The Steel-Hearted Pegasus

4 months previous…

        “No Spike, I said that pile goes on the other shelf,” Twilight directed her assistant.

        “All right already, geez,” Spike let out an exasperated sigh.

        It was re-shelving day in the library and the small purple dragon was being worked ragged. Normally Twilight did the task herself, but the growing collection of literature eventually took its toll on her magical limits. So this time she had asked Spike to lend a claw, which he happily agreed to at first, but regretted it an hour later. So for the entire day, since early that morning, the two of them sorted, cataloged, and organized the books to their new locations. The day had been fairly pleasant as multiple clouds dotted the skies surface. The Ponyville weather patrol gave a report for light showers later in the afternoon, but the chances were still at around 45%.

        Back at the library, Spike had finished moving yet another pile of novels to its new destination, as he stopped to take a quick breather. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he felt a familiar tension in his chest. Without a moment’s notice, he burped out a small column of green fire as a neatly wrapped scroll materialized and fell to the floor.

        “A letter from the Princess, Spike?” the librarian asked, a bit surprised.

        “Yep,” Spike replied, as he handed the scroll to his caretaker.

        Twilight unrolled the scroll with her magic and analyzed the writing at a steady pace. When she finished, she turned her attention back to her green and purple assistant.

        “Spike, go and gather the girls. Princess Celestia has called for our assistance.”

        “What’s going on Twilight? It’s nothing serious I hope,” he asked, unsure of the situation.

        “Don’t worry, I’ll explain to everypony as soon as you get back. Now please hurry,” Twilight said, moving a few books in her magic grip.

        “You got it!” Spike said, eagerly bolting out the front door of the library.

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        It was half an hour later when Spike had returned with Twilight’s friends, who were just as confused by the situation as he was. Rainbow Dash quickly flew into the library, ready to take on whatever danger might be threatening Equestria, while Pinkie Pie simply hopped around blissfully unaware of the situation. Applejack was the first one to speak.

        “All right we’re all here Twi’, so would ya mind telling us what the hay is going on?” she said.

        “Princess Celestia has asked for us to assist her in negotiating with the Dragon Empire. It seems they want to increase the borders of their land but their demands are too high and would work to our disadvantage. So the Princess has requested an audience with a few ambassadors to see if we can come to a fair agreement that works out for both parties,” Twilight said, bluntly.

        “So what does that have to do with us? Sounds like the Princesses could handle it just fine without us,” Rainbow Dash said, already bored at the thought of being in a meeting.

        “You’re right Rainbow, but the Princesses don’t want to take any chances. So they asked us to attend the negotiations with our elements in case the situation goes south,” the lavender unicorn stated.

        “How soon do we need to arrive?” Rarity asked.

        “Princess Celestia said that we need to be there in the next few hours, so we’ll have to catch the next train to Canterlot which leaves in about an hour and a half,” Twilight said, as she gathered the Elements of Harmony from their display case with her magic and put them in a suitcase. “Now, are there any more questions?”

        “Yeah, ya know where Ah can find someone to watch the crusaders for me?” Applejack said, in a slightly annoyed tone.

        “What do you mean AJ?” Twilight asked.

        “Well I was ‘posed to watch Applebloom and her friends during their sleepover tanight since Granny Smith an’ Big Macintosh are out of town fer a few days,” the orange earth pony pondered her solutions for a few moments. “Ah know, why don’t we just leave em’ here with Spike, Ah’m sure he can keep an eye on them.”

        “Unfortunately that’s not possible, Celestia requires his assistance as well. She didn’t explain all the details but she says that having a dragon on our side of the negotiations might help create a better outcome,” Twilight said, watching as Spike was becoming nervous and excited at the same time.

        “Ugh, great, so what am Ah gonna do now?” Applejack asked, nearly clueless.

        Everyone in the room just stood around, thinking of possible solutions. Most ponies were busy around this time of year so it seemed almost impossible to get someone to watch the girls. Just when they were about to call it quits, Pinkie Pie had an idea.

        “Oh, oh, I know, how about we ask Caster to watch them. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” the party pony said, in a bubbly voice.

        It went without saying that everybody in the room was surprised by Pinkie’s suggestion, Fluttershy blushed slightly at the mention of his name.

        “You sure about that Pinkie Pie? Ah mean, Cast’s an all right guy but Ah don’t if he’s anybgood at watchin’ other ponies, especially my sister and her friends. Plus he just started workin’ last week so Ah don’t know if he’ll even have time ta watch them,” Applejack stated, unsure of the idea.

        “It’s either that or we take them with us; and I don’t think having fillies at a negotiation with dragons is a good idea AJ,” Rainbow Dash said sternly, worried about their safety.

        The orange earth pony took a moment to consider before coming to a decision. “Oh all right, Ah guess it couldn’t hurt to ask. Ah’ll meet you all at the train station after I drop off the youngins’.”

        “Actually Applejack, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take them over. I mean… if that’s all right with you,” Fluttershy said, surprising her friend.

        “Um, sure I guess. It will save me a little time gettin’ my stuff from the farm. They’re over at Sugar Cube Corner all packed up, so hurry up, we ain’t got much time,” Applejack said.

        “O-okay, I’ll see you all in a bit,” the yellow Pegasus said, as she quickly headed toward the bakery, not wanting to tell her friends why she really wanted to go, nor understood why.

