> Bronze Hoof
>  by cowboybird
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> First Physique
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


First Physique


I wasn’t always a bulking mass of muscle rising 10 feet from the ground, 12 if you add the horns. Once I was a dashingly handsome man, gallivantin about in the dry plains of Colorado. At least that’s how I believed I looked. In reality, I was a 20 year old beat-up work horse with hands. I spent most of my days on my parents ranch raisin’ and slaughterin cattle. Hell I knew so much about bovine I did a couple surgeries on the lumberin oafs. 

But that all changed when a business man came to my family’s ranch. Now I wasn’t a small guy, 6 foot 3 and decently chiseled. But this guy must have been 7 feet from toe to crown, and built like an ox. His onyx eyes drilled into me as he walked up to the porch of the house. I kept my distance, because, let’s face it, he creeped me out.  He came to see my parents about selling the ranch to some cement plant lookin for a new place to build. They politely told him that they weren’t interested. And he left. 

A few days later as I was herdin the cattle back into their pen on the back 60 acres of my parent’s property when the man beast came ambling over a hill. I jumped off of Mack, my horse, and met him half-way. 

“Somethin I can do for you, hoss?” I asked when he came into earshot

“When I was over the other day I saw something in you that I think we can both benefit from.” This caught me off guard as I wasn’t doing anything particularly special when he was over. 

“And what might that be?”

“Well I noticed that your stallions name was Mack, that wouldn’t be short for Mackintosh would it?” he asked.

“It might be, why would that be any concern of yours?”

“Well I am a fan of a particular show, My Little Pony. Have you heard of it?” I stopped dead in my tracks. Of course I’ve heard of My Little Pony. Being a brony was something that I kept hidden from even my closest friends, the few of them there were. 

Somethin about him asking that made me think things were going to be gettin a lil intense in a few minutes. 
I hate being right.

“Yeah I’ve seen it once or twice.” I answered with a bit of temper in my voice.

“You wouldn’t happen to be a fan of that show now would you?” I needed to end this quick, and get back to work.

“Listen mister, I don’t know what you want or what you’re gettin at, but I need to get back to work.”

“Well, let’s say that perhaps there was a person that could send you there, not saying there is, just a thought, and perhaps that person could get you away from the tedious life style you live. Would you take the opportunity?” Somethin changed in his voice, and although I would love to go to Equestria, see all there is to see, and meet the characters of the show, I had a job to do.

“I can’t say I would. I have work here that my folks just can’t do. I have friends and family here. I wouldn’t be able to go tourin a new world without them bein satisfied.”

“Alright Dan, you drive a hard bargain. What if this said person could make sure that everyone here would be fine without you?” When did I tell him my name?

“Well…Maybe. Yeah that would be somethin to see.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them. I usually keep my mouth in check with these things. 

What in Sam’s hell is goin on here? I thought.

“If you want to go there, all you have to do, is ask.” His voice deepened a few octaves.

I laughed at this. What a stupid thing to say, ‘all you have to do is ask’ what a load of shit.

“Sure hoss, send me to Equestria!” I was near hysterical, laughin at the idea.

“Ask” he waved his hand at somethin outside my peripheral vision. “And you shall receive.”

I looked to where he was waivin at, and god help me if there, on the hill where he came from, was the largest bull I had ever seen. It ran on four pillars of raw strength, and had horns the size of great swords. The size of its barrel would put a hummer to shame. Its eyes were burning with an unholy black fire. The noise coming from its muzzle sounded like screams from hell itself. It had a pearly coat covered in scars and a face that was black as night.

And it was comin right at me.

My first instinct was to get the hell out if there, but the speed this thing was puttin out let me know that I would never outrun it. Mack had booked it long before when I was talkin to the old man. And now I was sure that I would die at the hands of this hell beast.

“You want to know what I saw in you, boy?” I had forgotten the old man was there.

“It wasn’t your strength of arm, or the sharp sting of your eyes.” I was frantic, wonderin if I could take the living tank on.

“It was your soul. The soul of a champion.” The bull was on me, I had jumped out of the way of its initial attack. But it was quicker than I anticipated and clipped me. Fire ran up my arm to my neck. 

I had just enough time to get back up and jump again before it plowed through me for a kill. I knew I had to end this soon, or I was a goner. But the damn beast was quicker than a dog on a hunt. As it was comin by for another shot at me, I managed to grab its horn and pull myself onto its back. Don’t ask me how, to this day I still don’t know. 

Miraculously it stopped chargin, probably just wonderin where I took off to. Just as I thought that I had calmed the beast, he started crow hoppin on me. Now I’ve ridden my fair share of bulls, but I ain’t never road a crazed elephant with horns. 
The whole time I’m runnin for my life the old man is just sittin there laughin. However, when I jumped on his pets back, he became very serious. 

Above all my hollerin and shoutin in pain (I figured my arm was broken), I heard the old man yelling at me.

“Now I knew you would put up a fight Dan, but this has gone on LONG ENOUGH!”

The bull stopped, and in one mighty leap, launched me into the air, and bucked me unconscious.




> What the Hell?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


What the Hell?


When I woke up I had the headache from hell. It felt like the bull was still rampaging inside my skull with a flamethrower that reached to my feet. After what seemed like hours I decided it was time to open my eyes and get on with my day. Instead of wakin up in my bed (ideal), or even in the back 60 (not ideal), I found myself on top of a freakin volcano (really not ideal). Now I’ll be the first to tell you, that being on an ACTIVE volcano isn’t as nice as wakin up on fresh linen. The only reason I knew it was one of the assholes of the world spewing forth its taco bell meal was because when I opened my eyes, I saw a stream of lava not 5 feet from me. The first thought that came to my mind was “how the hell did I get here?” followed shortly by “I’m gonna castrate that old man!” But then I noticed something was off. Even though it was hot, it should have been hotter. I should be suffering from heat exhaustion or something like that, right? Well although it did feel like I was in front of a bonfire, it didn’t feel like I was next to liquid rock. That’s when I sat up and everything went wrong.

I rubbed my hand over my eyes to lose the dirt and sleep from them. Then I went to wipe the dirt from my lips, but I only felt my nose. And more nose. Then some more nose. At this point I’m guessin you’re thinkin I would start freakin out, which admittedly I did a little. Then I took inventory of the rest of my body and found that the only clothes I had on were my pants. My long…fury……..pants?

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY LEGS?!” The shout carried for longer than my voice should have next to a raging magma center. I frantically started feeling my legs to see if the hair on them had really frown to such crazy lengths. It appeared that the hair created a covering, or pant-like protection, from the soil and dark volcano ash. My once semi-hairy legs were now a forest of thick, black fur. Then I noticed my feet.

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY FEET?!” Where my regular size 13 cowboy boots used to be were two thick hooves the size of my head…oh shit my head. I was hoping that it would be the same, otherwise I’d look like a satyr. 

Slowly, very carefully, I reached up and felt my face, remembering my nose…muzzle thing. Shit. Then I reached up and felt my head. Only to find that I had a normal full head of black hair, that reached down to my legs. Shit. 2 spans of bone that came from the top of my head were what I could only imagine as horns. Shit. At least I still had five fingers and a thumb right?

“AAAAH!” again the echo from my yell could have been heard for miles. Although I still had a thumb and a hand, I only had four fingers. Now although this isn’t as life changing as the other differences, but I had grown proud of keeping all my fingers during all the work I used to do.

“What the hell am I?!” I yelled to no one in particular.

I got myself together and attempted to stand, only to fall on my face the first couple of times. Turns out I became very top heavy during whatever happened to me. It’s a good thing I still had hands or I would have learned what lava tasted like a few times. 

On one particularly bad fall my right hand landed in lava, I immediately pulled it out. I braced myself for the pain to race through my body. But it never came, the only thing I felt was a warming sensation where the liquid rock had made contact.

“Well that’s interesting”

Before I could further investigate I heard a screaming from over a hill behind me. A woman crying out “no” in a desperate, and fearful voice.

The way I was raised was to never fight unless you were forced, and the only things forcing you would be: self-defense, protecting someone weaker than you, and most importantly, protecting a woman. The last fight I had been in before this point was over protecting a girl in my school from being hit from these three sophomores.  They had her against a locker and were about to put the works on her for some reason, I never found out. I ran at ‘em, knockin two out with a strike each, and goin to town on the third. When I was done with him, or when a teacher thought I was done with him, he had to go to the hospital and wasn’t released for 6 months. I was immediately expelled and homeschooled for the rest of high school. But, needless to say, my blood was boiling.

Without hesitation I got up and ran at full sprint at the source of the screams that were consistently comin. I didn’t stop to think about where my new found balance had come from, I just ran. I ran with animalistic ferocity. My torso and head arched down to where I could just barely see from under my horns, but sight didn’t matter, I was running. I was running to save this girl pleading for her life.

As I crested the hill I stopped to see where she was. It was then that I spotted the what was going on.

Two…dragons? At least what I would imagine dragons to have looked like, with giant bat wings, and a lizard like exterior, complimented with long blades for talons and meat cleavers for teeth. They were about 7 feet tall, I say tall and not long because they were on their hind legs. Well the dragons had a….cow-woman? I could only call her such because she was the one screaming, and it was a females voice. She had the head of a cow, with the lower half of a large, yet slender woman with some of a dirty blouse lookin thing torn asunder. Although she was still covered modestly, it was apparent that the dragons planned to change that.

Ok. Sorry, continuing… The two dragons had the cow-woman on the ground encircled by the cliff I was standing on. The dark volcanic sulfur made the perpetrators hard to see, as ones scales were a deep black, almost onyx.  And the other was a dark brown. Now I didn’t know why there was a cow-lady, or dragons, or why they were hurting her, but I knew it needed to stop. Just as when I knew I needed to stop those bullies from hurting the girl in school, I needed to stop this nonsense at once. 

I was about to go running down into a fight, when I noticed something that made my heart stop. There, in the cow-woman’s arms, was a bundle, with a little face poking out of it. There was blood seeping through the white (although dirty) material that the baby was in. That’s when I lost control. 

I let lose a blood curdling holler and charged, horns down, at the drakes. I caught them by surprise and pieced the brown one with one of my horns, catching it right under the chin and into its brain. It felt right, to kill with the weapons attached to me. The blood of the drake was seeping down my horn and into my eyes. It burned, but that was alright. It didn’t faze me. I grabbed its lifeless corps and threw it on the ground, releasing another primal yell. The black one had recovered and had fury in his eyes. He stared at me, and I stared at him. The bloodlust in my eyes only could have been matched by the deadliest of warlords. Then it spoke.

“You know I will have to kill you now.” It motioned to the lifeless form of the other drake. “he was my friend, the only other dragon my age to come close to how powerful I am.” Its voice was that of a teenaged boy. I was completely caught off guard by the fact that this monster just spoke. I guess I figured it was just a hungry predator looking for a meal. “Today was his birthday, I was taking him out for a bit of fun, and now he’s dead.” Although he had sorrow in his voice, I could tell he was sadder at the fact that he had no one to compete with now. He reminded me of that bully in school. I always hated that kid. 
“So killing a child is how you have fun!? Well, if I killed him, I did the world a favor!” I was furious. That these things had a mind to ‘em and still chose to kill a newborn. They deserved nothing more than death.

The black dragon snarled and leapt at me, grabbing onto my arm and throwing me into the wall. The pressure of the collision caused me to become disoriented. Although I was still standing, I was sure I had a concussion. This gave the dragon enough time to rush over and lay some heavy blows on my chest. This time the pain came, but this time I was ready. I grabbed onto one of his hands as he came in for a face shot, stopping it mid-strike. His face contorted as he threw another punch, which I also caught. I tried pushing and then pulling to get out of my reach, but I was too strong. I held him there, becoming more furious as I heard the mother crying. 

Then the drake blew fire into my face. Without hesitation I bent his wrists back, breaking the left ones bones. He stopped his fire breath and wailed like a bitch. He dropped to the ground, shaking and crying. Cradling what was left of his wrist with his right hand. I started approaching him, slowly, like a river of lava come to destroy a home, or a life.

“Please, please no. Let me live. I don’t want to die. I’m sorry for what I did. Please!” The drake begged, crawling away from me. I kept moving. Keeping my burning eyes on him. The blood from the other dragon still pooled in them. But I kept moving.

“I’ll give you gems, lots of gems. So much money you could live like a king, your children will live like kings. Please!” His begging almost got to me. I’ve lived a hard life. Most of it I had gone without. Money could definitely help. Then I heard the mother crying again. Begging for her sons’ life back. 

“There is good and bad in this world. I claim neither side. I am just here to deliver justice, and protect those who cannot protect themselves.” My voice was cold, steel cutting ice. I began to beat him. Without mercy. Without remorse. When I finally stopped he had no teeth left. His meat cleavers were on the ground or swallowed. Ten I grabbed both his top and bottom jaw and….well, he didn’t make it.

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

I rubbed my hands in the dirt to try to get the blood off, as it had turned into a thick mucus-like substance. And also tried wiping the blood out of my eyes, I managed to get most of it out, although the burning still stayed with me. 
Ignoring the pain I walked up to the cow-woman.

“Are you alright?” She wasn’t responding so I tried again. “Ma’am are you alright?”

She was rocking with her baby looking at me. I saw that the little one raise its chest for a breath, but just barely. I motioned to 
see what had happened to it, but she began backing away in fear.

“I’m here to help, I need to see how bad the wound is, and if we need to get it to a doctor.” After a bit of hesitation she let me see her child. The cut wasn’t bad, but it needed to be washed, and stitched shut.

“Is there a town? Or a house nearby?” I asked. She numbly shook her head and motioned for her baby back. “Keep pressure on the wound ok? Is there a river nearby? A fast one with a lot of white water.” I was talking faster now, trying to find something to disinfect the wound. She nodded and pointed downhill and away from the volcano. I helped her to her feet…hooves, and let her lead me to the river.

It took about 20 minutes to reach it, but in that time the landscape changed drastically. The black, darkened sky turned to a dull blue. The ashy, burnt ground turned to one of rich grass. She quickly led me through a few trees and into a small clearing with a river of gushing water racing through it. Perfect.

I asked for the child again and began to clean the wound. As I have cleaned both my little brother’s, and calves cuts, it wasn’t that difficult. I also kept telling the mother that he would be alright (as I saw that the child was a boy, or male calf, whatever).

“Do you have a name?” I asked the cow-woman as I cleaned her sons’ cut.

Without taking her eyes off of the calf she said, “Minnie.” All emotion focused on her child. 

“And the child’s?” I asked.

“Tin Horn.”

“What were you doin out in the middle of nowhere with those things around and your baby on your hip? And for that matter what are you?” I was a lil upset that she had put herself in danger along with the baby, as well as confused as hell as to what was going on. 

“What were YOU doing out next to a live volcano? Also how the hell did you kill TWO adolescent dragons?! Furthermore, how did its fire not roast you?!” She was practically yelling at this point, the only thing keeping her from charging me was her baby in my care. 

“I have no god-damn clue how I got here, where ever ‘here’ is, I killed them with violence, and I don’t know, the lava didn’t affect me either. But what are you?” I got a lil spiteful in the middle of that. I had saved her life, was saving the life of her child, and she was questioning it. 

“I’m a minotaur, like you” Her mood changed from one of questionably fury, to as if she was speakin to a crazy man. We fell into silence as I got back to work. Her probably questionin the company she received, and me to take in what she had said, ‘like you’. 

As I finished cleaning the wound I asked for a very thin strip of some of her blouse so that maybe I could try to sow it up using a sharp thorn from a rose bush nearby. She obliged me and with a (newly cleaned) thread and needle I began sewing up the boy. We spent the next few minutes in silence. Being so used to stitching up a cut, I let my mind wonder. I also stole a few peeks in the river to try and catch a reflection in the current. What I was able to gather was a bull-man starin back at me. I guess I was a minotaur, like back in ancient Greek mythology. As I cut the cloth, he began to cry, and so did his mother. She swept him up, and nearly smothered him with kisses. As she did this I tried washing more of the burning blood out of my eyes. Why the hell wasn’t this stuff comin out?

“Thank you so much stranger, what is your name? What do we call our champion?” That’s when it clicked. The old man, saying I could be a champion. About sending me to Equestria. Then all this weird stuff happening. I must be in the land of ponies and magic. 

“Is there a land here called Equestria?” The question caught her off guard.

“W-well yeah, the land of those prissy ponies with all their magic and luxuries.” 

“Holy shit, that asshole did it.” The shock in my voice must have gotten her back to her senses.

“Well I don’t know who you’re talking about, but you never answered my question, what is your name?” I didn’t know. I could say Dan and get it done with, but I’m in freakin Equestria. New world, new name. 

“My name is..uh…er…Bronze Hoof” Eh good enough.

“Well Bronze Hoof, thank you for your help. But my son and I need to leave.” She started to get up and walk away, but I fallowed her.

“You never answered my question either.” I stepped in front of her, stopping her exit.

“Why we’re here isn’t any of your business Mr. Hoof, now if you’ll excuse me..” She started walking off again, having sidestepped me. This time I grabbed her by the arm, lightly, and looked her in the eye.

“I’m not here to hurt you, if I wanted to I would have already, instead of helping you and your son. Now, please, what happened?” She looked visibly troubled, but sighed.

“We’re running from slavers in the badlands. They took me and Tin from our home in the rain forest. I had to escape for his sake.” She looked down at the now sleeping form of her baby. “But they’ll be looking for us, I need to go.” I looked at her sternly and nodded. She began taking off again, but with me in tail.

“Once you get home I’ll leave you alone, until then, I’m lookin after yall.” She was about to complain, but I cut her off, “and there ain’t nothin you can do ‘bout it.”

And with that we trudged off into the dense, wet tropics.





> 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.

> Demon Unbound
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Demon Unbound



Weeks passed like days, months like weeks. This new found life was somethin I could get used to. Workin everyday with Gear Head and Quick Beak made our friendship grow like mushrooms under cow patties. Soon we were inseparable, spendin our workin hours, and off hours hangin out. So much was done on the Peach’s farm that we soon had more produce goin out than we were usin. This gave the community a huge economic boost, and in turn Mr. Peach paid the boys and I handsomely. My usually toned muscles started to expand from the work on the farm. Gear even started gaining some muscle, now instead of an hours work for him to be exhausted, it took about four. We tested my strength and found that I could lift boulders the size of whole carts with ease. I also began to take up runnin, somethin that I had never done before. Bein top heavy made runnin a lil easier for me. I could just tip my head down and keep goin for miles on end. Life was goin good.

Holidays came and passed. We had Hearth’s Warming Eve, where everybody went to the town square to watch the school enact the play. Peach Fuzz and Peach Blossom were the stares, as they were some of the only pony children around. 
There were still raids though.

Every few weeks some diamond dogs tried to take off with some of the towns folk. We defended our own as best we could, but that didn’t stop the thieves from comin. They ran off with Tail Feather, a griffin, seven weeks after my arrival. June Star, an earth pony I had begun to make friends with went a week after Tail. 

Me, Quick, and some of the other men started a militia. Every time there was a raid on the outskirts we fought them off. As most of the folks ‘round here didn’t much take to killin, I tried my best to just injure the mutts. Eventually we had the local blacksmith, Smoke Rings, Make us some weapons. He was a large earth pony who, as best I could figure, would look similar to Big Mack in size. Minnie told me he came to New Findings to start a new life. Apparently he was an old army smith for Celestia’s royal Guard. His coal blackened hair once used to be blonde, and his pitch black coat was usually covered in soot from the furnace. He had a hammer and anvil on his flank, signalin his callin as a black smith.

“So what kind of weapon would you like to have, son?” Smoke Rings asked Quick in a Scottish accent.

“I’ll just be having some steel talons mate.” Quick did like to fight with his hands. He was better off that way. His natural agility allowed him to become a tornado of shrapnel when he was in a scrap. 

“And what about you big fella?” Smoke asked me. I didn’t really know. When I was in a fight I tended to use my hands or horns. Although it was taxing to do so, it was efficient. 

“I don’t rightly know Smoke, maybe some steel horseshoes, and steel coverins for my horns I guess.” He looked at me thoughtfully. 

“Alright I can do that. But if your compatriots and yourself would like to try some weapons, I have a few stashed in the back. They’re just wooden models, but they do good in training.” He went and retrieved a box from the back office. Inside were several swords, a crossbow, and a battle axe that came up to the top of my head.

“Why do ya have this one, hoss?” I asked, lifting the axe. 

“I had to do some special training with a few griffins back in Canterlot. Most preferred long swords, but one big fella asked for a battle axe. I made this one for his weapons training.” I lifted the weapon out of its casket, and swung it a bit. I liked the pendulum action it caused, and how easy it was to swing. 

“If you like it, I can make you one, it’ll be a bit heavier than that one,” he motioned to the dummy I had in my hands, “but I think it’ll suite you.”

I nodded and began to play with the wooden axe. I began testing different swing types: overhead, sideways, uppercut, and even throwing the thing. By the time I was done messin with it, the sun was just settin. I thanked Smoke, and made my way home.

Behind me he called out, “I should have everything done by tomorrow afternoon. Stop by when you get a chance.” I waved, and left him to his work.


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


Rain fell from the sky, flooding the small river that flowed next to me. I sat there weeping. The tears streaming down my face mixed with the cooling moisture from the sky. 
How had everything gone so wrong? 
How could I make such a foolish mistake? 
Lightning cracked the night sky, ripping the heavens as its cry was heard for miles. The water from the usually calm stream was now a torrent of fury. The water crashed over boulders that haven’t been submerged in centuries. The monsters groaned as they were loosed from their resting placed and thrown further down the liquid serpent. 
“Never again.” The words fell from my mind out my mouth. “Never again will I be deceived in this way. Never again will others suffer because of me.”
I stood, releasing a mighty roar that shook the heavens.
Lightning smashed a nearby tree, lighting it in even this downpour. The fire began to spread as I raised Spirit Inferno cursed the heavens.


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


I woke with a start. The smell of sulfur and ash reached my nose. I sat up, alarmed. I ran outside to see my new home, New Findings, ablaze.

I ran to where Minnie and Killian lived, hoping beyond hope they were alive. On my way I passed civilians running around in the chaos. 

“Where’s Orkut?”

“Has anybody seen Oak? I can’t find my baby!”

“Help, they took Peach Fuzz!” Peach Flower. That was Mrs. Peach Flower. I ran to her, and grabbed her by the leg.

“Who? Who took Fuzz?” The tone of my voice snapped her out of her crazed trance.

“The dogs. They came in the night, right before dawn. They took her Bronze! They took my baby!” She began to weep. Tears flooded her usually bright face. Fury filled mine.

“I’ll get him back. I’ll get all of them back.” It wasn’t something to cheer her up, or give her hope. Peach Fuzz had grown on me. He would ask me questions while I work that one would only ask an uncle.

What do I do if I like a girl in my class? 

How do you get a ‘first kiss’?

You’re my best friend Bronzey.

His voice played in my head as I made my way towards Smoke’s shop. Amazingly, it survived the fire. As I approached he came outside. He had blood flowing down his face, despite the efforts of a rag wrapped against the wound.

“I didn’t get your axe done boy. They attacked me. I gave ‘em what for, but they got away. They destroyed most of the weapons. I did manage to save the horn coverings, and Quick Beak’s steel talons.” He coughed, and pulled out the equipment. I let him hammer some nails into my horn, securing the coverings. Just as he finished Quick dropped out of the sky. He looked almost as pissed as I was.

“They done?” was his only question. Smoke nodded and handed him the talons. He fitted them and gave me a deathly look.

“I’ve heard they went south Bronze. They have my brother, and most of the other children. God knows why. We’re gonna go get them back.” With that we took off. Quick in the air, and me on hoof. Quick was faster than me, and after a few hours came back with a report.

“They’re making their stand on the mountain. Ten or so dogs. There’s a dragon that lives in a cave up there. Supposed to be a real badass. We have them trapped mate, they’re not goin to go any further up in fear of the dragon.” We worked out a quick plan, Quick flies up and gets on their flank. I go chargin right into their ranks. 

By the time we reached the pass where the flea bags were makin their stand, I was rightly furious. Not only did they take one of my friends, but other children. Children for Christ’s sake. As the sun hit its apex we reached their encampment. They set up with seven of the bastards in front, children in a large cage on wheels in the middle, and three in the rear (probably to protect if the dragon came out). 

They hadn’t spotted us yet, so Quick dipped off the pass and flew around back, keeping out of sight. I walked to where they could see me. 

“Leave beast, We got your pups! They ours now! You can’t kill us all. These pups now belong to Steel Fang!” A dog on their second line yelled. He must be the new Beta, considering I killed the last one. These dogs were dumber than I thought. First of all, they decided to make their stand against retaliation on a mountain pass with a 600 foot drop to their side. Secondly they thought that I would come alone, even though they knew we had a town defense that kicked their sorry asses every other week. And thirdly, they took children. 

I let loose a mighty roar, and charged them. They had no weapons, save for a few javelins, which they through once I started runnin. I dodged them easily, even pickin one from the dirt and carryin it along with me. 

After their initial attack the Beta sent 4 of the damn mutts to swarm me. It didn’t take long to cover the distance. The first one reached me only to find a new steel horn in its abdomen. As I retched him off of me the second came up quick. Right as I loosed the body from my head, the next dog was jumpin for my throat. Like a baseball player, I smacked the dog with the lifeless form of his friend, sending them both into a freefall. The third and fourth came at the same time. One jumped while the other went for my legs. I hefted the javelin, and stuck the jumpin pooch on the mouth, while simultaneously stomping the other into the ground. 

I took a second to collect myself. As I looked back to where the Beta and his two friends were I noticed Quick Fang making short work of the three in the back. 

The Beta stood at full height, and let out a howl of displeasure. Now I understood why Steel Fang made this one the new Beta. Although he wasn’t as smart as the last one, he was much bigger. At his full height he was nearing 10 feet. A good head taller than his pack mates. He was much broader too, showing his oddly muscular dog body in his howl. His Rottweiler physic matching his temper.

He charged at me, leaving his unsuspecting pack mates to deal with Quick Beak.

As he closed the distance he growled deeply. When he was just a few feet from me, he grabbed at my shoulders to throw me down. I caught his hands and stopped his progress. We stood there, pushin against each other, seein which was stronger. 

Although I was bug for a minotaur, he was really big for a diamond dog. After what felt like hours he got discouraged and made a bite for my throat, only to get the head butt from hell. He fell back, and I followed him. As his back touched the ground, my fist met his muzzle. The first couple of strikes bounced his head off the ground. But he wasn’t done yet. He lashed out with his teeth, sinking them into my hand as I was striking. I yelled in pain, receiving a sock to my jaw. Just as I was regaining my senses, he followed with another, and another punch, trailed with several bites that left puncture wounds behind. I fell off him, and he was quick to get on top. Beta continued his murderous onslaught. Just as I was fading to black, I heard a distant voice.

“Bronze! Bronze fight! PLEASE FIGHT!” It was Peach Fuzz. I had forgotten about my lil buddy. Something other than rage found its way inside me. Love. I loved the lil tike, no matter how much he annoyed me. I had to protect him. I had to stop this monster from taking him to live out his life as a slave. 

With all my willpower I mustered up the last of my strength, and thrusted my hand into the Beta’s chest, grabbed onto the first thing I felt, and pulled it out.

All his actions stopped. In my hand was his still beating heart.

His eyes glazed over and he slumped to the side, falling off the cliff. 

As I rose, I saw that Quick had made short work of the other dogs and was releasing the children. The first one out was Fuzz. He ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug I had ever received. 

“You came Bronze! You came for us.” He was wetting my shoulder with his tears. It didn’t matter.

“Of course I came for you lil guy. I’ll always come when you need me to.” I had tears of my own building up, but I bit them back down. I had to be strong for everyone. 

When we were all ready to leave, we started down the path towards home. Before we got more than 20 feet from the cage, a great booming voice hollered from the cave further up the path. The dragon.

“Get the children to safety Quick, I’ll hold ‘em off.” He began to protest but I cut him off. “As long as they’re safe it doesn’t matter what happens to me, but they won’t be safe if you leave them. Now GO!” 

There was no questioning in my command, and he started herdin the children down the slope. I went to go kill a dragon.


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


As I made my way up the mountain, I began to feel somethin I hadn’t in quite a while.

Fear.

I reached the mouth of the cave when another roar came and with. I mustered up my courage and continued inside. What I found was an interior decently lit by glowin gemstones. As I continued the cave grew in size until I reached a doorway that led into a chamber 4 football fields long, and at least as tall as a 16 story buildin. In the center was a massive pile of gold, gemstones, and pretty much every valuable thing you can imagine. It’s from there that another roar came from. 

I climbed the mountain of treasure, preparin myself for a fight unlike anything I had experienced so far. When I reached the top, my heart was thumpin so hard that it hurt. I didn’t know if it was from adrenaline, or fear. Before I crested the peak, I took a moment to think about everyone I cared about. Mom, Dad, my little brother Matt, Minnie, Tin Horn, Fuzz. All of whom I might never see again. 

Readied, I peaked my head over the top, and saw somethin I will never forget.

In the center of the pile, was a giant conch, like the one you find at the ocean. At the mouth of the conch, was a pegasus pony yelling into it, making the roaring noise. 

What?

As she released another yell, my eardrums nearly exploded. Bein on the receiving side of this thing sucked. Before she let loose another ear popping shout, I made myself seen to her.

“Would you quit that shit!?” Maybe not the best first impression I’ve ever made, but the noise needed to stop. 

“Wha-Who are you? What are you doing here?” She was a spritely lil thing with a white coat, and yellow mane (styled like Pinkie Pie’s). Her cutie mark showed three lil balls of flame with smiling faces inside.

“I’m Bronze, and I’m here to fight a dragon. Where is it?” I crouched down, not wanting to be ambushed by such a menacing creature.

“Well, if you want to fight ok. But be warned, I’m the most ferocious in my family.” She ended with fighting stance, jumpin up and down on her feet with her front hooves raised.

“Not you, the dragon. Where is the dragon that owns this hoard?” I was getting irritated with her at this point.

“I’m the dragon, silly.” She followed with another roar into the giant conch.

What?	

“So you’re the ‘dragon’ that’s been terrorizing these lands?” I was dumbfounded.

“Well, my parents used to do the terrorizing, but they left for the migration. They left me in charge of the hoard.” She smiled, and began playing with some gold coins. 

“…Your parents are dragons.”

“Yup.”

“…They left on migration.”

“Mmhmm.”

“…And left you with this hoard.”

“Rightio Jacko.”

“But you’re a pony.”

She huffed, “Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m not a pony, I’m a dragon. Just like my brother, and my mom, and my dad.” She adopted an irritated look and sighed. “I may not be as big as them, but mom and dad say I’m a dragon like everyone else. I may not breathe fire, but dad got me this voice amplifier for my birthday.” She motioned towards the conch. 

“It makes me sound like my dad so that bad people will stay away. But if someone…” She gave me a deathly stare, “were to come and try to take the hoard, I could beat them up.” 

This was all too weird for me. First I nearly die from getting my ass handed to me by a Beta. Then when I come to kill a dragon to allow my friends to get away, I find out it’s a crazy pony that thinks she’s a dragon. 

“Well, if you’re not goin to terrorize anyone, I guess I’ll be on my way then.” I wanted to get out of here. This day was gettin to be a might long.

“NO. I mean no, please stay. I get so lonely in here. The migration was 10 years ago, and they have another 10 to go before they come back. Can’t we just talk?” She looked so downtrodden. 10 years of bein alone must have taken a number on her, it would have done the same to me. I took sympathy on her and agreed to stay for a lil.

“Alright, I’ll stay, but I can’t be too long or my friends will get worried.” She immediately perked up. She bounced around and made a table and chairs out of assorted gold ornaments and precious metals. When she was done she motioned for me to sit.

As we sat, I felt a bitin on my leg. I looked down to see a small turtle, or tortoise reaching to devour my leg.

“You have a turtle?” I asked, confused as to why she had a pet, let alone one that was supposed to be near water.

“What? No, don’t be silly. That’s Death Bringer, my cheetah.” As if to exemplify things, the tortoise began to attack my leg again.

What?

At this point, I just threw it up to her bein bat shit crazy.

“So what’s your name, dragon?” I asked, might as well start somewhere.

“Oh! I’m Toni, but my brother calls me ‘Toni the Pony,’ mom always said it was a joke, but I think he thinks I’m a pony too. Just like you. Well I don’t mean just like you, you have horns and are hairy, and only have two hooves, and now I’mstartingtorunoutofbreathsoI’mgoingtostoptalking..” She inhaled heavily. This is going to be a long ‘lil bit’.


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


Four hours and a lot of information about Toni later, my eyes were beginning to droop. She had told me about how dark shadowy forms had destroyed the town she used to live in when she was little. How her dragon parents took her in out of the kindness of their hearts. She mentioned that the village she lived in was a draconic town, but I’m guessin it was a pony settlement. She talked about how she got her cutie mark, and what it means. Apparently, her special talent is bein friendly to fire. When I asked her what she meant she lit a mahogany desk on fire with some matches, and stood in the center. 

Miraculously nothin happened. She kept talkin and talkin about how she couldn’t get hurt by fire. When I stepped into the blaze as well, she about had a heart attack.

“No, no, no. You’re too hairy, I have scales under the fur, I’ll be fine. But you’re going to get hurt.” Her concern was amusin, but when nothing happened, I found myself regrettin showin her my talent.

“Oh My Gosh! You are part dragon too! This means that we can hang out without my parents getting upset.” Her enthusiasm was palpable. 

“Well, I’ll come by whenever I can. We can hang out then.” It was about to get dark, and I still had a long way to walk. 

“Oh, please don’t leave, Death Bringer was just starting to warm up to you.” She pouted as the shelled creature, who was tryin to bite my hoof, unsuccessfully. 

“I need to return home Toni. My friends will already be worried about me.” I stood to go.

Toni ran and tackle hugged me to the ground.

“Ok, if you have to go, then at least let me give you something. A present, then when you come back you can give me a present.” She leaped off me and dove into the mountain of valuable goods. I was expecting a gold ornament, or a fancy jewel; but what flew out of the mound was nothing shiny.

A black scale shot out of the mountain and impaled itself into the ground at my feet. Soon it was followed by more. All in all, about 30 toilet bowl sized disks sat at my feet. 

“What are these?” I asked, assuming Toni would hear me.

“They’re my dad’s scales. He shed them when he went on migration. Something about ‘you need to have a nice coat if you want to seem intimidating.’ He said they were harder than almost all other scales, or even metals. So, since you don’t have a weapon, you can make one from these.” She gathered them all up into a large satchel that barely fit over my back.

“Ok, now when you come back, you bring me a present.” I said I would and waved goodbye to the crazy pony as I made my way down the mountain, and towards home. 


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


It was well into the night when I arrived at the outskirts of town. The weight of the scales made travel slower than I thought.
Minnie’s gonna be pissed with how late I am.

I trudged into town, expecting her to come lashin out at me for scarin her. When I got to the town center though, something was goin on.

Around the fountain that acted as a center point of the settlement was a large number of people rallying around a burning post. Quick was on top of the fountain, screamin and hollerin to the crowd.

“…Then he took off the fight it on his own. Damn fool. He’s probably been dead for hours now. He was my mate! He was your mate! Vengeance will be ours!” He was gettin the mob really riled up. I saw Minnie, Killian, and even the Peaches in the mist of them. I could only figure he was talking about me. True, I had been gone for hours. True, if it had been a dragon I probably would be dead. But I was fine, I was here. No one had noticed me yet.

“Who’re we gonna wreak vengeance on?” I yelled it loud enough for everyone to hear me, givin a stupid big grin. 

A cheer broke from the crowd as everyone piled to hug me, give me a highfive, or a slap on the back. Quick fought his way through the crowd and pulled me into a tight, brotherly hug. 

“Where were ya mate? You scared the bejesus out of me.” He was laughing while he said it, clearly relieved. 

“Just gettin to know a dragon.” I let the bag drop, spilling the scales on the ground. A gasp escaped the crows as everyone looked at what I had brought.

“You mean to tell me that up on that mountain, was a black dragon?” Gear Head popped through the crowd, levitating one of the disks to have a better look.

“Yes, and no. Why? Are they some sort of evil?” I was confused. If it was an evil dragon that was Toni’s dad, then why did he take her in?

“Not exactly. Although black dragons are seen as evil, they can be good. But to become a black dragon, a dragon needs to eat nothing but diamonds and obsidian for centuries. They are considered some of the most powerful creatures in the world. To break the scale of a black dragon, although some say is impossible, you need to have the scale of an even older black dragon.” Gear Head was about to go on, but I stopped him.

“So can we make weapons and armor from this stuff or what?” I kicked a scale lightly.

Smoke came out of nowhere with, “Just give me some time and I’ll get something ready. The secret is to work around the scale. Your battle axe is done by the way.” With that he gathered up the scales and headed towards his forge. 

“Damn ninja” I whispered to myself.

After the excitement dwindled, it was just me, Quick, Minnie, and Gear. Everyone else either had work in the mornin, or were just plum tired. 

“How about a drink for the slayer of dragons?” Quick said, walking me and the others to the bar.

I sheepishly looked at him, “about slayin that dragon…”

> Spirit Inferno
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Spirit Inferno



“So there never was any dragon, mate?”

“No, there were dragons, but they left for the migration.”

“They just left her there? I would never leave Tin anywhere”

“She was adopted…”

“Well, it’s logical that the parents would leave the black sheep at home, even if they loved her as much as their own born. Somebody needed to guard the treasure.”

“I wouldn’t say she was guarding it, more like watching.”

Quick, Minnie, Gear, and I were sittin in the bar. I had just told them what had happened in the cave, and we were laughin at the whole thing. We had already had a few rounds and were all around havin a good time. There were other patrons at Lime’s liquor, but for the most part, we were alone. 

“Why don’t we just go up there and take the money? She won’t pose much of a threat. And I could use a new porch on my home.” I gave Quick a hard stare. 

“We’re not thieves Quick, and she’s too sweet of a girl. You wouldn’t take a baby’s candy would you?” He laughed and shook his head.

“We should go visit her. I’ll bring her some cupcakes. Does she eat regular pony food?” Minnie asked a good question. Did she eat pony food? All I saw up there was the pile of treasure.

“I don’t know. There was only the gems and gold.”

A new round came, so we sat in silence, thinkin it over.

