//------------------------------// // Demon Unbound // Story: Bronze Hoof // by cowboybird //------------------------------// Demon Unbound Weeks passed like days, months like weeks. This new found life was somethin I could get used to. Workin everyday with Gear Head and Quick Beak made our friendship grow like mushrooms under cow patties. Soon we were inseparable, spendin our workin hours, and off hours hangin out. So much was done on the Peach’s farm that we soon had more produce goin out than we were usin. This gave the community a huge economic boost, and in turn Mr. Peach paid the boys and I handsomely. My usually toned muscles started to expand from the work on the farm. Gear even started gaining some muscle, now instead of an hours work for him to be exhausted, it took about four. We tested my strength and found that I could lift boulders the size of whole carts with ease. I also began to take up runnin, somethin that I had never done before. Bein top heavy made runnin a lil easier for me. I could just tip my head down and keep goin for miles on end. Life was goin good. Holidays came and passed. We had Hearth’s Warming Eve, where everybody went to the town square to watch the school enact the play. Peach Fuzz and Peach Blossom were the stares, as they were some of the only pony children around. There were still raids though. Every few weeks some diamond dogs tried to take off with some of the towns folk. We defended our own as best we could, but that didn’t stop the thieves from comin. They ran off with Tail Feather, a griffin, seven weeks after my arrival. June Star, an earth pony I had begun to make friends with went a week after Tail. Me, Quick, and some of the other men started a militia. Every time there was a raid on the outskirts we fought them off. As most of the folks ‘round here didn’t much take to killin, I tried my best to just injure the mutts. Eventually we had the local blacksmith, Smoke Rings, Make us some weapons. He was a large earth pony who, as best I could figure, would look similar to Big Mack in size. Minnie told me he came to New Findings to start a new life. Apparently he was an old army smith for Celestia’s royal Guard. His coal blackened hair once used to be blonde, and his pitch black coat was usually covered in soot from the furnace. He had a hammer and anvil on his flank, signalin his callin as a black smith. “So what kind of weapon would you like to have, son?” Smoke Rings asked Quick in a Scottish accent. “I’ll just be having some steel talons mate.” Quick did like to fight with his hands. He was better off that way. His natural agility allowed him to become a tornado of shrapnel when he was in a scrap. “And what about you big fella?” Smoke asked me. I didn’t really know. When I was in a fight I tended to use my hands or horns. Although it was taxing to do so, it was efficient. “I don’t rightly know Smoke, maybe some steel horseshoes, and steel coverins for my horns I guess.” He looked at me thoughtfully. “Alright I can do that. But if your compatriots and yourself would like to try some weapons, I have a few stashed in the back. They’re just wooden models, but they do good in training.” He went and retrieved a box from the back office. Inside were several swords, a crossbow, and a battle axe that came up to the top of my head. “Why do ya have this one, hoss?” I asked, lifting the axe. “I had to do some special training with a few griffins back in Canterlot. Most preferred long swords, but one big fella asked for a battle axe. I made this one for his weapons training.” I lifted the weapon out of its casket, and swung it a bit. I liked the pendulum action it caused, and how easy it was to swing. “If you like it, I can make you one, it’ll be a bit heavier than that one,” he motioned to the dummy I had in my hands, “but I think it’ll suite you.” I nodded and began to play with the wooden axe. I began testing different swing types: overhead, sideways, uppercut, and even throwing the thing. By the time I was done messin with it, the sun was just settin. I thanked Smoke, and made my way home. Behind me he called out, “I should have everything done by tomorrow afternoon. Stop by when you get a chance.” I waved, and left him to his work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rain fell from the sky, flooding the small river that flowed next to me. I sat there weeping. The tears streaming down my face mixed with the cooling moisture from the sky. How had everything gone so wrong? How could I make such a foolish mistake? Lightning cracked the night sky, ripping the heavens as its cry was heard for miles. The water from the usually calm stream was now a torrent of fury. The water crashed over boulders that haven’t been submerged in centuries. The monsters groaned as they were loosed from their resting placed and thrown further down the liquid serpent. “Never again.” The words fell from my mind out my mouth. “Never again will I be deceived in this way. Never again will others suffer because of me.” I stood, releasing a mighty roar that shook the heavens. Lightning smashed a nearby tree, lighting it in even this downpour. The fire began to spread as I raised Spirit Inferno cursed the heavens. