A Bronzed Moon

by Eric Longtooth

Chapter 1: Insolence breeds Contempt

Chapter 1: Insolence breeds Contempt.

By Eric Longtooth.

”Form your armies, dream your dreams.
Make your plans, and plot your schemes.
Send your fighters, one and all.
Then in battle,
Watch.
Them.
Fall.”
— "Divide,” RWBY OST

*0o()o0*

The light of the moon cast the ruins of Manehatten into a peaceful theme, perhaps even erie, but it granted no respite to the travellers. Three batponies, the steel they clad themselves in turning their fuzzy bodies into formless sentinels. A pegasus, wearing a faded green explorer's outfit and a tan safari helmet. And finally, the Princess of the Moon herself.

Clad in light blue metal, enchanted to the point that the very air around it was buzzing with magical energy, and equipped with a pair of double ended glaives that seemed to glow in the moonlight. Each step she made was done with practiced caution, and although they cannot see them through the elegant helm, the others were certain the Princess’ sky blue eyes were scanning for threats.

This wasn’t the place to make mistakes, nor was it the place for comfort. The discomfort of the practical variation of the guard’s armour would more then make up for the lives they would save.

At least, that was the plan.

The only real mercy of this foe, is its almost fanatical attraction to cleanliness. Had they attempted this a week prior, they would be wading through gore and rubble, but now? It was just a flat plane of concrete. Buildings had been torn down and taken Celestia-knows-where, the bodies of Equestria’s finest had been harvested and swept aside, even the great warmachines of this, so-called ‘Factory’ had been returned underground.

On the other hoof however, the lack of cover, and the miles of nothingness didn’t help morale in the slightest. With the only landmark within eyesight being a massive pillar of steel and bronze in the distance.

‘Such arrogance… but perhaps it is warranted for such a foe.’ Luna mused to herself, turning her head to make sure the rest of her party where maintaining close proximity. ‘To think this is all that remains of Our military… these millennia of peace have done great and terrible things to Our kingdom.’

Even for a mind of old as she, it was hard to comprehend that in a little over a month, Equestria had been almost completely crippled. Be it from the cataclysmic offensive that led to the deaths of nearly eighty percent of the Royal Guard, or the strategic bombing by the Factory’s flying machines that murdered almost all of the rest.

And to top it all off, entire empires started to disappear overnight. The stalwart Minotaurs had become silent barely a week into the conflict, the only signs of their existence being the monstrosities the Factory had made out of their corpses. Even the elusive Changelings had been consumed after their Queen had... attempted to ally with the Factory.

It gave her no joy to march through the burning remains of Chrysalis’ hive, though the experience did provide an intriguing insight into the mind of their foe. Where other empires seemed to have been assimilated, the Changelings were culled like animals.

Regardless, onwards they would march.

*0o()o0*

As each hour passed the pillar slowly grew on the horizon, looming over the ponies as if it had the divine right to do so. It was times like these that reminded the Princess how thankful she was for the enchantments on her armour, unlike the others in her group, who have began to show signs of exhaustion, she felt as if she had only just woke up.

It was most unfortunate that the enchantments had been outlawed, but understandable, seeing as one of the side effects was a lowered lifespan. Thankfully for her, her immortality has so far spared her this side effect, even though her sister maintained her point that it was bad for her.

But, that is what happens when the Celestia and herself were as different as the sun and moon, even if it was an annoying ‘tick’ of the mortal form they’re forced to inhabit. Perhaps one day they would find a way to overcome it.

Unfortunately, it is something to complete at another time.

Although the guards, in their ever faithful nature, wouldn’t say a word to suggest stopping, Luna was confident that it is time to make camp and rest. After all, the sun would rise soon, and she would not face this foe without every advantage she could get.

“Hault! We shalt hold for the day here. Prepare a perimeter and establish a watch.” she commanded, taking a moment to plant her weapons into the hard concrete. “Miss Do, We suggest thou prepare thyself for confrontation. We are not too far from the foe, and We expect to arrive in the morrow.”