“I would assume she eats grass off the mountain. There’s no way a pony can survive by eatin gems. It would destroy her stomach.” Gear, like always, was probably right. We let the subject drop. 

“Well I don’t know about yall, but I’ve had a long day. Gettin the tar kicked out of me, then dealin with Toni ‘the pony’ has taken its toll. I’ll see yall tomorrow.” I stood as I was talking. Minnie gave me a hug and I left, headin home. 

The next mornin came with a crow callin out that mornin had come. Yet another dream came that night. This one had somethin to do with Quick. But as I tried to remember it, somethin stole it from my memory. I shrugged it off and headed to work.

The walk to the orchard was somethin I had taken for granted. The way the path shot straight through the trees that flanked either side made you think that the walk would last forever. It was a shame it didn’t. The smell of the peaches, along with the chirps and chitters from birds and critters made the walk more relaxin than I had ever experienced.  The dirt road led strait to the ranch house, which was where I was headin, already I could see the blue of the gabled roof on top of the blue plantation style home. Although I was sad the walk was comin to an end, there was work to do.

I walked up to the table and bench where we had our usual group meetins before we started the day. I believe we needed to pick the north orchard that day. As I sat down, waitin for the boys to show up I noticed somethin was off. 
Quick was usually here first, since he could fly, travel was a lot easier for him. Also Mr. Peach would be out readying the tools we would need. Where was everybody?

I heard a noise from inside and my instincts went haywire. I could smell the scent of somethin burnin. There was slight movement in one of the windows located in the kitchen. The sound of a shriek was all I needed to barge into the home and tear towards the kitchen. 

What I saw inside I didn’t expect. 

There on the counter, was a cake. A burnt cake. Next to it, a frightened Peach Fuzz standin next to Peach Flower. Fuzz had a band aid on his leg, and tears in his eyes. 

“Sup.” Was all I could say. 

Fuzz giggled and went in for a hug. He wrapped himself around my leg, I gave him a pat on the head.

“Sorry Bronze, Fuzz was trying to bake you a cake to say thanks. But he cut himself while trying to cut the cake. When I smelled the smoke and saw the blood on the ground I got scared.” Mrs. Peach explained.

“I’m sure it’ll still taste good though.” Fuzz said.

I laughed as I heard the flap of wings from outside. Quick walked inside and let out a huff. 

“You were supposed to be late. Didn’t Gear stop you on your way in?” I didn’t remember sein gear at all on the walk.

“No. Were yall settin up a surprise party for me?” Fuzz giggled on my leg.

“Well now it’s just a party.” He detached himself from me, and grabbed some lemonade. 

We went outside and began to eat the cake in the sunshine. Although I don’t suggest eatin burnt sweets first thing in the morning, it was still tastey. Mr. Peach joined us after a few minutes, he was in his study goin over schedules and forgot about the whole thing. 

After we had cleaned up, we saw two ponies comin up from down the road. As they got closer we noticed it was Gear and Smoke. Smoke had a cart with him, and as they got closer I saw why.

Inside the cart were some of the coolest things I had ever seen. Smoke must have been doin some intense work last night, because the cart was loaded down with dark weapons and armor. There was a sword made from smaller scales that were stacked on top of one another, givin it a shark tooth look. There was a Battle axe made of two of the larger scales on opposite ends of a dark wood handle. There was also a chest-plate set for me, made of the heavier scales. It looked like Daedric armor form Skyrim (what I used to play video games). There was also a chain-mail like set for Quick that was a bunch of the smaller pieces sown together into a leather chest piece. It had holes for his wings, and seemed to give him enough flexibility as he needed to fly. What was left were scraps of broken scales.

“Holy crap, Smoke! How did you do this in one night? It must have taken a lot of work.” I held to battle axe in one hand, swinging it back and forth. I also grabbed the armor and slid it on. The weight felt good, comfortable even. The axe sliced through the air like butter. 

“Well after I grabbed the scales from you, I threw the steel stuff out. I knew that dragon scale would be the only thing for two heroes to use and wear. The only problem I had was breaking the pieces down into usable sizes…” 

“That’s where I come in.” Gear started, “When we left the bar last night, after coming up with your surprise party plans, I went over to Smoke’s shop to see if I could bring you your battle axe as a present. He said it was garbage and showed me the plans for the dragon scale. Although nothing he did broke them down. That’s when I had a brilliant idea. I grabbed the thickest scale, the one that acts as your chest-piece, and smashed it into one of the other scales. Since the thicker scale has mo...” Smoke cut him off.

“If you start going on about diameter, and thickness to hardness ratios and what not I’m gonna hit you again.” At this Gear rubbed his head.

“The point is,” Smoke continued, “once the pieces were down to size, I had Mr. Unicorn here help with making them. Turns out having levitation makes metallurgy a lot easier.” Gear beamed with pride. 

I glanced at Quick. He had his sword in hand, and was swingin it to test its length. After he was done he donned his armor, and had begun to do backflips. He stopped and looked at me, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Me an you are going to be unstoppable, mate.” He punched my arm and laughed.

“don’t forget about me.” Gear said, walkin up with the shards form the cart in his magical grasp. 

“What’re you gonna do with them?” Quick asked. Gear smiled, and began hurlin the shards at one of the dead trees we were supposed to take down tomorrow. Not only did they stick, but some of them flew right through. By the time he was done, the tree had a nice hole through the center. He turned to me an Quick, grinning as the pieces levitated back to him, and the tree collapsed.

“Wow.” Was all I got out of my mouth. I had never seen Gear use his magic offensively. He also pulled out a lil helmet that had a hole drilled through it for his horn. The helm was covered in shards of dragon scale, too small to use in the makin of Quick an mines armor an weapons. The thing looked like a football helmet without the mask. I immediately busted out laughin. 

“What are you laughing at? The inherent magical properties of the dragon scale permit me to concentrate my magic more clearly through my horn. Allowing me to engender a far superior quantity of magical essence.” He stated, matter-of-factly.
Me an Quick looked at him curiously, when he took notice he sighed.

“It may look silly, but it gives me more magic.” Quick and I did our ‘Ohs’ and left it at that.

We spent the next few hours in a part of the orchard that was due to be taken down. The forest of dead and rottin trees was no match for our new weapons. I cleaved, Quick hacked, and Gear slung. We were done with three days’ work in two hours. 
As we walked back to our respective homes, havin spent the majority of the day trainin with our new weapons of death and mayhem.

“I’m gonna see how many melons I can cut through with this baby.” Quick exclaimed, wavin his new sword threw the air. The sword, although havin been put through the ringer, was still incredibly sharp. It sang as it sliced the air, accompanied by a radical laugh from Quick. 

“I don’t think this baby will ever get dull.” He began gettin reckless with his new blade, comin within inches of Gears face.

“Hey! Watch where you’re spinning that thing. You could have taken my eye out.” Gear was pretty upset, understandingly so.

“Aw don’t worry mate, I wouldn’t hurt ya.” He laughed and continued, “I’m gonna call ‘em Polar glacies. Polar Ice in the ol’ language. I’m gonna tear through some buggas with this one.” He swung again, but this time the air around the sword sprouted ice from his grip that raced down the blade ‘till the thing was coated with frost. He dropped it and stepped back. 

“What the hell was that?” Quick stepped back, as did Gear and I. 

We stared at the sword, confused and concerned. What if all our dragon scales randomly froze over? We all must have had the same thought, ‘cause we stripped down quicker than a college chick at the beach.

We sat there dumbfounded for what seemed like hours before Quick decided to break the silence.

“Well I guess Polar Ice is appropriate for ‘em, but it doesn’t look like the scales are gonna randomly freezer burn your feathers.” He put his armor on, and grabbed his sword. True enough the thing didn’t freeze, though it was another ten minutes before Gear and I put our scales on.

After we felt comfortable with our new “protection” we started down the path again. 

“Well what’s your axe gonna be named Mate? Bet you can’t beat Polar glacies.” Once again his sword froze over, and found itself in the dirt. Instead of freakin out, like Quick and I, Gear got a look on his face. He would get the look from time to time, but only when he thought he figured something out. 

“What is the sword’s name again?” Gear asked Quick.

“Polar Ice.” He said, confused as to where he was goin from here.

“And what is the language you originally used? The old language was it?” He quipped.
“It’s just called the ol’ language. That’s what my mother said. She taught me a few words. She used to be a linguistics professor at a snobby pony school in Manehattan. She passed on a few years ago, which is the whole reason I’m out here in the middle of the jungle.” Quick was about to go off on a tangent, but was stopped by Gear.

“My condolences for your mother Quick, but can you say the swords name in the old language?” Quick complied, and nothin 
happened. It sat on the ground, lookin menacing.

“Interesting. Now could you hold the sword?” Quick did as he was asked, although nervously.

“I see,” Gear stated, “now could you say the name again?” 

Quick nodded and braced himself. 

“Polar glacies”

The sword was once again began to become an icicle. Quick almost dropped it again, but steadied himself. After a minute of lookin like he was gonna shit himself, he said in a quiet voice,

“Can I drop it now?”

“Why? Does it feel cold?” Gear asked, obviously onto somethin.

“Well…no. Actually I don’t feel anything. This is really weird guys.” He looked less freaked, and once again began playin with the swordcicle.

“Wow I’m really gonna be unstoppable with a magic sword.” His excitement poured from his eyes onto the dragon scale blade. Meanwhile, Gear was smilin like an idiot. 

“You never answered my question Bronze, what are ya gonna name your lass?” He pointed towards my behemoth battle axe. I didn’t quite know. Although I wanted something cool, like Polar Ice, I wanted it to be original. Somethin from the heart, but conveyed that I mean business. I gave it some thought and donned a stupid grin.

“Spirit Inferno.” I proudly said.

Both my companions looked at me, and laughed.

“Spirit Inferno? Why not Fairy Fire? Or…or Queen Blaze?” Quick choked through breaks in his laugh.

Gear wasn’t as hysterical as Quick, but was still chucklin enough to have to take a minute to ready himself before speakin.

“Now as I do believe that Spirit Inferno is a very compelling name, why not something more robust? Something like Dragon Bane, or perhaps Peacemaker?” He said the two names in a deeper, manlier voice, puffin out his chest and lookin like a hero on a comic book cover.

“I like Spirit Inferno. When I was gettin the tar kicked out of me by that beta, it was Fuzz’s cries for help that got my sorry ass up. It lit a fire in my soul, which allowed me to gather the strength to win. Spirit Inferno will be her name, an y’all can just shutch’er mouths bout it.” I wasn’t mad. I knew they would laugh at first, and hearin my explanation caused them to quiet down.

Gear nodded, and agreed that it was a suitable name for such a fine weapon.

Quick called me a fairy and left it at that.

Once again, for what seemed like the millionth time that day, we started down the trail. 


“So Quick, what’s ‘Spirit Inferno’ in the old language if you mind me asking?” Gear started.

“Well, I believe it’s Spiritus Infernalis, why?” Quick adopted a questionin glare and looked over at Gear.

“From what I know about dragon scale, I can tell you that it can hold, or repel massive amounts of magic. Just as it allows me to focus my magic through guidance, I believe it can focus your magic through the scale.” He paused before goin on, “There is a griffin up north, Griffin the griffin, who has been able to use magic, even though he does not have a horn. Some believe he is an alien, while others say he is blessed by the gods. I however believe that he is simply a genius. He was somehow able to concentrate his inherent magical properties into a controlled environment; just as a unicorn would with his horn. I believe we just figured out his special little trick for how he does it.”

He beamed at Quick and I, not understandin that we were barely able to take in his whole dissertation.
Gear sighed and looked at Quick.

“What were you thinking about when you said your sword’s name out loud?” Quick adopted a thinkin face.

“I guess I was thinking about my sword freezing my enemies in battle. Just like the frozen north freezes people.” Gear nodded in understanding, then looked to me.

“Say Spiritus Infernalis while thinking of Fuzz, and other loved ones you fight for.”

I had to pause on the road, and think hard. My face scrunched as I pictured the lil guy runnin up an down the orchard. I pictured Minnie with Tin smilin at me on Tin’s birthday. I saw New Findings for the first time again, on that hill overlookin the valley.

“Spiritus Infernalis”

My axe erupted into a dark orange flame, engulfin the entire thing from hilt to scale. I looked at it amazed, wonderin how somethin that must be so hot, can feel so normal. I looked at Gear and Quick to find them starin at me in shock.

I looked down and realized that my entire body was coated in flame.

“Well that’s interestin.” I stated. 

Quick just laughed. 

“Maybe I should have named my sword something that would allow me to burst into flames, huh mate?” He went to slap me 
on the back, only to snap his claw to his chest. “Damn Bronze, you about damn near burnt my talon off!”

As he was nursin his talon, Gear came over and started scannin me with his magic.

“It would appear as though your body’s exterior temperature is that of 3500 degrees celsius. That’s about as hot as your average bonfire. However, your internal readings show an average 48 degrees, like any healthy minotaur would have.” It wasn’t until this point that I realized that I never told them about my resistance to fire.

“There’s nothin unusual ‘bout that hoss.” They looked at me curiously. “Well I’ve always had a resistance to fire. Hell, I can put my hand in lava.”

Both Gear’s and Quick’s jaws hit the ground in a comedic fashion. Quick was the first to recover.

“Why haven’t ya told us about this before, mate?” 

“It hasn’t come up in the past.” 

The fire was startin to get a lil annoyin so I dropped the axe. It hit the ground with a whump and sputtered out along with my body.

Gear, now with his jaw back into place, started scannin me again with his magic.

“That’s odd, there’s no spell on you. Not even a hint of magic, except for your inherent abilities.” He started to mumble to 
himself about equations an once again we started down the road.

“I still think that being fire proof is something to late your buddies know mate.” Quick sounded a lil hurt, an I couldn’t blame him. If I found out he could produce a sonic rainboom, I would be hurt as well.

“Sorry bud, it hadn’t crossed my mind in quite a while.” I dropped my head in shame. 

Quick patted me on the back an said, “Don’t worry, I just wished you would have told me earlier. Do you know how much fun we could have with this?”

As we reached the end of the orchard, and came to the crosswalk where we usually said our ‘see you laters’, Gear nearly jumped out of his coat with excitement.

“We need to run tests! I need to know how much heat you can withstand.” With that he pushed me towards his home with ample force. 

Just as the sun was settin we reached his home. I had never been there before, somethin about him not wantin us to meet his mom. The cottage didn’t look anythin out of ordinary, save or the giant laboratory slapped on the side. It looked like somethin out of “Dextor’s Laboratory”. The obvious metal leach dwarfed the house by at least 4 stories. It had a giant telescope that poked from the dome on its roof. Wires ran magical electricity through the complex, somethin I’m sure the 
mayor wouldn’t like to hear about.

We went inside with Gear nearly slammin the front door off its hinges.

“Mom I’m home! And I have guests!”


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


The moon could just barely be seen from the hole in the dome where the telescope peered through. It had to be 3am judging by its position. I was too tired to notice the class enclosed box around me risin in temperature as I gazed at the magnificent globe in the sky.

“That’s 3000 kelvin.” I heard Gear yell through the glass. The blaze around me was barely noticeable as the air started to burn. It was a good thing the tungsten gas mask was continuously supplyin me air, or instead of burnin, I would suffocate.

“Don’t ya think that’s hot enough, I don’t feel anythin an I want to go to sleep.” I was dead tired, an I still had work in the mornin. Quick had decided he had enough of a night, an went home around midnight. 

The blaze died down, and the door opened. 

“Well that’s enough for today I guess. But we must do further tests. You said that a young black dragon blew fire on you in close quarters. Dragon flame is about as hot as the surface of the sun! That’s 5778 kelvin! Your ability could let you withstand any fire based magical attack.” Before he started to ramble I cut in with a goodbye, and let myself out.

As I was passin through Gear’s home, I saw his mother for the first time. She was an older mare with a black coat and charcoal mane. Her cutie mark depicted a beaker full of green liquid spillin out into a puddle.

“Oh! Hello there. I’m Test Tube, you must be one of Gear’s friends.” She said, givin me a smile.

“uh, yes ma’am. I was just seein myself out.” I motioned towards the door. 

“Oh well I hope you had fun. Gear doesn’t get a lot of friends to come over. He just spends his time in his room, tinkering with his little toys. I wish he would go out and see the world like I did when I was his age.” She drifted off, probably recallin a few good times she had. When she focused back on me, she gave a slight chuckle, “Sorry dear, I’ll let you go. Have a safe trip home.”

She walked back into the livin room, mutterin somethin about energy bills.

With that I left Gear’s house, and headed back to my humble abode. The walk didn’t take too long, given I was carryin my armor an axe.

As I laid my head onto my pillow, I couldn’t help but think things were gonna be ok.

I was wrong.

> Devastation, Death, and Disorder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Devastation, Death, and Disorder 



One week after the last raid on the town.

One week after Quick an I saved the children.

One week is all it took for Steel Fang, the alpha of the Metal Mongrels, to hear about his second beta’s death. 


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


Somewhere in the waists, deep into bandit territory, a mighty howl was loosed from the lips of a mightier beast.
Lesser mutts cowered at the sound of their ruler’s anger. All around the underground city ears were laid flat against heads, and tails found their home between legs. Only a select few were seen standing tall and calm against the fury that was their alpha.

These were Steel Fang’s Special Forces. The diamond dogs stood with no fear in their hearts. They were neutered to prevent them from feeling any emotion. Their eyelids were cut off so that they were always able to keep watch on their prey. All were of the doberman breed. All were relentless killers. 20 cold blooded creatures stood at attention. 

Each of them was watched over by a group leader. These ‘leaders’ were nothing more than the mind of the hunting party. 
They controlled five of the Dobermans. They were of all different breeds, but all had wit about them.

They had been gathered in the throne room before the alpha so that he may send them on a glorious hunt. The alpha was barely visible, having most of his body submerged in shadow.

“I want that Bronze Hoof’s head before me! Track him down, make him suffer! Whoever kills the beast will become my new Beta. I will shower you with jewels and bitches. Now go! Go my hunters, bring me my prey.” 

With their command given, each of the packs tore off into the dark tunnels that made the city.

Steel Fang smiled, and relaxed into his gold throne. 

Soon this pain in the ass minotaur will be gone, and nothing will stand in his way of taking New Findings.

A maniacal laugh erupted from the throne room, reaching down the corridors. It chased the hunting parties out of the caves, and into the night.


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


“We should continue our tests.” Exclaimed an exhausted Gear Head as he slumped onto the ground after haulin baskets full of peaches from the east orchard to the storage area.

It had been a week and a half since we ran our last testin period, and I was not very ecstatic about goin through another. 
I laid the handles of the cart I had been carryin onto the ground. The dozens of baskets holdin thousands of peaches bounced a bit from the landin. The settin sun gave the peaches a golden shine as it neared its slumber. I stretched my arm, careful not to pinch my fur with the armor I was wearin. 

Quick and I had taken to wearin our scales while workin. It not only let us build up some muscle, but allowed us to become more comfortable in the bulky articles. 

“I don’t know why you’re so eager to test again, we already reached the maximum heat your lil machine can put out. What else could we do?” I had built up a thin layer of perspiration, and was excited to get home and eat.

“There are dozens more tests you can take. There’s testing your blood for anything out of the ordinary, taking a sample of your skin to see if it has anything special, and seeing if an open wound would still carry out the same fire resistant properties of your unmarred flesh.” I gave him a questionin glare. The latter tests didn’t sound so appealin. 

“How ‘bout, for now, we just nock it up to the gods smilin on me?” Gear shook his head, about to complain that more tests were necessary to determine my abilities potential when Quick landed on the ground.

“What’s up guys?” He dropped the last two baskets on the ground, and walked over to the water spigot and began pumpin the glorious liquid onto his head.

“How ‘bout we talk about this some other time?” I asked Gear, usin Quick’s arrival as a sign to head home.

“Fine. But this isn’t over.” He huffed and began to drench his mane in the water.

I chuckled and waited for them to be done before we made our way down the path.


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


The cover of night barely illuminated the hounds as they came over a cliff that over looked the city. The pack was well ahead of the other four since their leader was too ruthless to let them sleep. The silent Dobermans layed down, panting their heart out. Although they were the most athletic group, they were no match for their leader’s dexterity. 

One Eye, the leader of the group was of the Weimaraner breed, and was made for running. Although his vision was impaired from a losing his right eye in a scrap, he was one of the most dangerous dogs in the den. He was ruthless, and always had his eye on the big picture. He trained his team of “pups”, as he called them, brutally. 

One Eye laid on the ground, the pack following suite. 

“We’ll take a break. We’ll watch the prey, know the prey. Only when we are ready to strike will we go in for the kill.” The Dobermans growled in understanding.

One Eye was a clever dog, the second smartest in the den, save for Steel Fang. When he heard of the other Betas falling to the eternal sleep, he knew his time had come.

He ran his pack harder than he had ever run them, just to make sure he was here a full 2 days before the others.

The scar running up the right side of his face curled, and scrunched as he smiled.

“Soon Mr. Hoof. Soon.”


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


As I made my way down the path to work, I couldn’t help but feelin watched. I constantly glanced over my shoulder, paranoia makin sure I was on edge.

“You ok Bronze?” Gear piped up. “You’ve been acting funny since we started into the orchard.”

“Yeah I’m fine, I just feel like I’m bein watched.” The usually invitin trees now only looked like cover for somethin to hide behind. 

“I don’t know what you mean. I feel just fine.” He levitated a peach from one of the trees, and bit into it.

“Maybe you’re ri…” somethin moved off to my right. When I looked there was nothin, but if there was somethin, I wasn’t gonna be taken by surprise.

I stopped on the path, and began to put on my armor. I did so quickly, nerves makin me a lil shaky while doin so.

“Don’t you think it’s a little early for that? We still got a long way to walk.” Gear was about to go on before I shushed him.

“I saw somethin on the right. Don’t look, you might spook it. I think it might be a mountain lion, or a bear.” His pupils shrank. 

Gear had always been afraid of bears, he let me and Quick know every day about his phobia. 

I set the last strap into place and reached for my axe. Just as I grabbed its stem, and unhitched it from the back of my armor, 
a dog jumped out from behind a tree, and went for my throat. 

On instinct I swung my axe down, smackin it into the ground with the flat side.

It whimpered just in time for another mutt to lunge for me. Unfortunately for the dog, I was wearin my scales.

I blocked its bite with my plated arm, breakin a few of its teeth. I grabbed its hind leg with my free hand, and threw it into a tree.

Gear started screamin and runnin away. He didn’t carry his helm or shrapnel with him, he said it was too heavy for an everyday thing. He usually kept it in the Peach’s barn, and right now he was defenseless. Luckily for him, the hounds only seemed interested in me.

Just as I got on top of the first dog to lay some blows on it, three more sprouted from the trees, and sprinted for me.


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


One Eye watched from the the jungle as Jaw Pincer released his hounds onto the minotaur. Pincer had apparently arrived at the town before sunset and made his foolish plan. 

One Eye inwardly sighed. 

How could somehound be so stupid? Not only did Pincer allow his Doberman to be seen, probably from lack of training, but he let the beast don his armor! 

One Eye watched as Pincer’s mutts were hacked to pieces by the minotaur. Although he enjoyed the notion that there would be less competition, Mr. Hoof will be aware of the price on his head. His job just got a lot harder.

He told his dogs to draw back, this wouldn’t be the day that he would win his glory. He looked over his shoulder, just in time to see Jaw Pincer’s lower jaw cut off and his throat caved in.

“Soon we will meet Mr. Hoof. I look forward to it.”


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


I panted as I killed the last of the mongrels, his blood spatterin my scales. As I scanned the area for more attackers I heard the whumph of Quick landin next to me. His sword was drawn and armor on, he looked ready for a fight. 

He scanned the carnage that spread over a 10 foot radius. Blood and gore was thrown against trees and dirt alike. Quick let out a high whistle.

“You really did some work here mate. Are there any more?” He began readyin his himself for an attack.

“They’re out there, I saw some shadows in the jungle outside the orchard before you showed up. We better be gettin to the house to make sure everyone’s alright.” With that we ran off towards the Peach’s residence.

As we arrived we saw Peach Flower and the kids scuryin into the plantation style home. Mr. Peach and Gear were out front, arguin about somethin. 

“Somepony needs to go into town and tell the militia that there is an attack.” Gear Head was explainin to Mr. Peach. 

“Yes but I need you here if more show up. I’m no good in a fight, and you have your shards and that helmet of yours. You’re the only one that can stop them…”

Mr. Peach caught site of me and Quick, smilin brightly.

“You guys made it! So the problems gone?” The look on my face told him that another attack was imminent.

“I doubt it’ll be today, but soon there will be more.” I asked Mrs. Peach for a glass of water through the window. She nodded and disappeared from view. “There was somethin different ‘bout these dogs. All of them were Doberman, except for one. 

They seemed for violent and trained then the others we’ve fought.” 

Mr. Peach and Gear’s faces turned ashen. 

Quick hung his head, and said, “Those were Steel Fang’s special forces. They’re ruthless mutts only sent out when he thinks he has a real problem. Considering they attacked you, I’m guessing he wants you gone, mate.”

I let the information sink in. It didn’t occur to me that I would be focused on, or that there even was a special forces. I was under the impression that the mutts just had a rag-tag group of hounds they sent out whenever they needed somethin. 

“Well at least the problem is focused on me, I saw another group in the jungle when I finished off the first. Gear what do you think? Why wouldn’t they join in to take me down.” 

The unicorn thought for a minute before respondin. 

“You killed the beta on the mountain right?” I nodded, “Then the only thing that makes sense is that Steel Fang ordered groups of the hunting parties to kill you, the leader of the one that does would become the new beta. That is if he hadn’t already found a new beta, and just sent the killers in teams.”

Mrs. Peach came out with a couple glasses of water, along with a pitcher with ice. I drank heavily, replenishin my energy with a few gulps of cooled H2O.

As I finished the water I looked over at the peaches.

“I think it would be better if ya’ll would stay in town for tonight. At least until we know the problems gone.” They nodded and 
went inside to gather the kids and their belongins. 

“We need to go tell everyone to bunker down. Quick, can you go to all of the militia’s houses and tell them to get ready?” He took into the air, flyin high and fast towards town.

“Gear, we’re gonna stay with the Peaches until they’re safe, ok?” He agreed and went to the barn to get his helm and shards.

By the time he returned, the Peaches were ready. I put most of their belongins in a cart, grabbed the handles, and started down the path. 

Fuzz kept questionin what was goin on, his parents kept tellin him that they were goin to stay in town for the night because of the mice infestation in their home. Fuzz wasn’t that stupid, and finally pulled the truth out of his parents.

“Another attack?!” he nearly jumped out of his coat. The last abduction had given him a decent hatred for the mutts, and nightmares.

“You’re going to protect us, right Bronze?” I glanced back at him, smiling. 

“Of course buddy, I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you or your family.”

He smiled as I set his mind at ease. What he didn’t know, is that they weren’t the ones in danger, I was.


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


By the time we got into town, a crowd had formed in the center fountain. The militia was ready, and Quick was doin his whole ‘they’re gonna kill us, so we need to kill them’ speech, gettin them nice and riled up. I saw the militia leader in the group and he waved me over.

The head of the militia was Fence Founder, a tall unicorn stallion with a white coat and blonde mane. He used to be one of Celestia’s personal body guards before he retired to live a quiet life in the jungle. His baked goods shop in the heart of town was one of the best places to get cupcakes and other sweets.  When the dogs started to attack New Findings, he was the first to step up to protect the town. We always joked about how, in a fight, Fence would someday snap and throw cupcakes at the hounds. Today was no day for jokes though. 

When I got to where he was, he motioned me to the side where no one would hear us. 

“So we got a hit on you, huh stretch?” His rough voice reminded me of a drill sergeant, powerful and in charge.

“Yeah, Quick says the Doberman pack that attacked me were Steel Fang’s Special Forces. Although it wasn’t the hardest fight, they were pretty good.”

“Must have been a new group. These dogs are nothing to mess with son, they’re tactical and have no fear. Don’t expect all of them to put their necks under your blade. The one you really need to watch out for is the group led by the dog with one eye. In my experience he is the most dangerous. Be careful out there boy.” I nodded and made my way to the official buildin.
As I entered the buildin, I heard yellin from within the Mayor’s office. I approached the door, only to hear a familiar voice from within. 

“You can’t let Killian be in militia, he’s so small. He’d only be a hazard to those around him. He doesn’t know how to fight, let alone kill!” Minnie’s voice hollered through the oak door.

“I know that he isn’t that big, but we need all we can get. Besides, he signed up for it. It’s volunteer only.” The mayor’s oddly feminine male voice barely made its way to my ear.

“Well if he can join, so can I!” At this point I decided to let myself in.

The mayor was taken aback by my intrusion, at least until he registered it was me. His auburn mane was cut very stylish, as was his tail. His steel colored coat shined as always as he let out a breath he caught when I walked in.

“Oh, hello Bronze. Could you please tell Minnie here that her joining the militia is a bad idea.” I looked over at Minnie, givin her a hard look.

“Don’t you say a word, mister. Killian joined, and I’m stronger than he is. I need to protect my husband, and Tin.” I shook my head.

“If you’re out in the fray, whose gonna watch Tin, huh?” She looked down, ashamed.

“I just want my husband to come back to me. I was lost to him once, I don’t want his to be lost to me.” A tear fell down her face. I went over to her and hugged her tightly.

“Can’t you watch over him Bronze, just keep him near you, please.” I sighed.

“That wouldn’t be such a good idea. That’s actually why I’m here.” I let her go, and looked over at the Mayor, “The dogs that attacked me were a hit squad, and there will be more on their way. I need to go someplace out of town where I can hold up. Drag them into a bottle neck where they can’t surround me.” 

Minnie almost knocked me down with how hard she socked my chest. 

“Don’t you dare leave Bronze! This is your home! We are your family! Don’t you dare leave us behind.” She was cryin again. I tried to give her another hug, but she was still angry. “Besides, there’s nowhere that they can’t surround you. There’s no bottle neck point.” 

The mayor shot in, “There is one. The mountain where the dragon resides, or used to. There’s no way those dogs would be able to surround you. If what you say is true, and these mutts are killers, then they won’t know how to dig. They wouldn’t be able to come up behind you. Besides, if you really need to, you can get that pony that lives in the cave to help you. I’m sure she can do something that would act as a distraction.”

I thought it over, and he was right. The best play would be the one out on the mountain side. 

“Sounds good to me. I just need three volunteers. I’m sure I already have Quick, so I just need a magic user, and a long distance shooter.” They looked at me oddly. “Right, forgot that ya’ll aren’t in the militia. Minnie don’t join, and I’ll talk to Killian about it. I have to go, bye.”

As I made my way out into the streets I saw that Quick had done his job, and the Guerrillas were ready for battle. I motioned 
for Quick to come over to me. 

When he came over he slapped me on the back, “looks like the town wants to protect their new champion. Champion of the Jungle was it?” he let out a hardy laugh. 

“Well that’s good for them, but I’m takin this outside of town. If I’m the one they want, then I want to get the fightin as far away from the citizens as possible. I’m gonna be headin for the mountain, lead them into a bottleneck, but I need some help.”
Quick cut me off, “Don’t worry mate, I got your back.”

“As do I.” Gear popped his head out from behind me. “You guys don’t think I’d let my two best pals go out into a fight without me, do you?” 

He was already wearin his helmet, and had the shards in a satchel on his side. 

“I think this might be a lil dangerous for you Gear, I mean, you’re a thinker, not a fighter.” He huffed in the way that he does.

“I’m not going to let you two go off into some horrible fight without a little magic at your side.” He seemed so determined, I didn’t think we could persuade him to stay.

“Fine, but stay away from the fightin, I don’t want you gettin hurt.” He smiled, happy to be a part of the team.

“Well I was hopin for a bow for long range, but I guess this will have to do.” As we started off towards the forest, an arrow soured over my head, and into an apple hangin from a tree. 

I whirled around, searchin for the shooter. When I saw Killian holdin a bow, I almost laughed.

“You damn near took my head off, Kill. What’re you doin with a bow anyway?” He strode up to us.

“I heard you guys needed some range, so I’m here to help.” 

“Oh, no no no. If I get you hurt Minnie will kill me.” I didn’t think that bringin Killian into the fight would win me any brownie points with the temperamental woman.

“I ran into her outside of the Mayor’s office, she told me what you were doing. I already told her that I’m coming with you guys. You brought me back the love of my life, I’m not going to let you die out there. Minnie understands, she says the safest spot is with you anyway.” I went to cut him off, but he stopped me, “I’m coming with you either way. I’m the best shot in town with a bow, and you need me.”

He had me there, and without seein a way out of it, I had no choice.

So with my three friends we set out towards the mountain. The sun gave it a shadowy look, menacin even. I knew before the day was out, that trouble was comin. 


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


We made it to the mountain with no problems. Occasionally I saw shadows dart in and out of the trees, but there was no attack. As we made our way up the pass, we passed the spot where I had almost lost my life to the last beta. 

Blood was still stained in the dirt as we passed, whether it was mine or his was anyone’s guess. We didn’t go too much farther, I wasn’t gonna bring Toni into this as well. That lil mare would get herself hurt, and I didn’t want another liability. 
I glanced at Killian who was chattin with Gear about his position. We were puttin him ‘bout 20 paces up from us, out of the fray. We stopped where the path bended, able to see down the pass for a good hundred feet before the next turn blocked 
the path from our view. 

We didn’t bother lookin up the mountain, the only thing up there was another bend, and then the cave. Hopefully Toni would stay in there, and not make any dragon sounds. 

We waited, and waited. When the sun was nearin its sleep, they came.

Nineteen of the mutts rounded the corner. They were sniffin the ground, probably on our tail. When one looked up and growled, so did the rest. There were fifteen Dobermans, all but four sharp eyed and blood thirsty. Four of them were standin in front of the rest, obviously the ones who led them here. They were calmly eyein us, searchin for the chinks in our armor. The two other hounds were of different breeds, a Lab and Rottweiler. They were the leaders, each having command of four of the killers.

I hefted my axe, Quick twirled his sword, Gear grabbed some shrapnel with his magic, and Killian notched an arrow. 

The first to attack was the Rottweiler. He sent his team hurdlin at us. I heard Killian lose an arrow as one of them tumbled to a stop, the feathers stickin out of its eye. The others weren’t impressed, and continued to come. Just as the lab saw that the Rottweiler’s forces weren’t enough to handle us, he released his hounds. Four more of the barkin bastards were incomin. 

Just as Killian loosed another arrow the dogs were on us. One for me, one for Quick. I focused on my hound, swingin for his neck. He was quick though, and ducked underneath my strike. He head-butted my chest, makin me stumble back. He came in for a tackle when a piece of dragon scale clipped his side.

Gear let out a whoop, only to have the beast try and lunge for him. I grabbed it by the back leg, and threw it into the mountain side, just as another tackled me to the ground. 

It snapped at my face, tryin to bite my muzzle off. I summoned my strength and pushed the beast back enough so I could strike it with one of my horns. It saw this comin and jumped back, just as my steel covered bone came to where his head was. 
The dog bein off of me gave me enough time to grab my axe from where it had fallen next to me with my right hand. It came in for another try, only to have my left hand catch its throat. The one I threw into the mountain came in from the side. Slowly approachin my left, with a smile in its snarl.

I winked at the hound, swingin my axe over the pooch on top of me, and into its spine. It whimpered and fell. Meanwhile, the dog in my hand was beginin to lose consciousness. I pulled my axe out of the other, laid it next to me, and snapped the dog’s neck.

I let it fall to my side, then I stood up with axe in hand. The last of the attackin Doberman had Gear under its paws, bitin at his helmet. I glanced to see Quick finishin one off, but too far to help. 

As the mutt wrenched Gears helmet from his head, my axe sliced through the hound, and impaled itself into the mountain side. I relieved it from its rock home, and stood facin the pack leaders. 

Through the sweat in my eyes, I could tell they were livid. At once they both started sprintin across the gap between us. The four other Doberman stood quietly, watchin the pack leaders run to their prize. Before I had time to question why, the other dogs were on us. 

Where was Killian with a long range arrow when you need him. Or for that matter, why wasn’t Gear shootin shards at them?
Both the dogs leaped for me, only to have the Lab get tackled by Quick off the side of the mountain. 

The Rottweiler was heavier than I anticipated, and ended up knockin me on my ass. He grabbed one of my arms and held it to the side, only the have the other sock him in the jaw. I followed up with a head-butt. The Rotty, in his rage, went to bite my face, only to get a mouthful of horn. The sharp bone and steel pierced the back of his neck, severin the spinal cord.

Once again, I let the body slump to the side. I retrieved my axe, again, and glanced at the last four dogs. They were much closer, but still too far to jump me. They were however in a full sprint.

I was tired of this shit.

I roared, and ran out to meet the bastards.

I made contact with the first one, rammin my fist into his snout. Another came at me from the opposite side, before I had a chance to ready myself for another strike he but down on my wrist. A third came out of nowhere and did the same to my other hand. The one I punched had gotten up and struck the back of my legs, knockin me to my knees. 

Before I could register that I was down, the fourth came and began layin heavy blows on my torso and face.
Where the hell is everyone? I could really use some help.

A fist to the right side of my face sent me sprawlin on the ground. The mutts picked me back up, but now I was facin towards the others. What I saw made my heart sink.

All three of my friends were facin off against a diamond dog with one eye, and he was winnin.

Gear was already unconscious, havin looked like he was tossed against the mountain side. Quick and Killian were in an all-out brawl with the beast, Quick’s sword havin been lodged into the rock at Gear’s feet.

I watched as the dog punched Quick in the face, and with unnatural speed turned and elbowed Killian in the head.

I watched as the mutt grabbed Quick’s wrist, bent it down, and kneed him in the face. With immense strength, the dog picked 
the barely conscious Quick up, and threw him over the edge of the mountain. 

I watched as the mongrel beat Killian to a pulp.

I watched as the demon broke his neck.

Everythin slowed down, the fourth dog came back into my vision, but I wasn’t there. I was in my mind, replayin the death of my friend. 

A fire burned deep within me. Previous fights I had been in played in my mind’s eye as the inferno boiled my mind with rage.

The one part of my mind not taken over by hatred remembered what had happened when me and Quick said the names of our weapons, imaginin the fire and ice that came to life in our weapons. I was still wearin my armor, maybe if I imagined it burstin over with rage…

“Spiritus Infernalis”

The fire within me detonated, sendin flames a good 20 feet from where I sat. Immediately the dogs around me were vaporized. 


