burned around me, and gave them the order to wipe the slate clean!”

The colt looked at her questioningly, and try as he might. He couldn’t see this from the mares’ eyes of how she could have, “That’s insane,” he said flatly, “I know you’ve had a few issues here and there with everything that happened, but there’s no way you’d-”

Without so much as a pin drop, the mare had a talon around his muzzle. The stumped glance of the stallion met the cool and calculated glare of the pony before him. One who has been told a few times too much what she would and wouldn’t be able to do. “Don’t… doubt… me,” she hissed, taking care to keep her grip on him light, “You have no idea how much I lost over the years, being distant from you parents is nothing compared to losing them outright.”

“I lost my wife.”

Like that, the ingot he had knocked her out with the first night they ran in to one another returned. Although more metaphorically than literal. Bronze brought her talon back to her side, keeping them firmly on the ground to try from lashing out once more. He may have not lost part of a family he cared much for…

‘…but he did lose that which gave him a family of his own,’ she answered to herself somberly. “Fair point,” Bronze tried to riposte back to him on that trump card, “Though you still had something left over in the end… what did I have?”

The silence between them already answered that to the colt. Pommel passed and he still had his parents, regardless of his relation with them. Even so, he had Topaz there to help him along the way in mourning. If his wife had passed before the birth, it would have destroyed him, and he knew it. He had a reason to be happy at the end of the day, and a reason to keep going. Which begged the question…

‘Yet, who did you have in your corner?’ he asked himself as they both stood there dumbfounded at one another. Him trying to come up with some response, and the mare waiting ever patiently for him.

“My point exactly…” she said in a huff, holding herself firmly backed against the counter of the bench as her eyes stared deep shards of thorns in to his eyes. The years of pent-up frustration and anguish she had let fester of that time, pushed her ever closer to the reality she created, “so, I started doing what I did best, and oh did I do it even better.”

The mare thought back to some of her original designs for the weapons she’d arm those of the nations with against the one that harbored her now. All the planning, and coordination between spying on meetings, scoping out patterns of trade, and listening in to the rants of those leaders involved. Waiting for the right time to step in and offer a solution to the DDR and Gryphon Kingdom. It was a symphony worthy of an opera house.

And she was the conductor at the forefront leading them all on.

“It took years to amass a decent amount of product to even tantalize the taste buds of those I wanted to involve,” Bronze remembered demonstrating her own hoof born weapon on one of Chief Reinhart soldiers, when she first met the chief himself head on. It was a gutsy move, but one that paid off in full in the end, “Yet, once they saw a sliver of what I could bring to the table, I had Rhorkin and Reinhart hooked like a trout… and they danced to my song.”

It’s not every day you envision your houseguest is a war maiden, but for Marble, he still found his head trying to wrap about what exactly she was saying, “But… Why? Why would you try to… to destroy everything?”

Bronze relaxed her thoughts, and took a breath. She didn’t want Topaz to come down here from a commotion and see her like this, “A long time ago, a little filly had an idea… wipe the slate clean, it seemed like a perfect one at the time,” she remembered back to that simpler time, when it all seemed to make sense. “Take revenge on those that took what I loved from this world, upset the balance of all those nations involve, and give them something worthy of their attention that they’d have no choice but to do it together,” it had been a sound plan at the time for her.

“I had it all… the weapons, the support, the army, and the will… I almost succeeded,” she thought to the one that foiled that plan, and in some way snapped her out of it. An exploding airship will bring you to your senses like that, “even with me falling from my pillar, my creations were still out there doing their work… but I hadn’t created any cohesion, I just gave birth to fear.”

She thought back to the various faces of those citizens out in town and on the way to the mine. The worry of what would the day bring and if they would come under attack by what her talons had spawned. “I couldn’t stand it, I couldn’t face what I had done then, the number of families that would get the same news I had gotten when I was younger,” the knot wrapped up in her throat as she caught herself, and swallowed before she broke down from the thought that hit a little too close to home, “I went to a cliff, tried to end it… see if my parents would still be able to look at me, but that didn’t even work.”

Marble looked over the mare. The scars that had been on her from the years of toil, travel, and creation. It had taken its toll, and everything she was shooting for no matter how vile, still was the only thing keeping her going at the time. To lose that would have been to have the rug pulled out from under her. A mare who was already at a loss, getting kicked once more when she was on the ground.

“So, what changed?” he asked carefully, debating where and what to tread on, “if you wanted it all to stop, how are you here now?”

“I’ve had a few close calls since it all went to shit,” the mare chuckled for the first time since the mine. From running in to those wolves out in the woods, her creations a number of times now, and trying to take her own life. Something hadn’t let her ride that river quite yet. “My dad never would have wanted me to take the easy way out. So, I’ve been trying to right the wrongs that I made.”

For a time, the colt there with her stood silent. Bronze wasn’t sure if he was going to knock her out and turn her in, throttle her a few times, or laugh at how preposterous this all sounded in the end still. One mare, waging a war on her own front apart from the three largest nations in the region. No matter which way it was sliced, it certainly was a lot to take in. The colts’ mouth opened, though he didn’t get to start any semblances of a sentence.

Bronze held up another talon to him, “I’m sorry… for everything, but I have to try and stop it.”

With nothing more to be said on the matter, the mare got up to her feet. Figuring this is as good a time as any to test out her wings, as she started to walk towards the door Bronze wasn’t sure if she should be hurt that Marble didn’t try to stop her. Then again, he had all the reason in the world to let her leave. With her cloak plucked from its hook, the mare paused in her tracks, checking to ensure her hammer was still in its pocket.

“For what it’s worth…” she called over to him from the door, watching as his eyes met her own. Far past those wonderous aqua orbs of his that made her own self stop and stare. Hidden behind them, she could see the trace of loss that was spoken silently, “… I’m glad… you rounded out.”

With that, the mare shut the door.

Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

The wind-swept tears of a mare fell to the ground as her own form carried itself further and further away in to the night. She didn’t know how long she had flown for, or even for that matter how long she could keep going. All Bronze knew was that she needed to get as far away from that town as possible, if only to forget.

‘Why hadn’t I said something sooner?!’ the mare argued as she went through a few clouds, glad that the new upgrades worked flawlessly. Yet, at the same time wishing something needed fixing on them to take her mind off what she’d done, ‘I may have not gotten all the help I was given, but it would’ve been better than out right lying to the colt.’

The steady beating of her wings carried her onwards, as she looked to the ground below and begged for an answer to show up somewhere down on the ground. Yet the terrain yielded nothing in return, ‘I didn’t want to hurt him,’ Bronze sighed to herself as she went, ‘we were getting along so well too… more than I would have imagined from the past.’

With a shake of her head and a drop in altitude, the mare soared closer and closer to the surface as she went to a tree line. Sleeping in an actual bed had been nice, but she knew it wouldn’t last forever. Her wings going from a beat to a flutter, Bronze hovered herself off the ground as she scanned a few branches above for a place to roost.

Plotting herself down, she landed on a sturdy looking enough place to reside for the night, and looked down at the ground below. “Whelp…” Bronze looked back towards the gems in her wing, seeing that they still burnt with power even after the flight, “at least I know I can always take off if need be.”

Unfurling them around her, Bronze steadied herself and used their canvas to keep warm. Hoping any predators that might come through this neck of the woods wouldn’t recognize the mare in the tree with them wrapped around her frame. While she curled up to the tree trunk like a bat for the night.

Then again, it’s always been said there was no rest for the wicked.

The rustling of branches wouldn’t have been enough to alert the mare under normal cases, even with the breeze seemingly picking up. It had been a long day, and she was tired. The sudden ejection from the tree itself on the other hoof, that’s a different story. Bronze flew head over hooves as she was catapulted in to the air while the tree crumbled like a twig snapping in a storm.

Thanks to a set of quick reflexes, her wings snapped out to her sides, catching the air before she hit the ground once more. There in the open sky, the mare looked around in the moonlit night to the lower hanging clouds around. She seemed like the only occupant, as not even a bird joined her at this time of night.

The forest however, held something else. From the trees lurched the creation of old, the dragon that she had crafted. Hidden after it had destroyed her perch for the night, it waited for her eyes to be else ware before launching once more. With a pair of out stretched claws the winged amalgamation of metal tried as it might to grasp on to the little pony.

However, with her appendages restored and still stocked up on plenty of energy, the nimble frame of the mare shot back and around the back of creation. Both of them faced off against one another, her eyes meeting his own glowing orbs in the night, as its colossal wings steadily kept it aloft.

“I said to stop!” the mare yelled at it, knowing she wouldn’t get an answer from the flying tin can, “You were supposed to stop after it was all said and done, you weren’t supposed to keep building!”

Snapping its head back, the chest expanded in the imitation of a breath as its mouth gaped wide. Catching the mare off guard, a torrent of crimson flames shot into the still air around her, and forced her to drop using her own weight. Safely out of the blast, the mare still felt the tingle of heat across her face from the wafting of flame.

Relenting its torch, the dragon snapped its mouth closed to her at first before working its jaw. Flexing it open and shut to deal with the pent-up heat in the metal plates. That’s when she saw it, just ahead of the glimmers that let it move, and the cluster giving it life.

Bronze saw the rubies in the back of its maw.

It didn’t have lungs.

It shouldn’t have had spells.

Yet here it was shooting fire.

‘It’s been… adapting,’ the mares’ eyes widened as she saw it pull back for another go, and immediately took to the skies to avoid the flame.

Even as fast as she might have flown, the mares’ flank could still feel the warmth of the creations new addition as if it was the summer heat on her back. Not wanting to stop, Bronze kept flying as she heard the beating of canvas far larger than her own getting closer and closer to her.

Keeping to the canopy of the trees. The mare banked left and right as from behind her the sky would light up, and signal another attack. Parts of this forest would heal in time as the flames eventually died out, but the mare knew if it was allowed to persist and keep adapting. There wouldn’t be much of the country to heal in the aftermath.

Turning her head around, Bronze caught the fore claws of her pursuer nearing as she dipped further down in to the trees themselves. The heavy metal claws snapping on to several branches at once while they ripped free from the trunks like dried pasta. There wouldn’t be much she could do it stop it, not at this time of night.

She was out matched by power, spells, and speed from its strong wings. ‘I have to try to lose it,’ Bronze told herself as she slowed her flight and stopped behind a tree trunk, hovering off the ground as she waited to see where it was and catch her breath, ‘it might be able to plow through these trees, but I can still out maneuver it.’

The crunching of wood dragged on through the still air, echoed closer and closer while the beating of wings soon caught up with the mare and broke her cover in half. Righting herself from the get go, Bronze took pause as it passed overhead and ploughed in to several other trees along its way before stopping a few dozen yards from her in a self-made clearing.

She hadn’t given it night vision, that she was sure of. ‘So how is it you keep finding me?’ she asked herself trying to go through all manner of its design.

With a crunch, the dragon landed on all fours to the ground and blankly stared at her. Soon enough, Bronze did the same. For what felt like minutes the two paced in a circle, keeping the other in their sights. She knew it was sizing her up, waiting to see what she’d do, Bronze was just glad to be on the ground and not having it at her tail. Yet, from here, she saw another face greeted her. One far different from the one in the mines.

Halting her step, the mare stood and faced it. This wasn’t just a spell talking, it wasn’t imprinting like the others, no this was something more… as if it knew what had been done to it. For a moment she saw the metal construct as not a being of creation, but as almost actual birth with a soul of its own. A soul that was showing emotion like it lived and breathed. Its eyes might be green, but they still burned crimson with hate like the stones in its gullet.

Hate for its own maker.

As they faced off, Bronze held her head up, “I did this to you,” she spoke out, watching as its neck cocked as if understanding, “I left you in this world as I went to die, with nothing but hatred.” Tentatively, her talon stepped forth as its own claw did the same and they began pacing closer towards the other. It hadn’t attacked, even given the clear chance to do so, something that stumped her, “I know you’re angry, at me, at everything you’ve been given…”

When they finally met in the middle, her flustered form greeted its awe-inspiring amalgamation of creation and will, “But… I’m sorry, boy… it has to end,” with her head dipped low adverted from its gaze. Bronze watched as it stood stoic as she’d intended it to be, its neck craned down to meet hers, and she felt the heat radiating from it build.

Quickly she rolled away as another stream of fire rushed past and caught some of the underbrush alight in a similar shade of flame. Putting some distance between herself and it, Bronze looked back as the light from the new blaze danced across both of their metallic features. ‘I shouldn’t have created it to do my own work,’ she would have throttled her younger self even if granted just a little hindsight, ‘I guess this is what I get for putting my heart and-’

Like a switch, finally something clicked to her.

She made it the same way as the others, just bigger… for that it needed a bigger part of her.

“My own heart and soul…” she called out to it, knowing full well that it’d understand her, “That’s how you found me, the same energies that allowed me to move, my drives, my very will… we share,” the connection they had was more than just a creator and the work they produced, it was nearly that of a mother to her cub, ‘I put a part of my very essence in to this thing,’ Bronze just glared at it, knowing its determination had all stemmed from one place, “Damn me.”

If it had lips, the mare could have seen it grin. It wouldn’t work over great distances, but then again with as fast as it could move, plus with eyes and ears everywhere in its own subjects. It wouldn’t have taken much for one to wander close and feel the presence of the same energies from the mare.

The heavy tail pulled back up from behind it and swiped across the clearing. Along the way a few more parts of the forest would now be given patches in their canopy, while the mare that resided in its path took to the skies to avoid the hit.

Grasping on to a few of those trunks with its hind appendage coiled around, the dragon treated them like darts as he hurtled them to the very small flying board. Bronze on the other hoof looked around for any opening, if it could sense her, she’d have to get far away and fast. ‘The wings won’t carry me fast enough,’ she turned around and darted as he got up to meet her in the skies, ‘I need something… else!’

The thick tail swiped from one side and batted her around like a ball, forcing most of her concentration to go out the window as she started to drop. ‘How had it found me so fast this time though?’ Bronze asked herself as she righted her fall with a flap, then immediately looked to those that had given her that ability and face hooved, ‘yeah these probably would give off a lot of magic to sense.’

Beating them once more to gain some lift, the mare kept her creation in the corner of her eye while trying to figure out a new plan. If it was using the same energies to track her down, and the wings she had just added gave her even more energy to trace.

Then she’d have to lose the wings.

‘… or drain them,’ Bronze answered that voice in the back of her head as she turned away to face the open sky ahead, “Let’s answer that question Topaz…” taking aim at its eyes a burst of ice drew from her horn and whizzed to her target. It wouldn’t kill it, or even damage the thick plating, but it would buy her some time.

As it impacted the metal sheeting of the skull, the frost that developed waded over the metal and covered up its eyes. Giving her the seconds, she needed, and with a mighty flap the agile frame of the mare took off in to the night. Leaving her creation to claw the buildup off of its features.

She may have not been breaking any speed records, but the more her wings flapped, the more she could feel it drawing every ounce of energy from them as it was burned off in the process. When she had left Marbles’, Bronze had still taken care to not lose the charge with every beat, this time however, she was testing the very limits of creation. Ever thankful she upgraded the gems used.

The flapping from behind her may have been steady, but it wasn’t getting any louder either. With that knowledge that she could at least keep up, Bronze continued in to the night. Even looking below, she could make out the flickering street lamps of a town, oblivious to what was happening far above them.

The flickering of her wings began to fade as more and more of the gem’s reserves were exhausted. Forcing her to not only slow down, but also allowing for her pursuer to catch up. Seeing the gaping maw of the dragon catching up to her, Bronze banked out of the way as the jaws clamped down around where she had been moments ago.

She might have been quick enough for that, but not the follow up from the tail. Being swatted from the air like a fly, the growing dead weight of the wings barely helped in the slightest as she fell. Looking to the various gems, all but the smallest of flickers remained much to her delight and worry as the ground started to approach even faster it seemed.

‘I have to rethink that about being able to glide…’ Bronze thought to herself as she brought her talons up over her face and tried to flare out her wings as best she could.

It was moments like this that she could truly be thankful to have built herself sturdier than most. If she had been tissue and bone either she’d be getting scraped off a tree with a shovel, or just left with half her bones broken in the best instance. Yet from the throbbing in her wings and shoulders from the impact of them breaking against outlying branches, too her false limbs taking most of the brunt. Bronze managed to pull herself to her feet and hobble away from the crash.

Finding the outskirts of what looked to be a farm, Bronze drug herself up to an outlying shed before the large wings overhead echoed in the night and got too close. With the beating above steady, the mare poked only one eye to the crack in the door as she looked up to her creation scanning the area for her.

If it found her, there wouldn’t be any running she could do. Being in a wooded box, she already set up her own funeral pile if it took notice. Yet, with every second that passed, and every shallow breath she took. The mistake made all those moons ago steadily started to rise further away, before clearing from sight entirely in to the night.

With a deep sigh, and the collapsing of herself against the floor of the shed. Bronze felt all those bruises and cuts from her tussle tonight catching up with her, but at the end of this evening one thing remained true to her.

She was alive.

Tired, worn out, in need of a recharge, and probably dangerously dehydrated…

“Still alive…” Bronze told herself as her head rested back against a what only felt like a burlap bag, wrapped the tattered cloak around her body as best she could, and took a well needed nap.

Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen

Compared to a tree, a burlap bag was a mattress for the mare as the gentle tweeting of birds brought her back to the land of the living, or at the very least conscious. With a quick check to her body to see if she was bound, gagged, lit on fire, or just plain shot. Bronze collapsed on to her back with a sigh of relief.

“Alrighty, it didn’t find me,” she had worried in her subconscious during the night, but the morning had brought the truth. She managed to stay hidden… for the moment.

With a rustle of her proverbial feathers, the canvas appendages stretched out for a few seconds after their slumber before falling flat on the ground of the shed. A quick look over showed they were drained, and probably wouldn’t be much better than a paper weight in terms of actual fight.

With a small shake of her head, the mare made her way towards the door. “I just got them too…” she wined, as her eyes peered out to ensure the coast was clear.

Nothing on this farm seemed to be moving, not even the chickens from the coop out over a fence had come out to graze on the bugs in amongst the grass. A promising sign for her, as Bronze crept from the shed and made her way along the fence line of the farm. Trying her best to recall from the sight of last night with the surrounding landscape.

‘East? West?’ she pondered as the road of two paths left her with only half a chance of getting it right. The smoke though in the distance from what she could only hope to be stoves gave her a path as she walked along to the town, she had saw during her evening flight.

Compared to the other towns she had wandered through, this one had to be the busiest out of the lot. Carts pulled various goods likely on their way to vendor stations, creatures got in wagons to carry them to where ever in the country they may have wanted to visit, and the occasional waft of a restaurant or café could be pulled in to the mares’ nostrils as she walked.

Even the structures around here seemed more on the scale of a small city than what one could call the town. Businesses, libraries, halls, and even the occasional apartment building all stretched higher up in the air than the few places she had rolled through in her travels. If anything, it was nearing to be on par with Boralus itself in the grand scale of things.

“Speaking of which…” the mare groaned as her eyes gave the same hint of disgust at the site.

It had been dark while she flew overhead, but out here in the clear and sunny day the spire that the capital was known for shined bright in the distance and left a sore mark on the mare. Reminding her of the literal crash and burns of her plan. It hadn’t even occurred to the mare how close she had gotten to the capital during her flight.

With a care to keep her wings tucked under the remains of the cloak she donned; Bronze made her way through the town’s streets. Passing by other ponies, gryphons, and even the occasional zebra without them paying even a second thought to the mare.

Though as she walked with only her own thoughts, one thing persisted to the mare.

‘Where the hell had you gone?’ she asked herself, keeping an eye to the skies and an ear to the streets for any commotion.

Certainly, it had been around the area, and even if it hadn’t outright sensed her, it would have still thought this town would be the first place she’d have gone should she survive. Yet, here she remained. Walking the streets trying to keep her head low, as other ponies passed by and did their business like nothing had happened mere miles from them.

Then again, it was hard to forget a pair of eyes at times.

Marbles’ own orbs broke through the crowd to the mare as she picked them out of the ocean of creatures like pearls. He was here trotting along with the various creatures that went about their day, and a similarly coated pony bounced up and down alongside him as he went.

Looking desperately around her, Bronze dived in to the first thing she could. Which happened to probably not be the best of choices, but it’d do. From her place in the garbage bin tucked away in the alley. The mare looked over at the sales stand she had tried to hide next to… a rough-cut gem stone station of all places.

‘Hmm… I wonder where he’d be stopping…’ she groaned while keeping her eyes barely tucked over the cover of the can.

From that moment the stallion and his filly came in to view, and even without the slightest life in her fathers’ eyes. Topaz still bounced like she had a spring built into her leg, “it doesn’t matter if I don’t like trips… you like them with company.”

“And you’d be better with your friends,” Marble tried to answer back to her as he looked over what Bronze could guess was a curillin, “You always hated it when I’d drag you along shopping for extra stones.”

The filly’s lips pursed up to her father as only a daughter could, “and you still hate doing them by yourself… you’d be better off if she was here.”

From a twinge in her mind, Bronzes’ brain caused her to twitch from that comeback as she looked to the kin. ‘Damn, harsh kid, don’t you think?’

“I’m serious,” the filly jumped in front of him, “You haven’t been the same since she left dad… are you okay?”

“I’m fine, dear,” he responded with an autonomy as only Bronze could understand.

From her bin the mare watched the colt carry on with his shopping, as he picked out gems in much the same manner he had always likely done over the years. Yet, this time something seemed missing. There wasn’t any flare, or spark in his eye. It just seemed like busy work to her. Even if he preferred to do this sort of shopping himself, as opposed to dragging his kin along. One pony couldn’t do the same task over and over with this lifelessness in their eyes, and keep doing it.

‘On previous trips he probably would have been chatting up some of his regular sellers,’ Bronze thought, ‘yet here he is… nearly looking like one of my-’.

“You miss her, you can tell me,” Topaz called out to him as she trotted up to his side, and the trash bin fell over from a sudden spasm at those words, “I won’t tell anypony.”

While Bronze may have been trying to keep herself hidden from view, that didn’t stop the can from rolling in the alley and giving her a glance at the stallions’ face. He hadn’t answered his filly yet, and hadn’t even given her a sign of crossness from the comment. Only a gentle smile grossed his lips, with that his horn reached around her torso and put her on his own.

“Come on, let’s finish up here and get you home,” he said as they went out of the hidden mares’ view.

‘What?’ Bronze asked herself as her trash bin came to a stop against the brick building it resided at, ‘how could he miss me? After what I- did!’

With a sudden lurch from its place and a drag across the cobble stone path of the nearly forgotten alleyway. Bronze felt the can being heaved in to the air at first before it started to fly, and then fall towards the ground. A heavy thump later of the metal bending against the structure of the other wall, and the mare found herself dumped out with the other contents of trash.

From her place on the ground, she looked up in to the lifeless bodies of her creations of old, as a couple gryphons and even a dog variant found their way to her. “Ahh… hey boys,” she grinned sheepishly, “fancy meeting you here!”

With a thrust of her horn, the trash bin snared up in her aura and rocketed towards the canine. Slamming over top his head, the bin sufficiently blinded it as it grabbed hold trying to pull it off. Leaving the mare to deal with his companions, something easier said than done.

The rifle stock of one swung wildly at the mare, and with a crunch of her jaw, her body tumbled its way over the brick ground. Before resting against the wall of a shop. The alley might not have been so cramped for the four of them to duke it out, but it still made tight quarters for such a long weapon.

Raising up the barrel to her temple, Bronze grabbed hold just as the trigger was pulled and let the slug plant itself in the structure behind her. A quick twist of the gun later and she ripped it from the grasp as the other took aim of its own. A sloppy shot, but one that still hurt.

The round went through her talon and hind hoof, and broke her stride there for a moment. If it hadn’t been for the shot, she may have avoided the trash bin. With a heave, the metal container smacked in to her like she had done the dog. Quickly knocking her to her back and letting the birds dance along her vision for but a time.

This time however, she was armed.

With a pull back of the bolt and a slamming of it forward. The sights dipped down on the gryphon that still remained armed, and tore a chunk out of its neck. The small target of the stone may have been difficult, but even if the rune itself was damaged the result would be the same. With a clank the tin soldier dropped to the ground and never rose once more.

A paw grabbed hold of her torso, and tried squeezing her in its grasp. With the all to natural ribs starting to bend more than she liked, the rifle dropped from her grip as the creation thrashed her against the wall. If it couldn’t crush her fast enough, it’d just smash her to pieces. Her wings were shot, her weapon was gone, but one thing still remained.

With a ray of energy leeching from her horn on to its elbow joint, the emerald atop her horn glowed with feverish intent as it drilled in to the appendage. It wasn’t going to be a killing shot, but it’d do enough to save her skin. Dropping to the ground, another shot rang out, and pinged off the wall past her.

As the tin gryphon quickly chambered another round, the same ray moved as fast as light and burned a clean line through the neck of her assailant. Both decapitating, and destroying the rune on the inside. All that remained was the dog.

The heavy arm she’d just cut off swung towards her, begin held by its counterpart like a crude club. The ground where she had stood dented and cracked under the weight, leaving Bronze barely scraping by with her body still intact. With a lunge, the dog leapt towards her, rearing up for another swing. While Bronze followed the same path and jumped at it as well.

Sliding under its hind legs, with a twist she grabbed on to the neck of her creations as it started to shake left and right to dislodge her. Thankfully her talons remained strong and gripped on to the edges of the various plates that made up its form. Letting her line up for one more shot with her horn.

A beam later and the head fell from its shoulders, but the rune and stone inside remained intact, just as she had intended. With it almost bucking to get her off, the mares’ talons grabbed inside on to the gem and with a crunch ripped if from its setting in the plate of metal. With its power cut, and its metaphorical heart ripped out. The tower of metal crashed on to its chest, spreading the mare across the pavement once more.

From her back she rested for a moment, and looked at the gem she had pulled from it. It was a bit larger than its counter parts, and while the gems from the two gryphons might have sufficed, she had plans for those instead. With some concentration the energies stored in it pulled from the gem and found their way to her wings once more. Bringing them to life with a spark, with a flex the appendages unfurled slowly as they woke back up. Gifting with that a small smile to her face.

“That’s more like it…” she beamed at the sense of self returning to her once more.

Another few shots rang out, and with quick reflex the mare dove closer to the walls. Looking around up in the skies, she couldn’t see any of her creations there taking aim. Yet, off in the distance the rounds kept going. ‘They’ve reached this place in force it’d seem,’ with a groan the mare went to the other two fallen cans and pulled the gems from them as well.

Clenching them in her grasp, the same energies that she used to once create them. Now were used to replenish her own body, leaving the gems she had used across her horn glowing a little brighter after the small scuffle. With those taken care of, Bronze picked up one of the rifles and what ammunition the gryphon had carried. As she took to the skies, following the shots.

Across parts of the town the sounds of gun fire rang out, though most of it seemed to be drawn from one place in particular. The large almost park like area, that Bronze could only imagine as some sort of town square, rested nearly in the center. From her position up in the clouds, she could see the various colorful armors of those that served under the crown dotting the green that made up the square.

All the while her own creations littered around the area and took their own shots at them from both below, and above. The gryphon ones that dotted the skies shot down on to those without even the slightest heed of who might be joining them in the clouds.

With a tuck of her wings to the side of her torso. The mare rocketed down to one of the gryphons as it took aim with its rifle. Thrown off from the impact, Bronze latched on to the wings that gave it flight and with a heave snapped the hinges that held them on. Sending the creation plummeting towards the ground, and giving those that joined her a new adversary to take note of.

With a quick reflex, Bronze pulled the rifle from her back after the impact. Taking to the cloud cover as the few rounds from those that joined her gave chase and peppered the sky. On the ground there was all the cover in the world, although moments like these is when she missed one of her airborne creations.

‘One airship, just one, and they’d all be done!’ she thought to herself before flipping over and took a shot at one.

While it may have missed the thing that gave it life. The shot to the chest still gave it a jarring ring as it fell behind its brethren, leaving the mare open to more than a healthy amount of lead for her tastes. To her advantage, the mare had practiced with her wings all too often when her old pair were still attached. Diving, banking, weaving, and yawing all came naturally to her as it would a Pegasus.

On the downside, no matter how good of a flier you might be, sometimes a lucky shot is all you need.

The tinge of pain from her shoulder blade arched the mares’ back as the grazing round almost ripped across from her hinge and missed her neck. With a spiral Bronze rolled down towards the ground as she started her dive. It might be a straight line; it might make her a perfect target. Then again, she also had far less mass than they did.

With a snap to her wings Bronzes’ frame leveled out against the ground that those below fought on. She could have smelled the grass in the air from how closely she came to splattering against the soil, but some of those behind her didn’t fare so well. Taking a bullet to the rune was one thing, crushing yourself against the ground like a can under your own weight was a different matter. The rune might not be totally destroyed in the end, but if the body was shattered like that, the automaton was next to useless.

While a few clawed against the air trying desperately to slow their decent, even less managed to do so. Those that failed buried themselves in the dirt and marked their own graves with the crater. Others though that were higher found more fortune, and continued their pursuit of the mare. Turning every which way between the buildings that dotted this more upscale town and rose several stories up.

Around her, the rounds ricocheted off of the brick buildings the flock passed by in their hunt. Banking to another corner, Bronze grabbed hold of a flag pole with her talon and slingshot her way to make the tight turn. Causing a few more of the group behind her to lose their place and over shoot. With a turn of her back on a straight road, the mare took aim at another in the lead. This time the round flying true and dropping the creation from the air with a crunch to the pavement.

With her back turned however, those on the ground had an even clearer shot.

One round later and the mares’ wing locked up for a moment, causing her to plummet towards the ground. After an attempt, one wing responded, while its counterpart acted as nothing but a boats sail. Bronze touched down with all the grace and dignity of pelican chick crashing upon its first test at flight.

The cloak around her was ruined by this point, nothing but a few shreds of fabric now, leaving her to shirk the rest of it and get to her hooves. Tugging the hammer from its grasp, she pulled the belt from the cloak and tied it to her waist. Bronze looked around at her surroundings and realized one fact.

She had made a circle.

Around her were both the soldiers of Seren and those that once served under her. Each at the others throat, with her caught in the middle at this town square. Backing up to a tree for some cover, the mare looked to the wing that gave out on her and saw the culprit. One slug had neatly punched through a gem along its frame. It was a small target to hit, no doubt luck more than anything, but effective none the less.

‘I should still be able…’ Bronze gave it all the concentration she could, focusing on the remaining stones and skipping over that one entirely. With a gentle motion, the appendages that gave her flight once more flared out. Giving the mare a much-desired sigh of relief that she wasn’t totally grounded. With a tug of her rifle, she trotted between cover on her way to where she saw those under Seren fighting.

Breaking in to a full gallop at this point, Bronze leapt across the cover that those soldiers found for themselves. As a few barrels were pointed her way, and she held up a talon, “Rest assured, I’m on your side,” she answered their unspoken question.

Given her appearance, she could understand the confusion they all wore. One at least decided it was a good time to ask what they all wondered, “Who are you? You don’t look like any auxiliary I've ever seen,” one of the gryphons, in charge or not, Bronze couldn’t tell. Spoke up as he dropped another clip of rounds in to the rifle held in his talons, “then again… with having these things drop out of the blue into town, we could probably use the extra help.”

Aiming up and over the upturned wagon, with an expert shot from the gryphon the back of the ponies armored neck blew out and put the rest of the body out of commission immediately. That told Bronze the soldiers here knew where to aim, and gave her a tinge of hope that this town may not be completely overwhelmed.