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke with a start. The smell of sulfur and ash reached my nose. I sat up, alarmed. I ran outside to see my new home, New Findings, ablaze. I ran to where Minnie and Killian lived, hoping beyond hope they were alive. On my way I passed civilians running around in the chaos. “Where’s Orkut?” “Has anybody seen Oak? I can’t find my baby!” “Help, they took Peach Fuzz!” Peach Flower. That was Mrs. Peach Flower. I ran to her, and grabbed her by the leg. “Who? Who took Fuzz?” The tone of my voice snapped her out of her crazed trance. “The dogs. They came in the night, right before dawn. They took her Bronze! They took my baby!” She began to weep. Tears flooded her usually bright face. Fury filled mine. “I’ll get him back. I’ll get all of them back.” It wasn’t something to cheer her up, or give her hope. Peach Fuzz had grown on me. He would ask me questions while I work that one would only ask an uncle. What do I do if I like a girl in my class? How do you get a ‘first kiss’? You’re my best friend Bronzey. His voice played in my head as I made my way towards Smoke’s shop. Amazingly, it survived the fire. As I approached he came outside. He had blood flowing down his face, despite the efforts of a rag wrapped against the wound. “I didn’t get your axe done boy. They attacked me. I gave ‘em what for, but they got away. They destroyed most of the weapons. I did manage to save the horn coverings, and Quick Beak’s steel talons.” He coughed, and pulled out the equipment. I let him hammer some nails into my horn, securing the coverings. Just as he finished Quick dropped out of the sky. He looked almost as pissed as I was. “They done?” was his only question. Smoke nodded and handed him the talons. He fitted them and gave me a deathly look. “I’ve heard they went south Bronze. They have my brother, and most of the other children. God knows why. We’re gonna go get them back.” With that we took off. Quick in the air, and me on hoof. Quick was faster than me, and after a few hours came back with a report. “They’re making their stand on the mountain. Ten or so dogs. There’s a dragon that lives in a cave up there. Supposed to be a real badass. We have them trapped mate, they’re not goin to go any further up in fear of the dragon.” We worked out a quick plan, Quick flies up and gets on their flank. I go chargin right into their ranks. By the time we reached the pass where the flea bags were makin their stand, I was rightly furious. Not only did they take one of my friends, but other children. Children for Christ’s sake. As the sun hit its apex we reached their encampment. They set up with seven of the bastards in front, children in a large cage on wheels in the middle, and three in the rear (probably to protect if the dragon came out). They hadn’t spotted us yet, so Quick dipped off the pass and flew around back, keeping out of sight. I walked to where they could see me. “Leave beast, We got your pups! They ours now! You can’t kill us all. These pups now belong to Steel Fang!” A dog on their second line yelled. He must be the new Beta, considering I killed the last one. These dogs were dumber than I thought. First of all, they decided to make their stand against retaliation on a mountain pass with a 600 foot drop to their side. Secondly they thought that I would come alone, even though they knew we had a town defense that kicked their sorry asses every other week. And thirdly, they took children. I let loose a mighty roar, and charged them. They had no weapons, save for a few javelins, which they through once I started runnin. I dodged them easily, even pickin one from the dirt and carryin it along with me. After their initial attack the Beta sent 4 of the damn mutts to swarm me. It didn’t take long to cover the distance. The first one reached me only to find a new steel horn in its abdomen. As I retched him off of me the second came up quick. Right as I loosed the body from my head, the next dog was jumpin for my throat. Like a baseball player, I smacked the dog with the lifeless form of his friend, sending them both into a