===============================================================

        “Ah still don’t see why we can’t jus’ go with you guys to Canterlot,” Applebloom argued in her southern accent.

        Fluttershy let out a sigh. “I told you already Applebloom, it’s because we can’t risk anything happening to you girls if something were to go wrong at the negotiations.”

        “Yeah, but maybe we could help you guys and get our cutie marks in negotiating,” Scootaloo said, as she rode on her scooter.

        “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER NEGOTIATORS! YAY!” the three fillies shouted in unison.

        Fluttershy covered her ears to avoid going deaf for the third time during their walk. When the Pegasus mare went to pick them up, the cutie mark crusaders were bummed that their sleepover might’ve been cancelled and they couldn’t go with them to Canterlot. But they were fairly elated to hear that they would be spending the night at Caster’s, since they didn’t get a chance to meet him at the party.

        “So Fluttershy, what’s Caster like anyway?” Sweetie Belle spoke up. “You two spent a whole week living together, so you should know more about him than anypony in Ponyville.”

        “Oh, well uh, he’s a very kind and gentle pony,” the yellow Pegasus stated. “He always works hard to make others happy as well as himself. Admittedly he can lose his temper if he’s pushed too far, but he always makes up for it when he can. Sometimes he prefers to be alone and it’s best to leave him be, yet he still enjoys time spent with his friends. With that being said I’m sure he wouldn’t mind looking after you three.”

        “Wow Fluttershy, this Caster fella sounds like a really nice guy,” the earth pony said.

        “Yes, yes he does,” Fluttershy mumbled, with a tint of blush on her cheeks.

        The three fillies noticed this and fell into a fit of giggles from the look on her face. Their laughter snapped the Pegasus out of her day dreaming and she tried to move past the conversation.

        “Anyway, we should keep walking. We’re almost at Caster’s place,” Fluttershy said.

        Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo calmed down for a moment to register her words as they all continued to make their way through the forest. After a few more minutes of walking, the group of ponies found themselves in front of a large home in the middle of the woods. The cutie mark crusaders looked up in awe at the home that Fluttershy and her friends helped to build. When they approached the door, the pink maned Pegasus rang the doorbell on the side and waited for somebody to answer.

        It was only a minute later that the door opened to reveal a large light brown stallion known as Caster Forge. He was wiping his face with a small hand towel to clear what seemed to be sweat dripping down his forehead. He tossed it over his neck and opened his eyes to see who was at the door, which to his surprise was Fluttershy. He had only seen her a few days ago but to him it felt even longer. At the realization of that knowledge he couldn’t help but smile at seeing her again.

        “Oh, hello Fluttershy, it’s good to see you again,” Caster said, in a joyful mood.

        “N-nice to see you too. Listen Caster, I know this is short notice but could you do me a favor?” she asked, a tad nervous.

        “What can I do for you?” the stallion asked.

        Fluttershy then started to explain what was going on. From the negotiations with the dragons, to the immediate summons of the Elements of Harmony. When all was said and done, the light brown Pegasus simply stared in disbelief.

        “Wow, that’s quite a hoofful you’ve got there. Are you sure you and others can handle it?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

        “Don’t worry Caster, I’m sure everything will be just fine. The Princesses will be there and we have the Elements of Harmony as well,” Fluttershy said.

        “Very well then; so what is it that you need me to do anyway?” he asked, returning to the matter at hand.

        “Well, um, we were all wondering if you could look after the cutie mark crusaders till we get back,” Fluttershy said, sheepishly.

        “The who?” the blacksmith asked.

        As if to answer his question, three fillies came out from behind Fluttershy. They all looked like they were in their teens, roughly around thirteen to fourteen years old.

        “Caster, I’d like you to meet the CMC,” the canary yellow Pegasus said, starting from the filly on her left. “This is Applejack’s little sister, Appleblom; Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle; and this is Scootaloo.”

        Caster took a moment to get a better look at them. Scootaloo was a Pegasus with an orange coat and a messy purple mane and tail with matching eyes. She rode a small wooden scooter and seemed to have a more muscular frame than the other fillies, but not by much. Sweetie Belle was a Unicorn that had a coat similar to her sister’s and light green eyes. She had a curly mane and tail that was lavender and had a pink streak going through them. Applebloom was an earth pony with yellow fur and amber colored eyes. She had long red mane and tail that was bouncy and tied by a large red ribbon. The three of them seemed to have looks of excitement on their faces as they were waiting for him to speak up, which he eventually did.

        “Good to meet you all, I’m Caster Forge,” the stallion said, as held out a hoof for them to shake.

        “Pleasure to make yer acquaintance Mr. Forge,” Applebloom said, accepting his hoof.

        “Nice to meet you sir,” Sweetie Belle said, doing the same.

        “Is it true that you raced with Rainbow Dash and the two of you tied!?” Scootaloo asked, excitedly shaking his hoof.

        “Uh, I guess so,” he said, with a sheepish grin while rubbing the back of his head.

        The orange coated filly let out a squeal of glee. “Oh my gosh, that’s so cool! You’ve got to tell us what it was like.”

        Caster let out a small chuckle. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you about it later.”

        “So does this mean you’ll watch them for us?” Fluttershy asked, hopefully.

        “Sure thing Fluttershy. It’s my day off today anyway and I’ve already finished some personal matters of mine so I’m free for the rest of the day,” the light brown Pegasus said, happy to have some company over.