Putting her back to their cover, the mare joined in on the fight and took pot shots side by side with those of Seren she targeted not but a month or two ago. ‘Or was it three months?’ she asked herself while picking off another gryphon that tried to get the drop on them from above, ‘you know, I can’t tell any more.’

Cycling her action back and forth, a few more of those that made up the opposition dropped. Just as all of those shoulder to shoulder with her joined in. Both sides were equally matched in skills, and both were just as determined. As Bronze looked at it, the only real difference between her automatons and Serens finest, was the tin soldiers cared little about who else was in the cross fire.

“You! Stay back!” another soldier by her shouted to a few civilians that had crossed a little too close to the park.

Looking at the couple, and seeing one of her creations going in for the kill, Bronze dropped her shoulders and lunged across the street. Beating her wings to build up momentum as she strode the distance. With a kick up from her hind legs, a hoof connected with the helmet and snapped the leather straps that held it on. Exposing the gem on the inside for her claw to do its work, she drained it and charged back up some of her wings.

“Bronze?” the voice she knew all too well called out to her.

Turning her head around, the mare locked eyes with the stallion she had been avoiding, and from there her legs followed the same path. Planting themselves to the ground like a tree, Bronze froze where she stood, and lost all sense of reality as her lips tried to say anything to him.

“Oh! Hi, Marble,” a few more fuses went out in her head as she kicked herself, ‘Really?! That’s the best you can-?’

A swift kick later, and Bronze found herself riling in pain from the likely broken ribs delivered by the dog that had ran up to meet her. Laying there out on the cobble stone street, she looked up and saw the canine spinning up its gatling as the rounds started to fly through the air. They may not have been the largest, but they still stung like no other in her rump.

With a dive and a kick of her own, the sales stand that made her own temporary cover continued to get chewed through by the second. Forcing her to stay put, and giving time for another to catch up. With a lunge, the pony automaton leapt over the top and landed atop the mare. With nothing in its hooves to fight with, the creation settled for trying to pummel the mare underneath with its own hooves.

Whipping her head back and forth to avoid the punches, Bronze felt the stone path begin to break under the impacts. Before her hind hooves lifted the automaton up and off of her. Thanks to a strong pair of talons, the mare grabbed hold of the ponies armored shell and held it out in front of her as she walked in to the path of the dog.

Rounds continued to pour out from its multiple barrels, without even the slightest care that one of its own remained in the path of them to their target. It didn’t matter, as long as there was a chance of her still being killed. It would keep shooting.

Until a magazine runs out.

With the clicking of the firing pins, it reached behind in the satchel to pull out another box of ammunition. Leaving the mare to make her move. With the heap of metal still in her hooves from the now ‘dead’ automaton, Bronze heaved the corpse in to the frame of the dog. Knocking not only it back, but also the gun from its metal paws.

A double buck to its face did little to waver it though, and with a hefty swipe. Bronze narrowly missed being turned in to a kick ball. Yet, even as it missed, the body of the dog locked up and even started to twitch for but a moment. Until she pulled her rifle clean and shoved the barrel in to the visor, taking a clean shot though its inner workings.

“You’re welcome,” Marble trotted up to her as Bronze turned to meet him.

“Thank you… now lets get the hell out of here!” she shouted, and only received a nod.

With a few rounds still landing around them, the pair headed back to the building that he had originally be in and shut the door behind them. Inside, Bronze saw more of the fear her creations had instilled into every town or city they stepped. Several other ponies, a few even foals, all huddled behind the bar counter. Leaving herself and the colt to look towards the windows.

“One thing I don’t get,” the colt asked as he and the mare watched a few automatons fight those of the nation. “If you brought them to life, why do they want to kill you?”

‘Okay… not the question I was expecting…’ Bronze paused for a moment while her mind caught up with her, “I don’t know… maybe self-preservation?” she offered to him as his face turned to confusion, “I mean what would be the greatest threat to a creation? Their creator… at least in theory.”

“Bronze!” the squeal of a filly pushed past the sounds of gun fire, as Bronze found herself tackled by the kin of the colt, “I knew you’d be back!”

While the mare might have otherwise enjoyed to see the ever-growing face of embarrassment on the colt, the crash of the window beside them quickly put any and all damper on those thoughts. A gryphon and pony tin soldier stood before those in the bar, eying not the ones that hid behind the counter, but the mare in front.

A few seconds later, and they still stood there, not moving an inch. Yet still somehow managing to stare in to her soul with their hollow helmets, “Marble…” Bronze almost whispered to the colt, “take Topaz, and the rest of those here, and get out… find a back door.”

“Topaz, get back behind the counter,” Marble said, and stood side by side with the mare, “You don’t have to do it alone you know.”

“Marble this isn’t-!”

With a tackle from the gryphon, Bronze matched her talons with its own and locked in. Tumbling across the room, and smashing a few tables along the way. The automaton held a pistol in its holster, but still didn’t have the time or intuition to grab it before attacking. A lucky break for the mare, as the colt toyed with the other one it had brought.

Marble might have not been a soldier, but going through enough brawls as a kid will teach you something. Between both of them being unarmed, the colt was able to dodge a few of the swings from the armored pony, as he hit it once or twice with a Shock spell from his horn. Then went in with a few swings of his own. Then again, there’s little a bare hoof can do to plate metal. Never the less, it was keeping its attention to him and gave the mare a chance.

A slash from the armored talons to her yielded the mare a fresh set of cuts across her breast. Nothing she hadn’t dealt with before, and with a whip of her wings. The back legs of her body propelled ever faster and landed a solid strike against the bridge of the armored beak to the gryphon.

With a flailing mouth piece, the hollow suit fought on. Pulling the gun from its holster, the round racked neatly in to the chamber and almost immediately her creations started to empty its magazine. From this close, how could it miss? A quick reaction and her limbs held up offered a nearly perfect shield. Bronze might have felt a few of the slugs dig into her back legs, but more ricocheted off the talons.

The skidding of a helmet over to them broke their attention from one another. As Bronze grabbed hold of both the armor piece and her own tool, pancaking its head between them. They might not be flesh and bone, but an impact like that from an infuriated mare will still do a number on any creature.

With a slump of its form, her eyes met those of the stallion across from her, and Marble stood next to an automaton still looking around for its head. A clear shot to its weakness now presented to her, Bronze slid across the tavern and grabbed hold of its rune and gem. Draining the life of its being and causing the whole contraption to join its brethren.

“So, I guess I was right…” Marble looked at some of the chaos outside, and their little slice of it in this place, “you do go and find this kind of trouble on your own.”

“And you just joined in on my trouble!” she huffed at him, but that didn’t stop a smirk from escaping her lips, “welcome to my-”

The ringing of a shot broke their talk, and the mare turned to see the gryphon getting back to its feet. Pistol firmly in its grasp, as it started to fish out another magazine after expending the last shot. With a charge of her horn, the green leech of energy jumped from her appendage and across to it. Burning a neat hole through its chest plate on up to the top of its head. With its rune finally destroyed, and its upper body splitting apart at the seams, the creation of her finally dropped to the ground permanently.

Though the cries of a filly broke through any thought of satisfaction the mare might have had.

“Dad!”

Bronze turned to face the colt once more, and if it weren’t for the rush of blood she was getting from the fighting. She may have gone pale at the sight of Marble there on the ground, a single wound on his chest as his filly cradled her father. With tears streaming down her face on to his chest, Topaz fought to get his attention and keep his eyes open, yet with every breath he took, a little more of the light in his eye faded.

It was a sight she never got to experience with her own dad.

And it was one she was glad she didn’t after seeing the pain on Topazes face.

“No…” were the only words that left her lips as she galloped up to the stallions’ side.

His breathing was getting shallower, and with the amount of blood that was coming from the tiny hold in his chest. There must have been something important that was struck, or at the very least nicked. With a heave of her talons, Bronze picked up the colt and dragged him outside. There the fighting was still going on between her own creations, and those of Seren. How much longer it would go for she couldn’t know, but she didn’t even care.

Looking around, the mare hoped to see some sort of medical staff treating those during the fight. Yet, there were none, those present were only armed with weapons not bandages. With Topaz clinging to her fathers’ torso, and sobbing in to his chest. Bronze looked for any other place she could take him, somewhere she might be able to help mend the damage that was done.

If she could rebuild her body with nothing more than metal, gems, and a little will power. Why couldn’t she do something at least for him?

‘Anywhere, anywhere at all!’ she looked frantically as his fluids started to make their mark on the stone path of road, ‘a hospital, medical tent… hell I’ll take a vet at this point!’ Bronze yelled to herself.

Though the only sight that filled her vision, was the shining beacon to most of Seren.

Boralus.

It was crazy, it was stupid to think she could go there and make it out alive, but being alive right now didn’t matter to her. She had to make sure he lived, and if there was anywhere in this whole country with the best medical equipment, it would be the capital. Particularly, one building in mind.

With a flare of her wings, Bronze grabbed hold of the colt around his waist, and her eyes locking with the tear ridden filly, “I need you to hold on to me, Topaz,” the tears didn’t stop in the child’s eyes, and the mare had to force herself to stay strong for the two of them.

“But… what about-” was about all she got out, before a talon hushed the filly gently against her lips.

“Please… trust me, I know you have every reason to hate me for leaving,” Bronze bit her tongue to keep the tears at bay, as she leveled with the filly, “But just this once… trust me.”

With no idea what to do herself, Topaz climbed up on to her back and wrapped her hooves around the mares’ neck. With a tight grasp, and her face buried in Bronzes’ coat, Topaz clenched her eyes. Leaving the mare to pick herself up and the colt with her as she pointed herself in the direction towards the spire.

***

Had it been minutes, hours, or even seconds? Bronze wasn’t sure. All she knew was her wings were flailing against the wind as they beat feverishly to make amends. The stallion in her grip was still warm against her chest, though any breathing he had done earlier slowed or maybe even stopped as she made the journey. With a quick eye along the spire, the mare tuned in to one of the windows she knew well from her last visit.

“Topaz!” the mare shouted to her companion through the wind rushing past them, “I need you to hold on as tight as you can!”

With the sudden tightening of the hooves around her, Bronze about gagged as her filly almost managed to choke her. Her wings tucked to the side and wrapped the stallion in them acting as shield, and with a pause it seemed she dive bombed towards the window pane. The sky had been clear luckily, and with the castle quickly growing in her freefall Bronze waited for the best moment to throw the breaks. Knowing her life wasn’t the only one in jeopardy. As she approached, the flaring of her wings broke her speed. Leaving her horn to charge up a quick pulse of energy.

One shot sped ahead of its tip, and impacted the window. Shattering it inwards to the room, and giving Bronze a clear path to the stone floor below. With a touch down of her limbs, the mare rested the stallion against the cool ground underneath. Her eyes shot up to those in the room with her, two nurses in medical garb walked around as they checked stocks and supplies due to the lack of patients that needed tending in any of the beds. Both startled and stuck in place from the by the sudden intrusion of the mad looking mare.

With her breath finally able to catch up from the flight, Bronze let out one cry, “Medic!”

Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

Princess Saving Grace walked the halls of her castle calmly, already having gotten word of the pests that had recently started picking on one of her neighboring towns. It was a stones throw from her own capital, but with the reinforcements already dispatched she doubted those aggressors would last much longer.

Right now, to her curiosity, she waded over the reports that were given to her by those from the mine. Particularly, what was found along the various kinds of Automatons she was already familiar with.

“You had been a busy bee…” the size of the creation sounded exaggerated, but then again given the tenacity of another pony. It seemed well in her ability to create such a thing.

The few guards she passed by threw up their salutes and the mare just as quickly dismissed the gesture, still growing in inquisitiveness to the report. The various ones that existed all seemed to have their own purpose in a way that they served. ‘Hmm equine variety are more or less cannon fodder, Gryphon fills the role of support with weapon fire… and the dogs remain as they have in flesh and blood, behemoths on the battlefield,’ Grace looked over the smaller snippet that was written about the forged reptilian creation, ‘So what roll are you? Ring leader, master, tactician?’

A whimper as she walked brought the princess to a halt in the hallway, leaving her to look around at the vacant halls that resided in either direction. Some of those that worked at the castle would occasionally bring their own kin in from time to time; while they went about their shift for the day, so children running about if anything weren’t uncommon.

“What could be upsetting one though?” Grace waded around the hall trying to zero in on the youngling.

Finally, resting at the door outside of medical, a small aqua looking filly sat with her hooves curled up to her face as she wept in to them. The princess knew most of the kin that were her staffs, yet this one eluded her to the parents. With her walk slowing to a tip-toe, Saving Grace eased herself up towards the filly, as her wing put the record away under its fold and its twin extended out to the silver mane of the young one.

“Easy now little one,” the regal mare gently stroked the top of the filly, causing her head to slowly rise to meet her own. The bloodshot eyes of those so young were something Grace had hated seeing, and one she was familiar with from having them herself before, “What troubles you, miss…?”

After giving her time to adjust and get her breath, the filly sucked in another and whispered, “…Topaz…”

“Well, Miss Topaz,” Grace knelt down to her stomach, trying her best to smile at the filly and give her all the care that her own mother had done when she was young, “What’s bothering you? If I may.”

It took a few seconds, and a few more for the filly to even look, but soon enough Topaz looked too the door she resided by and pointed at it with a trembling hoof. “My dad… he’s hurt, they’re trying to help him…” she stopped for another sob, “But he just seems to be hurt so… bad.”

“There, there little one,” Grace eased the filly up to her hooves and in to her own embrace, as she let the tears drain in to her chest. “The doctors and nurses here at the castle are some of the best in the nation, they’ll-”

“She’s helping them as well,” Topaz cut the princess off with a sniffle, “I hope with how she fixed herself up, she can do the same for my dad.”

Graces’ ears perked up with those words, as one of her eyes cocked in wonder, “And who might this she be?”

“…Miss Bronze.”

With a snap of her eyes at the sounding of that name, Grace did her best to keep her face one that lived up to her name. Using her wing, the Pegasus reached out to the handle and gently twisted it to not alert those inside. From the crack, the mare watched another moving at a feverish pace, tearing nearly a tornado through the medical bay.

After an even more gentle close of the door, and the best reassuring smile she could give. The princess once again kneeled down to the filly as she stood, putting them at eye level, “I know you would likely want to stay here and wait,” she could see the yearning in Topazes eyes, “though being just outside of the door will only make you worry more.”

With a drop of her head, the filly nodded once, “Yeah… I guess you’re right…”

“Come with me my dear,” Grace lifted Topaz up and on to her back, “let’s wait somewhere more comfortable, and to help clear your mind.”

For a moment Topaz agreed completely, though a press to the mares’ shoulder blades made her stop there, “But… how will Bronze know where I am when she comes out?”

“Oh… don’t you worry about that,” Grace calmed her once more, “I’ll be sure she knows.”

Bronze herself raced around the room just as the princess had silently observed. Rummaging through equipment and tools of the trade like she would any workshop. Living creatures to the mare were nothing more than biological machines. She might not have understood all that made a pony tick, but she knew how to fix machinery… some just had more blood than oil. Meanwhile, the two nurses that were present during her crash tended to the colt. Using a manual ventilator to keep air going to his lungs, and sterilizing the area across his chest near the wound.

‘I can fix this… I can fix this,’ the mare told herself over and over again, because if she couldn’t, how would she ever face the filly again? “Use an Anesthetic spell!” she yelled over to the unicorn of the two, as the Pegasus kept the press on giving air.

Coming back over to the two by his side, Bronze brought out a surgical tray with all the gear she had hoped she’d need. Forceps, bandages, gauze, surgical scissors, fluid rags, sterile needle and threat, scalpel, and even a bone saw. Amongst nearly every other chest surgery tool. Eying the nurse applying the spell, Bronze hoofed over the scalpel to her.

“Make a cut across the wound, the round went somewhere inside and-”

“I don’t know what I’m doin’!” the mare shouted back at her with a country twang, “I’m here only part time, the most I've done surgery wise is set a bone! I usually take inventory.”

A roll of her eyes, and a small shove later. The frenzied mare placed herself where the mare had once been, “Then just give me tools as I need them!” a nod later and the unicorn finished the spell and went to Bronzes’ side.

With an expert use of her talons, Bronze was thankful she didn’t try to do something like hooves to blend in more. All the while as her digits carved in to the soft tissue with the tool, an aura from her horn held on to the rags and applied them to the wound as she cut. There the next step presented itself, the clear shattering of a rib by the round giving an indication to where it had gone.

“Bone saw,” she called out.

Just as it was hoofed over, both her talons started going to work. Bringing the medical device back and forth on Marbles’ sternum to open up a cavity. The mare was just thankful Topaz went outside short of a fuss; she wouldn’t have wanted in here for this part. Especially after hearing the crack from the bone finally giving way.

“Cavity-,” was all she got out as the spacer was thrust in to view.

Latching it on to either side of his ribs, the mare took note with every breath that was pumped in to him his lungs still managed to inflate. A good sign for the mare, as she held out her talons to the assistant. Without even so much as a question, her appendages were scrubbed down with alcohol and Bronze gently moved them past where the hole had been.

Pushing one lung to the side that had miraculously dodged the round, the bullet she found lodged there just towards the back of the chest cavity… his heart just barely in the path of it.

The notch dug in to the muscular organ spurted blood with every shallow beat that it took. Causing the mares’ own heart to nearly match his as she tried to work out how to fix this. ‘Stich it up?... No, it wouldn’t truly heal afterwards… cauterize it?... but what if the scar tore later on,’ idea after idea raced through her mind while the pages of medical books she read over the years flipped one after the other, just as much as the race against time slowly ticked away. With a pair of forceps, she removed the round from his chest and dropped it on to another tray on hoof. He was losing blood, that was no doubt.

“Think damn it!” she facepalmed with her blood covered talon, desperately wishing for an answer to-

There, as she looked towards her own appendage, it clicked to her. Each little answer twinkling in their own housing, giving her a power that ended many lives over the years. Yet now, she hoped would restore one. “Blood Pumps and a Heart Lung Machine!” Bronze shouted out to her forced assistants, “I know a good number of hospitals have them in Seren, where would yours be?”

The Pegasus continued pumping air to his lungs, as the unicorn took over and sopped up the blood that spurted from the wound. “Third door down!” the unicorn yelled back, having memorized the layout by this point, “shelf marked Cardiovascular!”

Almost gliding over the other beds in the bay, Bronze found the door in question and about kicked it off its’ hinges. There stacked on the shelves were boxes and sealed containers of various other medical equipment. Everything from transfusion kits, to gem powered cardiac resuscitation devices. Right next to which, resided the gadgets desired.

Ripping the cover off of the box, Bronze looked down at the machine. She had learned about them in development, during her time prepping for the war she was working to light off. Judging by the number of articles in papers she had seen of the revolutionary technology saving some ponies. It was a no brainer that the castle with the best medical treatment, would have one on hoof.

Various bladders on it housed simple rubber valves inside that helped direct the blood as it was pumped around the body. While between them resided a rotating motor fitted with connecting arms that attached to the bladders, pushing and pulling on their membranes to keep the fluids moving.

A simple, smallish, but complex creation that could take the place of a ponies’ natural heart. Though they had to typically be wired to the outside still to keep the power going. Something that she had in her mind a way around to help the colt even further. Looking over the design, with the larger tubes attached to it, there’s no way it’d fit in to a chest to begin with given her plans.

Returning to her surgeon nature, the mare delicately removed those tubes, careful not to damage the actual housing itself as she went. With an even more careful touch, her horn lit up as it carved into the mechanism itself, just like she had done so many times with her own works. Working as if a chisel to wood, a few notches were created along the connecting arms, each with its own teeth to hold something within. As the etching was done, as if second nature, on the inside to better stabilize the spell.

‘For everything I have left… in this world, or the next,’ she looked towards the device, and her limb itself, ‘please let this work.’

A tug of her horn later, and a several of her own gems were ripped from the appendage. Controlling it, Bronze watched them float through the open air as they rested into the notches, and the metal teeth around it she brought back over holding those stones in place. There the gems continued to glow with the same energy that it gave her. Her limb itself now going partially limp from the loss.

Grabbing hold of a small cart she put the newly made device on top, as she loaded it up with the resuscitation device as well. Turning her attention back to the shelf, the mare plucked the HLM off and dragged it along the way back to her station.

As Bronze readied herself for the next operation, a splattering of blood covered the unicorn as she tried to soak up what she could. “Damn it!” the mare yelled out as she grabbed even more gauze and fluid rags through blood-soaked eyes, “The ventricle tore open!”

Even with a weakened beat to it, Marbles’ heart still had enough strength to it to rip its own self apart. Bronze leapt up to her side as the nurse tried to wipe her eyes clear to see, “Do you have any blood on hoof?” she waited before adding, “no, I don’t know the blood type…”

With a shake of her head the mare dismissed Bronzes’ worry, “I can test for that at least with this,” she tapped her horn, and held a few of the fluid-soaked rags to her side, “I’ll be back, just keep him stable till then.”

Leaving the two of them alone as she went towards another supply room. Bronze fought to hold a press on the leaking organ with her damaged limb, and looked towards the Pegasus, “I need you to stop for a moment to help me,” the mare calmed her nerve as best she could, knowing this part would require a little precision.

With a hesitant hoof, the Pegasus put down the ventilator and looked over the colt that grew paler with every ounce of blood lost. “What do you need?” she asked, seeing the desperation in her fellow mare.

“Get four pairs of forceps, and crimp off the arteries and veins as I go, and help me attach the tubes to the Heart Lung Machine,” the ever-growing confusion on her face told Bronze she either hadn’t a clue where she was going with this, or didn’t think she could be serious, “I’m going to replace his heart.”

“But… but… that’ll probably kill him to begin with!” the Pegasus shouted, mentally going over the list of ways that could end with a corpse. “He’s already lost a lot of blood, and removing his heart cou-”

“If I don’t, he’s dead, if I do nothing, he’s dead, if I tried repairing the wound, he’ll still be dead!” Bronze shouted back as she too looked over his body as it slowly turned stiff. “Out of everyone that I had a part in killing, every single one of them as senseless as the next, his would be the last ounce of blood I’d want on my hooves…”

The dejection in her words were from a pony lost on what else to do, and it was one the nurse had heard a few times now in her career. With no word being spoken at first, the Pegasus simply lowered her head, “I’ve got a few more years on the job than my coworker, and I’ve seen a lot more surgeries than she,” the mare started eying around the room at the places she had recently seen some of the gear, “just tell me what you need me to do.”

With a flutter of her wings the nurse went around and gathered up the supplies needed, rummaging through the on-hoof tools stored at each bed stand for quick need. Standing across from one another, Bronze took a deep breath and nodded to her assistant, as she lifted the press that kept the blood down. With his chest starting to fill, both mares worked in tandem.

Fighting with her appendage to get it to do what she wanted like a stubborn child. Bronze crimped the supply off to the heart, and the Pegasus prepped the machine to take the load off of his body. Slowly but surely, the blood started to wane, and go from a spray to a dribble before finally coming to a stop. Each mare covered face to chest in blood ignored it all, as they went about their own tasks.

With an incision, Bronze cut in to the vessels that fed the heart and brought the blood to the body. All the while, the other mare held each of the tubes to the machine in place, making her own incisions along the way to give them something to feed from. A flip of a switch later from her wing, and the blood that remained started to fill the tubes as they made their way to the pump. Once again leaving their work area of the chest cavity devoid of fresh blood to fill it.

The nurse grabbed up what fluid rags they had left and tried cleaning out the space they had to work with as best she could. While Bronze plucked out her half thrown together creation and set it next to the colt, before turning her attention to the natural organ.

With a tactful talon, and a sharp scalpel. One by one the tendons and connective tissue met their match, and the heart was severed. Leaving the organ to lie in the chest without any nerves feeding it a signal. A few more beats came from the muscle by residual impulse, before it finally went still.

Every medical book, journal, or even pamphlet while at the doctors was going through the young mares’ eyes in a flash. She had learned some while in school sure, but her real passion and drive is what taught her so much more. Her self-learned skills allowed her to fix up the body she called her own, and maybe now it could help this stallion in his time of need.

With the damaged organ now removed, Bronze doused the replacement she had crafted in alcohol to sterilize. It didn’t need to last him a life time, just long enough to get him on his hooves again and breathing. Somewhere out there, there had to be a way to fix him up right as rain with a better replacement. Until that time, all the mare needed was for this one to work.

Setting the new one in place. Each vessel was brought to is corresponding organic partner and married together with a spell, the same one Bronze had used to attach the bases of her own limbs to her body. Soft tissues formed and fused to composites; openings closed up as any fluids that leaked from crimps made had soon dissipated. From pony to machine, it all looked now as one whole structure in the unconscious stallions’ chest.

With care, the machine that kept blood going to his body was shut off and the tubes removed one by one. Those holes sealed up with a few stitches left the two ponies there for the moment of truth. Carefully the mares to remove each pair of forceps one by one, fulling putting the colts’ life in the amalgamation of metal and magic.

As the fluids routed to the artificial organ for the first time, both mares held their breath. As one broke out the piece needed to kick start it. With a jerk of her head, Bronze gestured the nurse to step back as she brought the charged paddles to either side of the contraption.

A jolt surged through, and with one pump it spread the life-giving fluid coursing throughout the body… but it wasn’t enough. After that first pump, the machine hadn’t turned over and carried on its own. The mare became disheartened, and let the machine charge up once more, before repeating the process.

Again, one push of blood, but nothing stuck. ‘Come on…’ she thought.

Running the paddles between one another, they soon found the sides of the heart by the mares’ talons. Marbles’ body jerked from this surge, but it fell back to the bed, as did Bronzes’ withering hope.

“Come on…” she whispered.

The mare might have thought the one across from her was saying something, but from here she was in her own world. Lost in thought like she would be in a shop, this time however, the stakes were ever higher. Another charge leeched into the false organ, and another burst of blood shot through the chilling colt.

“Come on, Marble!” Bronze shouted at the colt.

For a third time, Bronze tried to do something right in this world, and for a third time… She failed.

With a slump, the paddles fell from her talons on to the bed the still colt resided in. Now left to act not only as a viewing table, but a tissue to the mare as her face buried into the sheets. For all the tech she’d created over the years, both for herself and others. It mattered little to the mare now, if she couldn’t save just one… this one.

“I’m sorry, Marble…” she whispered under a heavy breath that dripped with sorrow, “I’m so sorry…”

All of this work she had done to end the turmoil between nations, and what had it resulted in? The same tragedy that set her on this course, a daughter losing her father… only this time she’s the one who caused the loss to the child.

A tear met the sheets that held the colt warmer than she ever hoped to on her own, ‘I already had enough to make up for, and now there’s something for which I’ll never find atonement,’ she looked at the still image on the stallions’ face as he laid there.

The pressure from a hoof sat on her shoulder, at this point that simple act should have set the mare off. Yet, the comforting rub from the unicorn settled her down, “Easy their lass… ya certainly did you’re dandiest to help the guy.”

“There’s so much more… I should have done though,” Bronze shook her head at her failure, “or at the very least-”

Thump…

It was a small motion, barely felt through the bedding. At first, she thought it might have just been her imagination playing tricks on her to bring about what could only be hoped. As Bronze leaned up more, looking at the thing she had helped create and power, she waited…

Listening…

Hoping…

… thump… thump…

The diaphragm of the replica gave way, as what blood remained filled them and pushed it through the body. The smaller gem that she installed glowed brighter with every pulse it sent through.

… thump thump… thump thump…

And with each pump it grew stronger. Soon enough, the lungs that had to be forced to do their job steadily shook to life in his cavity. It wasn’t spectacular at first, both the pulse and breathing were shallow at best, nothing noteworthy in a medical journal. Though it was something of progress.

It was one Bronze had helped save.

Collapsing at the side, even with his chest still open, the mare started thanking whatever it was that was listening to her wishes. ‘I can’t repay what you have given me today,’ her eyes grew with tears.

“Easy now,” the same unicorn responded, and brought a few medical bags of what Bronze could only guess was blood, “ya did the hard part…”

“We can manage from here…” the Pegasus followed up with as she looked at the blood going in and out of the heart her counterpart threw together. Though the worried eyes from the mare told the nurse everything she needed to know, “Don’t worry, I’ve closed up wounds post surgery… all I need is another pair of hooves to help,” she gestured to her counterpart.

“Go tend to the little one you brought in…” the unicorn responded and trotted up to the side of Marble.

Bronze wiped what tears she had that trailed down her face, and managed to get up to her own feet. With a shaky step at first, she wanted to argue with the nurses to let her see the thing through. Never the less, it was in Marbles’ hooves at this point. As she watched the unicorn fix in a few bags of blood to his foreleg, Bronze knew it was his bodies choice now if it wanted to pull through or not.

Though, if he was listening, it could always use some helping words from a child.

Going over to the wash basin at the front of the room. The mare cleaned off the fluids that caked along her plates, as she fumbled more with the limb she had sacrificed. Though it was a small price to pay if it worked out in the end, she could always get more gems. Topaz couldn’t get a new father.

Cleaned up now, and more or less dragging her talon half the way. The mare held her head low at first. Not entirely sure what her first words to the filly should even be. Then again, she also didn’t know what her words should be to the dozen or so armed guards standing semi-circle around her. Each one armed with one of her weapons, and each one at the ready.

The one directly ahead stepped forth as his comrades kept their sights trained on the stricken mare, “Hello, Miss Bolt,” the guard gave a single nod to her, a gesture the mare wasn’t sure how to take, “Her majesty has requested your presence.”

“That much I figured,” she rolled her eyes, already knowing there’d probably be a chopping block in her near future.

“… though she did say to get you after you were done working,” a statement that made the mares’ ears perk up.

***

It felt like she had walked half the castle by this point, but eventually Bronze with her escorts came to the bedroom door of her majesty herself. With a pair of guards opening them for her, two guards followed in behind the mare, guns still drawn on her back.

Princess Grace sat there on her couch in the den portion of her room, with the aqua filly there curled up to her side. A careful wing stroking over her mane as the soft whimpers from before may not have died out, but at the very least stemmed a bit.

Upon their arrival the tear ridden eyes of the youngling rose up and locked on the mare across from her. Almost in flash, Topaz leapt from the couch at Bronze. Her small hooves thumping in to the breast of the mare over and over again.

“Why did you have to go and leave like that!” the filly shouted at her through the tears, “Dad was happy when you were there! Then you up and left!”

Bronze on the other hoof, just stood there enduringly and took it. It was the fillies right to be angry at her over what had happened to her father, and that thought conveyed even to the other mare in the room. Both ponies looked at one another, Grace saw the pain in her equal that she tried to hold back, and Bronze saw what could only think of as contempt in what she had put the young one through.

“And now Dads! He’s… he’s…” Topaz didn’t get those words out fully, but her hooves answered for her.

The mare kneeled down to meet her face to face. Which garnished a few decent hits across her brow from the filly. In time, those hit stopped, and all Topaz could do was just look at her with the few remaining tears falling free. Almost as if by reflex, Bronze reached out with her talons and pulled the filly in to her. The coat on her chest dampened as the filly sniffled, and all the older mare could do was rub her talons along her back trying to comfort her.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Topaz,” Finally joining the filly in the sorrow and letting her own emotion show face. Bronze controlled it a little better than the young one, and held in most of the tears she wanted to shed, but still a few managed to get past her, “I hadn’t been the best of ponies for a while now, and I didn’t want to get him hurt,” her gaze momentarily went over to the princess, before adverting her eyes, “fine job I did…”

“The only time I’d ever seen him like that before… was when we’d talk about mom…” Topaz pipped up as she wiped her eyes on the coat of the mare, looking up to see Bronzes’ own anguish. “He missed you, even if he didn’t say it, I could still see it all over his face.”

