//------------------------------// // A New Hope // Story: Bronze Hoof // by cowboybird //------------------------------// A New Hope I laid on the ground, blood pourin from the stump that used to be a leg. My head and body throbbed with pain, lacerations and bruises coverein the areas of my body not protected by armor. Yet the only thing that went through my mind was “Did this bitch just kill her own father?” I stared at her as she let the blade fall to the ground, and began jumpin up and down. “Oh my Gods! He’s dead! Finally he’s Dead!” The look of pure bliss was stamped on her expression as she began to wonder around the hill. “So many things are gonna change. First I need to cut off his head and bring it to the den. Ooh, what fun that will be. The expressions on the dog’s faces will be priceless.” She seemed to notice me for the first time, “Oh thank you Bronze Hoof. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” The Labradoodle reminded me of a girl who just got a pony on her birthday when none of her friends did. “Uh, you’re welcome?” I could barely process what was goin on, the loss of blood probably didn’t help either. She let out am excited breath of air and squealed. “Oh this is the best day of my life. That son of a bitch is dead, and since I killed him, I’m the new alpha.” I noticed my axe a few inches from my hand, wonderin if I could take her down without a leg. “I could make you my beta if you like. You could help me refine my den. No more slaves, no more war.” I stopped my hand from reachin for the axe. Did she say no more slaves? Emerald turned to the ponys shackled in heavy iron. “Didn’t you hear me? No more slavery. You guys are free to go!” They looked at each other, confusion written on their muzzles. “Oh you’ll get it eventually.” She turned back to me with a huge grin. “Well, what do you say? Want to be my beta? I know it’s a little unorthodox, but nohound will question my authority with you backin me up.” My lower half had begun to numb, I glanced at my wound. “Well that won’t do. Can’t have my new friend dyeing on me.” She pulled out a vial of green liquid, and popped the stopper. An odor hit my nostrils that made me gag. It smelt like someone had killed a pig, buried it in dung, and lit it on fire. “I know it smells bad, but it’ll close the wound. I can’t save your leg, but it’ll stop the bleeding.” She poured the foul liquid on my stump. A wave of pain raced up my leg as it began to sizzle. I let out a moan, I haven’t been burned in a long time, and forgot what it felt like. “See, all better. Now, let’s get you back to your friends in town, looks like they’re getting a bit ancy.” I looked at the town and saw what must have been its entirety swarmin like bees near the town square. “Yeah, they probably need to hear the good news.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the help of Emerald and the two ponies, we made fairly good time. When we got to the village entrance, I could make out the distant voice of Quick Beak rilin up the townsfolk. As we passed by the mayor’s office, we saw the militia and the other citizens teeming around the center fountain as Quick gave one of his famous, ‘let’s kill them all’ speeches. “Bronze is probably dead, their leader is at our doorstep, and nothing will stop them from pillaging our town if we don’t end it now! Now let’s go!” Quick yelled over the mass. In response they gave a bellowin war cry, and turned towards me and Emerald. Everythin went silent, only interrupted by a cough from somewhere in the crowd. “Uh, hey guys. I won.” Once again the crowd began to cheer, and started to swarm me, until they noticed Emerald. Everyone stopped, and adopted different moods of confusion, fear, and anger. Quick swooped in next to me, and clapped me on the back laughin. I began to fall over, as not havin a leg makes balance hard, only to be caught by Emerald and Quick. “Holy shit mate, where’s your leg?” His ashen expression tellin me that he didn’t stick around for the last part of mine and Steel’s battle. “Steel kinda, you know, cut it off.” Gear came boundin toward us and busted through the crowd. “Bronze you’re back! How did you wi…” He stopped when he noticed my missin appendage, turned, and vomited on the ground, causin a couple griffins to back up nervously. He turned back towards me, and seemed to notice Emerald for the first time. “Who’s she?” “She’s Steel Fang’s daughter, Emerald Fang, the new alpha of the Metal Mongrels.” Emerald gave a shy wave to the town, only to be met with blank stares. “Don’t worry yall, she helped me kill