        “YAY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SLEEPOVER AT CASTER’S!” the three fillies shouted, as they bolted into his home.

        “Ow,” Caster said, bluntly as he rubbed his ear. “Do they always do that?”

        “Only when the moment strikes them,” Fluttershy said, giggling.

        There was a moment of silence between the two of them as they couldn’t find any other words to say. When she realized her friends were still waiting on her, Fluttershy decided to speak up.

        “I-I should probably get going, don’t want to keep everypony waiting right?”

        “Right, of course. Good luck,” the blacksmith said, trying to work up a smile.

        “Thanks, you too,” the Pegasus mare said, as she turned around to make her way back to Ponyville.

        “Fluttershy, wait,” Caster said, watching her turn her head back. “Be safe okay? I would really hate for something bad to happen to you and the others.”

        His words made Fluttershy blush slightly as she realized just how much he cared for her and her friends. She walked back over to him and, in a moment of pure gratitude, gave him a comforting hug.

        “We’ll be back, I promise,” she said, in a gentle tone.

        Caster was caught off guard for a moment but quickly returned the hug. After a moment of reassuring contact, the two of them separated as Fluttershy said her goodbye once more. The stallion slowly closed his door as he watched her leave, not noticing the faint blush on his cheeks.

        “Blegh, so sappy,” a voice rang out.

        The light brown Pegasus was startled and turned around to see Scootaloo sticking her tongue out in disgust. He also noticed the other two trying to stifle a giggle at how he acted. He only then noticed the rise of heat in his cheeks and realized he was blushing.

        “What’s so wrong about worrying about your friends?” Caster said, defiantly.

        “Nothing, just try to keep your mushy moments between you and your marefriend far from me as possible,” Scootaloo said, giving a smirk.

        The stallion’s face went completely red as he stammered out. “S-She’s not my m-marefriend! We’re just good friends that’s all!”

        Soon the three fillies broke out into a fit of laughter. They kept at it for a good minute or so making taunting noises and silly faces. After a few more minutes of that, Caster started to laugh a little at their antics, remembering how mares acted like that when he was their age.

        “Yes ha ha, very funny,” the blacksmith said, with a sarcastic grin. “Now let’s get upstairs and get settled in, shall we?”

        Applebloom, still laughing a bit, watched as Caster walked past them. As he did, she noticed his cutie mark and how odd it appeared to be.

        “Hey Caster, what kind of cutie mark is that? Ah’ve never seen anythin’ like it,” she pointed out.

        Caster looked to where she was pointing and remembered the 15 on his cutie mark. “Huh? Oh, that’s just my lucky mark.”

        “A lucky mark?” Sweetie Belle said, joining the subject. “Is that like some kind of second phase of cutie marks? Why doesn’t anypony tell us these things? Now we have to spend even more time getting our marks. Who knows how long it’ll take us before we-”

        The unicorn filly was quickly silenced by Caster placing a hoof on her muzzle. “No, no Sweetie Belle, you’ve got the wrong idea. None of you have to worry about getting a lucky mark. Because as far as I know, I’m the only pony in all of Equestria that has one.”

        “Well then how did you get one?” Scootaloo demanded.

        “I dunno,” the blacksmith shrugged. “Pure chance I guess. For now let’s just head upstairs, I’ll talk later.”

        The three fillies nodded as they followed him to the back of the room and up the stairs. When they entered the living room, their eyes went wide and their mouths slack jawed by what they saw. There was indeed furniture, but it was all moved to the side, leaving only what left them astounded. In the center of the room was a ponyquin wearing a set of royal guard armor that had a few gashes covering every side, like it had just been used in battle. But their attention was brought to the numerous swords and spears that rested by some custom made saddlebags. Some of them were standard issue weaponry, but a select few were rather unique. One was a katana blade that was long and thin and looked almost sharp enough to cut through steel. Another was a scimitar which had a curved blade that was broader at the end. Needless to say, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were amazed to see such an extensive collection of weapons, a little too amazed it seemed as ideas started to flow through their minds.

        “Whoa, look at all this stuff!” the Pegasus filly exclaimed. “What were you doing before we came over anyway?”

        Caster chuckled at her excitement. “Well you see, during my college years at Celestia’s school, one of my teachers taught us that the best way to find a weapons or armors worth was to test them to their fullest. So every now and then the other students and I would grab a ponyquin, dress it up in armor we each made and use our weapons to test how much damage they could withstand as well as the weapons themselves. Sometimes we would have to go against each other, we received training and had teachers to make sure things were safe of course, those were fun times. But anyway that lesson always stuck with me, so whenever I get the chance I test my work and see if there can be room for improvement.”

        “Wow Caster, you sure had some good times at ‘yer’ school. All we do is learn about math and English and everthin’ else in between,” Applebloom said, a tad jealous.

        “Actually, despite what the school was meant to teach us, we all still received basic educa-”

        “Hey, maybe we could get our cute marks in fencing!” Sweetie Belle said.

        “Wait, what?”

        “YAY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADER FENCERS!” they all shouted loudly in unison.

