//------------------------------// // Metal Mongrels // Story: Bronze Hoof // by cowboybird //------------------------------// Metal Mongrels Emerald Fang stood at her father’s side. He had just received the news of his hunting party’s defeat, and he was not happy. “I should just kill that son of a whore myself! He has caused me too many problems, and must die!” He threw a golden statue at the wall, splintering it into gilded shards. Emerald had never cared much for her father’s temper. It is what drove her mother into insanity, his constant fits, yelling, and even the beatings he used to give her had drove the poor woman mad. “Gather my entourage! We will ride to New Findings, and burn it to the ground. Emmy, go gather my armor.” He shouted. Emmy bowed, and with gusto she marched towards his room, and retrieved his armor. The diamond decorations glinted in the dim light of the light crystals. Although the bulky pieces of equipment had seen battle, the gilded trim still held its shimmer. The entire set was made of red dragon scale, not as strong as black, but pretty close. She hated it. As she made her way to the alpha’s dressing room, she couldn’t help but wonder at all the slaves she passed. The way their sorrow filled their whole being made her want to set them free, but that was forbidden to her by her father. He was a greedy old crook, and never paid her much attention, except when he needed his armor. She recalled several times when a beta had tried to challenge her father. Every time he had sent her for his armor, and every time the blows of axes, swords, and spears would bounce off of him harmlessly. She always wished that just once he would take a hit, and if it were fatal, all the better. Though she dare not tell anyone of her desires, she kept her mother in her thoughts, kindling the fire that had grown inside her. As she reached the dressing room she found her father already taking his pre-fight bath. When he noticed her he motioned her over. “Put the armor on the stand, and scrub my back daughter.” She did as she was told, grabbing the back scrubber and went to work. After a few minutes, he motioned to his toes. “Sharpen my claws as well.” She did as she was told, grabbing the file, and started shaving his nails to a point. When he was satisfied, he stepped out of the water, shook off, and went to the armor stand. Routinely, she began applying the armor to his body, and strapping it down. “SLAVE, bring a bottle of wine.” Out of the back of the room came a pony. She had a lime green coat with a dark blue mane, her cutie mark, barely visible through the brand of the Metal Mongrels, appeared to be a bucket and a shovel next to it in front of a beach head. The slave dutifully grabbed the handle of the pitcher balanced on her back, and poured it into a cup the alpha held. By the look of her eyes she was exhausted, she nearly spilt the wine, causing father to grow angry. “Watch what you’re doing wench, that wine is worth more than you.” He dug his eyes into her, causing her to flinch, and back away in a low bow. “Would you be accompanying me daughter? I know how you enjoy my battles.” He turned his head slightly to better see her as she strapped a leg brace onto him. “If it is your desire father.” She jerked the leather strap so that the brace was snug against him, but easy to remove. They would leave the city, then relieve the alpha of his armor for the journey. “I think I will allow you to come. I find courage in your cheers.” She glanced up at him, smiling. What he didn’t know was that when she yelled ‘cut his arm off’ or ‘bite his throat’ she was cheering for the opponent. “Then I will accompany you father.” She finished strapping him into his suite, and stepped back. He flexed, and twisted, making sure the armor still fit. He took another gulp from his cup. “SLAVE, more wine.” The pony came out again, filling his cup. The alpha watched as she retreated, eyeing her flanks. “That will be all, Emmy. Go and make sure that we are ready to leave within the hour.” Emerald bowed again, leaving the room. Just before the door closed she heard her father yell for the pony, then in a near growl said, “More wine.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It had been a month since Killians funeral, and Minnie still wouldn’t talk to me. Whenever we passed each other on the road she would glare at me, burnin my heart with guilt. I blamed myself more than anyone, I shouldn’t have let him come. With Minnie’s permission or not, Killian was no fighter. Now he was dead. I occupied my time with work, and trainin. Every day after leavin Peach’s ranch I would go into an empty field in the east orchard, and work out, and train with my axe. I had become quite good with the weapon, twirlin it like a button, and throwin it like a knife were easy for me. The armor had become a second skin. I only took it off to sleep, probably because I was sure somebody was gonna attack me. I could run for miles with the heavy armor