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


As I broke the neck of the poor excuse of a minotaur, I looked to see how my pups faired against the great prey. 

I smiled as I noticed him on the ground, being beaten by Gruff, my second in command. 
Everything had gone according to plan. 

When we found out he was going to this mountain as a way to thin our numbers, Gruff suggested that we lead the other packs here to wear the team down. I thought it was brilliant.

I told them to lead the other packs here while I wait in the cave at the top. The pony up there was unexpected, but she will make a nice new addition to Alpha’s slave hoards. I remembered her look when I put the bag over her head, fear and confusion crossed her features.

I loved that look.

And now here I was, with the prize of a life time, a whole mountain of treasure, and even black dragon scale armor for Steel Fang.

When I made eye contact with the beast, I heard him whisper something.

The ensuing fireball killed my men and flung me against the wall.

The pain from my leg raced through my body as I blacked in and out of consciousness. 

I saw Bronze Hoof breathing heavy from where he knelt.

*Black*

He was checking on the unicorn that I tossed aside.

*Black* 

He was leaning over the minotaur whom I slayed.

*Black*

He was standing over me.


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


Killian was dead.

Gear was hurt.

Quick was nowhere to be found.

And the piece of shit that had done all this was sittin against the mountain wall.

I walked over to him, this needed to end now.

“Wake up mutt.” I slapped him on the muzzle roughly a couple time before he came back into reality.

“Who put the hit on me?” the son of a bitch chuckled.

“Steel Fang of course. The alpha of the Metal Mongrels. You kept killing his betas, you needed to be stopped.” He coughed up some blood.

“Where is the den?” The anger seethin from my voice was palpable.

“Why would I tell you beast? I was to be the next beta. You have taken that from me. Now I am nothing.”

“You’re right. You are nothing.” In my anger I grabbed his front paw and broke it. He let out a howl of pain.

“That’s why you’re gonna tell me real quick, boy.” I grabbed his other paw, and twisted it into an unnatural angle. He let out another cry.

All emotion gone from my face, I poked the burn on his leg. Letting my nail scratch the nerve.

“Fine! Fine just stop. I’ll tell you!” I took my finger out, givin him a hard look.

“Just south of here is a path that will lead you to the waists. When you leave the jungle head south another mile where you will come to a volcano. Head east until you see a plateau. That is where the den is, that is where you will find Steel Fang. Now let me go!” 

I tilted his head up so he could see my eyes. 

“Who ever said anythin ‘bout you leavin?” His eyes widened, but before he could scream, I broke his neck.


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


I sat there, drained.

The bloody corpse next to me slumped to the ground. 

Steel Fang needed to be stopped. New Findings needed to be safe. My friends needed to be safe, The Peaches, Gear, Quick, Minnie…oh god Minnie.

I glanced over at Killian’s body. 

I pulled myself up, and limped to where he laid. 

His body was sprawled out in an unnatural position. His eyes wide in terror. 

That was the last thing he felt before leavin us. Terror.

Not again. No one else here will suffer from the injustice of the horrors animals like Steel Fang wrought upon the helpless. 
I heard a stirrin from behind, and glanced to see Gear openin his eyes.

He saw the carnage that was displayed on the mountain pass, and lowered his head. 

Shame crossed his features, he knew he had killed. He knew that these dogs might have had family. But that didn’t matter now.

We had a dead friend, and another missin. The deaths of the flea ridden scum didn’t compare to the urgency of findin Quick, and gettin home.

Gear noticed me leanin over Killian, and ran over.

“No no no no! This wasn’t supposed to happen. We were supposed to win. All of us.” He began cryin, weepin for our lost friend.

“Death never was something I dealt with easily.” Both me and Gear nearly twisted our necks at the new voice. Standin on the ledge of the mountain pass was Quick, bruised and beaten, but alive. “Killian was a good minotaur, and would have been a magnificent father.”

He walked over to us, and held Gear in a hug, lettin the lil pony wet his shoulder.

I told Quick what had happened. 

“I should have figured, Those other mutts were far too clever for my liking.” Quick had tears in his eyes, but wasn’t allowin any to fall.

“We should probably go check on Toni, make sure she’s alright.” I said. Me and Quick headed up the mountain and into the cave. 

Sure enough we found a bound and gagged Toni near the cave’s entrance. We released her, much to her gratitude and left. 

She tried givin us more gifts, but we refused. 

We made our way back down to Gear and Killian’s body.

“Come on ya’ll. Let’s go home.” I picked Killian up. Quick grabbed my axe, and we headed down the mountain, towards New Findings.


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


The ceremony that night was a bleak one. Killian’s wood casket was laid into the earth with the sound of cryin, and the wails of a new widow.

Most of the town was in attendance, all havin known the minotaur as a friend. Gear, Quick and I were bandaged, blood soakin through the gauze. Gear had a concussion, I had a few broken ribs, and Quick pulled a muscle in his wing.

The physical pain was hardly noticed. We were all too hurt in our hearts. 

Although I can’t be certain, I’m sure that the boys were feelin as guilty as I did. 

Maybe if I was a little faster, a little stronger. 

Maybe if I had thought to look up the mountain a lil way.

Maybe we should have stayed in town, let the people help us.

These thoughts ran through my head as the last of the dirt was piled on top of my friend. Things needed to change. Steel 
Fang needed to be stopped, along with all his hounds.

I headed home soon after, not wantin to see the pained looks Minnie kept givin me.

As I laid in my cold bed, one thing was clear to me.

Steel Fang was goin to pay dearly. 

> Metal Mongrels
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


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.”

> A New Hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


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.”

> The Road
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Road



First Arc: Present Revelations 




“I can’t believe I came with you guys. I mean, I know my mom said it’s good for me, but I can’t remember the last time I was out of New Findings.” Gear complained as we made our way through some thick brush that covered the road.

“It’s only been three hours Gear, we still got a long way to go. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna listen to you complain for two weeks.” I said. Although Gear was one of my friends, I couldn’t help but imagine tyin a rope around his muzzle.

“I’m sorry Bronze, but I don’t think we can make it all the way to Canterlot in two weeks. I mean, that would be insane. The usual trip is two months.”  

“I know, I’m talkin bout getting out of this jungle. If you complain when we’re on an open road in Equestria, I’m gonna kill you.” 

Gear stopped complainin for a few minutes after that.

“Gear’s got a point Bronze. Two months is a long way off, I don’t think the town has enough supplies for that long.” Quick said, slicin some vines out of our way.

“They have four months of food left since the peaches are doin what they can to feed the refugees. The guard will probably take three months with a caravan, so we need to make it there as soon as we can. The town’s countin on us boys, we can’t stop, or slow down.” I swung my axe into a fallen tree that was blockin our path, splinterin it to firewood.

“I know, which is why I came on this journey. I can’t let my mom die from starvation! Let alone the whole town.” Gear said, pickin his way through the wood pieces on the dirt road.

“Well, there ya go mate. Your mom needs ya, as does the town. Now, please, stop with the complaining.” Quick said, I wasn’t the only one who was tired of Gear’s shit.

“Fine.” Gear huffed, and stayed silent for a couple minutes before he asked, “Quick why don’t you just fly over the trees? I’m sure you would get there with time to spare. Why stay on the ground?” 

“I need to watch over you guys.” He chuckled, “but seriously, flyin that far and fast would be like you runnin the distance. I’m not that strong. Even in small bursts it would be hard. Besides, I don’t like them prissy ponies up in the big city. I met some when I was little, and wanted to tear their horns off.”

Gear gulped, and rubbed his horn like it was sore.

“You like me right?”

“Of course I like you mate.” Quick slapped him on the back, “you’re not some entitled lil shit.”

We made our way for another couple hours before we stopped for lunch, which consisted of a squirrel for Quick, and leave for me and Gear.

I watched Gear’s reaction as Quick chomped down on the lil fury creature. His face lost its color, and he turned away from the display. I knew the lil guy wasn’t as squeamish as some of the other herbivores in New Findings, but he still turned away from blood. 

I chuckled at his discomfort, and enjoyed my grass and leaf sandwich I had just made.

As we packed up, and started to head our, a scream emanated from behind us. The ground slowly began to shake, risin pebbles from the path.

We all turned, and gripped our weapons, ready for whatever was comin.

From a turn in the path a mile or so back came a pony bein chased by what I can only describe as a pack of beetles. 
They were about the size of Gear, only black, and protected by an outer shell. They had horns on their noses, like miniature rhinos. Their numbers swarmed over each other as they chased the pony, tramplein each other into the dirt to gain on the poor creature.

As they neared, I got a better look at the pony, and found her white coat and yellow Pinkie Pie style mane familiar. 

“Toni?” I asked to myself.

She noticed us, and waved while runnin.

“HI GUYS!” she yelled over the sound of the stampede behind her.

I looked at Gear and Quick, “Do you think we can take em?”

Quick looked at me, and shook his head.

“Too many, We’ll get crushed.” He began to take off his armor and handed it to me. “I’ll go get her, go up into the trees, they should just carry on without noticing our absence.”

He took to the air, shootin towards the crazy poni. I looked at Gear and smiled.

“You ready?” I asked.

“Ready for whaaaAAAAA” I picked him up and through him like a football into the top of the nearest tree. He landed on a branch with a thump, and clung to it for dear life.

I ignored him hollerin absentees at me as I clamored up the tree’s limbs to him.

I looked down just in time to see the first of the beetle herd pass by, followed by dozens of his kind. 

“Where’s Quick and Toni?” Gear asked.

“Up here.” Came a voice from above us. Quick was holdin onto Toni as she waved at me and Gear. Her smile was brilliant, despite just bein chased by giant bugs.

We sat in the tree until they were just a cloud of dust in the distance.

I looked up at Toni, “What are you doin here? You could have gotten hurt.”

She smiled and jumped from the tree, doin a summersault in the air, and landin gracefully.

“I was following you guys. I want to go on an adventure, and my brother said it was alright, so I followed you out here.” She flapped her wings excitedly. Wait, wings…

“Why didn’t you just fly up here instead of havin Quick come get you?” I said as the rest of us climbed down the tree. I was irritated at her, we could have gotten hurt.

“What’s the fun in that? They couldn’t catch me, so I wanted to lead them to you guys so you could save me like a damsel in distress.” She swooned, “besides, it was fun right?”

We looked at her incredulously.

“No, that wasn’t fun, and that doesn’t even make sense!” Quick said, a lil vile in his voice.

Toni looked down, “Oh, well I’m sorry Quick. I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

She looked at the griffin with the largest pouty, watery eyes imaginable. I watched as his mental fortitude crumbled under her onslaught of cuteness.

“Fine.” Quick sighed, “just don’t try to get in trouble with us.” 

Toni let out a squeal of approval and gave Quick a bear hug, humorously squeezin the air out of him.
When she let go he took in a deep breath.

“Now then, we don’t have time to sit here. We need to make it to Canterlot in a month, which is half the time it usually takes.” Quick said, lettin Toni in on the plan.

“That shouldn’t be too hard, as long as we don’t get chased by giant beetles again.” Toni said as we started off down the road again. 

The trees were startin to reach in to us, narrowin the path. Darkness crept around us even though the sun was at its apex. The sound of birds was replaced by an eerie silence as we walked deeper into the forest. Gear started to act a lil ancy, constantly lookin over his shoulder for a threat only seen to him. I decided to strike up a conversation, maybe help the mood relax a little.  

“So Toni, how did you end up bein chased by a herd of bugs?”

“Well, when I set off after you guys, I was far behind. I knew the way you went, but didn’t know how far away from you I was. When I thought that maybe I was lost, I stopped and asked the beetles for directions.” She said, as though it were perfectly normal.

“You asked bugs for directions?” Gear asked, comin into the conversation, yet still paranoid.

“Yup! I saw a couple of them start to cross the path, and thought that maybe they saw you guys pass by earlier. I trotted up to them, but they didn’t seem to speak the universal language. I tried Draconic, Buffalo, and even Chiton, but they just seemed to get angrier as I spoke.” She stopped her usual bouncing, and continued in a walk next to me.

“What’s Chiton?” I asked.

Gear spoke up for the first time since the bug parade went through, “It’s what Changelings speak, it’s spoken by clicking your tongue, and making a buzzing sound. I didn’t know anypony could speak it without the use of a block of wood.”

“Well, I was homeschooled by my parents, and they taught me how to speak a bunch of different languages. It’s not that hard, but I think I may have mispronounced a word or two when speaking to the beetles.” Toni said. 

The jungle began to close in more, forcin us to walk single file as not to scratch ourselves on the bramble bushes flankin the road.

“So you probably called their mother a whore, and they chased you.” Quick said, as he stepped over a vine that crossed the trail.

“Maybe. If I had a block of wood I wouldn’t have messed up, but now they’re long gone.” Toni bounced over a branch that had fallen on the path.

“Well, hopefully we won’t see them again. I don’t think we could handle such a large group of them.” I said, duckin under a low tree.

We continued in silence for a couple of hours, duckin and dodgin trees, bushes, and vines that crossed our way. 

After a few hours the sun began to set, castin shades over the darkness that already surrounded us. By the time the sun had set, we couldn’t see a damned thing. When Gear fell over a root, which none of us saw, I decided to call it a night.

“We’ll set camp up here. We can’t go much farther without bein able to see. Gear, use your magic as a torch and find us some dry fire wood. Don’t bring back any wet branches please, that’ll make this a lot harder. Quick, take Toni and start settin up a tree house. I don’t want to sleep on the ground, no idea what’ll sneak up on us durin the night. I’m gonna start getting some rocks and makin a burn pit, maybe find some flowers and what not to eat.” I said, clappin like a quarterback would before a play. Although the group didn’t get the reference, they did what I asked them to.

Findin somethin to eat was difficult in the dark, but with my dragon vision, I was able to find a little bit for everyone. Although we did have provisions, we wanted to save them for emergencies. 

I set up the burn pit just in time for Gear to come up with a couple bundles of wood. We got the fire started and cozied up while watchin Quick and Toni set up our sleepin quarters.

By the time they were done, the fire had caught pretty well, and was heatin up the area around us. Light spilled through the trees, creatin a ring of sight that ended in the shadows of the night. 

We ate our dinners, and prepared for our rest. We snuffed out the fire, and packed our supplies up. I set up a time schedule for how we would keep watch over the night, Mr. Peach would be so proud. First it was me, then Gear, Toni, and finally Quick.

The winged members of our group flew me and Gear into the tree house, which consisted of a base of thick, jungle logs held together by vines weaved in and out of the logs. The roof was in a lean to fashion made of large, thick leaves interwoven to create a lean-to style overhang. It was all restin on a tree with branches that helped create a stable base. All in all, nobody complained, and we started our first night on the road.


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


Morning came with a rough start as Quick began pokin us into consciousness. When I finally awoke, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and started scannin the surroundin jungle. It stretched on fore miles, and the tree that we slept in was the highest in the surroundin areas, givin me a pretty good view of what layed ahead.

A stream would cut the trees in the canopy every now and then, creatin what looked like a giant clawed away at the forest. There was a canyon far to the East, too wide to jump, and probably too deep to climb. I prayed that the bridge was still intact, the closest end to the gorge looked to be miles away.

We climbed out of the tree, and started again on our journey. Somebody would strike up a conversation, keep it for a few hours, and then let it die. Toni was usually the one talkin, while the rest of us either listened, or zoned her out.

She was in the middle of tellin us how one time she dropped kicked a chimera, when we stopped for a drink at one of the streams that ran across our path. It was shallow, only comin up to my knees, but was still plenty deep enough for me to have to have carried Gear across. 

After we refilled our water sacks from the river, we continued on.

When the sun was nearin the horizon to rest, we heard a low rumblin sound. 

“Why does that sound so familiar?” I asked to no one in particular.

“I don’t know, I’ll go scout ahead, see what it is.” Quick said, takin to the air, and disappearin from sight. 

After a few minutes, he landed back next to us. 

“We got a problem mate. Follow me.”

I was about to ask what he was talkin about, but he tore off into the foliage ahead. I scrambled to keep up, breakin through vines and branches alike. When I finally caught up to him, I saw the trouble.

Before us was the canyon, with a stone bridge stretchin across. It looked to be about 40 feet long, and 10 wide. On the bridge was a caravan that consisted of a few carts bein hauled by ponies. They appeared to have a couple royal guards with them, but they weren’t the problem. 

Surroundin the bridge on either side was the heard of beetles from yesterday. They swarmed around the caravan, held back by swords the guard wielded. 

The tree line was cut off on either side of the bridge, givin a twenty foot span between the nearest tree, and the gorge. We stood just inside the tree line, watchin as dozens of bugs milled around at our base of the bridge. Seven or so ran up the sides, racin to devour whatever they could of the caravan, only to be hacked at by the ponies in gold armor.

I looked at Quick, and he nodded. We both knew the guards couldn’t hold out for much longer. Most had scrapes, and were bleedin. Others didn’t have a weapon, and were tryin to buck the beetles away.

I hefted Spirit Inferno, enjoyin the familiar weight. Quick did the same with his sword, and with a battle cry, we both charged the beetles.

We crashed into their outer members, decimating their numbers. I hacked apart nine bugs in my first swing alone. After the first of their group perished, the rest on our side took notice of us, and left the caravan alone. Only payin me and Quick attention now. 

They swarmed over each other, dozens of them bitin and scramblin to kill us. 

I grabbed a bug by its pincer, and chucked it into the canyon, only to have it be replaced by two more. Just before they swarmed over me, I saw several black specks zoom in and out of their bodies, killin seven or so in a blink of an eye.

I looked back to see Gear with his shards formin a miniature tornado around his body. Whenever a beetle got close, they were torn to pieces by his dragon scale. His horn glowed so strongly that its bronze aura looked to be encasin his whole body.

He casually strolled through the hords of beetles, renderin them to pieces. I smiled and laughed, chargin back into the Frey.

After a few minutes I realized there were no more bugs to kill on this side. The rest on the far side of the bridge saw how we destroyed their brothers, and ran away. The rumblin of their footsteps faded into distance.

I looked at the caravan, and the royal guard surroundin it. It looked like the guard knew the bugs were comin, and made a makeshift wall usin the carts. It reminded me of old cowboys and Indians movies where the settlers, when ambushed, drove the carriages in a circle, formin a wall. The royal guard must have been the protection in the wild, and by the looks of it, had done a pretty decent job considerin there were only eight on them. One walked up to me, his gold armor scratched and caved in. He had multiple cuts, and bruises on his body, but still carried himself with the pride of a man in uniform. He was obviously the head officer by the way his plumed helm was a different color than the rest of his men’s.

“Thank you stranger, I’m not sure how much longer we could have held against those damned bugs without your help. My name is Sergeant Fartsparkle, and I am in your debt good sir.” He bowed his head to me, but all I could think about was his name. 

Fartsparkle? Are you serious?

I put on a manly-man deep voice and said, “You are quite welcome Sergeant. It wouldn’t have been decent of us to just let you and your men die on this Celestia forsaken bridge.” I suppressed a laugh, tryin not to let the Sergeant see the tears in my eyes.

“Is there anything we can do for you minotaur? Any supplies we can offer?” Fartsparkle said, motionin towards the carts parked on the bridge. I took a better look at them, noticin the women and children inside the protective barrier the carts provided. They all looked terrified, not just at the bugs, but at me. The mothers, pulled their children further into the barrier so as to not look at me. Was I, the person that saved them, a monster in their eyes?

“No.” I said, retrainin my eyes on the Sergeant, all modification gone from my voice. “We have all the supplies we need, but there’s a town, New Findings, that needs supplies awfully bad. You see, me and my friends here recently saved a bunch of slaves from a diamond dog den. There are a whole lot of mouths to feed, and not much food to go around. Any and all supplies would be received gratefully. That’s where we’re headin now, to get Celestia to send them supplies, and an escort out of the jungle, and back home.”

The sergeant looked at me with face of both surprise, and gratitude.

“On behave of the royal guard, thank you stranger for saving those ponies.” He gave me another bow. “What is your name stranger?” 

I looked at the ponies cowerin on the bridge, then at the bruised and beaten guards. Finally I looked at my friends, talkin amongst themselves, not noticin me or the sergeant. I caught Quick’s eye, and he nodded.

“My names Bronze Hoof.” I said, just as Quick swooped me into the air, and carried me over the bridge. I looked down to see mothers screamin, and children cryin. We landed on the far side, Toni and Gear quick behind. I stomped into the forest, not lookin back, pretendin not to care what those ponies thought of me.

My metal hoof pounded into the soft dirt of the path, recently tilled from the swarm that escaped earlier. I heard my friends behind me callin for me to slow down, but I paid them no mind. I just quick timed it into the jungle.

I reached up and felt the nub where my horn used to be, noticin for the first time in a long time how my head was off balance. 

I gave limb and horn to save those pony’s kin, and they repay me by screamin at me, by hidin their children?

I realized I had stopped and was leanin against a tree for support, anger bubbled inside me, red overtook my vision.

I heard the voices of my friends die out as they were replaced by a dark chucklin reverberatin through my mind.

Ha Ha Ha Ha, good. Good. Now you know Daniel. Now you know what a plague these ponies are to this world. They are good for nothing except as fodder for my armies.

I heard that voice before. Back at the barn. In my dreams as I watched thousands die at the hand of dark armies.

You’re that old man from before. What are you doin in my head, you son of a bitch!

Showing you the error of your ways Daniel, or is it Bronze Hoof now? Fitting given how one of your hoofs is now metal. You gave your leg to save those ponies, and griffins, and minotaurs from slavery. The ponies have repaid you by fearing you. 

The griffins fly around you, never to be trusted, ready to stab you in the back at any moment. Even your own kind shun you for your abnormality. They fear your strength, and your height. You are different from them Bronze Hoof. You are above them in every facet. 

You are smarter, stronger, better! I can give you everything Bronze Hoof. Power, fortune, anything your heart desires. All you need to do, is become my knight. But not now. You need to train. Now you need to train and hone your skills. I’ll let you think about it. 

But whenever a pony cries in fear at you, or a griffin flies away, or a minotaur gives you side glances, like you are a freak…think about my offer.

I couldn’t think straight, I couldn’t see or hear anything other than the laughter as the voice faded from my head.

I must have fallen, because when my vision cleared, I was lookin at the canopy of the jungle, and the faces of my friends.

“Oh look who’s alive! Thought you caught some kind of jungle fever or something mate. You were talkin about a voice, and babblin on about war.” Quick said, helpin me sit up.

I shook my head, clearin the last of the red from my vision. I still felt like someone had taken an eggbeater to my brain, but was feelin much better.

I went to stand, only to find Gear’s hoof on my chest.

“Are you sure you’re alright Bronze? There could be a lot of reasons for your little episode.” His look of concern made me sick. The way he hid his fear behind sympathy made me want to break his neck. It  wouldn’t be that hard, just a little……

I caught myself mid thought, noticin my hand begin to creep towards Gear’s neck. 

No I thought. I’m not gonna hurt Gear, or Toni, or Quick. They’re my friends. The murky feelin in my head began to clear as I brought my hand back down to my side.

“Yeah, I’m good hoss. We should get goin, it’s gonna get dark soon and we need a bigger tree to sleep in.” I shakily got to my feet with the help of Quick and Toni, and headed down the road.





> The Equestrian Border
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Equestrian Border


First Arc: Present Revelations


“Are we there yet? I’m tired, and want a bed. These trees are doing terrible things to my coat, all the sap, and dirt is making it less shiny. Can we stop for lunch? I’m hungry.” Gear whined as he drug himself through the jungle. I walked in front of him, doin my best not to ring his neck for silence.

For the past week or so Gear had been whining nonstop, and it had been gettin on everyone’s nerves. Once or twice I resorted to pickin him up and carryin him. Although it was demeanin, he barely weighed enough to register he was there. Usually it shut him up, but I was in no mood to become his person carriage today.

“Gear I swear to Celestia I will punt you into Equestria! Shut the hell up already!” I yelled, makin Gear back a few inches off my heels.

Quick and Toni laughed at his expense as they trudged behind him. They had been spendin a lot of time together in the rear of the group, talkin to their hearts content. I didn’t mind, gave me more time to think about things.

With Gear’s silence allowin me to let my mind wonder without his intrusion, I began to think of my old life back on Earth. I thought of my parents, and my brother, and even Mack, my deceased horse. My mother’s face smiled in my mind’s eye, makin my heart warm. I loved my moma, and I missed her dearly. 

I remembered the day I first got Mack, my mom told me to take good care of him, and he’ll take good care of me. I took that to heart, always brushin him down, and talkin to him like he understood me. I always had a way with animals, especially horses. 

Unexpectedly the vision of those frightened ponies on the bridge popped in my head, and I scowled. Was I so hideous to them that they cowered and hid their children? 

I jumped over a fallen tree in the path, and helped Gear over. It looked to be somethin other than the jungle wood that dominated the area. Oak? Mahogany? I don’t know, I never was much of a carpenter, or really even cared much to learn about the different kinds of woods.

Again I thought of my family, this time of my father. He was always one to teach me how things worked. He would be up from the break of dawn to hours after the sun set workin on some side project. He usually let me help, which taught me a lot about many things. I could build an engine, break horse, round up cattle, shoot pretty accurately, and even build a boat. 

A smile crossed my face as I thought of the knowledge he had given me, and wondered if he was alright without me there to help. Although he had matt, my lil brother, he was always playin video games, or doin somethin on the internet. He wasn’t much of a farm hand, but he knew his way around a computer pretty good for bein twelve.

Light had begun to be more prominent on the path a day or two ago. Everyone’s spirits were brightened along with the road, except Gear of course. He just complained that his hooves hurt, which I didn’t even know was possible until I got some of my own.

“So then I said, bologna? Are you kiddin me” Toni exclaimed, makin her and Quick laugh whole heartedly. I chuckled along with them, not at the joke, but the fact that Toni was able to make friends with Quick, who didn’t want her along in the first place. Girl had a way with griffins I suppose.

“Gear, since you’ve been quiet for so long, I’ll let you talk a lil. How far until the border?” I asked him.

He stopped, and closed his eyes as he crunched numbers.

After a while he brightened up, and said, “We should be there by today! I can’t wait to see Equestria, this is going to be so great! Since we’re a full 3 days ahead of schedule, can we take more breaks?”

I watched as he started bouncin on his “aching hooves.”

“No, the sooner we get there the better.” I looked over to Quick.

“Do you think you can fly up and see the border?”

“Sure thing mate.” He had overheard me and Gear, and was just as excited as the rest of us. With one great pump of his wings, he took to the sky, disappearin in the canopy.

We waited a few minutes before he returned, the color gone from his face.

“Guys we need to hury!” He said, then once again took to the air, headin down the path.

I looked over at Gear, who looked just as confused as I was. I knew somethin was wrong, and told Gear and Toni to follow me as I sprinted down the road.

After a couple minutes I came to a clearin with a sign that read “Welcome to Equestria!” The only buildings in sight were what looked to be a military fortress. There was a wooden spike fence surroundin four jungle wood buildings that were arranged in a circle around a flag pole hangin the Equestrian flag. One building was obviously the barracks, given its size and low roof. Another was what I assumed was the mess hall, as it was open to the air, and had tables scattered about. In-between those two was another building that looked more formal, an officer housin building maybe? The last I couldn’t make out, given that it was currently engulfed in flames.

The entire complex was overwhelmed by more of those damned beetles. Where do they come from, and why are they in 
Equestria? I though as I started hackin away at the bugs closest to me. Dead royal guard members laid haphazardly on the ground. They were obviously killed by the beetles, as pincer wounds could be seen across their lifeless forms. One or two even looked to have had their heads snipped off by the bastards.

By the looks in the bug’s eyes, they seemed to be set on destroyin everything around them, includin myself. 

A mighty roar came from inside the wall, and out of my line of sight. I didn’t have much time to think about it as dozens of the creepy crawlers swarmed to kill me. I just kept swingin my axe, fellin more than I care to count. I began to cut my way into the complex, killin wave after wave of the bugs. By the time they stopped attackin me, there were maybe half as many as when I started. The break in attacks allowed me to make my way into the center of the fortress, and what stood next to the flagpole. 

My mouth hung open as I looked at the largest bug I had ever seen. The thing must have been three or four stories high, coated in a black chitin exoskeleton. It’s small car sized pincers led to a mouth that looked to be able to swallow me whole. Its multiple beady eyes were sprinkled around its face like it was the worst tasting ice cream you would ever eat. It sat on six pillar like legs that caused Minnie earth quakes as it stepped. Two were wavin in the air tryin to swat Quick as he flew around the monster, slicin away at it.

The minute it took to process what I was seein was just enough time for the rest of the swarm to realize I was vulnerable. 

When I came back to reality I was surrounded by the lil bastards on all sides, and they were closing in. 

Just as they came into range, I swung my axe all the way around me, cutting the first layer into pieces. Unfortunately the rest were not impressed, and continued to close in. 

I kept swingin, but did hardly anythin to damage their moral, if they had any. Just before I was overwhelmed, Gear dropped out of the sky. He coughed as he rubbed the dirt from his eyes, and off his football helmet. He shook his head, and concentrated. A bronze aura emanated from him, makin his shards fly from the bag, and surround both me and him in a bubble of swirlin certain death.

He smiled up at me, “thought you could use a hand, so I had Toni drop me off next to you.” He motioned up, where a smilin 
Toni waved at us from 10 feet off the ground. After acknowledgin us, her face scrunched into one of concentration. She 
screamed like a banshee, and began to buck the crap out of beetles, flyin away before they could counterattack.

“That’s interestin.” I said before I looked at Gear, “Try to hold off the horde, I’m gonna go deal with momma.”

He nodded and began to send random shards outward, cutting the bugs asunder. They began to try and attack him, only to be cut down by his death shield. With extreme concentration he opened a gap for me to run through, closin it behind me.

I ran at the behemoth beetle, and swiped at one of its legs with my axe. The cut was clean, severin the lower portion of its leg from its body. Green blood splashed on the ground, and all over me. Unfortunately some got in my mouth. You don’t want to know what beetle juice tastes like, trust me.

Momma beetle let out what I could only assume was a scream of pain, and focused her attention on me.

She swiped with one of her good legs, nockin me to the ground. Before she had a chance to step on me (like a bug), Quick came in and poked one of her eyes with his sword.

Green/yellow liquid poured out of the wound, enticin another bellow of pain. She tried catchin Quick in her pincers, only to catch air as he darted out of the way.

I got to my feet in time to dodge another batterin ram. I darted under her and drew my axe across her underbelly. By the time I got to her ass end, I was coated in green blood that burned the lil cuts that covered my body.

The world started to dim, but my adrenaline kept me concentrated. I hacked another leg off, only to find a second bound for my head.

It made contact, turnin my vision black, and my body numb. I fell to the ground, sounds of battle raged around me.

The last thing I heard before I blacked out was Quick yelling, “Polar Glacius” 


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


I woke with a dwarf hammerin away inside my head. My body burned, and the dirt that covered the compound around me had turned to mud with blood.

I shook my head, and looked around for my friends. There was no one here except for a shit ton of dead beetles, and one momma beetle split open on her back with her head covered in a thin layer of what I could only guess to be ice.

I tried to lift my right arm, but found it wouldn’t move. Luckily my left one was still alive. I reached over and felt my right arm, only to grasp dirt. Panic over took my mind as I felt the nub were my arm should be. I sat up, and tried to calm down.

Time for an inventory check.

Left arm: check

Right arm: not check

Left leg: check

Right leg: *ting* check

Horn: check

Head: check

Armor: check

Axe: not check

All I could think about was how many limbs could I lose and replace before I was considered a cyborg.

Tears burned in my eyes, but I bit them back, this was no time to cry. My friends were nowhere to be found, and my axe was missin.

Once again I scanned my surroundins, only to come up empty handed in the axe department.

Damn it

Commotion from behind me stole my attention, I turned to find Gear and Toni carryin Quick.

“He should be fine, don’t cry girl, it’s only a concussion.” Gear was sayin as he lugged Quick over to me. 

When he noticed I was awake he brightened up.

“Bronze! Oh am I glad to see you’re alright! How are you feeling?” He said, layin Quick gently on the ground and comin to my side. 

I poked the stub on my shoulder

“Could be better. What the hell happened?” 

“Well when me and Toni were battling the little beetles, the big one gave you on hell of a kick. Quick used the old language and killed her, but when he did, more came out of her carcass. Quick did his best to defend you, but one got through and…well…you know. We ended up killin all of them, but the one that clipped your arm ran off with your axe. Quick went to get it back, and kinda flew into a tree. Toni got your axe, so don’t worry about that, but we can’t reattach your arm.” He looked down, ashamed.

Pain began to throb where my arm used to be, but surprisingly not as bad as when my leg was severed.

“Why doesn’t it hurt? Well, it hurts, but not as bad as it should.” I said, probin the exposed wound.

“I…I don’t know. Maybe the blood from the momma beetle cleans the wound, and acts as a pain killer. I got it on a few of my cuts, and it seemed to burn, then stop hurting.” He motioned towards a few cuts and scrapes along his body.

“Cool, can you go get me some more. This shit is startin to hurt.” Pain blossomed in my arm, as the beetle blood apparently began to wear off.

“Sure, hold on.” He scampered towards the giant carcass extractin a few viles from his saddlebags.

Toni came over to me, and gave me a big hug.

“I’m glad you’re alright Bronzey. I would be really really really really really sad if you died.” She started to tear up again, but I hugged her back with my good arm.

“Hey, hey don’t cry. I’m alright see?” I flexed my arm, “still got this one don’t I?”

“Yeah, but the bug took your sword arm, you have to learn everything again, but opposite!”
Didn’t think of that one. I supposed she was right, considerin I don’t have Smoke to make me a new one this time.

Gear came back and rubbed some blood onto my wound, which immediately started to burn, then numb.

“Guess you’re right Gear, this stuff works pretty good.” Gear only nodded as he took some cloth from his saddlebag, and began to wrap my nub in it.

“How long do you think Quick will be out?” I asked Gear, who, bein the only one who has even looked at a medical book, was our makeshift doctor.

“Well he should be out for another hour or….” He was cut off by Quick sittin upright like he was struck by lightenin.

“Come back here you little piece of….” He noticed us, and where he was. He looked confused at first, but upon lookin at my battle axe sittin next to me, relaxed some.

“Did I run into a tree again?” He asked, excitin a laugh from us, despite the situation.

Toni responded first, “You sure did Quicky! But don’t worry, Gear says it’s just a cocoon.”

“First of all, can we not call him Quicky? That just seems wrong. Secondly, it’s a concussion, not a cocoon.” Gear said matter-of-factly.

I sat there, with a head-ache from hell, beat to a pulp, and missin an arm, and smiled. These people were my friends. They had risked everythin to keep me safe when I was useless. And even though I had a lot of trainin, and hard times ahead of me, I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

I looked at Gear, who was surveyin the buildings. The one structure that had gotten it the worst, was the one that was on fire. 

By the way it was now covered in beetle blood, I assumed it was put out when momma beetle blew up. The sign above the entrance said “Storage” which made me excited.

“Gear, go look in there and see what you can find, if there’s anythin useful bring it out.” He looked to the building I was pointin at and nodded, trottin towards the door.

Although I didn’t feel right about stealin from the royal guard, I didn’t think that the dead bodies could use the things inside as much as we could.

After a few minutes, Gear came back out with some dried fruits, flowers, and sugar. I gave him a questionin look.

“What? Most everythin was burnt to a crisp. This is what was left.” He began to sort out his saddlebag, makin room for the new provisions. 

“I guess that’ll have to do, considerin we were plannin on restockin here. What’s the next town in-between here and Canterlot?” I asked.

Gear pulled out a map, and laid It on the ground. After a few minutes he perked up.

“That would be Ponyville.” He went on about how the road there will be very borin, but all I could think was the fact I was about to go to Ponyville.

I berated my fan boy instincts to bounce around and squeal like a lil girl. I had a job to do, the sooner we got to Canterlot, the sooner the town can get supplies, and those refugees can go home.

Besides, we can always stop by when we go back.

I stopped thinkin about Ponyville in realization of what I just thought. When we go back. Go back. Do I want to go back? Sure Mr. Peach and Fuzz are there, but the only thing I brought them was danger. Minnie had never looked at me the same when we returned with Killian’s body, I’m sure she wouldn’t care less. 

My mind drifted back to my family on Earth, what if they felt like Minnie felt? That I just abandoned them, and left for somewhere unknown. Would they feel the same about me as Minnie does?

I hung my head in shame, I needed to get back to Earth. Not now though, I had a job to do.

I looked at my friends, watchin as Toni nursed Quick with water, and fruit, and Gear as he plotted a path. How would they feel if I left? My second family in this odd world. I decided to push the question off, for now.

“Alright Gear, you ready?” He looked up, and nodded.

“Ready when you are Bronze.” He said, rollin up his map, and standin.

I looked over at Quick, who was already gettin up, much to Toni’s annoyance.

“Oh calm down, I’ll be fine. Bronze is the one who keeps losin his body parts.” He gave me a wink, and I chuckled.

I shakily got to my feet, the mud drippin off my metallic leg.

“Welcome to Equestria folks! Where you have to pay an arm and a leg to get in, and the bugs are huge!” I said, makin my friends giggle. I placed my axe onto my back, and started off down the trail. 

I couldn’t help but thinkin that whatever troubles I would have to face in the future didn’t seem as bad as long as my friends were there to help me through. 

> Meeting the Idols
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Meeting the Idols


First Arc: Present Revelations


The road to Ponyville was really just a dirt road stretchin across a great plain, with hardly any trees around. It felt a lil open for my tastes, but Gear would tell me it’s just because I’m a minotaur. Apparently minotaurs are more inclined towards enclosed, labyrinth-like environments.

We slept in the tall grass at night, as it provided at least minor cover from bandits, or what-not. Not that we saw any durin our week on the trail. We ate grass, and gorged on the occasional flower patch. Quick would fly off and grab a rabbit, or bird for his protein needs. After all the bloodshed we’ve seen and caused, Gear and Toni didn’t even flinch when he would bite into a rabbit’s stomach. 

Toni, as always, blabbered on about some story, or asked us about our lives. Whenever she asked me about how I ended up in New Findings, I would change the subject. I didn’t want my friends to think of me as even more of an outsider than I already was. 