        Caster shut his eyes tightly as he covered his ears to avoid the pain of having his ear drums breaking. When he opened his eyes, the Pegasus stallion saw the three fillies quickly making their way to the pile of weapons across the room, which made him panic. The crusaders were about to reach for the swords and spears when suddenly a flash of light brown went right past them, leaving them dazed for a moment. When their vision began to clear, they looked in front of them to see that all of the weaponry and other stuff by the furniture was gone. They were surprised to say the least, but as they surveyed the room, they soon found them with Caster, stored safely in the saddlebags that were large enough to fit each weapon without them sticking out.

        “Sorry, but I can’t let you play with these. Wouldn’t do us any good to have you all injured on my watch now would it?” Caster said, in a serious tone.

        “But…,” the crusaders tried to speak.

        “No buts, these weapons are too dangerous for young fillies and you should not mess around with them,” he retaliated sternly.

        Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo all looked down with disheartened faces, sad that their latest cutie mark attempt was over before it began. But then they heard the stallion walking toward them and looked back up to see him smiling.

        “Which is why you will all wait here while I grab some things that will be safer for you to play with,” Caster said, as he removed the armor from the ponyquin.

        As the blacksmith pony made his way downstairs, the three fillies set their saddle bags aside by the furniture and decided to talk about their thoughts on their current ‘babysitter’.

        “So, Caster seems pretty cool don’t he?” Applebloom stated.

        “Are you kidding, we’re hanging out with the pony who raced against Rainbow Dash and tied! How could anypony like that not be deemed awesome?” Scootaloo practically shouted.

        “Even so, we still don’t know that much about him or what his opinions are. It’d be safe if we avoid any awkward topics that may upset him,” Sweetie Belle said, throwing a quick hesitant glance at Scootaloo.

        “I guess you’re right,” the orange Pegasus replied

        “Well anyway, we should be grateful he that let us stay with him and try to have some fun while we’re here,” the farm filly said.

        As the other two nodded their heads in agreement they turned their attention to the stairs and saw Caster walking back up. When he reached the top of the stairs, they noticed that under each of his wings were two wooden swords that had the edges rounded and the rest cleared of splinters. He said nothing at first as he passed one toy to each of them.

        “My brother and I used to play with these when we were kids. I decided to take these with me for both nostalgic and practical reasons. I guess now I can use them for the latter,” the light brown pony said.

        They all debated on who would get to go first and they soon came to an agreement; Sweetie Belle was up first, then Scootaloo, and finally Applebloom. The unicorn filly stood at one side of the room, holding her sword in a basic levitation spell that had a light green aura, while Caster stood at the other end, holding his sword in his mouth by the hilt. When they were all set for their little duel, the stallion spoke, momentarily taking the toy from his mouth.

        “Lesson #1 of combat: always keep your guard up. Your opponent will always be ready to strike,” when Sweetie Belle got the message, she moved the blade closer to her, feeling hesitant about what was to come. “Begin!”

        At those words Caster charged at the white unicorn, feeling the will to fight from his days at school coming back to him. Sweetie Belle saw him move in and was a bit frightened as he swung the replica blade at her. All she could do was block his attacks, afraid of what would happen if she did not. Scootaloo and Applebloom were trying to cheer her on but their words did not register in Sweetie Belle’s mind, as all her attention was focused on defense. After a while, Caster got tired of being the only pony attacking, and realizing the little filly was not going to change the situation he decided to end their duel. So with skill and precision, gained from all his fencing back home, he did a quick 180 spin and knocked Sweetie Belle’s sword out of her magical grip, where it landed a few feet away on the floor. The realization that her only means of defense was gone was soon evident to the unicorn filly as she saw Caster pointing his toy blade directly at her.

        “Lesson #2 of Combat: find an attack of opportunity. If you do nothing but keep your defense up, it will eventually crumble,” the light brown pony stated, moving the blade to speak.

        “Y-you certainly made that evident,” Sweetie Belle said, still shaken up from their fight.

        As he moved his sword away from the unicorn, Caster spoke. “Yet I must admit your skill in defense is impressive, I couldn’t land a single hit on you. If you improve yourself you may be able to get the hang of it.”

        “Thanks Caster, I will,” she said, happy to hear his approval.

        “No problem; now who’s next?” the blacksmith asked, excited for another duel.

        “Memememememe!” Scootaloo said, ready to show off as she usually does.

        The light brown pony smirked at the Pegasus filly, seeing that she was just as eager as him. In fact she seemed a little too eager as she went to her side of the room, sword held tightly in her jaw. Sensing that this one would be more of a challenge, he quickly prepared himself for what was to come. Once Caster gave the signal to start, Scootaloo was the one to make the first move as she lunged forward, her sword in tow. The stallion blocked her first attack but that did not stop the orange Pegasus as she began a flurry of blows upon him. Their duel was tense in Caster’s opinion yet he was still able to keep his wits about him and was slowly analyzing Scootaloos technique. He noticed that she was putting a lot of power into her strikes, more than necessary it seemed as he devised his strategy. When the next strike came, he made sure to block it, but with less force than necessary, and as the toy swords connected he side stepped to his right letting the fillies blade slide past his and in turn, Scootaloo herself. The amount of force she used in her attack caused her to tumble forward as she stopped at the other end of the room, upside down and her weapon released from her mouth. In her daze she noticed Caster walking toward her, though in her position it looked like he was walking on the ceiling.