without having to stop. Every day of trainin I would remember Killian, how I was too weak to save him. How I was too slow to stop his murder. The only thing left was revenge. Steel Fang needed to be stopped. His group of mutts needed to be stopped. My ribs were nearly healed, and I was near completely healthy. I would still get an occasional backache, but it was nothin I couldn’t handle. Quick and Gear were near always by my side, either workin or trainin they were there to keep me company. Quick became pretty damn good with his sword, and Gear was constantly readin, and learnin new spells. Together we all became pretty damn lethal, and we all knew what needed to be done. We made several plans of attack, rangin from full frontal assault, to espionage over long periods. I had told Gear what One Eye had said about the location of the den, and he constructed a rough plan as to where it was. The sun rose over the trees as an unseen rooster began his mornin wake up call. I was already up, havin not slept the entire night. I gathered my gear, makin sure to tighten the leather straps that connected the armor to me. This was the day that we started for the den. As I made my way through town, I saw very few citizens. I reached the center fountain, and waited for the others. Gear was first to arrive, bein that he lived more towards the center of town that Quick. He was wearin his helmet and had a saddlebag full of shards and provisions. We exchanged pleasantries and waited for Quick in silence. He wasn’t far behind, havin wings makes life easier I suppose. His black dragon scale chain mail glinted in the mornin sun. He had his sword strapped on his side, he looked ready for battle. We were all ready and set for the task at hand. Just as we exited the town gates, a glare caught our eyes on the hill that dominated the landscape south-east of town. My dragon vision allowed me to make out a group of ten diamond dogs with a gold chariot bein hauled by some disheveled ponies. What caught my attention most, was who was ridin in the chariot. He stood taller than most other diamond dogs, and much broader. His armor shone a dull red that reminded me of a dryin blood. He held a spear at his side, standin as still as a statue. He looked like a Labrador, strong and intelligent breed. He had a black coat that glimmered where his fur showed. There could only be one mutt that held that kind of position among the pups. Steel Fang. I glanced at Quick, and he nodded. His eagle eyes allowed him to see farther than most ponies, and keep up with mine. “You seein this mate?” Quick nudged Gear who had been studyin a map. He glanced up, and squinted his eyes. “Looks like a merchant group coming into town. We’re going to be passing by them so if you need anything, now’s the time.” He started to go back to his maps before I told him what we saw. “That right there is a group of diamond dogs being led by a big ol’ SOB. I’m thinkin that he’s Steel Fang.” Gear nearly tripped over himself as he pulled out a mini telescope, and took a look. “Well that’s definitely an alpha, and judging by the fact that you’ve decimated his betas, I think he’s here for you big guy.” Gear finished with a gulp. The group stopped on the hill, surveyin the town, as though it was somethin to be conquered. “Let’s go say hi.” I started off towards the hill with my friends in tow. As we reached the base of the hill, several mutts started to help the alpha down from his chariot. We came up onto the top of the hill, a 2 acre treeless expanse that gave a view of most of the surroundin area. Dogs in rough armor were standin around Steel Fang as they approached us. “You must be Bronze Hoof.” He pointed at me, “You’ve given me a lot of trouble these past few months.” He parted the guards and stepped out about six feet from me. “I think that we need to settle this little dispute, don’t you?” He put on a smile, showin off his deadly canines. “Why don’t you and I have a little match? The winner will take New Findings, and the loser will be dead.” My chuckle caught him by surprise, I guess he thought his little speech was supposed to intimidate me. Although the hound stood almost as tall as I, and looked about as strong, I had my armor and axe. “You sure you don’t wanna send a couple waves of your mutts to tire me out? That’s what that one eyed lil bastard did before I crushed his windpipe and let him drown in his own blood.” The alpha snarled, apparently that was a tender area for him. Good. “I think I’ll take the pleasure of watching the life drain from your body myself. So what do you say Minotaur, do we have a deal?” He drew his sword, a blade made from red dragon scale just as his armor, but it was givin off an odd red glow. I plucked the axe from my back and twirled it in my hand. “Deal.” I made the first move, lunging to cover the distance between us, and brought my axe down towards his head. He side stepped my attack, movin to the right and brought his sword down to slice my back. I rolled