freefall. The third and fourth came at the same time. One jumped while the other went for my legs. I hefted the javelin, and stuck the jumpin pooch on the mouth, while simultaneously stomping the other into the ground. I took a second to collect myself. As I looked back to where the Beta and his two friends were I noticed Quick Fang making short work of the three in the back. The Beta stood at full height, and let out a howl of displeasure. Now I understood why Steel Fang made this one the new Beta. Although he wasn’t as smart as the last one, he was much bigger. At his full height he was nearing 10 feet. A good head taller than his pack mates. He was much broader too, showing his oddly muscular dog body in his howl. His Rottweiler physic matching his temper. He charged at me, leaving his unsuspecting pack mates to deal with Quick Beak. As he closed the distance he growled deeply. When he was just a few feet from me, he grabbed at my shoulders to throw me down. I caught his hands and stopped his progress. We stood there, pushin against each other, seein which was stronger. Although I was bug for a minotaur, he was really big for a diamond dog. After what felt like hours he got discouraged and made a bite for my throat, only to get the head butt from hell. He fell back, and I followed him. As his back touched the ground, my fist met his muzzle. The first couple of strikes bounced his head off the ground. But he wasn’t done yet. He lashed out with his teeth, sinking them into my hand as I was striking. I yelled in pain, receiving a sock to my jaw. Just as I was regaining my senses, he followed with another, and another punch, trailed with several bites that left puncture wounds behind. I fell off him, and he was quick to get on top. Beta continued his murderous onslaught. Just as I was fading to black, I heard a distant voice. “Bronze! Bronze fight! PLEASE FIGHT!” It was Peach Fuzz. I had forgotten about my lil buddy. Something other than rage found its way inside me. Love. I loved the lil tike, no matter how much he annoyed me. I had to protect him. I had to stop this monster from taking him to live out his life as a slave. With all my willpower I mustered up the last of my strength, and thrusted my hand into the Beta’s chest, grabbed onto the first thing I felt, and pulled it out. All his actions stopped. In my hand was his still beating heart. His eyes glazed over and he slumped to the side, falling off the cliff. As I rose, I saw that Quick had made short work of the other dogs and was releasing the children. The first one out was Fuzz. He ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug I had ever received. “You came Bronze! You came for us.” He was wetting my shoulder with his tears. It didn’t matter. “Of course I came for you lil guy. I’ll always come when you need me to.” I had tears of my own building up, but I bit them back down. I had to be strong for everyone. When we were all ready to leave, we started down the path towards home. Before we got more than 20 feet from the cage, a great booming voice hollered from the cave further up the path. The dragon. “Get the children to safety Quick, I’ll hold ‘em off.” He began to protest but I cut him off. “As long as they’re safe it doesn’t matter what happens to me, but they won’t be safe if you leave them. Now GO!” There was no questioning in my command, and he started herdin the children down the slope. I went to go kill a dragon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As I made my way up the mountain, I began to feel somethin I hadn’t in quite a while. Fear. I reached the mouth of the cave when another roar came and with. I mustered up my courage and continued inside. What I found was an interior decently lit by glowin gemstones. As I continued the cave grew in size until I reached a doorway that led into a chamber 4 football fields long, and at least as tall as a 16 story buildin. In the center was a massive pile of gold, gemstones, and pretty much every valuable thing you can imagine. It’s from there that another roar came from. I climbed the mountain of treasure, preparin myself for a fight unlike anything I had experienced so far. When I reached the top, my heart was thumpin so hard that it hurt. I didn’t know if it was from adrenaline, or fear. Before I crested the peak, I took a moment to think about everyone I cared about. Mom, Dad, my little brother Matt, Minnie, Tin Horn, Fuzz. All of whom I might never see again. Readied, I peaked my head over the top, and saw somethin I will never forget. In the center of the pile, was a giant conch, like the one you find at the ocean. At the mouth of the conch, was a