An Island built in the sky

Chapters

Ch. 1: From kid, to colt
Ch. 3: Lookin for work
Ch. 4: Horseshoes and manticores
Ch. 5: Secrets and Surprises
Ch. 6: Bucking Trees
Ch. 7: Forming a plan
Ch. 8: Gathering the party
Ch. 9: The bastion
Ch. 10: Two old friends
Ch. 11: Intimidation and retrieval
Ch. 12: A toast to bad news
Ch. 13: Talented stripes (Zia Side-story)
Ch. 14: Writing letters and misplacing tools
Ch. 15: An entertaining Intruder
Ch. 16: It's good to be back
Ch. 18 [Part 2] The bigger picture
Ch. 19 [Part 3] The bigger picture
Ch. 20 [Part 4] The bigger picture
Ch. 21: To stop a god... [Retconned]
Ch. 2: Distrust
Ch. 17: [Part 1] The bigger picture

Ch. 1: From kid, to colt

Chapter 1

From kid, to colt

By: Brotato

The sky turned pitch-black as night settled over the shattered capital of Caelondia. Life seemed non-existent in this broken world as the earth had ruptured, bringing disaster to the land. Entire forests, grasslands and cities were gone in an instant, leaving behind chunks of earth and pieces of once majestic buildings. The only remnants of people were the hollow husks of ash statues.

The Calamity was merciless. Everyone was thought to be gone after the disaster, but three scattered survivors managed to find one another. Together they brought hope back to the broken land of Caelondia. This hope took the form of an island in the sky and it stood out among the rubble and broken rock dotting the bleak sky-scrape. Rucks called it the Bastion, and was made by the same man. It’s purpose was to be a fallback point for Caelondia’s citizens. Unfortunately, no one saw the disaster coming.

"Welcome to the heart of The Bastion, Kid." An old, white-haired man said in his deep voice. "I'm not one for long goodbyes so here's the deal." He motioned his left hand toward the young woman standing next to him. "Zia and I figure you did the heavy lifting, so you get to do the honors of turning this thing on."

The Kid was the age of a young adult, about twenty-five years old. He wore a simple brown vest and pants with a white undershirt. Over that he wore several scraps of armor and a large red bandanna across is neck. He carried his favorite weapon with him, a large golden hammer hung across his back. Most of his time he spent outdoors, making his skin take on a slight olive complexion. His white hair was kept short and unkempt, just the way he liked it.

Kid stared at the tower, his face covered with curious uncertainty. Glancing at the old man, he chuckled and pointed out the two levers. The Kid strode up to the stone tower and saw the two control panels. One of them labeled in bold print said "Restoration", while the other had a safety catch to make sure it was not accidentally pulled. It got labeled in the same way, "Evacuation."

“Two more things, Kid,” Rucks piped up. He held out his left hand toward a switch on the Bastion. “Restoration will restore Caelondia back to the way it was before the calamity. However... ,“ Kid noticed the gloom on his voice and tensed up. “That includes everyone's memories... even ours. Evacuation, however,” he held out his right hand. “Means we leave Caelondia behind, but we’ll still have each other.” Rucks lets out a small smile, which cheered Kid up a bit.

However, no amount of cheering up could help with his decision. Now he really didn’t know which lever to pull. Did he want to restore his homeland back the way it was, but lose his friends in the process? Or accept the friends he had, but leave his homeland forever? Switching glances toward both levers, he let out a frustrated sigh as he tugged at his white hair. Rucks kneeled down next to Kid and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Now, now, don’t let it get to ya. I don’t expect this to be easy on anyone if they were in your shoes. Just remember that there is no right or wrong answer, Kid. Just listen to what your heart tells ya,” he chuckled. “As Cliché as that must sound.”

Eyeing the tower once again, Kid nodded at Rucks and steeled himself as he walked toward one of the levers. Grabbing it, he glanced back toward Rucks one more time who simply smiled at Kid. Taking a deep breath, he quickly pulled the lever down. A loud rumble came from the tower as it burst to life. Kid flinched back toward Rucks, away from the tower. Suddenly bright green tendrils of light began shooting out the top of the machine. They began grabbing nearby rocks and soil, slowly putting them back together. The tower began rebuilding his homeland. Rucks gazed at the green filled skies.

"It's finished," he said with awe. "Now sit tight Kid, it'll be over soon. No matter what happens next... ya done good." He let out a sigh, "I suppose all that is left is to try to remember this moment. The Bastion is going to take us back to a better time before any of this.” He slowly shook his head, "After all we have been through, our memories will be gone. I always find that hard to swallow." The tendrils of light were starting to close slowly in on Rucks, Zia and the Kid.

Rucks still wore that smile on his face, comforting any soul who saw it, and the Kid was no exception. He closed his eyes and held his head to the sky. "So long Kid. Maybe I will see you in the next one.” Just as he said that, a loud series of cracks followed by a loud bang could be heard coming from the machine. The tendrils of green light began rapidly changing into the colors of the rainbow. Rucks stared at them, saying one last thing as they reached for him.

“Well... that can’t be good.”

A blue Pegasus dove through dozens of clouds hanging over Ponyville, dispersing them to prepare Celestia's sun to shine on the town below. It was still early in the morning and she was silently wishing to be back in bed. She swore she kept hearing her bed trying to get her to sleep, taunting mercilessly.

"Come back to bed! Come back..." Her eyelids were half-open as she gave out a yawn. “Maybe a small...nap...” just when she was about to fall asleep, she shook her head to clear her away the daze. “No!” She yelled to herself. She had a job to do and as the aspect of loyalty and faithful weather Pegasus, it was her responsibility to complete the job given to her. She wasn’t too excited to receive the letter yesterday when Derpy Hooves loudly knocked on her door. The mailmare had a letter delivered to her from the weather team in Cloudsdale, asking her to work tomorrows morning weather plan. The only other Pegasus on morning duty over Ponyville was sick and they desperately needed her.

She reluctantly agreed and sent the letter back, which they responded with a small list of weather changes. Most of them were clear skies and that was considered a day off or a boon, since most pegasi finished such orders quickly. A light flap of her wings or a quick buck got rid of the smaller clouds. The only hard part was a fat pair of clouds floating above the mayor's office, which she solved by cutting the soft clouds with her wings, then bucking the small clouds to oblivion. It took roughly a minute, but a smile of satisfaction crossed her face when she finished.

Admiring her work from above, the idea of heading back to bed crossed her mind yet again. She mentally brushed the thought away as she decided to spend the rest of the morning flying freely around Equestria. “Naps are more satisfying when you’re exhausted,” she reminded herself. She flew near the edge of the everfree forest, knowing to stay clear of it in the past. Suddenly, a deep rumble of what sounded like thunder could be heard from above. Stopping her leisurely flight, she looked up. All she saw were fluffy white clouds and the sun.

"That's strange, I don't see any dark clouds in the sky or remember thunder being a part of today's weather schedule. I need to read the hoof notes more often," she said, berating herself. A figure appeared in the sky that fell through several clouds high in the atmosphere. It was too big for any bird she ever saw. Whatever it was, it was descending rapidly. "What the hay is...” She finally saw as it fell closer, a small brown earth pony. “Ohmygosh!" Rainbow Dash shot like a lightning bolt toward the pony in trouble.

Kid realized he was falling backwards, his face looking up toward the sky. The cold wind blew past him, numbing his ears while tossing his hair and red scarf about wildly. He tried moving his limbs, but to his horror, he was so exhausted he couldn’t even feel his limbs. He managed to at least blink and admire the clear blue sky holding those puffy clouds as he passed through them. It was a beautiful sight and he silently prayed to survive the fall so he could admire it while on the ground.

Boom, the sky shook as he felt it shudder in his very bones. He tried to shift his head, but he was still too tired for his muscles to even twitch. He felt something soft press against his back and his descent started to slow down. He couldn’t see who or what it was helping him. All he could see were the tips of blue wings in his peripheral vision. They flapped wildly at first, then became a steady motion as his descent finally came to a halt.

His body hit the ground with a dull flop. Thankfully he landed on a thick patch of grass and was possibly the most comfortable thing he ever laid on. He was very tired so a pile of needles would’ve seemed like a good place to sleep by now. His exhaustion hit him again and his eyesight started to blur. He was about to go to sleep when a blue face appeared above him, looking at him with a mix of worry and confusion. The strange colored, rainbow maned pony proceeded to wave a hoof in front of his face.

It was obviously trying to say something but all he heard were soft mumbles, like his ears were stuffed full of cotton. After a minute of watching her uselessly try to communicate with him, he gave up and closed his eyes. quickly drifting off to sleep. It was the best he ever had since the Calamity.

The Kid stirred in his sleep, dreaming of fighting a 'scumbag'. Giant, blue, and round creatures in his world covered in cloth, their body nothing but a blue jelly. The fabric they wore always looked close to breaking since they got bigger as they aged. This one he was fighting was a full adult. Though no matter what age, they always gave off the smell of rotten blueberries and barley. This made them easy to notice far before they were in sight.

Somehow, this scumbag managed to sneak up on him. Kid quickly rolled to the left as the enormous creature slid across the broken streets of his hometown in Caelondia.
It left behind a smelly ooze where it once was, but he ignored the horrible smell and tightly gripped his favorite hammer. He charged at the giant scumbag and swung his weapon wide. The weapon bounced off the blue monster with a loud boing, followed by an aggravated grunt.

The scumbag turned its body toward kid, ready to rushed him again. Kid backed up slowly, almost falling off the edge the Calamity caused. He was at a dead-end with a scumbag the size of the street ahead and the edge of the world in back. Steeling himself, he pulled out his shield. The Kid cringed, knowing he would not be able to stop something that large in its tracks.

"Guess this story is at an end," he mumbled grimly. The scumbag rushed toward him, knocking its target and itself clear off the world and into the darkness below.

Kid let out a short yell of terror as he bolted upright. His eyes were dilated, zipping around, ready to fight anything that might be hostile. He finally realized he was not under attack and fell back to the pillow. He waited until his heart stopped racing before he lifted his head back off the pillow to look around. He was sitting up in a bed, the white sheets and pillow were cool and crisp to the touch. Sunlight shone through a small window above him, giving enough light to see the room clearly.

The room was small, maybe enough to fit thirty people inside. It had white everywhere and held a sense of cleanliness. The only thing not white was a nearby poster. It gave a description in pictures on how to give CPR to a pony and he found that slightly odd.

Am I in a veterinary hospital? They must take their pets very seriously here. He massaged the side of his head, trying to calm the slight headache. Thankfully the rest of his body recovered from the massive fatigue that he suffered upon arriving.

Wait a minute...

He brought his hand down in front of his face, expecting to see his five digits wiggling in front of him. Instead he was staring at a tan furred hoof. Curious, he brought his other hoof in front of his face and switched glances between them. He softly brought them together as they made a small clop sound. He proceeded to do this another four times before the door far across the room slowly opened. A white pony with light pink hair entered and quietly closed the door. He noticed the small red cross on the cap she wore, a universal sign for first-aid.

I'm in a hospital for ponies? He finally realized. She pulled out a clipboard that hung from the doorway and scribbled something on it with the pencil in her mouth before putting it back.
He tried to make as little noise as possible, else he might get its attention. From where he was sitting up, he guessed the pony was around three to four feet high. She didn't seem hostile, though he learned that the hard way from a squirt attack. It was another creature in his homeland and they were notoriously adorable, but were known to attack if aggravated.