out of the way, and went for a sideways cut. He caught the blade of my axe with the scale of his sword. His sword cracklin with magical essence. We stood there, eyeing each other. I bent my head down and tried to gouge his face with my horn. This caused him to jump back, only to be met with a fist to his unprotected muzzle. He smiled as I laid another blow to his abdomen, only to find that he probably didn’t feel a thing. He socked me in the jaw, causin a tooth to come lose. This guy had a hell of a jab. The whole time I could hear Gear and Quick shoutin encouragement to me. “Slice his damn leg off!” “Yeah give ‘em another one!” “No don’t do that, his armor’s made of dragon scale.” I barely paid them any mind, I was fightin for my life. I jumped back as the alpha swung his sword for my gut, only for him to find my axe comin for his head. He side-stepped and brought the sword high. I tried to duck, only to have his slice off the top of my horn. It didn’t hurt so much as it was shockin. But I had no time to grieve for my lost tip. The mongrel smiled, and came in for another attack. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Emerald Fang watched in giddy excitement as her father was pressed by the beast. She almost let out a squee of excitement when the blunt end of his axe smacked his sword to the ground. Her father’s sweat and fear made her begin to think that he might falter. Before she could start imagining what it would be like without her father, he leaped fast the minotaur, and regained his sword. She hated that sword. Her father had countless unicorns enchant it, making it nearly unbreakable. She watched as their weapons met, and inwardly sighed when her father’s didn’t break. Although he had ordered his guards to intervene if it looked like he was going to lose the fight, she hoped they had enough honor to let the minotaur walk away. She saw how the guards had started to surround the fighters, and the minotaur’s companions. The feeling in her gut let her know that they were up to no good. Once again a grunt came from the minotaur as he barely deflected a swing from her father, only to counter-attack with his axe. This was going to be a long fight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was going to be a short fight. Already I was startin to feel tired as the mutt pressed his constant attacks. Although my black scale should have broken his red, the enchantments placed on the blade must have made it as strong as my own. Although I was stronger, the mutt was quicker, and more battle hardened. He laid a good blow, and caused me to stumble back a bit. I caught his blade with my plated forearm, thankfully holdin out from the impact of the sword. I jumped back and we stared at each other. Both of us were sweatin, neither wantin to be the first to go on the offensive. Lookin around me, I saw that the guards had surrounded us, and were patiently waitin for their alpha’s command. I knew that if I were to even get close to winnin, my friends were dead. Retrainin my eyes on Steel Fang, I noticed he adopted a relaxed pose, which I copied. “You fight well for a bull, I can see how my betas were bested by you.” He gave a tired smile, and shielded his sword in its scabbard. “I turned to my friends, givin Quick a look. Get out of here, they’re gonna kill you even if I win. He replied with a nod, and grabbed Gear in a bear hug. They shot into the sky, leavin just me, the alpha, and his mutts. Steel Fang gave me an irritated look. “Now why would your friends take off, I thought they wanted to see you die.” “We both know how this is gonna end Steel. The only thing I’m countin on is killin you before your dogs jump in.” I glared at him, and he just shrugged. A smaller diamond dog came to his side, offerin him water. She, cause it was obviously a girl, had a brown coat. She looked to be a mix between a Lab and poodle, Labradoodle? Who knows. He thick chocolate coat made her seem less of an enemy, and more like a mother. “Thank you Emerald. Now, Minotaur, shall we begin again?” He unsheathed his sword, makin a point to swing it in a trained fashion. I hefted my axe, preparin to have another bout. He came at me in a fury, sendin waves of his blades at me. Some I deflected with the blade of my axe, but some clinked at my armor. His strikes were more accurate, comin closer and closer to uncovered areas. He swung upwards into my armpit, expectin to sever my arm. All he found was a scale that Smoke had installed for just this purpose. I clenched the blade between the scales on my arm and body, then with a mighty shove, pushed the dog onto his back. I let his blade drop to the ground, and brought my axe down towards his chest. He rolled to the left, lettin my axe cleave a swath in the earth. He had not yet recovered fully, so I grabbed ahold of his rear paw, and began beatin his body into the earth. I could only imagine lookin like the Hulk in the Avengers. When I was done with him, he was barely conscious. I