I often would think about Earth, and my family back home. They were sure to be missin me as much as I was missin them, right?

I pushed the thoughts into the back of my mind, like always. We were walkin through the plains for days before we came to a rather large hill. I sent Quick up to scout ahead, maybe see if we’re close. When he came back, he was smilin.

“Hey Gear, you know how there’s a lake a couple miles south of Ponyville?” Quick asked.

“Yeah? I thought it was the one we passed earlier, but it was much too small. Why are we comin up to it?” Gear said, lookin puzzled at Quick’s gleeful expression.

“Take a look for yourself.” He said, before takin to the air, and doin a backflip before disappearin over the hill.

We gave each other confused glances. Gear told us there was a large lake before we would hit Ponyville, and we passed one yesterday with a river leadin east. Gear said that the lake should have been bigger, due to its relative size on the map. 

We crested the hill, and there, not two miles away, was Ponyville.

I couldn’t control my inner fanboy, and began jumpin and sqealin to my heart’s content. Toni and Gear gave me confused stares. I composed myself, and looked hard at Gear.

“So I guess that was the lake back there, but why was it so small?” I asked.

“Perhaps it is the end of their dry season, since they control the weather here, it’s hard to tell. Although it shouldn’t have been that low, somethin must have happened.”

I looked down at the iconic town, noticin Quick dart in and out of the clouds, before droppin into the middle of town.

“Guess we better go make sure Quick isn’t gettin into any trouble.” The others nodded, and we made our way down the hill.

As we entered into town I couldn’t help but look around like a tourist in Paris. I took in all the iconic buildings, from carousel boutique, to the Cake’s candy shop. Everythin looked just as it did in the story, minus the griffin arguin with a certain rainbow Pegasus. 

Fluttershy was cowerin behind Rainbow Dash like she was a barrier, while Rainbow was yellin at Quick for what I could only guess to be scarin Fluttershy.

“It wasn’t my fault, she came out of nowhere with those ducks!” Quick yelled.

“Well maybe you should pay more attention to where you’re landing!” She replied.

The townsponies around them began to back off as lightnin flashed between their eyes that weren’t two inches from each other. I just kept watchin, lookin at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, two of the main six! I didn’t register Gear pokin my leg until he practically punched me. I looked down at him, and he gestured towards the fight that was about to break out. I sighed, irritated with Gear for interruptin my show, and walked towards the two.

“Gear, that’s quite enough. We don’t want to make a bad name for ourselves with the first ponies we come across in Equestria.” My sudden intrusion into their starin contest made them both look at me with confusion.

Quick was the first to respond, “It wasn’t my fault! I dropped down to scout the town, and the yellow one freaked out, then this blue one started yelling at me.” He looked at Rainbow again, “I still say it wasn’t my fault, if your friend wasn’t such a scardy cat she would be fine!”

Rainbow went back on the defensive.

“My friend shouldn’t need to put up with bullies like you! It’s not her fault that you scared her, AND THE DUCKS!” She yelled, comically blowin the feathers out of Quick’s face.

I walked between the two, facin towards Rainbow Dash.

“I would like to apologize for my friend here. We've had a very stressful couple of weeks, and need to reach Canterlot by…Gear how long do we have left?”

“Only two days before our deadline is up.” He said, trottin up to me and Quick, who was now positioned on my right.

“Right. We need to reach Canterlot in two days, and still have a hell of a walk ahead of us. We just need to resupply, and we’ll be on our way.” I said, gesturin with my hand for everyone to calm down.

Fluttershy must have noticed my missin arm and leg, and immediately pushed Dash out of the way, and began checkin my wounds.

“OH MY GOSH! How did this happen? Are you alright? We need to get you to a hospital right away!” She began pushin me towards the west, apparently to the hospital. Unfortunately for her, I way a freakin ton, and all she managed to do was dig a hole in the ground tryin to move me.

“Don’t worry, it happened some time ago. I’m fine, but we need to get to Canterlot. Can you point us to a supply store?” If we only had two days left, then we needed to hurry if we wanted to make it. Canterlot was a three day walk from here, which meant we weren’t goin to be sleepin very much.

“Why don’t you just take the train?” Rainbow asked.

I slapped myself on the forehead. How could I have forgotten about the train?! It’s in the openin scene of every episode! How could I call myself a brony if I forgot one of the most used modes of transportation in the show?

“I didn’t know a train passed through Ponyville, there isn’t one on the map.” Gear said, pullin out his map, and scourin it for a train.

“It’s fairly old, how old is that map?” Rainbow asked, watchin as Fluttershy replaced my bandages, much to my annoyance.

“It’s my mom’s old map, couldn’t be more than 30 years old.” Gear said. I slapped my forehead again.

“You mean to say we’ve been travelin with a 30 year old map?” I couldn’t believe that Gear thought that thing was still goin to be up to date.

“Well yeah, landmarks don’t change in 30 years.” He replied, defendin his map under his leg.

“Why do you three need to get to Canterlot in two days anyway? Are you SPIES?!” Rainbow said, makin me almost have a heart attack.

HOLY HELL! She said it. She said are you spies. This is the best day ever!

I inwardly composed myself before replyin.

“We need to ask the princess to send New Findings aid. We recently freed a ton of slaves, most of which are ponies, from a diamond dog den, and the town can’t support them all. So we need to have her send guards, and supplies to get them through the jungle.” Fluttershy finished cleanin and bandaging my arm.

“Our friend Rarity was once captives of those brutes. How did you free them?” Fluttershy asked, lookin at me with those big blue eyes.

“Uh…we...you know, it’s a borin story.” I didn’t want to tell this cute, innocent pony how I battled to the death with their alpha, only to be saved by the alpha’s daughter stabbin him through the heart.

Wait a minute…somethins wrong. Toni’s never this quiet.

I looked behind us, searchin for our white compatriot. 

“Where’s Toni?” I asked, fear buildin in my throat. If those two met, I don’t know if this town will survive.

“Oh, the white mare? She went into the Cake’s shop.” Fluttershy said, motionin towards the buildin that looked like candy.
Blood roared in my ears as I took off towards the candy shop. Fear for the lives of every soul in Ponyville rested on me keepin Toni away from Pinkie Pie.

I burst through the front door, scannin the building for what I dared not see.

There they were, at one of the tables, munchin on cupcakes.

Heat flourished through my body.

NO! NO! NO!

I waited for the nuclear explosion to take me away.

Nothin happened.

Toni looked over at me and waved.

“Hey Bronzey, I made a friend.” 

I inched my way towards the explosion waitin to happen.

“Tha…that’s nice.” I reached the table, and sat on my butt, still dwarfin both the mares.

“Hi, you must be Bronze Hoof. Toni’s told me so much about you! You must be a real swell guy to save all those ponies and griffins and minotaurs. My name’s Pinkie Pie. OOH which reminds me, I need to throw you guys a party! I love parties, and am the superest party thower in Ponivlle! You could meet my friends and I could meet more of yours, it’ll be so much fun!” I just sat there and nodded, the fear still holdin a baseball in my throat. 

“Well, I really wish we could stay for a party, but we need to get to Canterlot, remember? Ooh, Ooh, maybe when we get back we can have a party. I’ve never been to one, but they sound fun.” Toni said, bouncin up and down in excitement.
I watched as Pinkie’s jaw hit the floor in a comedic fashion.

“YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO A PARTY!?!?” She yelled, shakin the ground.

“Well, no. I’m a dragon after all, and dragons don’t have parties.” Toni said, once again shockin Pinkie into a stupor.

“But…wha….huh?” She took a second to compose herself, “You’re a dragon? But you look like a pony.”

Toni sighed, shakin her head sadly.

“It’s a long story.” I said, pickin Toni up, and makin towards the exit, “We do have to go though, so next time we’re in town we’ll stop by, and see about that party.” 

Toni waved back at Pinkie Pie as I ducked under the doorway.

I found Gear and Quick back at the town square. They were joined by Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Applejack, who so happened to be my favorite pony, next to Big Mack of course.

I almost dropped Toni as I started gigglin while walkin towards the group.

“You can put me down now Bronzey, I don’t want you to drop me on my head.” I complied, pickin her up with my good hand, and placin her on the ground.

When we caught up the group, I found Quick in another argument with Rainbow Dash.

“We don’t need your money. I’ve never accepted anything from no one without payin them back.” Although his voice was low, his tone told me they had been goin at this since I left.

“Well you can pay us back when yall get back from Canterlot. Ah won’t take no for an answer.” Applejack said, placin a bag of what I assumed to be bits on Gear’s back.

“I said we don’t need charity. We made it all the way here without the slightest hint of anyone’s help.” Quick said, grabbin the bag of bits and tossin them back to Applejack, only for me to catch them.

“Now, just cause we don’t need their help, doesn’t mean we have to be ungrateful. Thank you, miss…” I said, placin the bag in Gear’s saddlebag.

“Applejack, no miss to go along with it neither.” She said, tippin her hat to me.

“Well thank you kindly Applejack, but if you don’t mind we need to be on our way. The sooner we get to Canterlot, the sooner New Findings can get some help.” 

“Well alright, but a pony like yourself could really be of use on the farm. So when yall get back, I expect you fine gentlemen to come and help.” She said, and with a swish of her tail, turned and headed back to where I would assume Sweet Apple Acres was.

We said our goodbyes to Rainbow and Fluttershy, and headed to the train station. We paid for our tickets and boarded the train. 

As I sat in one of the bench-like seats, I couldn’t help but reflect on the day. Not only had we found a way to get to Canterlot a whole two days ahead of schedule, but I got to meet four of the main six. 

I let out a contented sigh, and let myself be lulled to sleep by the chuggin of the train.



I woke to the train’s whistle, signalin our arrival to Canterlot. The others were still sleepin off our journey, and didn’t wake for the screech. I gazed out the window, and gasped at the image before me.

Canterlot looked almost identical to the show, except the detail on the show couldn’t capture the magnificence of the city atop a mountain. Great gilded columns rose from the mountain side to hold various structures, such as the castle, and some domestic homes. Almost everythin around the station was made of white marble, so fine that the sun glinted off them like a pearl. The castle itself held the dominant position as attention grabber. Its spires rose to touch the heavens, and its gardens were lush with vegetation from every ecosystem, all carefully laid, and cared for. The main portion of the castle had vast skylights, allowin natural light to enter. 

I awoke my friends, who all gaped at the city themselves. We exited the train, and started for the castle.

We passed beautiful shops that sold all sorts of interestin things from around the world. I figured that we must have been in the market district, because hardly any buildings seemed to be homes of any sort. More than once I had to stop my friends from enterin a shop to browse their various wares.

The road led straight towards the castle grounds, and into the citadel itself. 

We were stopped by some guards who demanded we gave them our weapons. Quick and I grumbled as we gave the golden boys our dragon bladed weapons. 

As we entered, we all let out a gasp of admiration. The inside was more stunnin than the exterior.

The floor was made of a polished white marble, save for a red carpet that ran down the center of the entrance hall, and into what I assumed was the throne room. The walls were of the same marble, but housed either windows to the outside, or impressive paintins of past noble ponies. Corinthian columns stretched to different levels, their bases comin up to my waist. 
The ceilin which rose seventy or so feet off the ground had a great skylight carved down the center of it. The walkway was intersected a lil ways down by another walkway that ran to perpendicular to the entrance hallway. Both walkways seemed to be about thirty feet across, which gave even a being as large as me breathin room.

We looked down either way, noticin the shops that spread out on either side. Tourists ran about, screamin, and takin pictures to their hearts content.

I looked to the door to the throne room, which was guarded by two ponies in gold armor. 

The door itself must have been twenty feet tall, with gilded releases adornin its magnificence. Carvins of ponies goin into battle, with the sun leadin them to victory.

I sighed, enjoyin the beauty of the place before havin to go talk to the princess. 

After a few minutes of the gang “ooh”ing and “aah”ing I managed to gather them all up, and make our way to the doors.
When we got there we were stopped by the guards ponies.

“Do you have an appointment to see the princess?” The one on the left asked me.

“No, but we have an emergency that requires the princesses attention.” I said, hopin that that alone would get us through.

“You can’t go in without an appointment, sir. The secretary in the main office will be able to help you.” The one on the right said in the most monotone voice I had ever heard.

I sighed, and turned to go to the main office that was located just in front of the main doors.

When we got there, the wait must have been two hours, because by the time the secretary called us over, Gear, Quick and Toni were asleep.

I walked up to the desk.

“Hello, my name is Bronze Hoof, and these are my friends Quick Beak, Gear Head, and Toni. We need to speak with the princess about sendin aid to New Findings in the Great Southern Rainforest.” I said, hopin the look in my eyes would get the older mare to move quicker than molasses in January.

“The princesses next available appointment is two weeks from today. If you like I can schedule you in for two o’clock.” She spoke slower than she moved, makin my nerves tense with anticipation.

“That won’t work, the town will starve before then!” I said, my voice raisin a lil with each word. She barely seemed to notice.

“Sir, although I understand your need to see the princess, we just don’t have any room for you right now.” Her tone was so bored, and uninterested I almost ripped her desk out of the ground, picked her up by the neck, and hollered at her for bein so insensitive. 

Instead I had an idea.

“Come on guys, these ponies aren’t goin to help. Don’t know why Fartsparkle would want to join in with people who don’t even want to protect their own.” I said, wakin my friends, and feignin givin up.

“Wait did you say Fartsparkle, as in Segeant Fartsparkle?” The secretary asked me. Bingo.

“Yeah, that’s the guy. Saved his life in the Great Southern Rainforest. Said he was mighty grateful, said yall would help New Findings. Guess he was wrong.” I started to walk away, hopin she wouldn’t call my bluff.

“Well, since you saved Fartsparkle, I can see what I can do to get you an appointment tomorrow morning. 8am sound good to you?” She said, writin somethin down in her ledger.

“Eight sounds great darlin, thanks again.” I said, herdin my half-conscious friends out the door.

Gear spoke up first.

“So did we get an appointment?” 

“Yeah, eight in the mornin tomorrow. Guess we better find a place to stay tonight.” I said.

“Good job mate, the sooner we can get help the better.” Quick said, stiflin a yawn.

Toni fluttered up, and rested on my shoulders.

“I wouldn’t mind a bed to sleep in, I have some gems for a room, but I get the bed.” She shook a part of her mane, extractin a couple of fist sized diamonds, and some other valuable gems.

“How did you keep this in your mane?” Quick asked, lookin in amazement as she tossed him the gems.

“I have my ways, now if you don’t excuse me, I’m going to take a nap.” With that she laid her head down on mine, and started to snore.


> Shifting Tenses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Shifting Tenses


First Arc: Present Revelations



The next morning was a hard one to start. Not only was I so comfortable that the thought of gettin out of bed seemed criminal, but my hooves ached more than I cared to say. I turned my head towards the open window of the hotel room that the group and I all stayed in. The sun was barely wakin itself, shootin rays of deep orange, and crimson across the retreatin night sky. 

I looked over to the couch where Gear was sleepin. One of his forelegs was splayed over the side, and drool was poolin under his chin. His mane was a mess, clumps of dirt and knots strewn about his once kept head.

I looked to the bathroom where Quick was supposed to sleep, expectin to see the door shut. What I saw made me snuff a chuckle as not to wake everyone. 

Apparently, durin the night, Quick had went out and gathered a small cloud, and brought it into the hotel room window. He was in a similar position as Gear, the only difference was the small Pegasus layin on top of him like a cat on a dog. Toni was curled into a ball, and the steady rhythm of her back risin and fallin threatened to put me back to sleep. 

I glanced at the alarm clock, and found it to read 7:05. The walk to the castle would only take ten minutes or so, considerin how close we were to it. 

Toni’s surprise funds allowed us to buy into a very nice hotel room. I personally would have settled for a less flashy bedroom, and get two, or maybe three so that we all could have our own beds. I brought it up to the group last night, only to find that they all found that bein in each other’s presence when sleepin to be comfortin. Oh well. I still got the bed.

I tilted my head to get a better view of how I had fallen asleep. I was a plank on the bed, arms and legs brought in tight to better keep warm. It was a habit I had developed when on a cattle run. The nights in the Colorado Rockies were cold ones, and since the fire would usually go out in the night, it was best to keep yourself warm.

My legs were well past the limit of the bed, as my hooves touched the ground. It wasn’t the most uncomfortable sleep I’ve ever gotten, but it still wasn’t like back at my house in New Findings.

I let out a homesick sigh, then realized that I was homesick for a home away from home.

Homeception.

I looked back over at the clock, 7:06. Damn, I might actually have to get up and do something.

The child in the back of my head resisted my attempts to fully awake, whisperin things like, you’ll have to do things, and you’ll have to meet people.

I noticed Gear stirrin in his sleep, and decided to quiet my childish self. 

I sat up, and cracked my various limbs and appendages, relishin the relief it brought me.

No one else really cared for it, but considerin I was usually the first to rise, at least when we weren’t on the road, no one really noticed.

I stood, and scraped my horn on the ceilin, carvin a line into the drywall. The rough sound woke my friends, as they each tumbled out of their respective restin places.

Irritated groans were heard from them as they started to stand. I just stood there like a child reachin in the cookie jar.

The looks that they gave me spoke volumes of their hatred for mornins. I still stood like a statue.

Maybe their eyesight is based off of movement, and if I stay still long enough, they’ll forget about me.

After a minute or two, Quick let out an irritated moan, and began to don his armor, and strap his sword into place. He was quickly followed by Toni and Gear.

Damn it worked.

I slowly started movin towards my stuff. Whenever someone would look at me, I would freeze like a cat, only to resume when they grumbled somethin and looked away.

Eventually I got my armor on, and strapped my axe onto my back.

As we left the hotel, I kept to the back, still afraid that one of them might snap, and attack me.
In the market we found a coffee shop, or rather a donut shop that sold coffee. I bought everyone a cup with a few bits the 
town gave me, to which the group was grateful for.

We once again traveled back to the castle, marvelin at the architecture of the great city.

We gave our weapons to the guards, and entered into the main hall.

This early in the mornin there were very few tourists, which meant makin our way to the throne room was easier. We arrived at the magnificent doors, and were let in by the guards.

The throne room was one of the most glorious places I had ever been to. Its great arcades reachin to the vaulted ceilin were decorated with more gold and gems than were necessary, but gave the place a sparklin glow. Windows faced out into the city, and out towards the plains beyond. Some were painted glass, depictin various scenes from Equestria’s past, and even some shown in the show.

I sqeed at the one showin the main six savin the crystal ponies, which, by the way it shined brighter than the rest, must have been newer. 

So that’s where I’m at in the time frame, probably near the middle of season three.

The double doors we were let in sat in front of a raised platform where the throne was. The path up to the throne was flanked by nobles and guards alike, and led up to stairs that made way to the chair. Its cushioned seat was occupied by none other than Princess Celestia herself.

She noticed us as the doors shut, and smiled.

“Hello your highness. My name is Bronze Hoof, and these are my companions: Gear Head, Quick Beak, and Toni. We come seekin your help in a matter of dire importance.” I said, tryin to sound official.

“I know who you are Bronze Hoof. But what is so important that you must see me so early in the morning?” She said, her motherly tone reachin me, and makin me miss home.

“Well, your highness, our town of New Findings in the Southern Rainforest has been under attack from diamond dog slavers. They recently…came under new management thanks to Bronze here. Its new alpha let go of all the slaves they had, and set them to New Findings. The town, although grateful for their ponies back, doesn’t have the means to supply the refugees with food and shelter. We came here, through great danger, to seek your help in relocating the ponies.” Gear said, finishin with a low bow.

Celestia took a moment to consider this. The room fell silent as the princess looked out one of the windows, all waitin for her response. 

I considered our plea as well. Even if the guards were to get the ponies out, where would they go? It would take a considerable amount of recourses to catalog, and find homes for the ponies, even if they had family. This would most likely strain the economy of Equestria, but would help hundreds of ponies.

She rose, makin sure she had everyone’s attention in the room.

“Everypony leave.” She ordered, “I have to have some words with Bronze Hoof.”

I looked around as everyone, includin the guard, started makin for the exit. I glanced at my friends, who adopted defensive stances and stood around me.

I caught Quick’s eye, and nodded to him. He sighed, and gathered Gear and Toni, and made for the door.

Bein in a room with just the princess was uncomfortable. Although I dwarfed her in size, she could still kill me a thousand times over with just a thought. I was just a minotaur, she was a god.

Celestia motioned me to sit on one of the cushions next to her. At first I was reluctant, but she gave me a reassurin nod. I climbed the steps, and sat next to her.

“With all due respect your majesty, why do you want to speak to me? I’m just a no-body farm hand who cares for his town.” I said, confused as to why she would pick me, instead of one of her subjects.

“Do you like bananas?” She said calmly.

The question took me off guard. I recalled a youtube video I watched back on Earth where Celestia would ask if someone liked bananas, then shot them out of a massive canon. 

“Y…Yes?” I said, cautious of the floor.

“You know where you can find bananas?” She said, gettin a mischievous grin across her muzzle.

Fear began buildin in my stomach. I started shakin at the knees. 

“Please don’t shoot me out of a giant canon.” I pleaded, droppin on my knees and shakin my hands for mercy.

She just laughed. A hearty laugh that wasn’t maniacal or devious in any way. It sounded like honey bein poured into some tea, or the crackle of a bonfire on a summer night. It soothed me, even though I still believed I was about to become Equestrias first satellite.

“So that’s what he thought I did. I knew that’s how he found other humans, but why would I shoot someone out of a canon?” She asked once she had calmed down.

“Wait, who? And how do you know about humans?” I was baffled by her questions. If there are more like me in this world, why did no one tell me? 

“Oh, just this griffin I know. But yes, I know about humans Bronze. By the way you hold yourself I could tell you were one right away. You are awkward around others, even more so than a regular minotaur. I wasn’t exactly sure until I saw you gawking at the window of Twilight and her friends defeating Discord.” She motioned to the stained glass, then gave me a warm smile.

“I will help your town Bronze Hoof, but in return you must tell me your story.” She got comfortable on her throne, and looked at me expectantly.

Should I tell her? Wouldn’t that break some rule of the universe? 

New Findings depended on me though, and if they were goin to get supplies than I had to tell her my story. 
Universal rules be damned.

“As you know…” I cleared my throat, tryin not to sound like a cornered rat.

“I wasn’t always a bulking mass of muscle rising 10 feet from the ground, 12 if you add the horns. Once I was a dashingly handsome man, gallivantin about in the dry plains of Colorado.”


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


“And that’s how I ended up here, tellin you my story.” I finished.

Celestia stared at me, eyes heavy.

“You didn’t have to go into such detail, Bronze.” She said, standin up and crackin some joints.

I recalled the detail I went into, and decided that she was wrong. “God is in the details” as they say.

“You wanted to hear my story, and I told it to you. Now will you help New Findings or not?” I said with a lil anger in my voice. I didn’t spend the last couple of hours tellin her about myself for her not to help my friends.

“Calm down Bronze, I was going to help either way. I just wanted to hear a story, and yours was a very interesting one. I can see why he picked you.” She said, motionin me to follow her. I stood, and we walked towards the doors that led into the main hall.

“You and your friends are free to go, not that you were ever detained. I will send my guard to go help the town, and another contingent to reinforce the southern guard base. Know that everyone there will be helped, and thank you for telling me your story Bronze.” She opened the door with her magic, and I walked out.

The door shut behind me, givin off a great boom as it closed.

I saw my friends at one of the restaurants off one of the adjacent halls, and headed towards them.

“Hey guys, how’s lunch.” I said, startlin Gear, who was in the middle of wolfin down some hay fries. He began to cough violently from bein startled.

“Bronze! How’d everythin go mate? Is she gonna send help?” Quick said, slappin me on the back after I sat down.

“Yeah, she just wanted to know my story.” I looked at the menu, and motioned the waiter to me. I ordered a vegiburger, and water.

“Your story took five hours. What did you tell her?” Gear said after his coughin fit.

“Everythin.” I said, settlin into my chair.

“What do you mean ‘everythin’, like everything, everything?” Toni asked.

“Yup. Every detail, every thought, everythin.” I said, and chuckled at the way Quick raised his eyebrows.

“Why would you bore her like that? That’s just mean.” Quick said, givin me a wry smile.

“Hey, I have had an interestin life. Besides, she asked for it.” We all laughed, enjoyin the capitol’s food as much as we liked.

As we left the castle, some guards that Celestia sent gave us each a bag of bits for our heroism. The funny thing is, I didn’t feel like a hero.

All I had done was what was necessary to help those I cared about. Does that make you someone to be admired?

Does doin somethin that is necessary make one great? Do savin those that needed to be saved make you a champion? 
What good are titles anyway? They never seemed to capture the person’s feelins or thoughts, only their deeds.

I recalled the various expressions on the princess’s face when I told her about the diamond dogs, the young drakes I killed, and when Emerald saved my life.

She thought I was the hero of the story, but in reality, it was those around me that caused me to take action.

My whole time here seems like a bedtime story where the hero gets the girl, and the hero was the one tellin it.

Today, I stop tellin my story, and start livin my life.

> Drinking Games
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Drinking Games


Second Arc: Delay of Game



“What now?” Gear asked as we made our way through the crowds flockin’ to the castle for various reasons.

That’s a good question.

I pondered for a second, realizing almost everythin’ we had done had been for New Findings. But the town was safe now, I had no reason to go back. 

Mr. Peach would have probably gotten some new farm hands, the militia could hold back any threats short of a dragon, and Minnie never looked at me the same when we came back without Killian.

Poor Minnie. Just another soul wounded by my presence.

I looked over at Gear, wonderin’ if he would want to go back to the town to stay with his mother. Although he was old enough to have moved out by a couple years, I know how wantin’ to stay with your family can make people do weird things.

Quick and Toni seemed too wrapped up in each other’s conversation to have heard Gear. Maybe they would want to go back as well, start a family, live off of Toni’s parent’s horde. Although they haven’t admitted to havin’ any feelin’s for each other, everyone else knew it to be true.

“That’s a good question Gear. I think right now, everyone could use a drink.” I said, gettin’ several affirmative nods.

We made our way down the main street, lookin’ for a tavern or somethin’ to quench our new found thirst.

Apparently noble ponies didn’t care much for drinkin’ in shabby pups, so we had to take a couple turns to find a shoddier part of town. 

When the fancy marble began to be replaced by old wooden homes, we knew we were close.

We walked past a couple of ragged ponies, each lookin either down on their luck, or up to no good.

A sign on a building read “Monk’s Spirits.” And by the look of the inebriated ponies gatherin’ around the place, seemed like our destination. 

Quick walked inside first, followed by Toni and Gear. Before I ducked inside, I noticed a shadowy figure skulkin’ around in an alley. When I looked over at it, the figure dashed into the alleyway out of sight.

I shrugged it off, and walked inside.

Once I was in the tavern, the music stopped, and all eyes found themselves pinned on me. 

Me bein’ a giant, even compared to other minotaurs must have given them a shock. Anger began to build inside of me, red surroundin’ the outsides of my vision. 

Only when I heard Gear call my name did I come out of my stupor.

“Hey Bronze, we’re over here.” I looked to find my friends sittin’ at the bar top, bein served by a brown pony with a beer mug cutie mark.

I gave the crowd another glance before makin’ my way over to them.

The music began to start up again, as well as the conversations.

“What’s the strongest thing you got bartender?” I asked, takin’ my seat on one of the wooden stools surroundin’ the bar. The wood creaked, but eventually held strong against my weight.

“That would be Applejack we just got from an orchard in Ponyville. I’ll warn you now though, the stuffs mighty tough.” I gave him a nod, and he poured me a shot glass of the deep mahogany colored liquid. I took it down, only to find I barely registered a burn.

“How bout a mug full of this?” I said, layin’ the shot glass upside down on the bar. 

At first the barkeep looked apprehensive, but eventually succumbed to my order. I paid him, quite handsomely considerin’ the small mug in front of me, and gave it a long pull.

“Slow down there mate, I don’t think all of us combined could haul your ass out of here.” Quick said, givin’ me a slap on the back.

I chuckled, and slowed down with the drink.

I noticed Gear had a margarita or somethin frilly in front of him, which he drank conservatively. Gear had a mug of beer, already halfway gone. Toni, surprisingly, didn’t have anythin’.

“Don’t you want a drink darling?” I asked, makin Toni look down.

“I’m not old enough.” She said, givin’ the liquor in my hand longingly. 

“How old are you?” I said. I wasn’t very good at discernin’ ages with ponies, and if I had been travelin’ with a youngin I would be mighty ashamed.

“28.” She said, shyin away from my questionin’ glare.

From what Gear had told me, ponies usually drink around 18, and are considered middle aged at 30.

“You’re old enough to drink, by a good ten years.” Gear said, takin’ another sip of his girly drink.

“Maybe by pony years, but by dragon years I have another 100 birthdays to go.” 

“Well, just for tonight, how about we try to convince the barkeep that you’re a pony. That way, you can drink, and still be safe because your friends are here.” I said, givin’ the bartender an order for the weakest drink he had.

“I don’t know Bronze, Daddy would be upset if he found out.” A drink similar to Gear’s slid into Toni’s hoof. She gave it a look, then looked at me.

“What does it taste like?” She said.

“Like fruits and honey, just give it a try.” Quick said, gently nudgin’ Toni with his talon.

Hesitantly, she brought the drink up to her lips, tremblin’ at the thought of the fire that her father told her would come.
As a single drop touched her tongue, it seemed like the whole bar had gone quiet in anticipation.

The liquid made contact, and after a minute of debatin whether she like it or not, Toni got a wild look in her eyes.
A second later her entire drink was gone, poured into the thirsty mouth of a crazy pony.

Wait….

Toni had already grabbed Gear’s, and was chuggin it down.

What have I done?

She grabbed Quick’s, and in one mighty swig, cleaned the mug.

I’ve created a monster!

She looked at my mug, and before I had time to hide it from her ravenous alcohol hunger, she snatched it from my hand, 
and emptied it.

Everyone stared at her wide eyed. What I had was the strongest thing in the tavern, and she took it like it was nothin’.

“How are you feelin Toni?” I asked, hesitant that she would drop any second from the amount of alcohol she had consumed.

“Just fantastic! It tastes just like Mommy’s tea! I always loved that tea. At first I would get all woozy in the head, but now it just makes me even thirstier!” She had already grabbed the bottle of Applejack from the bartender, and much to his dismay, 
started chuggin’ it.

“You’re gonna have to pay for that!” He yelled, only to find Toni’s bag of bits on his counter. She stopped mid drink to tell him to get her a couple more bottles of the liquor.

“Stop! You’re gonna get way too drunk.” Quick said, tryin’ unsuccessfully to pry the bottle from her mouth.

“Don’t worry, I don’t get woozy headed anymore.” She said, then began to drink the bottle like it was water.

Quick stopped his attempts, “Not at all?”

“Nope! Haven’t since I was a baby dragon!” She said happily between gulps.

The bartender came around with five more bottles of Applejack, which the bag Toni had given him paid for. I took a bottle to myself, and poured me another glass.

I looked over at Toni, who had just finished hers. She smiled at me, and tried offerin’ one to Gear, who simply smelled the bottle and ran to the bathroom.

I noticed Quick gettin a mischievous look in his eyes. 

“I have an idea.” He said, lookin’ at the mass of ponies around the bar, starin’ as Toni took on her second bottle without hesitation. 


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


The bar erupted into the sound of dozens of hooves bangin the ground in applause. 

We all watched as the drunken stallion swayed back and forth in his chair, given Toni a hateful stare. She had just taken her 20th shot of Applejack, and wasn’t even feelin’ a thing. It was the stallion’s turn to drink, and it was apparent he was comin’ to the end of the race. He turned his glare towards the shot glass in front of him, pride burnin him more than the liquor that had been tracin’ down his throat. In a defiant yell, he grabbed the shot glass, and tilted it back. The dark liquid poured into his mouth, and by the way he immediately turned a sickly shade of green, it was his last for the night.

The inebriated stallion quickly turned to one side, and proceeded to vomit into a bucket at his side.

Again the crowd erupted into applause as Toni bested her fifth opponent. Bits began bein gracefully accepted, or grudgingly given as bets were completed.

I gave Quick a smile as he collected dozens of bags filled with currency. 

The stallion’s friends began to scoop him off of the ground where he had passed out. They dragged him out of the bar, bangin his head on the door clumsily.

“Who’s next? Who dares to challenge the dragon of the south!” Quick yelled, gettin another round of applause from the drunk stallions.

“I would like to have a go.” Immediately the bar quieted down. Everyone turned to a shadowed corner of the bar where a figure sat with his feet blockin’ his face. When he brought his feet down, everyone let out a collective gasp.

It took me a second to realize that the figure wasn’t human, but a cat-like humanoid. It was wearin’ a trench coat that covered most of its body, and a hat that hid his face. He didn’t have any shoes, which only showed off his vicious lookin’ claws as he strolled through the crowd of drunk ponies, and to Toni’s table.

I gave Gear a look, and he responded with a shrug.

Toni didn’t seem to notice anythin’ off about the cat, and began to pour shots into their respective glasses.

You could hear a pin drop as Toni flipped a bit in the air, signalin’ Toni would drink first upon its landin’. 

I could hear bets bein placed, oddly in favor of the cat. Everyone in this bar had seen how Toni had kicked every stallion’s flank that came against her, and still they put their bet on this new player. I knew somthin’ was off, but just couldn’t place it.

Toni downed her drink, not noticin’ the built up tensions in the room.

The figure picked up his shot glass, and downed it without even flinchin’. 

He stopped Toni as she went to pour another shot for each of them.

“How about we try something a little bit stronger.” He said as he retrieved a bottle of green liquid from his coat. Several gasps escaped the crowd as recognition of the bottle broke the silence. 

“Ooh, I’ve never had green tea before! Is it tasty?” Toni said, eager to take the shot the cat had poured into her glass.

“It’s an …acquired taste.” Said the feline, motionin’ for Toni to take her shot.

As the green liquid poured down her throat, she let out a cough. Then another. Then had a full on fit from the drink.

“That doesn’t taste yummy at all! What is it?” Toni asked after settlin’ her diaphragm. 

“It’s called abstinence. It comes from the Great Southern Rain Forest. My tribe makes some of the best brew in the world.” 
He paused as he took the drink down. “It’ll get a minotaur drunk faster than he can say, ‘damn’.” 

The crowd once again began an applause, happy to have found someone capable of keepin’ up with Toni. I gave Quick a look, hopin’ that he would take Toni out of the game before she got into trouble.

He gave me a smirk, and began to make wagers with the ponies surroundin’ him.

The cat was talkin’ again, this time to me. 

“How about a wager? Something more than gold.”

I frowned, curious as to why he would talk to me, and not Toni. 

“Why would I make a wager with you? You don’t have anything I want. Unless you have an extra arm for me,” I motioned to my stub, “then no thank you.”

“I have information. I can tell you how to get home if your friend wins.” The cat said, a sly smile on his face.

“I know how to get home, just head south.” I chuckled a bit at the ridiculousness of his offer.

“I’m talking about your real home.” I stopped my chucklin’, and stared at this creature.

“How would you know that?” I asked.

“I have my ways, but if I win,” He gave a chuckle that sounded more like a purr, “Then you and your friends do a little favor for me, then I tell you how to get home.”

I took a second to consider this, on one hand, I might find a way to get back to earth. But if we lose, well, I don’t know, but I doubt it’ll be good.

Gear, Toni, and Quick came up to me.

“What’s he talkin’ about mate?” Quick asked.

“My original home, where I came from. I didn’t think I could ever go back, but if this cat knows how…” I let it hang in the air. Understandin’ fallin on my friends faces.

“I’m in, if it’s what you want.” Toni said, givin’ me a hug.

“Me too, even if we lose, which I’m not saying we will, I’m sure we could handle whatever task this guy’s got for us.” Gear said, givin’ me a nod.

I looked at Quick, countin’ the money he had won from the previous games. When he noticed me he just chuckled.

“You know I’m in for a lil adventure.”

With us all in agreement we headed back to the table, and Toni started drinkin.

The game continued for another couple of rounds before Toni started to sway in her chair. 

By round thirty, she was plastered.

“Tat’s shum gud schtuff tere kitty!” She slurred, rockin back and forth dangerously.

“As I said, it’s the strongest brew of the strongest drink. The only thing stronger is dragon milk, but that’ll kill anycat who’s not a dragon of course.” He took his shot. The cat-man wasn’t showin’ any signs of drunkenness, and poured them the last of the bottle.

Toni looked at her shot, and turned a bright shade of green. A vale of silence fell on the bar as Toni slowly picked up her glass. Her green expression showin’ resentment for the green liquor sloshin’ in its new home. She slowly reached for it, tension risin’ as the bar watched her. The green tinge to her white fur made me even a lil noxious. I looked at the cat, whose demeanor hadn’t changed the whole game. 

Why wouldn’t he just tell me?

Toni picked up the glass.

Why would he make us go on a quest, just to tell me anyway?

Toni touched the brim to her mouth.

This guy’s a dick.

Suddenly Toni turned to her side, and just like the many competitors she had defeated, barfed into her bucket.

The crowds of ponies began applaudin’ their new drinkin hero as bits were once again passed around. Quick had to sadly give up a good portion of his winnin’s to a burly lookin’ stallion.

I collected Toni, and gave the feline a hard glare.

“So what’s this job?”

> A Hard Bargain (14)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Hard Bargain


Second Arc: Delay of Game



We found ourselves in a hotel room two blocks down from the tavern. Nar-Kuth, the cat-man, had rented the room on the third floor overlookin’ the run-down block of the city. The only furniture in the room was a bed, which Toni was sleepin’ off her liquor on, a small table with two chairs, and a chest that the occupant would put their clothes in.

I found myself sittin’ on the chest while Quick was sittin’ on the bed next to Toni. Gear was in a deep conversation with Nar-Kuth at the table.

“There’s no way that we could make it to Zebria with several slaves without being caught by their captors.” Gear commented. 

“You can if you sneak your way in and out without notice! I need your help with this, you’re the only ones that can help me, believe me I’ve looked.” Nar-Kuth said, fallin’ into the backrest of the chair, exhausted.

Nar-Kuth had told us a sad, soberin’ story about how his tribe had been taken by diamond dogs, and sold to slavers that come from Saddle Arabia. He once tried savin’ them, only to find that he needed more help to get them all out. Once he traveled back to the Great Southern Rainforest, he heard stories about me and my friends from cat people who had been slaves to the Metal Mongrels. He had found out where we had taken off to, and set off to find us.