She could tell that much from when she saw him in the market, “Truth be told… I missed him too,” Bronze confessed, finding more faults on her part, before she tried to smile a bit at the filly, “both of you for that matter.”

It may not have been the largest Bronze had seen on the young mares’ face, but the shadow of a smile that Topaz gave her warmed her heart in a way she couldn’t describe. “Is he… is he alright?” the smile vanished and soon was replaced with worry, “Did you make him better?”

A sigh from her mouth wasn’t what she had hoped to tell the child, but there was only so much she could do. “I tried, he’s still asleep… but I fixed what in him had been hurt,” the mare didn’t want to go in to a huge amount of detail regarding the messier bits, but with a little squeeze she tried to perk the filly up, “although if the nurses are done, I see no reason you can’t go see him… maybe talk to him a bit? He can probably hear you still.”

That did the trick, the smile returned in full force on Topazes’ face as she squeezed Bronze a little more, “Thank you for helping him, and for coming back…” she paused there for a moment, “…you are coming back…right?”

“Of course, I am,” the mare nodded to her, before biting the edge of her lip, “If you’ll both have me still.”

“Promise?”

It was one word, but it was one that made the mares’ heart pause. “I promise,” she lied, knowing in the end it wouldn’t be her who controlled that fate. Bronze looked up from the filly to the princess, surprised to see a beam on her face to match Topaz, “I imagine the princess would like a word with me though.”

A nod from the mare in question answered that silently, “Thank you for bringing her,” Grace spoke to the two guards that joined them, “Although I think we’ll be fine on our own for now, would one of you be able to escort Miss. Topaz back to her dad? If the nurses are wrapped up.”

“Of course, your majesty,” the guard saluted, “We’ll have another outside if she causes you any trouble.”

“Oh… I doubt that’ll be an issue,” Grace about purred.

Chapter 20

Chapter twenty

With her talons clicking back and forth to one another, Bronze sat in the chair and twiddled them about as her host resided across from her on the couch. Neither one had said anything since the guards had left, and Bronze was starting to worry if the princess was just thinking of creative ways to punish her.

“So-” Grace got out, before her fellow mare cut her off.

“If you’re going to jail me, or just out right kill me… both of which I more than deserve granted,” Bronze rattled off, as the brow to the mare opposite of her raised up with curiosity, “all I request is that it be done after seeing the colt wake up.” A gulp filled her throat, stammering herself for but a moment, “I know I have no room to make any appeals, but… I’ll go quietly if that is answered.”

Grace leaned back in to the cushions and crossed her legs, staring intently at the mare and making a near bead of sweat trickle down the back of Bronzes’ neck. She’d seen this mare go from the calm and collected head of her own army, once staring her own death in its face with a smile, to now one filled with worry over another.

“Hmm… who is that colt? Certainly went through a lot of trouble to help him.” The attentive princess looked over the various spots on a limb that seemed to not quite mirror its partner.

“You might recall that story I told you?” she asked, looking back on the memories made here at the castle, “come to think of it… in this very room actually.”

“Ahh that one… how you made your first limbs, and I was your drive,” the sneer in her voice stung for a moment to Bronze, but she couldn’t really blame the princess.

“Yeah… that one…” the metallic mare let the sting subside before she continued, “The colt that helped me back then, that’s the one lying downstairs,” Bronze put a name to the face so she’d remember. “Mister Marble? Mine owner of the one that was infested, ring a bell?”

“Oh him!” the lightbulb went off over her head, “I should have known you were the one that he said was willing to help… I do hope he pulls through; he seems like a nice colt.”

“Yeah… he is,” Bronze hadn’t realized it, but the grin that was growing on her lips was getting bigger by the second. “I had to help him somehow, for all he had done for me,” she showed off the limb a little more, letting the princess take in the parts of her she gave up, “I can always replace them… something though can’t be.”

With a stretch of her wing Grace reached over to the stand by the couch and pulled out a bottle with two glasses, cradling them in her feathers. Pouring some of the amber liquor in to both she offered to her counterpart. “If you would indulge me for a moment,” Graces’ eyes started to narrow to all the work Bronze had put in to herself since they last met. The newly decorated horn, the wings that rejoined her along the back, to the ornate limbs. To her Marble had given the mare more than just a few gems to work with, “how did you managed to get off your airship? Hell, myself and Iron barely did, and last I checked he took your wings.”

Swishing the liquid around in the glass, Bronze was hesitant at first but finally took a swig of the strong stuff. It had burned sure, but regardless she wasn’t about to start gasping in front of this company, “Teleportation spell,” she tapped the top of her horn to one gem with a talon, “uses a lot of juice at once sure, but in a pinch, it comes in handy.”

“Especially when you’re fighting your own automatons, I’d imagine…” Grace knocked her glass back in one go and earned an inquisitive look from the mare. “Oh, that I get from spending too much time with Iron.”

“Figured you two would get together…” Bronze rolled her eyes at the memory of their encounters.

“Well nearly dying has a way of bringing ponies closer, plus he’s really not bad once you get to know him,” she thought fondly of her stallion for a moment more, “Speaking of your little creations… they’re causing quite a stir around my country,” Grace poured another glass for herself and put the bottle away so as not to tempt her. “If you could turn them off, get them to stop, or outright destroy them it would be much appreciated.”

With the sweat returning to her, Bronze took another sip of her glass to give her a second. “It’s not that simple…”

A drop on the table brought the report that Grace had been looking through, and using her wing the mare flipped it open as the various pages described everything from the mine. “Then start… by making it simple.”

Here she was in the home of a country she once tried to attack, face to face with a mare she’d imprisoned, and who now had a trump card down in the medical bay that would keep her in check. Was there really anything the mare had left to hold in her deck? Losing any card to play by coming to the palace, Bronze stopped, took another sip, and got down to it.

“The dragon was one of the first ones I had created, after proving they could work, and it’s what commands them now, not me… sort of like a hive mind, and that’s their queen,” it seemed like a good idea at the time sure, freed up a lot of effort on her part to. Although now it’s biting the mare in the back side, “I had given it freedom more or less to make more automatons while I was busy setting my plans in to motion.”

“And judging by my reports it’s still making them,” Grace took a more delicate sip of her glass.

“That’s the thing… it was supposed to have stopped,” the princess now about coughed on that proclamation as the words left Bronzes’ lips, “After I sent out my last command, it was supposed to take control and use only what it had already to continue fighting… yet I keep seeing more and more of the advanced models…”

“So, it kept making more and more,” Grace stated the obvious they learned from the mines. Though, that raised yet another question she had been wanting to ask. “Why continue fighting though? What did you hope to gain?”

The chuckle that escaped her lips wasn’t intended to be one of humor, the mare had just asked herself that question far too many times recently, and it sounded just as stupid coming from another. “Wipe the slate clean… that was my original plan. Take revenge on those that took what I loved from me, and cause enough turmoil in those nations involved it would force them all to work together,” Bronze had thought about it far more now than she did even while making the plans, “Seemed like a good idea at the time…”

“The worst ideas usually are,” Grace admitted, having made a few of them herself over the years, “…what changed then?”

The countless faces of fear she saw with most creatures due to her creations played through her mind like a movie. Every drop of dread that their town could be next to get hit, and it wasn’t a guarantee those that served Seren would be able to help them. All of it painted a pretty grim picture for the mare in the spotlight.

“It didn’t bring anyone together… if anything it just brought terror and worry,” Bronze took another sip from her glass, wondering just how a mare like Grace could handle such a drink, “nothing changed, and when it didn’t, I couldn’t even look at myself anymore… I didn’t even want think what my parents would say to me if they were here.”

Grace watched as her cohorts’ face turned grim, and somewhere in the back of those eyes she swore a tear was starting to build. “What did you try and do afterwards?”

“Jump off a cliff,” she said as nonchalantly as if ordering a meal, and ignored the stricken glance from the princess, “though I woke to one soldier that had pulled me out, and saved me from drowning.” Even having survived the ordeal, she could almost feel the rush of water around her once more, which soon sent a shiver down her spine the more she dwelled on it.

“Not the best of decisions, though I’d wager it cleared your head a bit,” Grace smiled softly to her, causing Bronzes’ ears to splay back. “For what it’s worth…I’m glad it didn’t work.”

“…Why?” she asked bringing a confused stare her way from the princess.

“Pardon?”

“Why would you care if it didn’t work and I’m still breathing? After everything I’ve done, after everything I’ve caused?” Bronzes’ voice started to heat up, and confusion turned to a grin on the princess. Realizing it or not, her forelegs leaned up from the seat and on to the table across to her host. “I’ve leveled towns, helped murder thousands, and brought countries to war! Why would you care if I tried to off myself!”

The door cracked open as one guard poked their head in, at the ready to take the mare down. Though with the raising of her hoof, Grace hushed them as they returned to their post, leaving Bronze to continue her rant. “I’ve done so much in this world that’s irredeemable, and the creations of my own talons are still continuing my legacy!” looking down to her aforementioned appendages, Bronze wasn’t sure if she deserved to have them still attached. Everything that had been caused were the result of painting her own canvas with these instruments.

“You should hate me, you should be throwing me in a jail cell to sit until these fall off from rust, at the very least you should be shouting at me!” still true to her name, Grace sat there never changing an expression as she let the mare have her word, “but no! What are you doing? You’re sitting there listening to me yell and letting that damned smirk grow!” one talon stuck out accusingly to the princess, but the expression on her face didn’t falter, “How I ask? How is it you can seem so calm when the pony that has brought so much chaos is literally within hoofs reach of you?!”

“Because I’ve seen what you’re willing to do for another, and I know you’re trying to do better,” Grace answered her with the same demeanor and poise she was taught to do when but a princess in training. Just like that any heat the mare may have been giving off cooled in an instant, and the furious mares’ proverbial balloon burst at those regal words. “You’re not a bad pony, Bronze,” Grace laid a wing across the talons that started to dig into the table top, “…just got dealt a bad hoof.”

Bronze fell back in to her seat, staring at the one across from her. For a few minutes they sat there like that, Bronze dumbfounded, and Grace smirking at her. A confession like this would have been a slam dunk in any court throughout the lands. Yet, with all of her crimes on the table. One mare still found a way to rationalize it all for another.

Fumbling to herself, the mare threw one talon around in a tuff, almost begging, “At least throw me in jail or something.”

“Can’t right your wrongs from a cell.”

“So… that’s it?” her brow raised up further, trying her best to read the regal figure, “I’m off the hook? Just like that?”

“Hook? No, think of it more like on a tether,” the princess weighed out her options, “…you’re arguably the best bet I have at cleaning up this mess too, so admittingly that helps your odds as well,” Grace summed up, and awkwardly scratched the back of her head. Hoping this wouldn’t be another of those decisions that seemed like a good idea at the time. “But… you also have a promise to keep to that filly.”

Now it was Bronzes’ turn to scratch her own, “You would have had a very upset filly if you didn’t let me keep it…”

“True, but I doubt she would have built an army, made weapons of great destruction, and tried to start a major war just for some pay back against the crown… I mean that’d be crazy,” that shut Bronze down fast, as Grace chuckled at her own sucker punch. “Topaz did speak very highly of you though, told me all about how you’ve been fighting any of your creations that’s crossed your path.”

“And what was I supposed to do?” Bronze offered up something to try and justify her actions, “They’ve actually been hunting me as well, for much the same reason you just said… so if anything, most of those kills were self-defense.”

Tutting in her seat the princess took another sip from her glass, “slice it any which way you want… you’re trying to do better, and if that little filly can show as much admiration towards ya as I just saw, you can’t be as bad as you think.”

“Or she’s a terrible judge of character.”

Getting to her hooves, Grace signaled her fellow mare to join with a twist of her head, as Bronze walked up next to the princess and over to a map spread over a desk in the corner. Everything from the boarders of Seren, to the Gryphon Kingdom and the Diamond Dog Republic laid spread across the parchment. Dotting around the area, Bronzes’ jaw gaped at the rather alarming number of X marks across the lands as well.

“We’ve been keeping a track of where they’ve popped up, and there’s still probably many that don’t even get reported,” the Pegasus pointed with her wing to the mine Bronze had come from. “That’s the first time we’d ever seen the dragon one, and even now there hasn’t been another report of it… we don’t know where it could have gone.”

Looking at the map silently, Bronze scanned the numerous marks as she tried to see some sort of pattern, but nothing jumped to her, “And I’m assuming you want me to try and find it…”

“You’d think something of that size would be easier to locate,” Grace groaned from the lack of anything to give them a place to go off from, “never the less that’d be a start in the right direction for you,” she responded as she rolled the map up and set it to the side. “However, you’ve had a very eventful day, we can discuss the details in the morning…” she watched the mouth of the mare open to ask, and silenced Bronze with a feather to her lips, “I’m not putting you in a cell, not even to stay for the night… you have a pretty outstanding reason to behave here after all, and you should check up on him before retiring yourself.”

A cell might have been more in the mares’ mind for what she deserved. Although getting the chance to see Marble and Topaz did warm a part of her like a fresh charge of magic. It might have been reflex, or it could have been her softer side showing more. In either case, as soon as the princesses wing dropped, one of Bronzes’ own reached and wrapped around her counterpart. Bringing the sky-colored mare into an embrace, and lighting up her cheeks with a rush of blood.

Graces’ legs about froze up from the surprise contact, but feeling that a chuckle escaped from the metallic mare. “Calm down, I don’t have a knife to drive in your back,” Bronze relaxed her, really hoping one of the guards didn’t come in and get that impression, “I just wanted to say… thank you.”

Through her nerves returning for the time being, the stricken mare reached one of her own feathered appendages around returning the gesture, and meeting the canvas appendage in the middle. “While there are somethings that might be unforgivable… it takes a lot to get to that point with me, even when you count the kidnapping,” Grace answered causing her fellow mare to wince as the princess took every ounce of satisfaction from the devilish jab, ‘I’m really starting to turn in to him,’ she thought as they broke from one another. “Now go tend to your colt, we’ll see about getting some replacement stones for you tomorrow as well,” The mare followed up with trying to quell any remaining worry in her guest.

With her cheeks quickly matching her host, Bronze got herself back in gear with a mental kick. “I appreciate that as well, umm… princess,” she started to plod at the ground with a talon, “however, he’s ahh… not my colt,”

“Right…” the princesses eyes did a full 360 as her grin stayed firm, “and I said the same thing to you once, look how that turned out.”

***

The metallic mare creeped the motionless halls of the castle on her own, no escort to bring her back to the ward, and what looked like no guard that passed her paying her much attention as it was. To think word got around this fast in a castle almost reminded her of school in a way. Never the less, her hooves tip toed towards the door in the hall, and with a quiet talon turned the knob to look inside.

There the lights had been dimmed to welcome the approaching night, as the curtains had been drawn, a cover thrown over her impromptu entrance through the window, and the few magical lamps were toned down. Amongst the empty beds, save the one of the colt, one of the nurses that had helped her earlier went about her last minute checks before turning in for the night.

“Ahh you’re back,” the Pegasus said while she cleaned up some of the debris and trash made from the last-minute game of operation. “I had hoped you weren’t in any trouble with her majesty, wasn’t sure what I’d tell her in the morning,” the two of them looked to the lightly snoozing filly as she laid curled up in the chair by her father. A medical gown draped over her frame.

“Thank you for watching over her,” Bronze answered, wondering to herself if that tether would last after the danger was dealt with. “How’s he doing?” her eyes turned to the one that joined the filly.

Thru a sigh the nurse went up to him once more and checked over the work herself and her companion had done as Bronze left. “Honestly, I’m surprised he’s even got a pulse…” she held a hoof to his neck, steadily counting off the beats like she would with any other in her ward, “I don’t know how you did it, but he’s still alive in there.”

Alive didn’t say much about the lifeless looking body there in the bed. Bronze rested a talon on to his forehoof, and got a steady reminder of what kind of price she had to pay to be whole again. “Is he… is he warm?” her worried eyes returned to the Pegasus there, “I… can’t tell.”

The nurses’ sympathetic eyes looked to the mare and brought out a thermometer from her gown, and quickly popped it in the colts’ mouth, “hmm… and about a hundred and one, perfectly normal,” she put the tool back in her pocket for safe keeping. “He really turned around after you left and we got those blood bags into him. Now it’s just waiting till he’s ready to come back.”

“Yeah… that’s the part I hate,” she looked over his frame once more, particularly at the chest.

The stitch work of where the cut was made earlier was exquisite, undoubtedly years ahead of her own when it came to even sewing wings. Then again, flesh and canvas were two different things. Regardless, if that’s how the cut had turned out, Bronze could only imagine how well they put together the bones themselves.

“Told you I had more experience,” the nurse winked at her, reading exactly what she was looking at.

“Surely a lot more than me… thank you for keeping an eye on him as well, and for all the help earlier,” Bronze extended her good talon to the mare, “Bronze Bolt.”

The mare took her talon and gave it a shake, “Gentle Breeze,” she answered with a beam before looking over her patient, “and while I’d love to stay, there are a few other places I have to check stocks on before I retire for the-”

“Hmm?... Bronze,” Topaz started to shuffle from her chair, as her hooves reached up and rubbed her eyes, “You’re back?”

“If you need anything, I stay in the castle,” Gentle said to Bronze as she started towards the door, “just have one of the guards come for me.”

With that, and a thankful nod, Bronze went over to the filly in her seat and leaned down to her, “I told you I’d be back, didn’t I?”

“I know you said that,” Topaz even through her tired eyes, sighed to the older mare, “but when you said you hadn’t been the best of ponies, I didn’t know if you’d be in trouble.”

Bronze about choked on her words then and there, though with a notion of her head, the filly cleared the seat and got back up on the mares’ lap. From there mare looked over Topaz, and her father, glad that after a day like today they both were safe. Even if she had more work to be done now on her plate.

“Me and the princess… came to an understanding,” she replied without trying to give too much of her past against the crown, “Some of those things running around the country-”

“Those weird suits of armor?” Topaz cut her off.

“Exactly… those I had a talon in,” Bronze about waited for the filly to leap off of her lap and run, but the longer she waited, the growing anticipation she saw on Topazes’ face, ‘She hasn’t a clue just what I’d done,’ she thought to herself, “and the princess would be very happy if I were to help in clearing them out… so much so to forgive things in the past.”

Topaz was quiet for a few moments longer as she took in the information, while Bronze wasn’t entirely sure she really understood the gravity of what she’d done. Before finally, the filly looked up to her, “That’s awfully nice of her,” she beamed to the mare.

‘Oh-h-h you have no idea,’ Bronze returned the same to her, “Though she had heard I was trying to do better, and fighting them, from another source,” her eyes turned to the filly who tried to turn her attention to the ceiling instead, “Thank you for that… I doubt she would have believed me if I said anything along those lines.”

“Well it’s true!” Topaz shouted, almost startling the mare that held her, “You’d fight them any time they were in town! And really it was awesome to watch!”

Pure innocence… that’s all Bronze could see on Topazes’ own face. A face that hadn’t been stained with the dye of life and reality. One she hoped still would continue to stay clean with the awakening of her father. How Bronze wished she could return to those days when all she really had to deal with was the school yard bully… though now she found herself watching over that same colt in the night.

“So, what did you do to him?” Topaz piped up, as the mare turned to the fillies’ curious glance. Steadily she looked over the new scars that would adorn her father, and put a few things together, “I know he was hurt bad… and I’d just like to understand how he was hurt, might help me feel better knowing what you did.”

Locking up, the mare tried best how to put it so as to not pump up what she had done to more than it was… but what she did was remove the heart of the colt and replace it. How do you tone that down for young ears?

“Well… ahh you see,” ‘shit! I can’t just outright say her dads’ heart had been shot!’ Bronze continued to stammer, and strain, and bounce back and forth. Something that was likely going on in Marbles’ chest right now too.

Until that is, a single hoof placed itself on her chest.

Bronze looked at the filly as she smiled to her, “I’m going to be ten here in a few months… though dads always made sure I kept up on my schooling,” she admitted, remembering the many times he’d try to help with subjects he understood little of himself, “please Miss Bolt, just tell me, I’ll understand it… I promise.”

To hear he kept on her studies wasn’t that surprising in all honesty to the mare, to hear she had a good understanding enough of anatomy to even ask what she did during surgery, that’s there was the shocking part to Bronze. Never the less, she took a deep breath, sighed, and took another in figuring out best where to start.

“The thing that struck your dad went in to his chest, and grazed his heart,” ‘okay! That wasn’t the reaction I was hoping!’ the mare screamed at herself, as she watched the fillies’ eyes immediately turn to her father resting there in the bed, “No, no… relax… I helped him as best I could.”

“W-what did you do?”

“His heart was damaged…” Bronze started off, recalling the article she had read those years ago, “I learned there was a device some of the doctors in Seren were using to replace ponies’ hearts outright, and so I found one here in the castle to do so… and improved it a little to what would work better for him.”

With a raising of her talon, she showed the filly the crafted limb, now with several spots along it missing the gems she had placed. Topaz hadn’t noticed it before, but then again, she was beating on the mare after all. Now, she got to see just how far the mare she sat on had gone to try and bring her father back.

“You… used some of your stones?”

“Stones can be replaced… but I know very well a father can’t be,” Bronzes’ eyes turned towards the stone that made up the floor, and nearly found herself lost in the past.

Until the filly brought her back.

“That’s really sweet when you think about it,” Bronze turned her eyes to Topaz, and got to see another sign of the fillies’ mood lightening up in a smile.

“Oh, all in a day’s work,” Bronze started to chuckle, becoming more than aware just how much of her own fluids were starting to rush to her cheeks once more, “regardless… I patched him up the only way I knew how.”

Almost instantly the small hooves of the filly found themselves wrapped around the older mares’ neck, as she sat there and looked at both Topaz and her father in the bed. In time, her own talon found itself reaching up to meet the filly, and held her in the same embrace.

“Thank you, for fixing him.”

‘I only hope that I did,’ Bronze told herself as she leveled with the kin of the one she had a part in injuring, “I’m just glad I could do something.”

“How… how’d you know him before?” Topaz asked out of the blue, catching Bronze off guard at first, “I mean you said in the park he was a better pony now, what was he like before?”

‘Hmm there’s a mine field for you…’ the mare stopped and thought as she wondered just how much of his school life the colt had shared with her daughter. Getting more comfortable and scooting back to the seat, Bronze thought back to those years long in the past. “Your dad was kind of… mean, during that time, if I’m being honest,” she replied, trying to downplay the beatings she regularly got from the colt. “In school he was the local bully, had his friends who followed his lead, and they always seemed to pick on the smartest of ponies in their class…”

While the grimace she gave might have made it a dead giveaway, Topaz by this point had already put it together, “I’m guessing you were the smartest?”

“How right you are,” Bronze smirked, trying to push that part of her past back in to the hole from which it crawled.

Topaz however, simply looked from her and back to her father as he laid there, “I knew he wasn’t the nicest of ponies back then… dad had told me he was pretty mean actually,” for a second she broke out in to a yawn after the long day, “and that he didn’t want me to be the same way…”

‘Certainly hadn’t followed in his hoof steps,’ Bronze thought as she smiled to the filly, glad to see he was trying to give her a better role model.

“I just didn’t know you were one that he had picked on…” her gaze turned to the floor now after learning the whole story.

Something that Bronze stopped almost instantly with her talon bringing the little one’s eyes back up to her. “It’s in the past Topaz… me and him talked it out not too long after I came to town,” the tension in the filly died down a little as her body relaxed, “He hadn’t had the finest home life, and so he just took it out on somepony else… might not have been the best answer, but it’s all he knew…” a few more memories later, and the beam on her grew even larger, “besides, he helped me in a way he couldn’t have imagined later.”

“How was that?”

“Well… it all started one day at school…” she recounted the memory.

Bronze went on and told Topaz about her own dad, how he had been called to answer the nation, and how that had led to his loss. She could see it in the fillies’ eyes, the thought of losing her dad, and it reminded the older mare of when she got the news. From there her limbs were lost, and with that many months of difficulty. Up until, she learned of a lost art of magic, one she might be able to use.

Bronze left out the part about wanting to wipe the slate clean, and stuck to her fixing herself up more than anything. She didn’t need to be seen as a total monster by the filly, no matter what the princess might say how good she actually is.

“After explaining it to him a bit at school, I got an envelope with a gift of two small charged gems… just what I needed,” fondly the mare turned her gaze to that pony in the bed for that single act of kindness that sent her down a new path.

“And that’s how you fixed yourself up?” Topaz asked with wonder in her eyes.

“Exactly… that’s led to me getting back on my hooves, so to speak,” they both shared a chuckle, before another yawn from the filly broke the chat.

“You know… it’s funny if you think about it,” Topaz said as her eyes started to droop a bit more with every breath.

“What is?”

“He gave you a few gems to get you on your hooves, and you gave him some of your own to fix him back up too,” the filly rubbed her eyes, trying to fight back the weariness.

Bronze thought on it, and while it might have happened all those years ago. She guessed you could really say the favor had been repaid. With the ever-growing weary filly on her lap, the mare leaned back in the chair and brought the nurses gown up to both of them. “We should really get some rest, it’s been an… eventful day,” now it was the mares’ turn to copy the gesture.

Snuggling down to the Bronzes’ chest, Topaz curled herself up and pulled the gown over top her, “Yeah…” she shook her head, “you’re right I guess.”

Bronze on the other hoof looked down to the filly there on her lap who after only a few seconds, was softly snoring as happily as she could be given the day. No fuss, no wining about having to go to bed, not even a stretch.

The mare only could hope she would go out the same way, as she pulled the gown a little further up her waist, and made sure to keep the filly good and comfy. An ‘eventful day’ didn’t do it justice, and with her eyes closing, she let the soft breaths of the kin list her to sleep.

Chapter 21

Chapter twenty-one

A heavy tide of coughs interrupted the slumber of the two as they rested in the chair. Considering the day each experienced previously, it wasn’t a wonder they managed to say out the entire night. Then again, neither of them could compare to the one that lied in the bed, who was now left to hack up half his lung.

“Ugh…” Marble groaned from his bed, as the burning in his chest built up and his back flopped against the cushions once more, “Am… I dead?” he asked, looking around the medical bay.

Though the launching of a filly in to the air quickly dismissed that idea, “Dad!” Topaz leapt from her place on the mares’ lap and on to her fathers, all four of her hooves finding their way around him.

“I missed you too,” the colt returned the gesture, before pulling her off a tad so he could breathe a bit. There on his chest, he saw the stitches and where the burning sensation was coming from, “…What else did I miss?”

Bronze slowly got up from her chair and waited for him to catch his breath after the assault from his kin, “Ahh… a fair amount actually…” she looked off to one side, hating to see what those scars would look like in the coming future, a painful reminder of what she got him in to, “how are you feeling though?”

“Besides feeling like my heart just got ripped out…” he groaned once more, bringing up another fit of coughing, “I’m still breathing at least.”

Silently both of the ladies in the room looked at one another, Topaz quickly turned her head away from her father. Leaving Bronze to cringe at him with only half her gaze meeting his own as it quickly found other interests in the room. Marbles’ eyes darted between them, waiting to see who would say something first, before he started tapping the stitches on his breast.

“I have the sneaking suspicion, that’s what happened…”

“She fixed you up though!” Topaz snapped her head back to him with the sincerest smile she could manage, “She did! Bronze fixed your heart… kinda.”

Marble turned his eye to the mare as she now tried to avoid him, with his eyes ogling however, the blood continued to fill her cheeks ever more, “I mean… I did what I could.”

“What exactly did you do?” he asked, looking between her and the scar on her chest.

With a shallow breath, and a much weaker train of thought, the mare saw little way else to put it to him. “Topaz summarized it well actually… you were shot, it damaged your heart, so I sort of… replaced it…”

Several seconds passed as the two looked at one another. Bronze wasn’t sure if he believed her or if he thought she was blowing smoke up his hind. Though, the longer they stared without either flinching, the more he started to glance down at the wound still in the process of healing.

“Oh… is that all?”

“You don’t believe me, do you?” she raised a brow to him, as the colts’ head started to shake getting his own brain in order.

“Honestly, considering some of our previous conversations, and seeing your talon work, I wouldn’t doubt what you could do…” once again a fresh supply of blood found its way to the mare, and once again she found herself taking the utmost of interest in the floor tiles, “although, could you elaborate a bit more?”

Bronze gave the same version of events she recounted to Topaz the night before for him, before showing him the empty spots on her talon, “You should be able to sense the gems inside you, and with some practice control them to monitor your heart rate,” the mare was just thankful she decided to upgrade all her gems in the first place, there’s no way he’d survived the night if the pump was being fueled by an amethyst, “considering your natural talents with magic, it should come easier for you anyway.”

The colt laid there for a moment before closing his eyes. Unicorns had a way of picking up magic and sensing it in the world around them, they were just the best at controlling their own energies in their body than other ponies. That said, if an earth pony could manage to command metal to move to her will, why couldn’t he do the same?

As he searched, Marble started to feel the gems in his chest. The energy in them was prevalent, more than he was expecting to pick up. Yet, with a twist from his own flow of arcane vigor, each of those implanted he could feel as it interacted with the machine now placed inside him. Keeping his blood pumping and the colt alive.

“Yeah, that’ll take some getting used to,” he snapped out of his trance and came back to them both.

The doors to the bay opened up as the princess strolled in. Her own face looking to the three with the utmost of relief to see everyone in good spirits… and of course all three of them breathing. “I trust everything went well then?” she asked to them, receiving only a nod from the fellow mare. Having gotten closer to the colt, her eyes danced across the stitch work on his chest, and could only imagine what was done inside, “It’s a wonderous gift you have Bronze… truly.”

“Ahh thank you,” the mare in question rubbed the back of her head with a talon, unsure what else to say.

“To bring one back from what I’ve heard… remarkable,” Grace looked to her counterpart once more, admiring the proof of her efforts being the breathing colt. “Whenever this mess with those creations of yours is done with, you and me will have to share a word regarding your… talents.”

“Is… she in trouble?”

The colt piped up, leaving the two mares to look to one another once more. Grace turned her attention to the colt, seeing the worry growing over Marbles’ face with every passing breath. “Hmm… it seems you two have somethings to catch up on,” she eased her subject down a tad with a beam, “Why don’t I take this little miss to bring you all something to eat while you two talk?” Grace turned her eyes to Topaz, “Would you like that?”

A gurgling from the fillies’ stomach met her question, as Topaz stifled a giggle, “Very much, Princess Grace.”

With the filly trotting up her side, the regal figure passed a wink on to her counterpart as they headed out the door. For a few more moments, the pair looked upon the door where they parted ways, unsure really how to even approach the next words to come.

“Does she have kids?” Marble asked as the question started to come to the forefront of his mind, “Because she seems awfully good with them.”

“Not that I know of… then again…” Bronze, much to her dismay, started to imagine the offspring that would result from her majesty and the colt, “given who her lover is I wouldn’t put it past those kids being the most egregious beings this country has ever seen.”

“Wait… how do you know her lover?”

“Long story… more important things now,” she groaned for a moment before taking another breath to clear the air, “I’m sorry… for everything.” Marble held up a hoof at first, though that didn’t stop the mare, “For lying to you when we first met, for putting not only you but also Topaz in danger while my creations were trying to get to me… hell for using your hospitality, fixing myself up, then darting away at the drop of a hat.”