grabbed the hilt of my axe, and marched towards him lyin on the ground. I lifted the blade high into the air, about ready to end his reign of terror on the innocents of New Finding’s. Before I could bring it down, an arrow slammed into my chest, sendin me realin back. I looked to see ten mutts advancin on me. The adrenaline that had begun to subside was rushed back to where it once was. Three came from behind, bitin and grabbin for chinks in my armor. I beat two off before the rest dog piled on me, no pun intended. All I could see was darkness. All I could feel was tearin and bitin all over my unguarded body. Anger built up in me, although I knew that this was comin, the son of a bitch couldn’t die honorably. Red began to overtake my senses before a thought came to my mind. I smiled as I thought of the mutts roastin in hell. “Spiritus Infernalis” Like back at the mountain, a fire built inside me and spread out in a burst of flame to envelope the dogs. This one wasn’t as explody as the last, and only served to catch the pooches on fire. Still though, it worked. They jumped off of me in a fevered haste, wantin to find somethin that would douse their misery, only to be met with the swift hand of a fiery death. I unsteadily got to my hooves. Those mutts had given me a beatin like no other. I could barely see out of my right eye, and was pretty sure my left hand was broken. I looked to see the alpha crawlin to recover his sword, he didn’t look any better than I. I reached my axe the time that he was able to stand. We stared at each other, hatred burrowin into the other’s skull. “That was quite a trick you just pulled Bronze Hoof. Although I would like to know how you did it, I think that we have some unsettled business.” He lunged at me the best he could, as his right leg looked to be sprained. The fight continued for a few more minutes, sluggish blows given and received on both ends. We were both exhausted, waitin for the other to make one false move, one failed deflect. Neither of us noticed that one of the dogs had survived the fire. Neither of us noticed when that dog had brought the ponies out from behind the chariot so that they could continue to watch the fight. He swung again, tracin his blade along the shoulder caldron that covered my right side. Arcs of magic flung from the blade, one catchin me in my right eye. The world went black from the left side of my muzzle on. I stumbled back, only to catch Steel Fang bringin his sword around to my right side. I caught his sword with the blade of my axe, redirectin it into the ground. But my actions were sluggish, and he had more than enough time to recover from my defense, and go again on the offense. He turned on his sprained leg, kickin me with his good one. Although I heard him let out a whimper, his kick was still very strong. I tried to grab his leg, only to have his paw connect with my right hand, sendin torrents of pain threw my whole arm. I let out a grunt, only to be met with the flat of his sword engagin my torso. I was sent sprawlin to the ground, landin awkwardly on my leg. Once again, lances of pain shot through my leg, signalin that it was broken. I had dropped my axe, which Steel Fang was now holdin. He towered over me, just as I had him, but I didn’t have backup. He lifted my axe for a final blow, its dull red color glowin in the sun. I tried to kick him away, but he was anticipatin somethin like that. He grabbed the lower portion of my leg, and severed it from my body, just above the knee. Shock took hold, causin my body to tense up. The bastard began chokin in an excited fashion, it took me a second to notice he was laughin, with what must be a punctured lung. “You see Bronze, you could never defeat me! I am Steel Fang, Alpha of the Metal Mongrels! Only a mongrel is able to take me down, yet none ever have! Now you must die as penance for your crimes.” He tossed my severed leg from me, raisin my axe to puncture through my heart. The blade flew, severin the heart from the body, causin blood to pour out of the open wound. My eyes were wide with curiosity, for it was not my heart that had been molested. Steel Fang looked at his chest, surprise written on his face. A dull red blade stuck out from his body where blood was flowin freely onto the earth. He looked at me, confused, then slumped to the ground, dead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I had seen my opportunity: His blade on the ground, his weakened state, his focus on the Minotaur. I remembered my mother, mad in the den of this monster. I was barely conscious of my actions as I drove his own blade through his heart. Blood raged in my ears, making it the only thing I heard for a few hours, or was it seconds. I had just killed my own father, but I was happy. I imagined his reign of torment and anguish coming to an end, no more slaves, no more cruelty. I looked at the minotaur, who was staring wide eyed at me. “Hello Bronze Hoof. I’m Emerald Fang, the new alpha of the Metal Mongrels.”