Might as well introduce myself. He wondered if he would be able to talk since he was now an animal. He was quite surprised when his normal human voice came out.

"Uh... hello?"

The nurse glanced his way before calmly trotting up to the side of his bed. She proceeded to gently take one of his hooves and hold it firmly. He felt slight pressure on his arm and could only guess she was checking his pulse. The seconds ticked by and the pony nodded to herself and put a hoof to his forehead to check for a fever. Satisfied, she stood back with a smile on her face.

"I hope you slept well," She spoke in a soft tone, not disturbing the calm tranquility of the room. "You were unconscious for a long time. I've never seen anypony sleep undisturbed for two days straight. They usually wake up from hunger or have coughing fits for water." She quickly finished the meager check-up and looked at him in the eye. "How are you feeling?"

Kid felt stunned as the pony looking down at him with those unnaturally large, blue eyes. While he was able to talk himself, he was still having trouble understanding why animals could talk.

Was it that large bottle of Cinderbring Stout I drank before turning on the Bastion? He asked himself, wondering if that was all a very weird drunk dream. He decided to play along with the pony. Maybe he could get some answers.

"I'm fine. Still a bit sore, but not painfully so.” The previous mention of hunger pangs and dry throat also brought those symptoms up. “And maybe a little hungry.”

“Well don’t worry, we’ll get you something to eat. Would you like a small bowl of oatmeal? It’s not much, but it will hold off the pangs." Kid’s ears perked up at the mention of food.

"That would be nice. Thank you, Miss...?" He cracked a smile, wincing from his sore muscles.

Surprise crossed the nurse’s face, but she quickly replaced it with a smile. “You can call me Nurse Red Redheart. Sorry if I seem surprised, not many patients thank me for my work. A pony thanking me is like a breath of fresh air. Once I didn’t ge-” Kid’s stomach interrupted her speech with a rumble. It was not amused with all of this talking.

“Oh! sorry. I’ll go get your meal ready.” The mare trotted out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Well they seem nice enough... free food too! I should probably play along until I can figure out where I am. Being turned into a pony and talking with other ponies is just too... weird. Rucks would probably laugh his mustache off if he saw me like this.

Kid let out a small yawn, still dazed from waking up. He decided to take a nap while he waited for the nurse to return, the softness of the bed greatly helping with this great plan. After a couple of minutes, he heard the click of the doorknob turning. Slowly lifting his head off the pillow, he hoped some food finally arrived. Instead of the white mare he was hoping for, a familiar blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane came in. She quietly shut the door behind her and walked up to the end of the bed.

"Hey, how are you doing?" She said slowly.

“Fine, I guess,” Kid responded. “Though I have you to thank for saving my life." He smiled again and it didn't hurt so much that time.

"Yeah it was nothing," she waved her hoof dismissively. Kid noticed she was enjoying the moment, the small smile on her face giving it away. "Though I have to ask... why were you falling from the sky?"

Kid felt a lump in his throat. Would it hurt if he told her the truth? What would he say? "Oh, I just came from another entirely different world. I'm not actually a pony either, but a human. We walk on two legs, have no fur, eat meat, and have animals like you work for us as labor." It would sound like he was either crazy or had an amazing imagination. He went with the safest route and feigned ignorance.

"I... don't know, he said while rubbing the back of his neck. “All I remember is me falling, you catching me, then blacking out." He put on the best straight, poker face he could muster. He was decent at it since he would play cards with Zia and Rucks whenever they took some time to relax. That old man knew how to play though.

“You don’t know?” The Rainbow maned asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, how many times you want me to repeat my answer? I woke up from falling and don’t remember anything before that,” he stated, crossing his hooves defensively.

“Okay, just calm down. Maybe somepony pulled a prank on you or something.”

“Some prank that is. I almost died!”

“Look, you’re not giving me much to work with,” she pointed out. “So just calm down, all right?” Kid rubbed a hoof between his eyes as if he was rubbing away the stress of the situation. He took several deep breaths before he tried talking again.

“You’re right. I’m sorry about my outbursts. Maybe let’s change the subject. What’s your name?” His visitor seemed shocked at his question.

“Wait, you don't know who I am?"

"Should I be excited?" Kid asked simply. She spread her wings as she talked, making herself look bigger.

"I'm the one and only Rainbow Dash! I’m the fastest flier in all Equestria. Nopony is faster than me!" The Pegasus said pompously. She proceeded to do one more heroic pose before folding her wings. Of course, Kid had never heard of her, he just got here. That didn't stop him having fun with the Pegasus.

“Hmm... nope, sorry. Doesn’t ring any bells.” One of her hooves slid across her face as she let out a frustrated sigh.

“Anyway, my turn to ask a question. I saw your cutie mark when I carried you to the clinic. It’s quite an unusual one. If I had to guess, you earned it by fixing something.” Kid gave her a confused look.

“A... cutie mark? What's that?” He asked, looking around the room for it.Rainbow Dash was once again, surprised. She walked up to the side of his bed and pointed at the cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt on her flank.

"This is a cutie mark. It tells you what your special talents are. Mine involves speed, fast and furious!” She flapped her wings and did a quick circle around the room before landing on the other side of the bed. “That's how I was able to catch you while you were falling. I created a sonic rainboom too, even while flying up. It was so awesome!" She smashed her cheeks together while squealing the last set of words.

Unfortunantly, Kid was half paying attention to notice the amount of adorable happening right next to him. He wanted to throw the sheets from him and look at this cutie mark, but held back the urge. Oh this is just great, I’m naked... at least I still have my bandanna around my neck, he thought, while rubbing it with a hoof.

"How could you not know what a cutie mark is? Everypony learns about them in school or their parents. Unless..." She was peering at him with a stare he couldn't figure out what it meant. Distrust? Confusion?

Kid started to silently panic and he spouted off the first thing that came to mind. "Wait, I can expl-"

"You ran away from your home and school. That's why you don't know what cutie marks are!" She interrupted, pointing an accusing hoof at him. Kid brow furrowed in thought as he put together what the Pegasus was saying. He decided to go along with her story and hung his head dejectedly.

"Yeah."

She smiled proudly at finding it out so easily, but it quickly disappeared. "Oh... but, why? Did something, uh... bad happen?"

"Something like that," he told the bedsheet, trying to avoid eye contact. She easily got the clue that he didn't want to talk about it

"Sorry, didn't mean to talk about something sensitive," she said sadly. However, Kid was grinning slyly in his mind, the fun idea of adding to his fake story crossed his mind. "But... let's just say I had my share of fights. It involved my hoof and a pony that won't be bullying anypony for a while." Did I seriously just say ‘anypony’?

Rainbow Dash grinned at what he said. "I can sympathize. I had my rough times in flight school." Her grin faded as her curiosity returned. "So what's your name?"

"My name? Uh... my name... is..." His bed sheets once again became the most interesting thing in the room as he tried frantically to come up with a name on the spot. He didn't even know what his cutie mark looked like. If he had to guess, names and cutie marks matched in some way for each pony. His chance of tricking the Pegasus this time was very slim since he had no idea what his even looked like.

Rainbow Dash was looking at him expectantly when a loud cough came from the door. The nurse had returned with a cart and was glaring at the Pegasus for pestering her patient. Her voice was stern as she shooed the Pegasus away.

"Rainbow, you have to leave. I need to get his meal ready and I’m sure he wants some time without being... interrogated." She had a knowing look on her face and probably sensed the uneasiness Rainbow Dash was causing, forcing her to to play the hero.

Saved by the nurse, Kid silently sighed.

"Oh, all right. Catch you around, kid. Maybe you can tell me your name after you get out of here." Before Rainbow dash left the room, she held out her hoof. Kid looked at it for a second and copied the motion and she smacked it against his.

I guess ponies have their own form of a high-five. High-hoof? Hoof-five? He dropped the thought as the smell of food became number one priority in the room. The nurse quietly shut the door behind Rainbow Dash and brought the small metal cart to the side of his bed. He noticed a small silver folding tray with a bowl and glass of orange juice on it.

"Here you go, Hun." She placed the tray on his lap, the legs unfolded to not tip over easily. He opened the top to find a small bowl of oatmeal, sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. It was steaming hot, but Kid didn’t care. Thanking the nurse quickly, he took little time shoving the food into his mouth. He didn't know how to use a spoon with his hooves, so he proceeded to eat straight out of the bowl. Talking ponies that use silverware? This place truly is odd.

Ignoring the searing pain in his stomach and the look of horror on the nurse’s face, he finished devouring the helpless bowl of oats. Looking at the glass of juice for a moment, he grabbed the lip with his teeth and swung his head back, chugging it down. After placing down the now empty glass, he let out a tiny burp. He looked up at the nurse who was still recovering from the display she just saw.

“Oh, uh... sorry you had to see that. Guess I was hungrier than I thought.” Redheart snapped out of her daze after hearing his apology.

“Its alright, Hun. You haven’t eaten for two whole days anyway.” She grabbed a paper towel from the counter and handed it to him. He started to rubbed his face down to get rid of the pieces of oats clinging to his fur. “You sure know how to make a mess, though.” She stood to the side of his bed, with a clipboard out. “So before we get you out of here, we need to know who you are. We tried finding a file on you, but for some reason we couldn’t find one. Like you don’t even exist.” She chuckled at the thought. “Anyway, how about we start with family history. What are your parent’s names?” Kid looked down at the bed sheets somberly.

“I... well...” He paused for a long time. Memories about family were never easy for him to bring up. He always buried it as far as he could, underneath work or fighting monsters in the wilds outside his hometown. He clopped his hooves together, all these questions about his past wasn’t helping his nervousness. He looked at the nurse for a moment and felt he could trust her. The story might sound a bit odd, but hopefully he would be able to explain it as he went. “My mother disappeared a long time ago while I was working.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean ‘disappeared’?” Redheart looked up from her clipboard, her brow in a furrow.

“I wish I knew. One day after I returned from work, she, along with all the money I would send was gone. My mother was very sick and I feared she had deceased, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. Before you ask about my father, I never even met him. He left before i was born. You can imagine it was a very rough life.” Kid felt cold even under the warm blankets, the memories of his past always brought up this chill in his spine. Redheart stared at him, a disturbed look on her face.

“T-that’s horrible!”

“It’s all right,” Kid resonded calmly. “I know my mother loved me, even if I was made fun of by my strange ha‒mane color. That’s all that mattered. Can’t say the same for my father, though.” Read Heart skribbled down several things on her clipboard, but mostly looked at him with concern in her eyes. After asking several more questions and giving back vague answers, she seemed content.

“A-all done,” she said, as if sad it was over. “Just stay here and I’ll have you checked out soon.” As she shut the door, he sat there, thinking over what he said about his parents. It was a rather sad tale to tell.

I really need to stop thinking about the past. It just leads to dark thoughts and sadness. His mental reflex kicked in and started to control his emotions before they got out of control. He would do this regularly whenever his mind wandered about family and loved one’s. He didn’t have the luxury to think of the past post-Calamity. You never knew when an Anklegator could come out of the ground and gobble you up if you didn’t pay attention.

To help ease the bottling of his emotions, he decided to take a peek at this thing called a Cutie Mark. He pushed off the bed sheet and stared at his flank. It was a simple metal cog. However, in front of the cog was his favorite two-handed weapon, the Cael Hammer. Solid gold with It’s long hilt wrapped with white cloth for easier gripping. Along the ‘business end’ for the hammer, a red cloth was wrapped around it. Huh, how ironic. While I’m up, might as well take a look at the rest of me.