        “Lesson #3 of combat: you must control yourself. Put too much power into your attacks and the only pony you will bring down will be yourself,” the light brown stallion stated, as he helped Scootaloo back onto her hooves. “You really need to be careful Scootaloo, I’ve seen many of my colleagues back in Canterlot get hurt because they were reckless. Learn to balance the momentum in your strikes and your enemies will not know what hit them.”

        “Ugh, no problem Cast, I’ll try to keep that in mind,” the Pegasus filly groaned, rubbing the side of her head to relieve the pain.

        “Well Ah reckon it’s my turn now,” Applebloom said, as she picked up her toy sword and proceeded to the same side of the room her friends took up previously.

        “Let’s hope you can put up a good fight as well,” Caster said, getting ready for his last duel of the day. “There is, however, one last lesson of combat: remember lessons one through three.”

        As the words reached the earth pony’s ears, she readied her sword and waited for the starting signal. As soon as he gave the word, both Caster and Applebloom charged at each other, which both impressed and surprised the stallion. They continually exchanged blows, both either blocking or attacking, letting their fight continue longer than they anticipated, yet the Pegasus stallion was still carefully analyzing his opponent and soon found his key to victory. After a while, both participants were starting to tire themselves out and the young filly was getting ready for her final strike before Caster spoke.

        “You appear to be holding up well for yourself Applebloom,” the blacksmith said, his words muffled with the toy sword still held in his mouth as he continued to fight.

        “Ah can say the same fer you Cast’r,” the yellow coated filly responded, in the same muffled speech.

        “It seems you understand the fundamentals of fencing, but I just remembered one more important rule of combat.”

        “What would that be?” she inquired, before she felt a large hoof sweep into her leg, causing her to fall to the ground and lose her grip on the wooden sword.

        “Your stance,” Caster spoke, giving a slightly smug look at his victory.

        “Hey no fair Cast’r, ya cheated!” Applebloom said, more than angry.

        “Indeed I did, but it was mostly to teach you a lesson,” he said, helping her back up. “Sometimes your opponent will fight dirty and try to throw you off balance if they notice a fault in your stance or otherwise. Your hoof work is a key element to any form of fighting, large or small, and must be practiced if you don’t want to end up on your face again. Aside from that though, your technique was nearly flawless. Keep it up and you may even impress my old teachers.”

        “Thanks, I’ll make sure to remember that,” the earth pony said, feeling a bit of pride from the compliment she was given.

        Then suddenly, from out of nowhere, the room flashed white and a loud thundering boom filled the air. The three fillies nearly jumped out of their fur when the noise hit their ears and huddled together. Caster was excluded as the sound merely made him shake for a second, but he quickly got over it when he looked to see a scared Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.

        “W-what was t-that?” the latter pony asked.

        The blacksmith pony went to the large window near the stairs, which was also the only window in the room, and looked to find to find the source of the disruption. He saw that the clouds completely blotted out the sky, giving it a dark grey color, as dozens of gallons of water poured down and thunder and lightning boomed in the distance, the earlier of which being closer than the others.

        “It appears to be raining, strange though I thought the storm wouldn’t arrive for at least another hour,” Caster said, a small grin growing on his face as he stared out the window while the crusaders relaxed.

        “Thank goodness, see Scoots it was just the weather. Ya don’t have to be such a chicken about it,” Applebloom teased.

        “I’m not a chicken! And I wasn’t scared either, I was just, uh making sure the two of you weren’t scared by it,” Scootaloo protested.

        “Yeah right, we was doin’ just fine unlike you.”

        The young earth pony then began to make clucking noises and did impressions of a chicken to further make fun of her friend. This only made the orange coated filly angrier as she tackled Applebloom to the ground and the two proceeded to fight and insult each other. Sweetie Belle merely watched from the sidelines as her friends continued to get their cutie marks in arguing as she liked to refer it. She was about to ask Caster to help her break it up when she noticed that he was gone. The unicorn then heard the front door from downstairs opening, thanks to the bell above it, as well as some cheering from the missing pony in question. Sweetie went downstairs to see what was up and Applebloom and Scootaloo soon followed after they settled down and saw their fellow crusader leaving.

        When they entered the first floor of the house the three fillies saw that the front door was wide open, letting in the cold air from outside and causing them to shiver. The white unicorn looked around the room for Caster, but soon found him outside in the rain, sitting down and looking up at the sky. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo looked at the blacksmith in bewilderment as he seemed to be in a state of bliss letting the water run down his coat and flatten his mane and tail. The moment was short lived, however, when Scootaloo noticed a mud puddle forming nearby and a devious grin began to form. Caster was busy enjoying the downpour, letting the cold rain chill his body, when he felt something collide with his head, sending him onto the wet grass below him. The Pegasus wiped the substance from his eyes to see what it was and found that it was mud. He turned around and saw the cutie mark crusaders, each with a sinister look and a lump of mud in their hooves. Caster raised an eyebrow, cracked a smile, and drew some of the mud from his face as he let his expression dictate his next words: it was on!

        The light brown stallion started throwing the wet dirt back at the three fillies as they did the same. All of the ponies met up in the mud puddle as they kept tossing mud at each other or simply splashing it around. They kept laughing and giggling at the fun they were all having until the rain started to pick up and the winds got stronger. So Caster, deciding it was best to get back inside, ushered everyone into the house and back upstairs. He made his way to the nearby bathroom where he brought back a few towels and handed one to everybody so they could all dry off and clean away the dirt from their fur. Once everybody as mostly dry, Caster spoke.