pegasus pony yelling into it, making the roaring noise. What? As she released another yell, my eardrums nearly exploded. Bein on the receiving side of this thing sucked. Before she let loose another ear popping shout, I made myself seen to her. “Would you quit that shit!?” Maybe not the best first impression I’ve ever made, but the noise needed to stop. “Wha-Who are you? What are you doing here?” She was a spritely lil thing with a white coat, and yellow mane (styled like Pinkie Pie’s). Her cutie mark showed three lil balls of flame with smiling faces inside. “I’m Bronze, and I’m here to fight a dragon. Where is it?” I crouched down, not wanting to be ambushed by such a menacing creature. “Well, if you want to fight ok. But be warned, I’m the most ferocious in my family.” She ended with fighting stance, jumpin up and down on her feet with her front hooves raised. “Not you, the dragon. Where is the dragon that owns this hoard?” I was getting irritated with her at this point. “I’m the dragon, silly.” She followed with another roar into the giant conch. What? “So you’re the ‘dragon’ that’s been terrorizing these lands?” I was dumbfounded. “Well, my parents used to do the terrorizing, but they left for the migration. They left me in charge of the hoard.” She smiled, and began playing with some gold coins. “…Your parents are dragons.” “Yup.” “…They left on migration.” “Mmhmm.” “…And left you with this hoard.” “Rightio Jacko.” “But you’re a pony.” She huffed, “Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m not a pony, I’m a dragon. Just like my brother, and my mom, and my dad.” She adopted an irritated look and sighed. “I may not be as big as them, but mom and dad say I’m a dragon like everyone else. I may not breathe fire, but dad got me this voice amplifier for my birthday.” She motioned towards the conch. “It makes me sound like my dad so that bad people will stay away. But if someone…” She gave me a deathly stare, “were to come and try to take the hoard, I could beat them up.” This was all too weird for me. First I nearly die from getting my ass handed to me by a Beta. Then when I come to kill a dragon to allow my friends to get away, I find out it’s a crazy pony that thinks she’s a dragon. “Well, if you’re not goin to terrorize anyone, I guess I’ll be on my way then.” I wanted to get out of here. This day was gettin to be a might long. “NO. I mean no, please stay. I get so lonely in here. The migration was 10 years ago, and they have another 10 to go before they come back. Can’t we just talk?” She looked so downtrodden. 10 years of bein alone must have taken a number on her, it would have done the same to me. I took sympathy on her and agreed to stay for a lil. “Alright, I’ll stay, but I can’t be too long or my friends will get worried.” She immediately perked up. She bounced around and made a table and chairs out of assorted gold ornaments and precious metals. When she was done she motioned for me to sit. As we sat, I felt a bitin on my leg. I looked down to see a small turtle, or tortoise reaching to devour my leg. “You have a turtle?” I asked, confused as to why she had a pet, let alone one that was supposed to be near water. “What? No, don’t be silly. That’s Death Bringer, my cheetah.” As if to exemplify things, the tortoise began to attack my leg again. What? At this point, I just threw it up to her bein bat shit crazy. “So what’s your name, dragon?” I asked, might as well start somewhere. “Oh! I’m Toni, but my brother calls me ‘Toni the Pony,’ mom always said it was a joke, but I think he thinks I’m a pony too. Just like you. Well I don’t mean just like you, you have horns and are hairy, and only have two hooves, and now I’mstartingtorunoutofbreathsoI’mgoingtostoptalking..” She inhaled heavily. This is going to be a long ‘lil bit’. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four hours and a lot of information about Toni later, my eyes were beginning to droop. She had told me about how dark shadowy forms had destroyed the town she used to live in when she was little. How her dragon parents took her in out of the kindness of their hearts. She mentioned that the village she lived in was a draconic town, but I’m guessin it was a pony settlement. She talked about how she got her cutie mark, and what it means. Apparently, her special talent is bein friendly to fire. When I asked her what she meant she lit a mahogany desk on fire with some matches, and stood in the center. Miraculously nothin happened. She kept talkin and talkin about how she couldn’t get hurt by fire. When I stepped into the blaze as well, she about had a heart attack. “No, no, no. You’re too hairy, I have scales