Bronze Hoof

by cowboybird

New Findings

New Findings

“Are we there yet?” my whining voice pushed through the foliage and caught Minnie’s ear.

“No, we have a few more days to go.” We had been walking for a couple days now, foraging for food, and eating leaves and grass and shit. Apparently, I had the appetite of a cow. Grass tasted like salad, leaves like hot dogs, and berries like, well, berries. I caught a squirrel during the first day, and to Minnie’s disgust, tried to roast and eat it. I, in my new body, was apparently allergic to meat, and emptied the contents of my stomach back into the forest.

And so we trudged on, taking breaks when Minnie thought we were safe. During these times I played with my new form. I bent down to see where my center of balance was. It was high. I lifted things to see how strong I was. I was really strong. And I ate different plants to see what I liked: berries, leaves, grass, flowers being among the good; and bark (burnt ass), trees (raw ass), rocks (rocks), and meat (vomit) being among the bad.

On the fourth day of walking something unexpected happened, and by unexpected I mean bad.

We were setting up camp for the night, me getting the fire ready, and Minnie setting up a make-shift lean-to. Everything was going alright when I heard a twig snap in the forest. Now this is a forest, and there are a bunch of animals out here, but I could tell something was off. Then for the first time since I rescued Minnie, my adrenaline kicked in. This time it was different though. The burning sensation in my eyes had dwindled drastically, but was still there. Now though, it was gone. Now, I guess I had night vision like them Special Forces guys in the movies.

A little outside of the light from the fire there were four creatures. They looked like dogs, but were standing like gorillas. I calmly asked Minnie about them in a hushed voice. She froze, and started to hyperventilate.

“Calm down, Go inside the lean-to and keep your head down” I whispered.

Then I said quite loudly, “I’m going to go get more firewood. Try to get some sleep.”

It worked beautifully. The dogs stopped paying attention to her, now that she wasn’t a threat. Now they were focused on me.

I walked calmly into the forest, making sure I kept to the shadows. Although I’m sure the dogs have pretty good night vision, it was nothing compared to mine. As they spread out looking for me, I crept up behind the first one.

“Sheru, I can’t see ‘em, where he go?” The first dog, that resembled a pug said.

“I no know Grug, go right, we cut him off then get back to Alpha.” The second dog, a Labrador lookin beast whispered.

They split up, perfect. I silently crept up on the pug and when his back was turned, I put my hand on the back of his head and over his mouth and jerked. I gently laid him on the ground as to not alert the others. Then I found the other two dogs, a bull dog and a husky coming in on my right to meet up with the lab, Sheru. I pulled Grug into the bushes and crept toward their meeting.

“Where Grug?” the bull dog asked in a deep growling voice.

“He went right to ambush, Bull” Said Sheru. Naming a bull dog Bull, really? Don’t they have any creativity?

“We’re going to get the female, you locate the male, but don’t attack.” The husky sounded different. He didn’t talk like an uneducated fool, but rather one with some wit to ‘em. Interesting.

“Yes, Beta” Sheru said, walking off. Bull and Beta went toward the campsite, now then taking Minnie and Tin Horn wasn’t happening on my watch, so I prioritized them.

Again I crept up on the two like I did with Grug, but something went wrong. Apparently Beta had a better sense of smell than
Grug. Right as I was about to snap his neck, he turned and socked me on the jaw. I was caught off guard by this, and stumbled back. Bull jumped on me and pinned me down.

“I was wondering when you would go in for the kill, poor choice when you’re downwind from us.” Beta said. “Too bad for Grug, I’m assuming you killed him, correct. No matter. You will make a fine specimen for my Alpha, Steel Fang.” This dog was startin to piss me off.

“Go get the female, Bull.” The thought of them rippin my new friend out of her comfort and takin her to some god forsaken slave camp set me off. Just as Bull loosened his grip, I slammed my fist into his jaw, dislocating it. He fell off of me, but Beta’s reflexes were faster than I expected. He ran and jumped at me, biting for my throat. Unlucky for him, I’m really strong now.
I grabbed his lower jaw and pushed back, essentially stopping him mid-air and reversing his direction. He flew into a tree, splintering it and causin it to fall, and fell unconscious. Then I turned to Bull, who was about to get back up. I ran my right horn right through his chest. He let out a cry of pain, then fell silent.