With every word that was spoken, the mare found herself pacing back and forth by the side of the bed. All the while, the colt rested their propped up on his back from a few pillows he’d arranged behind him to listen to her.

“I should have told you the water that I was still deep in, I shouldn’t have kept most of my history off the table, at the very least I shouldn’t have left like I did…”

“Bronze,” he tried to get her attention.

“… but I didn’t, I didn’t do any of those things,” she paused by his side and looked at him, taking in the damage she had done as her talons rested on the bed, “all I did was get you hurt, nearly killed…”

“Bronze,” Marble strained at her.

“…If they didn’t have the pump, if I hadn’t upgraded my stones, if we ran into one another any place else… that’d been the end of it,” Bronze caught her breath as it clenched in her chest, shaking her head the eyes of the mare stayed off the colt, and on the sheets, “and I don’t know what I’d say to her, especially having gotten that sort news myself.”

With a gentle press, a hoof found its way over top her talons. Bronzes’ eyes looked to the simple gesture as her glare traced up to the pony before her. Marbles’ look of serenity beckoned her to take a moment, “…Good, now that that’s out of the way,” the colt continued to hold his hoof there atop her talon, “You can stop apologizing… I know what you’d done, and I know what it caused…”

“All the more reason for me to continue.”

“Stop it, it’s my turn,” he silenced her, “all that said, clearly the princess doesn’t have you here in chains, and if she’s willing to more or less forgive you… I think I can do the same.”

Cocking her head to one side, the mare stared at him. Trying to look past that smile he wore for anything in the background he might not be telling her, “… just like that?”

“I mean granted it would have been nice to know I was letting a war-maiden into my home,” he watched her nearly take a step back before him, “then again, I can understand why you would have left that little tidbit out… amongst everything else,” Marble saw the ears on her head splay back against her coat for a moment. “No one was there for you in the end, after your dad, after your mom… I certainly didn’t help in the years that lead to that.”

“It wasn’t your job to care,” she pointed out to him, “it wasn’t anyone’s job to.”

“But you could have still had someone to turn to, even if you didn’t accept it at the time,” while the mares’ eyes might have been rolling at him, it didn’t hide the point he was making, “all it would have taken was a friend, and you might have gone down a different path. Just like the one you’re walking now.”

“I wouldn’t call it a different path,” she raised a brow to him, “after all, there’s still so much more I have to do.”

“And that’s my point, you’re at least doing better,” Marbles’ own eyes met hers, leaving her lost for a time.

“You sound just like the princess…” Bronze chuckled, taking his words in. Everything she’d done, all the things that had been caused by her, and all the trouble that had been set in motion because of a vendetta. Yet, here it was, being forgiven by those that had the best reasons not to let her forget it, and all the reasons to throw her from the gallows.

‘Better not waste it,’ she told herself, as her and Marble stayed like that for some time. Before the mare leaned in, and planted her lips to the side of his cheek.

Under the touch, she felt the colt tighten up from the gesture. As she pulled away feeling her own limbs start to seize, Bronze wasn’t sure if the heart in his chest was making the bed pulse, or if it was her own. Never the less, the colt found himself putting a single hoof to his cheek as the breath escaped him.

“Thank you… Marble,” the mare fought to keep her voice from cracking, “there might be a lot that I have to make up for, but at least I can do it with a clearer mind now… that you’re still here.”

“Awe!” the squeal of a filly sounded throughout the room, forcing both the adults to turn and look towards the door, there trotting in were both the princess and the filly. Each balancing a tray laden with goods, “That’s so sweet!”

Between the pair, Marble and Bronze could have melted ice from what felt like the whole room warming up, “just how much did you see?” the colt asked his kin.

“Oh… Enough,” Grace whispered to the mare, as her and Topaz set the trays down.

Sliced fruits, pancakes, crapes, strawberry tarts, and all other manners of breakfast goods dotted along the platters. The adrenaline from the last few days may have been sustaining the mare at first, but having now seen and smelled the food available. Bronze quickly found her hunger catching up with her.

“Whenever you’re done here, please come see me,” the princess said to the mare.

After a nod from Bronze, the princess once again left them to themselves. Topaz already started digging in to the stacks of flapjacks, as she brought a few over to her dad. “Sounds like you’re going to have your work cut out for you,” Marble said, gladly accepting the gift from his daughter.

“Oh, all in a days work,” Bronze snickered, plucking a few treats off the dish, and pulled the chair up closer to the bed, “First things first, eat, then work on setting things right with Seren,” her eyes looked sheepishly to the colt, as she couldn’t help but hide the grin about her face, “after that… perhaps a fresh start.”

***

With a steady knock on the door, Bronze found herself waiting patiently by the chambers to the princess, trying her best to avoid any and all eye contact from those guards that stood either side to her. Eventually, the door creaked open, and there stood Grace with her mane up in a bun and a quill sticking from her mouth.

“Ah… you’re here,” she said after having spit the quill to her wing, with a hoof she beckoned the mare inside as the door closed, “you kind of caught me off guard, didn’t expect you so soon.”

“Well Marble and Topaz were both still eating anyway, and if I kept watching them, I’d only want more,” the mare could taste the last few scones that passed her lips.

The eyes rolling to the back of the princesses’ eyes spoke volumes to her own experiences regarding the treats. “Tell me about it… the cooks have been rather spot on the last month or so,” a quick shake of her head though pushed any hungry thoughts out, “However, as I said, we have things to discuss.”

Scampering off to her bedroom left Bronze there in the den area as she heard all manners of drawers and cabinets open from the rummaging. Until after a few moments Grace appeared with a small sack in her wing, and tossed it to the mare. Catching it with her better talon, the metallic mare peered inside, and caught the glimmer of several stones to replace what she’d used. The envious glow to those emeralds telling her they already were ready for service.

“Had them charged this morning after I parted ways,” Grace responded, picking up the map she had shown the previous night and brought it over to the coffee table, “I imagine you can shape them however you might need, can’t have you trying to fight with only three limbs.”

“Thank you, once again… your majesty,” Bronze tried to give the best bow she could manage, having never done the act before, if only to give some sort of modesty.

“Oh, stop it,” Grace brushed the gesture off, “While I appreciate the turnaround, I wave my subjects off usually before their knee even starts to bend, and you’re no different,” after placing a few coasters to hold the edges down, Bronze joined her on the couch, “Speaking of subjects, how is Marble doing?”

Breathing, would have been the simplest answer the mare could have given. After all she didn’t have x-ray vision to see the inner workings of the pump and confirm its complete function. “I’d say it’s passable, as of now… he’ll have to get used to controlling the rate himself,” amongst other issues that might be encountered. Gems running out too fast and having to be replaced, him having to learn to charge them himself, the machine itself needing to be worked on… a million and one things that could go wrong. Yet, she was just happy he’d have a second chance at it all, “But with some practice, and a little learning, he should do just fine.”

“Wonderful to hear, I’ll have one of the docs check up on him before he leaves here,” with that out of the way both the mares turned their attention to the map in front of them. “Considering its controlling those under it now, does it even have a plan?”

The scattered encounters around the map would answer any other that the answer was a clear no. There wasn’t a patter in its actions, even surrounding the mine that it called home there for a time. Who knows how long it’d really been down there before any of the workers encountered it. Even from that vantage it didn’t branch out to closer targets before jumping out further, it just seemed to go where ever it pleased.

“I gave it the order to kill, so all it really knows is to attack, and now apparently build up its numbers.”

“How did you managed to get it together in the first place?” her majesty raised the ever-growing query she had begun to wonder, “I mean getting that many raw materials couldn’t have been easy.”

“Oh…” the mare in question plodded around the thought for a moment, “You might be surprised how easy it is to get supplies,” she watched Graces’ mind start to throw that thought around, “a sheet of steel here, a gem there, maybe a suit or two, it does all add up over the years… the trickier bit was finding a place to work…”

***

Some time ago…

The heavily laden sack drug itself along the back of the mare, as she scraped hoof against dirt down the shaft. With just the small light of from the tip of her horn for guidance, and the memory of the path being walked so many times in the past, she trudged onwards.

A tug of her talon pulled the bandana ever tighter around her brow, letting just enough of the horn through for use, and soon enough her efforts were found in the lights up forward getting ever brighter. Breaking in to the clearing, the lanterns and coals that still burned shimmered their embers in the darkness. Letting the mare find her place of work, as she shrugged the bag off with a thump to the ground.

“And now… for you,” Bronze used her talon to pick through the bag, pushing past the other parts she’d picked up.

Various sections of armor filed past her digits, amongst them scrap from Serens armories, and even other forges in the nations. A little scrap missing never went noticed, and that played all too well for the mare in her game. This prize though, she had to work for, and from the pit of the sack she could see its own flickering illumination.

Plucking the stone out, its clear exterior shined even against the flickering lights around her from the flames, and with a puff of breath and the sweat of her brow. Bronze wiped the diamond clean and to its former luster, bringing it over to her work bench. The stone she’d managed would have been large enough to cut in to several smaller and make any other pony a decent fortune.

Though for the mare, it was enough to make this work.

Pulling a hefty section of hardened steel over, she pushed some of her smaller weapons away in the process. There before here were several other stones of similar size, all clustered around the open center in a hex. At the bottom of that cavity, just the rune to put her plans in to action. Dropping the stone in, her talons quickly crimped the sides along to hold it in place, as she brought out some softer tin to make the hold a bit stronger. Soldering it in place with a few other pieces of metal, just for good measure. Before the metal was even set, the charge in the gem already started to set in with the rune, letting the glow from the energy inside bristle as it filled itself with the radiance of its companions.

‘That’s right darling… work with me,’ Bronze picked up the section of steel, bringing the entire piece over to another dark area, only the light of an oil lamp giving her any room to work.

Though even in that glow, she could still see the true fruits of her labor, as its dull plates echoed silently to her. Waiting, and wanting her to carry forth. Using her talons, Bronze pulled the front section off, exposing the other stones on the inside. The emeralds that lined across a majority of the interior might not have been strong on their own, but with numbers anything was possible. Now that they had something to truly drive them, it was the nearly final puzzle piece she needed.

Lifting the steel piece up, Bronze for a moment stopped and looked at what she’d accomplished. The stones set in had been charged, the ones inside the body had the energy needed to run, thanks to the kind donation of many ponies over the years. All of the diamonds in the plate had her own energies running through them that she shared. Though the heart and soul stone lacked one thing…

A purpose.

It might not have been a mirror finish, but she swore she could see herself in its reflection.

Steadily, Bronze put her horn near the stone. Magic as she knew wasn’t just all about studying and spells, it was also about feeling. Will is what made her able to move on four limbs again, it’s what made her special and able to do what she does. This was just a suit of metal with flashy stones, what was its will? What would be the will she passed on to it?

She thought, and thought… and thought some more.

Then finally, her horn touched the gems surface, and she let it feel what she did. The memories she’d created having gone from town to town gathering supplies, the pain she’d endured sneaking and stealing to build up her tech and test it out, all the way to even the many times she’d passed by the leaders of the nations and they never knew her existence.

The chief grinding his teeth away about slaughtering ponies, as Bronze herself hid in the rafters above. The king toiling over plans on how they could attack Seren, all as she crept outside the windows. Even the princess herself, waving to a crowed of creatures while out in town… never thinking of the one figure dressed in a cloak on a summer’s day. She was a footnote in their history, not even a blip in their minds, but she could change that all now.

‘Come on…wake up,’ her horn glowed as it pushed the steel plate in place, “we’ve got work to do.”

With that the steel clicked in place, and her own bolts tightened down from the aura of her horn. The diamonds now feeding the rest of the form, latched on to the stones along the interior of its spine and limbs. As they surged in to life, the clanking of metal along the empty space to her sides resonated in Bronzes’ ears.

A talon lifted, capable of crushing her if it so desired, and landed mere feet from her torso, as its form did the same. The mares’ ears splayed back against her skull, waiting for some of the dirt to settle. It had been so long since it was first constructed, and the dust had to be worked out, but as it was, she looked up to what she’d hoped.

Green envy glowed down upon her, as its muzzle craned inches from her own. It couldn’t huff its breath out like any of its flesh and blood brothers, but with all the intrigue of a pup, her creation let its eyes do all the talking it couldn’t. The radiance of those stones she’d placed just stared with what seemed to her like curiosity and admiration. From a creation to its creator.

Holding a careful talon, Bronze stretched it out and placed it along the bridge of its nose. She couldn’t feel the rumble of its throat, but the mare could sense it. As she did, it pressed into her touch like it’d know her from a past life, and its flank found the ground. With a thump that shook the soil under her own limbs, it took a seat before its creator, and an eerie smile started to grow on the mare.

“That’s it…” she rubbed the end of its muzzle. From its gaze alone the mare felt the purr, “Now… show me what you can do.”

With a waft of her horn, Bronze brought over a little test for her new partner. Unlike most tests you’d find in a school. One sheet of steel, and a stone to join it were presented. She couldn’t do it all, the mare knew that much. Yet, if it couldn’t preform like she needed then the whole contraption was just for decoration in her eyes.

Curiously the head tilted back and forth between the metal and its more refined cousin. Before finally looking to the mare herself for guidance. Bronze however, stood there, waiting to see if it did what she intended… and that she didn’t have to wait for long.

With the grace of a humming bird, the massive talon pinched onto the metal sheet and planted it to the ground under its bulk. Eying its form, it looked as if the creation had understanding in the craft to a curious onlooker, but the mare knew better. She hadn’t just given it life; Bronze had passed on her knowledge of all things to the unification of metal and magic.

A blade was the last thing one would desire to cut metal, but for the tin drake it was like cutting curtains for a cat. The honed end of its claws did the dirty work, scoring time and time again onto the sheet until the form was well laid out for her to see. Faster than any artisan could have hoped for, and with the ease one would expect from something of its kind.

With a snap, the spent scrap twisted off from the main body of what Bronze could see as a chest plate. Allowing the drake to cradle the form in its claws, and with a crunch the edges folded over as if struck by a blacksmiths hammer. It was a crude process for sure, one that wouldn’t help strengthen the metal any. Though it was a step in the right direction for Bronzes plans, a trial.

And in her mind, it passed… one of two.

“Excellent…” Bronze began to giggle internally, as the stone was brought forth, “now this… you’ll know what to do.”

The ruby had likely been on its way to any number of jewelers out in Seren before the mare swiped it for her own. A cheap stone that she could have very well charged herself, but even her magic was limited as it was. Bronze couldn’t be everywhere at once, and if all it could do was bend metal, then that was only half her needs met.

With intrigue, a light talon plucked the stone from the mares’ aura. This act wasn’t as flashy as working the sheet, but Bronze knew the concentration it took all too well. From her trained eyes she could see a small bit of the energy she packed into the drake flow through its limbs, and claws onto the stone.

Like its envy, the stone glowed brighter like fire from its tint. Filling it nearly to the brim, the drake halted the process right when it needed. Letting the stone absorb all it needed from it, as the energy stayed latched onto it.

Bronze reached out with her talon, and like a mother asking from her child, the creation dropped the stone right in her grasp. Through her own limbs, the mare could feel the intense swirl of power the once simple stone now held. Power that she knew as her own. It wasn’t a simple mimicry of her gift; it was an outright extension.

From her, to the drake, and onto those it would create.

Once more her talon held out, and like a dog the creation got back on its haunches. As if her size, the massive mandible rested itself into her talon, and upon reflex Bronze started scratching at its base. She was proud of what she’d created, and of what her creation had achieved. A humble display of affection was the simplest thing she could do to show it.

The sheeting on its snout still held onto some dirt from the work, but the mares’ lips didn’t care. Through a simple peck on its bridge, Bronze held on for a little longer, and allowed a tear to build up at her plans falling into place. This was just the first step; of many she’ll have to endure. However, if she could manage this, then nothing would get in her way.

Like butter melting in her talons, the drake fell onto its stomach, leveling down with the mare even further. “That’s it…” Bronze allowed this chuckle to escape, “Good boy.”

***

Bronze rose her head up after her little tale, and watched as the mare before her nearly dropped her jaw. “You give up a part of yourself following a dream,” she spoke, but thought to herself just how tainted her soul really was in that pursuit.

Slowly the princess shook her head, knowing very well that a majority of those supplies likely came out from under her own nose. “You’re determined, I’ll give you that much…” Grace groaned and brought her eyes back to the map, “did you have to kiss it?”

“Ah… well…” Bronze began to fumble, at a loss for words. ‘Not one of my proudest moments,’ she remembered less fondly than before, and turned her attention back to the task at hoof. There hadn’t been any sighting of her creation… at least… “you said no one had seen it around here?” she waited for Grace to reconfirm, “What about in another country?”

Grace held up a hoof, before she paused and it fell flat against her chin. Thinking back to it, the mare made a point, “Hmm… the gryphons I’d been working with, or at least my new assistant had been acting as a liaison between me and their new leadership, nothing major had come from them,” she looked at the mostly vacant space of those lands to the opposite nation, just how many hiding places could there been with in? “But if it’s looking to build up its following, my bet would be the DDR, they’d always had the best ore veins.”

“And with a majority of their country in shambles from the fighting, I doubt many had been paying attention,” Bronze eyed the lands she’d traveled often not too long ago, before turning back to the princess, “Your colt up for a hunt?”

The snicker of the mare however was quickly met by the pondering of Grace. “Actually, come to think of it I did tell him I had a peculiar guest here,” she grinned back at the mare, “… and he’s been mentioning a rematch.”

Almost immediately Bronzes’ eyes snapped back to the parchment and start taking the utmost of interest in the borders between the countries. ‘I just upgraded these and I’m not about to throw it away over some petty squabble!’ she reasoned to herself while trying to judge the distance from the Diamond Dogs and the mine she’d gone in, if only to advert her eyes from the regal figure, “If it has been in the DDR, I’d imagine they wouldn’t be opposed to a little assistance cleaning it up, considering the trail of destruction it can leave.”

“Is that a forfeiture?”

Bronze craned her neck to the mare, all the while the Pegisies’ sneer grew larger. As much as she’d like to keep her new limbs in at least a mostly working order for the foreseeable future, she also wanted to wipe clean that smirk the colt was likely wearing, “Call it a there are much more pressing matters to attend first,” she returned the expression.

Thru a gentle nod Grace responded and got back into the swing of things. “In regards to what you’d said, there’s no reason to deny us entry… especially with their backs at the wall,” pulling the quill from her wing, the mare pulled a parchment from underneath the map and started scribbling down on it, “I’ll see about getting a detachment ready for travel, and reach out to the DDR, whoever’s in charge there now…”

Bronze even gave a toothy grin, “I’ll get a bag ready.”

Chapter 22

Chapter twenty-two

With a pair of pliers held in her talon, Bronze went to work making sure the stones were set in right to the opposite limb. It didn’t take much to get them cut, a jewelers file and some fine grit sandpaper brought them down to the sizing and shape needed to sit right with in the spaces. Something that certainly helped make the trip pass by faster. As the teeth that once held those before down were brought around, the new stones found their home.

Feeding off the spell in the rest of the limb, her talon started to flex out from the new connections made with the gems, letting the mare grasp the pliers to test out its dexterity. “Not bad…” she pondered for a moment, before noticing the few faces with her.

Those of Seren that joined may have not chatted with her much during the trip, she was far too busy with her work. Never the less though, that same glare she had gotten a number of times in the towns she had come across started to rear its head again.

Avoiding the stares, Bronze turned her attention out the passenger window of the car they all rode in, as she watched the view pass them by…

***

“So, you’re heading out soon then I take it?” Marble asked from his bed, calmly stroking the mane of his kin as she laid in his lap from a food coma.

“It’s a start down the right path… or at least a continuation,” Bronze reasoned, bringing the blanket up for the two of them by a flare of her horn, as she stood by his side. “Besides, the longer that thing is left to wander freely the more of my creations it could make.”

That thought still didn’t settle the colt. He knew she could take care of herself, she had for so long in the past as it was. Though throwing herself in to the fray like this bordered on suicide, especially given what she’d be going up against. Never the less, the colt knew she had to do it, if only for her own penance.

“Do me a favor then…”

“I’ll stay safe,” Bronze answered for him with a snicker, “don’t worry.”

“And… come back in one piece,” he reminded her of that condition as well, “I mean you might be able to fix yourself up, but I’m sure you’d like to keep as much of your parts as you can.”

“Speaking of parts… how’s it doing anyways?” the mare once again looked over the wound on his chest. “Has the doc come see you yet? Grace said she’d send someone to.”

“She did, they left not but five minutes before you came here,” a quick scratch of the wound from his hoof, brought the stallion back to her. “The rate it’s going is healthy, and after some concentrating, I was able to top off the gems inside with my own magic… so it’s a start,” he paused for a second trying to remember all the bigger words they used to describe his heath. “Over all they said it’s about as fit as a normal ponies’, but of course they advised not to stress it too much before I’d gotten used to it.”

The breath Bronze had found herself holding finally released as the sigh of relief escaped. If a doctor had given him the clean bill of health, then he might actually be in the clear. “That’s just… wonderful,” her smile grew wider after the weight of lingering questions finally lifted themselves clear of her shoulders, “Looks like you’ll have to take a rest from playing tag then for a bit.”

They both found themselves chuckling for a moment, leaving the mare longing for when things seemed simpler… even if it was the simplicity of arming a country. “That might be true… but it also means somepony will have to take my place,” his eyes loomed over the mare as her snicker quickly died.

“… Oh fine,” Bronze rolled her eyes, yet at the same time couldn’t help but get giddy over the prospect of playing like a normal pony once again with the filly, “I guess I’ll have to come back then for that.”

“You better.”

“Plus, I have to help you with controlling that new heart of yours,” she reminded him with a tap of his sternum, before letting her faulty limb rest on the bed. “After all is there really any better to learn from?”

Looking over the colt, what he had gone through, and to what she had put the filly through at her fathers’ detriment. Bronze could only imagine the hundred different outcomes that could have resulted. It would take some getting used to sure, but for now they simply remained content listening to the soft breaths of Topaz there between them.

If only for some peace.

How long had passed they didn’t know. Though the door to the med ward opened, and as the mare looked behind her to see the guard there watching. She knew the time was up, “I have to get going,” pulling from the side table by his bed, the mares’ hammer was placed in his lap by the energy of her horn, as he looked at her curiously, “hold on to that for me… will you?”

Marble patted the top of her talon and nodded, “I’ll be looking forward to your return,” he nodded once to her, “as well as the lessons you have to teach,” with a smirk passed from over the mares’ shoulder to him, her tail slipped out of site.

***

“… So, what's her story?” one of the guards asked his companion as they sat a few booths ahead of the mare.

“Don’t know, all I know is she met up with our detachment from the castle,” if he was trying to be subtle, the guard was failing at it. Looking over his shoulder he eyed the mare, and instantly the two locked with one another before his darted forward, “Shit, I think she heard us.”

“You aren’t very good at this, are you?” Bronze asked out loud, bringing the attention of a few of those in the car back and forth between her and the other pony, “long story short, because I know you’re all wondering… made some mistakes in the past, and am trying to pay for them, as for these…” she held up the talon she’d just repaired and snapped the claws on it shut, resonating the clank of metal through the room, “it’s just what makes me, me.”

A few of the colts that joined them kept their eyes forward, as did the one that brought her attention to the questions that had clearly been buzzing around the heads of those in the car with her. Yet, even with that display, one of the gryphon females that joined their ranks scoffed and turned her beak up.

“Fricken weirdo…” she muttered under her breath, though it still met the ears of the mare.

‘Stay calm, you’re trying to make amends… breath…’ Bronze told herself, as she still felt her body rising out of the seat. Until, a hoof settled on her shoulders and pushed her back down.

“Weird as she might be, this mare could level a whole town if she wanted…” a Pegasus said after coming up the aisle from behind her… with two stumps upon his back where his wings should have been, “trust me, I’ve seen it.”

Several of those on the train turned their eyes towards the mare in a different regard. Whoever this stallion was, those that served seemed to have enough of a reverence for him to take his word for it as they all went back to their respective business. The colt in question, soon trotted up to Bronzes’ booth and sat across from her.

For a number of minutes, they sat there like that, not saying a word to one another as the colt read the paper and the mare twiddled her talons. Until finally, it had to be asked, “You… know me?”

“Oh, very much so…” his eye raised up to hers upon the obvious question, “we have a mutual friend actually, or I guess you’d call him a nemesis… colt, unicorn, good with-”

“You’re friends with Iron?!” Bronze snapped before quickly biting her tongue, earning a hearty chuckle from the stallion across from her.

“Good friends actually, we both served under the crown there for a time,” Free answered as he folded up the paper and set it to his side, “we had a run in with you out in the gryphon kingdom a while back.”

“…the one where the dock got taken out?”

“Bingo.”

With a slump, the mare slid further back in to her seat, staring at the one across from her, “Right… I remember you now, never got your name though.”

Soon after those words, a hoof reached across to her, and with a hesitant talon she took it. “Staff Sargent First Class Freefall…” he wet his tongue once again, having not gotten used to the title, “however, considering that’s a mouthful, just call me Freefall, or Free like everyone else.”

“Bronze Bolt, though you already knew that,” whether she wanted to or not, her eyes started to try and peer around to his back. Taking in the injury that something in her gut told her she’d help cause.

As if sensing it, the colt turned to give her a better view. The joints that the wings would have connected to looked much like her own after she had first repaired her body at Marbles. Each of the open wounds that remained bandaged up and covered instead in a plate of metal to protect them.

“Happened back during a fight with the DDR…” he answered the unasked question, having saw her eyes start to wander, “the chief of theirs was rather, brutal, let’s say.”

“Reinhart did that to you?”

“Yes… didn’t particularly like ponies on his ships,” the visible shiver from living up to his name after that meeting left the colt dizzy as he relived plunging to the ground. With nothing more than a pair of shattered wings to hold him aloft.

Even if she hadn’t been there for that encounter, Bronze knew it wouldn’t have ever happened to the stallion if her talons weren’t in the mix of things. “For what it’s worth… I’m sorry,” her throat clenched, seeing the true face of what she had brought down upon those that fought, “I’m trying to do what I can to make it right.”

It was hollow words to one that had already suffered from the results of her arrogance. Marble lost a heart, Freefall lost his wings… dying in a fight was one thing, having to live with the results afterwards could drive a creature mad. Some of them lost a literal part of themselves, some parts they’d never get back.

“Well… that’s war for you,” Free brushed it to the side, yet even through the nonchalant answer. The pony across from him could still see the heartache of losing them.

Bronze turned to her own wings, something she hadn’t be gifted with at birth, but something she had made. ‘Perhaps, there’d be a way…’ her mind wondered off on her own, listlessly watching the terrain pass by them while lost in thought, “Your friend, has he offered to try and repair them?” she asked after coming back to him, “Like mine?”

“Offered, yes… though I don’t want them to shoot beams, or launch rockets,” Free snickered to himself, “oh no, just a set of normal wings would be nice… though I don’t know if he’s even tried yet.”

“Hmm I see,” she thought once more. Considering her past with the Diamond Dog Republic, Bronze knew they had at least another hour till they’d even reach the border, which gave her nothing but time to kill, “May… I take a look again?”

***

‘They really had fared far worse than I thought…’ Bronze thought as they departed the train.

Much of the town they had pulled in laid in shambles even before the fighting started with her creations. Diamond Dogs weren’t exactly known for their cleanliness after all. Some buildings had been missing parts of their roof, and even the largely clay and stone made structures were missing sections of their walls. While many remained only one or two-story structures out here, much like their capital Opal. As their nature might imply, the dogs much preferred to be underground.

Every edifice here even in this place likely had a few stories to them under the soil the group walked on. For places like their capital the bedrock they rested made it harder to dig further down, except for those areas of importance. Like the stronghold the chief once used.

Bronze on the other hoof, waded through the streets as the group from Seren made their way towards one of the larger structures in town. Guard garrisons dotted much of the countries, and the DDR was no different. Many towns had their own from lessons learned in the past of how much they could trust their neighbors.

Which also made good places for those of importance to meet.

“Hard to believe they already have some sort of group in charge,” Free muttered as he stood side by side with the mare, “I’m just glad we were able to get a hold of them so quickly.”

“Well considering they were left with a rather nasty present…” Bronze bit the end of her lip, “They were probably scrambling for a little command, and assistance.”

The guards at the front of the garrison watched as they approached, and while under any normal case the ponies especially would have been skewered at the end of a spear or shot on site. Those at the door visibly let a sigh of relief out of them. Without so much as a word, the door inside was held open, and the newcomers filed in.

The inside hadn’t been much better than the out, but then again they all expected that. Most of the building itself had the interiors that decorated them match the supply that built them. Stone chairs and stools, clay table bases with shale tops, and even shelves carved directly in to the structure itself. It might not leave much for the creative mind to change up often, but for the dogs it was practical with what they had to work with. For centuries the DDR had always been one for natural materials of ore, gems, and the means to tame them.

Precisely the reason they were here.

“You all arrived fast,” a dog muttered as it stepped out to the main room of those few dozens of Seren.

“Fast indeed,” another added joining.

“Just like-” if there had been a plan to the meeting, it was thrown out the window the moment the third dogs’ eyes met that of a mare in their crowd, “you!” his claw pointed amongst their ranks.

And Bronze could feel the sharp appendage digging in to her chest, “Oh… crap…”

“Wait…” Free looked back and forth to both the dogs and the mare, “You know them?”

“Ahh… you could say that,” Bronze already started thinking about hopping back on that train, and trying her luck with jail.

“Could?! You helped bring this all crashing around us!” the first bellowed to them all, grasping hold of the side arm attached to his hip, “She’s the one who gave our old chief this kind of tech,” he held the firearm for them all to see, “and those blasted soldiers to fight with us, the same ones now tearing us apart!”

“If there’s any that the fault of this fight should rest on,” the second peered down to her as did his comrades, “it’s her.”

Bronze didn’t need to feel it on her spine, she already knew that every eye in there glared over to her. Half she imagined were wondering if the words of the mutts held any weight, the other half she pictured already taking aim at the back of her skull to even the score, ‘There has to be a stronger word than Awkward…’ she went over a mental thesaurus, wondering if the dogs walked with their weapons loaded… given their nature, of course they did.

One pair of eyes however, remained on those that had arrived to greet them, “And that is why she’s a part of this now,” Bronze craned her neck over to the colt, as Free stepped closer to those that stood heads above him, “righting her wrongs… at least trying to.”

“And us having her after the spawns of those talons are dealt with, will more than suffice to add up to the total she owes…” the first grinned, showing off his yellowed fangs from years of poor care, “I can think of a few lava flows close to the surface she’d be able to take a dip in, the temperature is just wonderful this time of year.”

‘Or I bury you in one of those vents and call it a day,” she glared back at him, but with three dogs in front of her, and a number behind likely feeling sympathetic. What was she to do?

“And me having the gift of flight back from your chief would be more than enough payment for us to cough her up,” the colts eyes glared up to the lead dog as if he was still a pup, leaving two to his side jarred at the remark to their dead, “No? good, then you’ll have no further issues with how Seren is taking care of this I trust…”

“Or-”

“Plus, after the immediate threat is dealt with, there’s really nothing to stop us from pulling out and letting your remaining soldiers fight what still stands,” after those words passed by Frees’ lips, the dog dropped his shoulders and weened, “Her majesty isn’t holding punches this time around,” each point he made followed with it a step that pushed the dog back on his feet, “we work as one, or we work as none… take your pick.”