Climbing out of bed, he struggled a bit to get used to standing on four legs. After wobbling for a moment, he slowly made his way to a nearby full-body mirror set in the wall. Sure enough he was staring at a light-tan pony with giant brown eyes. His noticeably dirty, white mane was cut short and unkempt, just the way he liked it.

While Kid wasn’t sure if he would be considered “good looking” by other ponies, he did enjoy the similarities of him as a human. Though he was a bit creeped out when he stared into his huge eyes. His curiosity sated, he walked back toward the bed. He was starting to get used to the feeling of walking as a pony. It reminded him of when a baby crawls, except he wasn’t on his knee’s, but on his feet. Settling down in the bed and with nothing else to do until Redheart came back, he drifted off to sleep.

Ch. 3: Lookin for work

Chapter 3

Lookin for work

Kid, Rucks, and Zia were back at the Bastion enjoying some drinks at the distillery. Chugging down a half-bottle of Stabsinthe, Kid made sure not to swallow the fine needles in the drink. It was an odd yet refreshing beverage made from ground needles of the Stabweed plant, which were quite dangerous in his land. they were known to turn anyone who stepped too close into a human pincushion.

Turning on his stool, he spat one of the needles at a dartboard located to his right, hitting a bullseye. Grinning to himself, he tossed the empty bottle down a hole located at a corner of the room to fill his hand with another bottle.

“Twilight, I think he’s dead,” Rucks stated flatly, his forehead pressed against the counter top, most likely from a headache.

Zia glared at the old man, waving a hand in the air. Strangely neither of their speech was slurred. “Don’t be silly, Spike. I’m sure it’s just how he normally sleeps,” she assured him. Hammer felt a pressure on his right leg and it twitched, hitting the bar with a thud. “See, perfectly alive.”

Kid’s vision started to blur and turn pinkish-red as he started to wake up from his dream. He gave off a disappointed moan as his addled mind reminded him he was a pony and not in a bar with his friends. Opening his eyes halfway, he looked to his left and right. Spike and Twilight were looking at him as he slept on his back. He silently thanked the blanket was still on him, covering his lower body, as he shifted to lay on his side.

“Nnngh,” Hammer managed to say as he rubbed his eyes. He looked outside and saw it was barely daylight. “What time is it?”

“Five in the morning,” Twilight stated. “Breakfast is ready when you feel ready to get up.”

Hammer heaved himself off the floor and stumbled his way toward a nearby chair, causing it to squeak as he sat. His eyesight was still blurry, but he could make out a circle on his plate with a glass of something orange next to it. As if Twilight could read his mind, he told him what it was.

”Spike made some hay pancakes for the both of us this morning. Hope you like them,” she said with a small smile.

“Twilight, when you don’t eat for almost an entire day, I’m sure grass would even look tempting to eat.” Her ears perked up upon hearing this as she sat down across from him.

“Well, grass is a possible choice for a pony's diet,” she pointed out happily. Hammer nodded his head to act like he was listening, too busy starting at the plate of food in front of him. It was a decent meal. Three pale-yellow pancakes with bits of hay poking out sat on the plate. They were still warm and the smell reminded him of the farmlands in Caelondia. Although he never visited them that often, the smell would usually waft into town from the strong air currents above the city.

“I understand the term ‘eating with your eyes’,” Twilight said. “but you should eat before they get cold.” Hammer snapped out of his thoughts of home and nodded, eagerly snapping up one of the pancakes in one bite.

“Thiff if rerrly gwwd!” He managed to say while chewing, his cheeks puffed out a bit. Twilight rolled her eyes while smiling at the compliment given to spike, who had a big grin on his face.

“Sometimes I wish I could cook like you spike,” Twilight said with a sigh. “but it doesn’t come out like the picture in the book, I don’t know how you do it." She rubbed a hoof on Spike’s noggin lovingly. He tolerated it for a second before ducking his head as a way to tell her to stop it. “Anyway, would now be a good time to... talk?”

Hammer had stuffed another pancake in his mouth and was chewing vigorously. Holding up a hoof as a sign to wait.

“Sure, why not,” Hammer said, shifting in his seat to find a better comfortable sitting position. “I’m sure you already know my name and a part of my past, but did spike tell you what I told him after he blackmailed me?” Raising an eyebrow, he switched his gaze toward Spike.

“What?” She stood up slightly in her chair, glaring at Spike who was rubbing the scales on the back of his neck nervously. “Why would you do that?”

“I was just having some fun teasing him,” Spike explained. “How was I supposed to know you both already met?”

They both bicker like brother and sister, Hammer mused. I wonder how they both met, I doubt they’re from the same parents. “Okay, please calm down. It’s all water under the bridge now. To be honest, I just want to get this over with.” Twilight nodded in agreement and sat back down, calming down after her bout of anger.

“Thank you. Now, I’ll start at the beginning and do my best to keep it short.” Hammer looked at the last pancakes on the plate, his stomach already full from just the two he already ate. Maybe after the storytelling.

“First off, I'm not a pony. I’m actually a... species known as human. I can’t give all the details, so just picture a mostly hairless ape standing straight and clothed.” He let them think about the images for a moment before continuing.

“It all started when I awoke after a terrible disaster known as the Calamity. To help you picture this, imagine if you woke up tomorrow and you open your front door, only to find islands of land floating in the sky around your home.” The horrified expressions on their faces only made this story harder to tell. “To make matters worse, my own people cause this disaster.”

“Why would your own people do that?” Twilight inquired, causing a heavy sigh to escape Hammers mouth.

“Caelondia, the land I was born, was at war with another nation of people known as the Ura for fifty years. The Calamity was a Mancer project in case of another conflict with the Ura as a solution to get rid of them for good. It was said it would send their city to the stars.” Twilight asked what a Mancer is, throwing out a guess that it was another nation.

“No, but they had enough followers to have their own country. We had different ‘castes’ so to speak. The mancers were the engineers and thinkers of my people. Then there was our Breakers, and huntsmen, and they were known for their amazing sharpshooters and survival out in the wilds. Then last, but not least, the Masons. They were the builders and workers of my city. Usually stuck with the menial tasks that required lots of physical labor.

“Which one were you in?” Twilight asked again. Hammer took this moment to show his cutie mark, even if it felt odd waving his flank at her.

“The metal cog represents the Masons and I was proud to be one of them for ten whole years.”

“And what about the Hammer?”

“It was my favorite weapon before I turned into a pony. It’s called the Cael Hammer, and it was used to create the Rippling walls.” Twilight tried pressing on the subject about the walls, but he requested to just continue with his story.

He instead told about the Bastion and how he met his friends Rucks, Zia, and Zulf. Zulf betrayed them and almost destroyed the bastion, later convincing Zia to follow him. He explained as much as he could about how the bastion worked and how he managed to save it by gathering core shards.

He told that, after the Bastion had been repaired, he set off to find Zulf. He had escaped back to his people, the Ura people. They lived in a place called the Tazal Terminals far to the south, covered in snow and ice. He fought through the Ura to reach Zulf, His heart full of hate. To his surprise, he only found Zulf unconscious in the snow, beaten near death by his own people. They had blamed Zulf for leading him to their home, and he left him there to freeze.

At last he told them about the choice to rebuild his broken land using the Bastion. The cores he retrieved had the power to do so, and all he had to do was pull a lever.

Finished with his story, Hammer sat with his head hung, looking at the floor. He lifted his head when Twilight spoke slowly.

“Do you... regret leaving Zulf behind in the snow?” She asked, her head turned slightly in curiosity. Her face held concern for having him relive the past again. He shook his head in response.

“He betrayed the trust we had. He deserved to be left there,” Hammer said, anger tinged in his voice. Twilight noticed it and decided it would be best to stop asking questions for now, else make him angry.

“Thank you for listening to my tale... both of you. I don’t think I would be able to tell it again for a long time.” Hammer looked outside and saw it was much brighter and several ponies could be seen walking by the windows of her home. He hopped off the chair and stretched his limbs after being in the sitting position for so long.

“Since our little bargain is done with, might I ask where I can find a job? I search everywhere yesterday, but no luck at all.”

“I doubt you checked everywhere,” Twilight said after a short chuckle. “I’m sure there’s somepony who needs assistance with something.”

“You would think that, but the way they looked at me seemed too... condescending.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at the statement as she rubbed a hoof to her chin thoughtfully.

“That’s odd, they only act that way unless... “ Her eyes brightened as realization came to her. “You didn’t happen to run into a pink pony with a puffy pink mane did you?”

“No... should I have?” Hammer asked, furrowing his brow, wondering where she’s going with this. Twilight rubbed a hoof to her forehead, trying to pick words carefully.

“Well, Ponyville can be very... oh, how do I put this lightly... “

“Xenophobic?” Hammer guessed, getting a confused look from Twilight. “I heard if from a Mancer who didn't enjoy the Ura being in our city. It means to have an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers,” he explained. “That would explain why they didn’t seem to trust me.” He looked down at himself for a moment. Do I look that strange? I shouldn’t be any different from any other pony.

“Right... Xenophobic,” Twilight said the foreign word slowly. “If you haven’t met Pinkie Pie yet, that would explain everything. Whenever somepony new comes into Ponyville, she throws a giant party for them so the entire town gets to know them.” She beamed at discovering the reason for her guests distress. However, Hammer wasn’t enjoying the thought of an entire town asking him questions. He mentioned his concern to Twilight.

“Maybe we can convince them he’s a mute,” Spike suggested seriously, but received a unamused stare from both Twilight and Hammer anyway. “What?” He asked innocently.

Hammer reminded him that he already talked to most of town so it would be useless to pull that stunt.

“Oh, well I’m out of ideas then.”

The front door creaked open, catching the attention of all three of them. Walking through the door, a white unicorn with a curly violet mane trotted in carrying two saddlebags around her torso.

“Good morning, Twilight. I just came by to... return... “ Her eyes widened upon seeing Hammer who was staring back at her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a guest. I’ll come back later, yes?” She turned around to leave.

“No, no, it’s all right, Rarity. What did you have to return?” She stood in front of Rarity as she pulled out several books in her saddlebags with magic. Twilight grabbed the books with her own magic and placed them on the table. “You already finished them? I thought you were busy with a large dress order?” Rarity frowned at being reminded or something as her lips pouted.

“Well, the pony who ordered it canceled after finding out his party was ruined by a family member. I gave him my sympathies and he generously let me keep the bits as future payment for any future orders. The problem now is I have all this fabric in my store, collecting dust.”

Dust? This pony is seriously afraid of dust? Hammer noticed how the white unicorn seemed to keep herself proper and clean. With a coat like that, the smallest stain would show up as obvious as a loose scumbag wandering Caelondia’s streets. Hm... it may not be the most exciting job, but it’s a job nonetheless. He approached the two mares from the side, catching their attention immediately. Twilight spoke up first.

“Oh, I’m sorry Hammer. This is my friend, Rarity. She’s a well known seamstress here in Ponyville.”

“Pleased to meet you, Rarity.”

“The pleasure is all mine. It’s always nice to meet new ponies,” Rarity said happily. She seemed to be looking down at his neck though. “I find your choice of clothing interesting. What is that around your neck?” She pointed toward the red scarf on his person. Hammer lifted the scarf to his face and looked at it.