Steel. She’s a good dog, not one like Steel.” The crowd erupted into shouts and hollers. Quick turned to them, and gave a mighty “ENOUGH!” Silencing them. “She killed one of our worst enemies, and although she is a canine, she is our new friend.” He continued in a smaller voice, “She is our new friend, right Bronze?” I nodded, and told him about what she planned to do with the den. Quick relayed it back to the crowd, who once again began to cheer. Damn those guys were malleable. Fence Founder came up to me, probin my leg with his hoof. “Looks like Liquid fire heeled you up. How did you get some? It only comes from reproductive dragon glands, I’ve only seen it once before.” I looked at Emerald, and mouthed Dragon Glands? She shrugged and looked at Fence, “My father has a captured dragon, Balerion I believe his name is. He had me keep a jar with me in case he got injured. I plan on letting him go, along with the rest of the slaves when I get back.” I looked at Steel and mouthed Dragon Glands? He didn’t seem to notice, only nodded at Emerald, and went to go get the citizens back to their homes. The only people left in the town square were Quick, Gear, Emerald, Smoke, and me. “Well, looks like your armor stood out against the attacks laddy, your leg, not so much.” He lifted my stub, examinin it like it was a broken machine. “Really? I didn’t notice.” I said, givin Smoke an irritated look. “Ha! Don’t word son, I can fix you right up.” With that he pulled out a measurin tape. He wrapped it around my leg, then the other, along with its length. When he was done he ran off, mutterin about bronze gears. “Well, guess we should get you to the doctor. See if anything else needs fixing.” Gear said. We all started off towards Gauze Tear’s house, the only doctor in town. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By the time we arrived at the doctor’s house on the other side of town, it was about 4 in the afternoon. The day was a hot one, which made walkin that much harder with sweat pourin from us. Emerald, or Emmy as she told us she prefers, was pantin hard as she half carried me with my new limp. We knocked on the door, and scared the hell out of Gauze Tear when he opened the door. With almost all his patient’s bein the result of diamond dog attacks, seein a new alpha up close scared the hell out of him. He was an older unicorn, havin a stark white coat and purple main and tail. His cutie make was a stethoscope over a roll of gauze. He turned and started to run. Gear grabbed his tail, and we told him our story, as well as Emmy’s. “Well it doesn’t surprise me that you’re missing a leg, Bronze. Alphas are some of the hardest beasts to kill, no offence.” He gestured towards Emerald. “None taken.” “Let’s get you inside, a couple of those cuts will get infected without proper care.” We went inside, the smell of sanitation and medical supplies invadin our noses. I had been there more than most other residents of New Findings, and Gauze knew me well. “You know the drill, take off the armor, and would everypony please leave your weapons next to the hat rack.” Everyone piled their assorted swords and daggers against the steel pole, givin it the impression that the hat rack was about to go on a killin rampage. I started to unbuckle the leather straps on my armor, too exhausted to catch it as the scale plates fell to the tile floor. Gauze gave me an angry look as the heavy plates clashed on the ground. “On the table Bronze.” He gestured to the stainless steel table in the middle of the room. Gauze used it for the occasional surgery platform, but kept it clean with a special cleanser. The cold of the steel shocked my system as I laid down. The familiar bright light came on overhead as Gauze began his inspection, startin with my leg. “Well the wound appears to be cauterized, but I’m going to apply some medical cream, just to be sure. This will sting, so, please, don’t scream.” He began to slather on some orange cream that smelled like jello. Durin my first few visits, the pain of the sanitizer had caused me to yelp, and thrash. But now I was so used to it that I hardly noticed when he said, “That should just about do it.” He started another scan of my body, notin the various degrees of cuts and bruises, finishin with a ‘hurumph’. “Hows it lookin doc? Am I gonna make it?” Although I was in a lot of pain, I always gave Gauze that one liner. “Yes Bronze, but I’m afraid that even if you did bring me the levered leg, I wouldn’t have been able to reattach it. The damage to the nerve endings and muscle was quite substantial, you’ll