“And when they notice they’re gone? They’ll send their fastest to catch us. Do you even know where they are right now?” Gear said. Bein’ the smartest of the group, we had decided that he should be the one to make the plan. So far, he and Nar-Kuth had disagreed at every point.

“I know!” Nar-Kuth snapped, “They came after me and made sure I knew who the slavers were, and who the slave was!” 
He dropped his trench coat, which he had kept on this entire time. As the coat hit the floor, I couldn’t help but catch my breath.

His tan fur was nearly all shaved, showin off the many scars that covered his body. One particularly bad one started from his left shoulder, and carved its way down to his waist. Burn marks also were present in various areas, the molested flesh foldin’ and deformed permanently. The most shockin’ thing about his appearance was a brand that was burned onto him. It was the shape of a serpent's eye looking out from above where his heart was.

Everyone stayed quiet as Nar-Kuth continued.

“They did this to me, and left me for dead in the dunes. The only way I escaped death’s grasp was by sheer luck.” Once again he slumped into his chair, and sighed. “I need to get them back. They have Nuum, my wife, and Shrell, my son.”
We sat in silence, each unwillin’ to break the depressin’ quiet. Quick stared wide eyed at the brand, but said nothing.

After a few minutes Gear let out a sigh of his own.

“We will get them back, but first we need to get there. Saddle Arabia is a long ways away. It took us weeks to get here, and we lost a lot on the way.” He glanced over at me. I subconsciously began to rub the spot where my arm was taken from me.

“I have a plan to get to Wethoof, but from there we will have to paw it.” Nar-Kuth said, enticin’ everyone to give him questionin’ looks. He just let out a chuckle. “Don’t worry, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“So first thing’s first, how do we find out where they’re bein kept?” I said, standin’ from my chest-chair. 

“Well, the den that sold them were the Metal Mongrels, and considering you have experience with their new alpha, you can talk to them, and see where the slaver’s base is.” The cat said, also standin.

“That would be great, that means we can go back through New Findings! I would like to see my mom again.” Gear exclaimed, gettin to his hooves and collectin’ his gear.

“We should stay for the night, and head out in the mornin. Toni needs to sleep off that drunken stupor you put her in, and I think we could all use the rest.” Gear and Nar-Kuth both agreed to this. 

I made my way down to the reception desk, and bought two more rooms for the night. When I got back up, I found Toni layin’ across Quick’s back. I gave Quick one of the room keys, he and Toni would bunk together. I looked over at Gear.

“I get the bed.” 

“Awe come on! You always get the bed.” Gear complained.

“Well, we can fight about it if you want.” This made Gear quite his whinin.

“We’ll meet up with Nar-Kuth out front in the morning, he said our transport should be ready by nine.” Quick said, and made his way to his room.

“Well, might as well get some shut eye, come on Gear.” I said, startin’ towards our room.


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


“This isn’t natural.” I said as I clung to the supportin’ rope that connected the basket to the balloon.

“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat, Pegasus and griffins do this all the time!” Nar-Kuth said as he piled more wood into the 
furnace.

Apparently, his definition of ‘crossing the bridge’ was to buy a hot air balloon and sail it all the way to Wethoof. I had never been one to be scared of heights, but lookin’ down at the vast expanse of rollin’ hills below me, and the thousand foot drop in between me and the soft grass had  my tail tucked between my legs.

It had been several hours into the flight, and I had only looked over the edge once. The only reason I had was to get a good look of Ponyville as we passed over it. The little specks that were ponies meandered around with their chores, occasionally stoppin’ to greet each other. I was unhappy to see us go over without stoppin’ to say hello. Hell, I would have settled for a pair of binoculars to try and find the best pony.

And by best pony, I’m talkin about Big Mac.

Although the basket was big enough for all of us to fit into, Quick and Toni seemed to prefer flyin’ alongside us, occasionally comin’ to rest on the top of the balloon.

I envied their freedom from the earth’s grasp, but was content to just sit in my little basket of safety, rather than tryin’ to be the first flyin minotaur.

Half of the day flew by before we reached the edge of the rainforest. I was awestruck as I witnessed the great expanse of green foliage that stretched farther than the horizon. Once I noticed I was leanin’ over the edge of the basket to get a better view, I nearly jumped through the floor in an attempt to hide the view of the height. 

Nar-Kuth let out a chuckle at my expense.

“You shouldn’t go throwing your weight around in this basket Bronze, you might put a hole in the floor.”

I grimaced at the thought.

“How much longer till we reach Wethoof? I’m startin to get sick.” I said, feelin’ my stomach churn from the view I had gotten.

“Only another hour or so, then we’ll be back on the ground.” Gear said, pattin me on the back to try and ease my stomach pains.

It didn’t work.

I leaped up, jumped to the railin’, and showered the forest below with what was left of my eggs from this mornin.


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


Somewhere in the Great Southern Rainforest

Vaar had spent days tracking his prey. The panther stood proudly under a tree, munching on a forest vermin. 

Vaar lifted his bow, settling the arrow head on the black beast. The Bath, or as northerners called them, cat-men, steadied his breath.

Just before he let loose his arrow, a trickle began to fall in front of him. He was curious at first, until a glob of liquid plopped onto his head.

The panther heard the noise, and sprinted off.

Vaar stood there, shocked. 

It wasn’t until he realized what was coating his fur did he let loose a mighty yell.


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


“aaaaaaaaaaaargh!”

Quick swooped next to the basket, and scarred the crap out of me.

“Did you guys hear that?” He said, scannin’ the forest below us.

“No?”

“No?”

Nar-Kuth and Gear answered simultaneously. I just resigned to givin’ him a sickly moan.


After a while, a speck appeared in the distance. Quick began to fly quickly around the basket.

“That’s it, that’s Wethoof!” He shouted.

Him and Toni grabbed onto some ropes tied to the balloon, and dragged us through the air. As we picked up speed, I grew even more nauseous.

After a few more minutes, and barfin over the side once or twice, I got a good look at the city.

The whole thing wasn’t as large as I had expected, but made up for its lack of size with an enormous wall that surrounded its 
outskirts. A large expanse of trees had been cut from the surroundin’ forest to offer a better view of attackers. In this tree-less expanse craters littered the ground. A skeleton of a great beast scattered around the remains of a great battle. The town itself seemed to have fared far better than the surroundin’ plain. The town was mostly constructed of wood, the only exceptions bein what appeared to be an army compound, the town hall, and the blacksmith’s forge. The cemetery, as visible from the height we were at, had apparently been enlarged to accommodate a large number of new customers. Nearly freshly tilled earth arranged in linear patterns littered the earth. 

I took another look at the large skeleton.

It seemed to look like what’s left of something that mirrored the hydra seen in the show, but this one was different. For some reason I got a darker vibe from its corpse, like somethin evil had been evacuated from its body. 

Was this some kind of purge? 

I was interrupted from my thoughts as we began to descend. As the Earth grew closer I let relief wash over my senses. 

We touched down outside of the town’s front gate with a whirlwind of dirt escapin its earthly hold. 

I immediately leaped from the basket, and began to kiss the dirt.

“OH *mwah* HOW *mwah* I HAVE *mwah* MISSED YOU *mwah*” I said in between Frenchin’ Gaia.

Nar-Kuth and Gear hopped out of the basket, and Toni and Quick landed to watch me kiss the ground. 

After a few more minutes with the dirt, I got up, and started walkin’ towards the gate like nothin’ had happened. The group followed me, hidin snickers behind hooves, claws, and paws.

Before I could give the wooden gate a proper knock, guards appeared over the top of the wall.

“What is your business in Wethoof, stranger?” One hollered to cover the distance between us.

“We come seeking resources for a long journey south, and bedding for the night.” Nar-Kuth yelled back up to them.

“It’s an unlikely sight to see two ponies with a Bath, Griffin, and Minotaur. We will allow the ponies in, but you three need to stay out!” The other yelled.

This took me a second to register. These assholes are really makin’ me, Quick, and Nar-Kuth stay out here while our friends can go in just because we’re different? 

“Why is that, officer? Is it because we are not of pony kind? Do you require payment for us to enter? We have bits, we can pay just like the ponies.” Nar-Kuth said, pullin’ a bag of bits out of his trench coat. 

“We don’t like your kind in here. Let the ponies come in, or you all leave.” The first yelled back.

Anger began buildin’ in my heart. Red began to blur my vision. 

How dare these little ingrates not let us in! Just because we’re different? Everywhere I go, even in the heart of someplace they don’t belong, ponies are racist towards those who are different. 

Heat began to build where my arm was missin’. The memory of losin’ it to save their kin threatenin’ to let loose in a violent manner.

“Let them in private! Frost Snap is no longer our mayor, we don’t operate on the same rules.” A feminine voice from the other side came. Immediately the two guards snapped to attention.

“Ma’am, we have no idea what their intentions are, ma’am.” The first said.

“They said they need resources and a bed. Don’t make me come up there private! Open the Gate!” The voice yelled, makin’ the guards flinch.

As the gate swung open, my anger subsided. In front of us was a unicorn mare, clad in bright shiny armor. She had the usual blonde mane with a white coat, and stood proudly in her attire. Her cutie mark depicted a flower connectin’ to a wall, plantin’ it firmly in the ground. She had light blue eyes which spoke of a softer side to her tough demeanor. 

“Come in travelers, welcome to Wethoof.” She waved her hoof in a ‘come here’ gesture. I stepped through the boundary, followed by my friends. When we were all in, the gate closed. I turned around and burned holes in the two guards’ souls.

“My name is Sergeant Flower Founder, I oversee these two idiots during the day shift. I apologize for their behavior, we recently went through some... changes, and not everypony has become accustomed to them yet.” She also gave the two guards a hard stare, once again enticin’ a flinch from both.

“Flower Founder? Hmm…Do you have a father in New Findings?” Gear said, adoptin’ a thinkin’ position.

“Why… yes. Fence Founder. How did you know he lived there?” Flower asked.

The realization dawned on me as I recalled who her father is.

“Fence Founder is one of our good friends. You see, we come from New Findings. Well, originally we do, we just came back from Canterlot on important business.” Gear said, shakin’ Flower’s hoof.

“You… know my father?” I stepped forward and shook her hoof as well.

“Yeah, your dad and I were friends. He’s doin fine, in case you’re wonderin’.” I said, my smile waverin’ as she retracted her hoof, and started off towards the center of town.

I looked at my friends, confused. Quick just gave me a shrug, and we followed her.

“I haven’t seen my father in three years.” She said almost to herself. She shook her head and continued. 

“You’ll find the markets have everything you need, just be sure not to antagonize the other guards.” She pointed off to the east, then walked away.

“Well, that was odd.” Gear said, an eyebrow raised at her departure. 

“Well, nothing we can do about that. But we must gather supplies for the trip.” Nar-Kuth said, makin’ his way towards the markets. 

We followed, and were soon graced with the sounds of a bustlin’ crowd buyin’ the merchant’s goods. When we stepped out of an alley, and into the main street of the market, everyone around us stopped and stared at Quick, Nar-Kuth, and I. 
Stupid Ponies. 

After an hour or two we had found the supplies we needed, and were makin’ our way towards an inn one of the shop keeps had told us to go to.

Once again we found ourselves in a run-down building with run-down ponies as accessories. The sign above the door had read “Peg leg Pete’s Paradise”, but the tavern/inn was far from a paradise. 

The rotten jungle wood that made up the inside looked to have been newly replaced, but from the looks of the building’s patrons, the damage was probably from a fight. The old candle chandeliers were caked with wax, and rust from years of hot wax bein dripped onto its surface. The tables around the place seemed new, but that was probably from the same reason the floor was new. The bar itself was made of what seemed to be mahogany, its dark color contrastin’ the bright new floorboards and chairs scattered haphazardly around the room. Dark, worn pillars held the roof from cavin’ in, their once gleamin’ finish havin’ been scraped off by knives. 

The patrons themselves, however, looked like some of the most down-trodden individuals I had ever seen. Most of their coats looked unwashed, matted with days of dirt and sweat. Some were missin’ limbs or eyes, one was even missin’ his tail. For the most part they didn’t pay us no mind, even with me towerin’ over the largest of their number. 

We sat down at the bar top, and ordered a round. When I caught the glass of foamy liquid, a third of its contents flew out of the cup, and onto the floor. My compatriots got mostly the same service. I eyed the bartender, only to find that he had a peg leg. 

“You must be Pete.” I said to the older earth stallion. His dark brown coat nearly blended in with his main which was a few shades lighter.

“Why you’d be correct sonny.” He said, ploppin’ down in front of my group, his wooden leg restin’ on the bar top. 

“You own the place then, huh?” I said, enticin a laugh from the old stallion.

“For twenty years I’ve run this bar, and plan to do so for another twenty.” He poured himself a shot of what I assumed to be whiskey, and downed the thing.

“Well, Pete, me and my friends here are tryin’ to find a place to stay the night. Someone at the market told us to come to your place.” I said, gettin another laugh out of him.

“Sure thing sonny. The price is ten bits a night for one room. By the size of your party, I’d say you need at least two rooms, so I’ll make you a deal. Eighteen bits for two rooms for the night. Sound good?” I nodded, and gave the stallion the bits. He looked at them eagerly, and bit into them, testin’ whether they were real. Satisfied, Pete stuffed the bits into a bag on his side. 

“Good doin’ business with you, Mr…”

“Hoof, Bronze Hoof.” I said, shakin’ the old stallions hoof. A fine name for a young colt like yourself. I remember when I was full of youth, runnin’ around the world on adventures.” He drifted off into a world all his own, recallin’ his past life.

I looked over at my friends, only to find Quick and Gear were already settin’ Toni up for another drinkin competition.

I looked back at the old man in time to find him comin’ back to the present. 

“Oh, you don’t want to hear the ramblings of an old stallion, enjoy your beer Bronze” He said, turnin’ away to go wash a glass.

A question stirred in my mind.

“Hey, Pete. What’s with the big ol’ skeleton outside the city?”

He turned from his glass cleanin’, and returned to the bar stool on his side of the bar. 

“Why, it must have been a year ago that the whole thing happened. You see, when Discord came out of his stone imprisonment, he turned a bunch of hydra crazy. They began attacking the town, and nearly destroyed it too if it weren’t for a diamond dog and the old mayor's daughter. Although I missed most of the action, I heard that they burned the thing alive! Must have been amazing to see.” He drifted off for a second before lookin’ me hard in the eyes, “We keep that there skeleton for two reasons. One: it’s way too damn heavy to move. And two: it reminds us that outsiders like that diamond dog aren’t necessarily bad. The old mayor used to resent all other sentient life except ponies, but after the whole hydra incident, I never did see much of him. Most folks say he ran off into the jungle, but I think he died from his arrogance.”

I let the information seep in. I remembered the giant skeleton’s bleached bones gleamin in the sunlight. Somethin that big must have been scarier than anythin’ I’d dare imagine. Must have been one brave dog. 

I heard a commotion from behind me, and turned in time to see Quick grabbin’ a pony by his neck and raisin him off the ground. The pony began strugglin’ under the impressive grasp of my friend, but to no avail. As the pony began to turn blue I yelled across the room.

“Quick! That’s enough!” He gave me a hard look, which I returned in kind. 

Just before the pony slipped into unconsciousness Quick let him drop to the floor.

“What the hell man? What did that poor sucker do to you?” I asked, stormin’ across the floor and in his face.

“He tried to steal my bag of bits!” He yelled, danglin the aforementioned bag in front of my face.

“So you nearly kill him?” The crowd that had formed around us began to step back, the tension in the air acted like a bubble, seperatin’ the group from me and the griffin.

“No one steals form Quick Beak!” He hollered, pokin’ me with his finger.

Just before I gave him a hard one across the beak, Toni jumped in between us.

“That’s enough! I won’t have you two fighting like little hatchlings! Say you’re sorry.” She said, forcin’ me to recall my mother givin’ me a verbal lashin’ when I was younger.

I was the first to crumple under her glare.

“I’m sorry Quick.” Toni nodded in approval before turnin’ on Quick.

“Fine. I’m sorry too.” He said after a second.

“Good, now, we need to get the pick-pocket to the guard.” Toni said.

We nodded, and with Quick’s help, we got the sucker on my back.

Nar-Kuth and Gear followed us out of the pub, and into the street.

We walked in silence for a while, the only noise bein Gear hiccuppin’ from the alcohol he had consumed. 

The sun had set, lettin’ Luna’s stars shine down. Every night I tried to give them a good look. They were far more beautiful than anythin’ we had back on earth. Although the Milky Way was nowhere to be found, constellations that broke free from the regular patterns gave the sky a homey feel. I tripped over a curb, and decided to keep my eyes on the road.

After a few wrong turns we found the guard house. It stood out impressively from the surroundin’ buildings. Its stone walls were encompassed by a wall that stood about eight feet high. Its rough hewn stone exterior made it look far more impressive than the surroundin’ vernacular. The army compound was across the street. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was just housin’ for the guards. 

Did Equestria not have a military?

My thoughts were interrupted as we stepped inside the building. The interior was lit with a few torches that lined the walls, and a cheap chandelier that hung from the ceiling. The floor was made of wood, but the walls held onto the same stoney appearance as the outside. The reception desk stood in the middle of the room with twin doors on either side leadin’ further back into the building. The desk seemed to be made of the same wood as everythin’ else, jungle wood. 

The guard sittin’ at the desk seemed bored and uninterested before he noticed us.

“Whoa. What have we here?” He said as he stood from his seat. Like most the guards, the enchantment on his armor hid his cutie mark.

“This fellow tried to steal my friend’s bits.” I said, lettin’ him drop to the floor.

The guard raised his eyebrow.

“So you all took it upon yourselves to bring him here?” He looked impressed. He came over to us, and picked the stallion’s head up from the floor to get a better look. 

“Why, this looks like Silent Crutch. This guy’s been a pain in my flank since I started here. I don’t know why he would steal on parole, but he’s always getting himself in trouble.” He hefted Silent Crutch onto his back, and started for the door on the left of his desk. 

“I’ll be back in a second.” He said as he stepped through the door and disappeared into the building. 

“Do we really have to wait? I mean, we have a long day tomorrow.” Gear said as he swayed lightly back and forth. 

“Well, who knows, we might get a reward. Judging by how he’s a known criminal he might have a couple bits on his capture.” Quick said, takin’ a seat on one of the chairs that sat around the room. 

Grudgingly, we all took a seat and waited. 

About ten minutes in Gear, Toni, and Quick had fallen asleep. 

Nar-Kuth had produced a deck of cards, which we proceeded to begin playin’ with.

“Got any 2’s?” 

“Go fish.”

“Got any Queens?”

“Damn man, how do you always know what I have?”

“Call it cat’s intuition.” 

It was at this time that the door on the right opened, and Flower Founder stepped through. I laid my hand down, much to Nar-Kuth’s dismay. He had won twice already, and was well on his way to three in a row.

“Hello sergeant. Weren’t expectin’ you.” I said standin’ from where we sat. 

“Well, I wasn’t expecting you either Bronze. But here I am. I’m going to need to talk to you in private.” She said, motionin’ me towards the door on the right.

I stood, and gave her a confused look.

“What about?”

“It’ll be best if we could talk in private.”

I told Nar-Kuth to wake the others and tell them where I’m at, then followed Flower through the door. 

She led me through a maze of hallways, and let me into a small room. 

It was about fifty square feet in size with a stainless steel table and chairs sittin’ in the center. On the back wall was a blackened mirror. I assumed we were bein watched, and sat down quietly.

“Why am I in an interrogation room Sergeant Flower?” I asked as she took the seat opposite me.

“I needed to talk to you in confidence. You see, tensions are rising in the city. Most citizens don’t appreciate the new mayor’s rules, and anti-discriminatory laws. They all preferred Frost Snap’s way of doing things. A lot of the guard are with them, and soon, there will be a coup. I need you and your friend’s help if I am going to win this war.” She sat back in her chair, lettin’ me digest the information.

“My friends and I are already on a mission of extreme danger and excitement. I don’t know if we have time to help you, as much as we would like to.” I thought about Nar-Kuth, and his family toilin’ away in some mine.

“I thought you would say that, so I did a little research on your friends.” She pulled out several manila folders.

“Gear Head seems like a normal pony: small, smart, and comes from a well-respected family. Toni seems a little troubled for her age, and from the reports I’m getting, she seems to think she is a dragon. Odd behavior if you ask me. The Bath you have with you, Nar-Kuth, comes from a violent and dangerous tribe to the south. We don’t know much about him, but we know he can be deadly if he wants to be…”

I cut her off.

“Get to the point Flower.” I wasn’t likin’ where this was goin’.

“I’m getting there Mr. Hoof. You see, your Griffin friend, Quick Beak, has quite an interesting past. It seems he is a wanted stallion here in Wethoof. Apparently he murdered a stallion ten years ago, then escaped our west. We didn’t know he was in New Findings, but we don’t talk to the smaller towns much.”

She took a second to lean forward, lookin’ deeply into my eyes.

“Your friend is a murderer Mr. Hoof. I could take him and put him away for the rest of his life. I could expunge his record you see. Make it like it had never happened.”

I was in shock. My friend, one of the first people I met in this world murdered a pony. Now this mare was threatenin’ to put him away for life. Even though I was appalled that Quick would do somethin like that, he was still my friend. 

“What do you want?” I said, slumpin in my chair.

“Just to make sure the guard makes it for another two days. Princess Luna will be coming then, and will help right the ponies who need it.” She began to put all the folders back into a briefcase that sat next to the chair, except one. 

“You may rejoin your friends now, Mr. Hoof. But remember, if you leave, Quick Beak will never be allowed to set foot on Equestrian soil again.” With that, she picked up the briefcase in her mouth, and walked out of the room.

I looked down at the folder sittin’ in front of me. The tab on the outside read “Quick Beak.” I grabbed it between my fingers, and headed back to the reception area. 

I needed to have a talk with Quick.

> Felled Demons (15)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Felled Demons


Second Arc: Delay of Game



I stormed into the reception area, confusion and anger guidin me to where my friends were curled up asleep on the various chairs scattered around the room. They were all asleep, save for Quick.

He looked up from his game of solitaire, and gave me a smile. He dropped the act as he noticed the look I was givin him. 

“Bad news?” He asked, unaware of the information I carried in my hand.

I threw the folder at him, its contents spillin on the floor.

He cautiously got up and examined the papers inside. After a couple of minutes realization dawned on him, and the color faded from his face.

“Listen, Bronze, I can explain this.” He began stutterin and gatherin the papers into the folder.

“Not here, I don’t want the others to hear it though. Could we talk outside?” He motioned towards the door, and I silently complied. 

The damp night air filled my lungs as Quick closed the door behind him. The stars were out, but I didn’t take any satisfaction in their beauty, not right now anyway.

“Listen, there’s a reason I killed that pony. It wasn’t an accident, but it was necessary.” He sighed and continued, “ten years ago my mother was still alive, and we didn’t have a lot of money to go around…


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


“Now let’s get you to bed mister, we have a long day tomorrow.” A friendly voice said as she tucked her little fledgling in for the night. 

“But Moooom, I don’t want to go to bed.” The little bundle whined as his mother finished fluffing his pillow. 

“Well, how about I read you a bedtime story?” The mother began to rummage through a small bookcase that sat next to the little bed. She pulled out his favorite story, the one about the griffin who saves the princess from the evil dragon. Once the little bundle saw the title, he began nodding his head furiously.

“Blazing Talons and the Blue Dragon! Will you read it? Huh, mom, will you?” She shushed him lightly, and opened the book.
After a few pages the little one was snoring gently, the thin blankets raising steadily. The mother bent down, and kissed him on the head.

“Rest my little Quick, in the morning we will leave this awful town, and make our way somewhere safer.” She silently stood, and exited the room.

What she didn’t know was that just outside the little one’s second story window, a shadowed figure hovered noiselessly in the still night air. 

“Somewhere safe huh? No where’s gonna be safe for you Pearl.” The shadowed figure said to the window, “No where’s”



The next morning Pearl had gotten everything the two would need for the trip. She and Quick were just stepping out of the house when Quick stopped.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” He ran back into the run down two story home in the slums of Manehatton. Pearl waited patiently, and was rewarded with the sight of her little Quick flying out of the door with a book in his beak. The picture of the heroic griffin flying towards a large blue dragon bounced unsteadily in Quick’s mouth as he flew towards his mother.

He spit the book into his backpack, and placed it back on his shoulders between his wings. 

“Don’t want to forget Blazing Talons, he would be lonely without us.” He said.

Pearl just laughed, and they started towards the gates to the city where they would meet the caravan. 

Quick wondered why every now and then his mother would shoot a glance behind them, only to have Quick walk faster. He assumed it was because they were running late, but he was too young to have seen the figures dart into alleyways.

When the two reached the caravan, Pearl had stopped sending backwards glances. Quick didn’t question why, he was just happy to be sitting after all that walking at such a fast pace. 

“Almost there Quick, almost there.” Pearl said, pulling Quick into a tight hug with her wing. 

Quick loved the attention from his mother. When she was working at the school with those snot-nosed ponies she was almost never around. But now they were going on an adventure, and could spend all day together. 



Days passed, and the landscape changed. The hills turned into plains, and soon trees. Quick didn’t much like the trees, they hid the sky. Although he was just old enough to fly, he still wasn’t very good at it. His mother said it would come with time, but not with these stupid trees blocking him!

Eventually they reached the settlement. It was a fairly small town, maybe a hundred buildings. There were several that he was able to recognize right away. There was the town hall, which was made almost completely of wood. The courthouse was a tall, rocky structure that dwarfed the surrounding buildings. There was a small army building that must have housed the guards. There was a well, a forge, and what looked like a bakery. A bunch of small wooden houses sat in rows and communities.

What impressed Quick the most were the dozens of tents and huts that were scattered around the small clearing where the town sat. There must have been tons of ponies here who just wanted a new life. He even saw a couple griffins and minotaurs walking around and helping with the construction. A friendly looking stallion called out orders to the others working on building a house.

Before Quick could ask his mother who it was, the wagon they were in stopped. She told him it was time to get out, and he complied. 

When he got out of the wagon he stretched his wings, relishing in the crack that they responded with. 

“Pearl Beak?” A stallion called, signaling their turn in the roll call.

“Here. Quick Beak is here as well.” She called to the unicorn with a paper and quill caught in his magic. He scribbled something on the paper, and told Quick’s mother to join the rest of the new arrivals in the town hall. 

Once they got inside, they were greeted by the buzz of dozens of voices talking excitedly at once.

“What’s going on Mom?” Quick asked, getting shushed again by his mother. 

Before he could ask again, a voice broke over the crowd.

“Hello! Hello my new friends!” The stallion from before was talking over the crowd. He was pure white, coat and mane alike, making it difficult to differentiate between the two.

“My name is Frost Snap. I’m the mayor of this town, and may I say welcome to Wethoof.” He gestured with his hoof, making the crowd cheer and applaud. 

“We are undergoing extreme renovations to accompany all the new residents. You will all be given a complimentary tent for housing. All will be expected to help work on the new homes. Outside you will find members of the council that will assign jobs based on your special talents, or where they think you will be most helpful. Again, welcome to Wethoof!”

As he exited the stage, the applause started up again, only to die down once the back doors were opened, and everyfeather started milling out. 

Eventually the two got outside, and made their way down the lines and to a white unicorn with a stack of papers in front of her.

“Name?”

“Pearl Beak, and this is my son, Quick Beak.” 

The unicorn eyed us.

“Special talent and or previous job experience.”

“Well I used to be a linguistics professor, and my son hasn’t had a job yet.” Pearl said, scratching the back of her neck. 

“That’s great” She seemed to perk up, “We needed a teacher for the younglings. Your son will probably be helping with construction.” At the sight of Pearl sighing she continued, “Don’t worry, he’ll be doing easy things.”

Eventually they got our papers filled out, and their jobs assigned. For almost a year everything went swell. Quick began to grow bigger, and Pearl was happy teaching the little ones. She even had more time to spend with her little one. Eventually they moved into one of the new houses, a quaint little thing with two rooms, a kitchen, and living room. 

For a while, they were happy.



One night, during “winter” everything changed.

Quick came home from a long day working on building the residential sections of the town. There were almost enough to house all the people coming in. Almost.

Usually Pearl would have their dinner ready, and would welcome Quick with a hug and kiss, but today was different.

Once Quick entered the door to their home a scream echoed in his head. The high-pitched sound tour through his ears, turning his blood to ice. 

Quick rushed into the kitchen, only to find a site that will haunt him for the rest of his days.

On the kitchen floor, Pearl sat against the wooden wall. She coughed, and took notice of little Quick. She looked down at her chest, a hoof pressed against the wound that was gushing blood. A knife was sitting next to her, coated in her essence. She let out another cough, shocking Quick out of his shock.

“MOM!” He yelled, rushing to her side. She gave him a weak smile, and ran her hoof through his feathered head. 

“I’m sorry son. I promised you that we would be safe. But it seems that destiny had other plans for me.” She said weakly. 
Quick began sobbing uncontrollably, trying in vain to stop the blood from coming. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll go get help.” He said as he started to get up.

“No. There is nothing you can do now. I need you to run Quick.” Her voice had began to grow more frantic as the darkness closed in around her eyes. “I need you to run. Somewhere safe. Off the grid. Where they can’t find you.”

Tears were running freely down her face, as another coughing fit wracked her body.

“Who would do this? Why you? You’re just a teacher!” Quick asked, his voice seething with rage.

“It’s about your father Quick. He owed money to some stallions back in Manehattan. They decided his life wasn’t enough, and eventually came for us. The gangsters all wear the serpents mark. I need you to run though Quick, run and stay away from the snake’s eye.” The light was almost gone from her eyes, only a small spark was left in her body, keeping her from leaving her son. 

“NO! Mom don’t leave me…Don’t leave me.” Quick started crying in his mother’s barrel, constantly begging her to come back. 

“I love you, my little hatchling.” Her breath escaped her, Floating through the air as her soul carried on.

Quick sat there for some time, just crying into his mother’s coat. The yellow markings on his chest began to be coated in his mother’s blood, but he didn’t care. He just wanted his mother back.

When the sobs stopped, the tear ducts were empty, and the sadness subsided, it was only replaced with rage. 

He shot out of the house faster than he had ever flown. He barreled down the streets, looking for the one who had done this to him.

He entered the bar that had just recently been erected. The workers usually went there after the days hard labor, but Quick wasn’t looking for a drink. 

He scanned the place, eyes darting to every dark corner. Soon he found his target. 

A Pegasus stallion sat alone at one of the back booths, quietly sipping on his mug. Over his cutie mark, which used to be a chisel and stone, was the eye of a serpent. It’s slit pupil mocking Quick with every breath he took. The stallion looked to be well built, strong for a Pegasus. His oak coat and black main hid the specks of dried blood well.

Quick’s vision went red. All he could see was his mother’s lifeless body sitting on the kitchen floor. 

He flew directly into the stallion, knocking the air out of the bastard. Quick curled his talons into a fist, and began hammering into the assassin. 

The pony was too dazed from the original blow, and too drunk to comprehend what was going on. There was no fighting back, barely any resistance, only the next punch. 

Quick began to grow more relentless in his attack, opening his fist and raking the pony’s barrel with his razor sharp talons. Blood began flying through the air, much to the other occupant’s surprise. Until then, it had only been another bar-brawl. 
Quick let out an animalistic screech, his predator instincts kicking in as he ripped the pony’s throat out.

The bar was silent, save for the gurgling sound that came from the dying stallion. 

When Quick’s vision cleared he was already back at his house. He didn’t look back, didn’t care that he had killed. All that was left was his mother. 

He gently walked into the kitchen, halfway expecting his mother to call him to dinner. All he found of her was her corpse. 
He gently lifted his mother, the months of construction work had made him strong physically, but proved to do nothing against the tears that began flowing once more.

He walked out of the house, and flew away into the jungle. His wings strained with the weight, but he pushed on. 

He didn’t know how long he flew for, minutes, hours, days? He just flew. 

Eventually he came to a great lake that dominated the forest. He landed next to the shore, wings too tired to fly any farther. 
He went to one of the trees that surrounded the lake, and began digging. The hole was deep enough so no scavenger would find her, and large enough for her to lay down comfortably. 

He sheered the trees of their leaves, the largest on bottom, and the smallest saved. 
Quick gently placed his mother into the grave, and coated her with the small leaves from the trees. 
He filled the hole, and said a prayer to the gods. 

Two days passed with Quick sleeping next to his mother’s grave, surviving off the water from the lake, and the fish within. 

Eventually he left, flying north. The only thing left was the freshly dug ground, and the marking on the tree.

“Here lies Pearl Beak, Wife, Teacher, and Mother.”


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


“Eventually I found myself in New Findings. There was hardly anyfeather there at the time, and my presence was never 
questioned. Just another pilgrim looking for a future.” Quick finished.

I sat there for a moment, takin in what he had just told me. 

“I’m sorry for your loss Quick, and I completely understand why you killed that scum. But we need to help this town if you are to be let back into any Equestrian city or town.” I said.

“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t they just take me into custody?” Quick asked.

I sighed and told him what Flower Founder had told me. When I was finished Quick gave me a nod.

“Alright, alright. We’ll help this town out, but if you don’t mind, could we keep my story a secret until later. I don’t think the group is ready to hear about my past, especially Toni.”

I gave him a nod, and we headed back inside. The night was almost over, and it seemed we had a lot of work to do tomorrow. I woke the others, and we headed back to the inn for some rest.

When we got back, I informed the others of what was to happen. I didn’t tell them that we were doing it because of Quick, but that the town needed our help. Nar-Kuth took the most convincing, and considerin we were down here just to help him I didn’t blame him. 

Eventually he succumbed to both my relentless approach, and fatigue. 

With every on the ball, I laid down in my bed. The tough mattress below me strainin from my weight. I sighed at the day’s events, 

Why does everythin have to be so damned difficult? 

> The Battle of Wethoof: Part 1 (16)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Battle of Wethoof Part 1


Second Arc: Delay of Game




The mornin came too quickly for anyone’s likin. I stood and stretched, mindful of the low ceilin. Everyone else was still asleep, so I decided to go outside and do a few exercises. As I stepped out of the inn, and into the street, I let the damp mornin air fill my lunges. I couldn’t say it was chilly, considerin that this far south it hardly ever got cold, but it wasn’t as warm and dandy as I remember in New Findings. I sighed when I realized what today would be like, the probable crowd control, screamin ponies demandin my head on a pike, and not to mention Flower Founder keepin an eye on my friends and I. 

I strolled through the town, back to the barracks. The sun wasn’t up yet, but its crimson rays were forcin their way through the night sky. When the building I was searching for came into view, I had to give its architect an appreciative whistle.

The battle of night and day in the heavens left the stone structure in a skirmish of its own. While most of the first floor was darkened by shadow, the upper parts were bathed in light. It drew my eyes towards the heavens, its majesty not lost on me. 

I noticed that few guards ponies were out in the trainin field, and fewer actually doin anythin. Flower was currently instructin a few recruits on the proper way to handle a sword. If the weapon hadn’t been made of wood, it would have cut one particularly scrawny pony in two. 

I just chuckled at his whining as he was replaced by yet another of his number. 

Before Flower could beat the tar out of her new target she noticed me approachin. 

“Practice the moves I showed you on each other, you better have it down to a ‘T’ when I get back.” At her commands the recruits began pairin up and hackin at each other. 

She trotted towards me, eyein my usual attire of dragon scale armor and the massive battle-axe hefted over my shoulder. 

“Didn’t expect to see you so early. Where are the others?” She asked as though we were friends. 

“Don’t worry your pretty lil head, their still sleepin. I decided to get a little work out in before the real work started.” I began to remove my armor, stackin it neatly on the corner wall. Takin the stuff off with one arm is surprisinly difficult, but eventually I managed.  

As I usually spent every day and night with it on, it felt weird to be without it, my second skin. I felt a gentle mornin breeze brush my fur, causin me to give a slight shiver despite the temperature.

“Not used to being without your armor I see.” Flower started, fallowin me over to the weights stacked neatly near the dinin hall. 

“Makes wearin it in battle a hell of a lot easier.” I said, pickin up the largest weight on the bench.

It felt like a feather in my hand, despite the numbers readin a clear “100 lbs.” I sighed and began to curl it. Flower was shocked at the ease of which I lifted the weight.

“You really are strong aren’t you? We’ve received reports about a minotaur that was as strong as a dragon, but I didn’t know it was you. I didn’t even know you were up near the Equestrian/Gem Fido region.” I stopped curlin my weight, confused.

“I’ve never even been close to Gem Fido.” 

“Well, it must have been another one of your kin. Although not many among the sentient can boast their strength equaling a dragons, even a fledgling’s.” She gave another look at my arm, the veins threatenin the burst through my skin. 

I thought I saw a bit of longin in her eyes, but before I could pin it, she turned and returned to her recruits. I chalked it up to me bein tired, and resumed my work out. 

Every once in a while I would catch a guard givin me a dirty look. Once I noticed, they would turn away, and resume their conversation with their friends. I tried to keep track of which ones gave me the stink-eye, but they all looked the same. The only ones I managed to keep focused on were some of the officers.

About thirty minutes later Quick, Bronze, Toni, and Nar-Kuth came into the yard, all lookin sleepy-eyed. 

“Hey Bronze, what’s up?” Quick said, grabbin his own set of weights and startin his morinin routine. 

“Not much, just decided to get a little exercise before the day started.” He gave me a nod.

Nar-Kuth grabbed a jump rope, and began his own work out. Gear and Toni just sat in the grass talkin about what the day would bring in soft tones. 

The sun was now fully visible in the sky, havin knocked the last of the night into the horizon.

I immersed myself in my workouts, now focusin on my legs. I was interrupted from my squats by an irritated lookin Flower.

“Well, considerin almost half the guard has vanished from the barracks and their assorted duties, I’d say this coup is about to start. Get your men ready and meet me in the dining hall.” I nodded, and she walked away.

The others had heard her, and began to ready themselves. Toni gave me a hoof with my armor, helpin me strap the stubborn leather into place. When we were done, I grabbed Spirit Inferno and headed towards the sound of Flower yellin at subordinates.

When we entered, everyone turned towards us, eyein my group suspiciously.