“Oh, this is a bandanna. Its been with me as far as I can remember, although I use it more for function than fashion.” Rarity gasped at the last comment and put a hoof to her chest as if she was struck.

“I’m sorry to hear that because I do find it rather dashing on you,” Rarity complemented with a smile. “Although... “ she started, coughing nervously, “not to be rude, dear, but when was the last time you had a bath?”

Hammer was about to say I have no idea, but stopped himself. Twilight didn’t seem to mind me. Maybe she’s just trying to be nice about it and not bring it up? He agreed with the thought and looked at Twilight to confirm. Sure enough, she seemed to be avoiding eye contact after Rarity’s question.

“I suppose I could use a bath, but before I go, do you need help with the dust problem? To be blunt, I really need bits and I’m trying to find a job.” Rarity giggled at his serious question.

“Of course, even if I don’t really need the help It would be nice to have a visitor. Maybe you can tell me more about yourself over tea,’ she said in excitement.

“Y-yeah... over... tea,” Hammer said, grinning nervously.

I could get used to this place, Hammer thought to himself while in the bathtub. He quickly berated himself for thinking that. No! Focus on getting back home. You need to find a way back to Caelondia... even if it’s mostly gone... He sighed and slipped further down into the water to clear his thoughts. The water had a faint smell of lavender after squirting a small amount of the liquid into the tub.

There was a luffa hanging on a hook to his right, but he wasn’t sure how to grab it with a hoof. He decided just soaking in the tub was good enough and started to drift off, thinking about what Rucks and Zia were up to while he was gone.

After several minutes the water cool down so he unplugged the tub and climbed out. He felt like he gained several pounds from all the water soaked into his coat and felt an itch to shake himself like a dog. While it felt like a good idea, he guessed Twilight wouldn’t appreciate water splashed all over her bathroom. Grabbing a yellow towel off a nearby rack, he clumsily rubbed himself down, doing his best to dry off.

Satisfied that he was dry enough, he did his best to fold the wet towel and hung it on the side of the tub. He opened the door to find Twilight’s nose deep inside a book, while spike was back to organizing the small pile of books Rarity had left behind. Twilight looked up and focused on his mane.

“Maybe you should use a brush?” She suggested. Hammer looked up with his eyes like he was trying to examine his mane.

“What’s wrong with it? Not into the whole windblown look?”

“I don’t have a problem with it, but it would probably be to your benefit to make yourself more presentable. Rarity is known for... ‘playing dress-up’ so to speak. It’s for your own safety, I assure you.” She put a small bookmark to save her spot and trotted upstairs. She returned with a small purple brush floating beside her and proceeded to approach him. “I’m just going to brush your hair to the side. Nothing fancy of course.”

“All right,” Hammer said apprehensively. The brush got stuck in his mane several times due to all the knots and damp hair, but after several minutes it started to smooth out. Twilight wasn’t very gentle when it came to brushing because he felt like half of his mane was gone from tugging too hard and pulling out hairs.

“There, all done,” Twilight exclaimed happily. She floated a mirror over with her magic and placed it in front of him. “Well? What do you think?” He looked at his reflection and kept himself from frowning.

I look like I’m ready for my first day of school.

“I, uh, like it. Thanks Twilight.” She either didn’t notice his discomfort or ignored it, either way he hoped to ruffle his mane back to the way it was soon. “I better get going. Thanks again for everything.”

He thought for a moment, not sure if this was a good idea, but mentally shrugged. What’s the worse that can happen? He approached Twilight and gave drew her into a quick hug. She was surprised at first, but quickly returned the simple thank you. Unfortunately, somepony else was having other ideas.

“Hey Twi, I heard there was a new pony in town and just wanted to... whoa Nelly.” Twilight shoved Hammer away and grinned like nothing happened.

“Wah!” Hammer yelled, sliding across the room and into a chair.

“W-what?” Twilight stuttered nervously. “It was just a friendly hug, that’s all.” The orange cowpony stopped in front of Twilight with a sly grin on her face.

“And one thing leads to another, soon you’re gonna find yourself with ah coltfriend,” she teased. She glanced toward Hammer who was busy admiring the floor with his face pressed against it. She held out a hoof, which he accepted, and pulled him up. “Howdy, ahm Applejack,” she greeted, expecting a response.

“Hammer Whirl,” he said, rubbing a tender spot on his head. “Mind keeping me conscious, Twilight? At least before I finish Rarity’s job?” Twilight had her hooves over her mouth in shock after figuring out the dull thud was from Hammer’s noggin connecting with the chair.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to!” Said hastily exclaimed.

“It’s all right. Rucks always said I had a thick skull,” he bragged with a laugh. He turned his attention back to Applejack. “Was there something you needed?”

“Ah just came on over after running into Rarity. She told me about you and I thought I should come to visit. Rarity mentioned you were looking for work so... “ she stated, letting the sentence float in the air.

“Whatever it is, I’ll gladly help," Hammer said, snatching up the job that Applejack subtly gave. "After helping Rarity of course,” he finished confidently. However his mind was racing over several subjects.

Gods, what am I getting myself into? I need to pay off these darned bills and get out of here. I Wonder if I can just not pay and leave Ponyville. He let the thought bounce around in his mind for a bit. No, don’t be stupid. You can do this! Last place you need to be is a prison... or would it be a stable? Heh, pony joke. He broke out of his reverie when Applejack yelled out in response.

“Fantastic! It’s just a little help around the farm is all. Mah brother had to visit family in Manehatten so I’m looking for any help I can get.” She looked at Twilight who had a knowing look in her eye. “Don’t give me that look, Twi. I learned mah lesson last time and I’m not doing it again. I may be stubborn, but ah ain’t foolish.”

“I know Applejack, and I’m glad you saw reason to get help,” Twilight comforted. She turned her head at Hammer. “You better get going. Rarity doesn’t like ponies who aren’t punctual.”

“Right...” Hammer brushed himself off and ran out the door of the library.

Little did he know a hay bail with glasses was watching him as he made his way toward Rarity’s boutique.

Ch. 4: Horseshoes and manticores

Chapter 4

Horseshoes and manticores

“Carousel Boutique,” Hammer quietly said while looking at the building that resembled a carousel. Earlier a pony named Rarity had given him his very first job in this town. While he wasn’t too excited about the job of dusting, it was better than nothing. He was always a hard worker and never left a job half done. In fact, work always helped him relax and focus on a task. It was better than doing nothing and thinking about his past .Of course working those ten years on the Rippling Walls gave him a physically fit body. Slamming giant slabs of stone work in place with a hammer does that to a kid.

Just focus on the job and you’ll pay off that medical bill in no time, he reminded himself.

Knocking on the door three times, he heard someone on the other side say the door was open. A small bell above him rang as the door swung in, announcing visitors. Hammer shut the door behind him and looked around the room. Just like what Rarity said earlier, a pile of different patterned cloth bolts were on a table to his right. Several articles of clothing covered the array of pony mannequins around the room. Most of them tuxedos and frilly dresses, probably from the pony who had his large order canceled.

“Ah, hello again Hammer,” Rarity greeted with a small smile while walking up to him. “I must apologies for the little mess. While I believe in organized chaos, this is getting out of hoof.” She levitated one of the bolts of cloth and showed it to Hammer. “But enough of my rambling. I just need you to unroll each one and I’ll take care of the horrible dust on them, all right?”

Hammer responded with a nod and watched Rarity set the bolt on the ground. Grabbing an end, he lightly pulled to undo the entire bolt across the shop’s floor. He stopped several feet from the wall behind him as the bolt finally unraveled, its entire length sooty with a thin layer of dust. He was about to ask how the cleaning process would go when the cloth began to glow Rarity lifted the dust off the cloth, floating it in the air. She bundled it into a ball and placed it inside a paper bag.

While Hammer rolled the bolt back together, Rarity took out another and they repeated the process until all of them were free of dust. The process took about an hour and when they finished, Rarity repeated her invitation earlier for some tea. He hesitated for a moment about declining the offer since he had to visit Applejack’s for her job, but his throat was a bit dusty.

“Sure, I’ll take a glass. Do you mind putting some ice in mine?”

“Of course, dear. I’ll go get it ready.”

With not much else to do, Hammer inspected several of the mannequins with clothes on them. The array of different colors and patterns reminded him of the clothing Zia and Zulf used to wear. They were always garbed in their colorful, heavy winter coats like they were going to freeze to death, even during warm weather. He never did pay attention to Caelondia’s fashion trends and stuck with simple, earthy colored clothing. His bandanna was an exception as it was a gift from his mother before she was sick.

A high-pitched whistle came from the kitchen, signaling him that the tea was ready. Hammer joined Rarity in the kitchen and sat down at the table inside, watching her prepare the drinks. He had a fascination over how magic worked in this world. He watched her horn glow and levitate all the items around her, pouring the tea into a small ceramic cup. She took some ice out of the icebox to create his drink, pouring the hot tea over the ice, melting half of the cubes before cooling down.

“Here you go, dear,” Rarity said, placing the glass of iced tea in front of him. It smelled faintly of lemons, which was odd considering he didn’t see her add anything to his drink. He brought up the smell with Rarity who let out a smile. “It’s lemon grass tea. It’s not my favorite, but I haven’t used it in a while. Please, try it. If you don’t like it I’m sure I can brew something else.”

Hammer looked at the glass, wondering how to get a drink. Stupid hooves. Why couldn’t I come here without being a pony? He glared at the glass of iced tea. I could just do what I did with the orange juice while in the clinic and used my teeth, but I doubt Rarity would agree with doing that.

He remembered several ponies pick up items with their hooves, maybe he could do it too. Placing a hoof against the glass, he focused on imagining that he still had his hands. It was a very odd experience, but sure enough he felt the glass as he ‘gripped’ it with his ‘hand’.

The tea was slightly bitter as expected, with a slight hint of lemon. It could use some sugar, but the thought of trying to grip something smaller than the glass turned that idea down. Sitting back in his chair, he enjoyed the small moment to relax.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Hammer,” Rarity began after setting her teacup down. “Do you wear metal shoes everywhere you go?

Hammer looked at Rarity like she grew a second horn. “What? I’m not wearing shoes.”

“Don’t be silly and lie about something like that, Hammer,” she chided. “The sound alone when you stepped on my tiled floor easily gave it away.” She levitated the cup for another sip, but stopped near her chin. “If you’re scared that they’re gaudy, I assure you they’re very stylish. Now lift your hoof so I can see them.”

“All right, but I’m telling you I don’t wear shoes.” Hammer did as he was told and lifted one of his front hooves to her. She shook her head and pointed lower, causing him to look at his back hooves. His own curiosity started to grow, so he got up from the chair and lifted his left back hoof for Rarity to see. The gasp that came from the mare behind him didn’t help stem his curiosity.

“I-Is that... solid gold?” She asked in awe.

Rarity must’ve sensed his curiosity as she levitated a mirror at the right angle for him to see. On his back hoof was a horseshoe the same yellow-gold color as his Cael-Hammer. He asked for her to angle the mirror for his other hoof and sure enough another shoe was on his other hoof.

Well at least I know where my hammer went, he grumbled. It turned into footwear. Or would it be hoofwear?

“Yes it is,” Hammer replied. “I got them from‒“ His explanation was cut short as the door burst open with a small white filly running up to Rarity, throwing her hooves around her.