have to use a crutch, or perhaps with your barbaric tendencies you’d prefer a peg leg?” We all let out a chuckle. An hour passed as Gauze applied more of the sanitation to my cuts, and used some magic to help repair the damaged blood vessels causin the bruises. Quick had gone out and gotten me a walkin stick. The old piece of wood looked like it couldn’t support a pony, let alone a minotaur, but for the time I let it be. By the time he was done I smelled completely like jello, and felt like I needed a shower. “Now I know that you know that you can’t bathe for six hours, but just to be sure, don’t bathe for six hours Bronze, or the magic won’t work.” I nodded and began to get up, only to remember that I don’t have a leg. Quick brought the stick to me, and assured me it would hold. Reluctantly I stood, balancing on the branch that came up to my armpit. I braced for it to snap, but it held fast. I looked down to see that the skinny thing hadn’t even bowed under my weight. “Where’d you get this thing? It should have broken by now.” I glanced at Quick, who was standin there like he was impressed with it as well. “My mother gave it to me, she said that it would never break, and could hold any weight.” I focused more on the branch, and saw tiny runes etched in the side of it. “So the thing’s enchanted huh? Why would she have an enchanted stick?” I questioned him. “Don’t know, my mother was always traveling the world, said it came in handy a few times.” I let it be, too tired from the fight and losin an appendage to care much. “Well I suppose I should be getting back to the den, the others need to hear about their old alpha’s fall, and their new one’s rise.” Emmy said, gettin up and headin to the door. “By the way Bronze, if you ever want to take me up on my offer, come by the den. Also, I will be sending all the slaves back this way. Most I don’t know where they came from, but considering this is the closest town, I hope you can get them on their way.” With that she left, leavin me to answer a few questions about the “offer” she gave me. “Did she want you to kill any other dogs?” “I bet she wants him to tell the other mutts about how she defeated her father.” “She wanted you to lay with her didn’t she?” Everyone looked at Quick. “What? Those kind of things happen.” I started to chuckle, then told them the truth. “She wants me to be her beta guys, nothin like killin anyone else, or gettin it on. Just bein a beta.” Quick wiggled his eyebrows at me, obviously still thinkin that she wanted some minotaur meat. I looked over at Gauze, “So am I good to go?” He nodded, "You need to keep an eye on that leg, with the amount of bacteria that is out there I wouldn't be surprised if it got infected. So stay in bed, and I'll be by in the morning to check on you." As we made our way towards my home, we talked about how the day had gone, and what the future held. “Well that sure was a lot of fun. Perhaps we should go on the road, helping damsels in distress, getting rewards, making a name for ourselves.” Quick said, gettin a far off look in his eyes. “Now although I don’t think that today was fun, it sure was exciting. Perhaps I’ll start a book about our adventure. I’ll call it Gear Defeats the Alpha of the Waists. All the ladies will beg to get an autograph from me!” Gear said. I chuckled and winced. Apparently I still had a couple cracked ribs. “I don’t know bout that Gear, but I think goin on the road would be good. I haven’t brought anythin but pain to this town since I got here. With yall at my side, I doubt there will be anythin that could stop us. We’ll be the Black Dragon Brothers!” I exemplified my statement by wavin my arm in the sky, like the name was written in the clouds. We all laughed, and eventually made it to my house. “Well mate, get some rest. Me and Gear here are gonna go party.” He slapped Gear on the back, and they headed off towards the pub. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sun blistered my skin, the fur havin been recently burnt off. I placed my hand over my eyes, shadin them from the onslaught of the fire in the sky. The sand stretched for miles. The blue sky seemed to taunt me with its one cloud dissipatin in the distance. I looked at Quick, “How much farther? We can’t stay out here for much longer, they’ll be catchin up soon.” He carried his sword, drained of all its power. “Over that dune, then a mile east. Only a few more hours walk. We’ll make it mate, don’t worry.” I readjusted Gears unconscious body on my shoulder. Most of his coat was burned off, only leavin his cutie mark to spare. He needed water, but we were still a long ways off. I brought my water sack up from my waist, it was nearly empty save for a few drops. I laid Gear in the sand, squeezin the last of the precious life out of the pouch into his mouth. As I hefted him back onto my shoulder, Quick gave me a hard look. “That should have been for you, to give you strength for the rest of the journey.” I didn’t pay him any attention, just started off again for salvation. Behind us a roar tour through the landscape, sendin sandslides cascadin down their respective mounds. The ground shook, they were comin. Toni let out a whimper and laid in the sand. “I can’t go on, leave me. I’ll hold them back while you escape.” She sounded so depleted, out of hope. I slung her over my other shoulder. “If you don’t have the strength to continue, I’ll lend it to you. No one else dies!” I took off in a sprint, nearly losin Quick as he flew after me. The earthquake grew louder, they were gainin. We crested the dune Quick had pointed out and started east. My energy was drainin, but my friends were dependin on me. I wouldn’t let them down, not again. We continued for what seemed like days, until we saw our destination. I slowed and turned around, only to find our pursuers on the horizon, much closer than they should have been. “RUN!” I yelled, to who, I don’t know. We ran across the sand, almost to salvation, when one swooped in front of us, blockin our path. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke with a start, cold sweat pourin off my body. By breath was labored, that was one hell of a dream, more vivid than most of the others. I looked out my window, it was night. I looked for some of my cuts, only to find they were either scarred over, or completely healed. My leg stump looked almost completely healed, save for my missin leg. I froze, I wasn’t alone. My room was pitch black, but I could smell another being. Did Emerald go back on her promise and send an assassin? Did the den revolt and decide to kill her, and then me? Or was it an animal that smelt my weakness and wanted a snack? My dragon vision kicked in with my adrenaline. I scanned the room, findin a form cloaked in shadows in the doorway that lead to my livin room. We stared at each other, I was in no condition to fight, but if it came to it I wouldn’t go down without one. I let a low growl escape my lips, startlin the figure who apparently had been in its own separate world. “You have a scary growl, Bronze.” The feminine voice gave me a start. There was no malice, or even bad intent, only concern. As I focused more on the black figure I noticed it was a pony. A small, pegasus pony. “Toni?” “Yupperooni! I came by to see how you were doin, didn’t know that you lost a leg. Are you alright?” She came closer, her white coat shinin in the darkness. “Yeah it happened earlier today, I think so at least. The way everythin is healed it looks to be a couple days at the least. Could I have been out that long?” The question wasn’t for her, now that I thought about it, I shouldn’t be healed this much after only a few hours. “Damn it Bronze, I’m a dragon, not a doctor!” She fake yelled. Was that a Star Treck phrase? “What day is it?” I asked her, hopin to get some information. “Well dragons don’t usually keep time like mortals, but the paper thing out front said Sunday.” “SUNDAY?! It was Monday when I faced Steel Fang! How could I have been out for a whole week!” I was flabbergasted, I’ve never slept for a whole week before, what if somethin were to have happened? What if my friends needed me when I was sleepin. “Yup, July I believe by your standards. At least that’s what the paper said.” She began bouncin around the room, similar to Pinkie Pie. “JULY?! I’ve been out for a whole month?!” I laid back down in my bed. This couldn’t be happenin. “I don’t know, the last time I saw you was a long time ago.” She thought for a second, “Oh yeah! I have good news! My brother came home. Apparently he got captured by some of those dogs when he left for migration. Those meanies kept him there for years. But he’s home now, I missed his red scaley self.” She drifted off into a world of her own once more, which gave me time to think. Her brother had red scales, was captured by diamond dogs, and was just recently released. It took me some time, but I finally pieced it together. “Did your brother say who the diamond dog bunch was that captured him?” She came to, and thought hard. “Something about Steel Mongrels, or Metal Fang…I don’t remember.” “Was he captured by Steel Fang, alpha of the Metal