The guards rushed to complete her commands, whilst the explorer pegasus began to draw out a multitude of scrolls and parchment from her saddlebags. Not a word was uttered by the others, but Luna would forgive their silence this time, as the fear of attracting something that is not there would always haunt those of... mortal descent.

They had all heard the stories, of the mechanical abominations that would appear when one least expected it. Perhaps they were true, but the Princess had faith in her detection wards, no monster, beast, nor creature had ever fooled them, and she doubts this ‘Factory’ would be able to succeed where they had failed.

‘Why Celestia wanted to avoid this place will forever be a mystery, as will how she is content to lead from her castle…’ Luna mentally rolled her eyes, giving a slight chuckle of the mental image of her sister attempting to put on armour. ‘It is a wonder she managed to get anything done these past decades.’

“Princess?” Luna turned at the voice, pulled out of her mirthful thoughts as she turned her attention to the apparently famous, ‘Daring Do.’

“Yes, Miss Do?”

“Just Daring is fine, Princess.” The middle aged pegasus replied, barely taking a moment to look up from her scrolls. “I just need to know if there is any more details you can give for this… ‘Factory?’ Weaknesses? Common abilities? Immunities?”

“Where this any other place, Miss Do, We would have scolded you for your disrespect…” Luna warned under her breath, her temper flaring slightly as the pegasus seemed to ignore the idle threat. “Regardless, the information you seek should have been addressed in your briefing. But to save time, no, no, yes.”

“No weaknesses,” she continued, “in the sense that we have yet to find a reliable way to kill any of its minions. Each flaw we find seems to be removed by the time we meet them in battle again.”

“No common abilities, as each minion seems to be custom made with little similarities in armaments.” Luna sighed, turning away from her audience to gaze at the pillar they were to attack. “And immunities to just about everything. They walk through fire like a dragon, acid washes off of them as if it was nothing more than water, lightning seems to only make them faster, even brute force seems to have little effect.”

“So what do you expect us to accomplish?” Daring asked tactlessly, finally turning her head to look at the Princess in the eyes.

‘Ah, that explains the missing dreamer the last couple nights.’ Luna noted, staring down her ‘companion’ before continuing with her explanation. “Our Sister and Us have come to the conclusion that this foe is hiding something from Us. We are to infiltrate the tower and destroy it some the inside. Our mages assure us the tower is hollow, so this mission should not take too long.”

“‘Hollow’? That massive tower is hollow? The same tower everypony can see as long as they are within the same general area as Manehatten?” Daring scoffed, rolling her eyes before gesturing towards said tower. “It is impossible. I may not be an expert in buildings, but you cannot build something that big normally. Let alone having it hollow.”

“Miss Do. We suggest thou learn to hold your tongue in Our presence.” The Princess hissed cooly, lowering her head to look at the insolent pegasus directly in the eyes whilst using her magic to force Daring to not look away. “Thou hast given Us only thy arguments and disrespect. And unless thou wish to be found leading the charge by thyself, thou shalt learn to respect those who art in charge.”

Letting go of Daring’s muzzle with a rough flick to the side, the Princess completed her miniature lecture with a final, “are We understood?”

“Yes Princess…” Daring growled out, before turning and returning to the bulk of the group.

‘Insolent child… One would think the sole survivor of the main assault would be better disciplined.’ Luna rolled her eyes, returning her attention to the looming tower. ‘This is why We do not conscript without additional training.’

Author's Note:

[4/3/19] Mild edits.

Comments

[logros13]

Was about to say that it will be interesting to see how luna ends up loosing part of her brain , but then i realized how morbid that sounded. Anyway, yay more factory.

Also i hope we get to learn what happened regarding the changelings, if not in this story then in a future one. It seems like an odd decision judging from what we have seen of its thought processes up until now.

[Eric Longtooth]

9484039
If I remember correctly, the Changelings had... Attempted to join forces.
I'll have to look back though. Perhaps add in a little extra emphasis.

[logros13]

9484216
yeah, i saw that but i don't get how that lead to the factory deciding to destroy them instead assimilating them like it does with other species?

[Eric Longtooth]

9484251
Aaaah, right.
Sorry, misunderstood what you were saying.

[retrovapor84]

9484251
1 word, biters