Faster than expected, the paws of the lead dog were thrown in front of him, “Easy now, we get it… although many that will be working with you won’t like it, if they recognize her,” the venom from his words lingered in the air, “After this matter discussed in the letter is taken care of, she isn’t allowed anywhere near this country… far too much blood has been spilt by the means created by her.”

‘As if I’d want to step hoof in this place again,’ Bronze muttered in her mind, “more than happy to.”

After that, and a few fleeting breaths of everyone getting readjusted back to a slightly less tense surrounding. Those of Seren settled down for the afternoon and brought their bags, plus gear for the fight, to any open cot available. Which to say was a fair number of them as the mare counted, wondering how many had once been filled not too long ago. It wasn’t a thought she had much time to don on, there were other matters to discuss.

Back to the room where the three dogs entered from, the mare pushed the door open and joined the rest. Greeted by the trio of canines, Freefall, and a few of the other heads of their group, “Now that that’s out of the way,” Free leaned on to the center table, “why don’t you introduce yourselves?”

“Each of us was something in our hierarchy before, and now we’re just trying to keep our country from completely collapsing… far easier said than done,” The first one started to grind his teeth, before he pointed to his comrades, “He’s Grumble, over saw the manufacturing,” the same stone-grey dog grunted almost with the sounding of his name, as the impromptu leader went to the next one, “this ones Shaleflake… largely in ore production, and probably the best one to talk to about the mines.”

Bronze looked over said dogs coat, and couldn’t determine what color it was underneath all the flaking patches of hardened dirt, ‘Wonder if they get their name before or after being born,’ her eyes rolled at the irony.

“I’m one of the councilors… or I suppose ex-councilors of the DDR, under the late Chief Reinhart,” his eyes slowly started to twist to the mare, “call me Patches.”

‘Well… that explains that,’ the mare answered to herself, knowing she must have run in to this particular pooch sometime while she was around the Chief.

“Staff Sargent First Class Freefall,” said colt introduced, and started leading towards those around him, “Sargent Applebranch, Sargent Luster, and Sargent Frostfire,” Bronze had her ears point up immediately at the one that sounded familiar.

Across from her, there stood the Pegasus mare from the mine, the one that saved her skin after running in to the same creation they sought after even today. Though the armor she wore then was now relaxed, showing off her charcoal coat, and the nearly glowing yellow irises… that were glaring at the mare over the room.

Bronzes’ neck nearly snapped when she turned her attention back towards the others, ‘What was that about?’ she asked, trying her damndest not to make eye contact with her again.

There at the table, Grumble pulled from a sleeve a detailed map of the DDR as he laid it across the table. If Bronze thought the ones Marble kept of his operations were impressive, he probably could take a few lessons from the dogs. All across their nations lied various colors of lines mixing across like soggy pasta, some meeting up with larger colored areas, and others out right ending.

Together, the dogs held down the large parchment as a few of the sergeants placed something to hold the edges down. With the full extent of the country’s lands drawn out, all those present truly saw the amounts of work that had been put in by the DDR to carve out their own territory. Few areas remained without any line through it, the only ones left free from digging were shadowed by some sort of water source.

“Most of our tunnels and mines are linked with one another,” Shaleflake dragged his talon across the written landscape, “some excavations deeper than others… depending on the color.”

Grumble brought out the corner that started to fold in on itself, as he pointed to the legend on the side, “deeper the shading, the deeper the tunnel or area that was dug out.”

A simple enough key to follow, and certainly made the map making easier on the creator. Though Bronze examined a few of the various hollows that have been carved out, and many of them were vast enough to be on par with the caverns that were done in Marbles’ own mine. “Has there been anything brought back to you on one of them being taken over?” she asked aloud to any of the three that might know, “That’d be the first place to start.”

“While as obvious as that seems, no we haven’t heard anything,” Patches scoffed at both the mare and the loose leadership that had been created to try and help the country along. News didn’t always travel fast in the DDR, and all three of those present knew it could be days before hearing anything, “unless it comes late… until that time though, there are other places to check.”

Frees’ brow raised as he looked at the map, “and that might be?”

“Not all tunnels and caverns are linked,” Grumble showed them as he brought his claw to a few lines that abruptly ended, “some rock is too difficult to go through, or too close to water to keep together…”

“… so, a few areas are left on their own,” Patches finished up as he started running through the couple that were set apart from the others, “given what was described in the letter, it’d have to be a larger cavern to work out of,” He placed a claw on one.

“One that was further way from attention, or at least abandoned,” Shaleflake carried on, putting his own digit on a separate area.

“And one with a decent number of encounters near it,” Grumble added his own two cents, and a claw to the map.

All three pointed to different locations, all of which remained fairly close to one another yet still unconnected. “We had discussed it previously to your arrival here,” Patches explained as he looked around the room, making sure everypony there was following, “trying to pinpoint where they were coming from was on our growing list of concerns, though knowing now it would be seeking materials… there really weren’t many to choose from.”

Having gone down the rabbit hole once of a mine, and done her research prior to, Frostfire looked at the three in question. Sure, they were alone, at least unconnected below the surface, but there on the map were still a few close to it above ground.

“Why would it go to these ones though?” she asked, drawing the dogs’ attention, “if it was looking for materials to keep building, why would it go to a group of abandoned mines… or is there still ore present?”

“There is… though it’s also closer to thermal vents, and magma flows, that dot some of our lands,” even at the sound of those, Shaleflake started to sweat, “fur isn’t the best when it comes to keeping cool, so after the upper part was stripped, the rest was left.”

“Were there gems present?” all eyes turned to Applebranch as he piped up, “from my understanding these things are enchanted and need a stone to hold the spell… so if there’s gems as well, then it would still be of use.”

Collectively the trio looked at one another, and nodded towards the group, “it may have been a while, but there were still a few stones here and there that were likely left.”

“Splendid…” Free cracked his neck, glad to have that kink out since the train, “so, we have a place, or three, to start then… considering the time, I’d say tomorrow split up and head out,” without any sign of disagreement, the ponies in question returned to the rest of their group.

“Our own will join as well,” Patches stated to Free as his own cohorts started to head out, readying themselves for the coming day, “many of our fighters are lost due to these… abominations… and others want payback.”

Even without turning her head, Bronze could still feel his gaze trying to eat away at her. Yet, no matter how much he tried, the mare was silently grinning at the fact the DDR was suffering from her creations. For all their boasting over the years of how inferior ponies were, and how little they got along with the bunch, it was sickly satisfying to her to see them nearly begging for the help with a tail between their legs.

“Most of ours will have to be taken from various occupations,” the dog groaned, knowing that as vicious as his kind may be at times, not all of them had that instinct. Some never even truly saw a lot of fighting over the years, and only supported the effort.

“As long as they can hold a rifle, or a butter knife, I’ll take the help,” Free nodded to him as Patches returned the gesture and headed out.

Bronze however, remained, and examined the map. The caverns weren’t far from them, maybe half a day’s march, and if they left here by morning. They’d surely have more than enough light to come back to base with.

“Assuming we come back,” a nervous chuckle escaped her lips.

“Now what do you think?” she heard the half Pegasus ask as he approached, “I know you have to have a better idea of where to go.”

“… Sort of,” she examined from her point of view.

All three of those caverns were relatively close to one another under the surface, the dogs likely avoided connecting due to those vents that Shaleflake mentioned. Yet, a number of paths leading to those in question met up with other still active digs. All of which they’d noted running in to her creations, some more than others.

‘So why wouldn’t have any of them seen it?’ as dense as the citizens of the DDR might be at times, they wouldn’t have let something that obvious go unnoticed so close to their own lively hood. Two had connections leading to other veins and shafts, only one however, was completely isolated with its own ducts.

“That one,” Bronze placed her own claw, “That’s where it has to be.”

“And you’re sure…” Free saw the conviction in her eyes, though still ask he did, “why?”

“All of them still have some use to it in terms of materials, they’re all further from anyone with a prying eye… yet this one isn’t connected to the others in any way,” with her talon she drew it out for him and traced the lines that marked the various digs, “If it had retreated to one of the other two, some dog would have seen it, and there’d likely be even more encounters.”

At fair point to be made, and one that left Free pondering as he nodded his head along, “True, true… still a safe bet to look at the others as well though.”

“Plus, that’s where it originally called home,” that threw the Pegasus off balance for a moment, “I had to put my plans in to motion somewhere,” Bronzes’ eyes rolled at him and turned back to the map, looking at all the places she could have chosen to start building it from, “and the DDR did have a number of mines they’d never really paid attention to.”

‘That explains how no one found her before everything started,’ Free had one of his unasked questions answered, “would it really be foolish enough to go back there then?”

“I wouldn’t… but it would be a place it was comfortable with, and knew well… so I’d like to go with the party to check this one out,” she looked at the cavern, its own entrances lied further from those other suggested. Plus, there weren’t many ways out besides the ducts that gave air, should worse come to worse, ‘Still not much of an escape route…’

“And you’ll get that chance,” he agreed, while tapping the hilt of his sword, “Besides, I’ll be along for that ride…” she twisted her head towards him as a smirk started to grow, “I mean if this thing keeps on living we’re all boned anyway, might as well go where the action is.”

With a cock-eyed glance, Bronze watched as the colt chuckled to himself and headed for the door. ‘Odd colt… then again, I know the company he keeps,’ her eyes turned back towards the map and looked it over. Judging how long it’d take to get to her destination, a further walk than the rest had to go, but nothing she couldn’t-

“Is it true…?”

One called to her from the doorway. The mare turned to see a familiar face there, Sargent Frostfire. Though the stoic face she had worn all meeting, and even while in the mines before was wiped clean. This time replaced by what Bronze could only explain as a pony reaching the end of their rope. Frostfire clenched her jaw, tightened her tongue, and winced her eyes to hold back the tear.

Yet still, one fell.

“About what you did? That you’re the cause behind all this?” she asked more clearly.

All Bronze could do was slump her own head, and stare at the floor in forfeit. She had nothing to hide at this point, and if her creations didn’t get her by the end of this fight. She half expected to get a blade to the back on the way out by another in their own company, “It is…” there wasn’t much more she could say.

“And now… you’re trying to make up for it, by killing your own creations?”

“… yes.”

It didn’t take long for Bronze to hear the sounds of hoof steps heading towards her, whatever was going through the Sargents’ mind couldn’t have been the kindest of thoughts. Though, instead of face her, all the mare did was keep her head down and let her counterpart say what she needed to say. Action however, spoke louder than words. A hoof collided with the side of her jaw, sending her to the ground.

Bronze had her fair share of beatings over the years. Be it from Marble, or while scavenging parts for her plans. Hell, she’d been in the thick of it a lot lately, though very little had hurt more than a hit from this mare. Whatever Seren was feeding their troops, it was surely keeping them hearty enough to take and dish out a thrashing.

“Ugh…” she groaned and rubbed the spot on her jaw.

“Bunsen Blaze…” Bronze couldn’t be sure if she had heard the mare, or if it was said out in the other room. Though as her eyes looked up and met Frostfires, she heard it once more from the Sargents’ lips, “his name… was Bunsen Blaze,” it sounded painful for her to say the name, “My brother… died in a fight with the DDR… thanks to you.”

‘… I deserve this,’ the mare on the floor remarked to herself, now fully anticipating another punch.

But it didn’t come.

Instead, a hoof grabbed hold of her talon and picked her back up to her own legs, as the two mares stared at each other’s eyes. Frostfires’ digging deep through the metal of the mares, “it was senseless how he passed, and now here you are trying to do better and make up for it…” hearing those words didn’t seem to hurt much anymore, and that made Bronze even start to worry if she had gone numb to the reminder of her mistake, “… you will make up for it… or so help me in his name I’ll find the deepest crevasse in that mine, and send you all the way to the core.”

With that, Frostfire whipped around and walked from the room. Bronze could feel that there was so much more she wanted to say to the one that helped take her family member, someone she cared about. Yet, now she was alone, with a sore jaw to help remind her of the pains she put on other families.

“As if I needed any more reminders…”

Chapter 23

Chapter twenty-three

It had taken the better part of the day to do it, but sure enough just as the sun started its journey towards the horizon for the evening. The group reached their destination and stopped for a moment to collect themselves. The mouth of the dig site gaped at them, laden with the remains of the operations before that had taken place here. Whether they voiced it or not, the few dogs that had made the trip hadn’t seen these parts in a while.

‘They look nervous…’ Bronze thought as she looked to each of the canines, even to Patches, who led them alongside those of Seren. Her eyes turned towards the entrance, and steadily through her coat she could feel the hot air sweeping from its gape.

“Well, this is gonna be a scorcher…” she heard the familiar voice of a colt walk up to her.

Free stood dressed out in his own armor for the fight, having fished it out of his bag. Though unlike all of those others under the crown she’d encountered, besides one, his was far from ordinary. Across the bracers were what looked like a set of gems, along with one planted in the breast plate. The crafting she was all too familiar with, after all, she’d faced another with a similar set.

“Iron did your work I assume?” she had to admire the work put in to something that seemed so simple, but in the end could turn a hunk of metal in to a force to be reckoned with.

“You recognize it I see?” almost showing it off, the colt brought the hoof up to his eyes and acted as if taking aim, knowing it had been a minute since it’d done any target practice. “Comes in handy, that’s for sure… hell it’s probably the only reason I’m still here.”

“He does good work, I’ll admit that,” ‘I should know,’ her eyes rolled at being thwarted by him in the past, ‘then again, his hooves worked for the betterment of others.’

Free looked to some of the tired faces of those they had marched with, knowing full well that an army marched on its stomach. “I’m gonna say take a few minutes to get ourselves together, get something in our stomachs, then wade ourselves in to whatever maw hides.”

‘A bit dramatic,’ Bronze thought as she watched the Pegasus make his way over to the lead dog so he could brief his own troops, ‘though who knows what it has ready for us…’ she knew her creation well, and it had to know that they were heading its way.

***

Patches hadn’t been joking about why they’d left some of their mines, even only a few hundred feet in and Bronze could feel the sweat trickling down the nape of her neck, as the air seemed to vent from the innermost parts outwards to the open air. She couldn’t imagine how the more heavily armored companions might be feeling. Even Freefall looked as if he was ready to fall over in his suit, yet still they pressed on, knowing this had to be done.

The thought of just burying the whole mine had been tossed around in the group once or twice. Given some of the arms that were sported, they had a decent chance of doing just that if they put their mind to it. However, that idea was shot down near moments later, namely by Bronze herself. Without the support beams acting as a stake to its heart. To Bronze, her creation would eventually dig itself out of this hole, no matter how much rock they put on top of it. So that left them walking into the belly of the beast.

‘Oh joy…’ Bronze thought, as she hiked her shoulders up, repositioning the rifle across them. Using her horn, the canteen lifted off from around her neck and took a swig, before tapping it to the side plate of the colt next to her.

“I’m good,” Free waved off.

“No, you’re no good to us dehydrated, or dead for that matter,” ‘more than I can say for what some of them think of me,’ her eyes looked at the few stares coming from those DDR soldiers that joined them.

Whether or not the trio that greeted them told their crew of who’d be joining, Bronze would never know for sure. However, the daggers that were being dug in to her from the glances she was receiving more than told her what she already figured. If she went down in combat, would there be anyone in those ranks willing to carry her out?

The dirt underneath them continued to get warmer as they went, telling them they were getting closer to the heart of the operation that once resided here by the dogs. All along the trail they could see by the light of those torches the dogs brought and the horns of the unicorns present the tell tail signs of mining.

Sections were cut out from the walls where ore once laid, gems were chipped from pits in the tunnel they went down, and even some of the tools used were left over from time past. One thing seemed certain, the further they went down, the more sparkles Bronze saw from the stones left over that the DDR didn’t see a use for… but another certainly had.

She wasn’t sure how far they had gone down, but amongst the glittering of the structure around them, another form took shape in the distance as they grew closer. Sections of armor laid sprawled across the ground, some cut and broken apart, others dented beyond repair… and all another sign to her that they were in the right place.

Freefall took a curious look to the sections as they passed them, and trotted up a few ranks to the lead dog, “When was this place last used?” he asked, seeing more sections as they went.

“It’s… been a while for sure,” Patches noted the armor sections as they went, but one thing stood out to him as well, “These not just dog armor though.”

“It’s here,” Bronze said coolly as she joined the pair, causing both of them to turn towards her, “this was the same song and dance back in Seren when I went in one of the mines, it’s using the armor to make more of them…”

Patches glared down both the way they’d come, and where they had yet to go, “Why wouldn’t it be more guarded?” he questioned as it fell on deaf ears.

Though one thing didn’t sit right with the mare. Back in Marbles’ mine, the sections of armor were still intact, having been clearly used to piece together more of her automatons. These ones were… broken, unusable, more scrap metal than an actual suit of armor at one point. With a wary eye, she followed them down deeper in to the mine, leaving her something else to ponder.

“We’re reaching the inner area…” Patches signaled with his paws for the rest of them to stall their advance, as he saw the flicker of torches from the chamber ahead no more than a hundred feet.

“And if she’s right,” Free commented, trying to look ahead at anything that might be lurking in the shadows, “then we’re closer to it as well…” he turned towards the mare in question, “you’ve encountered it in the other mine, what was its setup like? Defenses? Layout? Anything at all.”

Bronze thought back to the mine, it had been the first time she ever saw it make almost its own nest. Though elaborate wouldn’t be the first word to come to mind, just hollow soldiers that worked to make more of themselves at the end of the day. Keep their numbers growing, and followed commands, much like an ant colony. It was a simple set up, though if this shaft was made like Marbles’, then there was only one place it could have been.

“Defenses weren’t really present, a few guards along the slopes and edges leading to the bottom… past that they don’t have much to worry about, they have the numbers, and the advantage,” that earned her a growl from Patches and a few of the dogs with him that overheard, they didn’t like being told they were at a loss, “that said, it was far from much of the action when we first entered, and remained at the bottom of the channel.”

Aside from the dogs’ reaction, Free on the other hoof, just nodded along with her, “So if it’s as you say, then I might have an idea…” he looked over to the numbers that had joined them, more importantly, what they carried. “Frostfire, how many launchers are we sporting?”

Within a few moments, the Sargent was up to her superior, “Approximately a third of us were armed with them in anticipation for heavy resistance,” she crunched the numbers, “roughly twenty then, each with a dozen rounds to boot.”

‘Geez and I thought one of my airships was over kill,’ Bronze rolled her eyes, before really wishing she had one of those at her disposal.

“So… if it’s at the bottom, then there’s only one place it can go,” he pulled on of the launchers off of a soldiers’ back from beside him, “I say take every single one of these we got, get to the edge of this shaft, and blow the whole bottom to bits…”

‘… He sure keeps the right friends with that mindset,’ the thought crossed the mares’ mind for a second, before starting to wonder if that’d really work.

Sure, the gem inside the thing was powerful, but it wasn’t totally indestructible. With enough of those going off at once they just might be able to do it. The armor plating would have to be pierced first, but even without the gem destroyed, if it didn’t have much of a body to move. Would it really be much of a threat anymore?

“Or just bury us right now and save them the trouble,” Patches chimed, crossing his paws in a tuff, “Our mines are somewhat different than what your countries might be, there is a central shaft yes, but we also leave a much larger place to work from underground.”

“Point?” Frostfire raised a brow to him.

“A place to work means flat, and open, ground,” he grumbled as he spelled it out more, “we’re going to have to go through a lot of them to even get to that edge.”

“We’ll… manage,” the Sargents tongue started to turn sharper with every breath.

“Or you’ll be slaughtered…” Patches dropped the more obvious outcome from the DDRs’ experience, “I say we come back if we’re so sure where it is, with perhaps a better plan than run in and die.”

“We said… we’ll manage,” Free grinded back to him as his hooves dug in to the dirt, “That’s why we brought soldiers, not cooks, or gardeners, or carpenters…” that seemed to stab at the dogs’ ego a bit, between the various murmurs Bronze could hear the councilors grinding his teeth.

Bronze however, looked between the three of them at the measuring of who had the biggest ‘ego’ and finally snapped, “Oh enough!” the three, and pretty much everyone in earshot, snapped towards her before the mare got her tone under control. “If we leave now that’ll give it a chance to make more, or even escape, so what we have to fight through a number of them to finish this!” she barked, about shoving her claw in to the dogs chest, “If I’m willing to trot down here, destroy the things my bloody talons made, and not bat an eye at the decent chance of being amongst those bodies… then there’s little you should be reserved about, what's the alternative?”

The dog didn’t say a word, and Free even took a step back from the exchange, “the alternative is it keeps making more, keeps attacking, and keeps killing in your own back yard,” each of those eyes from the other dogs took half glances to the one standing next to them, never making full contact. They knew that one fact, the mare was right, it had to stop here.

“I’m not hearing any other ideas now, am I?” With a thrust of her talon, the mare held it out to Free. It may have taken a moment or two, but in time he got the hint and hoofed over the launcher to her. The face of a mare on a mission coated across, as she slung it up and on her shoulder next to the rifle. Loading up a round just as expertly as any of his own troops, “I’ll happily be in that front line if it means an end of this mistake… and I get to sink a round down its throat.”

That seemed to silence the mutt more than anything, and with the smallest of nods he relinquished to her, “So be it…” with a raised paw he gave some signal to those that followed him, and all around they started readying any gear from their bags that might be needed on the fly. Just as he did, Free followed suit with those that came along from Seren, and with a satisfied sneer Bronze started to follow the Pegasus, before a paw rested on her shoulder, “… that said, I still do hope to find your body amongst those here, fallen ultimately by your doing.”

If he thought those words would sting, they didn’t, that kind of talk lately had been feeling like rain against a well laid roof. Her grin wasn’t what he’d expected in return, “Don’t hold your breath just-”

All around them the tunnel rocked, as a small concussion of air passed by those present. For a moment, Bronze thought they had been attacked, though with everyone still standing. That lead her to wonder what just had happened.

“Who did that?” Frostfire asked, as she thought maybe one of their own had an accidental discharge.

Yet when no one else answered, another noticed something else to their mystery, “… Anyone else notice the air stopped?” Free looked to some of those closer to him.

Indeed, to the Pegasies’ observation, any of the gusts that seemed to sweep by them all their journey down, suddenly came to a halt. Only the heat from the ground below radiated to their skin, telling one all he needed to know. “They blew the exit…” Patches remarked.

The powder keg went off.

Sections of soldiers in front instantly fell from the oncoming fire of those rounds that went down the tunnel to them. Free himself might have been caught in the barrage, had several of the unicorns with them not cast their shields in time to stack against the assault. Magic against her weapons had been a good defense in the past, though how long the spell would be able to hold, not even Bronze knew.

“Now what?!” one of Serens’ called out, pulling his own firearm from the sling across his back and taking aim along the sides of the shield.

Patches signaled to a few of his own, and just as Bronze noticed, those he called to him started running back down the tunnel on all fours. Meanwhile, the ex-councilor took his own stance amongst those returning the fire, side by side with Free.

“Some of mine are going to go back, see if we can dig out if we have to retreat,” a shot from his rang out, but was lost on those still firing back.

Free however remained at a loss, those in his ranks who were skilled at the arcane arts spent years training and honing the skills for sure, but every pony had a limit. With no other option, he called out to those holding the line, “Until then… Push through!”

Just like that the wall of energy started to plod closer to the opening, its shell acting as the only barrier between the mass of troops behind and the quick end in front. Bronze didn’t like how slow they were going, and surely didn’t want to bank on making it to the opening and be surrounded by an entire army before even getting their bearings.

With a tug, the launcher she procured rested across her shoulder, as she took aim and ducked just past the blockade. ‘Sorry who’s ever behind me…’ the trigger depressed, and a split second later the rocket tore down the tunnel to the awaiting threat.

For a moment there, the incoming fire stopped by a few rounds, before picking back up once more. Both the mare that took the shot, and a very surprised Frostfire looked to one another, the sliver of a plan taking shape.

“Launchers! Up front!” the Sargent called out, and just at her beck and call half a dozen of those armed piled to the mare, “Take aim around cover, light em up!”

She didn’t have to say that twice for both those that joined her to do so with the utmost of pleasure, and some of those behind to take a few more steps back. Like a swarm of hornets, the munitions from their column flew. Just as Bronzes’ had, with every one that reached its target. A few more shots died down, softening their approach.

It may have been slow at first, but as they paced themselves with those holding the barrier up, a rhythm was found between those shooting to cover their advance. Yet, with every step closer they drew, the defense increased as well. Bronze had just loaded up another round in her launch when she took notice the shield starting to flicker in front of her. The unicorn doing his duty held it a firm as best he could, but with so much hitting it back, she knew it wouldn’t be long.

With another flicker, the first unicorn dropped from a slug passing through his weakened shield, and just as he fell another took his place to keep their protection firm as the edges of the tunnel finally started to creep closer.

Frostfire held up her wing, waiting as each of her demolitionists loaded up, before she let it drop. In one solid wall of powder the rockets flew from the mouth of the tunnel. Just as they themselves broke free from its confines.

Bronze gazed around at the clearing that enveloped them. From that last barrage, there remained little more than a few falling scraps of the twisted metal that once resembled her old constructs, littered amongst the various mining equipment that had been left to rust away over the years of neglect. Just as Patches had said though, off in the distance she could see the edge of the dig site. At the very least a hundred yards of open terrain.

And there between, the welcome committee they expected.

A hoof wrapped around her wings and pulled the mare down towards the ground, back behind a broken and twisted up conveyor belt. Free himself resided next to her, as his troops and those dogs that had joined them took the hint and got in to cover just as the first few shots started to ring out from those onlookers.

Tapping the side of his own gem, the emerald glowed ever brighter as his arm straightened out. From its tip, the pulse of energy shot forward as if its caster was a unicorn, and melted itself through the plating of one tin soldier that got a little too close for comfort.

Bronzes’ head snapped back and forth between the Pegasus, and the one he fell, before giving him a rather approving nod. ‘How as Grace not armed all of her soldiers like this yet?’ she wondered, lining her own shots up.

A dog model had already gone through its first box of ammunition from the crank gun it sported, and just as fast loaded up a fresh feed as his paws went to work on the handle. Spewing the lead down range towards their position. All of which, made him a very large, slow target for the mare to take a shot on.

The first one might have missed the rune by a few inches, but it was enough to make him turn towards her and start raining down on her position. It was a waiting game, and with its box running dry, the mare had another opening. This time around, the results were fruitful, and the clank of metal resonated through the cavern as it fell.

Or it would have, if he didn’t have friends.

Steadily from the depths of the lower levels, all those in the line could see the ranks created by the wall of steel walking towards them to reinforce those already in the fight. ‘That yardage is going to take forever to cross,’ Bronze thought to herself, as she cycled the bolt back and forth, picking off a one or two at a time.

“We’re going to run out of shots before we even make a dent in them…” Free muttered to her, as he looked at their numbers, and the opposing force.

He was right, and after using quite a number of their munitions even to get to this point, Bronze wondered how many rockets they had left… and if it’d be enough to finish this fight. The eyes of the mare turned skyward, only seeing a few of those tin gryphons taking up the airspace, and almost as if a fuse.

An idea lit off in her head.

“We could try from above,” she turned from the air back to the colt, leaving him to try and follow her train of thought, “ground covers those in the air, and those skyward go over directly to the cavern… get it out in the open.”

Free looked at the numbers ahead of them, and the ones that still came up from the depths. Silently, he wished his wings were still present, if only to help his fellow fliers. “Let me bounce that off of those that’d be going in to the fray… Frostfire!” he shouted out, giving Bronze the chance to get back to the line.

From above, her sights trailed over the twisting arch of a gryphon, and just like clockwork the slug tore off its wing. The impact likely didn’t kill it, but if it was grounded, that made their hopeful plan that much easier.

Side by side with her many of those slid the bolts back and forth like they’d been taught, and with every round that flew, another of her creations fell. A slow process for sure, but one that they were familiar with by now.

“You’re coming with,” the hoof of a mare planted on to Bronzes’ shoulder, as she turned around to see Frostfire hoisting her own launcher, before the Sargents eyes trailed over the false wings along her back, “Just try to keep up…”

Bronze nodded to her, and readied the launcher as well. All the while, each of those that were able to do so, flexed out their wings and scraped their hooves or talons against the ground. The one pony out of place amongst the group had to take in the sight. Looking around as each of those that would join in the air had their eyes peeled to their target off in the distance, and what above that would be ready to stop them.

‘Now or never!’ Bronze shouted to herself as the first to take off, with Frostfire on her heels.

Quickly followed by the rest of those as they joined. The mare kept her eyes forward at one tin gryphon that fired its own munition at those below, carelessly not paying much attention to its surroundings. Taking a que from Free, Bronze charged up her own spell a top her horn, and in an instant the ray shot out. The thin line of energy slicing neatly through the wing of her target, and dropping it.

Her fellow mare nearby might not have had magic at her disposal, but she more than made up for it with her own skills. Grasping on to her blade, Frostfire drilled the honed edge through the canvas that held it aloft and turned it in to ribbons.

Some of their cohorts weren’t so lucky though, between the fire from the ground, and those in the air that finally noticed them. A number of Serens’ finest wouldn’t make it back home by the end of today. That was the price that had to be paid, and as Bronze watched a few more fall indirectly by her own talons, her wings beat ever faster.

Pushing past the swarm above, the improvised alicorn raced on, even bettering Frostfire as she left the stunned mare in her wake. The edge of the shaft came closer and closer, with every passing beat of her wings. The whole formation reached their destination, and as in unison with the mare seeking deliverance, the launchers from their back swung free and took aim.

Together, the first volley impacted the base, letting up a column of smoke that greeted them. For a moment, even the gun fire along the surface stopped as all those hovered above the shaft. Bronze didn’t breathe, waiting for some sign from the darkness to show if they’d dealt it a nasty blow, or at the very least gotten its attention.

And attention they got.

“What the bu-?” Bronze got out before the two rays of energy leeched past both her, and those that joined.

Steadily they swept through the air, managing to clip a few of those that flew, earning several shouts and screams while they plummeted in to the shaft. Any who joined her scattered to avoid the fire. However, just like her wings, the mares’ throat seized up, unsure if she was seeing it right and still not wanting to believe it. Just as quickly as the beam came, it halted.

That’s when the scraping of metal against stone started.

From the depths she could see the frame that she knew all too well. One that looked slightly… different than what she remembered. Across its body, the use of those armored sections they’d come across on their way down was answered. Between its original plating, and even over top of it in some areas, additional sheets were riveted to its bulk. Some of the more golden ceremonial plating giving it a stark contrast to the dull grey, and elevating its appearance to one that might seem glorious.

But what grabbed the mares’ eyes, were its own.

The envious glow she already recognized, but the eyes it sported were on a different level, as they radiated immensely brighter from the sockets than the ones of old. Charged now with an energy it was more than happy to use.

Clearing the shaft, those eyes fell across the DDR and Seren. With a pullback of its head, it brought its vision above its own troops, and let loose another sweep of energy. The beam scorched in to the rocks and equipment. What it couldn’t cut through directly, it heated to the point of being too much for the soldiers hiding to handle, and they dived from to save their skin.

Bronze looked back and forth from her creation, to those that fought to end it. If it’d managed to get a fire spell inside its throat to breath flames like a real dragon, and the same ray as hers to its eyes… what was to stop it from added even more tricks to its arsenal? An upgraded chassis, a broader spectrum of weapons, and the bunch of them trapped for the time being down here. It was a force to be reckoned with, not counting those in its own army.

