Bronze Tiara

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.