under the fur, I’ll be fine. But you’re going to get hurt.” Her concern was amusin, but when nothing happened, I found myself regrettin showin her my talent. “Oh My Gosh! You are part dragon too! This means that we can hang out without my parents getting upset.” Her enthusiasm was palpable. “Well, I’ll come by whenever I can. We can hang out then.” It was about to get dark, and I still had a long way to walk. “Oh, please don’t leave, Death Bringer was just starting to warm up to you.” She pouted as the shelled creature, who was tryin to bite my hoof, unsuccessfully. “I need to return home Toni. My friends will already be worried about me.” I stood to go. Toni ran and tackle hugged me to the ground. “Ok, if you have to go, then at least let me give you something. A present, then when you come back you can give me a present.” She leaped off me and dove into the mountain of valuable goods. I was expecting a gold ornament, or a fancy jewel; but what flew out of the mound was nothing shiny. A black scale shot out of the mountain and impaled itself into the ground at my feet. Soon it was followed by more. All in all, about 30 toilet bowl sized disks sat at my feet. “What are these?” I asked, assuming Toni would hear me. “They’re my dad’s scales. He shed them when he went on migration. Something about ‘you need to have a nice coat if you want to seem intimidating.’ He said they were harder than almost all other scales, or even metals. So, since you don’t have a weapon, you can make one from these.” She gathered them all up into a large satchel that barely fit over my back. “Ok, now when you come back, you bring me a present.” I said I would and waved goodbye to the crazy pony as I made my way down the mountain, and towards home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was well into the night when I arrived at the outskirts of town. The weight of the scales made travel slower than I thought. Minnie’s gonna be pissed with how late I am. I trudged into town, expecting her to come lashin out at me for scarin her. When I got to the town center though, something was goin on. Around the fountain that acted as a center point of the settlement was a large number of people rallying around a burning post. Quick was on top of the fountain, screamin and hollerin to the crowd. “…Then he took off the fight it on his own. Damn fool. He’s probably been dead for hours now. He was my mate! He was your mate! Vengeance will be ours!” He was gettin the mob really riled up. I saw Minnie, Killian, and even the Peaches in the mist of them. I could only figure he was talking about me. True, I had been gone for hours. True, if it had been a dragon I probably would be dead. But I was fine, I was here. No one had noticed me yet. “Who’re we gonna wreak vengeance on?” I yelled it loud enough for everyone to hear me, givin a stupid big grin. A cheer broke from the crowd as everyone piled to hug me, give me a highfive, or a slap on the back. Quick fought his way through the crowd and pulled me into a tight, brotherly hug. “Where were ya mate? You scared the bejesus out of me.” He was laughing while he said it, clearly relieved. “Just gettin to know a dragon.” I let the bag drop, spilling the scales on the ground. A gasp escaped the crows as everyone looked at what I had brought. “You mean to tell me that up on that mountain, was a black dragon?” Gear Head popped through the crowd, levitating one of the disks to have a better look. “Yes, and no. Why? Are they some sort of evil?” I was confused. If it was an evil dragon that was Toni’s dad, then why did he take her in? “Not exactly. Although black dragons are seen as evil, they can be good. But to become a black dragon, a dragon needs to eat nothing but diamonds and obsidian for centuries. They are considered some of the most powerful creatures in the world. To break the scale of a black dragon, although some say is impossible, you need to have the scale of an even older black dragon.” Gear Head was about to go on, but I stopped him. “So can we make weapons and armor from this stuff or what?” I kicked a scale lightly. Smoke came out of nowhere with, “Just give me some time and I’ll get something ready. The secret is to work around the scale. Your battle axe is done by the way.” With that he gathered up the scales and headed towards his forge. “Damn ninja” I whispered to myself. After the excitement dwindled, it was just me, Quick, Minnie, and Gear. Everyone else either had work in the mornin, or were just plum tired. “How about a drink for the slayer of dragons?” Quick said, walking me and the others to the bar. I sheepishly looked at him, “about slayin that dragon…”