The only thing the mare could do, was seek a way to remove it from the equation.

Another ray charged up from its eyes, ready to curve across and assist its own kind. Though before it could fire, a blast smacked against the back of its head. Its eyes died down a tad, as they swept across the open expanse of the mine, before landing on the one figure not seeking cover. As the mare stared it down still holding the smoking launcher.

“You can shoot rays now, big bucking deal!” Bronze shouted over to it, hoping to egg it on and at the same time wishing she had other options. Though with the only alternative being trying to fight it down here, there really wasn’t one. “Come on, come back to your master!” she flicked her tail at it, exposing her back, “let’s see what you can really do!”

With that mare was already shooting up the shaft that supplied the air to the rest of the dig site. Glimmering up the tunnel as she went, the radiance of its newest attack shined bright as it passed by her with steady callousness. Maybe if she could give it something to chase, and take it outside, those in the mine would have a chance… a better one than her at least.

Chapter 24

Chapter twenty-four

‘So… what was step two!?’ Bronze asked herself as the wings reciprocated against the wind, trying to determine if the heat coming her way was from the thermal vents below, or the fire it wielded. ‘Fire!’ the smell of her scorched hairs told her that much, and the mare banked letting the rest of the gust of flames pass by.

Most of the DDR in this part was made up from what gave that mine its sweltering temperatures. Vents bellowed up steam from what little water managed to enter from nearby Aquaphor’s. While amongst the various cracks and crevasses that dotted around her, resided magma flows that trickled out and created their own crust across the lands of the dogs.

They were known for their ore after all, and that all had to come from somewhere in the end… and while the dogs might have called it home, Bronze could think of a few better words to describe it.

‘Yes Patches, by all means, ban me from coming to this hellhole,’ she thought how that could even be considered a punishment, ‘This is the exact reason why no creature, save you mutts, can stand this place!’

Seeing from the corner of her eye the tell tail glow of its eyes not far off from her. Both herself and her creation glared at one another, as the energy trail leeched out. Puncturing the sauna like air, and leaving clear holes in the haze from vaporizing the humidity.

Rising higher away from the vents, even after only climbing a dozen feet or so, Bronze could feel the air temperature drop degree by degree. Between those clouds that held aloft over the fiery terrain, both fliers punched through puffs of moisture that were allowed to build up. Each one putting distance between, as the nimbler of the two used those moments of secrecy to bend, dodge, and weave her way out of sight enough to buy herself some time.

Stopping inside a lone cloud, the wisps of humidity licked away most of the heat that built up from being in the mines, and the flight over literal lava. A welcome sensation for sure, and while the cooler air this high up met the steam that was given off from below in places, any clouds that might had dissipated from their disturbance quickly reformed. Giving both the ground shade, and the mare cover from her pursuer.

Panting from strained breaths, the cooler air helped quell her sweltering lungs, and give her the moment she needed. ‘Three… no, four shots,’ she checked over from the launcher across her back, slung right next to the rifle still. Though the latter would do next to nothing to her creation unless she got close, ‘and with its extra plating… would this even be enough?’

A gust of wind cleared some of the cloud cover she harbored in, exposing her back to the metallic dragon. Instantly, before it could get a bead on her, with a locking of her wings the entire body weight of the mare dropped down. Watching as the hollow air she resided in seconds before, went up in flames from its gullet.

Fanning her wings out, Bronze got closer to the ground. Dodging between some of the stone pillars, her creation crashed through them as if they were a stack of dishes. Sections of stone landed around her, some super-heated from the ground below and broke apart on contact. Showering the mare in secondary shrapnel that caked and blocked her vision.

Never letting her see the next stone block that had come into view.

“Arrgh!” Bronze nearly bit through the lining of her lips, feeling the reverberation of metal against stone twist something out of place in the joint, and what held it to her shoulder. Skipping across the hot stones didn’t help matters, and as she slowly rose back to her limbs. The wing dropped down to her side.

With her creation overshooting its mark from her sudden halt, the mare took a second to look it over as it tried to turn around. ‘Twisted joint… not destroyed, but not something I can take care of now,’ her eyes snapped too, watching the dragon do a strafing run against where she resided. Blanketing parts of the ground in flames that matched the molten stone below the surface.

And not too far below it was.

Even through metal limbs, the heat still carried itself up to her chest faster than she’d expected. Making the mare wonder just how thin this plate of hardened lava actually was. A measurement she didn’t want to find out the hard way, ‘though I can’t fight this damned thing grounded…’ she looked around for anything to give her an advantage, before leveling on one of those stone columns that struck her.

If she couldn’t fly, she’d just have to ground it as well.

Tucking her wings to her side, Bronze galloped across the surface towards one of those very pillars that still resided upright. With a leap, the mare found herself at least a few feet off from the base, and with her talons dug in to the stone. She started making her way up along its face to the top.

All the while, the mare kept a close eye as her creation turned back towards her, and started flapping ever faster. Eying the stone she resided on, Bronze watched it get closer, as its broad shoulder collided with its surface. Scattering both rock and a single pony in the air.

As if by reflex, said pony reached out, and grasped on to the first thing she could. In her talons, she saw one of the plate edges that lined its whole body… a place right where she needed to be. Putting one talon over the other, Bronze picked her way from its center back up to the shoulder blades.

And the joints that held its wings.

“I said, heel!” she whipped the rifle out from her back, and lodged the muzzle in to the joint she crafted all those moons ago.

One round wouldn’t have done much, a full clip would barely make a dent. Though with the trained talons of the mare at the trigger, several full loads went in to the hinge. Each one that followed doing more damage than the last, and in time something finally gave way in her favor. Hearing the pop of its rivets, followed by many more, Bronze held on as the joint itself released. Throwing not only its wing off its rhythm, but also causing the two of them to drop back upon the ground.

Skipping over the surface like a stone, the mare snapped her attention to the one that fell with her. Sure enough, without the tightness of the rivet holding it down, the wing was allowed to dangle along its chest. Slowly the dragons’ head turned from its injury, back to the mare responsible, and even she couldn’t help but smirk at her creation. If it could growl, she imagined it would have roared by now.

Though with each step that it took in ever growing anger, something else happened that made Bronze cock her head. From its massive claws digging in to the crust beneath, she watched in places cracks begin to form as wisps of smoke trailed their way between the broken seal. The surface was far thinner than she imagined.

Giving her an idea…

“So… this is where it led…” the mare knew it had to understand somethings she was saying, especially after all the work she had done. Although if it could lay some sort of trap by collapsing the tunnel behind them, and get fed up enough to chase her alone. Taunting had to amount to something, especially if it was part of her own soul she was fighting, “The creator looking upon their creation, with nothing but regrets…”

Envious beams leeched from its eyes, as the automaton arched its head up along to where the mare was. Scampering out of the way, Bronze watched as it kept burning in to the crust, kicking up sections along with it. Yet, even with her dodge, it didn’t let up until another few seconds later.

‘Can it not see when it does that?’ she asked, putting that in her back pocket for later, “You’re nothing but a monument to my mistakes,” Spat the mare, hoping to bring another lash of anger from it.

To which the dragon did, using the same ray spell to sweep even further out around where the mare once stood. This time Bronze had more of a run for her money, as even its random trails that it left broke apart sections of the crust exposing the super-heated air below. One vent washed across her exposed stomach, burning off part of her coat and certainly scorching her underbelly.

Bronze forced herself to clench nearly every muscle in her body to stifle a grunt, not wanting to give it any sense of where she might be in the maze of rock. Readying the launcher, a pillar just near enough to her target fell through her sights. With a squeeze of the trigger, the rounds chemical reaction took over, sending it streaking through towards the stone.

The dragon might have watched it pass by itself as the ray cut off, but after it did, its eyes turned once again towards the mare. Never catching the intended target behind. Blowing out a chunk of stone, the rock face fell towards the crust, and the drake underneath. With the combined weight of all its metal, plus a stone hammer smacking upon it. Much of the crust below gave way, dropping the dragon down a few feet as even more vents opened up.

Bronze grinned to no one but herself for the point she struck on the scoreboard, as she kept an eye out for the next one. Before feeling another jet of heated air run across her flank. Leaping up with a yelp from her throat, the mare turned back and looked as part of her leg remained now already laden with singed hairs and boils from where it went. Leaving a section of her cutie mark torched off from the gasses.

Turning to, her yelp garnished attention from the other, and sure enough its own gust of flames raced upon her. Ducking back behind another column, Bronze watched as duel spouts of fire broke along the sides of her, cut in half from the stone. Even through the rushing sound of its attack, the steady rumbling under her talons still vibrated up to her chest, and with every second they were getting bigger.

Opening up the breach, a new round was loaded up in the launcher, as Bronze slung it across her shoulder once more and faced the rock. Grabbing hold to what she could, steadily she scurried her way up along and leaping up to the top. Landing upon the flattened surface, she looked down to see her very creation having moved closer to the pillar with every second of breath it laid upon her.

Just as she saw it, it saw her and shut its maw. By that point though, the mare was already in the air falling towards it, and just behind her she let the next rocket loose from its tube. With its attention to the mare landing upon its back. The column fell towards the dragon, neatly smacking it across its armored skull and causing the crust below to fall apart ever more.

As the stone passed from hitting its face, the next hit to come was the crumbling ground below. Having already broken a bit from the weight of the creation, and the stone before falling. This was the straw that broke the ponies back. Crashing next to its claws, the column punctured through the even now weakened base, causing a jarring shake to be felt by both Bronze and the construct she still stood on top of.

Already she could feel the sinking, and with another mighty crack, the crust gave way.

Her construct fell a few feet before finally hitting the molten stone that flowed below. Wildly it started thrashing its own claws around, trying desperately to get hold of the outer edge. Yet with its sheer weight alone, all it got in return were handfuls of crumbling stone. With nothing to pull itself free, the bulk of the automaton weighed it down further forcing it to sink in to the flow. Bronze galloped along its spine, trailing down to its tail that just barely started to go over the edge and join the rest of the body.

Wishing she had her wings right about now, the mare leapt, holding out her talons and smacking against the ledge of broken crust. Looking down to it, the dragons claws scrapped deep into the sides of the crevasse. Only the lighter figure of the mare kept herself from the same fate, as she watched its skull soon hit the lava, and they passed one another a glare. She could hear it wanting to screech from the pain it imagined, but all the mare could do was sigh and hold her talons tight.

Leaving it to sink below the surface.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Bronze pulled the rest of herself up and over the edge as it scraped against her tender belly. Stumbling to her hooves, and just barely able to stand after breathing in the noxious fumes. She’d managed to get a few dozen feet from the hole that opened up. Nearly tripping over herself like a drunken sailor, the mare fell flat on her back. Ignoring the heat that pulsed through her body from the contact, that sense of everything in her body feeling wrong told the mare one thing…

She was alive.

“Huh… hehe… ha… hahahahaha!” maybe it was the fumes of the sulfur getting to her system, or she saw just how far she’d come in the matter of a few months, but no matter the case. Bronze found herself nearly hysterical, ignoring the burning that came from her back and the rock underneath.

Hotter tears fell down her face, as the smoke around went to work on her ducts. Yet even with that, it wasn’t what brought her back to reality. A furious cough leapt out of her throat, causing the mare to nearly wrench up half her lung in the process. Instead, a thick black wad of saliva was cast from her lips as she laid back on the ground.

“… I need a vacation…” Bronze groaned once.

Before the plate where she rested broke up from beneath her.

Scrambling up to her hooves, the talons dug in to the softer crust and helped push her along its surface. Behind her more gave way in to the flow just under its shell, and along her sides Bronze could see the still molten sections of lava thrown about as they landed against the ground and started to darken from cooling.

One splattered a bit too close, peppering a side of her torso and neck in bee sized pellets of the taffy like stone. “Motherbucker…!” she grinded her teeth together.

Opting to take one of her talons and pluck off some of the pellets that already hardened to her coat. Bronze looked over the stone, knowing they’d have to be cut out, and not looking forward to the healing it would take to patch her up.

Yet that would be the least of her concerns.

The crunching of the surface nearby garnished her eyes to look towards where the crust had broken apart, and there her creation crawled out from the depths of Tartarus. Its former glory of the golden plates long gone, now replaced with charred sections that looked like over tempered steel. Segments of it were missing, broken off from where the rivets that held them on gave way.

Even parts of its original body didn’t escape the intense heat from the flows. As a few claws of its own were left missing or mangled beyond repair. An eye had dislodged somewhere along in its swim. While its lower jaw having been held on with similar rivets, just bigger, didn’t fare any better. The weight pulled it down off the rest of its skull, only to join those sections lost to the trickery of the mare.

A true hollow suit, compared to what she originally created.

“What do you want from me!” Bronze threw her talons up towards the sky, hoping for some answer, before moving away from the path of its single ray attack that shot from its eye.

Instantly the launcher was taken from her shoulder and pointed not towards it, but the ground below. Hoping for the same outcome, and that one more dip in the lava lake would finish it off. The mare let loose the trigger, perfectly aiming it along the crust… only to have it get swatted out of the air by a claw from the beast.

The dragon held it steady, letting the propellant run out, as the warhead itself went off in its grasp. Those digits that held on, now were tattered even more from the heat damaging them. Yet, by the dull expression on its face, it could have cared less. The only thing that filled it’s one eye was the mare before it.

Bronze saw inside its throat start to glow, and already started beating her legs against the surface, putting any distance she could away from the flames it spewed. At the same time, the launcher was loaded up with another round… her last one.

‘Better make it count,’ she thought looking at her creation for something, anything to give her an advantage.

And there she saw it.

It wasn’t just the dragons’ limbs and jaw that suffered the effects of the heat. Part of its chest had also fallen apart. The massive weight it had packed on to act as an extra level of defense playing against it, and leaving part of it exposed.

Just like the diamonds in its chest that gave it life.

Bronze knew it wasn’t hot enough down there to melt the purest of stones, but it sure was enough to do something to it and the housing, maybe enough to make this matter. Turning her heels, instead of going away from it. To the beasts’ surprise, the mare started darting straight at it. Leeching out from its one eye, the ray traced ahead in her path.

Like a dancer, she twisted around it, and leveled the launcher up on her shoulder. Bronze knew she had to get in closer to it to prevent any block, and as she approached its spell died down, exposing her once more to its gaze. Coiling its hind, the tail flailed along towards her path, before finally breaking off of its own junctions and hurtling to her. As it slid across the surface scattering sections of crust, the mare leapt up and over, feeling the heat radiate off the metal.

And in one move she saw its neck line up with her, as the rubies in its gaping maw once again charged up, giving her an opening.

Like the trained talons of those gryphons she’d fought besides, Bronze lined the launcher up and let loose the munition. Just as its gems opened the spell, the rocket went down its gullet and past them. Square in to the stones that acted as its heart. Diamond might have been tough, and its melting point was far more than any pony could have hoped to create.

But enough heat damaged all things.

Lurching back against its claws, the drake looked down towards its exposed chest as the smoke of the warhead faded, and saw something that made even Bronze picture the fear in its eye. Cracks formed over parts of the stones inside it, failing from the pent-up heat it had endured, and continued to cook the rock as its metal shell acted as if an oven. Smaller sections of the stone broke off from every movement it took, leaving it to fall from its breast like broken glass. As even the housing that once held them all together as one… finally gave out.

Swiping its damaged limbs too and froe, Bronze tucked and rolled as best she could to avoid the wild swings that it threw in pure vexation. Already seeing full sections of the diamond give way and come breaking off from the cluster. With every motion it took, they got more erratic and slower. Before finally something gave way.

With a resounding pop that echoed through the crackling of lava, the flash from its chest sent an eruption of light washing over the mare beneath. Clenching its failing chest, it fell to the ground. Cracking against the surface with a resounding thud of mangled metal.

As it laid there, the one eye that functioned rested on that which had brought it down. Holding a damaged claw up, the dragon steadily tried to scrape itself against the crust towards its creator. Though as the energy fizzled out, the limb and its head dropped to the ground, mere feet from where she herself barely stood.

Bronze saw the eye still glowing, staring aimlessly at her. It didn’t have a soul to call its own, but even from its charred face, she could see the anguish it wore. One that only a creation could feel for being betrayed by its creator.

Kneeling down to its maw, Bronze held back a tear for its pain, pain that she helped give it. “Easy there…” like the soothing sound of a mother, the words fell off her tongue, “you can rest now.”

Her own tentative talon reached out, just like it had all those moons ago, and as she rubbed the bridge of its muzzle. Bronze swore she could feel it struggle to fight on, though just like she did back then. The mare leaned in and planted her lips on its bridge. Whatever movement it had left inside started to lock up, and that struggle was replaced instead with contempt, as the monstrosity of a spiteful mare surrendered.

Bronze gently broke away from the tender moment with her creation, and watched its subside, “good boy,” from that any fidget or motion of her creation halted… and the last remaining ember in the emerald fizzled out.

Joining it, the mare flopped alongside her downed mistake, and took in all the work she had put into it. Only to be the one that brought it down in the end. ‘Poetic… ain’t it,’ she thought and let gravity take over her eye lids, ‘I’m sorry… boy…’

***

Bronze didn’t know how long she had laid there. What felt like a few minutes could have been hours given the sheer number of fumes she had been inhaling, but the beating of wings from above brought her attention to the skies. There over top of her was a chariot, guided by a few gryphons in the harnesses keeping it aloft.

“So… this is hell?” it was a fair guess to be made for sure, given what she’d done in her life.

Though one thing told her that it wasn’t quite the end just yet, a familiar face, “You look like-” Bronze cut Freefall off with a raising of her talon, as he stepped off his ride while it landed beside her.

“Just get me out of this place… please,” she tried to get to her feet, but soon found her shoulders to be far heavier than she remembered.

Nearly eating dirt, Bronzes’ weight was held up by a wing wrapping around her torso, and there to her side was another she recognized. Frostfire didn’t even return the gaze at first, her eyes were too preoccupied with the remains ahead of them. “Is it…” the Sargent started off, but a question like that didn’t even need to be finished.

“This time… yes,” Bronze answered, as she was brought limping back to the chariot and up on its base.

There might not have been a medic to look after her wounds, but with this kind of transportation, the mare doubted it’d be far away. That left the weary mare to rest her head against something a bit cooler than the surface of a lava field.

In her serenity of the wind passing over top and breezing around, a lone hoof rest on her shoulder. When her eyes opened, she found the Sargent there with probably the first smile she’d ever seen on the mares’ face. “Congrats…” Frostfire about teared up, knowing it wasn’t all for nothing, “you made up for it…”

“To some…” her eyes turned up towards the broken Pegasus that joined them, as Free kept his eyes forwards. This being the closest he’s been to a true Pegasus in a while, “But I got a long way to go.”

Chapter 25

Chapter twenty-five

‘It always ends with somepony in the hospital…’ Bronze groaned to herself while she let the nurse do their work as she laid in the bed. Gentle Breeze wrapped layer after layer of bandages around the seared hind leg of the mare, carefully applying ointment and creams to the burns while she went.

Using the pair of expert wings at her disposal, a roll of tape from the counter was pulled as the Pegasus topped off her task at hoof, “You really know how to have a good time,” the medical mare chuckled, trying to lighten the mood just a tad, “I mean… your stomach looks a whole lot worse than this leg, and those fragments were pretty well dug in there.”

Bronze turned her head, wary of the patches of gauze that covered her body where they dug out the pellets, as she looked over the wing that still drooped. “Meh… all in a day’s work,” mentally a list of tools started to rattle off that she’d need to patch herself up, “And I have more work ahead of me it seems.” The lifeless limb flopped a bit to her side, hard pressed to move under the damage that’d been done to it.

A task she knew all too well from the years of patching herself up, and one that she’d have all the tools she needed in-

“How’s… how’s he doing?” Bronze asked from under her breath while Gentle continued.

It took a moment, but in time the Pegasus caught on, “Oh, him?” though the smile that washed across the mares’ face put Bronze at ease, “Mister Marble, and his little one, left not too long after you departed. Headed back home I believe he said.”

“So… doesn’t exactly answer the question,” the curious mare cringed sheepishly, waiting for a bit further detail.

“He stayed just to monitor his health, though everything checked out,” Miss Breeze quelled her worries, but then thought back for a moment, “there was an issue of him being short on energy when he started moving however…”

Being well versed in the tech and limitations of ones’ body, Bronze figured as much. After all, he still had to learn to increase his heart rate and level it out depending on his activity. Something that would take time, but should be easier for him. Never the less, it’d be weird to have to learn to pump your own heart when you wanted to get up and go.

With the last tug of the strip, the bed laden mare found her bandage all wrapped up, “That should do ya just-”

A steady creak filled the large hall like room, and there as the pair turned their head to the door, in walked the princess. With bags under her eyes, and a lack of luster in her step. Grace almost dragged herself across the floor towards the mare that resided in her care. Even some of her regalia had been relaxed as the slippers remained removed from her hooves and her crown hung elsewhere in the castle.

“I swear… the number of reports because of our trek in the DDR,” the princess groaned, letting her anguish be felt by those in earshot, “if I have to open another folder today and ‘read the highlighted portion’ I’m going to burn every parchment in this nation.”

“Please… don’t say burn,” Bronze winced for a moment, feeling some of the ointment under her bandages sting once more against the tender flesh.

Graces ears perked up for a moment as she got her first look at the mare. Then just as suddenly her teeth found the edge of her lips, “Oh!... sorry about that,” she trotted up closer to the bed, looking over the work that had been done, before turning her attention to the one who had done it. “Seems you were in good hooves; thank you Gentle for patching her up.”

“It’s what I’m her for, your majesty,” the Pegasus held herself firm for a second, stopping the urge to bow and went about gathering some of the spent supplies, “Though Miss Bronze here should be in the clear, so long as she keeps those wounds clean.”

Being no stranger to tending to herself, the mare in question thanked her fellow equine for the work she’d put in. While Gentle made her exit, Grace used her wing to pull a chair up to the bed side. Kicking her hind hooves over one another as if anticipating the story, she’d been waiting a number of days for now. First, she had her own to tell.

“Many of those that have stepped up to lead in the DDR are calling for your head… as you’d probably imagine,” the princess couldn’t help but snicker a bit at the thought, especially after what Bronze had done for them. ‘The audacity of some creatures,’ Grace wondered for a moment to herself, “Clearly though, that was thrown out the window.”

“So… That’s really it?” she asked, trying to clarify her options even more, “I’m off the hook?”

A simple smile grew on the regal mares’ face, and with a waving of her wing she tried to assure her counterpart even more. “Again, you’re trying to do better, and I’d say you’d succeeded at that… they’re dead, more or less, so what's done is-”

“Wait what do you mean more or less?” Bronze interjected, knowing that the center of their control being destroyed should have done something more to them than just take out their coordination.

“Well judging by some of the reports I’ve been getting, some of your toys seized up completely not too long after you got here… they look almost like statues,” the princess mused over the findings soldiers had reported back to them with, “some on the other hoof are a bit more stubborn, they’ll attack sure, but it seems only when approached as they wander aimlessly about.”

Nodding, Bronze took those words and thought to what they might mean. ‘With no head to guide them, they either go in to a coma… or act on instinct,’ it was an answer a bit less thrilling than complete shutdown. Though far better given the other options.

“Now… I’m tired of hearing what the dogs and soldiers have to say about the fight,” her chair scooted a bit closer, “What did you get into?”

Picking up with her ingenious decision to ward the dragon off on her own. Bronze set about telling her tail of triumph, and a lot of scorch marks, to the princess as if it was a bedtime story. Probably sounding at times a lot grander than the original, but isn’t that how most stories go? Through it all though, Grace sat and listened seeing how one mare could have earned such a warranting of gauze to be used.

It didn’t take long to get to the climax of her tale, and the exposing of its weakness after a dip in molten stone. For a second, Grace is worried about the remains of it laying out in the open for any creature to come across and put to less than good use. Bronze however shot that one down. Without its gems and the rune that kept it going, it was nothing more than scrap metal.

“And that right there, is why you’re off the hook,” Grace proclaimed once more, much to the unamused expression on Bronzes’ face, “what’s left over will still be a threat, but without them being led, it’ll be a lot less of a hassle.”

“I still can’t believe you’re letting it go… just like that.”

“Call it… wiping the slate clean,” the princess remarked, and instantly saw the ping of regret stick in the other mares’ mind. Yet, the remark wasn’t made in malice, but in truth, “I mean if you think about it… you did fulfill what you went after,” now the unamusement turned to confusion, and Grace brought herself up to her hooves as she explained, “you wanted the fighting to stop, the bickering between leaders to end, and there to be cooperation.”

Still, nothing in Bronzes’ eyes showed understanding, “we’d been cooperating with those in the kingdom and DDR to focus on this threat, the fighting has stopped while we barter supplies to help those in need, and lets’ face it… I have no one to bicker with, because their old leaders are dead,” Rhorkin the princess might have found to be the more agreeable of the two, but he could still be stubborn when it came to his kingdom, and Reinhart was just intolerable to begin with.

“Their new heads in charge are far more civil than the old, especially with them having seen the new arms issued out,” Grace winked at the one who unintentionally supplied her nation, “you may not have done it the way that was intended, but the outcome was still the same… just do me a favor, Bronze?” she leaned in a little to the bed ridden mare, “if you think of any new and creative ideas… keep them to yourself, or at least give us a head up.”

Together the two mares shared a laugh, much to the discomfort of one who could feel her raw skin pressing against the bindings around her stomach, “I’ll try my best to, Grace.”

With a smirk still on her face, the princess nodded to her cohort on that agreement and turned herself towards the door, “I have a carriage ready to take you back to your colt, whenever you’re ready that is,” Grace watched as the blood started to pool in the mares’ cheeks, “that said, before you head out, come find me… I have a project you might be interested in.”

Just as fast as it entered, the blood shot out of Bronzes’ cheeks in wonder of what the mare could be asking.

***

As much as the metal mare was shaking in her bolts, Bronze still managed to raise up her talon and put a good few knocks on the wood. It had taken the better part of the day for her to get back to her hooves, and ride out here, courtesy of the princess like promised. Although through the entire flight the mare silently scolded the pair that guided the chariot for taking their sweet time as if paid by the hour.

She knew she was in no place to complain.

‘I’d really just walked away from all of that…’ for what had to been the fifth time now since Grace parted ways in the med bay, Bronze replayed her words. As fitting as wiping the slate clean was given her situation, it still made her feel a bit guilty to brush this off like it was a dirty porch.

That’s when the door creaked open, and before she could even look down, a filly had launched herself clear from the door frame.

“You’re back!” Topaz wrapped her hooves around the front legs of the mare, and managed to push her down to her flank, “I wasn’t sure what you were doing, and then I was worried it’d be something dangerous, dad wouldn’t tell me a whole lot just that you were making amends and adult nonsense and, and, and…” for a moment there it seemed like the record in the fillies head would keep skipping, but soon enough Topaz relinquished and just buried her head in the mares’ breast, “I’m glad you’re back.”

Now resting almost eye level with her, Bronze felt the back of her tongue croak as she looked to the joy across the fillies’ face partially hidden against her coat. It didn’t take much longer for her to soon share both the expression, and the gesture, “I’m glad I am too…” her foreleg wrapped around the body of the filly, holding on for a moment before finally getting back to her hooves.

That’s when she saw the change on Topazes face, from one of glee to worry, “Are… you gonna be okay?”

It didn’t take an education for Bronze to figure she was looking at all the patch work that had been done on her back in Boralus. “Oh, you should see the other guy,” the mare commented with a chuckle, knowing full well that if Topaz had seen the wounds before she got treated it might have made her pass out.

“Are you sure?” the filly once again asked, knowing full well that through that humor there had to be something more.

“Don’t worry there, Topaz,” Bronze patted a talon lightly to her head, “It’d take a lot more to due me in.”

“Great!” the younger pony bounced with glee, “Then let’s eat!”

After hearing she would be okay, Topaz immediately leapt behind the mare and started pushing. Bronze wasn’t sure what was going on, though she had a decent idea, and soon enough the older mare just let it happen as she followed where she was guided.

Right in to the kitchen, and another there waiting…

Before the door even cracked open, Bronze could already smell the cooking of a stallion who’d had a decent amount of practice in his days. There in his apron, Marble snatched up a couple plates from the cupboard with his horn and hovered it over their places on the table. Though as soon as his eyes made contact with his guest, the dinnerware dropped the few remaining inches to the mat with a clank.

“Dad take it easy, I can set the table,” Topaz scolded him as she trotted around to the table, “the doctor said you shouldn’t be moving around so much.”

“I made casserole… that’s about as easy as it gets,” he managed while keeping his eyes locked on the mare, it didn’t take long though for each of them to have their orbs wander across the other.

Bronzes’ went right to his chest, looking over the stitching that had healed up quite nicely on the surface. Though each step he took, she waited to see if there was any hiccup like Breeze had mentioned. As Marble approached, he was hard pressed to hide the fact he was taking in every inch of the new adornments across her frame.

Something she picked up, “It’s not as bad as it looks… really.”

“… You do go looking for trouble,” slowly his worry turned to a grin, and a steady hoof found itself around the mare pulling her in, “Though you still look like hell, and I’m gonna have to change those bandages at some point.”

“Says the guy who had his literal heart replaced,” she prodded back at him, holding on to around his shoulders, “Really though, its just some burns…”

“Speaking of burn, you’re just in time,” his attention turned to the smell, and soon to the stove. Flipping the oven open, the dish was brought out and slid on to the table. A bit charred on the sides from its extended stay, but given Bronze hadn’t had much to eat since her little vacation, the aroma alone was enough to get her salivating, “Dinner is served.”

For a second he tried to turn towards the cupboard to get her spot set up, though a tug of his tail warranted Marble to halt, “Please do as your daughter, and the doctor, told you…” Bronze reminded him as she held on with a pull of her talon, “I can get a plate, now relax.”

Strikingly the colt went to the table without fuss, leaving Bronze to waltz over and pick herself out something to dine on before joining them. Green bean casserole she hadn’t had in such a long time, and as the colt used his horn and a spoon to put some on Topazes and her plate. The mare was telling herself to keep from digging in and scolding her tongue.

‘I’ve had enough burns for the time being,’ her vision fell to some of the wounds she’d sustained.

“So, what did happen?” Marble asked while finally serving himself, trying to keep his eyes to the plate and not to the wraps on her, “is… is it over?”

For a moment, Bronze looked to himself and then to the filly present. Wondering just how much of the story she should say. Ponies, dogs, and gryphons getting shot and murdered wasn’t exactly table talk for those ears of lesser years, though if she could give a detailed explaination to the princess. The mare was sure she could censor it enough for Topaz.

Much like she did with Grace, Bronze glossed over some of the larger details of wading down the mine tunnels to the center. The firefight she played off as a stalemate until they decided to take to the air, and that’s when she really got on with the story.

The pair hadn’t heard exact details about her little hive mind she’d created before, and with Topaz stopping her what seemed like every five minutes to paint more of a picture. It didn’t take long for both of those present to have their eyes widen larger than what seemed possible. Marbles’ in wonder of how she managed to get herself in to this, and Topaz awe struck that the same kind of spells and tech that allowed her to move could be used to create such a thing.

Fighting her very creation came next, and while some of the parts about getting torched Bronze left out. Marble knew the lay of the land when it came to the DDR, and could very well imagine how she’d managed to get all those battle wounds. Yet, even in her own painful experience, one in the room still found enjoyment.

“That’s badass!” Topaz widely proclaimed as Bronze finished up how it was finally destroyed.