Running in the trees caught my attention as a spear flew right by my head, missing it by inches. Sheru burst from the foliage and charged me. Ramming into my body and sending us both sprawling on the ground.

He tried to get me in a choke hold, and quickly bit my arm as I resisted. This not only sent pain bursting through my skin, but fury into my heart. I grabbed his muzzle, both upper and jaws, and bent them down, breaking his face. He stopped grabbing at me, and grabbed his 90 degree muzzle. I then grabbed his leg and began bashing him into a tree, as though he were a bat, and the tree was a ball. By the time I was done, he was nothing but a bloody mess.

I through him into the forest and turned towards the Beta. He was barley awake, and groaning due to a bone on his arm sticking out. I walked over to him and pinned him to the stump of the tree with my hand.

“Who are you? What are you?” He creaked through the pressure on his throat.

“I’m Bronze Hoof, I’m a minotaur” And with that I crushed his windpipe.

I walked back to our camp and slumped in front of the fire.

“They’re gone.” I said.

Minnie slowly stepped out form the lean-to.

“We should get goin.” Was the last thing I said that night before snuffin out the fire and headin into the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 6th morning we crested a hill and saw the jungle stretched out before us. A lil way north was a small village that seemed lively enough to me. Minnie gave a squeal of approval and ran towards the village, baby in arm. I fallowed and within the hour we had made it into town.

A group of other minotaurs with griffins, and even some ponies came to greet us. Minnie began telling them what had happened.

“And then he defeated the hunting party, and now we’re here.” She wrapped up the story and everybody gave a cheer and began slappin me on the back.

The champion of the jungle was what they were calling me. Thankin me and offerin me gifts as a sign of thanks. One old griffin offered me a home on the outskirts of New Findings, the town. I needed a place to stay for the time being and graciously accepted.

They threw a party for Minnie and Tin, as well as for me. There was food that I had never thought I’d eat again. Beans, rice, and even some veggie burgers were all on the menu. I ate like an animal, shoveling food in my mouth. Then they brought out desert, bagels covered in zap-apple jam from a renowned apple family in Ponyville. I acted the fool, but devoured the bagels and jam. It tasted like heaven met an apple and had babies.

Once they put the youngins to bed it was time to break out the alcohol. Great barrels of booze were lugged in from a shed somewhere and served in mugs. The brew could have put Budweiser to shame. I must have drank more at that party than any other time in my previous life put together. Apparently my new form allowed me to consume gratuitous amounts of the beverage. By the time the party was winding down, and most of the folks had left, I was goin on a pretty good buzz.

“Thank you.” The voice came from behind me as I was talking to some of the townsfolk I had just met about where the drink
came from. Somewhere in Manehatton.

I turned around to find a petite male minotaur standing behind me. He stood about 8 feet high and was decently built, but not so much to intimidate me.

“For what?” was my response.

“For bringing back my Minnie and my son.” The red in his eyes was a clear sign he had been cryin, for a long time. And the gratitude in his voice was palpable.

“You must be Killian, Minnie’s husband.” She had talked about him a lot when we were traversing the jungle.

“Yeah, thank you. I didn’t know what to do when they took them, I’m wasn’t strong enough to get them back.” He looked down, ashamed.

“I’m sure if you were there you would have done the same thing I did.” I was startin to feel a lil awkward at his praise of me.

“No, I couldn’t kill one dragon, let alone two.” His voice changed, now instead of gratitude, it was admiration.

“It can’t be that unheard of. I mean others must have done it.” I was confused as to why people thought that me killin two dragons that were barely adolescent amazin.

“There have been reports of a griffin killing them, but it’s said that he’s fire proof, and to get past the scales must have taken a large amount of strength.” He continued, “You must be one of the strongest minotaurs I’ve ever seen.”

From what I was able to gather from the party, adult minotaurs are usually 6-8 feet tall, includin the horns. I was 10 feet tall with another 2 feet of horn. So I was taller. Also, I was much broader, about a foot wider than the largest bull besides me. So I probably was the strongest one he’d ever seen.

“Well thanks Killian.” I wanted to end this quickly to go to sleep. The conversation had been soberin and it was getting late.

