Bronze Tiara

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.