//------------------------------//
// Corruption of Metal 
// Story: The Heartbeats of Iron 
// by Eric Longtooth 
//------------------------------//


"Hooves o' light, broker of hope, bringer of day
Tell to me your fear, tell to me your end
Rider of another, from worlds adrift, soldier of truth
Tell to me your lies, tell to me your night
Who cries for ye'? Who waits for ye' when the cards fold?
The abyss called, a debt to be paid
Hooves o' light, Rider of another
When did the day turn to night?
Where went the hope?
Where went the truth?"



Eric Longtooth






{---}^v[ Steele ]v^{---}






‘It can’t be…’

The figure that strode out of the darkness was unlike the others. Unlike the flying tubes of steel and copper, even the massive walking machines that stood silently near the entrance to this tomb.

No. This one was different.

It was a cruel mockery of a pony... if it could even be called one now… 

It was clad in the gold of the Royal Guard, but under it, there was only a mess of wires and leaking blood. Even the once-shining spiral of whatever poor unicorn the creature used to be was tainted. Coiled around it was a thick copper wire that seemed to have almost entirely replaced the horn, with the only remains of the original being an array of ivory chunks being used like grotesque focusing crystals.

From where Steele was stood, she could make out what looked to be a bare skull shielded by the golden helm. All of the flesh having been carved off to be replaced by a mess of metallic implants and wires, leaving even the eyes to be beady dots of hateful red. 


The rest of the walking corpse was thankfully hidden either by the golden armor it wore, or the messes of wires and steel. But, even with the poor remains of the unicorn, Steele still would it striking a sense of familiarity in her, yet, to who she couldn’t tell.

Forcing the rising bile down, she rolled her shoulders in an attempt to hype herself up.

“I can do this… it’s not alive, if anything, this is a mercy.” She whispered to herself, refusing to take her eyes off of the mockery of life. “You want to fight?! I’ll give you a damn fight, you monster!”






 |\>o0{ Spark }0o</| 






The Insect seemed to take a moment to investigate him as if it had never seen anything like him before. It made sense, in a way, it was a bug, they would’ve never lived a life even close to his.

They stood still for precious seconds, almost motionless before the Insect flashed forward with an unexpected speed in an attempt to damage him.

It was amusing, if nothing else.

Spark sidestepped the practiced strike with ease, the Insect moving at a snail’s pace in comparison. 

He didn’t wanted to kill it, if anything, a dissection would provide more results then living observation.

After all, he had seen enough of these Insects alive. Dissection was all they are good for now.

Spark paused for a second as new old information filled in the blanks. He had seen this kind before. They were fast, yet weak. 

He was faster though.

Slamming a forehoof into the exposed spinal exoskeleton, cleaving through it and paralyzing the Insect. Yellow ichor spilled from the wound, creating a pool a blood that greeted the Insect after he smashed one of its remaining limbs with a, relatively, soft buck. 

The satisfying crunch as the body smashed into the metallic walls of the alley sent a shiver of pleasure down Spark’s spine, the feeling of completeness as he fulfilled his duty was truly something… amazing.

He wondered how it would feel when he was truly done with this task…






{---}^v[ Steele ]v^{---}






‘I-I can’t feel my wings!’ She mentally cried, tears stinging her eyes as she falls to the ground. With a groan, Steele tried to rise to her hooves, but her limbs didn’t seem to want to respond, and the blood that was slowly filling her lungs refused to give her the time to do so.

She turned her head in an attempt to face her attacker, only to catch sight of her remaining wing. 

Bones protruded from it in all directions, the skin and fur having been ripped off with the force of the last buck. Feathers mixed with muscle and blood as it laid limply at her side, the joints threatening to break apart with the slightest movement.

And yet, she felt no pain.

That fact scared her more than any other. Coupled with the lack of response from her lower legs, her mind dug up the old horror stories the veterans told the recruits during training. Stories of long, slow deaths, unable to do anything as wild animals tore paralyzed ponies limb from limb…

For once, she regretted dismissing such stories.

Steele tore her eyes from her own broken remains to glare at the approaching abomination. She shuddered as it made its way to her in an almost carefree fashion, each step jerky and uneasy yet holding a pace similar to a slow trot. 

The mask of iron it wore hid any expression it may have had, leaving a feeling of this being a chore to the mechanical automaton. Perhaps it was, perhaps she was merely a bump in the road.

The fighting spirit she once held so tightly, faded like a forgotten memory, its place filled in turn with panic and fear as the machine slowed to a stop as it loomed over her. Though she couldn’t see anything betraying the emotion, part of her swore it could see a sneer one its muzzle as it reached down to pick her up.
As a cold metal limb wrapped around her, Steele vainly tried to turn her head to look away from her doom. But, alas, the muscles in her neck were as unresponsive as the rest. 

She wished there was still pain, if nothing else, it would allow her to fade into the cold embrace of unconsciousness and escape this nightmare.

But, no. She would remain awake.

The hoofsteps of her captor, so steady before, seemed to always find their way into all of the roughest terrains as they walked. Though it didn’t hurt physically, Steele felt a part of her will be ripped away with each feather that fell to the ground. 


Fortunately, it didn’t take long to reach the end of the road.

‘Or unfortunately…’ She thought sadly as the creature holding her placed her on a dusty metallic floor, raised slightly above everything else. 

As soon as it let go of her, the floor started emitting a dull whine and began moving her away from the abomination. Whilst she was thankful for the distance between them, part of her dreaded whatever would come next.


 |\>o0{ Spark }0o</| 


As the insect was pulled away into the core of the factory, this unit felt a warm feeling blossom in his barrel. It felt amazing to help the factory progress, to the point were it seemed even addicting.

As if by fate instinct, another order seemed to pop into his mind. A wordless force, pressing him into mindlessness obedience. 

Each step was calculated and precise, brought into mathematical perfection by the factory’s blessings. He hadn’t noticed it before, but now that he had time to think, as that was what the factory had commanded, but his body felt so… perfect.

Spaces once wasted by inefficient biological processes having been replaced by cold metal, with each part of his new, better, form serving him a thousand times better than they used to.

It was almost as if it was a blessing from the mind of Princess Twilight Sparkle herself!

Another shudder of pleasure pulsed through his body as the factory dug into his memories of the aforementioned princess. Each microsecond that passed seeming to please the insatiable hunger for knowledge of the factory even more. 

After three point seven eight four seconds, the factory withdrew from him, leaving a feeling of happiness as he surprised his maker with his usefulness. Like a dog that performs a trick correctly for the first time, he was happy. Fulfilled even.

It was a dawn of a new era! And soon, the others of his race will join him in the great unity of the factory!

As if answering his mental proclamation, crackles of electricity heralded sections of the immense factory once again answering the call of its master. Iron and copper were mined, smelted, and crafted into new and exotic items. 

Bullet, turrets, weapons of war.

Robots, flying machines, and cybernetic upgrades.

Each item grew the factory a little more, and before long, it would no longer be content to remain underground. There was a whole world out there, waiting for them.

Never before had this unit been so excited!