        “Sorry about running off like that, I tend to go a little overboard when it rains,” the now dry Pegasus said, as he went to the kitchen to turn up the thermostat. “Most of the ponies I know don’t like the rain, but I don’t see what’s wrong with it. How could somepony not like to get wet from something that falls from the sky? Plus some ponies think that this is horrible weather but I say that even something gloomy can have a sense of beauty to it, you just have to find it.”

        Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle just stared at him blankly.

        “Okay,” they all said, together.

        “Sorry again, I usually get carried away when I start talking about a subject I’m interested in,” he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

        “No biggie Cast it happens to all of us, just try to keep at a low level while we’re here,” Scootaloo said, with a cocky grin.

        “I’ll try, now why don’t we fix the place up so it will look at least remotely pleasant. Sweetie Belle, would you mind using your magic to help me move the table?” Caster said.

        “Sure thing Caster,” the unicorn said, as she lit up her horn in a light green aura.

===============================================================

        As the day went on, Caster and the cutie mark crusaders spent their time getting to know each other better. Sweetie Belle talked about how she was going to be staring her music lessons next week with the towns’ local musician Octavia and on occasion Vinyl Scratch. Her passion for music had grown over the years and decided to take lessons to improve her skills and her older sister Rarity talked to her acquaintance Octavia into giving Sweetie Belle a chance, which the earth pony mare gladly accepted. Scootaloo even mentioned her training with Rainbow Dash and how her wings have been getting stronger. She wasn’t ready to fly like a professional Pegasus yet but she had trained enough to get herself off the ground.

        Then, Applebloom had talked about working on the farm with her brother and sister. Normally she only did small chores like cleaning the pigs or help make zap apple jam with Granny Smith, but as she got older she was allowed to start bucking apples from the trees with the rest of the family and any other jobs she needed to do. Caster finally told the three fillies the story of how he got his cutie mark and lucky mark which, needless to say, left the girls in awe thinking of how to get their own lucky marks but quickly put those thoughts away when he made it clear that it appeared merely by chance.

        Later they started playing games on his game console, such as Pony Combat or Equestrian Band. Most of the time, the crusaders managed to beat Caster at almost every game they played, but he occasionally won a few rounds and eventually got the hang of gaming again. After that they all sat down for lunch and the day continued on from there. Everyone was currently found lounging around the living room where Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle were sitting on the couches and watching TV while Caster was in his recliner reading a book with Nina resting on one of the armrests. The blacksmith stallion thought that their time spent together was pretty fun. At first he thought watching over them would be aggravating, considering children occasionally got on his nerves in the past, but he soon warmed up to the crusaders and found them to be great friends.

        At the moment, however, he had gotten bored with both his book and glancing occasionally at the TV and he could tell the others were as well. He thought of ways to try and relieve the boredom from the room but nothing came to mind, so he decided to ask the fillies what they wanted to do next.

        “So, what do you girls want to do now?” Caster asked, closing his book and letting out a yawn.

        “I dunno, maybe we could go another round of Pony Combat,” the teenage Pegasus suggested, eager to kick some more virtual butt.

        “Nah, we already did like twenty games of that. What else is there?” the stallion said.

        “Oh ah know, how ‘bout we tell some ghost stories,” Applebloom said.

        “Hmmm, that’s not a bad idea actually,” Caster said, having a story already in mind. “But just one, and I get to tell it.”

        “Aww, that’s not fair,” Sweetie Belle complained.

        “Sorry, my house, my privileges,” the stallion responded by sticking his tongue out at her and went to put the book he was reading, and Nina, back in his room.

        After about a minute he came back with a lantern held in his mouth which he placed on the round table between the couches. Caster lit the lantern and turned off the living room lights as well as the ones in the surrounding rooms. The only light left was the dim glow of the fireflies buzzing in the lantern and the occasional flash of distant lightning from the window. Caster turned his chair around to face the others who were all sitting on the couch to his left as he took his seat.

        “This is the legend of the Hook Pony,” the light brown Pegasus said grimly, making the fillies huddle together out of fright and he continued to speak.

        “Many moons ago, on a night just like this, two young earth pony lovers took a drive to lovers’ lane, where the colt planned a make-out session with a his marefriend. He rented a private carriage, which was made for privacy and towed it himself to their destination. Upon arrival, it started to rain and the colt ran into the carriage before he got soaked.”

        “He was about to get started when he noticed the mare was shaking and it was not from the cold. The colt asked her what was wrong and she said that she was still worried about the mass murderer that was still on the loose. Earlier that day a stallion had escaped from prison who was known as the ‘Hook Pony’ because of the steel hook that was imbedded into his right hoof, which some pony’s say he used to kill his victims with.”

        “The colt paid it no mind and reassured her that they were safe as he tried to rekindle the mood. But even as they made out, the earth pony mare was still unnerved about the whole ordeal, feeling that somehow they were being watched by some unseen figure. Eventually she lost her cool and told her coltfriend to take her home. Needless to say, the colt was not happy and angrily got out of the carriage to move it away.”

        “After taking a moment to secure himself, he galloped away from Lover’s Lane as quickly as he could, letting the cold rain drench his fur. When he arrived at his marefriend’s house he went to open the door and let her leave. The mare heard a scream come from outside the carriage and went to see what happened. She saw the colt lying on the ground, on his back, with a look of horror stamped on his face staring straight past her. The mare looked in his direction and saw, hanging from the door handle, a bloody hook,” Caster finished, his voice dripping with a tone of pure terror.

        Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were all holding each other tight, scared senseless by the story and how it was presented. The blacksmith pony knew that it wouldn’t take much for them to soon start screaming and secretly he had planned for this to happen. So he made one last edition to the story to set things off.

        “Oh right, there’s one last thing I forgot to tell you. The town where this all happened, was right here, in Ponyville. Some ponies say that the murderer still roams these parts, searching for his missing hook and claiming new victims as he goes. He could be anywhere really,” the stallion said, sinisterly.

        As the three fillies were on the verge of running scared, a bolt of lightning lit up the room and the shadow of a large figure was cast upon the wall behind Caster. The sight alone sent the crusaders reeling back in fright as they all bolted out the room and into the kitchen. They waited for something to happen but all they heard was, for some reason, a stallion laughing but it was not a maniacal laughter that they thought it’d be. Applebloom hesitantly led her friends back to the living room to see where the laughter was coming from. To their surprise, the only pony they saw in the room was Caster, laughing his flank off. Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were confused until they saw the shadow against the wall and tried to find the source.

        They soon found what they were looking for sitting on the window sill. It was Nina covered in a large blanket who was also laughing but they came out as small squeaks. The red coated squirrel went over to Caster and shared a quick hoof claw bump. The realization hit the crusaders like a ton of bricks, and it was safe to say that none of them were pleased.

        “That wasn’t funny Cast’r,” Applebloom said, as she trotted up to him and gave him a punch in the shoulder.

        “Lighten up AB, it was all in good fun,” the light brown pony said, rubbing his arm to relieve the pain. “Besides what’s life without a little scare, right?”

        The earth pony considered the thought and then let out a small chuckle. “All right, Ah guess it was kinda funny.”

        The other crusaders followed suite as they all got over being nearly scared to death, and began laughing of their own accord. They kept telling jokes about how each of them reacted to the story. This went on for a couple of minutes before Caster noticed the clock in the kitchen, showing that it was half past nine. Already feeling worn out, he decided it was time to turn in for the night.

        “All right girls, it’s time for bed,” Caster said.

        Scootaloo let out a prolonged yawn. “Suites me, I’m pooped.”

        “So, where will we sleep?” Sweetie Belle inquired.

        “Well, I only have one guest bed so I guess two of you will have to take the couches,” the Pegasus stallion stated.

        “Uh, Sweetie Belle and I will sleep on the couches. Applebloom, why don’t you take the bed?” the orange filly said.

        “Are y’all sure Scoots?” Applebloom asked.

        “Don’t worry Applebloom, we’ll be fine out here,” Scootaloo said, putting on a forced smile.

        Caster noticed this, and thought it was a bit strange at first. But he simply shrugged it off, not wanting to pry into other ponies’ business.

        “Very well then, you two get settled in while I show Applebloom her room,” he said, as he grabbed the yellow coated pony’s bag and led her to the guest bedroom.

        Caster opened the door and allowed Applebloom to see the interior of the room. It was a fairly large room, but still half the size of the blacksmith’s bedroom. It had a twin sized bed with silk sheets, a night stand with a lamp on top, a small wardrobe off to the side, and a large window that showed the raging storm outside.

        “It’s not much, but I hope it will do,” he said, as he went in to turn on the lamp.

        “It’s jus’ fine Cast’r. Thanks again fer lettin’ us stay here,” the earth pony said, letting her appreciation be known.

        “No problem Applebloom now get some sleep, it’s already getting late,” Caster said, already out of the room.

        “Okay, night Cast,” she said as she closed the door.

        The light brown Pegasus turned his attention to the other two fillies who were already settled on the couches, ready to call it a night. Seeing that all the lights were already off, Caster made his way to his bedroom before looking back at the crusaders.

        “Goodnight girls,” he said, before closing his door.

        “Goodnight Caster,” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo responded.

===============================================================

        Later that night, the thunderstorm continued to roar on. Gallons of water poured from the clouds as bolts of lightning flashed with a resounding boom every now and then. The home in the middle of the woods was being assaulted by the rain, causing a small echo to sound throughout the interior of the house. In the main bedroom Caster was turning about in his bed, unable to sleep. Not from all the noise caused by the rain, but from his earlier dream.

        He had awoken about half an hour ago from the peculiar dream he was having. It involved him and Fluttershy, which almost didn’t surprise him. It was not necessarily a bad dream, truly it was the opposite. Caster had been thinking of her lately ever since his stay at her cottage. Her kindness wasn’t like most of the mares he had known, and it seemed to spark an old habit that he developed in his younger years. He knew what it was, though, and decided not to go further into it, thinking it was just part of who he was.

        Feeling a bit parched, Caster decided to go get a glass of water. The light brown Pegasus quietly got out of bed then he made his way to the door. He slowly opened it, not wanting to wake the two fillies in living room, and went straight to the kitchen.  Caster didn’t bother turning on the lights as he quickly got his drink, and was about to head back to his room when something caught his eye. Once his eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, he saw that the couch Sweetie Belle went to sleep on was empty. He thought she might be in the bathroom, but he checked to see that the door was wide open and the lights inside were turned off.

