Humani Victoria

Chapter 12- Makers Fire

"A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand."

                                                                             -Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Goldenoaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Friday, 5th of April, 9:50am, 2205 AC

Jason opened his eyes, his vision slightly blurred by his own grogginess. He knew from the way that his blood seemed to be moving at the speed of molasses and the fact that his legs felt like they were beanbags told him that he had slept in a substantial amount.

Rising from the small bed the Human rubbed his eyes, yawning as he did so, before stretching his arms wide and hearing the satisfying sound of his back popping and cracking. As per his usual routine, Jason dropped to the floor and performed twenty rapid push-ups, the exercise forcing blood through his system and into his dead limps, breathing life into them once again.

Now completely awake, the Human strapped on his distinctive combat boots and grabbed his knife, clipping it to his belt as he headed through the door. As he headed down the oak stairs, his heavy footwear announcing his approach to all within the library, Jason heard several unfamiliar voices coming from downstairs as he neared it.

Turning the corner revealed Twilight sitting in front of three... Fillies, as in child horses. One was an orange Pegasus and purple hair that was in a rough-and-tumble style similar to Rainbow Dash. There was an Earth Pony with a yellow coat and red mane that was tied with a red bow, finally there was a cream-coloured unicorn with a swirly mane of pink and light purple.

They hadn't noticed Jason as the three child-horses where looking excitedly at Twilight and the purple mare had a look of confusion, worry, and tiredness.

"You want to do what?" Twilight asked them.

"Mountain Climbing!" The orange Pegasus said, the three young equines then cheered together "Cutie Mark Crusader Mountain Climbers yay!" Causing Twilight to flinch, she opened her mouth to lecture them but was cut off by the yellow Earth Pony.

"So? Do 'ya have a book that can tell us how?" The filly had a southern accent that mirrored that of Applejacks, Twilight groaned and face-hoofed, turning slightly away from the child trio, when she uncovered her eyes she noticed Jason standing on the staircase.

"Good morning Jason" the three fillies looked to where Twilight was looking and spotted Jason, their tiny jaws dropped in astonishment.

"Whoa! What are you?" The orange one said, Jason was about to answer with something along the lines of 'Your worst nightmare' but Twilight cut off his fun.

"Girls, this is Jason one of my new friends, he's been staying with me for the past week or so" the orange Pegasus was apparently not satisfied with this answer though.

"But What is he?" The Earth Pony next to the Child of Zeus whacked her on the head for her lack of tack, before looking back at Jason with a smile.

"It's ah pleasure ta meet you Mr.Jason, mah names Applebloom, this is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo" this actually brought a smile to the Humans face, the adorable southern accent coupled with the fact that she was a Pony made Jason feel all fuzzy inside.

"Good to meet you Applebloom, what brings you to Twilights palace of knowledge?"

"We just came over to see if Twilight had anything on Mountain Climbing, we're trying to earn our Cutie Marks!" Jason gave a blank look.

"Cutie what now?"

"You know? Cutie Mark?" The filly said, after a few moments of Jason's best 'Da-Fuck-You-Talking-About-Bitch' look, Twilight cut in.

"Oh you don't know about Cutie Marks do you?" After the Human shook his head Scootaloo gasped.

"How could you not know about Cutie Marks? Everypony knows about them!" Yet again, Twilight came to the Humans defence.

"Now Scootaloo, Jason isn't from around here, and he certainly isn't a Pony. It's to be expected to not be knowledgable in everything about Equestria... Although I'm surprised you haven't come across anything in my library" the lavender Unicorn sat down to explain.

"Cutie Marks are a result of Magical Evolution in Ponies or M.E.P for short" she droned "When a filly or colt realizes their special talent and what they have a passion to do, a mark appears on their flank" Twilight pointed to her own star spangled backside "The mark represents the special talent of said Pony, and will almost always lead to an occupation of sorts, for example; my Cutie Mark represents Magic, as I am talented in both practical magic and Magical Theory" Jason stood there with a tired look on his face.

Can't a guy make some fucking pancakes without being lectured by some magical purple equine?

"That's.... Weird." Jason said "Humans have nothing like that."

"You don't have Cutie Marks?!" Scootaloo "But that... That's...." The Pegasus was left in a stunned stupor as everything she thought she knew about the world was turned upside down.

"Mmmm... Then how would anypony discover their destiny? Their place in the world?" Jason rolled his eyes.

"Everyone didn't put much thought into destiny..... At least when I was around I don't know about the... Modern Humans" this conversation was brining up some painful thoughts that Jason had been trying to suppress for the past week.

"Anyway" Jason said before Twilight could interject "Imma going to go make pancakes"

"Alright then..." The Purple Unicorn said.

