A Bronzed Moon

by Eric Longtooth

Chapter 6: At the Brink of Forever

Chapter 6: At the Brink of Forever
By Eric Longtooth

“Some beings don’t die from old age, but even they can be destroyed. The greatest kings must all eventually wither and watch their accomplishments crumble to dust. Those who once moved whole civilizations to their will are reduced to faint whispers on the wind, inaudible to all but the most attentive observer.” - Starscribe, Secrets of the Mane Six

*0o()o0*{Millthorn}*0o()o0*
{Thirty Minutes before the End of Chapter 5}

“Thou art a fool to suggest such a thing!” The dark alicorn hissed venomously towards the now-freed Queen. “Thy luck was only enough for thy freedom, no more!”

“Well I’d love to hear your ideas. What was it again? Wait, you don’t have one.” The wounded changeling shot back in her naturally flirtatious double-tone, as she pointedly ignores the mass of maggots swarming through her guts. “Unless you want to join me for eternal agony, I suggest you listen to me!”

Millthorn tried his best to stay out of the way of the raging goddesses, but considering Luna was in the process of stitching up his side, there was little he could do in that department.

The sting of the medical string and needle was barely an afterthought at this point, as much as he hated to admit it, those robots had completely outclassed him. The fact that he survived wasn’t a testament to his skill; it was instead one to his Princess’.

In the end, he was just a guardstallion, useful only in great numbers against such a foe. At this point, his usefulness is limited to taking a hit in another’s stead.

“This isn’t a fucking storybook princess! This is real life, and I thought out of everyling, you would be the one to understand that!” The sound of thin chitin impacting Luna’s muzzle quickly brought Millthorn back to reality.

“You insolent cur! We’ll have your head for this insult!”

“Come on then! End it all! You won't escape without me, I promise!”

The two were quite literally at each other's throats, as the weakened but enraged princess beginning to strangle Chrysalis with what remains of her magic.

“Princess… please.” Millthorn uttered quietly, barely above a whisper. “I don’t agree with the idea, but we can’t kill her... Not here.”

“Fine.” Luna spat as she reluctantly lowered the smirking queen. “Then what do you suppose we do?”

“How about this…”

0o0o0{Five Minutes to the End of Chapter 5}0o0o0

Small blades of shattered glass scattered across the crawlspace, cutting into the joints of Millthorn’s armor and, in general, being a nuisance. The sound of battle shook the thin walls as spells and gunfire was traded below him.

It was cramped, with barely enough room for him to shimmy further into the all-encompassing darkness.

It was times like these that he was glad he was a batpony.

Regardless, the plan was simple, there was a section of roof that could be opened for larger machines to pass through into the hall below. And, hopefully, the combined powers of a Alicorn and a fed Changeling Queen would be enough to warrant one of these larger machines.

He could only hope that Chrysalis’ intel was correct, and that the scabbed pricks on his neck was enough for her.

“Dear Luna, guiding grace, let me pass through the darkness unnoticed…” The stallion whispered as he continued to push a small jar through the vents.

Yet another marvel of magic, and another example of an Alicorn’s raw power. Even running low on mana, the princess was still able to access her pocket dimension of equipment.

The math of it though… he was so very glad he didn’t have a horn on his head. It seemed like too much work to get anywhere near useful. It was much simpler to just fly…

Even though that isn’t very useful here…

“Shroud me in your wondrous night, clear my eyes under the light of the twinkling stars…”

There it was, at the end of the maintenance vent where it splits in two directions. On the other end of the flimsy wall would be a door, concealed from those below.

If the sounds where anything to go by, it was directly above whatever the Princess was currently fighting.

Still, he set the jar against the wall, and prepared the coil of rope, doused in a flammable liquid of the Factory’s own design, he had brought with him. As soon as the door began to open, he’d light the coil and, hopefully, mortally wound the beast.

“Cast a path of stars to lead me home, frame the moon in the silky black of night…”

The door should make a great deal of noise as it opens, at least, that’s what he told the princess.

As soon as he heard that, it would be his cue.

He had enough rope to be out of the blast zone, and it should be enough of a distraction to allow him to retreat back to his princess.

From there, they would use Chrysalis’ stolen knowledge to ‘download,’ as she had described it, a map from the beast, and onto the portable tablet that, surprise surprise, she also had stolen.

“Let its light cast the world in silver, so that I may know peace before the pale slumber…”

In truth, he couldn’t hear anything over the sound of combat, and, chances are, the door would open near-silently.

He’d have to put his ear to the wall to even get a chance of hearing the damn thing open.

It reminds him of something one of his drill sergeant said, ‘Nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. What is important is what you are doing -- NOW -- to solve our problem.’

It would probably be a bit more meaningful if he had survived the Bonepickers…

“So upon the wings of night, I set off to the endless fields of Elysium, and lo’ do I see my father…”

He remembers the saw blade that split his head.

“Lo’ do I see my mother…”

He remembers the light that faded from her eyes as she bled upon the stairs of the Manehattan bastion.

“My brother…”

He remembers the siege engine that he died to kill.

“My sister…”

Died to sickness after the first virus bomb.

“And my son…”

Slain in the womb, not even given a chance of life.”

“But I don’t worry… I’ll see them soon.”

#=#=#*{Zero Minutes before the end of Chapter 5}*#=#=#

Author's Note:

Just a few more chapters before the end...

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