Bronze Tiara

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.