“Rarity!”

“Sweetie Belle, what’s wrong? Did somepony get hurt?”

“No, but they’re about to be. Cheerilee decided today to have a field trip to Fluttershy’s house. Everything was fine until these Manticores came from the forest. I managed to get away, but Fluttershy, cheeralee and my class are still stuck in the cottage!”

“What’s a manticore?” Hammer asked.

Rarity looked at him like he was joking, but told him anyway. “They’re like giant cats with tails of a scorpion. They stand about twice the height of yourself and three times the length. They’re the most vicious, commonly seen beasts I know.” She nuzzled Sweetie Belle who started to cry.

So this place also has its dangerous predators, Hammer mused. This might be my chance to earn some trust in this town.

Hammer looked at the white filly hugging Rarity. “How many of them did you see, Sweetie Belle?”

Rarity looked at him in worry. “Hammer you really don’t plan‒”

“How many?” Hammer repeated.

Sweetie Belle rubbed her face to get rid of the tears. “Three I think. I was too busy running to count them all.”

Hm, I’ve dealt with bigger numbers, but I’ve never faced a manticore before. Best to not get cocky if Rarity says they’re that big.

“Rarity, where is Fluttershy’s Cottage?”

“At least wait until I can gather the others,” Rarity pleaded.

“You can go get the others, but they need help now. Please.” He stared into Rarity’s eyes, looking for an answer. It came out as a hesitant nod.

“The Everfree Forest is that way, to the west,” she pointed with a hoof. “Just follow the road until you come across a smaller path. It’ll lead you straight to her cottage. Please be careful.”

Hammer only nodded as he ran out the still open door and took a sharp right. Following Rarity’s directions, he followed the road toward Fluttershy’s cottage.

I only hope I can get there before it’s too late...

Hammer stopped in front of a small bridge. Ahead of him, on a small hill, was Fluttershy’s home. Cautiously walking toward the cottage, he noticed the gashes in the door and trampled flowers around the house. The ground also had large paw prints circling the home. He put a hoof inside one of them and almost blanched.

What are you getting myself into this time, kid?

The monsters seemed to have left, so he decided to let the others inside know. Knocking on the door, the small sound of scuffling came on the other side.

“Hello? Is anyone home? The manticore’s are gone now so you can come out.” Not getting a response, he checked the backyard. There were signs of animals being sheltered here, but they were missing. The paw prints continued to dot the ground, some tearing apart the dirt and grass. He noticed a back door and tested it.

“Locked,” Hammer grunted. “Look, it’s safe to come out. I’m pretty sure‒” Rapid thudding of something running came from behind. On reflex, he dove to the side as a large creature pounced the spot he jumped away from. Getting up from the ground, he looked at the creature.

It was indeed like what Rarity described. Though the only thing she missed was the small wings it had which didn’t look fit for flying. He glared at the creature and took a wide stance, ready to dodge another attack.

“Go back wherever you came from, monster!” He yelled.

The manticore took his yelling as a challenge of some sort and roared back. Crouching low to the ground, it waved its tail to distract him. He already heard how fast the creature moved when it pounced, he would have to keep an eye on its legs to know when to dodge. Kid stood still, waiting for the creature to make its move. After doing a full circle around him, it attacked.

He jumped to the right, just as the manticore sunk its claws into the dirt. Hammer turned to strike, but barely managed to dodge out-of-the-way again as the manticore continued its attack. Roaring in frustration, it did a wide swing with its tail. Hammer continued trying to dodge every attack thrown at him. He couldn’t dodge all of them and received several scratches and nicks and his bandanna was slightly ripped from a close swipe to his face. A slight warmth came from his left side and could only guess he was bleeding, but couldn’t look to find out.

He couldn't get a buck in. Every time he readied to attack, he had to quickly dodge from being mauled by its huge paw. He had to think of something fast as exhaustion was slowly starting to seep into him and the manticore barely seemed winded.

An idea came to mind. He ran toward the nearest tree and proceeded to throw several, what he believed to be, inappropriate gestures the manticore’s way. It appeared to have worked as the beast roared loudly, swiping with its full weight. He ducked as the tree got literally cut in half horizontally and fell forward toward the manticore. Seeing his opportunity to attack, he jumped on the tree after it fell and leaped at the manticore. Using his downward momentum to add extra weight into the attack, he bucked the beast between the small wings. He was rewarded with a loud, sickening crack and a large indent in the beast’s back.

The creature howled in pain and flailing its tail in a mix of revenge and agony. It managed to smack Hammer across the chest, sending him flying over the fallen tree. Struggling to get up and continue fighting, he noticed the manticore was long gone.

Glad only one stayed behind, don’t think I could fight another one right now. Wish I had my armor though. that would’ve gone so much better.

Nevertheless, he was victorious. However the feeling dissipated quickly as the effects of adrenaline started to fade away. He slumped against the fallen tree and took deep breaths to calm himself down. Lightly touching his left side, he let out a loud yelp. Looking at his hoof, the bleeding was worse than he thought. If he didn't get aid soon he would probably die. He wiped the blood on his hoof into the grass and looked back at the cottage.

The door was open as two mares stared at him. Behind them, the students looked at him with a mix of fear and awe. The yellow mare with pink mane stared at him with an expression of sheer terror.

“Oh dear. We need to get you to the hospital... if you don’t mind.”

Hammer stumbled forward and agreed with her plan with a nod. He didn’t get far as the edges of his vision started to darken and the ground greeted him. The last thing he heard was the yellow pegasus repeatedly say the same short sentence.

“Oh dear.”

Ch. 5: Secrets and Surprises

Chapter 5

Secrets and surprises

A steady beep entered Hammer’s ears as he cracked his eyes open. Slowly getting up from the soft, warm bed, he noticed the familiar white room of the clinic. A heart-rate monitor sat to his left kept beeping. His eye caught something colorful to his right and found a small pile of gifts on a cart beside him. He cringed as everything that happened before falling unconscious flooded his mind.

Why do I have to be so stupid sometimes?

Looking at the presents again, he picked the one on top. It was covered in diamond patterned wrapping and had a card with elegant writing with ‘From Rarity, to Hammer’ on it. Shaking it slightly and not hearing anything break, he ripped open the wrapping and opened the small white box. His eyes widened at what was inside.

His red bandanna was folded in a neat triangle inside. Lifting it out, the cloth felt smooth like silk, not rough like linen or wool. Rubbing his hooves over it several times, he placed it back in the box and set it aside to open the other presents.

One of them was from Twilight, which he wasn’t very surprised to find it as a book. The title was called ‘Wild Dangers’ and had a list of dangerous creatures known by the author. The rest of the presents were from ponies he never heard of, but accepted their gifts nonetheless. Most of them were cheap, but thoughtful trinkets like a snow globe he just unpackaged. The last present was from another pony he never heard of. On the card it said ‘From Pinkie Pie to Kid’.

He didn’t remember telling anyone else his story, only Twilight knows that. Could it be possible she spilled the beans and told someone else? Hoping the present inside would explain everything, he ripped apart the balloon wrapping and opened the pink box inside.

“SURPRISE!” Confetti flew everywhere as a pink pony with a pink poofy mane jumped halfway out of the box, the same way a jack-in-the-box would.

“Gyah!” Hammer yelled in response, tossing the present across the room. The pony yelled out in excitement as it smacked against the far wall and slid to the floor. He held his chest to calm his thumping heart, which felt like it was about to burst from his chest. The pony climbed out of the small box which she impossibly hid in with a wide grin on her face as she bounced around the room.

“Whee! that was fun.”

“W-who are you? What do you want?” Hammer sputtered. The pink pony stopped her bouncing and laid her front hooves on the end of his bed.

“I’m Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for... ” She looked around the room in confusion. “Hang on a second, this isn’t Sugarcube Corner. Where’s the party?” She gasped in realizing something she said. “Oops, this is the wrong paragraph to show up in. Uh, see you later!” She zipped out the door, creating a pink streak in the air as she left. Somepony outside the door yelled out in surprise upon the door flying open and seeing Pinkie Pie leave.

“Hey, Twilight,” Hammer greeted the pony in the doorway. Twilight trotted up to the side of his bed where the presents were. She had a look of worry in her eyes, but was smiling.

“It’s good to see you are alive. Wouldn’t want all these present to go to waste,” she joked. Spotting the book she picked out, her smile brightened. “I see you opened my present. I thought you might like to read about the creatures in this world, considering you risked your life dealing with that manticore.” Her smile disappeared and she started glaring at him. “Which brings me to my next question. What were you thinking? You could’ve died!”

“Exactly. I could’ve died, but I didn’t,” he received an eyeroll for his logic. “I should give my thanks to the yellow pony who brought me here. She did take me here, correct?” Twilight sighed for him ignoring her warning of death and nodded.

“Yes, Fluttershy helped you get back to this clinic. While she was able to stop the bleeding, she couldn’t take care of the wound entirely. To be honest, I’m amazed she didn’t faint from all the, uh... blood.” Twilight cringed at the word, like it would get her in trouble. “You’ve been out for almost a week. Nurse Redheart said you might be stuck in bed for another week depending on how well the wound mends.

Another week? No! I can’t deal with just sitting around doing nothing. There has to be some way to speed this healing.

“Can’t you just, you know, use magic to heal me?” Hammer asked, hoping for an idea. He frowned when Twilight shook her head.

“I know healing magic is out there, but I never studied it. I would if I could squeeze it into my schedule. Having to do friendship reports, have my daily dose of reading, and save the world doesn’t leave much room, you know?

No... I don’t know. Hammer wanted to say, but settled with a, “I guess so.” The room was silent as neither of them knew what to talk about next. Twilight looked at the array of torn gift wrapping.

“Do you plan on telling them the truth?” Twilight looked at him expectantly. “I know you’re not telling us because it might change our opinion of you, but you didn’t see me change.” Twilight pointed out. “Please, just give them a chance.” Hammer looked at her impassively as he thought about the request.

Ugh, she has a good point. I only lied out of instinct, but now this whole thing seems foolish. Her friends have been the nicest creatures I’ve met, and yet I don’t fully trust them. Why should I be scared to share something like this from them?

“You’re right Twilight. I shouldn’t hide it from them anymore. I’ll gladly tell them after I get out of here.” He guessed Twilight wasn’t a good liar as she uneasily shifted her gaze as if looking for a way out of the room. “You didn’t...”

“I maybe, sorta, kinda, possibly, asked everypony to come with me?” She said with an uncertain, nervous smile. As if on queue, five other ponies came into the room. Rainbow Dash was carrying Pinkie Pie who was struggling in her grip.

“Pinkie, stop squirming. You have plenty of time to prepare the party all week.” Pinkie whined in response, but stopped her struggling and was placed on the ground for her to sit.

“Howdy, Hammer!” Applejack waved a hoof. Everypony else gave a friendly hello, except Fluttershy who hid behind her mane.

“First I get presents, now I have to explain myself. This day is just full of surprises,” he muttered while rubbing his forehead.

“Your name is Hammer?” Rainbow inquired. “I guess that would explain the cutie mark.”

“I hope you like your bandana, dear. The thing was terribly torn after your heroic battle with that beast.” Hammer nodded his head and thanked Rarity, who waved her hoof dismissively.

“Girls, focus,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry if you feel uncomfortable for me bringing everypony here, Hammer.”