Mongrels?” “YEAH! That’s it. Metal Mongrels. Apparently some nice puppy set him free. He came home, said that he just wanted to relax for a few decades. So now I don’t have to watch the hoard anymore. Which is why I came down here and saw you.” She looked ready to pop with excitement. “Well thank you for comin to see me.” A question popped into my head. “Why couldn’t I see you when you first came in? You were shrouded in some sort of shadow that I couldn’t see through.” She laid down on the bed next to me, apparently tired of bouncing. “Oh that? Just a little magic my brother gave me to be all stealthy. He said it’s called night mist. Most people won’t see you unless you want them to.” For some reason I couldn’t help but think of my dreams, and the army of shadows that poured over the landscape. The sun began to peek over the horizon, spreadin brilliant red and oranges across the sky. Toni yawned, and scrunched up next to me on the bed. “I’m going to take a nap now, is that ok Bronzey?” She looked so cute and innocent that I couldn’t say no. “Go right ahead, I’m gonna take a walk around, stretch my legs…or leg rather.” I slid my leg out of the bed, and grabbed the walkin stick that was balanced on my frame. As I hefted myself up, I let out a grunt. By the time I had brushed my teeth, and put on my horn cover, Toni was fast asleep. I snuck out of the house, and walked down the road towards the Peach’s plantation. The sun peeked over the horizon, scatterin the stars and darkness beyond. As I walked, the smell of freshly tilled dirt, and flowers reached me. I took it in, wonderin if I would have died, would heaven smell like the orchard? The sound of my horse shoes cloppin on pavement turned to the muffle of steel on dirt. The road became lined with trees that were full of sweet fruits. Birds chirped overhead, callin to their loved ones, and makin new nests for their new families. I plucked a peach from a low hangin branch, and bit into it. The peach juice flowed through my mouth, invadin my taste buds with their succulent flavor. Yup, this would be my heaven. By this time, Mr. Peach would give us a speech on the schedule for today. Tillin the ground, or harvestin fruit. I reached the end of the path, and saw the plantation home’s broad walls ahead. Quick and Gear were sittin at the table outside, munchin on some cookies Mrs. Peach must have left out. Mr. Peach was talkin about some statistics on the somethin or another that no one really listened to. Gear was the first to notice me. He smiled brightly, and waved me over. “Hey Bronze, what are you doing out of bed? Doc said that the infection you got form the fight would have you sleepin for another month.” Well that explains why I was asleep for so long. “I woke up to Toni sneekin in my room. Apparently her brother got back from his trip.” I didn’t tell them that he had been captured and enslaved, as it wasn’t my place. “Well mate, it’s good to see you back in action. I don’t think you’ll be much use without a leg here, but I know Smoke wanted to see you when you were out of bed.” Quick said, makin a note to point out my lost leg. “I could at least pluck the peaches from the low hangin branches. I’m not completely useless.” I’ve always been some help one way or another, and bein useless wasn’t in my vocabulary. “I know, but you’re probably not all healed from the infection. We got this under control, go see Smoke, maybe take a bath.” He smiled at me, and I frowned. The sly devil wouldn’t let me work, and by the way Mr. Peach was noddin, I assumed he didn’t want me here either. “Fine, but don’t think me out of the count just yet.” I said my farewells, and set off back down the path. I couldn’t help but think that that was a huge waste of time, but they were right, I shouldn’t be there in my condition. As I made my way towards Smoke’s shop, I couldn’t help but notice the stares I was getting from the townsfolk. Ponies would dart out of my way, apparently not wantin to trip me. I hung my head in shame, I was a walkin tank with one track missin. A few offered to help me walk, sayin they could use their magic, or just let me lean on them. I politely told them no thank you, and continued on my way. I smelt Smoke’s foundry before I got there. Sulfur and iron reached my nose, makin my mind drift back to when I first got here. I saw his home/workplace standin alone in town, I guess nobody wanted their houses to catch fire. Good thinkin. Smoke was workin on somethin on his anvil, and didn’t notice my approach until I yelled in his ear. “HEY SMOKE!” “What the fu…” he stumbled