“They’re here to help. Take a seat.” She motioned towards five metal chairs sittin off to the side. My friends and I took our seats, and gave Flower our attention. 

“Now, as you all know, or at least realized, most of the guard is gone from their regular duties. You may ask yourself, where are they? What are they doing? Can I join in on the fun? I’m here to tell you that your comrades in gold have defected from the guard.” There was a surprised uproar from the other ponies in gold. Several accusations were thrown around about ponies in the room workin for the other side, but all were quieted by Flower.

“SILENCE!” 

Immediately the guards obeyed the command, and after a few seconds of silence Flower continued.

“We have a duty to Equestria, and to its ponies. We will protect them at all costs, and try not to squander the name of the Princesses in the process. We all took solemn vows to obey the rule of the pony sisters, and they have demanded that all outposts from the country be open to friendly species. They did not order us to close off our borders to those in need, and definitely not oppress those who are different!” She paused and took a breath of calmin air. “The other guard’s members will try to revolt against the princesses. They will try to convince you to join them, to betray our rulers! What do you say to that GUARDS?!” 

A resoundin “Hoorah” rang around the dinin gall, shakin the plates that rested in a sink, ready to be cleaned. 

“That’s what I like to hear. Out there you may be forced to attack, and even harm some of your fellow guards that you have called brothers for so long. For this I am sorry. But they are no longer guards, they are no longer part of Wethoof, and they are no longer your brothers! They broke their sacred vows, and now we need to protect our citizens from their wrath.”

Everyone quieted down after Flower finished. Their somber expressions not hidin what they were feelin inside. I could tell most were morose that they would have to harm their friends. Some may have to kill. But even the sour mood in the room couldn’t hide the reverence each and every one of them held for their rulers. Flower and I could both tell that they were ready. That they were willin to defend their way of life. 

I looked over to my friends, Gear and Toni lookin to be on the verge of tears from the speech. Quick looked at peace, like he was ready to clean his name, wipe the red from his ledger. Nar-Kuth, as always, was hard to read. He seemed to accept the delay, even if it was barely. 

I looked over at Flower, who was busy givin her men their orders. Defensive barriers were to be erected here, pegasi would hold the sky here. Offensive and defensive unicorns to be positioned here. So on and so on. When she was done givin orders, and the officers around her gave a resoundin “Yes Ma’am” the only souls left in the dinin hall were Flower and my group.

“What’s the plan captain?” I asked.

“It’s Sergeant, and you will be with me. Quick and Toni, I could use you two with the pegasi, they will need the help. Gear can hold the defensive with the magi, I hear you quite good Mr. Head. Nar-Kuth…do what you seem would be most helpful.” We all gave a nod, and before the others could exit, she gave in one last word, “Try not to kill anyone please.”

Quick and Nar-Kuth gave a chuckle before disappearin. Toni and Gear were short behind. I gave Flower a hard stare.

“If anythin happens to them, you die.” I said, makin sure my voice was low enough that she understood my seriousness. 

“No need for that Bronze, if they are half of the fighters I hear they are, they should be fine.” With that she walked out of the building with me in tow. 

We walked up to the short wall that surrounded the courtyard. The street was eerily empty, despite the friendly guard patrollin the alleyways. 

“Where could the defectors set up camp where we couldn’t find them? The city isn’t that big that fifty ponies could go undetected.” I said, scannin the buildings around us. Most were wooden, their pane glass windows brushed with a miniscule amount of dew left over from the mornin. The sun was nearin its apex, maybe 10:30?

“They could’ve gone out into the jungle, or maybe the sewers, or maybe a community friendly to their cause. The city may not be that big, but there are a ton of hiding places. Besides, it wouldn’t matter. The only thing we have against them is that they weren’t at their posts this morning. They need to throw the first punch, or we’ll be charged with treason.” I sighed, rememberin the wars that were fought back on Earth.

The ones like this, where the enemy had to swing first, and there were a ton of civilians around were always the worst. Vietnam and Desert Storm came into my mind. They lasted the longest, and were the most debatable among the college folks. I always hated those who forced others into war. They were just old men sendin young men to their deaths. My thoughts drifted to my older brother, Jake. He’d been eighteen when he was first deployed to the middle-east. Only nineteen when he died. I promised my mother that I would never go into war, let alone see a battle.

Not that that much mattered here, here was a different world. Different world, different rules.

“So what do we do?” I asked, breakin the silence that had fallen around us. 

“We wait for…” she was cut off by a large explosion down in the markets. A cloud of dark smoke rose from where a bomb had gone off. “…that.”

The sounds of swords sparkin into one another filled the street as ponies of all different shapes and sizes emerged from everywhere. Some came from the sky, others from the ground, and even more through the alleyway. 

They started to swarm the guards that were patrollin the streets, forcin them back to the barracks. I went to reach for my axe, only to be stopped by Flower placin a hoof on my hand. She shook her head, and I let the shaft fall back into its sheath.

In total there were thirty five, some might have been guards, others maybe civilians who had joined their cause. Their numbers soon reached the friendly guards ponies, who were quickly put into a defensive retreat into the courtyard. There were only ten here with me and Flower. The rest had gone off into the city to patrol for aggressors.

The guards ponies stopped their retreat at the walls. Although they did nothin to keep out the pegasi, they funneled the earth and unicorn members through the gate. 

I looked over at Flower who was barkin orders at her subordinates who were strugglin to hold back the onslaught of the renegades. I looked at her again, motionin if I could join the fray. She gave me a quick nod, and went back to her yellin.

Although the renegades were usin what looked to be wooden trainin weapons, they were still doin damage on the guards. 

Two were already knocked unconscious, their bodies hulled back into the mob by one burly lookin renegade. I quickly marched past the friendly guard pony’s barrier, grabbed one of their fallen comrades from the stallion, and through him over my shoulder.

Quickly the brown coated renegade stallion dropped the other off his back, and bucked into my chest. Although his kick might have caused a couple of ribs to crack in another opponent, not only was I wearin my dragon scale, but I had taken much stronger hits from others. 

I looked around to see that the other members of the mob were slowly startin to advance on me, havin overcome their initial fright at my size they were gettin bold. 

I decided to get the pony back quickly.

The brown stallion gave another buck, which I caught in my hand. His eyes went wide as I lifted him into the air, careful not to drop the guard from his back. I placed him on my other shoulder, and held him as he tried wrigglin free of my grasp. I jogged back into the protective barrier of the guards, who were still holdin off the mob. Once inside I dropped all three ponies, letting the stallion drop with a little less grace. I smacked him hard on the back of the head, knockin him out. 

The other two I helped onto one of the corners of the wall. They were in no shape to continue the fight, but they could at least keep an eye on our backs. 

I turned my attention back to the wall of ponies fightin in their brawl. The renegades were startin to win, pushin the others back further into the courtyard. 

Flower was in the skirmish now, swingin a wooden sword of her own against someone who she apparently knew.

“GOD DAMNIT PUMPKIN! I THOUGHT YOU WERE WITH US!” She hollered between smacks to his head.

Despite her givin a beatin to Pumpkin, the others were not fairin so well. Most of who had stayed behind were new recruits. Unfortunately the renegades were mostly veterans of the guard, and were givin the recruits a whoopin. 

I grabbed a log that sat in the yard, and ran up to the line, battin a few pegasi out of the air. They flew over the wall and landed somewhere on the street, but that didn’t much matter. I pushed two of the guard aside and began swingin into the mob. My first couple of strikes landed home, knockin out more than a few of the renegades. 

Unfortunately they caught onto my game and began dodgin my strikes easily. I was slow with the swing, and most of the ponies were quick enough to dodge. By my count there were still around twenty of them, and only ten of us. Only when one of the recruits remembered that they were a unicorn, and through up a barrier around the barracks did we get a break. 

I looked at our numbers, countin eight still on their feet on our side, and twenty one on theirs. I could hear the sound of combat reverberatin through the city, the sound of small explosions echoin through the air. I thought about Quick and the others facin off against an opponent that was usin explosives.

As if she were readin my mind, Flower stepped next to me.

“We are the ones using the explosives. They aren’t deadly, and only serve to disorient the opponents. The offensive magi should be the ones throwing them. Gear will be fine. So will Toni and Quick. So far we are only using nonlethal measures, and so are they. Hopefully this will last, as no one wants to kill their brothers and sisters.” I gave her a nod, and she went to go tend to some of the wounded.

I gave the brown earth stallion from earlier a glance. He was startin to stir, and still wasn’t tied up. I got walked over to him, and started tyin the climbin rope around his hooves.

Once he became fully aware he started to struggle against his restraints.

“Let me out of here you trash!” He screamed. Upon further inspection of him, he looked a lot like Big Mac, except, you know, brown. His main was baby blue, which complemented his dark green eyes. His cutie mark depicted a Hammer bearin down on a shield. 

“What’s your name?” I asked, only elicitin several insults about my genitals.

“…WITH A GOAT!” He finished, out of breath from his rant.

“Flattery will get you nowhere. Now, I’ll ask again, what’s your name?” This time he spit at me, but given his angle, he missed utterly.

“Go fuck a dragon you son of a whore!” Apparently he must have seen my eye twitch, because he immediately stopped rantin, and adopted saucers as eyes.

“What did you say about my mother?” I asked, the calmness in my voice doin little to mask the seethin anger buildin inside of me.

“I’m sorry. It was spur of the moment. I…” Before he could finish I lifted him into the air by the rope. They hog-tie I had him in held, but from the sound of a couple cracks, his bones didn’t.

“Now, I’ll tell you this once. I love my mother very much. She is a saint. And if any piece of trash says anythin wrong about her, I will end them. Now tell me, what did you say?” I was holdin him at eye level, lettin the edge in my voice go right into his ears. They were currently pinned to his head, and were he able, I’m sure his tail would be between his legs. 

He looked on the verge of tears when he replied.

“I…said…my…my name’s Buffer…Forge…My name’s Buffer Forge.” His stutterin allowed me enough time to calm down from what he called my mother.

“The shield won’t last much longer!” The unicorn who through it up yelled. Again the guards formed a line, this time only out two ponies. 

“Now, I’m gona ask this once. Where’s your base?” I asked as I sat him down. He began stutterin again, this time followed by a puddle formin between his legs.

“I ain’t got all day son.” I said slowly.

“They’re…in the markets. There’s a shop called Bucky’s. It’s a gem shop. The leaders are there.” He said, tears threatenin to break through. 

“That’s good Buffer. Now, how many are in the coup?” I kneeled down next to him, tryin in vain to get to eye level with him.

“There are about a hundred. Some guards, but most are civilians.” The shield faltered, drawin the attention of the renegades out front.

“Formations! Let’s move, come on!” I heard Flower yell, drawin her guard’s attention towards the glares that they were receivin from the other side.

“That’s all for now Buffer, go ahead and take a nap.” I said, standin from where I knelt.

“I don’t feel tir…” I cut him off with a quick punch to the face. He went out like a light.

The shield fell, and the fightin continued. I ran over from where I was, and joined in the fray.

Flower was next to me, beatin another poor soul with a wooden sword.

I left my log in choice of usin my hands. I delivered a couple blows to some of the larger lookin stallions that decided to get close enough to me. Whenever I laid one out, another would join their place.

I turned to Flower.

“I know where they’re hidin.” I said, laud enough for her to hear, but not loud enough to be heard over the sound of battle. I 
told her about Bucky’s, and the approximate size of their numbers.

“Fine, you stay here. I’m gonna go get some magi and storm the place.” I nodded while simultaneously sendin a hay-maker into the muzzle of a pegasi.

Flower backed out of the circle, allowin me to fill her place. She disappeared from my peripherals, presumably to a back door in the complex.

One lucky earth stallion landed a buck to my crotch, elicitin a moan of pain while I fought through the want to drop to my knees and rock back and forth. 

This was goin to be a long day.


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



Elsewhere



“I don’t like this game!” Toni complained as she dodged another attack from the grey Pegasus she was currently fighting. 

“It’s not a game Toni. Just knock him out!” Quick yelled from his brawl with two more of the winged ponies.

Toni mentally shrugged and did a flying roundhouse kick into the stallions’ muzzle. Although they were only twenty feet from the ground, the sound of his hard landing made Toni flinch a little. She had never liked hurting ponies, but Gear had told her that they were mean, and needed to be kept at bay until the princess got there. 

She heard the sound of wind whipping past hooves just in time to feel said hooves collide with her flank. Pain ran along the sight of the blow, temporarily stunning her. She caught herself before she hit the ground, spreading her wings and gliding just above the street. 

She looked at her surroundings trying to find her abuser. Too late did she see the pair of gold colored hooves plow into her muzzle.

Toni dropped to the ground, the pain in her snout indicating that it was at least cracked. She let out a whimper from the pain, barely coherent enough to recognize the rebel guard approaching on hoof.

Her vision was blurred and most all of what she could hear was a faint ringing that came from deep in her ear canal. The blurred guard approached her seemingly silently. Muffled sounds signaled that he was speaking to her, but what it was she had no idea. 

Once the ringing stopped, and she could hear him, she gathered the jist of it all.

“…non-pony lover scum. Did you really think that you and your friends could just wonder into our town and expect us to do anything?” He kicked Toni in the ribs, not cracking any, but getting the message across.

That’s gonna bruise. Toni thought.

Just as he delivered another kick to her barrel Quick swooped down and tackled the guards pony to the earth.

“Don’t…You…Ever…Touch…Her!” Quick yelled from his dominant position, delivering hard blows to the Pegasus’ muzzle. 
He stayed on top of him for a while, continuing to break and disfigure the pony.

Toni laid there, the battle raging around her. When Quick had satisfied his anger, he turned his attention towards her. His face was etched with concern, his brow was furrowed in that way she always found kind of cute.

She came out of her musings just in time to hear him talk to her.

“Are you alright?” He began examining her body, taking care to look over her barrel and muzzle. She found herself blushing, which if it weren’t for the reddening of the beating Quick might have noticed.

“I’m fine. Nothing broken, but I think I need a minute.” He nodded, and picked her up with his strong arms. I nestled up into his plumage, enjoying the sight of his yellow chest plumage against my muzzle.

The sound of battle escaped into the distance as he flew me away.

“Where are we going?” She asked, curious as to why he was leaving the battlefield behind.

“I’m taking you back to Bronze. If I wasn’t able to protect you, he sure as hell can.” He flew between buildings, keeping low to the ground as to go undetected from the rebel pegasi that roamed overhead.

“But I want to stay with you!” She demanded, squirming just enough to wriggle a hoof free.

“The battlefield is no place for a pony like you, you could get hurt.” Quick replied, slowing down greatly from her attempts at freedom.

“I’m not a pony, I’m a dragon!” Toni insisted, once more freeing her other foreleg.

“Still, you’re way too young to be out here. Bronze will keep you safe. Stay by him.” They had reached the street the guard’s compound was on only to come across an interesting sight.

There were maybe ten of the rebel guards and civilians attacking their behemoth of a friend at once. All around them bodies lay unconscious from the battle previous. Bronze was wielding a large wooden log or bench as a weapon, swinging madly into the mass of enraged ponies around him. He was wearing his armor, but still showed off bruises and cuts of different sizes from the onslaught of hooves.

The two watched in amazement as their big lug grabbed his impromptu weapon with both hands, and spun it around him like an ice skater would their partner.

Several of the baddies were caught in his perilous path, allowing them to join their brethren in the land of dreams.

Four managed to back away from his attack, three pegasi and an earth stallion. As one they began their assault anew, ushering in a new round of “Kick the Big Guy in the Back.”

Quick placed Toni on the ground, her hooves still a little unsteady due to her probable concussion. She watched as her feathered friend flew into the skirmish. Bronze must have heard him or smelled him, because he immediately dropped to his knee, barely catching the buck that was coming for his head from the earth stallion, as Quick plowed into one of the three flying ponies.

Bronze made short work of the earth stallion seeing that his companions were more concerned with Quick, as they should be. 

When it came to ground battles Bronze held the advantage, hands down. But areal warfare was Quick’s business. 
Griffins were faster, and much more ruthless in the air than any other species with wings, except for dragons of course. 

Toni watched as Quick dodged several attacks from two of the pegasi, only to retaliate with his own strikes.

She let herself be caught in the way Quick moved, the tension of his muscles as he blocked one of his opponent’s attacks, the sweat that accumulated on his brow glistening in the sunlight. Only once Bronze came back into the picture did the 
tables turn from even, to just downright unfair. 

Her horned friend grabbed one of the pegasi that was distracted with Quick, and smacked him into the concrete street. While the other two lost themselves in Bronze’s show of strength, Quick made short work of them.

When all the renegades were unconscious the three friends regrouped inside the walled courtyard of the barracks. There were two guards ponies who had appeared to have fallen asleep inside.

With a quick nudge from his hoof, Bronze got them up, and gave them orders to tie up the rebels, and wake their companions. They offered a short solute, and retreated to obey their orders.

The big lug sighed and sat down hard on one of the stone benches that sat around the courtyard. Quick soon joined him on it, motioning for her to do the same.

She obliged, and took a seat on the opposite side of Bronze that Quick had sat.

“So, how’s your day goin mate?” Quick asked, lightly punching the minotaur on the arm. Gods she loved his accent. 

“Just peachy hoss. Yours?” Quick chuckled, and waved towards Toni.

“She almost got the tar kicked out of her. You think you can watch her as I rejoin the air battle over by the markets? They could use all the help they can get. There has to be at least thirty of the little flying rats over there.” Bronze thought for a second, then nodded. 

“Yeah I’ll keep an eye on her, besides, she could probably be more help than some of the friendly guards around here.” 
Toni giggled, the side effects of her beating subsiding.

“You two worry too much! I’m a big dragon, I can take care of myself.” She made a motion of puffing out her chest and placing a hoof on her chest dramatically.

Quick gave her one of his warm smiles. Gods she loved his smile.

Another explosion rocked the city, its epicenter coming from the residential district.

“Looks like Gear is havin fun. Poor guy, hope he’s alright.” Bronze sighed again.

Toni knew what he was feeling. Regret. Regret of leaving each other to go to different parts of the city on orders of some Sergeant Flower who Toni really disliked. Regret that they couldn’t be there for each other like they always were. 

“Oh well, I got to be getting back to the markets.” Quick made to get up, only to be stopped by Bronze’s hand. 

“When you get there, keep an eye open for a gem store called ‘Bucky’s.’ Supposedly it’s the hiding place of the big dogs behind all this.”

Quick gave a curt nod, and took off hard into the air. He shot over the buildings, and out of sight.

Toni sighed inwardly, she really didn’t like leaving her friends. But she really REALLY didn’t like leaving Quick.

“Don’t worry darlin, your boyfriend will be fine.” Bronze said, laughing deeply at the shocked expression she gave him.

“Oh don’t be such a sour puss. Everybody knows about you two but you two.” Toni, out of nowhere, started to growl at 
Bronze. If she hadn’t been angry with Bronze, she would have laughed at his expression. 

Why she was mad she didn’t know, but she knew who to take it out on.

“Now Toni, let’s not be rash. It was just a joke.” She gave him an evil smile, then lunged at him.


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


Elsewhere…Elsewhere


Sweat poured off of Gear’s brow and into his eyes, stinging them. Even though he was surrounded by his fellow unicorns for the first time in what seemed like forever, he wasn’t having fun. All day since the original bomb went off in the fountain that was the center point of the domestic area of the town, he and the friendly guard had been casting spells nonstop. 

Another volley of bolts came from their opposition. Fire, ice, metal, even some dandelions smacked into the shield that protected most of the defensive unicorns. 

Gear winced as they made contact. Hitting the shield was like poking his brain, except his brain is really big, and their poking it with fire. 

He and the other defensive unicorns opened holes in the barrier to let the offensive unicorns throw their own projectiles at the rebels.

More fire. More ice. More swords and axes and arrows. 

On the other side of the fountain, where their battle was taking place, a large pink bubble enveloped the enemy group, shielding them from the attack. Wherever a projectile hit, a wave of energy would flow out, just like dropping a pebble into a puddle. The various ripples traveled along the bubble, finally reaching the street and dissipating into the ether. 

Gear sighed as another volley came their way, and winced once again when it made contact. 

This time one of the guards fainted from magical exhaustion, dropping his knees, and then passing out entirely. 

“Damn!” Gear thought, “That’s the third of our ranks, and only the second of theirs.”

Part of the barrier he saw in his mind faltered from the lack of energy being poured into it. Gear grunted as he attempted to fix a hole that had formed in the combined spell. A second layer of energy encompassed his horn as he mentally applied a new skeleton and magic “concrete,” as Gear liked to call it, into the hole. 

He finished his job right before the next volley hit. The poke became a jab as more of his energy was needed to keep the barrier from falling.

He took a moment to look around him. There were maybe ten of them, three of which were unconscious, and five who were acting as offense. All were guard, which meant that they were well suited for dealing with strenuous times like these. Their magical reserves were said to be some of the highest in the world, save for dragons and the princesses. 

He took a glance at where the three soldiers had fallen. 

Well maybe not in the world.

Gear closed his eyes and waited for the next volley to hit, only to find it never came. He tentatively opened them and looked across the way to the rebels.

Almost half of their twenty members were unconscious, and the rest were looking around nervously for the source. Gear took a better look and saw that the ones who were down were all clad in golden armor, leaving only three other rebel guards and seven civilians.

Before Gear could question how their numbers had been cut so severely, a plume of smoke erupted in their defensive bubble, cutting out any light entering, and dropping visibility down to zero. 

Gear gasped as the smoke cleared to find none other than Nar-Kuth standing over the downed members of the rest of the rebel unicorns.

The cat strolled out of the wreckage that surrounded where the rebel bubble had been, and towards Gear’s group.
Just as he dropped the barrier he noticed several of the friendly guards raise offensive spells towards his friend.

“Hey! He’s friendly. Didn’t you see what he just did for us?” Gear yelled gaining the attention of the guards. 

They gave him dirty looks, the reason of which he didn’t know why, before dropping the charges in their horns and moving off to a different area of the city.

As Nar-Kuth got closer Gear smacked him on the back, well as best as he could anyway.

“Good job Nar-Kuth. That was some good fighting. Where did you learn that?” 

“When you live in the jungle, and your main alley is stealth, you pick up a few things.” He replied, already walking towards where the friendly guards had disappeared to.

“Where have you been? I know Flower said do whatever you can, but no one has seen you since you slinked off back there.” Gear said, waiting for his feline friend to respond.

“I was doing some research.” He answered cryptically.

“What kind of research?” 

“Kind that will come in handy later.”

“I know that but…” Gear was cut off by Nar-Kuth raising a paw to silence him. Gear watched as the cat-man’s ears swiveled around on top of his head.

“Do you hear that?” Nar-Kuth asked.

Gear strained his ears in vain. Only to find nothing out of the ordinary.

“I don’t hear anything.” 

“Exactly.” The feline said before ducking swiftly into a building they were walking by. Gear was quickly pulled in by his friend, and not a moment too soon.

Just as Nar-Kuth closed the door, a dozen guards and civilians ran around the corner of the building. 

Gear and Nar-Kuth watched through one of the windows in the wall, hidden in the dark corners of the house.

“What happened to the guard?” Gear asked.

“Probably ambushed, we can’t stay here. Come we’ll find a way around them.” He said as he slipped off further into the 
home.

“But where are we going?”



> The Battle of Wethoof: Part 2 (17)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Battle of Wethoof Part 2


Second Arc: Delay of Game




The skirmish at the guard’s compound went poorly, but apparently we had won. Most of the friendly guards were just barely comin back to the world of the conscious, most bore healthy lookin new bumps on their heads. The rebels were all chained up and put in the jail cells where they couldn’t do anymore harm. 

I sat with Toni outside, enjoyin the beautiful day that had started off so poorly.

She had chased me around the yard for a while after my little comment about her and Quick, but when she finally caught me and pinned me to the ground tears started flowing. 

She now sat next to me on one of the benches balling her eyes out and askin me what to do.

“I love him Bronze! But I know he doesn’t love me back. Besides, I’m too young to be in love. Daddy said he didn’t meet mommy until he was two hundred. Everyscale else before that had been just a sore left on his heart.” She was leanin against my side where my arm should be, cryin into my brown fur. 

I pushed her gently away as to look in her eyes.

“You probably don’t see the way he looks at you. The tender way he cares for you, and his need to always be around and protect you all point to one conclusion…” I looked deeply into her eyes, the tears subsidin a little, “He loves you Toni. Everyone was just waitin for the time when you two would tell each other.”

She smiled a little, still feelin in the slumps.

“Besides, if he doesn’t love you, I’ll bop him on the knoggin.” This elicited a giggle out of her, and forced the rest of the tears away from her eyes.

“You’re right Bronze! I’m a big girl now, and I need to take what I want.” She went to get up, presumably to chase down her griffin.

“Now, let’s not be too hasty. The only reason he’s not here with you right now is because he’s out defendin you. When he gets back you can give him a talk.”

She grudgingly agreed and sat back down.

“How does a little food sound to you? The dining hall is still full of food that went uneaten today.” She perked up at this, and nodded her head furiously. 

“Ok. You stay here and keep an eye out for any more bad guys.”

I stood from the bench and made my way into the hall. There were plates scattered around from the rebels who had ditched at the last second to join their friends. Food was still sittin on them, although given the weather and flies, was probably bad by now.

I sighed and looked around the cabinets for somethin me and Toni could snack on.

I opened one and let out a silent ‘sqee.’ I pulled out a bag with the label “Golden Delicious: Apple Family Farm, Ponyville.” 

I opened it up to find at least a dozen of the heavenly fruit inside. I pulled one out and gave it a bite. Its sweet nectar poured into my mouth. I unwillingly let out a grunt of pleasure.

“Hey Toni, I found some apples!” I yelled to get her attention. When silence was my only response I got a little worried.

My adrenaline kicked in, along with my dragon vision. I strained my ears to hear if anything was wrong, faint scuffling was 
the only sound that found its way to me.

Hesitantly I made my way to the door, forgettin about the bag of treats on the counter. Slowly pushing open the door not to make a sound, I peered outside.

Out in the yard were nearly fifty rebel guards and civilians. The friendly ones were being stacked up in the corner, their bloody bodies thrown there without second thought. 

So we’re killin now are we? I thought.

Immediately I thought of Toni and scanned the yard. All of the rebels were walkin around stealthily, tryin to find the minotaur that had bested their friends. My eyes fell on two of the brutes draggin an unconscious, but unbloody Toni into one of the private quarters. 

Once they disappeared into the doorway, and saw a sign that hung from it that read, “Do not disturb,” I may have lost my shit.

I let lose a mighty roar, havin had my primal instincts kick in. Bargin through the door like a wild bull, head down and horn out, I plowed into several of the rebels without second thought. I continued my run, makin a B-line for the door Toni was behind.

The rebel guards must have gotten over the shock of my entry, and were actively workin on bringin me down. 

Pegasi flew around my head like bees, Earth ponies attempted to get in my way, only to be gored by my razor sharp horn. I didn’t dare look behind me at the thrall of angry ponies whose friends I had just killed. All I cared about was gettin Toni out.

Just as I reached the two steps that led to the door, a red aura enveloped my arm.

I roared in protest, rippin my arm out of some unicorn’s telekinetic grasp. Just as my arm was free, another aura, purple maybe, grabbed ahold of my leg. Before I could react, the red one was back on my arm. Then a yellow one around my chest. After a minute ten different magical grasps held firm on my body, stoppin my progress. 

The large earth stallion, Buffer, ran up and bucked the back of my right knee, sendin me into a kneelin position. I was then dragged back into the center of the courtyard for all the rebels to watch. Then Buffer and some of his buddies decided it was time to lay into me.

I received several bucks to the head, chest and even my groin. Just as I was about to black out from the pain, I heard somethin that made my heart stop beatin. 

“NO! NO PLEASE NO! AHHHHHHHHH!”

That was Toni’s voice. That was Toni’s cries for help. I had to help her.

With new found vigor I raised my head, despite the beatin I was still receivin from the ponies.

They had killed their own.

I looked into the faces of the ponies around me, their sneers and red eyes burned into my memory forever.

They had taken my friend.

I looked at Buffer, his mane was stuck to his head from sweat, and the swellin on the right side of his face from my fist was 
still prevalent.

Now they were goin to try and hurt her?

He gave me a smile, his crooked yellow teeth glarin back at me.

NOPE!

I billowed at the top of my lungs somethin that would be burned into the survivor’s eardrums for all their lives.

“SPIRITUS INFERNALIS!” 

Everythin went white for a second. Then, as quickly as it came, the flash left.

I stood from where I was kneelin, and ran to the door that had that despicable sign on it. I kicked it down, findin two scared guards ponies without their armor. 

Apparently the explosion had caught their interest, they were about to barge out of the door before I kicked it in. Everyone stood still for a second.

I found my gaze settlin on the white ball curled up on a bed. Her mane was messy, and her head seemed to have a lump on it.

Once the two guards figured out what I had been lookin at, they began to back away.

“It…it wasn’t like that man.” One stuttered out.

“We hadn’t touched her, we weren’t going to. I swear!” The other returned.

I looked at them, fury like fire in my eyes.

“Tree touched her! He touched her when I said no!” the first yelled, catchin the eyes of the other who had his jaw hangin 
down.

Maybe because of the after effects of the spell I used, or maybe just because I was the epitome of pissed, fire actually did began to race across my eyes, and down into my hands.

“Dream did it! The mess of a stallion tried fucking her!” The second one, Tree said.

I heard Toni whimper, as did the guards.

My hand shot out faster than a bullet, and grabbed Tree around the throat. Dream tried to escape by flyin under me, only to find a hoof on one of his wings.

Ignorin Dream’s cries of pain I brought Tree to my line of sight.

He had visibly wet himself, and was cryin uncontrollably.

I through him into the ground at my feet, then grabbed his head before he could escape.

I made sure that Dream could see him as I crushed his skull in my hands. He screamed at first, but once a sickenin ‘crunch’ resounded through the cabin, all that could be heard was Dream strugglin to get free.

I twisted my hoof, snappin his wing and elicitin another scream of agony. I lifted my hoof and brought it down quickly on top of his back, snappin his spine, but not killin him.

Kneelin down to get close to the cryin stallion I whispered in his ear.

“To be honest, no amount of grovelin could have saved either of you.” With that I reached down, and snapped his neck like a twig.

I looked down at Toni, still cowerin in the corner.

“Toni, it’s Bronze. You’re safe.” I said, tears startin to well up in my eyes.

She peeked her eyes over her hoof, and immediately jumped into my arms.

“Bronze! Oh god, Bronze!” She cried, snugglin deep in my hug, away from the monsters that lurked in her nightmares.

My chest started to moisten as she wept into me. 

“Did they hurt you?” I asked, my own tears slowly fallin from my eyes.

“No. But if you hadn’t come they would have. Thank you Bronze.”

Outside there were shouts comin from some of the unicorns and pegasi that had survived. They must have woken up from their concussion induced slumbers.

“Toni, I need you to find Quick, and Gear. Yall need to get out of town, go somewhere safe. I’ll be right behind you.”

Realization dawned on her face as she saw past my lie.

“No Bronze! Don’t leave me! We can get out together, find Quick and Gear, and leave this terrible town.” Once again she wept into my chest. I shushed her and pushed her to a window that led out back.

More shouts came from outside as the rebels were putting together a plan to take me down.

I broke the window with Spirit Inferno, clearin the remainin glass shards with the dragon scale. 

I pushed the weapon into her hooves, makin her look at me in fury.

“Don’t you dare give up that easy!” She yelled.

“Who said I’m givin up? I just need you to keep this safe for me while I’m gone.”

Toni protested, but eventually succumbed to my decision.

“Fine. But when we come back, you better be alive.” She scowled at me like a child bein put to bed before they wanted to, “We will come back Bronze.”

With that she allowed me to lift her outside of the window where she took to the skies. Although she was encumbered with the weight of my axe, she managed to fly away, too low for any remainin pegasi to see her vanish.

I sighed, then turned around. Several unicorns were gatherin outside of the door. 

The last thing I remember was barrelin out the door, catchin the ponies by surprise. 

They released their magic onto me, then the world turned black.


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



Elsewhere



Gear didn’t like the sneaking around, he’d rather just find his friends and leave. Nar-Kuth on the other hand kept pushing him to continue to slink through the city.

Several times they were almost caught by some of the rebel patrols, but managed to hide in the shadows long enough for them to pass by.

“That’s the third time in half an hour we were almost caught. If they are setting up patrols in this area, it means that they have their base nearby.” Gear surmised, irritated at his bad luck.

“Yes I know. Their base is in a gem shop called Bucky’s. That is where we are heading.” Nar-Kuth explained, causing Gear to stop in alarm.

“What do you mean we’re heading to their base?! That’s a suicide mission.” Gear hissed in a whisper.

Nar-Kuth sighed, knowing full well that it may be just that. He and his new unicorn companion had seen several times where the rebels would strait out kill the guards, while the guards would just try to incapacitate. Not only were they outnumbered, but the rebels had the home base advantage.

“We need to cut the head off of the serpent. Most of these civilians and even some guards are just being paid to usurp the command. If we cut off their pay check, they may just reconsider whether the cause is worth dyeing for.” The Bath said.

Gear just grumbled and kept to the cat’s tail. 

After an hour or so they came to the market place, and observed the chaos that had wreaked its vengeance on the quiet town.

Bodies of guards and rebels were strewn around the markets, the aftermath of a large scale battle. 

“It seems that the guards grew tired of fighting without a chance.” Nar-Kuth said, examining the remains of one of the rebels that had fallen to where they hid in the shadows.

Gear kept back a bit, still appalled by the sight of ponies having been slain by their own kind. He adverted his eyes from 
the bodies, and saw their destination on the far side of the plaza where they stood.

“There’s Bucky’s” Gear said, drawing the cat’s attention to the building.

Bucky’s was a relatively small building with a giant pony holding up a massive ruby on its façade. The gem shop had seen better days, considering that half of the left side of the giant pony’s face was gone. Glass from its windows were scattered amongst the street and bodies. Gear could easily tell that the guards had tried to take the place.

For once that day, Gear felt hope. Hope that they might win. That they might be able to walk away from this unharmed.

Then his hopes were dashed.

A distant explosion from the other side of town drew both of their attentions. It sounded larger than the others that had persisted throughout the day as what was left of the unicorns faced off against the rebels. No, this one was different. 
Gear felt his stomach drop, but couldn’t tell why. The last time he felt something like this Killian had died.

Wait, did that come from the guards’ compound?

Gear was dragged out of his musings as Nar-Kuth through him into the shadows that hid them from the bright afternoon sun just as dozens of rebels erupted from Bucky’s. 

This meant two things to Gear. 1, they heard the explosion too. And 2, the guards had lost their battle to take over the base. 

How could all of the guards have lost? Gear thought as he and Nar-Kuth slipped back into the shadows and alleyways.



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



Elsewhere…Elsewhere




Quick thought this battle was too easy. He had just knocked out another guard, and was shocked to find few left standing. 

He looked at the street below him, dozens of unconscious ponies lay haphazardly around. Some worse than others. Flower had come with some reinforcements, and they had turned the tide of the battle.

In total, his team had lost about ten members, all unconscious and fine on the street below. The enemy had lost about thirty of their pegasi. Not too bad, but something was off.

Those that remained didn’t seemed worried that they were being decimated, rather, as the battle raged on they seemed to act like they were gaining the upper claw.

His mind traveled back to Toni. Although it had only been a few minutes since he had left, he missed her already.

I swear if Bronze can’t keep her safe I’ll kill him. Quick thought darkly.

His musings were interrupted by one of the last pegasi darting from his left and colliding with his back right leg. Although nothing was broken, it still hurt like hell.

Quick turned swiftly, following the pony away from the markets. 

The hunt was on, and both knew it.

Quick inhaled the ponies scent from the winds that whipped around his beak. Although there was no rainclouds, but the precipitation form the surrounding forest allowed for Quick’s breathing to be labored more than usual. But that wasn’t going to stop him, his prey was in his sight, and he was gaining on him.

Quick barely caught the change of scenery around him before he saw the pony, who had tried to catch a quick look behind him, smack into the large skeleton that sat on the outskirts of the town. The griffin pumped hard with his wings, coming to a stop before befalling the same fate as the pony. 

Quick looked down at his prey, finding that the Pegasus was still conscious, if only barely.

Dropping next to the pony, Quick walked over to him, wary of any hidden attacks that may come from the downed pony. 

The scent of blood reached the predator, nearly sending him into a frenzy before he reigned his instincts in.

These are ponies, not food. He reassured himself.

He noticed a small pool of blood surrounding the pony’s head. Quickly he approached him, finding a small crack in his skull. From experience he knew what this meant. 

Soon the swelling in the brain would start to hemorrhage, sending the pony into unconsciousness, and soon death. 

There was nothing Quick could do, except watch as the pony shivered from an unfelt breeze, and cough raggedly.

The pony’s blue eyes met his, and Quick found nothing but sorrow hidden in their depths. 

“I’m sorry.” The equine managed through his coughing fits. “I never intended for this to get so far out of hand.”

“What are you talking about, no one’s died yet.” Quick said apprehensively.

“Soon they will be.” Another coughing fit wracked his feeble frame. “We were just fallowing orders. I saw the bag of bits tossed at me, and let my greed get the better of me.”

All Quick could think about was Toni. Was she in danger? Would the ponies kill one of their own just because she traveled with outsiders?

“What’s happening? Who paid off the guard?” Quick demanded.

“I don’t know his name. He had a serpent’s eye burned onto his cutie mark. He demanded that if Quick Beak was ever to be seen again, he needed to be killed. When we saw you enter the town, with those yellow markings of yours, we knew what the serpent would want. This whole coup, the killings that are about to happen, is because of you.” Once again Quick saw the pony shake uncontrollably, before fluttering his eyes.

“HEY! Don’t you die on me! Why would an entire town go to war just because I killed a pony all those years ago?” Quick yelled, only to find that the Pegasus had closed his eyes, and stopped taking in breaths.

Quick shakily got up, his instincts going crazy. 

Toni! He thought.

With one mighty flap of his wings, Quick shot into the sky in search of the one he loved.

He flew like a bullet into the town, towards the barracks where he had left her with Bronze.

What he saw made his heart skip a beat.

The complex was in ruin. Dozens of bodies littered the ground, reaching out from a focal point near the middle of the training field. Several looked like charred bones rather than the remains of ponies. 