“I’m sure we’ll see you around town, now that you have your own place.” He said thanks again and then he was off. I decided that it was time to hit the hay, and headed to my new home.

The others had shown it to me before the party started and I made short time gettin there. I went inside, locking the door behind me, and headed to my bedroom where there was a mattress made of Pegasus down. The house wasn’t too big, though big enough so that I wouldn’t hit my horns on the roof. It was a quant 2 room, 1 bath with a kitchen, closet, and surprisingly, a space that acted as a garage. Though there weren’t any cars here, the room had an opening and enough space to fit one in there.

Thinking of my new home, and life, I drifted off to wonderful dreams of sunshine and butterflies…I wish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pounding of thunder ripped through the sky as the heavens shook for dominance over the earth and sea. The battle raging was one that no mortal could witness and stay sane. The blood of the fallen soaked the earth, and turned the oceans red. Screams of the damned rose up and wrestled with the choirs of the holy. It was as if hell itself had blown open, releasing its demons unto an unsuspecting world. I stood there, amidst it all. Quietly casting an eye over the field of battle, where minotaur, griffin, pony, and races from around the globe battled a dark enemy. Their only distinction from shadow being their piercing red eyes. Yet the soldiers battled on. The battle was fought on land and sea and sky. I watched as legions of my brethren fell, only to be replaced by a battalion of unicorns to hold off the oncoming doom.
A deep chuckle erupted from the sky. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
He has arrived.
I grabbed my battle-axe, Spirit Inferno, and lunged into the air. Where I landed, the earth shook. I swung my axe and felled a hundred foe. It was only me and him, the old man. Montu. Damn bastard was in his true form. Looking at him directly would have caused a normal being to go into a rage, and attack anyone around them, but I had dragon vision. He considered me, standing in my holy armor, and wielding one of the most heavily enchanted weapons of all time. He scowled.
“You have come far Daniel. But not far enough. You were supposed to be my champion, my general in this army of shadows. I COULD HAVE MADE YOU A GOD!”
“I never dreamed of becoming a god. Only that those around me would prosper. Something you might have over looked when you sent your son after me is that I don’t give up.” I raised the head of the bull that had sent me here. Montu’s second half.
“AAAARG!” the deity bellowed, and charged…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I awoke with a start. The dream had been so vivid. All those souls I saw die, and that army of the damned sent a chill up my spine. But what scared me most was the old man. Gurzil was it? He made me more frightened than I should have been from a dream. So when there was a knock on the door, I almost had a heart attack.

“Bronze you up? It’s almost 9.” Minnie’s voice had become familiar. She was one of the few friends I had here.

“Yeah, just give me a minute, alright?” I got up and took a bath, enjoying being clean for the first time since I got here.

As I made my way outside, the sun blinded me. When my vision came to, Minnie was standing on my porch with Tin in her arms.

“The men are about to go work the field. If you want some income I suggest going with them. I already asked Mr. Peach and he said it’s alright, and he could use the help.” Mr. Peach was one of the ponies that lived here. He had a peach plantation just outside of town.

So with that I went over to the farm, at least where Minnie said it would be. Where I ended up was in the middle of the orchard, with no one in sight.

“Splat” A peach landed on my head fallowed by some giggles. I looked up to find two young ponies in one of the trees, thinkin themselves invisible. Now, I’ve seen the show and I know how Applejack got the apples down. So I reared my back leg and donkey kicked the tree lightly. Not only did a bunch of peaches fall, but so did two lil ponies. I looked at the tree to find my hoof print 2 inches deep in the trunk.

The kids were maybe 7 and 8, or however that translated into pony years. The older girl, an earth pony, had landed on her head and was still like that, out of shock I assume. The younger boy, a pegasus, had landed on his hooves impressively. I gave both a sour look.

“We’re sorry Mr. Hoof, we just wanted to have some fun.” The girl started looking ashamed.

“Some totally awesome fun! Did you see how I landed? I was all zoom, ahh, bahh.” The boy reminded me of a male scootaloo.

“Peach Blossom! Peach Fuzz! I told you to send the new helper over to your father! Go and make some lemonade for the men.” An older Pegasus pony landed nearby, clearly addressing both the children.

“Yes mother.” They said in deflated unison, and stared trotting back towards the direction of the house.