"It was nice meeting you Mr. Jason!" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle chorused as Scootaloo contemplated the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

"Wait a minute..." Twilight said "What's a 'Pancake'?" Unfortunately for her, she was talking to a closed door.

"So Twilight.... About that Mountain Climbing book..."

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Surprisingly, the purple bundle of Pony magic had exactly what was needed to make pancakes, despite not even knowing what they were. Jason exited the kitchen with a satisfied smile on his face, his stomach full of fluffy goodness.

Looking around the library the Human spotted Twilight siting down and reading a book, as per the meaning of her existence. The three fillies from before absent from the room.

"Guess they left then eh?" The Unicorn responded with a hum of acknowledgment.

"Anyway I'm heading out for a little walk" yet another hum of acknowledgement later and the Human exited the library into the bright midday sun. Sticking his hands into his pockets Jason headed down the street, a decent amount of colourful equines littered the streets, they waved to Jason who nodded back.

The Human moved in the general direction of his destination; the Smithy, he remembered seeing it during his brief tour. Now he had a little project for the metal-shaper. Jason's thoughts were interrupted however by a voice calling his name.

"Hey Jason!" The Human turned to see Roseluck trotting up to him.

"Good morning Roseluck" he said back "How's business today?" The Pony smiled.

"Eh... It's been slow today, so I left Daisy and Lily in charge so I could go for a little walk around, seems we had similar idea yeah?"

"Seems so, although I do have an errand to run" this comment caused Roseluck's ears to flick back slightly.

"Oh... I was hoping we could... Grab some lunch together?" Jason blinked, before shrugging.

"After I'm done, sure. I don't have much to do today anyway" Roseluck's went from disappointed to happy in a matter of seconds.

"Great! Come by the shop when your done your errand!" The flower Pony happily trotted away, leaving a slightly confused Jason behind.

"Fucking Ponies man" he said to himself before continuing on his way. The Human met no one else on his trip, and soon enough he spotted smoke and heat waves rising into the midday sky, after traveling towards it for a while the sound of clanging metal could be heard before Jason turned a corner and was met with the rustic sight of the Smithy.

As one would expect, there was everything a Blacksmith would need; a smelter, a fire pit, an anvil, water trot, grindstone, and workbench, there was also a small hut-like structure placed behind the smithing area. Hammering away at a piece of metal on the anvil was a bulky fire-red Unicorn, his rough mane and beard where orange, and his Cutie Mark was that of a hammer and anvil.

Jason approached the Stallion as he stuck the hot metal into the water trot, after letting it hiss and spit for a moment the Blacksmith pulled it back out with the tongs in his hoof, revealing the metal piece to be a generic horseshoe.

Sighing to himself the Stallion placed the shoe on the nearby workbench to cool, he then turned towards Jason and looked him over.

"And what might you want outlander? Can't 'ya see I'm busy here?" The Stallions tone was gruff and unfriendly, his expression matched that analysis.

"Sorry to bother my good ma... Colt" Jason said in a pleasant tone, despite the spike of annoyance at the unceremonious welcome "But I wish to speak to you about a possible job for you."

The Smithy grunted and laid his tongs and hammer down next to the freshly-made horseshoe.

"So what do you need made then?" He asked "I doubt you need ponyshoes, or a cart axle. So what is it?" Jason grinned at the Stallion.

"Well... I need a sword." For a moment, the Blacksmith seemed to be in a state if slight shock, his bearded mouth slightly open as he stared at Jason with a slightly misty expression.

"Say again?" The Stallion asked must less gruffly.

"I said I needed a sword, would you be able to craft me one?" After a minute or two of awestruck staring the Smithy stuck out his hoof.

"Names Makers Fire" he said, Jason shook his hoof.

"Jason" he said, after dropping his hand Makers Fire gestured for the Human to follow him, the Stallion lead Jason to the small hut-like structure placed behind his smithing area, inside was a pair of chairs and a table.

"So..." He said as they sat down "You looking for a sword are you?"

"That's right" Jason said "Are you able to craft one?"

"You bet your britches!" Fire exclaimed "You looking at the former Head Metalcrafter for Her Majesties Solar Guard"

"Really" the Human said with raised eyebrows, Jason didn't know exactly how much of a prestigious position that was, but is sounded important "So how did you end up in Ponyville making horseshoes?.... Er.... 'Ponyshoes'?" This was apparently a hard topic because Makers Fire scowled harshly.

"I decided that I needed a change of pace, a new path, a quieter one" the Stallion growled a bit "Worst. Decision. Ever." He said aggressively.

"I miss making weapons, elegant, sharp, and deadly implements that cut smoothly through flesh, crack bones, or impale brains" Maker took on a look of someone speaking of a beautiful sunrise, Jason opened his mouth to say something but the Smithy wasn't done.