“It’s all right,” Hammer reassured. “The sooner the better.” Twilight nodded and stood with her friends, ready to hear his story again. Hammer shifted in his bed to get more comfortable before starting. “First off, I’m not a pony. I’m-

“Of course you’re a pony, silly!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a smile. Twilight frowned at her outburst.

“Pinkie, let him talk.” She apologized and Hammer waved a hoof to brush away what happened.

“Anyway, I’m a race known as human and I’m not from this world...” He did his best to keep it short and tell them what he told Twilight. They all sat silently, listening to him as he explained what his world was like and how the Calamity destroyed most of it. Thankfully Pinkie Pie or the other mares kept their questions to themselves as he told his story.

“... so when the Bastion activated, something went wrong and I was sent here high in the sky. Lucky Rainbow Dash saw me and saved my life from the fall.” Rainbow held her head high for the hidden thank you.

“I’d sure like to meet this Rucks feller,” Applejack stated. “He sounds like a down-to-earth kinda guy.” Rarity had more interest in his other friend back in Caelondia.

“I’d like to meet your friend, Zia. Her colorful ensemble sounds interesting. It must be uncomfortable wearing such heavy clothing all the time.”

“Your animal friends sound adorable,” Fluttershy added to the responses as she peeked around her mane. “Especially the one you named Squirt.” Hammer pointed out it was actually its species, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

“Thank you all for listening. I wish Rucks and Zia were here though. It would be funny to see them as ponies.” Pinkie Pie let out a nervous cough and looked the other way. Receiving an eyebrow raise from Hammer, he shrugged and looked back toward Twilight. “Thank you for bringing them here. I’m glad that’s all over with. Now I can focus on paying off the medical bill.”

Twilight gave an amused chuckle. “Yeah, about that. After you scared away that manticore and protected those foals, your bill was already taken care of.”

“Huh? By who?”

“The families of the foals you saved, silly,” Pinkie Pie said. Hammer was starting to get annoyed for being called silly. “They pitched in and paid off your enormous, expensive bill!” Hammer’s eyes shrank as he thought of the price they had to pay.

What do the families want in return? Are they expecting me to give back a favor? Twilight seemed to notice his thoughtful expression and let out a chuckle.

“Don’t worry about it, Hammer. They’re just giving back for saving their foals. There’s no reason to be so uptight sometimes.”

“No offense, Twilight,” Rarity began. “But you’re calling the kettle black, as they say.” She smiled at Hammer. “You should visit the spa sometime, their messages can be quite relaxing.”

“I’ll think about it,” Hammer replied quickly. Think I’ll pass on this one. Having a hoof massage doesn’t sound very relaxing. “Ugh,” Hammer held his head as it felt like a spinning top. “Is it okay if I get some rest? I’m starting to feel a bit tired.” The mares agreed and said their goodbyes, hoping for a quick recovery. When they all left, Hammer fell in the bed and started to drift to sleep.

The sound of the door opening made him furrow his brow in annoyance. It was most likely Nurse Redheart to check on him so he ignored the intrusion. The sharp prod against his flank however he couldn’t ignore.

“Trying to get some sleep here... “ He looked at Rainbow Dash who was mid-way in poking him again. “... Rainbow, what do you want?”

“I want to know why did you lie to everypony. More importantly, why did you lie to me?” Hammer saw a hurt expression on her face and thought of that small tale he spun when he first met her. “I saved your life after all. The least you could’ve done is tell the truth,” she added.

“Rainbow, picture yourself in my eyes. I get thrown into this world not knowing what to expect. I suffered hate and scorn back home and get betrayed by one of my friends who tried to destroy the Bastion. Of course I’m going to be cautious around who I speak with. I was trying to blend in and not get suspicion until I knew what was going on.”

“So me saving your life doesn’t make a pony trustworthy?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.

“Saving someone’s life is just a part of nature. If you didn’t bother to catch me, would you not be worried you could’ve prevented my death?” Rainbow’s eyes widened at the idea. She stammered out a response.

“I-I would probably not be able to live knowing a pony died that I could’ve saved.” She hung her head, seeing his point.

“But... “ Hammer continued slowly. “I still appreciate the rescue. So I believe I still owe you one, along with Fluttershy.” He let out a chuckle. “If I keep this up, I’m going to owe the entire town favors.” Rainbow let a small grin escape.

“I’ll think of something, right now I’ll let you rest.” She turned to leave, but quickly came back. “Oh! Uhm... before I go...” She gave Hammer a quick, awkward hug. He was surprised at first, but lightly patted her on the back in response. “Just a thank you for saving Fluttershy," she said while breaking the hug. "I don’t know what I would do without my best friend.”

“No problem, glad to-” Rainbow interrupted him with a hoof to his mouth.

“But I better not hear you talk about this. I need to keep up my reputation and that doesn’t include being all sappy. Got it?” Hammer mumbled an affirmative under her hoof and nodded his head. “Good!” She said goodbye once more and trotted out of the room, leaving a bewildered Hammer alone.

The rest of the week involved sleeping, reading the book Twilight sent him, and large amounts of orange juice and oatmeal. He could’ve ordered something else, but the sound of a daisy sandwich didn’t sound very appealing to him.

His new friends would visit every day, which astounded him considering they could be doing something more interesting besides asking him questions. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all asked question he didn’t know much about. Including Caelondia’s history before he was born, clothing, and party trends.

He was more comfortable around Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Applejack who asked questions he enjoyed. He told Fluttershy about another one of his pets which was an Anklegator. They dug through the ground to travel and came from under their prey to attack. She seemed fascinated with every word he said until he told her about killing the mother. Her sudden bout of anger surprised him and he had to quickly calm her down.

Applejack and Rainbow seemed both interested in his battles and trails across the broken land, which he gladly told about. Although he kept the gorey details vague as he didn’t want to frighten them.

At the sixth day, Nurse Readheart congratulated him upon a full recovery and was able to leave whenever he wanted. Glad he didn’t have to spend another minute in the bed, he hopped out and immediately clutched his side in pain.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve been more specific. You can't get into any fights or strain yourself too hard. You need to take it slow as you’ll feel sore for one more day.” Hammer heard half of it as he was too busy focusing on the pain in his left side. It steadily turned from a sharp jab, to a throbbing heat and he stood up.

“I’ll be... more careful next... time,” he said between deep breaths. Glad that the pain finally disappeared as quick as it appeared, he trotted out of the Clinic back toward Ponyville. Hm, I wonder if the ponies there will still give me those condescending stares. Only one way to find out.

The entire town seemed empty except the lone building which reminded him of frosting and baked delights. The lights were on and the sound of loud music was playing. Slowly walking up to the door, he gave three strong raps against it. It suddenly swung open and a familiar pink mare greeted him.

“Hammer, You made it! hurray!” She pulled him inside and closed the door. “Go ahead and help yourself to some treats. Somepony just beat my best score on pin the tail on the pony and I’m not letting them get away with it!” She put on a determined face and ran into the crowd. “Outta my way! I got a new high score to beat!” She yelled.

Hammer looked around the room and spotted Twilight talking with Rarity at the punch bowl. Rainbow Dash was talking to an orange filly, most likely boasting about something. Fluttershy was on one of the stools near the counter up front, just enjoying the atmosphere alone. The only pony he didn’t see was Applejack.

“Apple Fritters are ready!” A voice spoke above the din of party-goers. Applejack trotted from a back room with a pan full of treats that looked like tarts. His stomach and tongue must have joined forces with his legs as he instinctively made his way through the crowd. The thought of eating something besides oatmeal made his mouth water. Applejack spotted him and started laughing.

“Well howdy, Hammer. I take it you need something besides that hospital grub to fill your belly. Don’t worry, I got plenty more where this came from, so go right ahead and dig in.” He took not a second longer as he picked up three of them and ate them right away. It was probably the best thing he ever tasted as he quickly took another and gobbled it up as well.

The party continued swimmingly as Hammer managed to learn and play several party games. Sadly all things must come to an end and the party started to die down as party goers went home. Hammer found himself uncomfortably full of punch and sweets. He feared someone might have to roll him out the door if he took another apple fritter or doughnut.

How these ponies keep such slim figures from all these sweets is beyond me, Hammer grumped inside his mind. The last of the guests thanked Pinkie for another amazing party and left into the night.

“Bye! See you all next time!” Pinkie fell on her back and breathed heavily. “Whew, I’m pooped. I never partied that hard in a long time. Then again, nopony has ever beaten my high score. I still need to find out who it was.” A steady thumping came from Pinkie Pie as her left-back hoof started acting up and stomp the floorboards. “Oh! My Pinkie Sense is tingling!”

“Your wha-” Hammer was about to ask, but Rainbow shook her head at him.

“It’s best to just go along with it. Don’t question Pinkie unless you want a headache.” Hammer furrowed his brow in confusion, but agreed with her advice.

Pinkie was now standing up and her back hoof continued to stomp the ground in earnest. It continued to do this for several minutes until someone got everyone’s attention with a loud cough.

Hammer turned around and looked at the two ponies standing in the doorway. The one on the left was quite old and had a walking cane, but seemed to just have it for looks. He had a grey mane with thick, bushy eyebrows and mustache. The pony on the right was covered in black and white stripes. Her head wore a teal cloth drape that covered and tied down to her neck. Strangely enough, she was wearing a very familiar heavy, colorful coat.

The old pony spoke up with a comforting gruff voice, which only helped confirm Hammer's suspicions to who these two were.

“Excuse us, I hope we’re not interrupting anything. We’re looking for somepony named Hammer Whirl."

Ch. 6: Bucking Trees

Chapter 6

Bucking trees

Hammer was ecstatic that Rucks and Zia were here. While he did miss their company, he was more interested in getting answers from Rucks about what went wrong with the Bastion. What better way to find out what went wrong then ask the creator?

Rucks introduced himself to everyone as ‘Tale Forge’, a wandering storyteller. His cutie mark fit perfectly as it was a green book with a small lit candle next to it. Zia made a bow and introduced herself using her human name. Hammer wasn’t surprised her mark was the instrument she played: a harp guitar.

“How did you know my name? More importantly, how did you know I was here?” Hammer asked. Rucks pulled out a newspaper from his bags and tossed it on the floor in front of him.

“Let’s just say I had a hunch,” Rucks said with a grin.

Looking over the newspaper, it came from a city called Trottingham. A small article on the side of the front page caught his eye and he read it out loud so everyone could hear.

“‘Ponyville was attacked by a pack of manticores this monday. The attack took place at two in the afternoon near an animal daycare near the Everfree Forest owned by a pegasus named Fluttershy. A field trip from the local schoolhouse was taking place when they attacked. Witnesses stated they hid inside Fluttershy’s cottage, fearing for their lives for close to an hour. When all hope seemed lost, one pony named Hammer Whirl showed amazing courage and scared off the manticores, thus saving the day.’”

Plural? There was only one manticore. Ugh, damn journalists and their story bending. He continued reading the article.

“‘Sadly, their rescuer was severely wounded after the battle and was sent to Ponyville’s clinic to recover. Several of the families has sent their regards, hoping him for a fast recovery.’”

“Just what I need, a reputation,” Hammer said sarcastically as he placed his head in his hooves.

“Look on the bright side, at least we’re here now,” Rucks stated with a laugh. He looked at the six mares in the room and raised an eyebrow. “Funny. I didn’t take you for a ladies m-” Hammer cleared his throat loudly to interrupt him.