“Language,” her father reminded her, before looking towards the storyteller, “Though she’s right.”

After hearing the praise, the mare couldn’t help but wave it off as a tinge of crimson tried its damndest to get in her cheeks, “Oh… it’s nothing, just trying to make amends.”

“And you went through the ringer to do just that,” Marble finally took notice of one aspect he’d missed sense her arrival, “I imagine however, that might need some fixing?”

Creaking against the drive from the mare, the tattered wing and joint looked like a stark contrast to the ones Marble had helped fix to her in this very house. The joint itself rested against her back, screwed in to her shoulder just like she designed, now bent just enough to make the limb have to push and grind against it to even move. It would take a workbench, some pounding, and a good hour to work out the kinks.

All she’d need was…

“Do you still have it?” she asked, snapping to Marble with little explaination.

Not something he needed though, “it’s in the shop, right on the work bench,” he mused while taking another bite to eat after cooling it on his fork, “I figured you’d need a little repair work after you got back.”

Bronze just smiled at him, and finally with her own meal cool started to enjoy it with the pair, getting her first semblance of normalcy in what seemed like a long while. Just hoping that it’ll last this time around.

***

After having cleaned up the kitchen, stored what food remained, and more or less forced Marble to rest on the couch. Bronze and Topaz picked up the last bit of dishes and started cleaning them in the sink. The pair might have been able to get the colt to take it easy, but even with the gleaming eyes of the filly staring up at her, Bronze just told Topaz No and got back to work tidying up.

“There… done and done,” Bronze passed the last plate over to the filly as she went and dried it.

“I could have done it myself,” she still tried to convince the mare.

“I’m sure you could have, but I’m stubborn,” Bronze snickered at Topaz as she walked towards the door, “ask your father.”

Together they both chuckled at that fact, and left the colt who only heard the latter part of her sentence wondering what they’d gone and said. Though as they went in to the living room to join him, the colt looked up towards the clock on the wall and soon back to his own kin.

“It’s getting late there dear,” he watched some of the joy fizzle out of her pep, “why don’t you get ready for bed, I’ll be up in a bit.”

“You’re the one who should be resting…”

A second or two ticked by before the father finally responded, “Okay you got me there,” he admitted, “Though I have to help Bronze here with something first,” for whatever reason that made the filly pop up and skip up the stairs to the wash room.

As Marble started to get up, Bronze was by his side in a blink and helping him along the way. However, with no rebuttal from him, they made their way down the hall and to the door of the back shop. Just as they passed the door frame the light flicked on, and Bronze paused upon seeing the work area, causing him to jerk and stop with her. The colt looked to his companion, and all he saw in her was regret.

Regret for dragging him in to this.

Regret for scaring him so deeply.

Regret for walking away.

“Leave that at the door,” Marble told her, making the mare raise her brow, “Stop beating yourself up over what you did in the past, in this room, and everywhere else.”

“… really that obvious?”

“Like a book,” he remarked with a grin, breaking away from her and making his way to the bench where her only real heirloom resided, “Though just as promised.”

Marble levitated over the last little piece of her father she had, and just like a foal grabbing their favorite toy. Bronze swiped the tool out of his grasp, holding it close to her chest and cradling it. In hindsight, it was a good thing she left it with him the more she thought on it.

‘Who knows where it’d have gotten lost, even if I survived, and if I didn’t it’d be a little something to remember me by,’ she looked up to the colt responsible and beamed, “Thank you for taking care of it.”

“Oh, it was well behaved during its stay… didn’t strike any pony the whole time,” he prodded at her, earning a small giggle from the mare. Though with a hoof he tapped on the workbench, and without a second thought, Bronze already knew what he was saying.

Laying across the bench, the mare sprawled herself out, leaving her damaged wing with easy access, “I knew this would be coming eventually, no matter your condition.”

“My condition… you really have avoided mirrors lately, haven’t you?” the colt retorted, as he pulled the tools needed to remove the joint.

A task easier done than said, and with the loosening of a few screws the whole appendaged fell to the floor with a dull clank. Letting the mare flare out her one good wing a few times before tucking it to her side. Hopping off the counter and using her talons, Bronze picked up the damaged limb and stretched it across the work area.

“It will be here in the morning you know,” Marble voiced through a yawn.

After a moment to herself of looking over the damage, a sigh escaped beneath the mares’ breath, “Perhaps you’re right,” his head almost shot up at her agreement, “I’ll fix it faster after a nights’ rest.”

“Though, now that you mention fixing things…” Marbles’ tongue clenched, “how did things go with Princess Grace after you got back?”

A fair question to be asked. For all he knew Grace could have given her a free pass to say goodbye before being hauled off to some cell. Left to rot away till the day she died after all she brought upon the nation.

‘It’d still be fitting,’ Bronze pondered her own regrets, before taking Marbles’ advice and trying to let it go, “as surprising as it might seem, she’s allowing bygones to be bygones,” once again the colt almost shot off the ground, “Seems she shares the same mindset as myself, wiping the slate clean as she so lovingly put it.”

Now it was Marbles’ turn to chuckle in the ironic humor of the regal mare, and as he did Bronze explained a bit of what wisdom Grace passed on to her. How in some way, shape, or form she did in the end managed to achieve what she intended. To Bronze the ends might have in no way justified the means that she went through to reach them, but those were the ideals of a vengeful filly.

In her own little world, Bronze closed her eyes, hoping her parents could see how she turned around, ‘not the great things you both imagined,’ she relented, ‘But I’m trying here.’

“I’m glad you’ll be sticking around then, you know… without the ball and chain,” the colt bumped his shoulder against hers lightheartedly, and scooted a bit closer to the mare as they both looked over the wing, “Gives ya a place to call… home.”

Right then and there, the talons of the mare froze. Home, it was a word she hadn’t really considered in a long while. Even assuming she survived the crash with her little last dich effort, Bronze hadn’t expected to be able to settle down anywhere. She always pictured Seren hunting her down with a special pike picked out for her head. Luckily for her, it was in a ponies’ nature to be forgiving.

After letting the word process for a bit more, the pair looked at one another. Bronze hadn’t realized they’d gotten this close, and just like that their muzzles were nearly touching as it was. Trying to process it a bit more, the mare gave her attention to anything else she could, which just happened to be the tracing wound across his chest.

Marble watched her run a talon across the bare patch of his coat, right where the incision was made that saved his life, “Do I need to break out the Translucent spell?” he snickered at her curiosity, “it’s fine, Bronze, you did good work… literally giving me a chunk of yourself to patch me up,” her talon stopped right over the wound, and quickly she retracted it, biting her lip at that fact, “I couldn’t ask for much more.”

She watched the sincerity to his words pass across his face, as he soon turned towards the project, prepping it for tomorrow morning. The mare knew full well that as soon as she got in here, he’d want to be right by her side. Helping through the process to make her whole once more… just like he had back when they were kids, with two simple stones.

‘A clean slate… now what to do with it?’ Bronze pondered all the possibilities at her talons, where she could go, the places she could see, the things she could create. Although none of those options interested her, with that simple word of home. All it gave the mare, was a place she wanted to start, ‘let’s make it count this time,’ she beamed at him, before adverting her head away from the stallion and her own wing. “Well… there’s more I’d like to give.”

Marble stopped his little examination of the work to be done, and instead gave his full attention to the one that called it. Both of them stared at one another for what Bronze would have said was a full minute, had it not been for the clock behind him on the wall. Though no sooner had the hand ticked by, did she lean into him.

Hearing her old tormentor apologize was one thing, hugging him and staying in his house was a another. Kissing him on the lips was a whole new level of surprise that Bronze never thought she’d reach in a life time, or even several over. The shaking in her talons quickly died down to a tremble as they steadied themselves on the floor and gave in to the rush that flooded her system.

Pressing the mare on even more so when he returned the gesture. The colts’ hooves climbed up around her, pulling Bronze in to the chest and heart that she kept beating, as her own talons did the same and they lifted from the ground in the embrace. Mechanical, and only partially in his control or not. Marble could swear he felt his pulse jump up on its own by a few beats from the contact.

They stayed like that, in their own space in time, before finally parting ways and letting the breath escape from their lips while their foreheads met. Leaving each to share a smile that mirrored the other with their horns nearly intertwining. From tormentor and tormentiee, robbed and robber, host and houseguest, to now this. It was a bliss that both welcomed.

“It’s about time,” from the door a filly spoke, bringing them to the one that eavesdropped, “and I told you so,” Topaz winked to the older mare.

“Well… that’s one way to kill the mood,” Bronze started to giggle, feeling the warmth from herself and the colt fill the space between them.

“Topaz… please… get in bed,” Marble asked as politely as he could without stammering over his words, “I’ll be up in a second.”

“Oh, take your time dad!” she called out while making her escape up the stairs.

It didn’t take long for the pair to once again lock eyes, her metal to his sky, and just like Bronze started. They both found the humor rising up as they laughed in the company of each other. The seconds ticked by at the steady pace of the clock in the room, and together they remained. Content where their paths had crossed after all these years.

“Ahh… we should probably get some rest,” Marble perked up, urging her as well.

“Agreed, although, what would you say to something a little more relaxing tomorrow?” she proposed, “I mean, it’s been pretty eventful recently… and I have another project to work on tomorrow as well,” to that the colts head cocked to the side, “Something upon the request of Grace, but that can wait till later in the day.”

“And we’ll get your wings situated in the morning,” with a hoof, he held the door for her as they left the room.

Following to the side of the mare, the pair went up the stairs, and with a pause in her step. Bronze nearly went in to the guest room she’d been accustomed to. Though with a tug of her tail, she saw its ends wrapped up in his aura. Looking back to the colt, Marble gave her the tiniest of nods, and the mare nearly bounced in to his room past him. The bed there was more than big enough for three ponies, so for the two it would suffice with excess.

For the time he was out tending to his daughter, doing his fatherly duties and wishing her goodnight, Bronze slid in the bed. Careful to keep her wing tucked away so as not to knock anything around, she waited for him to join. Happily counting her blessings at having an actual bed under her coat and not a cell floor… or the dirt of a grave for that matter.

Soon enough once again, Marble was by her side in the sheets, and the mare rested her talon on his side and pulled herself in closer. She might not have been able to feel the warmth from the one she saved through the metal, but with her head against his chest. Bronze could at least feel the heat, and hear the beating inside.

A hoof draped over her own torso, returning the favor, and started stroking against the short night tinted mane of hers. Just like that, it wasn’t just a new slate for the mare to experience, but an entirely new path for her to walk. Her deck of cards had been reshuffled, and she got to play them however she wanted. Not a deck driven by vengeance or remorse.

One where she had a place to truly call, “…home,” she whispered through a smiled, and drifted off in to the night.

Chapter 26

Chapter twenty-six

Bronze and Marble both found themselves resting against a tree, content in watching Topaz have her fun with a few others her age in a game of soccer. Sticks formed the makeshift goal posts, and while none there likely knew who brought the ball. They were living in the moment, and that moment left the adults to relax, just as the pair had hoped.

“Your project, or Graces’ project I suppose,” Marble inquired, wondering what the princess might have of her, “care to explain?”

Bronze shrugged, already knowing exactly what needed to be done to start and finish it mapped out in her head, “Just a little something upon the princesses request, which reminds me,” she tried to forgive herself for that little blunder, “there are some plans tomorrow evening in Boralus.”

To the colt, knowing Grace called upon her skills could have been any number of things given her resume, though he was content to leave it at that and enjoy himself out here. Hearing of these plans however, was a different story, “and what might those be?”

“Oh… trivial evening time stuff,” Bronze sheepishly grinned at him.

All Marble could do was shake his head, knowing full well it’d been exciting lately, so a slipup on her part was more than excusable. “More time would have been lovely, but I’m flexible,” he rested his head back on the tree, and used his horn to pluck an apple from the basket they brought with lunch, “Just fill me in-”

“Give it back!”

Instantly the eyes of the adults looked to where the voice had come from, and there stood Topaz. Chest puffed out, face flustered, and hind leg shaking. The filly stared down the trio she’d pointed out to Bronze the last time they were here. This time around, the opposing fillies had gotten the groups soccer ball, and not even the few young colts in the group wanted to face them. Instead, that task was left to Marbles’ daughter.

“Or what?” Bronze already marked the little Pegasus as the ring leader of the group, as she bounced the ball back and forth in her wings, “You gonna get your dad to help you out, or try and use that dinky horn of yours to take it?”

Bronze couldn’t tell at first, but sure enough Topaz had her horn lit up and holding on to the ball, yet any time she tried to pull it back. The other filly just swiped it back with her wings, clearly being the stronger of the pair.

‘That’ll probably change in a few years,’ Bronze told herself, knowing how the tables would turn then.

But that was then, this was now.

Marble started to rise up to his hooves, before Bronzes’ newly repaired wing stretched out and ushered him back down, “No, no… I’ll take care of this,” her eyes rested on the Pegasus.

Like a waltz, the mare made her way casually over to the small group that were playing, and the ones that antagonized them. It didn’t take long for the leader to take note, “Well look at this fake flier,” the filly started to laugh, using one wing to spin the ball and the other to point at the appendages of the mare, “you couldn’t be born as great as us, so you had to go and do it yourself.”

Bronze stopped a few feet from the trio as the other kids, including Topaz, looked up to her. While the trio laughed with their ring leader. Their chuckles were soon joined by another, as the mare they tried to antagonize got in on it. “Ah… its been so long since I had to deal with something as simple as the likes of you,” Bronze glowered at the filly, and dug her talons in to the ground, watching the pair that supposedly backed her up fall a step or two behind, “After the time I’ve been having, this should be a breeze.”

The young Pegasus had only noticed the wings at first, not taking in the talons the mare brought with her, “What you trying to compensate for? Trying to be part gryphon too?” her giggle revitalized for a moment.

Then one of those talons was at the base of her chin.

It hadn’t taken much, a small flap of her wings had pushed Bronze right where she wanted, and that was as close to the filly as she needed to be. The fillies laugh stopped, and the mares’ own smile grew, “Talons are so much easier to handle trouble makers with,” her smile turned to a grin, widening with every instance she could recall when her improved limbs gave her an advantage.

Whether it be holding her own weapons, fighting with melee items, fixing herself up… or even draining the energy out of another.

“It’s a shame you aren’t a unicorn,” Bronze sneered, “that would make it so much easier… instead I have to leave the decision in your spineless hooves,” the end of her talon ran up and off the Pegasies chin with a flick, as she took a breath, “Leave the young ones alone, please.”

“Ugh, that’s it?” the leader scoffed, “you think please is going to-”

That’s when the filly noticed the mares’ smile hadn’t left, and the gems on her weren’t just for show. Steadily the stones that adorned not only her talons, but the horn and wings about her started to get brighter and brighter the more the filly stared. Soon dropping the ball in the process of backing up from the angered mare.

“Listen you underdeveloped fetal mistake,” Bronze got right back in the fillies’ face with every step the Pegasus took to put distance between them, “I don’t think please is going to do diddly squat, I was hoping it would, because I know you can’t understand the gravity of who you’re messing with,” still Bronze pressed the filly back against her hooves, and soon the Pegasus fell to their flank. “Young one or not, someponies child or not, it hasn’t stopped me in the past before… so why should it now?”

‘Granted I’m on good terms with the royalty, so that’s a decent reason,’ Bronze thought for a second just how many pardons she could get before Grace gave her to the chopping block, ‘mutilating a filly would probably cross that line,’ she sufficed and left it instead at a warning. “You think some ornate limbs is all I’ve created? HA!” she blurted out and quickly got back in to within a hairs breath of the young one’s muzzle, “I’ve leveled entire towns just as a test, to give a show of force… your house? I would do that on principal alone.”

As much as the Pegasus tried to close her eyes, trembling in their seat, and attempting to hide from the mare. It wouldn’t work, as the one who brought this upon themselves, still felt the breath of another close to them.

“What… what are you?”

“What? Oh, you’re mistaken child, it’s also who,” Bronze let her smile run wild, much to the eeriness of the filly, “My name is Bronze Bolt…” she said with a bit more pride now, “as for what, I’m a friend of this one here,” a wing from her back extended and ushered Topaz up front to join her at the range she created, and the Pegasus was the target, “and if I so much as hear the likes of you in the distance laughing at some others demise… well…”

A quick charge from the tip of her horn zapped the ground between the fillies’ legs with enough energy to make the ground smolder. Past that, said filly, and her entourage didn’t need a second display. Letting Bronze watch as their tails went just past the edges of the park and back in to town.

No sooner had they gotten out of sight, than Bronze heard the several laughs of those little ones that got to get back to their game in peace, and felt the hooves of another wrapped around her legs. Looking down, Topaz sat there embracing the mare, her usual smile gracing her just as the elder equine expected. This time though, as the filly looked up to her, she saw something different.

Bronze saw herself, the first time she’d gone to her parents about Marble. Sure, it didn’t play out quite how this little interaction did, but never the less. This filly wouldn’t have to deal with the same torment Bronze did for years after that first encounter.

“Thank you, for that,” Topaz squeezed a bit tighter.

“Tis nothing…” she returned the gesture and rubbed the top of the fillies head with a talon, ‘though I wonder if I’m gonna have to smooth things over with someponies parents… eh that can wait till another day, and if they’re anything like their kid…’ Bronze wasn’t worried about it, and the mare just shook her head to dispel the thoughts.

A tug from her wing garnished Bronzes’ attention, and there stood a young colt. The earth pony had to be the same age as Topaz, and given the display she’d just put on, Bronze was surprised he was even standing this close to her. Granted, he did look pretty awkward scratching his forehooves against one another.

“Ahh… Miss Bolt?” he asked, still unsure of himself, “considering we got the ball back… do you wanna be ref for us?”

‘Well… that’s unexpected,’ the sinister smile she wore was replaced by one of genuine gratitude that they’d even consider it, and to him all the mare could do at first was nod, “I’d love to.”

Meanwhile, over on his little slice of the park. Marble got to watch the whole thing unfold, from the Pegasus talking back to Bronze, to the mare outright getting in said Pegisies face. He wasn’t sure what she told the filly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but whatever it was got the job done. Now Marble just got to kick back, and relax.

Watching her run back and forth with those she helped protect, even if it was from a playground bully. The mare was having fun, and while she might have suggested this to be relaxing at first. She was relaxing in her own way, something even he could find gratification out of watching.

Acting like the filly, she never got the chance to be.

“Hmph…” the colt huffed, “surprised she didn’t use the hammer”

***

“So, this is going to be for the Princess?” Topaz asked as she stood on the workbench and looked over some of the drawings Bronze had been putting together.

After getting home, the mare almost immediately went to the workshop, and broke out some parchment and pencil. It was a design she had done dozens of other times before sure, but those were always suited to herself.

‘You might require something a little different,’ she mused looking over the drawing, as the smaller hooves above her plodded against the surface, “In a way, yes… it’s more of a gift to be given to another, a friend of hers.”

Once again, the filly looked over the designs that the mare had drawn out. At first glance, they looked nearly identical to the ones on her own back. Though there were the subtle differences she noticed the more her eyes glossed over the paper. Sections of the wing were larger for reinforcing, fewer gems were placed along the frame, but those present were larger than the mares’ own.

Even a few sketches drawn off on the side were very unlike Bronzes’, which just made the filly wonder, “What are those for?”

Bronze looked to the hoof, and below that were just a little addition to the wings, “Those, are for weapon holsters… something to help out the pony, should the need arise,” and something she neglected on her own set, ‘Maybe a pistol would be useful… just in case,’ it was an idea for sure. Something she was always on the lookout for was ways to improve herself.

A gentle knock to the door however, brought both the girls’ attention to the colt of the house. As Marble carted in a plate in his aura ahead of him, “I figured you’d be at this for a bit, so I heated up something real quick,” some of the casserole from the previous day slid to the side of her.

“Thank ya,” Bronze beamed at him, before getting back to the literal drawing board, “though I don’t see it being a total all-nighter…” she took a spoonful of what he’d brought.

“So, I can still expect some company by the end of the night?” he snickered to himself, bringing both a cough from her and an exacerbated giggle from the youngest in the room, before the colt turned to his kin, “Yours however, is in the kitchen, so I’d get it while it’s still hot.”

Considering the day she’d had in the park, after the trash was taken care of. Topaz about leapt up from the workbench and out the door, eager to fill her empty stomach. Marble however, kept to the mares’ side, looking over some of the design work she’d put in.

“Well now… that looks familiar,” his eyes rolled to the back of the mare.

“Similar design, just a little bit of additions for their line of work…” Bronze thought for a moment of how much time this would take in the end, and what she’d be pulling from the workshop to make it all happen, “You know I can go out and find a way to get these parts and materials elsewhere, you don’t have to supply them for all the crazy ideas that go through this head of mine.”

Without a word, Marble planted a simple kiss atop the base of the metallic horn that adorned her, “Lucky for you, I like that crazy head of yours,” he watched some of the heat from the previous day return to them, “and again, I’m literally my own supply… as long as you don’t make anything that will blow yourself up, I’m good.”

“You might regret that later…” though even her grin couldn’t dissuade the smile he gave her.

Letting the colt pull up a stool next to her as he watched the mare work. It didn’t take much longer for Bronze to go from drawing out the ideas, to physically putting hammer to metal and getting down to the gritty part of the process. While the mare did what she did best, so too did her colt, as Marble pulled out a few of the stones requested and put a decent charge in them.

Having set the gems down with their ambient glow, Marble helped out with her own side of things, holding flat the section of metal for the frame as Bronze took a few whacks with her tool to put a bend in it.

Matching the bend along the drawings she’d made, and to some extent even her own wings. The mare was satisfied with her work on that section, enough to carry on the process, ‘Now about a dozen more to go,’ she groaned, knowing this as one of the more tedious parts of the process.

“Oh, it’ll get done in time,” Marble remarked over to her, as she hadn’t realized the expression was playing across her face so legibly, “Although… what of these plans tomorrow?”

That was an eerie smirk the colt didn’t exactly like, and Bronze tried her best to keep her eyes off his own, “Well… we’d been invited to dinner…”

Marbles horn dropped the section of metal that would make up the next part of the frame, “Why do I already have a feeling about where it is, and who it’s with…”

“As weird as it is to say and think about, Grace had made the offer…” she tried explaining to him, and reminding him of one simple fact, “and let’s be real here, would I really be in a position to say no to her on literally anything?”

Marble let his concern subside, considering all that the princess had forgiven on Bronzes’ part, there really was no place to decline. Plus, if Grace really had wiped the record, was there anything to really worry about from a simple dinner?

‘A simple dinner with the Princess of the nation,’ silently the colt thought, glad that this time around the meeting was under better circumstances. One’s where his mine wasn’t being invaded, or himself literally having his chest opened up. “Well then… if you’d like to have something to show for tomorrow,” Marble picked up the same section he’d dropped, and brought it back to the bench, “shall we?”

From that alone, any tinge of worry about the following day left from the mare, and just like she would have with her dad in days past. Bronze and Marble got right back to work, with the mare wearing a smile from the memories brought up.

Chapter 27

Chapter twenty-seven

“You look just lovely,” Marble reminded the mare of that fact, for what felt like the hundredth time.

Bronze meanwhile fiddled with some of the plates along her limbs, making sure all scratches were in fact buffed out for the occasion. “You’re just saying that,” she exhaled on one plate and wiped the fog away, “I don’t know who else would be here at dinner, and I’d like to at least not look like I just got out of a scuffle.”

“Oh please,” Marble started chuckling from his seat, “With that on, they’d think you were ready for the Winter Ball…”

The mare looked down to the adornment that he had… gifted too her, after a little tip off from Ashburn at the store. The same diamond cut citrine in the center simmered with her eyes just like the day she first saw it in the mirror. As the blood stones on either side matched the heart, she had gifted to him, and the new life in return she’d been given. It was a small memento from when they’d first crossed paths, and one that his employee was all too willing to tell of the shine she’d taken to the piece.

To others it was an item with a price tag, for the mare, no price could match what it meant to her.

Topaz however, nearly bounced in her seat as she watched some of the landscape pass by during their train ride. Under any normal occasion, the filly would have been hunched over a toilet. This time around though, the young one could barely keep herself still while waiting for the capital to come in to view.

And that it did… silently she exclaimed their arrival and her joy with a pointing of her hoof.

True to her word, both Bronze and Marble looked beyond the window and saw the shimmering spires that the city was known for, getting closer by the minute as their train made its final approach. For a moment, the mare recalled the few times recently she looked upon the beacon to the nation.

Once when she was preparing to reign hell upon it with her airship, and the second when she was darting towards the castle itself to save another.

Bronzes’ eyes trailed past the spire almost lost in space, as a small smile started to grow on her. ‘This time it’s at least for better reasons,’ she sufficed, and as the train pulled in to the station, the mare plucked the package off the bench across from her and Marble.

Once their ride finally came to a stop, all the bustle of creatures from the cars piled off. Leaving the trio to walk upon the station as part of the group. Crowded or not, one in particular had their eyes out for the likes of them. A talon tapped upon the shoulder of the mare, and for a second Bronze whipped around as if expecting an attack. Instead, she saw one from her past, though she couldn’t set where.

“Miss Bolt,” the gryphon nodded too her, ignoring her questioning gaze before turning his eyes towards those she had in tow, “and I’m assuming this is Mister Marble, and his daughter Topaz?”

“You would assume correct,” the colt held out his hoof to the burly avian, “are you here to escort us?”

Another nod from the gryphon answered that question, “That I am, call me Egyes.”

There is where it finally clicked to the mare, and her eyes shot open, “Wait… you’re the one that was with Iron in the kingdom!” steadily she watched as his grin grew, and with a beckoning of his lead, they started to follow him towards the castle.

“How right you are, and now I’m the assistant to her majesty,” his eyes turned from the mare onwards to the road, “You know, after her old assistant bit the dust.”

Bronze chomped on the lower part of her lip. Bookworm and assistant or not, a dragon was still a dragon, and there really was only one thing in the kingdom at the time that would have done him in. ‘Add another tally to the chart,’ she scorned herself, before considering that Silvertongue did completely betray the princess and her trust. Him being killed by her automatons was likely a better outcome than being on the run constantly from Seren, “Hmm… where had I heard that mindset before?” she kicked herself for a moment.

The calm walk through the streets of the city on towards their destination let one’s mind wander, and the mare couldn’t help but let the various images of how tonight could play out go through her mind. Invited to the castle or not, pardoned by the crown itself, and even now walking freer than a prisoner out on a technicality.

The twang of guilt still resonated in her chest for all she had done, no matter what she’d tried to correct. As many times as it was reminded to her over the last several days, even by the one wearing the crown itself. To Bronze, it wouldn’t take more than a bad morning and Grace to say nay and have her in a cell… or the gallows.

‘Breathe… it’s in the past now,’ Bronze told herself, repeating all the reassurances from the princess she’d gotten, and that she was doing better, ‘And…’ her eyes rolled across those that joined her on the ride here, as the father tried to keep his kin from skipping off through the streets of the city, ‘as undeserving as it is, I have everything I could have hoped for.’

“Well now that’s a big old smile,” Topaz finally got under enough self-control to settle down and join back with them as they went, noticing the expression about the mare, “Whatcha thinkin’?”

Bronze shook her head to get back to the real world, but kept the same face, “Oh, nothing… just of the roads I’ve been and paths I’ve walked,” Topaz might have let that vague answer fall on flat ears, but the colt by her side took note of it. Pulling her in ever so slightly closer with a tug of his horn.

“Roads… that lead you back here,” he gave her a peck on the cheek, making the receiving mare giggle like a filly, and the filly herself teasingly gag at the affection.

“Ugh…” Topaz spat her tongue out at the two, “I thought you two would have gotten enough of that last night.”

Just as the pair stopped themselves from the fillies’ remark, they heard the hearty chuckle of another at the lead. Egyes stifled the end of his beak with a wing, but try as he might, it still managed to reach the stricken pair, “Wasn’t expecting that one,” he pounded his chest to let the last of the laugh out, “though, we’ve arrived.”

Marble looked up to the building in front of them, not the castle like he would have expected, still the place wafted that sense of pristine and glamour off it. As Egyes held the door for them, Bronze noticed that most of the dining area was clear, save for the few waiters and waitresses still walking about.

“Hmm popular place, wouldn’t you say?” Bronze snickered to herself.

“Actually, it is,” Freefall showed up from past the corner, “her majesty just knows the owner, and had them open up a tad earlier than intended.”

“Stop calling me that,” Bronze heard the voice of a familiar Pegasus say, as her party rounded the corner and in to view, “you’re not even in uniform, and I don’t have any of my regalia on.”

Princess Grace snorted with a grin at the broken Pegasus for his remark, as she took a few coltish swigs of wine from her glass. There at the head of the table, Bronze counted the remaining seven-seater, and took note of the empty row of three next to Grace.

“Princess Grace!” Topaz called, before stopping and giving her best bow.

“And you most certainly don’t have to do that,” Grace giggled at the gesture, “though it’s appreciated.”

With some pep in her step, the filly found her seat right next to the princess, before being levitated to the middle. Sat now between Bronze and Marble, Topaz crossed her hooves in a tuff, letting the older mare take her place by the head. Sliding the package under her seat. Though, one thing stuck out to Bronze finally as she did another count.

“Wait a second…” she looked around the table again, as Egyes joined across from them next to Free, leaving one seat left, “is he-”

“Here?”

The mutter in her ear almost shot the mare out of the chair and in to the ceiling. Only a pair of hooves kept her from running except for in place, as they pushed her back down to her rump. There to the side of her, in the shimmering light she saw something she knew quite well show up. Irons’ hoof tapped the chest gem, and with that the cloaking spell withered away to revile his place, and even make the other two Bronze had brought jump a bit.

“Surprised to see me?” the emerald colt sneered, before a wing smacked the side of his armor making him wince.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to do that?” Grace pressed him with, and all the colt could do was shrug.

“I wanted a little fun here, went through the whole trouble of putting this thing on just for that moment,” Iron proclaimed as he rounded about Grace and took the seat next to his mare. Happily giving her a kiss as he took the helmet off with his hooves and set it next to the legs.

The princess turned back to the mare that still hadn’t quite found her words just yet, “You’ll have to forgive him, I didn’t expect him to be wearing the armor at dinner.”

With a shake of her head, Bronze got back to her, “I completely understand,” her eyes turned towards the colt that had remained a thorn in her side, still not having quite let that hatchet bury, “after all, he did need it to take me on last time.”

Iron just had to grin back at her, “Awe didn’t expect you to be so sour about your wings, after I plucked them off,” his eyes took note of the new set along her back.

“Oh, these new ones are just fine, though tell me…” her expression matched his own, and then some, “how’s your horn?”

A waiter stood there with their notepad and quill in the grasp of their own horn, stricken at the comment having seen what had happened to the colt when he first entered of the nub that remained. Just as he stood still, so too had those others at the table. All of them, looking at one another with only half glances, as they waited for one of the aggressors to make a move against the others jugular.

Instead, they got a laugh.

“Alright, I’ll give ya that,” Iron held up a glass in his hoof, toasting it to the mare as they both threw their heads back.

Bronze, after breathing a sigh of relief, clinked hers against it, “I’ve had a lot of time to think of that one, trust me,” she looked over his suit, still just as rugged as when she’d last saw it on the bridge of her craft, “Though how did mine fair when attached to you? Work well enough? Could you control them?”

“You’re not thinking of any new designs are ya?” Iron cocked his eye, “I heard about some of those other creations you’d dealt with, and I’d hate to see them sprout up again like weeds.”