Quick saw several unicorn guards and a couple pegasi circling one of the residential buildings that served the officers. 
Some were dressed in gold armor, while others were plain civilians. 

“Rebels.” Quick growled under his breath.

The guards were shouting orders to the civilian members, trying their best to stay organized. 

Quick noticed the stack of royal guard bodies by one of the walls, and its distinct lack of a giant minotaur, and white and 
blonde pony.

Maybe their safe. Quick though, only to catch a white blur shoot out of the back window of the building the rebels were guarding.

Quick shot like an arrow towards the escapee, determined to catch up with her. He managed to stay on her tail as she flew fast and low down alleyways. 

As Quick gained on her, he noticed tears streaking before her. Angered and confused, Quick yelled at her to stop.

When Toni heard the familiar voice calling to her, she slowed down to a stop. She tried to wipe the tears away in vain before the one she cared most for caught up to her.

“Toni! God Toni are you ok?” Quick asked.

She turned around, only for the faint sound of a large explosion to echo down the alleyway.

The Pegasus erupted into tears. She dropped the axe, and was soon enveloped in the embrace of a griffin.

“My god, what happened?” Quick asked.

Toni explained everything to him through sobs that tormented her.

When she was done, Quick was crying too. 

They sat there a while, comforting each other for the loss of their friend.

> The Battle of Wethoof: Part 3 (18)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Battle of Wethoof: Part 3


Second Arc: Delay of Game




I found myself at my parent’s ranch, the barn next to me covered in a thin sheet of ice. I sat up and shook my head groggily, the familiar weight of my horn now gone. Frantically I reached up and felt the top of my head, only to be greeted with a short cushion of 
hair and a distinct lack of a horn and horn stub. 

I brought my hands into sight, wiggling my five fingers in awe. I did a check of my body, and found that I was indeed human again, and clothed in the same garments that I had been in the day of my rebirth. 

“Was it all a dream?” I asked to nobody in particular. I glanced at the night sky, and found that the stars weren’t nearly as dazzling as they had been on Equis. The moon also didn’t hold the same collision patterns as the one from the other world. 
It all felt so…alien

“Daniel?” A voice asked from behind me.

I turned and saw my mother standing behind me with a flashlight and a worried expression.

“MOM!” I yelled, and quickly stood and ran to her. Although I lacked the immense strength, I still could lift and twirl her easily. 

“Daniel, you’re crushing me.” She managed, bringing me out of my revelry and into reality.

Once she got her breath back she continued.

“You’ve been out here for hours. Me and your father were getting worried.” I looked back to where I had been laying, finding hoof marks in the snow leading to the barn. I followed them, and found Mack standing in the large wooden building. 

“Mack! Holy shit I thought you died!” I exclaimed, runnin up to him and pattin him on the head. He gave a whinny of approval before wonderin off to his stall. 

Just as I was about to leave the barn and head back up to the house where my family was waitin, I heard somethin that made my heart stop in its chest.

“Hello Daniel.” 

My head nearly spun off as I swiveled to find the speaker. When my eyes rested on him, they squinted with hatred.

“What are you doin here?” I asked the old man. 

This time he was wearin a lion’s pelt as a cloak, the fangs of said animal’s maw hangin just above his dark eyes. He didn’t have pants on, but instead wore a loincloth and fur boots. In his right hand was a spear carved of dark wood. Its point made of glasslike stone that had intricate carvins rutted in it. His left hand held a cross with a circle on top. His skin gleamed like obsidian in the low light of the barn.

“I’m here to talk.” His deep voice reverberated off the wooden walls despite its low volume. The sharpness on his tongue gave away darker meanin than just mere words.

“About what?” The air dropped ten degrees as his eyes burned with a green flame.

“ABOUT YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS!!” He yelled, causin the barn to shake, sendin loose dirt from the ceilin beams downward.
I stumbled back with fear, the look in his eyes givin me pause.

“Wh…what transgressions?” My voice was shaky, and barely heard after the thunder that had erupted from the god.

“You have aligned yourself with the wrong people! I send you into bar after fucking bar, in hopes that you would find the brotherhood, and yet you constantly find the wrong people.” He said, as if it were obvious. 

“Who’s the brotherhood, and why do you want me to meet them?” I asked, the quiver of my tongue stilled.

“They are the means that I will enter Equis. Damn the other gods and their rules!” He shook his fist at the heavens, which only seemed to make a couple of pigeons upset at him.

“What are you talkin about?” I asked, still unsure of his purpose.

“Have I not told you?” He seemed to recall the past, only to find a sour answer. “Well, it seems I was hasty in sending you to Equis without proper instruction as to your task.” 

The world rippled around me, turnin the barn into a large cavern with a crevice carved down its middle. The meager light from the barn was gone now, replaced only by glow stones hewn into the rock around us. We were maybe twenty feet from the pit, which the old man covered in great steps, comin to a stop just before its grasp took him. He turned to look at me, then nodded for me to join him. I did so slowly, wary of the fall that could end my existence. 

Somehow I knew that what went into the pit, never came out.

“I sent you here for one purpose, Daniel. I wish for you to free my children.” He motioned with his hand towards the pit, which I hesitantly looked into. I was greeted with only the smell of stale air, of stone that has stood idle for centuries as the world above it stirred. 

“What will happen if I do?” I asked, earnin a look of anger from the deity.

“They will sweep this world like a plague of locusts. They will assume the mantle of leader of all sentience on this planet, as it should be!” He bellowed, causin dirt to fall from the roof of the cavern.

“I would never let you destroy Equis!” I hollered, gainin a smile from the old man.

“Do you know why I chose you as my champion?” He asked slyly, his words like acid upon my eardrums.

“You said I had heart.” I said hesitantly.

“Yes, the heart of a killer.” He smiled once more at me, but seein my expression of disbelief he frowned.

“Perhaps you would like to see the reasons I chose you. Maybe a refresher of your life will pull you from these prissy thoughts of disobedience, and put you once more on my path.”

I started to refuse, my past was somethin that I never wanted to revisit. But before I had a chance to say no, the god pushed me into the abyss. 


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


Gear and Nar-Kuth stalked through the alleyways, careful to avoid drawing any attention from the few guards that remained around Bucky’s.  Even though they were off of the main road, the bodies of various citizens and guards were strewn about.

Gear had to watch his step lest he fall and draw attention from the rebel guards. 

Nar-Kuth slinked down the alleyway that led up to the gem store, his padded paws causing no sound. 

“Do you think this will work?” Gear asked in a hushed whisper.

“Not if you alert them to our presence!” Nar-Kuth hissed.

The unicorn smiled sheepishly before following Nar-Kuth to Bucky’s backdoor. The cat motioned for him to stay put before ascending the side of the building. 

Once up top, Nar-Kuth dropped down a rope that he had been carrying, allowing Gear to shimmy up. The roof was flat, save for an air duct and roof entrance to their left. The back of the giant pony on the sign, the one Gear assumed to be Bucky, was all a grey metal.

The Bath motioned Gear towards the door, the meaning already known to Gear. He silently walked up to it, and scanned it with his magic.

Gear’s special ability was that of figuring out how things worked, including locks. He quickly found the locking mechanism, and set the bolt free. Once he was done, the cat opened the door without a sound. 

The pair shuffled inside the building, closing the door before the light attracted too much attention. 

As Nar-Kuth had guessed, the stairway to the roof led to the back of the first floor, out of sight from most of the rebels. The only one that stood guard was an earth pony that had drifted off somehow.

The cat drew a knife from under his trench coat, and slit the poor bastard’s throat. When the pony’s eyes shot open, and the gurgling began, Gear turned away from the sight. Once the noise had stopped, Nar-Kuth patted him on the shoulder, signaling that they should advance. 

Gear went first, using his magic to move away the curtain that led into the front of the store. Through the eyehole that was created, 
Gear saw that two unicorn guards stood in front of the door watching for any who would come in. 

Unfortunately for them, the threat was not coming through the front. 

Nar-Kuth once again dispatched the guards with knives, this time opting to throw them into the base of the two pony’s necks. 
Before they could slump to the ground, and cause a sound, Gear caught them in his telekinetic grip, slowly lowering them to the wooden floors of the shop. Nar-Kuth swiftly did a scan of the building, walking silently along the wood floors in hopes of finding what they had come here for. 

The Bath soon found what appeared to be a hatch leading down to a lower level. Gear came over to him, cautious of his horseshoes on the wooden floor. Once they were together, Nar-Kuth gripped the metal ring that acted as a knob for the panel.

Gear readied himself, charging his horn to grip the dragon scale shards in his saddlebag. 

Flashbacks of his bout with the giant beetles played in his mind as he nodded to Nar-Kuth. 

The cat nodded, and lifted the hatch, revealing a blackened stairway that led into an underground chamber.
They slowly descended, making sure no one was near the entrance to notice them coming down.

The walls of the secret base were made of roughhewn stone and dirt for a floor. Torches lit the hallway dimly, casting eerie shadows that flickered on the walls. Wooden support beams were placed in regular intervals in the tunnel that led down about twenty feet before taking a sharp turn to the right. The place smelled of dirt and sweat, with voices conversing around the bend about unknown subjects.

The two steeled their resolve, and made their way down the tunnel towards their opponents. 

Nar-Kuth took the lead, making his way swiftly down the tunnel before coming to a stop before the turn.

Light from a torch unseen casted shadows of two ponies walking down the corridor, unaware of what waited for them.

As the two got closer, their conversation was heard more easily by Gear.

“I don’t feel right with this new change of plans. I was fine with knocking them out, but killing our friends for a couple bits seems wrong.” A soft, yet male voice said from around the bend. 

Gear facehoofed quietly. 

Of course it was wrong to kill your friends you moron! Especially for a couple bits.

The two were getting closer, and with nowhere to hide, Nar-Kuth gave Gear a nod. The unicorn swallowed hard with fear of the impending confrontation. 

He had never enjoyed taking life, as many of his kind found it below them and a sinister act in general. Maybe he should just let Nar-Kuth do the dirty work…

No! 

He mentally slapped himself out of it. 

If I am to accompany him into this hell-hole, then I am to help stop this madness, whatever the cost.

“Steel yourself youngster, we’re not just fighting for bits, but to rid this town of whelps like Flower Founder! Equestrians are above those other species.” Gear heard the new, rougher voice say. “Diamond dogs, Griffins, Minotaurs! They’re all worthless scum that deserves to be rid from this earth.”

That made Gear mad. Equestrians weren’t above the other species. Everybody had something to bring to the table, no matter what species they are.

The two were getting close to the turn, but seemed to have stopped just before the bend.

“I still don’t agree. The only reason I’m doing this is to pay for Chime’s surgery back in Canterlot.” The younger voice said, earning a smack to the head from the sounds of it.

“You just do as you’re told boy. Or I’ll see that all of your pay gets spent on booze and hookers!” 

I looked at Nar-Kuth, who also looked at me. We seemed to have come to a sort of agreement about how to continue. We gave each other a swift nod, and turned back to the bend that was now quiet. 

We knew where the guards were based on their shadows on the wall, and the even interval the torches were set into the stone.
Nar-Kuth put up three fingers, and slowly counted down to one. Once the final finger was down, the two of them surged into the hallway, taking the two rebel guards by surprise.

Immediately Gear knew which voice belonged to whom. One was wearing an old, beat up set of armor. He had grey stubble around his muzzle. His azure eyes were surrounded with wrinkles, as was his forehead and body in general. His wings had several blank splotches where the feathers had fallen, and no new ones took their place. The old coot must have been at least sixty.

The other was a young unicorn stallion who wore a bright and shiny set of armor, obviously much newer than the other’s. His violet eyes were wide with shock at our sudden intrusion on them. 

Before either had time to raise an alarm, both were taken down, one by Nar-Kuth, and the other by Gear.

The old Pegasus had had his throat slit courtesy of the Bath, while the young unicorn was only knocked on the head by a large rock Gear had found on the floor.

“What now?” Gear asked as they both dragged the bodies into the darkness of the entrance tunnel.

“Now we find and kill the leader.” The cat said as he deposited the body out of sight.


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


I sat alone on my cot, my head buried in my pillow. No tears came, even though I wished they would. Tears would be comfortin right now instead of dry eyes.

I never liked the desert, too hot, too clammy, too barren.

I flipped around, careful not to rip the stiches from my dressin. I had already done that when I was given the news, and the nurses were not all too happy with me.

Flashes of the ambush raced through my head.

The sound of the gunfire….and the screams.

My patrol and I were just west of Bagdad, returnin back to base from a raid on a suspected arms dealer. The whole thing was a hoax, as we ended up raidin an illegal livestock auction.

I had turned to my friend Quin, who was rantin about how he wanted to see battle.

The bastard was my same age, nineteen, and was always lookin for blood to spill. Me and him were bunk mates during basic, and ended up in the same squad when we were deployed. He was like a brother to me, he would watch my back, and I his.

“I still say we should’ve taken the chickens. Just imagine some fresh meat tonight!” Quin said through the comms.

“You do realize that we’re only supposed to use this for official correspondence, right Private?” I asked through the mic, only to have him scoff back at me. From my seated position in the passenger seat I wacked Quin on the Leg where he jumped back, holding onto the 30.30 mounted machine gun that was placed on the roof.

“Yeah. But like it matters. Who goes over the recordings anyway Corporal? The NSA?” This earned a round of chuckles from the men.

“Just keep your eyes on the ro…” I was cut off by a sudden explosion. The lead Humvee was tossed in the air like a toy, its occupants thrown around like ragdolls.

“Contacts! Contacts! Thirty meters east!” I heard over the mic, only to find another attack coming from the west.

“They’re surroundin us! Get us out of here!” I yelled over to Davis, the driver.

He floored it, only to catch a stray bullet to the temple. 

My eyes shot open like dinner plates at the sight of his brain splattered across the visor on my helmet. I looked behind us to find that the three remainin Humvees were taking fire, but returnin whatever they got.

Fire erupted from the mounts, rainin a hail of lead onto the turbaned fucks that attacked us. 

I snapped out of my stupor once the tell-tail ping of bullets wrackin the armored plating reached me.

“Quin, Open Fire!” I yelled, causin the Humvee to shake once he squeezed the trigger.

I grabbed my carbine and started shootin out the driver’s side window, having already been shattered from the first barrage. 

I lined up my sights on a child that was carrying an AK-47 and sprayin the Humvee behind me.

“God forgive me.” I whispered as I pulled the trigger.

The boy’s head snapped back, and his body fell.

I heard Quin’s yells of fury as he laid into the contacts, screamin with all his might to push back the sandy bastards.

I almost smiled, before I noticed the towel-head holdin an RPG, and pointin it at us.

“RPG! Down!” I hollered.

Too late.

The asshole had already fired, and while I was able to find cover in the area under the dash, Quin was left undefended.

The grenade struck true on the rear of the Humvee, sprayin liquid fire into the inside. 

A gas can caught spark and ignited, sendin a fire ball that blew open the doors.

I was sent sprawlin into the sand, burn marks and shrapnel coverin my body.

It was then that I blacked out.

I later learned that Quin didn’t make it, and that the injuries I sustained were enough for a forced medical discharge with honors. 

That didn’t matter though, my best friend was gone.

A single tear found its way down my cheek. 

“Do you require more?” A dark voice asked from beyond the curtain. The realization that this was all just a memory hit me.

“Fuck you old man!” I yelled.

“Hmm, perhaps so.” Once again the world faded into a black nothingness.


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


Quick had just killed another rebel while Toni stood guard around Bronze’s body.

He looked into the eyes of his prey, wondering how it all came to this.

Once he and Toni had heard the explosion, they had sat together for a while until they decided to view the damage. 

What they had come across they didn’t expect.

Bronze, instead of being blown to bits by the onslaught of the unicorns, had his body intact.

The unicorns around him seemed to be unconscious, probably due to the shock wave that emanated from their own attack.

Quick made short work of them in their state. 

To both of their surprises, he was still alive. 

How was beyond both of them, but just as they were trying to escape with him, the rest of the guards attacked.

They immediately withdrew from the courtyard and into one of the rooms where they were able to bottleneck the attackers until Bronze came to.

Luckily the first couple of rebels had been stupid enough to try and bum rush the door, only to be cut down by Quick’s sword.

His latest victim, a Pegasus who looked to be around mid-to late twenties, was currently bleeding from a stab wound to his barrel.

The griffin sighed, and relieved his sword of the guard.

“Did you try smacking him!?” Gear yelled over the noise the other fifty or so guards were making as they formulated plans and yelled 
obscenities to the trio.

“I’ve tried everything! He won’t wake up Quick! Maybe he’s in a coma. What should we do?” Toni asked, tears rolling down her cheeks and onto the wooden floor of the room.

“We hold out until the Princess gets here. Should be later tonight, and the sun’s almost down by the looks of it.” He yelled back, only to be met with another wave of rebels.

Three ponies charged into the room, the first, an earth stallion, was met head on by polar ice.

His other two friends, another earth pony and a Pegasus, tackled Quick to the ground.

Although the earth stallion seemed to be stronger than the griffin, and the Pegasus faster, Quick still had his armor and sword.
Bucks and punches bounced harmlessly off of his dragon scale as he swung at the Pegasus who deftly dodged the attacks.

With his attention of the flying rat, Quick didn’t see the earth stallion readying himself for a buck somewhere a male should never touch another male.

Once Quick looked down, and saw what was about to happen, one noise escaped his lips.

“Toni.”

She looked just in time to see the large stallion deliver a critical kick to her griffin’s groin. She flinched as the audible crack reached her ears, which flattened in both parts pity and anger. Quick fell to the floor, clutching his jewels in agony.

The two rebels looked over at her, smirks etched upon their faces.

Toni felt something in her snap as she witnessed the griffin she loved being treated so.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” She said, barely audible through the background noise of the rebels outside.

The stallions looked at each other, amused that the little pony would threaten them so. They dropped their guard and advanced on her, only to find a battle axe swung at them.

Toni smirked as she saw the fear in their eyes. She had kept the axe hidden just in case something like this would happen. The dark wood of the axe left a funny taste in her mouth as she gave it another swing. Although it was fairly heavy…scratch that, very heavy, 

Toni willed through the weight and protected her friend, just as he had protected her.

After a few minutes the guards became bored with the little game of step back, swing, step back. The Pegasus flew over Toni’s head, and landed behind her. Toni went to strike, but ended up having the Pegasus grab the handle just below the dragon scale.

The Pegasus gave Toni a wicked grin, only to have it be replaced with one of fear.

Toni looked to where he was staring and saw Quick holding the body of the earth stallion, a gash cleaved into its skull.

She ducked as Quick chucked the lifeless corps at the Pegasus, catching him in the chest and sending them spiraling into Bronze’s unconscious form, and were skewed on his one good horn.

“HA! Even from the dead Bronze is helping us.” Quick said with a triumphant whoop.

Just as he was about to celebrate more, a fireball flew through the door, and impacted the far wall.

“Toni!” Quick yelled, only to have the mare in question jolt up from next to Bronze’s body.

“Its fine, both of us are immune to fire. You however are not.” She said just as another exploded onto the floor next to Quick, searing some of his feathers.

“We need to get out of here, they’re going to burn the whole building down!” the griffin said, dodging another ball of flame.

“Bronze is too heavy to fly out of here without the guards catching up!” Toni shrieked over the noise of the flames around them.

“He’ll be fine! We need to move!” Quick yelled grabbing Toni by the hoof and breaking the window with his sword.

“No! If we leave him they could come in and kill him!” Toni screamed, resisting the griffin’s attempts to pick her up out of the window.

“I can’t just leave you with him here.” Quick said, deflating a little by the thought.

“You have to. I’ll be fine. I’ll get some metal and build a barrier around me and Bronze so the debris can’t hurt us.” She said, the tone of her voice absolute in purpose.

Quick fidgeted for a moment, fighting about whether or not to take her against her will. One strong glare from Toni was all it took for him to give in.

“Aarg! Fine! But I won’t be far away.” He said, climbing out of the window swiftly before hovering before the window.

“I know you won’t.” Toni said, grabbing his head, and pulling him into a kiss.

Once she broke it off she looked at Quick, and stifled a giggle. He was still making a kissy-face, hovering above the ground with his eyes closed.

“Go on! Get!” Toni said, pushing him away from the intense heat.

After a second or two to regain his senses, Quick nodded solemnly and took to the skies. 

Once he was out of her mind, which was rare, Toni started looking for metal that wouldn’t melt in the fire storm.

Although her choices were few, she ended up finding a filing cabinet, a bed frame, and couple of swords.

Thinking quickly, she dragged Bronze’s body over to the far wall (which wasn’t on fire) and the other bodies as well. She surrounded 
Bronze in a barrier of death. 

She then bit down on the filing cabinet and dragged in over to him as well. She laid it down, spilling its paper contents over the room. 
Next she stacked the swords on top of one another. Finally, she laid the bedframe over Bronze, making what appeared to be an odd cocoon of sorts. 

She then snuggled in between Bronze and one of the other ponies, and prayed the roof wouldn’t cave in.


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


Three years had passed since Bagdad.

Another hospital, this time with tears.

I sat in the waitin room, surrounded by doctors and nurses as they rushed about their days.

The only one I cared about was the one with Brittany.

Earlier they had pushed me out of the delivery room, sayin somethin about complications.

This was supposed to be the day I became a father. The day I could love somethin more than life.

Eternities seemed to pass before a doctor came up to me with a solemn look.

“I’m sorry Mr. Hoof, the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. We tried, but it was too late.” I began to sob, only to catch somethin he had said.

“My last name isn’t Hoof…” I said to the doctor, who just smiled at me with menace in his eyes.

“Very good Daniel, you caught on this time. But don’t you remember this day?” Montue asked.

“I’ll never forget this day you old bastard!” I yelled at him, risin from my seated position.

“Maybe you need a refresher.” Was all he said as he turned to look at the chair I had just stood from.

In it sat another me, lookin at Montue with horror in his eyes. I watched as he jumped from his chair and ran to the delivery room.

“What’s happenin?” I asked as we followed him.

“This is a memory, you can’t effect the outcome.” He said as if that explained anythin.

We entered the room to find the other me cryin with a dark skinned women. She had a beautiful face, and what seemed like a nice body despite the obvious baby weight. Her straight black hair was done up in a bun with a few loose strands caught on her sweat drenched forehead. The usually dark brown eyes that I used to find so much solace in were red with tears.
Between the two was a bundle. 

I watched, morose with knowledge of what was to come.

The other me stood, fists clenched in barely contained rage as I screamed to the heavens.

When the doctor, who Montue had been impersonatin came up to offer condolences, I socked him in the jaw. 

Brittany let out a shocked gasp, only to have my fury turned towards her.

“Why did you do this!” I screamed, “Why did you kill our baby!?”

She flinched as if I had physically smacked her, only to begin sobbin anew.

“WHY!?” I asked her again, punching the wall behind her and leavin a large crater in the drywall.

She only held onto the bundle tighter and sobbed harder.

I continued my rant before security came and “escorted” me out of the building, and into a police cruiser.

I looked over at the old man, who had taken up his old visage of loincloth and spear, tears in my eyes. 

“Why are you showin me this?” I asked.

“To remind you of what you are. You are a beast Daniel. The losses you have suffered have molded you into a monster!” He said, his voice rising until he was yelling at me. “I can give you power! The power to kill any who oppose you.”

“I just want to be a good man.” I said, tears now freely flowin down my face.

“Why be good when you can be GREAT! Join me, free my children and rule this world.” He said, laughin heartily. “I have already bestowed many gifts to you child. Think. I made you invincible to fire! Then, once you claimed your first life, I gave you the sight of a dragon!”

“I thought that was from the blood drippin into my eyes.” I said, the question fallin off my tongue.

“Ha! Usually if dragon blood enters into your body, no matter the orifice, you become addicted, and would have been dead in days. Only with my power did you survive. Continue to kill in my name, and be rewarded with more gifts.” 

“What do you mean?” I enquired. 

“The more you kill, the more powerful you become! With your first kill, I gave you dragon sight. You are coming up to your fiftieth, a great mark. Kill three more in battle and see your power grow.” He said, nudging me on the arm with his spear.

I took a second to consider this.

I could live like a king. Those that I hated would be cast down, burned in the hell fires of my fury while growing stronger all the while. I could distance myself from everyone, never to feel hurt like I have in the past. Everythin I could ever want would be handed to me on a silver platter. No one would rival me if I set this asshat’s kids free.

Then I thought of my friends.

Toni, Gear, Quick, even Nar-Kuth. What would happen to them? 

“What if I say no?” 

“Then I will kill you.”

“Right now?” 

“No, gods can’t directly interfere with pawns, even if it is their own. But I will find a way to end your miserable life.” He hissed the last part out.

“Would you take my dragon sight and resistance to fire?” I asked, gettin a questionin glare from the god.

“No.” He said, startin to circle around me, “However, these pale in comparison to the gifts I will give you if you kill yet more in my name.” 

Although I hated this wana-be-Ares, I thought of the cool new powers I could get for killin the bad guys. I decided that I would continue to kill for him, as long as I chose the targets.

“Alright boss, you got yerself a deal.” I said.

“Then you can go back to your petty war.” He said, still eyein me as he snapped his fingers, sendin me into blackness…again.


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


Gear and Nar-Kuth had made their way back into the hallway, and further into the hide out.

Sweat was starting to pour off Gear, being claustrophobic was something that was really a hindrance on this mission, but he pushed through.

They came to another curve in the hallway.

Nar-Kuth slowly looked around the corner, before signaling to move forward. The duo inched up the hallway, and found, much to both of their surprises, another hallway that intersected their own.

Nar-Kuth pushed Gear against the wall, and took a look down the branch-off. He then signaled that they continue on the path they were on. Judging by the amount of hoof prints in the dirt, they were already on the main path. 

As they were passing the branch-off, Gear looked down, only to be greeted by the sight of swords and spears hanging from the walls and resting against them.

Huh, so found the armory! Gear thought.

They continued to duck around corners and slink down passageways for another ten minutes. Branch-off rooms became much more frequent as they made their way down the hall; a couple of sleeping quarters and what appeared to be a bathroom and a kitchen. Oddly enough someone was cooking what appeared to be eggs. 

They came upon two more patrols, but ended them much swifter then the first they came to. They slid the bodies back down the hallway, and into the armory after each kill. It took a long time, but if they needed a quick escape, they could book it back without worrying about tripping over bodies.

Eventually they came to a bend that led to more stairs leading down.

Gear mentally sighed.

Who dug this shit out? 

He watched as Nar-Kuth snuck down the stairs, returning after a moment with his finger to his lips.

Nodding, Gear followed him down the flight, equally as silent. When they got to the bottom, Gear saw why they were being extra sneaky.

The stairs led to a large room that appeared to be the control center of the whole thing. Two tables were present in the room, both had maps covering their every inch. Five ponies were standing over them and talking about strategies. Three were regular looking rebel guard’s ponies, or maybe officers, Gear couldn’t really tell. 

A unicorn was adorned in more regal looking armor, and was one of the ones who was standing and talking over the map. He looked to be very well built, although aged given the wrinkles around his eyes. Blue plumage came out of his helmet which was rested by his side, giving Gear the chance to see his military cut electric blue mane. Just as many of the other guards, his cutie mark was hidden under the enchantment that made all the guards look alike.

The last pony in the room was the oddest out of the bunch. He was an earth stallion with a tan coat and black mane. His cutie mark, barely visible from under the business-like clothes he wore, was almost undistinguishable. 

Gear gasped as he saw the reason why.

Overtop of the stallion’s cutie mark, which might have been a coin purse at one point, was the brand of a snake’s eye that winked at Gear through the portal to the room.

Nar-Kuth gave him a hard look for the gasp, but let it go as soon as he saw it went unnoticed.

“The minotaur is here, at the barracks. Most of the other guards left are here, in the town square.” The older unicorn said while pointing to the map when he said here. 

“Then we should snuff them out.” Said the well-dressed earth pony in a suave and controlled voice.

Gear mentally growled. This guy was a business pony, who dealt in the lives of others. Definitely the bad-guy.

“Fine. But do you mind telling me why we keep her alive?” The guard asked, pointing somewhere where Gear couldn’t see.

“Oh, don’t worry. I have plans for her.” The tan pony said with a wicked grin.

Gear looked up at Nar-Kuth and nodded.

They retreated back up the stairs, where they formulated a plan.

Both agreed on the plan while readying their weapons. They gave each other a nod, and ran down the stairs.

Gear was first, screaming as he entered the room, gaining the attention of everyone in it. There was a moment of silence before the unicorn guard at the table spoke.

“Kill him.” 

The three guard’s ponies, all earth ponies, started after the new menace. 

Gear turned tail and ran, screaming to high heaven that he didn’t die. As he ran up the stairs, and into the hallways, so did his tail of pursuers. What they didn’t notice however, was the cat-man hiding in one of the branch-off rooms out of sight. 

Once the entourage passed, Nar-Kuth ran out from behind his cover and towards the two leaders.

He heard Gear practically jump up the stairs before being followed by his three new friends. 

Nar-Kuth chuckled at the thought before ducking behind the wall that led down to the large room. He listened for a second, making sure that none were coming his way before looking down in the room.

“That was odd.” Stated the business pony.

“Eh, that kind of hero shit happens a lot. Just got to keep ‘em in check. Now, where were we?” 

Nar-Kuth watched as they returned to their plans.

He heard a cough from outside of his vision, and watched as the guard disappeared and smacked something loudly. 

“So the bitch awakes? How nice.” The cat heard him say to someone.

“Wha…huh?” The voice was female, and familiar. 

“How was your nap sweetheart?” Asked the rebel guard.

“Burning Tree? Is that you? You’re behind all of this!?” The female voice yelled. It took Nar-Kuth a second to place it, but once he recognized who it was, he knew he needed to act fast.

“Close enough sweetheart.” The gruff voice said, “The only reason I haven’t killed you yet is because my employer here wants you for another reason.” To this the business pony, still in Nar-Kuth’s sights dipped his head in hello.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance. However I need to go check on how my eggs are cooking, so if you’ll excuse me.” With that the pony started for the stairs.

The Bath hid behind the corner, and waited until the pony was turning the corner before reaching out and snapping his neck. He then grabbed the body, and made sounds of him walking off towards the kitchen.

Nar-Kuth doubled back, and again listened to what was going on. He was just about to head down there when the rough voice started talking again.

“Well, I suppose he’ll be a while. Might as well get you talking.” 

Nar-Kuth started down the stairs, careful to watch for the guard as he descended. 

Once he came to the bottom, he looked around the corner, and confirmed what he already suspected.

Flower Founder was tied up in the corner of the room, hooves bound by rope, and horn clasped in some kind of iron. Her usually tidy mane was in a mess as she laid in the corner, bruises and cuts covering her body. Her armor was off, discarded in the armory probably, revealing her matted coat underneath.

Burning Tree, as the unicorn was apparently named, was standing over Flower. Although his back was turned to him, Nar-Kuth could tell he had a smile on his face.

“Now, Mrs. Flower. You’re going to tell me where the messenger is that carried the message to the princess.” He said, going into a bag that sat in the corner and carrying it to the table closest to Flower.

“Why would I do that?” She asked, shaking from fear, but too prideful to voice it.

“So I can get him to tell her that all is well.” Burning Tree said with a hint of malice in his voice.

“In your dreams asshole!” She shouted.

“Oh, in my dreams, I’m doing much different things to you.” He said as he extracted some pliers from his bag.

With that Nar-Kuth readied his knife, he wasn’t about to let this piece of shit hurt that young girl. He aimed, and threw the knife only to have it be deflected by a shield brought up around Burning Tree.

Shocked that his assassination attempt had failed, Nar-Kuth watched as the guard turned, revealing his manacle grin.

“I knew you’ve been there the whole time kitty. I’ve been meaning to kill that snake shit for a while now, but thanks for saving me the work. Now if you don’t mind DYING!!” Burning Tree hollered as he charged at the Bath.

Nar-Kuth was never very good with open conflict, but given that he towered over this pony by at least three feet, he thought he didn’t need to worry. 

He was wrong.

Burning Tree stopped his charge abruptly, turning on his heel and delivering a buck that threw Nar-Kuth back onto the stairs.

Never mind, he needed to worry.

Nar-Kuth shook his head, clearing the stars that had found their way to him. Just as they left he noticed the unicorn charging up a spell on his horn, the temperature dropping at least twenty degrees.

Nope.

The Bath leaped from his position, running along the walls with master-like agility. 

Behind him, the wall began erupting from impacts. Of what, Nar-Kuth didn’t know, but had something to do with icicles. Wherever Nar-Kuth previously was, the stone wall erupted in a shower of debris.

Need to end this quickly before you get skewed Nar-Kuth. 

During his run around, he passed Flower’s position. When he heard an explosion behind him, he looked back to see if she was 
alright.

Although she didn’t seem bloody, she was definitely knocked out. Luckily the metal on her horn, which Nar-Kuth guessed was a magic blocker, was knocked off. 

Just need to keep Burning Tree busy while she wakes up.

He passed the stairs again, this time reaching into one of his pockets and retrieving a knife. 

He chucked them at the unicorn bastard, only to have him conjure up a shield. The Bath took the opportunity to throw several more, hoping that his opponent would drop his shield, only to receive a bloody end.

No such luck.

Burning just laughed as his knives bounced harmlessly off his auburn shield. Then, drawing another aura around his horn, started again with the blasting.

However instead of icicles being shot at him, they began sprouting from the ground around his feet. Nar-Kuth danced around them, narrowly avoiding several impalements. 

Just as he jumped from his standing position, and onto one of the tables, a large spear of ice surged from the ground where he had been. 

Sweat had begun to pour from the cat’s forehead, blurring his vision as it sunk into his eyes.

The rebel guard wasn’t fairing any better. The spells he was casting must have been high level considering they were taking such a toll on him. He too was sweating hard, his smug grin gone replaced with a sneer. 

“Hold still you overgrown pussy!” Burning Tree commanded.

“Why don’t you come and get me.” Nar-Kuth shouted.

The room was roughly a 25x10 rectangle, but due to the little skirmish parts of the walls had begun to crumble from Burning Tree’s attacks. Several of the support beams had been blown away, causing dust to fall from the ceiling.

Nar-Kuth feared that the room may soon collapse, especially with the new ice stalagmites and stalactites littering the room.

Another roar escaped the enraged pony, only serving to further shake the room. 

More icicles sprung from the earth, causing Nar-Kuth to do a couple of backflips to avoid getting impaled.

The pony no stood between the Bath and the exit. Flower was stirring from her unconsciousness, moaning in pain as she came to.

Only have to stall for time. Nar-Kuth thought.

“Why do you fight cat! You are outmatched and will soon succumb to either fatigue or my ice!” Burning Tree yelled.

“You know, I actually have a question.” Nar-Kuth said, causing the pony to take a step back from shock.

“A question?! With your impending demise starring you right in the muzzle?”

“Well, yeah.” The pony took a second to consider this.

“Very well. Ask your last question.” The light on his horn dimmed slightly, the look of hatred never wavering from his features.

Nar-Kuth thought quickly. He had to ask something that would make him angrier than he already was, then, maybe, he’ll lose control and make a mistake. Until now, neither of them had received any injuries, and the feline was looking to cause him to slip up so he could land a blow.

It had to be something personal. Something that has made him miserable his whole life. 

He looked at the icicles surrounding the room, their light blue shade reminding him of a cool river. 

“Why is your name Burning Tree, when you excel in ice magic?” 

Bingo.

The face of the guard’s pony twisted in a snarl as he emitted a low growl. The light on his horn grew until three chevrons of energy coalesced on it. 

“For years I’ve been tormented by this question! Even when I tried to change my name, people laughed at me. Even after I joined the guard, nobody understood the meaning!” 

He released a shock wave of telekinetic energy into the room, sending everything in front of him hurtling into the far wall, including Nar-Kuth.

“The only place a tree doesn’t burn is in the ice!” He yelled sending another wave of energy that nearly broke bone.

Well, this didn’t turn out like I’d hoped. Nar-Kuth mused, trying to think of a way he would escape.

Out of the corner of his eye, the cat saw Flower untying her bonds. She stood just as the enraged unicorn sent another blast emanating throughout the chamber.

Nar-Kuth heard a *crack* before the wave of pain blossomed throughout his arm.

“Now you will die you miserable CUR!” Burning Tree screamed as he summoned a dozen icicles to his side.

He flung them at Nar-Kuth, just as he saw Flower release a bolt of pure energy into her once called friend.


> Revelations of a Monster (18-1/2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Battle of Wethoof: Part 3-1/2


Second Arc: Delay of Game



I woke to the sound of a blazin fire that seemed to come from everywhere. I found myself trapped under a bed frame and surrounded by bodies of ponies.

Well…Shit.

My metal hoof pushed against somethin at my feet, the sound of metal on metal screechin seemed to have stirred somethin nestled up against my chest.

In a panic, I started thrashin around, oblivious to the frightened cries comin from the creature next to me.

Smoke blurred my vision, only allowin me two feet into its murky depths before everythin became a burnin haze.

“Wha…huh?” I managed, my brain still a little fuzzy from my out-of-body experience.

“Bronze?” The voice came from the thing that was furiously diggin its way into my body.

“What’s goin on?” I asked the voice before recognition kicked in. “Toni?”

“Hey Bronze, you’re awake!” The little Pegasus came out from my fur and gave me a hug.

“Why are we inside a building that’s on fire? And why are we trapped under a bed?” I asked.

“Oh! The rebels caught the building on fire, so I covered us up with metal stuff so falling debris wouldn’t kill us.” She said as though we were talkin over Sunday brunch.

“Why don’t we just leave?”

“I couldn’t carry you out, you’re too heavy.”

The image of Toni attemptin to lift my frame would have made me laugh if it weren’t for the predicament we were in.

A whole in the inferno opened through the fire and haze, allowin me to barely make out the rebel ponies outside. There had to be a dozen of them, maybe more which were hidden from the doorway. I looked to the window, findin that although I couldn’t fit, Toni would get through with ease.

A plan quickly formed in my mind.

I didn’t like it, but it was a plan.

“Ok Toni, here’s the deal.” She looked to me, an eyebrow raised. “You’re gonna go get Quick, then me and him are gonna take on the rebels out front just enough for us to get away.”

She began to protest, but before she could yell at me a coughin fit wracked her little body.

“No buts. We may not burn, but we can suffocate. Even if we survive the fire the rebels would just come in and finish us off.”