“They are just friends, Rucks. Nothing more.”

“Alright Kid, calm down. I was just fooling around. No need to get more bent out-of-shape than an anklegator who lost its meal.” Hammer sighed and rubbed a hoof on his forehead. “Why don’t you introduce me to them?” He added. Twilight decided to take the initiative and do it for him.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Tale. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Behind me are my friends, Applejack... “ She motioned a hoof toward each one as she said their name.

“Howdy!” Applejack greeted in a friendly voice.

“... Rarity... “

“The pleasure's all mine,” Rarity said, her gaze busy examining Zia’s choice of clothing.

“... Fluttershy... “

Fluttershy hid behind Rainbow Dash, who rolled her eyes at the shy pegasus with an amused smile.

“... Rainbow Dash...”

“Hey,” she simply greeted.

“... and Pinkie P‒” The pink pony jumped in-between Twilight and Rucks with a huge grin on her face.

“Oh my gosh, two new ponies in Ponyville! I’ll have to plan two ‘welcome to Ponyville’ parties. Or maybe one really big party for the both of you. Or maybe-mmpth!” A purple hoof was shoved in her mouth to interrupt her party crazy rant.

“Sorry, Pinkie Pie gets like that whenever somepony new comes to town.”

“Quite alright, Miss Twilight.” He looked outside at the coming darkness and back at Twilight. “ While I would hate to be rude, we need to speak to Hammer outside.” He flicked his head back to motion Hammer to get moving. Hammer said goodnight, along with another thank you to Pinkie Pie for the party, before walking outside with Rucks and Zia. It was starting to turn dusk and the sun was partially being covered by the mountainside. He sat on the ground, facing his two friends with a confused look.

“What did you need ,Rucks? Do you need somewhere to stay? The inn is right there.” He pointed a hoof at the mentioned building, but Rucks shook his head. Hammer noticed his face and saw the usual smile he wore was gone. Even as a pony, Rucks frowning always made him tense. It meant bad news was coming.

“I’m not going to sugar-coat it for you, Kid. We might not be able to get to Caelondia. The Bastion is done for and I don’t think this world has shards to bring it back to life. I’m sorry, but we’re stuck here.”

“What?” Hammer looked at Rucks like he was trying to decipher a foreign language. staring at the ground as if hoping an answer would appear in the dirt. No, there has to be a way. As much as this world is amazing, I’m not living the rest of my life as a pony! “Where is the Bastion now?” Hammer asked. Rucks ran a hoof through his mane and let out a sigh.

“It’s in the sky... somewhere.” He waved a hoof in the air nonchalantly. Hammer facehoofed.

“In the sky?” Hammer looked at their sides and double checked that they didn’t have wings. “Mind telling me how you got down?”

“Another time, Kid,” Rucks dismissed his request. “Right now we both need to get some rest and would like to take you up on that inn idea.”

“Fine, but we’ll be having a long chat about it tomorrow.” Hammer said sternly as he stared at Rucks. He gladly returned the look, only difference was the amused smile on his lips. With nothing else to be said, Hammer lead the way toward the inn.

Hammer slowly got out of the bed and stretched his hooves in the air, hearing several cracks emanate from his back. Letting out a sigh of relief, he was about to jump out of bed when he remembered about his wound. Reaching across his chest, he felt the wound with his right hoof. It was still tender from his prodding, but leaving it alone didn’t hurt at all.

What luck that the innkeeper was one of the parents of a foal I rescued.

He didn’t like the idea of using the status to get free stuff, but at the moment, he didn’t have a bit to his name. Of course he forgot to get his pay from Rarity for helping with the dust problem, but she probably needed it more than him anyway. He wondered if Applejack’s job still needed to be done.

The sound of bed sheets ruffling came from behind him and heard Rucks mumble what sounded like a “good morning”.

“Sure is nice being able to sleep without fearing of being attacked.” Rucks crawled out of bed and grabbed his walking cane with his teeth.

“Why do you still carry that cane, Rucks? You don’t seem to need it.”

“True, but I keep it just for having it. Plus it makes for a good blunt weapon.” He swung the cane in his mouth.

Hammer rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we got lucky that the innkeeper gave us two rooms to sleep in for today. I got a job offer from Applejack from about a week ago and I need to check to see if she still need it done. I’m not taking any more free rides, even if they want to pay me back for saving family. Oh, and you’re coming with me. I’ll ask Zia if she wants to come also.”

Leaving the room, he walked a short way down the hall and gave three knocks on a door with the title “Room 5”. Zia shouted that the door was unlocked and Hammer entered, closing the door behind him.

“Ah, hello... Hammer,” Zia said awkwardly, as if trying to recollect his name.

“Hey Zia, Rucks and I are heading out. I need to find some money and I need to talk with Rucks about why we’re here. Do you want to tag along?” Zia looked at the floor for a moment before speaking.

“Actually I would like to look around the town on my own. This place is very fascinating, I’ve never seen such a colorful world before.”

Hammer couldn’t blame her, the urge to explore every inch of this new world was very strong. He always explored the jungles outside of his home of Caelondia, sometimes further than that.

Would it hurt to stop worrying about getting back home and enjoy the moment?

“Alright, have fun Zia.” He turned around to leave. “And try to not get lost,” he teased. Zia squinted in annoyance at the back of Hammer’s head.

“I’ll have you know, when we first met, I entered that jungle knowing where I was going.” She stated, her pride slightly stung. Hammer laughed and pointed out he was just joking around, but Zia still stared at him. Shrugging, he left Zia alone to find Rucks already going down the stairs.

Following behind him, they both entered the main entryway where the front desk was. The pony behind it gave a brief wave of a green furred hoof.

“Hello again, Hammer. I hope you and your friends slept well?”

“Of course, Mr. Lime. I deeply appreciate you allowing us to stay for free, but I was hoping to pay for the rest of our time here. We might be here awhile.” Mr. Lime frowned.

“If you insist. The rent is ten bits per room, and you'll be charged once a week. Your first payment will be next morning. Is this fine with you?” Hammer nodded his head and thanked him for being so hospitable. He began to leave, but quickly turned back around.

“Oh! do you know where Applejack lives?”

“Certainly, just follow the road ahead of you when you leave. You should see the front gate leading to her farm when you get to the outskirts of town.” Hammer thanked him again and left with Rucks following close behind.

“All these pleases and thank yous.” Rucks shook his head. “I think this place is starting to rub off on you, Kid.”

“When the world doesn’t freak out because you have a strange hair color, you would start acting friendly as well.”

It was still early morning and the air was crisp and cool. Thankfully there were only a handful of ponies awake and weren’t paying attention to him. The second to last thing he wanted was attention from everypony. Making it toward the outskirts of the town, he spotted a wood gate with a large sign above it.

“Sweet Apple Acres,” Hammer said out loud. He pushed on the gate and it opened with ease. The name of the place sure lived up to it. Apple trees as far as his eye could see. He wondered how many acres this place really had. He looked forward when the the road opened up, leaving behind the apple trees. In front was a large red house and barn.

“Mighty fine place they got here,” Rucks admired the house.

“Let’s just hope they’re awake.” Trotting up to the front door, he was about to knock when the door slammed open, crushing him between the now open door and the wall behind him. He chuckled lightly in pain while dangerously hanging from being unconscious. He was able to hear the conversation as Applejack greeted Rucks.

“Well howdy, Rucks! What brings you here so early?” Rucks coughed loudly and pointed out what happened to Hammer as the door swung closed, with Hammer still attached to it. He promptly slid down and landed on his back, with Applejack looking down at him. “Aw shucks, sorry about that sugarcube.” She helped Hammer up, who had his eyes stuck looking two different ways. A quick smack with Applejack’s hoof in the back of the head cleared that right up.

“Ugh, thanks I guess.” Hammer rubbed the back of his head and felt a headache coming on.

“Not a problem. Now, what can I do for you?” Applejack asked again in a friendly tone, oblivious to Hammer’s pain.

“I was wondering if you had that job opening from a week ago. The one you asked about when you visited Twilight’s home?”

“Oh, sorry hun, but that was already done.” Hammer sighed at this. “But...” Applejack continued. “I could use some help bucking the trees.”

“Why would I want to buck a tree?’ Hammer asked about the odd job. Applejack looked back at him like he was the odd one, but quickly wiped it away with a hoof to the face.

“Oh, right. Sorry I forgot you’re not from around here. My family bucks the trees to get the fruit off of them. I’ll show you.” Applejack ran up to the nearest tree and quickly spun on her front hooves, her back facing the tree. A firm buck later and all the apples from the tree fell to the ground. She did a small bow and walked back. “Just like that. Why don’t you give it a try.”

Hammer looked at the tree next to the one Applejack bucked and shrugged. Walking up to the tree he inspected it for a moment before turning around. He remembered about his horseshoes and wondered if they helped in his bucking. With only one way to find out, he cocked one of his legs and landed it on the trunk.

The first thing he was glad to notice was his side didn’t hurt at all from the buck. The second was the rewarding crack as his hoof broke through the bark, leaving a dent in the poor tree. He looked at the damage and noticed it probably would’ve been the same result if he hit it with his Cael hammer. All of the apples, along with several leaves, were on the ground.

“How was that?” Hammer asked, looking at Applejack. She had a thoughtful expression on her face, busy inspecting the tree.

“I ain’t gonna lie. You bucked this tree good, but you put too much force into it. The trees won't produce as good fruit if they’re bruised up like that.” Hammer quickly apologized, but Applejack waved a hoof. “It’s alright, sugarcube. You did a mighty fine job getting the apples though. Just take it easy with the bucking. To be honest, I’d hate to see what would happen if you used both of your hooves.” She chuckled nervously at the thought.

Probably break the poor thing in half, Hammer guessed. “So how many trees do we need to buck?”

“Just the ones on the eastern part of the farm. It’s the smallest area with only twenty acres of land so we shouldn’t take too long.” Hammer looked up at the sky and asked which way is east. Applejack pointed a hoof toward the sun and told him that the sun always rose from the east and set to the west.

“All... of those?” Hammer stared in shock at the range of apple trees that didn’t seem to stop. He never turned down a job, but this was pushing it. Applejack nudge him on the shoulder with a grin.

“It’s alright, hun. You can just stay here. Not like you would be able to keep up with me anyway.” She laughed as she started bucking several of the nearby trees. Hammer glared at Applejack for the challenge.

Oh, it. Is. On! Hammer ran to the other side of the tree line and starting bucking as well. Softer this time, to not crack the bark.

Rucks sat on the front porch, watching both of them work their hearts out. A large red stallion came outside and sat down next to him.

“Looks like I don’t need to do any bucking today,” the stallion said with a light chuckle. His voice had a thick drawl while he watched Applejack and Hammer work. “Want to come inside for some cider, mister... ?” He let the question hang in the air.

“Tale Forge,” Rucks said politely. “Or just Tale if you wish. And you are?”

“Big Macintosh, but you can just call me Big Mac. Everypony else does.” They both watched the two ponies work for a little longer before Big Mac got up. “Come on then, I’ll get you a mug.”

Rucks watched for another moment, before following Big Mac inside.

Ch. 7: Forming a plan

Chapter 7

Forming a plan

“I’m... not...”

Hammer swallowed in futility as he tried to get rid of the dryness in his throat. He didn’t remember the sun being so bright, nor how many trees he had bucked. The throbbing pain in his back legs gladly reminded him of his stupidity of challenging a pony who did this for a living.