"No one in this damn backwater has the guts to even touch a weapon, let alone wield one. It's all ponyshoe this and fix my cart that, ugh. But you... You've given me a chance to do what I was meant to do.." Maker looked at Jason.

"Tell you what, I'll make your sword, and for free too. The pleasure of creating an implement of the warriors art is payment enough" After revelling in his luck and trying not to show how creeped out he was by this Stallions apparent pleasure of creating objects of death he grinned.

"Alright then, glad that I could give you this opportunity" Jason said.

"As am I" Makers Fire replied "But might I ask, why do you desire a weapon such as this? You already have a fine blade of good craftponyship" he gestured towards Jason's combat knife.

"True, but since I.... Arrived here I've run into a total of three things that wanted to break me open and suck out my me juices. That's three things too many, so I thought it would be smart to have something slightly more effective than my knife. Also... I want to see the quality of your work, to see if I should employ you for a little project of mine."

"Oh?" Maker said intrigued "Now I'm really interested, alright, I'll do it. My final question though; what sort of sword do you desire?"

"Well... Your the expert."

"Mmm... I'm thinking... A longsword, double edged, sharp, pointed at the end, with a strong crossbar, good for slashing, cutting, stabbing and blocking."

"Sounds good to me, have at it." Without another word Markers Fire got up and got to work, grabbing the needed pieces of metal and beginning to heat them up. Jason didn't pay much attention to the process, choosing instead to lean back and bask in the midday sun, eventually dosing off into a light sleep.

After an unknown amount of time had passed Jason was awoken by a nudge of his leg, opening his eyes he saw Makers Fire looking up at him, holding was was clearly a sheathed sword in his red magic. After looking up at the sky the Human determined that only about half an hour had passed.

"You work fast" he said reaching out towards the newly crafted weapon, the Smithy said nothing as Jason grabbed the sword out of his magic and gripped the hilt before sheathing it. What was revealed was not just a weapon, but art, the hilt and crooks are were made of steel and wrapped in leather to make a comfortable and soft grip, the blade itself was at least a metre long, straight and double edged with a deadly point, in the centre of the steel blade was made of some darker metal that ran to the midsection of the b,ad to the crossbar, centring the weight and balancing it out. Most notably about the weapon was the ornate looking runes and symbols that decorated both sides of the blade, engravings that ranged from everything from swirls to more complicated symbols.

"It's a fine weapon" Jason eventually said "But what do these runes mean?"

"They're Enchanting Conduits" Maker said "It opens up the possibility of enchanting the weapon, the runes can be filled with any magical enchantment and will bind it to the metal."

"That's interesting" Jason said "I don't know about having it enchanted but I'll certainly think about it." The Human sheathed the sword "Now about my project."

"Wait a minute" Makers Fire interrupted "Arn't you going to name it?"

"Name it?" Jason asked.

"That's right, traditionally when a warrior receives his sword he gives it a name."

"Huh..." Jason looked down at the weapon and shrugged "Im sure I'll think of something later."

"Fair enough, now about that project of yours?"

"Oh that's right" With animated gestures the a Human explained the job to Maker, going into great detail and description.

"Is something like that even possible?" The Smithy asked after Jason had finished "I've never heard of a machine like that."

"I assure you it will work, poorer designs have achieved the same thing. But do you have any experience in this sort of thing?"

"Yes actually, I've made a number of constructs made for war, trebuchets, ballista, so on and so forth, but never something like this."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, you have my confidence."

"Well I have that at least, give me a few days to have some supplies brought in and we can begin, and... No charge for thus either, this is more excitement than I've had in years."

"Glad I could be of help." The two shook appendages, Maker provided Jason with a white sacking covering for the sword, so the Human wouldn't be seen carrying a lethal weapon through town. Jason bid goodbye to Makers Fire and headed back towards Twilights Library, arriving there he darted by the book enthralled purple Unicorn and laid his new sword in his room.

Darting by the knowledge cultist again Jason headed back outside and strolled in the direction of Roseluck's flower shop. The shop was actually quite near the library and the Human arrived there in no time, walking into the store with a twinkle of the door chime. Inside behind the counter was a soft pink mare with a curly lime green mane, her Cutie Mark displaying three daises. The Pony next to her was a reddish mare with a blond looking mane and three lilies on her flank. The store itself was packed with self after shelf of decorative flowers, daisies, lilies, roses, etc.

"Daisy, Lily" Jason said in greeting.

"Hey Jason" they chorused, in a moment another voiced greeted him.

"Oh, hey Jason" the Human turned to see Roseluck's beautiful green eyes looking up at him.

"Hello Rose" Jason said smiling "I thought I would take you up on that offer of lunch" behind him he could hear Daisy and Lily softly awwwwwing at the pair of them. Ignoring her sisters Roseluck smiled up at Jason.

"Great" she said "Come on I know a place."