Tears burned on the edges of her eyes, tears runnin down her face cleaned the soot, addin to her sad façade. 

“Fine! But you don’t get to die, ok? You’re my best friend.” With that she flapped her wings, and shot out the window.

I breathed a sigh of relief before beginnin a coughin fit of my own. I had to get out of here, and fast.

I dropped down and did a quick look around the room, Toni’s flappin seemed to clear out enough smoke that I could see the entirety of if…well everythin on the floor. 

I noticed the bodies of the ponies where me and Toni were havin their fur burned off. The bedframe was still on top of them, searin its hot metal springs into their corpses. Their swords were piled next to them, their wooden hilts gettin singed by a fire that had sprung up next to them.

Did they take my axe? They better not of taken my axe. I thought, searchin the room for my deadly companion. 

I found it thrown haphazardly against the far wall. Due to its razor edge, it was currently buried halfway into the drywall that made up the room.

I quickly reached the handle, and tugged on it, releasin my axe from its momentary prison. 

Subconsciously I tried grabbin it with my other arm, only to remember that it was still MIA. 

I sighed, and prayed to my player that the boon I receive from killin those few more enemies in his name will compensate for my missin 
limb.

Another coughin fit wracked my body, tellin me that I’d spent too much time in this smoke. I rushed to the door and broke free of the smoke. 

I started gulpin down air, coughin to expel the toxins from my lounges. 

When I looked up, I saw a couple dozen or so guards starin at me with surprised expressions on their little pony faces. 

It would have been cute if a second later they didn’t brandish weapons ad charge me.

“Oh Shit!” I screamed, bringin my axe in front of me to deflect a sword that was bein brought down by a pegasus. Just before I retaliated with a strike of my own, two earth stallions, one red one a light green charged me from underneath. 

I jumped back, narrowly avoidin a kick to the family jewels, only to catch a telekinetic punch from one of the few unicorns that were scattered around the mob. 

Pegasi began flyin overhead like buzzards circlin a carcass. Earth ponies formed neat lines and advanced with the four or so unicorns behind them, probably chargin some nasty spells. 

Well, there’s only one thing I could do in this situation.

I let my axe drop and spin, so that the sharp end was beneath my hand, and the wooden part was at the front. I raised it high overhead, and brought it down slowly, pointin it directly at the stallion leadin the earth ponies.

“LEROOOOOOY JENKINNNNNNNS!!!!!” I yelled, and charged into the unsuspectin phalanx. 

You would think that these ponies would start to get used to my uncouth battle plans, but apparently not today. 

The lead stallion’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head as I came crashin into him and all his buddies. There were far too many of them to knock out at once, but I at least got half a dozen. That means only four more unicorns, ten pegasi, and sixteen earth ponies. 

Piece of cake.

Nasty, two month old cake, with feces icin.

With no real plan, my plan fell apart quickly. 

The earth ponies regrouped rather quickly, and were now surroundin me. The pegasi began strikin me on the top of the head.  And the unicorns let lose their spells. 

Considerin there were four of them, there were four different spell cast on me…or curses, I’m not sure which. 

First of all, one of my eyes began twitchin uncontrollably, makin me half blind. Next my flesh leg went numb, sendin me to a kneelin position. There was a big black mark on my chest, probably a fire spell that didn’t work on me. And finally I couldn’t hear anythin. 

This made me a lil upset.

“I’LL MURDER ALL OF YOU WITH YOUR ABORTED FETUS OF A BROTHER!!!” Adrenalin surged through my system, restorin both my eyesight and leg (although I still couldn’t feel it). 

I began attackin with the blunt end of my axe, knockin several more attackers into unconsciousness. The unheard attacks from above began to irritate me, as I was beginnin to acquire quite the headache. Rememberin the bone protrusion that stuck out from my head, I 
came up with an idea. 

I started shakin my head like an enraged bull, catchin one or two of the flyin bastards off guard. I’m not sure if I maimed them or just knocked them out as I was too busy with the earth stallions. 

I kept pokin at them for what seemed like hours before another spell hit me. My lower back went completely numb, and its surroundin areas were freezin. I turned and looked at the unicorns, one of which was wearin a sly grin on his face. 

This SOB was goin down after I’ve dealt with the rest of the earth stallions. There were ten or so left, the other six now limpin away, or 
asleep.

I started spinnin slowly, anyone in my pole’s reach received a hell of a smack. After a minute or so of this, I began to spin faster and faster. Eventually I was a livin tornado of non-lethal pain, everythin became blurred as I trusted in the cartoon physics of this world. A whooshin sound began to make itself noticed, and I became aware that my sense of hearin was beginnin to return to me.

From what I could tell from the screams and panicked gasps I was tearin the rebel guards a new one. I may have thrown up once or twice, but it was worth it. By the time I was finished with my super-twirl of death technique, only the unicorns and the pegasi remained. 

The looks on the unicorns faces as I started to approach them was priceless. Fear shook them to their bones, makin focusin on their spells harder to manage. Sparks shot off of their individual horns as tears seemed to well up in their eyes. Just before I reached them 
the pegasi had apparently gotten over their shock and began dive bombin me again. I swatted at them with my arm, only to find that they would bolt back into the air if I even managed to get close to them. 

I roared in frustration, my anger growin in me. I reached out and grabbed one of the unicorns, plannin on pullin a Pinkie Pie and gunnin their asses down. 

My only problem was that I only had one arm.

Damn that beetle to hell! 

Quickly I tried thinkin of some other appendage that would allow me to begin shootin at the flyin rats, and a flickerin light bulb appeared over my head. 

I grabbed the unicorn’s tail with my tail, and, despite the gasps of his colleges who just now broke out of their magic paralyzin fear, started shootin yellow lazers at the flock of bewildered pegasi.

By the time the unicorn’s magic reserves were depleted, and smoke began billowin out of his spiral appendage, only four pegasi remained conscious. I assumed the lazers that had been shootin out of my new magic powered gatlin gun were non-lethal, and by the moans and snores of the downed rebels, I think I assumed correct. 

That left eight enemies…well seven considerin the blue one I was usin was scurryin to the well to put his horn out. I saw him jump the stone and tumble into the abyss below.

I inwardly chuckled.

That well was pretty deep.

The remainin unicorns began backin away from me slowly, scarred I might grab one of them and use them like their comrade. 
I have to ask Gear if tail on tail action is taboo or somethin. 

If he makes it.

Come to think of it, the only one of my friends who I had seen since this whole thing began was Toni. Were they alright? How was 
Gear holdin up with the rest of his unicorn squad? 

A smack to the back of the head caught me off guard, reelin me back to the present. One of the earth stallions had gotten up, and was currently bum-rushin me. 

I braced for the attack, only to have him veer to the left out of my reach. Before I had time to be confused a green blur shot across my vision, and into my muzzle.

Considerin the pain that was emanatin from my nose, and the blood that began pourin out, I think the bastard broke it. 

Another strike came to the back of my head, nearly makin my eyes bulge out. 

I felt a buck to the back of my good leg, sendin me once again into a kneelin position. I turned around to find the earth stallion 
retreatin out of arms reach. 

Just as I stood to show him his place I felt a sharp pain in my back, followed by the crack of bone. 

I cried out in pain, only to find another blow to the top of my head.

These bastards had actually made a plan to take me down. Makes sense I suppose. I’m not the fastest creature alive, and with my superior size and build, the only way these little ponies were gonna take me down is by strikin with a hasty retreat. 

I reached down to where the sharp pain in my back came, findin the handle of what I assumed was a small knife. 

“Trust me fellas, you don’t wanna mess with me and sharp objects.” My voice carried through the moans of the wounded, catchin the band of rebels off guard. 

There were a few seconds of silence, interrupted by another sharp pain in my stomache.

I looked down, findin a blade hilt deep. I gave it a tug, freein it from my torso. It’s steel frame glinted in the dimmin sunlight, my blood coatin the business end. It looked like a regular knife with a ring attached to the hilt. It looked too small to fit around a hoof, meanin it would fit around a primary feather instead. Throwin darts for the flyin, or so Quick had told me. 

I also remember him sayin somethin about most bein coated in a toxin of some sort. 

Luckily, the poison amounts were set to paralyze or kill somethin the size of a pony, not a large beast like myself. 

Another strike to the back of my head, and another knife strike to my deltoid. 

I swung out wildly, attemptin to catch one of my attackers off guard. 

To an onlooker, I must have looked crazy, flailin my arm to and fro randomly. 

Another buck to the head, and another blade in my thigh. 

My vision began to fade, darkness creepin in on the edges of my vision. 

A voice in the back of my head began whisperin to me.

You know how to win.

Kill them.

Kill them.

Kill them.

I didn’t want to send these ponies to whatever hell my player had in mind for them. I was savin those three kills for truly evil creatures of the night.

They will kill you.

Kill them first.

Kill them.

Kill them.

Kill them.

Damn this guy was persistent. I can only imagine the horrors lived out by those that I killed in his name. Until now, I didn’t know that I would be sentencin them to somethin beyond death, only to death itself. 

The dragons who were assaultin Minnie?

All those Diamond dogs?

Even the beetles?

Do they all become part of his will? His plans?

Another rib cracked as I was sent sprawlin to the road. Blood pooled around my nose, some even comin from my mouth.

I managed to get to my hands and knees, and looked at the liquid on the road.

That’s my blood.

If I die, what happens to my friends?

A shadow appeared, shadin my crimson pool from the sun. I felt another blow to my head, and anger surged through me.

Everythin went red.

No noise.

No sight.

No feelin.

No remorse.

The only thing I remember from those few minutes was a seethin hatred for those who would get in the way of my friends happiness. 

The only thing that mattered was them bein happy. If I were to die, they would be unhappy.

My happiness was taken from me when I got Killian murdered, when I shot that kid in Bagdad, when my child died.

No.

The only thing that mattered now are my companions. Quick, Toni, and Gear. My family. 

Those who wished to make them unhappy were to perish under my hoof.


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


When I finally came to, I was surrounded by carnage. 

Blood and gore filled the courtyard of the once proud complex. Shredded bits of ponies were strewn about. A head here, a leg there. 
No one was left alive on the compound, save for me. Even the guards who were unconscious were torn to shreds.

My axe sat next to me, its scale blade glintin in the sunset. 

For some reason I was holdin unicorn horns. Four of them, each a different color. 

Green, blue, red, and yellow. 

I looked to the well, and noticed drag marks cloaked in blood comin from it, and endin in the torn up remains of a pony.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

Why did I do this?

Because you wanted to.

No, I just wanted to protect my friends.

And you did, Daniel. With you alive, they will be safe.

But how can you justify this? I killed those who were defenseless. 

They were a threat, even in slumber.

They could have been detained! 

Could have, but now you have fulfilled your end of our deal. The three souls needed have been sent to me. Along with one or two more. 

You’re a monster!

No Daniel, you are.

I mentally stopped myself, and looked around.

Maybe I am a monster.
> The Battle of Wethoof: Part 4 (19)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Battle of Wethoof Part 4


Second Arc: Delay of Game



Gear ran through the back alleys, dodging buildings and attacks coming from his rear. Although none of the three stallions chasing him were unicorns, they could still lob rocks and debris at him.

One rather large chunk of rock slammed into the wall where he had just been, cracking the visage and obliterating the projectile.

Gear chanced a look behind him, only to find that two of his pursuers were far too close for comfort. The third, most likely the one who had just thrown the rock, was a little ways behind, but quickly catching up with his comrades. 

Gear moaned as he realized the reason why.

His short unicorn legs were no match for the strong workhorse muscles of the royal guard’s earth ponies. Although he was more agile due to his small frame, Gear calculated that they would be on him in less than two minutes.

Quickly devising a plan in his head, and approximating where in the city they were at, he took a sharp left. 

This allowed him to further stretch the distance between himself and certain death. 
If for just a moment.

Gear’s ears swiveled, catching the sound of three very angry stallions rounding the corner. 

Although Gear was never very physical, even when working on the Peach’s farm, he loved the way he felt when exerting himself. 

Air flooding into his system, veins pouring blood to his muscles, sweat beading on his brow.

He felt scared.

He felt alive.

The unicorn took another left as the sound of horseshoes on cobble resonated close behind. 

He heard one of the guards yell in irritation, followed by another rock smashing into the wall next to him. 

A right this time, down a back alley that led to the south. 

Although the adrenaline coursing through him was wearing off, Gear was coming to his destination. 

He took a left, and chanced a glance to his right.

The alleys that led to the main street zipped by, lending him a stop-motion idea of where he was. 

Two blocks ahead and I’m home free.

His goal was right in front of him, just three lengths ahead.

Suddenly things went wrong. 

On the stretch between turns, one of the rebels had caught up to him. 

Gear felt a strong pair of legs wrap around his barrel as he lost his footing, tumbling through the darkened space. 

Gear watched as they started to slow, the chemicals in his blood seemingly slowing time down. Whether it was destiny or cruelty, 

Gear slid into the main street on his jaw with his pursuer riding him.

Blood rushed into Gears mouth, leaving its irony taste everywhere. 

“Now…I…Gotcha!” The rebel said between gasps of air.

The stallion flipped Gear onto his back, probably so he could see the face of the pony who would kill him. 

The other two joined their comrade, looking even madder than the one on top of him. 

They took a moment before composing themselves.

“I say we gut him and feed his entrails to the jungle!” one said.

“Nah, we gotta slice off his stallion-hood and watch him bleed out!” the other retorted.

This got a positive response from the other two as they each began pulling daggers out of their armor. 

“Listen guys, as much as I’m sure you enjoy fantasizing about my genitals, I think you have bigger problems.” Gear said, trying his best to inch his waist away from the oncoming blades.

“Oh yeah, like what?” The one on top of him said.

“Like the royal guard.” Gear said, pointing his hoof above his head, and in front of the three rebels.

Like angels back from a battle with the devil, the last of the royal guard stood proudly in the settling sunlight.  They all looked tired 
and beaten, but their golden armor betrayed not a hint of fatigue. Each held a short sword in their mouths, save for one pony who 
had a hoof-mace on his right leg, which was currently stretched out towards the three.

“Put the blades down boys.” The mace-wielding earth stallion said. His voice was deep and demanding, as if ‘no’ wasn’t in his 
dictionary. Clearly a veteran officer of the guard. 

The rebel on top of Gear slowly climbed off, keeping eye contact with the officer at all times. Gear watched as the three of them slowly 
lowered their blades, and dropped them.

The clink of steel against cobblestone was all Gear needed to get up and walk towards his saviors. 

The white earth stallion ordered some of his subordinates to tie the three “scum” up before turning his attention towards Gear.

“Are you alright citizen?” He asked.

“Yeah, thanks to you guys. I didn’t know if you’d still be here or not. But I’m glad you were.” Gear said, sitting roughly on his flanks 
before rubbing his jaw. 

He winced at the pain, before feeling it more gingerly. It didn’t seem too bad, just some road-rash. However considering the size of it, 
the wound might leave a scar.

The officer seemed to take notice of his jaw. He pulled Gear’s head in with his hoof, and gave it a look over himself.

“Don’t worry son, it’s just a superficial cut.” He released Gear, and gave him a solute.

“Second Lieutenant George S. Satin at your service. Me and my men are what’s left of the Second Platoon here in Wethoof. We may 
look a little raggedy, but we are still battle ready.” Satin’s tone was proud, and contagious.

Gear took a moment to survey the remaining platoon, and found a bunch of beaten down ponies. But each held a glimmer in their 
eye, as though even death couldn’t stop them from defending the weak.

Bronze would like them.

“What’s your name son?” Satin said, offering me a hoof.

Gear took it, and was dragged to his hooves. 

“I’m Gear Head, I’m part of the reserves…kind of.” The unicorn said, drawing an odd look from the Second Lieutenant.

“Sort of?” He took a second to think before lighting up like a light bulb. “You must be one of the special Forces Captain Founder said 
she was bringing in!” 

The stallion slapped Gear on the shoulders, eliciting a small squeal of pain from the petit unicorn.

“She said there were two ponies, a bath, griffin, and minotaur!” Gear stopped in his metal tracks.

Special Forces?

“She said that you bunch would help turn the tide of this battle in our favor. So, how’s it going at the market? I assume we won, and 
you were leading those three to us so you wouldn’t have all the fun?” Once again Gear found his shoulder throbbing from the force 
that came crashing down on him. 

Satin laughed, a good, hearty laugh.

And then he saw Gear’s expression.

“That’s it…right son?” He asked, concern finding hold in his voice.

“I’m sorry sir, but Flower Founders attack force got wiped out. My friend Nar-Kuth and I came upon the remains of the battle, found 
their headquarters, and infiltrated it. I was leading these three away so that Nar-Kuth could take out their leader and stop all this 
bloodshed. Before I led them off, I saw Flower chained up on a wall unconscious. As far as I know, she is the only survivor.” Gear 
choked back a sob at the memories of the carnage that he had seen.

Second Lieutenant Satin went deathly quiet before responding.

“My son was in that attack party.” He said, his prideful voice now tainted with grief. 

Before Gear could offer his condolences, Satin’s mood bounced from depressed back to prideful.

“He died a soldier’s death, just like a proper man should. We need to move on men!” He was addressing the platoon now, “We need 
to push forward and finish what the others started. Their deaths shall not be in vain! We shall quell this rebellion in the name of the 
Princesses!” Gear could tell that most of what he said was forced valor, but the unicorn decided that the army stallion needed his 
space. There will be time for grieving later he supposed.

“So, tell me son, where is their headquarters?”



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




Toni flew through the Wethoof, darkly realizing the lack of activity. When they first arrived the skies had been alive with activity from pegasi. Ponies of different colors would go about their day, some delivering packages, others trying in vain to control natural clouds 
that would coalesce in the jungle, then float into the town. Just like in the other pony settlements and cities around Equis, Wethoof’s 
skies were usually abuzz with activity.

Now they were vacant, save for a few embers and smoke clouds that whisked their way across thermal vents created by fires.

Where the flames had come from she didn’t know, but they re-kindled something inside of her.

A memory that had long since been forgotten. 

Ghostly screams teemed through her mind as bits and pieces of something terrible began to emerge. 

Whatever it was, it could wait until she found Quick.

Focusing on the task at hand, Toni scanned the skies for the familiar griffin she had begun to love.

“He couldn’t have gotten far…” she mumbled, ducking back into the alleyways of the city and landing.

The pegasi turned a corner, and ran straight into a pony 

She quickly backed up, wary of the pony before her.

He seemed to be of the guard, given that he wore armor. However, the armor he wore definitely wasn’t from the royal guard. Dark 
armor surrounded his barrel and hooves. His coat was a dark ashen color, giving the illusion that he was made of shadows. The most defining feature however, were the pair of bat wings that adorned his sides.

“Identify yourself!” He said in a deep, commanding voice.

Although Toni wasn’t usually the scared type, she found this pony quite frightening.

“T-t-toni.” She stuttered.

“Are you part of the insurrection that plagues this city?”

“Um…no.” She backed away, only to have him cover the space.

“Then are you a civilian?” He barked.

“Kinda…” She trailed off, momentarily forgetting her fear and pondering whether she held Equestrian citizenship.

“Yes or no!” He demanded.

“No?” Her questioning tone seemed to put him off for a split second.

“Well, I’m just passing through with some friends of mine when this whole thing started. I got separated from them, and that’s why I’m 
wondering the city. I just want to leave with my friends.” She was going to say more, but tears began to spring up in the corner of her eyes. She just met this new pony, she didn’t want him to think of her as a crier.

“Very well. What is your name?” The soldier-like tone in his voice didn’t seem as hard this time, more gentle and caring. Although it 
wasn’t much, it made Toni feel much less threatened.

“I already told you, my name is Toni, and this is my cheetah, Death Bringer.” She rummaged around in her hair for a second before 
retrieving a small turtle from it.

The shelled creature reached out with its neck and rubbed its head against the bat-pony.

His face contorted into one of shear confusion, and stayed like that for a good minute before Toni placed her pet back into her hair.

Through all his years being a guard, through all his travels throughout Equis, all the strange and odd things he’s seen that some only 
regard as myth, the seasoned warrior could only say one thing.

“What?” 

“Oh! That reminds me! What’s your name?” Toni asked, replacing the turtle in her hair.

“Uh…Mah…Ch…” Stuttered the guard before composing himself, “I am Sargent Nock. I’m the vanguard for Princess Luna’s 
entourage. Since we haven’t been interrupted I assume you’re not being fallowed, which leads me to believe you are either trying to 
leave the city, or are looking for someone.” 

Although he didn’t exactly ask a question, Toni decided to answer like he did.

“I’m looking for my friend Quick Beak. He’s a griffin who was helping the guard fight the rebels, he took off and now I need to find him.” 

Tears began to well up in her eyes again, leaving the stallion uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry ma’am, we’ll find your friend once I’ve secured an LZ for the princess. I was supposed to find the garrison here and 
establish a safe area around it. Do you happen to know where that is?” Nock said.

Toni looked back the way she came, then faced the dark guard.

“That’s where I’m coming from, my friend Bronze Hoof is there facing off against a lot of meanie rebels. Do you think you could help 
him after we fine Quick?” 

“Finding your friend will have to wait, and as for helping your friend…”

At first Sargent Nock was going to refuse and find another LZ, as the Princess’s safety was his major concern, but then he saw 
something that his years of experience couldn’t have prepared him for.

Toni was giving him puppy dog eyes.

Not just any puppy dog eyes though, the mother of all cute/sad faces. Her lower lip was quivering with barely sustained sobs, he eyes 
were big and bright and had a gleam in them that spoke to his inner hero. Her face was flush with red, accented brightly by her white mane.

“Oh, alright.” He said, beaten.

“YAY!” Toni exclaimed, immediately bursting from her sad façade into one of joy.

“Yeah, yeah. Just lead the way.”

> Revelations (20)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Revelations
Third Arc: Advancement




I sat there for a few minutes, deep in despair.

A light drizzle began to fall as the last bit of light disappeared over the horizon as Luna raised her moon and stars.

A smile almost appeared on my face. I love the night.

Sometimes when I lived in New Findings I would stare at the night sky, imaginin bein one of the many blimps of light that scattered the 
heavens. 

New Findings.

My home.

How long has it been since I’ve been there. Weeks? Months?

Everythin was easier back then, simpler. 

I thought back to Mr. Peach, the kids, Smoke, Fence Founder, Minnie.

Oh god Minnie.

The last time I saw her she looked like she wanted me dead for the death of her husband and father of her child. 

Poor Tin will grow up without a father, because of me.

Just another soul that died because of me.

My thoughts traveled to those around me, the bodies of the ponies that used to be alive.

I let my body fall, landin in a mixture of mud and blood. To anyone walkin by, which was unlikely, it might have looked like I was one of 
the fallen. My armor must have been coated in dried blood.

I lifted my hand and looked at the four horns. 

Green, blue, red, and yellow. 

Like some kind of twisted rainbow they rested in my palm. 

At the base of the blue one a little bit of skull still remained, along with a few light blue hairs.

A ball formed in my throat.

I quickly sat up and turned to my side and emptied my stomach. 

No use just sittin here, the others might be in danger.

I lifted myself from the ground, the mud/blood mixture stickin to my back felt weird, but I didn’t care.

Makin my way to the guardhouse was harder than I imagined. My axe somehow managed to survive the whole ordeal, and was stickin 
out of the ground. 

When did I lose that? I thought, tryin in vain to recall when I had dropped it.

I picked it up and carried it into the guardhouse, careful of any rebels that might have lived.

There were none.

I set my axe down to try and construct a carryin devise from some leather strips I found.

After a few minutes learnin how to tie a knot with one arm, I slung the makeshift sheath across my back haphazardly.

A few adjustments I let my axe drop into the sling, and walked outside.

There they were again, all just layin there in their own blood.

The rain had gotten a lil rougher, and was comin down more heavily. Blood, rain, and mud all began to pool in the courtyard. 

Grimacing, I began my trek to the jail house. 

I needed some answers.

I slugged my way through the liquid, tryin to ignore the smell. Flies buzzed like a tornado around some of the bodies. A few landed on 
me, only to be swatted at as I walked.

I entered the stone building, vacant as expected.

I made my way back to the jail cells, which were mostly emptied courtesy of the doors all bein open. Each looked like it had a tornado 
tear through it. Bunks were thrown against walls, clothes and other garments were tossed to the floor, and one even had the toilet 
ripped out.

Steppin over a broken chair I found the end of the row. I found just the pony I was lookin for in his cell, asleep.

The door to his cell was opened, but it seemed as though he didn’t care, or perhaps had slept through the noise that had happened 
durin the riot.

“Hey Silent Crutch.” I said, standin on the outside of his cell.

He didn’t move.

“Silent Crutch!” louder this time.

The bastard shifted, then went back out.

“WAKE THE FUCK UP!” I yelled, elicitin a yip and jump which landed him on the stone floor.

“Huh-wha” he managed before I lifted him by his neck.

“Remember me?” I asked.

At first he seemed scared and very confused, then recognition hit him.

“You were the minotaur from the bar.” Silent said in nearly a whisper.

“You’re damn right.” I said, lettin him fall to the bed. 

He hit hard, and began rubbin his sore flank.

I noticed a green smear on his cutie mark, immediately infuriating me.

Slammin my fist against the stone and crackin it seemed to stun the pony out of any wits he had.

I reached behind me and pulled Spirit Inferno from its sheath, levelin it on Silent’s throat.

“I have a friend who once met a pony with a similar scar. You met him, the griffin I saved you from.” Sweat began tricklin down his 
face.

“I stopped him from killin you, now you get to return the favor.” 

“Yes! Anything you say.” He said, practically beggin to help me.

“You’re gonna tell me who you work for.”



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



Flower Founder hurt. A lot.

The explosion in the secret room rocked her to the bone.

She slowly reached and touched her horn, feeling the tender appendage respond with a wave of pain.

“Ow.” She muttered, resting her foreleg back on the ground.

She opened her eyes and took in the room. 

The table was disintegrated, the maps on the walls were on fire, the weapon racks were turned over, and Burning Tree was laying on 
the ground with several icicles sticking from his corpse.

Ironic. She thought, killed by his own magic.

A rumble resounded throughout the room, letting Flower know that the underground bunker was soon going to collapse.

She made her way to the stairs, but before she made it, she heard a moan come from the opposite side.

In a heap on the ground, the Bath that had helped her was lying in a puddle of blood. She immediately ran to him and flipped him 
over onto his back. 

A small icicle made itself known in his side, already melting away. 

“Leave me.” He managed.

“No, you’re coming with me.” She began to lift him from the ground with her magic, only to incite a howl of pain from him.

“I’m not going to make it.” He said once Flower had put him back down. “Tell Bronze not to forget about my family.” 

Tears were brimming at Flower’s eyes. There had been too much death today.

“I will.” She whispered.

“Tell him, that the knowledge he seeks, lies with my boy Saar.” And with that, the breath left her savior, and along with it, his soul.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.” She said to the body, “But I’ll remember you.”

Another rumble echoed through the room.

Flower wiped a tear away, and made for the door. 

On the way to the surface she passed a room with the body of a pony inside of it. She noticed the Serpent’s eye on his flank before 
resuming her run for the surface.

After a few turns she came to a ladder that led to the surface, and started climbing.

Once she was outside, she watched as Bucky’s collapsed to the ground.

Even though she didn’t understand, the words would be engrained in her memory all her life.

Find Bronze.

Remember his family.

The knowledge lies with Saar.


> Holy Smokes! (21)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Holy Smokes!


Third Arc: Advancement



With Silent Crutch bein so scared he spilled to beans quite quickly. Apparently the organization he had worked for took him in as a child, teachin him in the ways of stealth and crime. They were called the brotherhood, and had grown so large that their influence could be felt all over the world, save for the new Griffin Dominion. Silent told me that they dabbled in everythin from petty crime to assassinations. The serpent's eye symbolized their deity, Rah, and apparently the eye represent's his "holy divinity and power."

Silent was also kind enough to tell me that their main base of operations is located in Zebria, underneath an old diamond mine. The leaders are a bunch of cultists profitin from the pain and death of others. Two are unicorns, one minotaur, and a few zebras. Silent didn't know any of their names, but I could make due with what he had told me. 

After tellin me all there was to know, he began begging for his life.

"Please. Please! I don't wanna die! I just need some help!" Tears had sprung up while tellin me his story, and were now flowin freely. He was on the cot in the jail cell, sobbin his life out.

"Listen son, I ain't here to kill you." I say, gainin his attention and momentarily stoppin the waterfall of tears.

"So you'll take me with you?" He asked, catchin me completely off guard.

"What? When did I ever say that? As far as I'm concerned, you can rot in this jail cell for the rest of your life." Tears once again began to bloom in his eyes.

Damnit I thought. I was never all that great around tears, and this guy seems to have an endless flow of them.

"But if you leave me here they'll kill me!" Silent jumped off the bed and scrambled over, latchin onto my leg. As the sobs continued, my leg began to dampen my fur.

"No can do hoss. We're headin towards the Brotherhood's HQ, someplace I doubt you wanna go." 

Reluctantly, and with a bit of a shake, Silent let go of my leg.

"So you're just gonna let me die here?" He asked.

"Are there any other Brotherhood members in town?" 

He thought for a second before answerin.

"One. This guy named Big Bucks. He's the branch manager for Wethoof. The other's and I were told to leave before the coup started. Something about 'bein thieves not an army.' The only reason I'm here is because you brought me in last night. Mr. Bucks owns a store called Bucky's down near the market. But as far as I know he's the only one." I put my hand to my face, scratchin the scruff that had begun to form from a few days without shaving.

I didn't know a furred creature could get facial hair either, don't worry.

"I'll go deal with him, but you need to stay put. Also, I'd denounce your brotherhood ties right now. I'm plannin on killin 'em all." I say, slidin my axe out of its holster slowly for emphasis. 

"YES. Yes. I denounce my faith in Rah, and all ties with the Brotherhood! Please don't kill me..." He says, as another round of sobs rackin h

I stand there awkwardly for a minute, waitin to see if the tears would stop. When i came to the conclusion that they wouldn't, I coughed into my hand. 

"So...I'm gonna go..." I say as I start to sidestep out of his cell.

He just stayed there, cryin into his hooves. A puddle began to form under him as I stepped fully out of the cell and slid it shut. Once the door clicked, I started walkin to the main entrance. 

Man, that guy has some problems. I think, scratchin the back of my head.

I reached the front desk, and caught a glimpse of somethin behind the counter.

Takin a closer look I almost fainted with excitement.

Barely hidden behind some books, a familiar rectangle peeked out. I made my way over to it, nearly throwin the receptionists chair into the wall. I knelt down, and pushed the books out of the way. The familiar scent floated from the box to my nose, makin my heart flutter. I gentle wrapped my fingers around it, pickin it up to behold in front of my eyes.

There, in my hand, was a pack of cigarettes. 

A tear caressed my cheek as I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat. 

I hadn't had a cigarette since I had arrived in Equestria. I was never able to find them, and no one in New Findings smoked so they never imported any. Before I could marvel at the beautiful box any longer, a voice in the back of my head whispered.

"You're welcome"

It sounded familiar, probably Montue's reward for killin so many ponies. 

Immediately my mood darkened.

The thought of me killin so many ponies for that mad god hurt like no other. This blood rage has become too intense. Before I could focus it, but now it has grown stronger. What if next time I kill someone innocent.What if next time I kill one of my friends?

I hung my head, takin a smoke out of the box, along with a lighter that was stuffed inside as well.

I lit the smoke, and inhaled deeply. 

As I exhaled I began to walk outside.

The mornin sun warmed my skin, but not my heart.

I began walkin to the market, the bodies of those I had killed in the courtyard passin me on my left. 

I took another drag of the cigarette.
> Bucky's (22)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Bucky's
Third Arc: Advancement



Gear Head and the remaining Royal Guard arrived at the market center, only to find Bucky's a heaping pile of broken building. He turned to Satin, who was obviously confused about the buildings demise...and perhaps a little bit disappointed.

"Gear..." Satin said, not taking his eyes off of the burning refuse.

"Yeah?"

"I thought you said we were in for a fight."

"That is indeed what I said."

"Then where is the enemy?" Satin asked, irritation growing in his voice.

"Ummm...There I guess." Gear said, shrugging.

A cough originating near the rubble interrupted the exchange.

Gear ran over to where the cough came from, only to find Flower Founder sprawled out on the ground. 

"Sergeant!" Gear exclaimed, running to the mare's side.

"Hey Gear Head. How goes the battle?" She asked weakly.

The stallion gave her a once over, and decided that aside from a few bumps and bruises that she was alright.

"As far as I know, pretty good. We don't know where the rest of the rebels are, or if there are any of them left. But I met up with the rest of the Royal Guard." Gear said, motioning to Second Lieutenant Satin who was making his way over to the two.

"Sir!" she exclaimed, trying her best to stand through the exhaustion. 

"At ease soldier. From the looks of it you've had a hell of a day." He smiled at her.

"Sir, I didn't know the Second Platoon was still in Wethoof. I thought you were sent to New Findings to establish a guard post there." Flower inquired.

"We were, but after a messenger relayed a call to arms in Wethoof, we high-tailed it back to give you a little bit of extra support. Good thing too, we've saved a few of your people on the way." His veteran eyes went a little hazy before striking back to immense focus. "HA! despite my superiors attempts at keeping me out of combat, I still can find a way to kick some ass!" 

This prompted a cheer from the guards of the Second Platoon.

"Anyway, you go get yourself looked at Sergeant, you're no use to the sisters in this shape." Satin proclaimed.

"Yes Sir." Flower said.

Gear helped her to her feet, and they started making their way towards the medics.

"By the way Flower, where's Nar-Kuth?" Gear asked, turning his head to face Flower.

Her eyes drifted to Bucky's, now engulfed in an inferno. Several members of the Second Platoon were attempting to put the fire out.

"He didn't make it." she said, sorrow filling her voice.

Gear stopped dead in his tracks. 

Dead? Nar-Kuth? How? Gear's mind started running a mile-a-minute. Questions zipped around in his head. This was the first of their group to die. Would it be the last? Are the others alright? along with a million more.

However, they all stopped when he noticed Flower had pulled him into a hug and was crying into his shoulder. His fur began to get wet from her tears, but he wrapped a hoof around her and held her tight. They stayed like that for a time before she had finished her crying.

"I'm sorry Gear, if I hand't of been captured he would still be alive." She said, barely containing another sob.

"It's not your fault Flower. Nar-Kuth knew what he was doing when him and I delved into the basement. It's not your fault he's dead, it's theirs." he angrily pointed a hoof at the remains of Bucky's. Anger barely contained beneath his breath. 

"they'll pay for all the suffering they've caused." Gear said,  before turning his back to the fire, and helping Flower to the medics.


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


Bronze Hoof made his way through the town. Although most of the damage to the infrastructure was merely superficial, the city appeared to be demolished. Shattered glass and broken carts littered the streets that the lone minotaur roamed. The occasional stray cat would streak across the disheveled road, as if being chased by a sinister spirit.

This city was definitely one that Bronze had never been to, as it was stark in contrast to the city of the former day. Bronze caught glimpses of young, terrified eyes retreating from window sills as mothers ripped their children away from the dark visage.

Bucky's...I swear I saw that when we were comin into town. Bronze thought to himself.

The bull heard a whimper coming from a pile of rubble, which upon closer inspection turned out to be the side of a residential home. There were charred bricks on the rim of the building with which the rubble had been blown away from. Obviously magic was the cause of this particular destructive scene; a slight tingle in the air revealed that a particularly strong blast from an adept wizard was the origin of the powerful discharge. The burnt edges told of a fire based magic attack, perhaps a fire bolt or a compressed timed explosive. The size of the hole spoke volumes of the mage's abilities. Any wielder of the arcane arts has the capacity to create fire in small amounts, however controlling large volumes of it is difficult for most. Considering the sheer force required to blow a twenty foot wide hole into solid brick, the source of this destruction must be very powerful indeed.

All of this Bronze noticed and articulated in the time that it took before a second whimper was heard.

Bronze leapt into action, bounding over a turned over cart containing a multitude of vibrantly colored fruit, and began yelling to whomever was buried alive.

"Hello?! is there someone under here? I need you to answer me!"

A muffled cry of help made it's way out of the refuse, eliciting a ping of ache within The one-armed warriors heart. Judging by the pitch and faintness of the whimper, the victim was a child, and was fading fast. 

The minotaur's massive hand gripped the chunks of bricks by the ton, and tossed them aside despite his exhaustion. Second after second ticked by as the sobs of the little one were made louder and more clear with each hurling piece of the destroyed building. After what seemed an eternity, Bronze saw the tear stricken purple eyes of a young filly. 

Bronze quickly, yet carefully extracted the final bricks that had trapped the poor foal. He checked her over for any serious injury, checking her pulse and examining for any broken limbs. miraculously, the girl was fine, much to Bronze's delight. Her violet coat has scratches and dirt matted into the fur. Her mouth appeared dry, telling him she was dehydrated, probably from untold hours spent under the rubble. Her navy blue mane was in shambles, with a portion of it coated in dried blood.

He scooped the filly up into his chest, her small form barely covering his forearm. She embraced him and sobbed into his pelt. 

The filly started babbling, her unintelligible words interrupted by sobs and tears. 

"Where are your parents child?" Bronze asked softly. Enticing a wail of grief to emanate from the foal as she dug her face into his chest once more.

The minotaur's eyes drifted to where he had rescued the child. 

A lone hoof stuck out from under a wedge of building debris. A small dried pool of blood encircled the limb. The color of the coat was similar to that of the filly, leading to the answer to his question.

"Do you have any more family in the city?" Bronze questioned.

She shook her head no.

"Then how about we stick together until we can get you some place safe?" He asked.

The filly gave a faint nod, but gave no verbal reply.

The two set off down the road together, towards the market, towards Bucky's. 

"What's your name child?" 

"Violet Star" she answered meekly.

"Well miss Star, my name is Bronze Hoof, but you can call me Bronze."

"Bronze...is..." Violet started to ask.

"Is what, sweety?" 

"Is my mom dead?" She looked up at him, tears burning rivers down the dust on her cheeks.

"Yes...I'm sorry." He said solemnly. A single tear tracing it's way down his cheek.

The duo made their way down the ransacked street in silence after that. The only sound echoing through the vacant city were the small fires started by the fighting, and the sound of a childhood ending in sorrow.