Sheepishly, Grace kept her mouth shut as she munched on a bread roll, careful to keep her eyes adverted from the mare in question, “Oh no, absolutely not…” Bronze waited for the colts’ eyes to wane, “made that mistake once, and I have something good for me right now.”

Iron let his vision go from her, to the ones she’d brought along, and with that confirmation his eyes softened. “Little rugged at first, responsive sure, but that energy in them drained mighty quick.”

“You didn’t have means to control it properly,” Bronze recounted his horn, “Plus, you couldn’t so much guide the energy and reuse it like I could.”

“Though pray tell, why the curiosity?”

Grace, after letting the roll settle, found it her time to pipe up, “That would be because of me…” she noted the package her fellow mare had brought along, ushering Bronze with a wing, “Are they done?”

“Just need to be attached, won’t be a pretty process,” Bronze looked over to the covered stumps of the broken Pegasus, “but certainly is a step in the right direction, and whenever he’s ready… I’ll be around.”

Free looked to both the mares, finally watching the package from the plated mare float up with a whisk of her horn. Getting up from her seat, Bronze trotted to the side of the table. As the tape fell, the box soon joined it, and there in her aura stood the work of several hours in to the night by the pair working in tandem.

Brass veins stretched underneath the sunset stained canvas, perfectly matching his coat. At the joints, steel rivets held together all the parts to ensure its user would get a long life out of them, before any maintenance would even need to be considered. Though, what really drew the attention of the colt, were the emeralds scattered across its frame in their own cut out pockets.

Each of them had that glowed just spelling out they were ready for business, and as Free ran his hoof over the craftwork, he had yet to find even so much as a syllable to voice what he felt. So in its place, he showed it. With the pair still held in Bronzes’ aura, Free wrapped his hooves around the mares’ shoulder. Pulling her in tight, and taking the wind from her lungs.

“Thank you…” he whispered, trying to hold back the flow that demanded to press forth from his eyes, “Just… Thank you so damned much,” Free managed to sniffle out, as Bronze just tried to hold her own waterworks in.

“It’s the least I could do, actually,” she fondly looked at her cocreator, “the least both of us could do.”

With Free now holding on to a set of wings, Bronze got back to her seat as the waiters came out and did their duties. Topping off the rolls, and filling their waters up, they took the numerus drinks down for those attending. Some a little harder than others, as both Iron and Grace opted for the harder selection in celebration of their mutual friends’ gift.

“I would have made them,” Iron said, again.

“I know you would have,” Grace snickered, also, again, “and as Free said, he just wanted simple ones, no bells and whistles.”

“I can do simple… kinda.”

“Oh, don’t kid yourself,” the princess rolled her eyes to her colt, having already become fluent in that motion over time. Though now that was done, she turned to the two that made it happen, “Thank you again, for doing that… I know it couldn’t have been easy to get those together on short notice.”

Both those that had their hooves, and talons, in the project just shrugged their shoulders in tandem. “I did already have the designs,” Bronze pointed out.

“And I had the supplies,” Marble followed suit.

“And I had a handsome assistant,” the mare added as she fluttered her eyes, watching said assistant clam up for a moment, “plus, a lot of coffee works wonders.”

As a few appetizers were brought out to wet their pallets. Egyes and Iron now looked over the new additions to their friend in greater details, as Topaz dug in to the stuffed mushrooms. Leaving Grace to give credit where it was very well due, “And you’ll be receiving payment in the mail here soon,” Bronzes’ ears splayed back not wanting to make sure she heard all that, but before she could say anything, the hoof of a princess silenced her, “and doing better as you might be trying, this was still a tall order, and you pulled through… that deserves just pay.”

Bronze just crossed her talons, “Okay, fair enough.”

“Though that does beg the question, what will you do now?” Grace proposed the same question Bronze had been asked by the king.

Said mare looked to the colt across from her, and then to his kin that joined them. Both of their beaming faces, even as the father wiped his daughters’ face of cheese, gave her more than enough reason to not take that cliff dive again. Sure, helping him in any endeavors would be worthwhile, especially if it still got her talons dirty. Even if it all started with her helping around the house.

Though will that be enough to satisfy her?

“It’s hard to imagine, really…” she started to consider all the possibilities, given her talents, “I could work on new designs, if the crown would be interested,” Bronze watched as Irons’ ears perked along with his mares’. “Although weapons might be my forte… I don’t know if I want to do that all the time.”

Grace just started to nod, taking a sip of her scotch, “That I can understand, and given your skills, I might know a few creatures who would benefit… in much the same way Free there did,” together they looked at the colt, and the sheer happiness he wore while holding those of which he’d lost. “If you’re interested, of course.”

Bronze let the idea mull over in her head, and with Marble looking to her with a steady nod, that process didn’t take that long to figure out the only real answer she could give, “let me know their information, and I’ll see what I could do,” from that alone, she saw the joy in Graces’ own face that some of her citizens would once again feel whole.

“Your parents would have been proud,” Bronze heard muttered across from her by a colt, as Iron sipped on his own glass. Though as he did, her eyes grew ever more curious. With a chuckle, and a free hoof, Iron reached in to one of the pouches on his suit, pulling out a piece of paper.

One Bronze had seen before.

There amongst her talons, was the one picture she had left of them. 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, stood nearby and relished in the view of his own little family. Bronze had held back tight while giving Free his wings, though this was too much, to see her parents again.

‘Child of mine, you’re going to do great things in life… you just don’t know it yet,’ the words echoed once again to her, this time with a smile, ‘and I’m on the road, to do just that,’ she held the picture close to her chest, and looked upon the colt that had brought it. No words needed to be said, as all Iron and she did was just nod.

He knew what it meant to her, but what he didn’t know was one thing, “Why’d you leave it though?”

Bronze wiped her nose and eyes clean before answering, much to the anticipation of those others at the table who’d seen the change in the mood. “Do you really think I expected to last long out there?” all those there remained silent, “at least in the end, I wanted somepony to remember me…”

“Oh, I think there’s somepony who won’t forget,” Marble reminded her, forcing a blush from the mare.

Topaz on the other hoof, just threw her hooves up in defeat, “Okay, it was cute when you both wouldn’t admit it, now it’s just not fun anymore!” With a snicker from the rest of the table in response to the filly. Bronze took it upon herself to pull the filly in to an embrace, garnishing a torrent of giggles.

Though without her fathers’ aid, Topaz remained at the mercy of the mare, “You’re just upset because I called a penalty during your little game.”

“I was in bounds!” Topaz tried to squeal out, as the talons of the mare tickled at her sides.

“And I was the ref, I make that call,” Bronze reminded her.

Soon enough, the filly relented, and as she tried to suck in the air once lost. Another at the table remained silently observing the two, before finally throwing in his two cents, “Wow, talk about whiplash,” Iron interjected, drawing the pairs attention. “I mean to go from what I’d experienced of you,” he tapped the end of his horns stump, “to goofing off with a filly.”

“Hmph… Whiplash would be seeing you with a foal of your own,” Bronze threw back.

Before Iron could throw in his rebuttal as being a teacher, another jumped on his case, “Actually, I don’t think we’d talked about that before,” Grace watched her colt stop cold in his tracks, as she mustered the sultriest sneer she could, “so… when’d you like to start on that conversation?” the mare twirled some of her drink in the glass, as she watched the blood leave from the colts’ face.

Try as they might, those at the table couldn’t help but laugh at the stallions’ blunder, leaving Iron on his own little island. Until, he threw out a line, “how about after, our little rematch?” his glare turned to the mare in question, “I saw you upgraded your gems… and now you don’t have my horn to exploit.”

Bronze looked to him, and his suit, wondering just how much work he could put in to it without a horn. Though if he was managing just fine right now, and threating her none the less. Who knows what he’d be capable of? As she turned to those that joined, Grace just covered her face still holding a smile at her colt, Free and Egyes kept looking between the two of them, Topaz about looked ready to go find a boxing bell to ring, and Marble…

Marble just looked at her smirking, “Hmm… I wouldn’t be opposed to staying in Boralus for a few days, call it a mini vacation,” his grin grew a bit, “though let’s eat first.”

That proclamation was all the mare needed, as her eyes locked on the colt across from her, “oh, you are so… on.”

The end

Author's Note

Alas, we've come to the end... To those few of you who actually follow me, and made it this far. Might not have lived up to some of your expectations, but if I got at least one person to enjoy it. Then I did all right. Thank you for at least giving the story a chance.

Chapter 9

Chapter nine

Opening the door to his home, Marble lifted Bronze once more and set her down on the couch in the living room. Topaz rushed in past his feet, and in to the kitchen, eager to get something to eat after the rather eventful day out with her dad. The colt meanwhile just shook his head with a smirk before turning his attention back to the mare.

“Let me get something for her to snack on before dinner, I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, you don’t have to rush or anything,” Bronze brushed off, still feeling a little odd about how hospitable he is. With her stump held up for him to see she let out an unnerving giggle, “I’m not going anywhere fast.”

With a snicker, the colt went to go help his daughter out, leaving the mare to wonder for a moment what he had in store. The semi broken mare looked at the wreck of her body and all it had been through, now with a bullet wound to boot. Kicking herself slightly for not holding on to one of those rifles, Bronze figured she would have been able to make it a better peg for her if she couldn’t get a talon up and running. At least it’d have more functionality than the previous one.

It didn’t take long till soft hoofsteps sent her ears up, and Marble joined her once again, “A couple sliced apples and peanut butter should hold her over… hopefully.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Bronze tried to protest, as the colt gestured her to follow him. Down the hall she went, now finally seeing pictures of him and his daughter, something she had missed when she first woke up that morning, “Get dinner made for her, I’ll make due with one talon, I have before.”

“You don’t like to sit idle; I remember that much about you,” he said from over his shoulder as he opened a door to the back part of his house, “This should help you keep your hooves occupied… so to speak.”

Walking in with him Bronze looked around the room at what she could only describe as a home away from home for someone like her. Just like she grew up with, and like she had seen at the store, there were work benches lining along the walls that had installed cabinets and open shelves holding all sorts of goodies for a tinker to get in trouble with. While in the center resided a small forge, and crucible to go along with it.

It was a dream come true, and perhaps if the cards in her deck were played differently. The mare may have had this in her own home to enjoy as much as she might want, though she’d have to install a cot inside given how much she’d probably be living in such a place. Past the colt she walked, Marble hanging back at the door and watched as her eyes lit up with wonder and amazement.

“The area at the shop I may work in from time to time, when it comes to different designs,” Marble spoke as he walked in the room more with her, “Though this place I like to tinker with some of my gems and jewelry when I don’t feel like going into town.”

“It’s… wonderful,” Bronze could feel the saliva building up as she took in the site.

“It’s at your disposal.”

From those words alone the mare stiffened like a board, and her eye started to twitch. Just like that, the stallion before her had given the keys to her own castle, and a means of making herself whole once more. She may be thankful for the offers and care that he’s given her, but at the end of the day she was more or less a stranger to him. In this life or her old one as a scared little foal. Something wasn’t right with this stallion, or at the very least there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“Why?” she asked, waiting to gauge his answer for how much truth might be in it.

“Call it thanks,” Marble took a seat on a stool and crossed one leg over the other, “you stopped those things from attacking, who knows how much they would have done had they not been put down.”

“That had nothing to do with you though,” she pointed out the crack in his logic. Yes, it was the right thing to do, and him involved or not she would have still done it. If only to try and right some of her wrongs, “you weren’t in danger, and if anything, they looked to be getting mopped up by the soldiers rather well. In time at least.”

“I may have not been in danger, but Topaz could have been,” he pointed out, “if they weren’t stopped with your help, there would be little stopping them from going through town and eventually reaching my shop.”

“You would have left,” Bronze shot down that excuse too. Sure, protecting his daughter would have been his top priority, but Marble wasn’t going to hang out at the store the whole day, especially if he saw that the automatons were coming his way. “The moment you saw they were getting near you would have lifted Topaz like you did me and darted,” she narrowed her gaze in to his own. The colt’s eyes might be a sight of their own, something he certainly grew in to over the years, but they wouldn’t stop her now, “Marble… What aren’t you telling me? You haven’t seen me for years, and we weren’t what you’d call friends back then. Why are you doing this, for me of all creatures.”

It took a few seconds, but with a deep sigh all the composure of the colt left him in that moment. His shoulders lowered, his head fell, and it even seemed that his hoof started to shake as he took in a deep breath to sort out his words.

“…Because I’m sorry,” Marble said under a breath that she just barely picked up.

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific,” she repeated herself like she had said in the store. Raising up his head with a touch of her talon to look at him, the warm smile on her face she wasn’t used to showing, ushered him a bit as she waited for him to find the words.

“I don’t have to be actually… I’m sorry, for everything,” once more he looked away from her, almost seeing the very mistakes he had made all those years ago before his eyes. “For how I treated you, for how I hurt you time and time again, for how after your dad passed I couldn’t even so much as say ‘I’m sorry for your loss’. I had to wait till you were working on your plans for an opening to even talk to you, and even then, I could tell you wanted to dart away.”

He sighed and shook his head, before a small chuckle escaped his lips, “You had every reason to want to run then, yet in no time you were telling me about your plans for your legs and how to make them work… giving you those gem shards was about the only thing I could do to begin to apologize.”

At a loss, the mare through a clenched throat found only a few words, “It’s… in the past…” Here was her tormentor all those years ago, now finally apologizing for everything he had done, and she didn’t know what to say to him.

“For you it is, but it still stuck with me for years,” Marble took another breath, and checked the door out with a glance to make sure Topaz wasn’t around, “I never got along much with my Pop, and my Mum didn’t care much for me either, I was just a mouth to feed to her and she resented having me probably, my Pop just was a little zealous with that belt of his,” with the words finally finding their way to him easier, the colt relaxed the tension that had built up over the years, “Yet Topaz loved them, and they loved the idea of having a grandkid more than a first born themselves… she may have been devastated, but I wasn’t sad when they passed.”

His eyes finally returned to the mare, “You though…” he gestured, and all but forced Bronze to take a step back, “up to a few years ago, I at least had the option to say hi to my parents. Where I hated mine, you loved yours, and they loved you,” the colt wasn’t close enough to her to visit her home, but he still knew how they took care of her, “yet at the end of the day… you’re the one who lost them too soon, and I got to keep those I resented… where’s the right in that?”

A knot gripped itself around Bronzes’ throat. She may have dealt with beatings from him when they were younger, and had only the smallest bit of power when she finally stood up to him, but she never thought the loss of power he had when he went home. Giving her misery was the only thing that gave him joy, because all of his was taken away when he walked through the doors to his house. It didn’t make it right in her book, yet she had a family that cared about her…

‘…What did he have?’ Bronze asked herself for the first time after all those years.

“You went through more shit in life than I ever could, and I was the cause of a lot of it too,” he let one tear fall down the side of his cheek, “who knows what would have happened had I not been a fiend and become a friend instead… maybe your cards would have been different, maybe your life would be, all I know is it wasn’t fair to you…”

“Life’s not-”

“Fair, I know… but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have evened the odds,” Marble got back up to his hooves and held his gaze at Bronze, keeping the sincerest face he could muster, “I said not to think of fixing things around here as a punishment, to think of them as righting a wrong. Yet, in reality, it’s me trying to right the wrongs I did in the past by helping in the present.”

With that Marble used his horn to open various drawers and cabinets for the mare, bringing out several tools in the process as he laid them expertly on the workbench next to him. Turning his attention away from her, he looked over what he set down. He knew the tools of his own trade, but if making a work of art like hers was anything similar. Then these should start her off on the right hoof.

Punches, pliers, wire, gem fragments, whole gems, and various sizes of copper, brass, and steel sheeting. All of it laid now in several heaps along the workbench. He had seen her taloned limb a number of times, and from those times he put together a little of what she’d need.

“I’m going to get dinner started before Topaz starts trying to make it herself… and I certainly don’t feel like cleaning up that mess,” Marble chuckled at the prospect, having dealt with it before a few times, “Why don’t you-”

A pair of warped legs wrapped around him as he had turned back around to her. Bronze may have been holding an entire dam’s worth of tears in from different times lately. Yet, hearing him say those words, the simple sincerity of him owning everything he did and now trying to do the same thing she wants to do, right the wrongs. That broke it in one go, as she let it all come out and started to sob once again like she had at the waterfall.

They ran down her cheek, the tears that fell to the floor to meet the one he had parted with. If she thought getting an apology from the colt would have only occurred in her dreams, hugging him as she balled certainly would have also been reserved for the dream scape as well. Alas though, here she was, in his work shop with her limbs enveloping him… crying like a foal.

“Thank you… Thank you so very much,” Bronze managed to get out between sobs, as Marble just held on to the embrace and let her spill it all, “you’ve done more for me with this than you could possibly imagine.”

“It’s the least I could do…” Marble smiled as she welcomed his embrace, and gently rubbed his hoof along her back as a tear or two fell.

“No… it’s so much more than that,” Bronze finally let go of him and tried to clean herself up, hating the new found sappiness she was experiencing lately as she wiped her talon under her eyes to dry them. Though to little avail, ‘I guess getting almost blown up will soften a pony a bit,’ she snickered in the back of her mind.

Marble just stood there and smiled at her attempts to get rid of them, as he just shook his head and made his way to the door. “Why don’t you get started, I’ll bring a plate in for you whenever I’m done… you’ll probably be at this for a bit.” With a last chuckle the stallion walked out of view and down the hall.

Bronze however, leaned around the corner and just watched him go, still unable to get rid of the smile on her own face as she counted her blessings. The chance to be whole once more, that’s what he had given her. The best gift she could have asked for, and one that he wrote off as chump change. As the mare sat on a stool in front of the bench, she remained determined to not throw it all away… like she’d nearly done before.

***

With a yawn Topaz rolled out of bed, reluctantly ready to start her day. It was a Saturday, and although she’d love to have remained in an entangled mess with her sheets for another few hours. The filly couldn’t find it in her to keep her eyes shut any longer.

Trotting out of her room with her mane in a mess, she quickly ran in to the bathroom to freshen up before even daring to step hoof any further in the house. Listening closely to the sounds outside the bathroom door, all seemed quiet as if she may have been the first one to arise. Though as she went down the stairs, Topaz saw where her father had curled up for the night.

Passed out on the couch with one of his books still in his hooves, the colt opted to use the literature as a make shift pillow under his head propped up on his hooves. Topaz meanwhile couldn’t help but grin at her dad. The number of times Marble had found her in a similar position couldn’t be counted with all the gems in his store, so when the tables turned it was always a welcome giggle for the filly.

Using her magic, Topaz picked up a blanket from the edge of the couch and brought it up over her dad to keep him comfortable. Just like he would have done for her. Though a small ticking behind her drew the filly’s attention further down the hall, radiating from the workshop. Inching closer and closer, with every step the young mare heard it more clearly, till she finally reached the door and nudged it open.

There sat a truly magnificent site for her young eyes.

Bronze sat calmly on the same stool that Marble had left her on the night prior, albeit without the cloak this time around. Making the fine adjustments to her newly made talon to replace the stump, the filly marveled at the ornate gems that dotted along its shell. All of which seemingly glowed with a sparkling hue in the light of the room as they remained charged.

Holding a screwdriver in the other talon, Bronze slowly opened and closed the talon making that ticking sound that had drawn Topaz to her. As she tightened a screw on one of the joints to control the level of resistance in her grasp. Too tight, and it’d take more energy from the gem to control. Too loose, and she’d waste energy keeping it where she wanted. Grabbing hold of the screw driver in the new talon, Bronze rolled it around in her grasp as she gauged the dexterity.

“Perfect…” she murmured.

“That’s amazing, Miss Bolt,” Topaz said from the doorway, making the mare almost fall out of the stool.

‘Marble needs to get you a bell,’ Bronze chuckled to herself as the filly approached, “Why thank you, Topaz,” she said as her company this morning sat down on the workbench in front of her and looked over her newer creation with the utmost of intrigue.

Looking between the two limbs all together, Topaz noticed a new similarity, “You changed out the gems from your old one?”

Bronze held up her older limb and let the young mare look over it in comparison to her newer one. Indeed, the mechanical mare had stripped out the older lesser pure gems and crystals to make way for newer fragments and whole gems that would better suit her. “Purer gems hold a better magical charge, more difficult to control, but still doable in some cases,” she taught the little one, and worked all her digits along for Topaz to see, while the emeralds pulsed with life, “plus they’re less prone to… overloading.” She grimaced at the memory of being thwarted in the past.

Though it wasn’t just the gems that had been changed out between the two. The metal plating along the leg that had been damaged over the her most recent events, now was finally restored to its former glory. Across other areas, fresh copper sheeting had been fastened to the appendages overtop the steel structure, helping to link the brass plates that had been buffed once more to a near mirror polish.

Even across her body there were new changes. Her own horn had been glossed, and improved, now with a back plate of sheened brass to closer match the bronze frame for which she was named. While along its shaft the previous gems had been swapped out all the same as her limbs, these ones just fragments given the size she had to work with. A few emeralds, a ruby here and there, even a smaller sapphire planted at the very tip.

“Now I have a few more, better, tricks up my sleeve,” Bronze tapped the end of her horn and watched the filly wonder curiously.

With a wink, the mare brought out a thin piece of brass as she took aim with the horn itself. It didn’t take much, she had used the spell on a number of occasions, this time though it had a bit more power to it. With a flash, a small icicle flew from it and lodged not only in to the soft metal, but started to spread a thick frost over the plate itself.

Surprised, the filly almost fell from her place with the leap she took, but once the shock passed. Topaz only looked upon the horn now with a renewed sense of awe, “That’s just… so… cool, literally,” she nickered for a second.

“Oh there’s a few more I could do, but doing them takes a lot out of me,” Bronze glossed over the finer points of how she does what she does. Though a young mind will always be curious.

“So… how do you have different spells?” she saw the ambient glow of those in her horn flicker from the energy pulsing through it, “I mean you couldn’t have enchanted them in the first place yourself, so how’d you get them?”

‘Clever girl…’ That was one Bronze hadn’t gotten asked often, most would just be awestruck at the fact she could even cast them, “Well there are ponies who if you pay them, will charge a gem with a certain spell… but that can just be expensive at times,” a few memories of cornering unicorns from her past and forcing them to charge her gems crossed over her mind, she never killed any of them sure, ‘just an awfully good scare.’

“Once it’s imprinted on the gem, you can keep using it, so long as it has energy,” with a talon she pointed to a few of the clearer gems that dotted along her new and improved frame, “Plus, if you put the original rune of the spell inside where ever the gem is placed, it helps to maintain its strength,” sure enough behind one of the emeralds in her limb, Topaz could see the rune etched into the metal.

Similar runes a unicorn would have used to learn a new spell, or to make casting one easier on the user, and here this mare turned the entire study of magic up on its head. Using them in a way that so many others before her hadn’t worked out how to do.

The filly may have not noticed from her point of view, but on the back of the mare there was work done as well. The torn and shattered hinges that once connected her wings to her frame had been reworked once more. Covered with a thin plate on each joint, and attached with just a screw or two. Bronze may not have a pair of wings to attach at the moment, though if she were to get that far in to the repairs of her body, she still had the connections to do so.

To Topaz, she looked like an entire new mare. Quite literally built from the ground up, now without her cloak, she could get a look at the gem encrusted nut on her flank for a cutie mark. A rather fitting stamp given her nature.

“How do you get them to work?” Topaz asked as she saw the glow from the gems across her body, brighter this time as she stood closer.

“That… is a very peculiar spell,” Bronze broke down, unsure how much the filly knew of the magical arts. So, for the time being, she kept it simple, “basically the gem is charged with energy, and with the right amount of will, one can command it to move whatever the gem is attached to.”

Steadily holding the limb in her own hooves, Topaz admired every inch of the creation that the newcomer to her home had put time and effort in to. “It looks beautiful, I had no idea you could do that sort of thing with a few gems and metal,” she beamed up to the mare, “I’m glad you stopped wearing the cloak, these are too pretty to hide away Miss Bolt.”

With a light blush to her cheeks now greeting her, Bronze held up a talon and quelled the filly, “and you sound like your father,” the newly made mare smirked, and booped the end of Topazes muzzle.

“She gets it from somewhere,” Marble said from the hallway as he walked in, having heard his daughter laughing as he approached.

Though as he approached the mare on her stool, it was as if he was meeting her for the first time. The colt all but locked up his legs at the sight. Even with the light bags under her eyes, she looked like a totally different mare than the one he found trying to break in to his store. Her limbs were polished up, her horn was cleaned, and besides when she stayed the first night. Marble was finally seeing her without the cloak.

“They’re… gorgeous,” he smiled warmly at her, ushering in a fresh wave of blood to the mares already rosy face.

“Oh… just stop,” Bronze rolled her eyes away from him, hoping that the warmth in her face wasn’t as obvious as she thought it was. Holding out one of the avian like appendages for him to look at, the mare did feel guilty about one thing, “Though I hope I didn’t use too much of the supplies you had in here,” she cringed for a moment, knowing how the work she put in to both her limbs, her horn, and the back hinges might appear fulsome.

“Nonsense,” Marble held up a hoof to her as he looked over all Bronzes’ hard work, “I did say it was at your disposal, and I have plenty of raw materials.”

“Miss Bolt, do you think you can teach me how you made them?” Topaz asked with the best impression of a puppy she could manage.

It was a request she hadn’t gotten before, and one she never thought there’d be the opportunity to give out. Given her track record, this art was something that some may argue was best left in the history books… but as she looked back to the filly, with a face like that, could she really say no?

She was willing, but that decision was really in someone else’s hooves. “That would be up to your dad, though I doubt he’d have a problem with it,” the mare glanced at him as she waited to hear any objection. With Marble silent, she looked to the filly, “Besides, I’d love to show somepony the tricks of the trade… it’d be the first time I have actually,” Bronze smiled at the opportunity to teach another the rather lost art that she had been perfecting over the years.

With a squeal, Topaz jumped on to the lap of the mare and wrapped her hooves around her, “Thank you Miss Bolt! I can’t wait.”

Bronzes’ eyes shot open from the contact, and somewhere it felt as if one of those gems burst all over again. Still trying to register the reaction, all she could manage was to pat her talon on the fillies back, and caught the rather smug expression on the girls’ father, “It’s… quite alright there, though you don’t have to keep calling me Miss Bolt.”

“Oops! Sorry,” Topaz said as she jumped back down to the ground.

“Dear why don’t you go wait in the kitchen, I’ll get some breakfast ready for you in a bit,” Marble said to his daughter, and with a growl of her stomach the filly darted from the room with a grin about her face. The father himself, shook his head as he watched leave from sight around the corner, “Wow… just, wow.”

“Quite the little girl you have there,” Bronze said as she propped her head up on a talon, and her host leaned against the workbench, “I wouldn’t have thought I’d get that much of a reaction from her.”

Marble kept his smile, though from the mares’ view something seemed to deflate a bit as he spoke once more, “Topaz has a number of friends out in town that she goes to play with, and even stay with if I’m traveling.” With a sigh, the stallion picked up the screwdriver and mulled it over between his hooves, fidgeting as he went, “though there isn’t really an older mares influence in her life, somepony to teacher her little things, as you’d expect with what happened to her mom.”

Seeing the point behind his words, Bronze simply nodded. She was lucky to have a mother such as Aurora, something she took for granted on a number of occasions while she was younger. After talking with Marble the night prior about his relation with his parents, it was something she should have held a little dearer. To grow up without one parent for a period of time she had experienced, just as Topaz was.

“You lose a part of your childhood with only one parent,” she answered to him, understanding the longing in the fillies’ heart for another there.

“She seems to be fond of you so far though,” Marble chuckled, watching as the mare once again rolled her eyes at him.

‘Worst role model in the country if she knew the truth,’ Bronze thought in the back of her head, before thinking of a less incriminating response, “I’m new around here, young ones are always fascinated by the unknown… usually this kinda thing would scare most her age,” She answered matter-of-factly to the stallion. Though thinking on his words, it would be a shame for her not to teach the young mare a thing or two, “that said I wouldn’t mind teaching her somethings regarding hoof work… while I’m still welcome here of course.”

“And you have no reason to not be, if you’d like to stick around,” Marble answered, nodding to her as he started to take his leave, “Besides, it’d be nice to have the company.”

Company, wasn’t the first way the mare would have described herself. The last time another had thought of her as such, she put a sword in their chest. Yet, it was a thought that the mare found herself drifting towards. Alone out in the woods, or here where she could still try and do some good… not really a tough sell.

‘Till he learns what I’d done,’ she scolded herself, and swiveled off the stool.

Though as Bronze stepped on the ground, her hind legs gave out on her a bit as she stumbled. The colt took a few steps back as she braced herself against him, and with a shake of her head her bearings straightened out. “I’m good, I’m good,” the sluggish mind of a sleepless night finally started to catch up with her. With the rush of adrenaline from working on her passion leaving her in seemingly one go.

“You didn’t go to bed at all, did you,” he called her out on it immediately, having pulled a few all-nighters in his time before and knowing the signs all too well.

With no response from her, and only the simple act of her turning her face away. Marble did the only thing a stallion could. Picked her up, and carried her off to bed. This being the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Bronze wondered if it would start becoming a habit. Though with her charged limbs now working better than her own body, she had little to complain about.

Reaching the guest room that she resided that first night in, Marble pulled the covers down with his magic as he lifted the near lifeless mare off his back and on to the bed. “Ugh…” Bronze groaned as sleep finally smacked her in the face.

“You’ll be right as rain after a bit of a nap, don’t worry,” he assured her, and looked at her once more.

The gems that littered her body all gave off the same glow that he had always known from charged stones. Though with little charge likely left in her from the fighting yesterday, and from crafting new ones entirely. The colt had to wonder but one thing.

“How did you charge the gems in the new limb?”

Bronzes eyes shot open as she pushed herself up, and with no other way to put it, she told him the truth, “Well… I kind of had to pull some of the charge from my other talon and horn,” she held up the old prosthetic. Energy still radiated in the gems, but the mare knew it wasn’t nearly at its full potential, “But I’ll make due, I always-”

“You… don’t have to…” he said softly to her, drawing the mares’ eyes up to his own. The ocean that he seemed to hold in those orbs grabbing her once more, as she was forced to look away from the small hurt that they displayed.

Picking up her talon with his hoof, Bronze watched as the stallion held it to the edge of his horn and let the magical energy jump from one body to the other. When she tried to take it from him back in the store it was difficult, his body seemingly fighting her the whole time. This time around, with him giving it up willingly, if her limbs could speak, they would rejoice in the gift that he quite literally bestowed upon them.

The mare was thankful that her jaw remained her own, otherwise if that was a prosthetic, she probably would have to pick it up off the ground. “Did you really just do that?” she asked, even after just witnessing it herself.

“Well, it was going to need to happen sooner or later… it’s the least I can do,” he pointed out, having heard from the horses’ mouth how she can run out of energy. With little pain in his head from the loss of magic, Marble carried on, “besides, better get it from me than one of those suits of armor.”

An eerie titter escaped both their throats as he started to back out the door, each of them not looking forward to seeing those things again, yet one of them knowing she’ll likely not see the last of them.

“Get some rest though, please,” he nodded to her, “you need it after yesterday.”

“Of course,” she returned the gesture to him as he stood at the door, “And I’ll say it a million more times if I must, but thank you.” With that and a smile, the lights went out in both the room, and the mare as she hit the pillow. Glad to sleep off some of the tired night from a putting herself back together again.