back, fallin on his flanks. “Oh, it’s you Bronze. You shouldn’t scare an old smith like that, couldn’t given me a heart attack.” He stood, and brushed some dirt off. “I heard that you wanted to see me when I was up and about.” I looked over at what he was workin on. A coppery glow illuminated some metal that was just beginin to cool. It looked like a horseshoe, except instead of iron or steel, it was bronze. “Right, well, remember when I took some measurements of your leg? I cleverly came up with an idea for a replacement.” He retrieved what looked like a metal version of my missin limb from behind the furnace. “It’ll work like a prosthetic, allowin you to walk without the use of that old stick.” “So you made me a new leg? I didn’t think equestria was near that kind of technology.” I studied the metal leg, admirin the glow that emanated off it. “Well without the use of magic, we wouldn’t be. With a little help from Gear, we got it working. Just let me finish up with the horseshoe, and we’ll get it on ya.” He began reheatin the metal, and bangin on it again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Oi! Quite your squirmin ya bastard.” Smoke yelled as he tried shovin the appendage on me for the third time that day. “It won’t fit Smoke, Jesus.” I backed away from his attempts. I had lost a bit of weight from the month layin in bed. First the thing was too big, now it was too small. “Fine ya woos. I’ll reshape it again!” He huffed, placin the attachment piece back into the furnace. “So how is this thing supposed to work again?” I asked, watchin as Smoke took it once more out of the flames, and onto the avil. “Well, *bang* magical wires will *bang* into your stump there, and *bang* tach to your nerve endi *bang* which will allow you *bang* feel the leg, and move *bang* like you usually would any other appendage.” He said in between hittin the metal. He finished up, and came back over to me with the metal still red hot. “Alright, one more time, this should be the one.” I sat down on his bench, and lifted my stump. Smoke came over, and inserted my stump into the metal. Although most people would have been burned by the red hot metal, I only felt a slight heatin sensation. “Like a glove. Told you we’d get it on.” He began to mold the metal to better fit my stub, groovin the metal to the mold of my skin. I felt little jabs inside the platin that poked through my skin, and into my leg. They didn’t hurt so much as feel weird. “Those would be the little wires lad. Invading your nervous system, and probin your mind.” Smoke chuckled at that. “Are you rapin my leg with your machines Smoke?” I said with a smirk, only to have another wigglin sensation in my skin. “Hey, I bought you a new leg lad, besides, you were askin for it.” He gave me a wink, and sat back. After what seemed like an eternity, the wires stopped comin. I poked the shin of my new leg, enjoyin the ticklin sensation that I received. “That’s amazin Smoke! I can actually feel the metal.” I began pokin my leg over and over. “I told you you would didn’t I?” He laughed again, starin at me as I molested my leg. “Can I still feel pain?” I asked him. “I dulled down the sensors on that a hair, you’ll still feel it, but it won’t be as bad. Watch.” He picked up a hammer, and chucked it at my leg which gave off a CLANG as it struck. “Ow! What the hell Smoke!?” I rubbed my leg, wonderin if it’ll bruise, before I remembered it wasn’t real. “Didn’t hurt as bad as it shouldn’t sonny.” He sat next to me, admirin his handywork. “What do you plan on doing now?” Smoke asked, lookin at me with sad eyes. “I guess the only thing to do is keep livin. We’ve lost too many in this war with the dogs, and now it’s over.” A thought occurred to me. “Have we gotten any refugees since the fight?” Smoke nodded, and pointed to a tent village that sprang up on the hill overlooking the town. “Bout two thousand ponies, griffins, and minotaurs. I even saw a goat or two. Don’t know what to do with them yet, we don’t have enough supplies to keep them here.” He looked down, worried for the future. “Why don’t they go to Equestia? Go to Canterlot and ask the princess for guidance?” Smoke looked at me, and huffed. “Most would never make it. The Jungle north of here is a dangerous place, they would need protection and guidance.” “What about a messenger go to Celestia? Just a small group to get the Royal Guard to come.” An idea was formin in my mind. “Yeah, sure that’ll work. But who would volunteer for the job? Not a lot of people here are fighters, Bronze.” He said. “I think I know of a couple.”