//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: A Bronzed Moon // by Eric Longtooth //------------------------------// Bronzed Moon: Epilogue By Eric Longtooth “Three little fillies jumping on the bed, One fell off and now she’s dead. Two little fillies jumping on the bed, one flew too high and hit her head. One little filly jumping on the bed, they won’t catch me, the last one said. No more fillies jumping on the bed…” - BlueColton, A Sound in the Dark ▂▃▄▅▆▇█▓▒░[Far Below Canterlot…]░▒▓█▇▆▅▄▃▂ Drip… Drip… Drip-Hissssss… The stalactites far above sent small gifts to the world below, most making it to the cave floor unobstructed, but for a few, they found purchase on an abnormally hot container. It was a simple looking box, made of steel and concrete, and being about the size of a normal pony. The metal bands that reinforce the concrete glow softly with electrical current, turning any falling water droplets into mist as soon as they touch it. Although there was nopony this far below the capital, if there was, they may just comment on the slight ticking emanating from the box. The sort of sound that nopony would notice unless they sat there for a while, but a sound nonetheless. Far above the box, right at the top of the mountain it sleeps under, a singular, very powerful, pony rages. Sending forth a slight, but noticeable wave of solar magic. In its wake, everything became a few degrees hotter. Perhaps only three or four, but it was enough. And should there have been a pony this low, and should they have noticed the ticking, they may just notice the absence of it after the wave. Tisssss-TONK! With an echoing cry, the first band is violently ejected from the box. Flying far into the air, before being discarded in some long-forgotten corner of the abyss. Click-click-click-click… Gears wurr, and after a moment, the cave returns to its uneasy quiet. Ka-CRACK! But that was before the concrete parted. From within its prison, a deep, grotesque, green light floods the once-impenetrable black of the abyss, and with few unused gears, a figure emerged and unfolded. It was tall, about a head or two above a normal pony, even though its head was seemingly missing. Fashioned with thin limbs, with a pair of legs that end in four clawed feet, three in front, one behind, along with a pair of arms. At the end of them, there was a nimble set of five claws, but, as it emerges, the hands flip back into the arms, and a set of blades replace them. Razor sharp and nearly as long as its entire arm. At its back, a single antenna extends a bit above where its head should be, with a single red light at its end that softly glowed. At its apex, the creature’s head unfolded from the depths of its chest cavity. With only what appears to be the front section of a human’s skull, along with a pair of long, yet manoeuvrable spikes in place of a jaw. Most striking, however, was the back of its head. Instead of a mane or even a smooth cap to round it out, it ended with a sort of pickle jar, bereft of pickles, and instead containing within its green juices a… squid? Indeed, within the ‘brain cavity’ of these creatures, was a squid that fully occupied all the room it had. At least, until one looked closer. Instead of the main body of a squid, there appeared to be a mammal’s head. A human child's in fact, but it held a few choice modificons. Its eyes had been removed, and replaced with bundles of red and blue cables that lead to the rest of the head. Along with a selection of tubes and cables coming from its small, undeveloped mouth. Nit-nit-nit-nit-nit… A soft clicking emanates from its chest, soft as a whisper as the child-brain shifts slightly in time with each click. The tentacles of the abomination shifting within its pod with surprising dexterity as the child wiggled. Yet, even with its nearly silent volume, it was at such a pitch that it travelled nigh’ perfectly through the caverns, and from the black, a symphony of others respond. Soon they would find their way to the surface, and in time, they would do as the Factory dictated at their creation. But until then… A slight buzzing resounds from the creature, and if anyone where to be watching, they would notice it completely fade from sight. But, there was no one. And so, it went about its business completely unmolested. Time will tell what that business was… Time will tell... The End