        Curious as to where she was, Caster went over to the living room to solve this little dilemma. When the blacksmith reached the first couch, something caught his peripheral vision. He turned his head to see Scootaloo and, to his surprise, the unicorn he was searching for. Both of the fillies were cuddling up next to each other as they slept in peace. Caster didn’t need to be a genius to put the two halves together and when he did, the stallion let out a small laugh.

        “Kids these days, whatcha gonna do?” he said, a smile spreading on his face.

        Caster pulled the blanket over them to give them extra warmth and watched as Sweetie Belle snuggled closer to Scootaloo. Feeling that he was intruding on them, the light brown Pegasus went back to his room, with part of his mind hoping that his dream would continue where it left off.

===============================================================

        The next morning, the rain had ceased its dreadful downpour from the night before and the sun was just starting to shine through the clouds. Back inside Caster’s house, two fillies were holding each other closely, sleeping with a sense of ease. The sense was soon lifted as Scootaloo woke to the smell of something cooking. Realizing that none of the other crusaders were awake yet, she came to the conclusion that Caster was the one cooking, and that he might have seen her and Sweetie Belle together. Without a moment’s hesitation she woke up the sleeping unicorn next to her.

        “Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle wake up,” Scootaloo said, lightly shaking her friend.

        “Mmm? What’s up Scooty?” Sweetie Belle said, still drowsy.

        “I think we might have a problem. Caster might’ve seen us together,” the Pegasus filly said.

        It didn’t take long for the white coated filly to get the picture as her eyes nearly went wide as saucers. Quietly, the two of them made their way to the kitchen to see if their suspicions were correct. They peeked around the corner, and, sure enough, Caster was standing in the kitchen preparing breakfast for all of them. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked away and contemplated how they were going to explain this to him.

        “You two going to hide behind there all day?” Caster said, from inside the kitchen.

        The unicorn and the Pegasus were startled when they learned they had been caught. With nowhere else to go they went into the kitchen to face the stallion. They walked in to find him chopping vegetables on the counter. The kitchen itself was small compared to the other rooms and was painted a bright yellow. To the left stood the fridge, and the pantry where he kept all his food and to the right was the oven, the stove, and the dishwasher. Caster drew his attention away from the food and looked to the fillies who just stood there, not knowing what to say.

        “Listen Cast,” Scootaloo started. “About what you probably saw in the living room; I just wanted to say-”

        “That you and Sweetie Belle are a couple?” Caster finished. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both felt their jaws drop. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony if you won’t.”

        “Um, thanks Caster,” Sweetie Belle said. “We really don’t want too many ponies knowing about us yet.”

        “Fine by me. Wait, does Applebloom know about you two?” the stallion asked.

        “Actually no. We’re afraid of what she might think us like this,” the orange Pegasus said.

        “Well, I’m pretty sure she’s going to find out eventually; she is a smart filly after all. Plus she’s your friend; she should have the right to know don’t you think?” Caster queried.

        “I guess so,” Scootaloo replied.

        “Well enough about who’s dating who. Why don’t the both of you head on into the living room and I’ll finish up on breakfast. Applebloom should be up soon anyway,” Caster said, as he focused his attention more on the matter at hand.

        Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle went back to the living room where they both took a seat on the couch they were sleeping on earlier. A few minutes later, Applebloom walked out of the guest bedroom and took her place on the couch opposite of them.

        “Mornin’ gals, how’d yall sleep?”Applebloom asked, in a cheerful yet drowsy tone.

        “Good morning AB, uh, we slept well enough. How about you?” Sweetie belle asked back.

        “Good, Ah guess. It was a tad difficult fallin’ asleep with all that rain last night. I hope you two didn’ git bothered by it too much.”

        “Nah, we were just fine last night,” Scootaloo said, sharing a quick glance and a giggle with Sweetie Belle.

        Applebloom didn’t know what was so funny, but thought that it was nothing and moved on.

        “So what’s Cast’r up to right now,” she asked.

        “He’s in the kitchen making some breakfast for all of us,” Sweetie Belle stated.

        “Well ain’t that nice of him. Ya know, we really oughta find a way to say thank you to him fer lettin’ us stay here,” the earth pony suggested.

        The thought had crossed the other crusaders’ minds as well, but they couldn’t think of what to give him as a ‘thank you’ gift. They thought back to the conversation they had with Fluttershy yesterday to see if anything might help. A light bulb seemed to go off in all their heads as they appeared to have reached the same idea. The crusaders tried to keep their smiles hidden as Caster walked in and passed around the meals to everyone.

        When the food had been put away, Caster took all the dishes back into the kitchen and cleaned them up. The blacksmith really did enjoy the time he had spent with the crusaders and he wished they could have a little more time to hang out. Unfortunately, he knew that Fluttershy and her friends would probably be back soon and that meant they had to leave. So for now, he decided to make do with what time they had left. After the dishes had been put into the dishwasher he made his way back to the living room where Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo seemed to have vanished. He was about to call out for them when a camera in a light green aura appeared in front of him.

        “DOGPILE!” three voices shouted out.

        Caster turned around to see the three fillies jumping at him and was unable to react in time. They all piled on top of him as he let out a loud grunt while they all laughed as the camera went off.

===============================================================

        The brown Pegasus looked at the dresser in his room and saw all the photos resting on top of it. He drew his gaze to the one with him and the crusaders together the day he agreed to watch them.

‘Good times,’ Caster thought to himself.