“Sorry about that. Having two children makes life interesting, but they get rambunctious sometimes. My name is Peach Flower, you must be Mr. Hoof.” She had a peach colored mane with a light brown coat. Her eyes were a light magenta that radiated motherly power.

“Yes ma’am, sorry about the tree.” I motioned towards the indent in the bark

“Oh goodness. Must have been some kick. Don’t worry dear, in a little while you’ll learn to control your kicks.”

She led me west towards a part of the orchard that must have been new, considering the size of the trees. When we cleared the samplings, we came to a half-plowed pasture with 3 men working on it. There was an earth pony, presumably Mr. Peach, a scrawny unicorn, and a griffin. Mr. Peach was lecturing them about something as we walked up.

“Now I know the things hard to pull, but the job has to be done. We need this field done in two days if we are to keep to the schedule.” He motioned towards an old rusted plow, then to the half-plowed land around us. As he took notice of me his eyes shot wide. I’m guessin he wasn’t expecting me to be so large. Most of the ponies at the party gave me a wide berth because of the amount of alcohol I was drinkin, but when I met Mr. Peach, he was very drunk,

“How about you Bronze, you look like a strapping young lad.” He motioned towards the plow again. “Do you think you’d want to give it a shot?”

I shrugged and put on the harness as best I could. Seeing as it was too small to fit over my horns, its final resting place was on my bicep. I gave the plow a quick tug, judging the weight of it, then began walking with the lines already plowed. It wasn’t necessarily hard, but after my third row, I began to sweat. The rest of the group looked at me in awe.

“Wow, look at him go. Barely breaking a sweat. At this rate we’ll get this field done today!” The excitement in Mr. Peach’s voice was unmistakable.

As I continued to plow the field, enjoying the work, the other two hired help began planting what must have been carrots by the look of the bags. By the time I was done plowing, I was only slightly soar, but in a good way. I lived my life workin hard, and came to enjoy the feeling of it. As I let the harness drop to the ground I turned to see how the others had faired. The griffin didn’t look as bad, but the unicorn looked like he had just gone through a car wash without the dryer. His brown coat was drenched in sweat, as was his silver main. His cutie mark, a gear inside of the outline of a ponies head was covered in dirt.

“Yall doin alright?” I asked as I approached them.

“Just peachy mate. I’m usually the one to be pullin that there plow, but this ground is rougher than the rest.” The griffin said in an accent reminiscent of Australian.

“I’m…doing…fine” panted the unicorn, as he passed by. He was planting the seeds as the griffin ran dirt back over them.

“I’m Quick Beak, and my lil friend here is Gear Head. You must be the champion of the forest. Pleasure to meet ya mate.”

The griffin said. He extended his claw and I took it, giving it a firm shake. Gear Head attempted to shake my hand, but barely took his hoof off the ground.

“You sure you’re alright, hoss?” I asked, concerned for the pony.

“Don’t worry ‘bout him big fella, his mum said he needed to build more muscle and stop workin on his lil toys, or something like that.” Quick Beak patted him on the back, causing Gear to fall down. “So she says he’s not allowed to use magic when he’s here.”

I helped Gear back to his hooves and helped them finish planting. When we were done we started off towards the house.

“That work back there would have taken us days without your help Bronze.” Gear stated as he slumped towards the house.

“I’d say mate, you’re a mighty strong fella, you know that?” Quick Beak said.

“So I’ve been told.” I chuckled a bit. When we finally reached the house when the sun was at its highest. We found a table with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses on it.

We sat down, or in Gear’s case fell down, onto the chairs and enjoyed the refreshments.

“Is the pasture done already?” Mr. Peach looked out a window on the house surprised.

“Yup, Bronze here can really pull a plow.” Quick said.

“This changes my whole scheduling. At this rate, not only could we feed the whole town, but export as well. This is a lot to take it. You guys take the rest of the day off. You earned it.” With that Mr. Peach disappeared into the window.

“Well I don’t know about you blokes, but I could use a drink.” Quick stated, exciting nods from me and Gear. We all got up, and headed into town.

Author's Note:

So starting off with three chapters, and will be posting more later. Hope yall like the story, and as always, comments are greatly appreciated.

Comments

[fedback]

Is Dan based on you?