“Done yet,” he finished. Summoning up what small puddle of strength he had left, he firmly bucked the tree behind him and slumped on the dirt. Thankful that the trees around him gave a small amount of shade, he started to feel tired. “Mmm, comfortable ground,” he mumbled as he closed his eyes from a brief moment.

He opened his eyes as applejack ran by, noticing she was started to slow as well. She had plenty of strength to spare and would probably be continuing to work until the job was done. While he could buck anything to oblivion, with the help of his horseshoes of course, he couldn’t win when it came to endurance. His limbs felt heavy as he slowly got up after the short rest. It reminded him of a full work day on the Rippling walls. Everything ached when you were done and the only thing on your mind was to go home to sleep the pain away.

“You alright, hun?” Applejack asked hammer, who was still laying on the ground. A tinge of worry was in her voice. “I think you should head back for some rest. Just be sure to get Big Mac to help me finish up here.”

Hammer always had a strict work ethic whenever something needed doing. He never backed down on a job or left it half done. So of course leaving the rest of the trees unbucked made him cringe.

“Just give me a second,” Hammer huffed. “I can still finish the job.” He took an unsteady step forward, but Applejack stopped him with a hoof to his shoulder.

“Easy there, partner. I don’t want you to hurting yourself, especially when its on my farm. Now get going or I’ll haul you there myself.” Hammer locked eyes with her for a moment and saw a determined look that clearly said she wasn't going to back down. He didn't doubt she could drag him all the way back without breaking a sweat.

“Uh, which way to your home? “Hammer asking while looked around, only spotting apple trees as far as the eye could see. Applejack pointed the way without a moment of thought, making him wonder if she had an inner compass or something. Thanking Applejack, Hammer slowly trotted back to her home.

“... nearly got him too, but that brusher pike was perfect for fighting anklegators. Queen Anne didn’t stand a chance.”

Hammer had returned to find Rucks storytelling his adventures in Caelondia. He must’ve just finished his story about his trek through Roathus Lagoon. Queen Anne was one of the biggest anklegators he ever seen. With just her head sticking out, she easily towered over kid. Sadly the calamity destroyed their population and she was the last of her kind. It was quite a surprise when he found an egg laying on the ground nearby, allowing him to raise one as a pet.

I wonder if Little Anne is still on the Bastion...

Hammer walked in to find Rucks sitting down at a table with a large red pony across from him. To his left was a yellow filly with a red mane in a pink bow. The room they were chatting in They were too busy chatting to notice him and were content talking and drinking something from their mugs. However, Hammer still needed to get answers about the bastion and right now seemed like the perfect time.

“Hey, Rucks,” Hammer greeted as he got closer to the table. Rucks took a drink of whatever he had in the mug and smiled. Big Mac greeted him as well and asked if he was thirsty, which he responded enthusiastically. “You have no idea.” Taking it as a yes, Big Mac gave Hammer a large glass of water, which was promptly downed like it was liquid sunshine.

By the gods, that hit the spot so hard...

“Hey, Kid. Did Applejack send you back here after losing your little race?” He laughed and set down the mug. His laughter increased when Hammer groaned at the teasing. Hammer set the glass on the counter next to the sink.

“If you must know, I tired myself out too fast from bucking too hard,” Hammer admitted. “Applejack seems to know the right amount of force for each tree to save her energy in the long run. Needless to say, I would’ve lost sooner or later.” He looked toward the big red pony whom he assumed was Big Mac. “By the way, Applejack needs your help with the southern part of the orchard.”

“Eeeyup,” was all Big Mac said before donning a yoke and leaving the room.

“A pony of few words,” Rucks mumbled through his mug before he took one last gulp. “Ah, that was some mighty fine cider.” Hammer took the seat where Big Mac was sitting earlier and stared at Rucks.

“You have some explaining to do.”

“I suppose I do,” Rucks replied casually. He frowned at bit that his cider was empty so he placed it to the side. “Ask away and I’ll answer.”

One thing had been nagging in the back of Kid’s head even since Rucks told him he lost the Bastion: How do you lose track of a floating island?

“Where’s the Bastion, Rucks?” He asked flatly. Rucks was slightly annoyed at having to repeat himself.

“I told you, Kid. I lost it somewhere in the sky.” Hammer’s mood turned sour with that answer. Rucks started fiddling with the mug, deep in thought. Kid knew Rucks’ well enough to know he was hiding something. Whenever he took his mind off the situation like scratching his facial hair or playing with an object, it was an obvious clue.

“Rucks...” Kid was honestly starting to worry about the truth and it showed in his tone. “Where is it?”

Rucks looked at the yellow filly who was soaking in the conversation they were having. “Little miss, why don’t you go outside. I appreciate your company, but this here is something I’d like to keep between me and Hammer.” The filly showed her disappointment with a long “aw” and left the room. Rucks leaned back in his chair, starting at the far wall for a moment. Hammer was about to repeat the question when he spoke up.

“Its gone, Kid. The Bastion is gone.” Rucks admitted with a grimace on his face, like he ate a bad egg. “Something stole it while we were still figuring out where the hell we were.” Hammer’s eyes widened upon hearing this, but kept silent. “Got a good look at their stealing faces though. They were avian in front from their head to their wings, but ended with fur after that. Never seen anything like it. They were clearly intent on taking our bit of paradise though.”

So half bird, half beast creatures stole our island... fantastic.

Kid remembered the book Twilight gave him and tried to envision in his mind some of pages. Sadly the introduction was long and the two with any information on them was useless. He doubted knowing anything about a three headed dog or a beast with a chicken head was useful. He only managed to read five pages before Twilight showed up at the clinic.

The fact that these creatures Rucks mentioned having wings didn’t make him feel any better. The avian wildlife in Caelondia was bad enough to keep at bay without having his eyes poked out.

“Why didn’t you tell me the first time, Rucks? We could be over there by now and kicked their sorry butts off our land.” Rucks only shook his head.

“I don’t doubt that you could, Kid. I’ve seen you fight, but what they did... they struck home.” Rucks tapped his chest. “I built that thing with my own two...” he paused to look at his hooves before continuing. “Now they have the gall to steal it from an old man and a young woman. When we’re clearly outnumbered? That doesn’t sit right in my stomach one bit. They made this personal, and I’m going to kick their feathery butts to get my Bastion back.”

Hammer looked a Rucks with his jaw hung in awe for a moment. He never seen him so worked up over something that resorted to using violence. Then again, the Bastion was never stolen from him. Attacked and nearly destroyed, yes, but not taken away.

“How many were there?” Kid inquired.

“That’s the problem. There were enough to make it a very bad idea to fight,” he replied with a shrug. “I may have fought in the past, but these bones aren’t what they used to be. The creatures were at least nice enough to fly us to the ground since we were so high in the air. They deposited us in the middle of some grasslands and pointed in the direction of the nearest city.” Hammer easily put the rest of the story together in his mind.

“I’m going to guess from the newspaper that the city was Trottingham. After reading it, you decided to come to Ponyville and find me?”

“In the shortest way to put it? Yes. We didn’t know if it was you or not, but it was better than wandering aimlessly.” Rucks slouched with a heavy sigh and the conversation died for several moments. “Look, Kid. Let’s get to the point. I’m sucking in my pride here and asking you to help take back the Bastion. If I was younger, I’d be going back there myself.”

“I never took you for being prideful,” Hammer pointed out with a disbelieving look.

“I’m very prideful with my work, Kid,” Rucks stated in defense. “The Bastion being possibly my finest. When the Ura almost destroyed it... ” he trailed off while his mood saddened. He stared off into space before finishing his sentence. “They might as well have ripped my heart out.”

Hammer frowned as he began remembering the look Rucks had. He would wander around the Bastion with a dull look in his eyes as if his soul was gone. He couldn’t blame him though, they did a number on the Bastion. Pillars of black stone jutted through the island and cracks threatened to tear it apart. It was a terrifying sight indeed, knowing the hope in restoring their homeland was close to dying.

He knew he had to snap Rucks out of this daze. They wouldn't be able to take the Bastion with this attitude. With one swift motion, Hammer slammed his hooves on the table. The sound knocked Rucks out of his trance and he stared at him in a mix of anger and confusion.

“Get it together Rucks!” He yelled. “That was the past and we still managed to repair the Bastion. Stop dwelling on what was already done and focus on getting back what you lost.” Hammer knew what he was going to say next was cheesy, but it rung true.

“Focus on getting back your heart.” They both stared at each other and Rucks let out a chuckle.

“Well said, Kid.” A small smile appeared on his lips. “I never took you for being such an uplifting speaker.”

“It comes with being like me.” Hammer boasted, putting a hoof to his chest to try and look dignified. He starting choking on his words to show he was joking and they shared a short laugh. “But seriously, I’ll help you. I have an idea, but I’ll have to ask for help from my recently made friends.” Rucks was going to retort, but Hammer cut him off. “Unless you can suddenly sprout wings and fly up there, we’re going to need it.”

“Somepony said they needed help?” Rucks and Kid look toward where the voice came from to find Rainbow Dash staring at them.

“Hey, Rainbow. What brings you here?” Hammer said in a friendly tone, doing his best to hide their previous conversation. He motioned toward an empty seat which she flew over and plopped down.

“I came over to get some cider before I start organizing clouds for today’s overcast for Ponyville,” Rainbow replied quickly. She glanced around the room, looking for something. “Have you seen Applejack? She told me to not drink cider without her around. After almost drinking an entire keg by myself, she’s limited how much I can drink.” She gave a nervous laugh upon remembering that situation.

“She’s out in the southern orchard getting help from Big Mac,” Hammer responded. “She should be back soon.”

“Awesome!” There was a long pause before she continued. “So... what were you both talking about?” Hammer looked at Rucks who signaled with a nod to tell her.

“Remember me telling you and your friends about my past? About the Bastion?” He continued after getting a quick nod from the pegasus. “Well apparently it’s here in Equestria, but something took it for themselves.” Hammer pointed a hoof at Rucks. “He says it was taken by a group of half bird, half beast creatures. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about them, would you?” Rainbow leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment. She asked for specifics from Rucks, who gladly obliged with telling exactly what he told Kid.

“I’d have to say you lost this Bastion from a bunch of gryphons,” Rainbow stated confidently. “Sorry to hear that,” she added.

“Is that bad?” Hammer asked

“Kind of. Gryphons aren’t what you would call friendly. Most of them enjoy terrorising us ponies and taking what they think is theirs. I try to not hate all gryphons, but its hard when most of them are mean.”

“We still need to find transportation up there,” Rucks pointed out. Rainbow Dash’s grin returned in earnest.

“I’m sure Twilight will help you with that. She has a-” Their conversation was cut off as the heavy hoofsteps of Big mac returned, with Applejack close behind.

“Howdy, Rainbow! I suppose you’re here to get some cider?” She said with a knowing grin. Rainbow threw a hoof in the air in excitement.

“You know it!” The two mares quickly left before Hammer could get Applejack’s attention, leaving him with a bemused expression. He planted his face against the table as something else raced through his mind.

When do I get paid?

Ch. 8: Gathering the party

Chapter 8

Gathering the party

After Rainbow Dash left, her belly full of a mug of cider, Applejack came back and sat down with Hammer and Tale. "Sorry did you need something, hun?" She asked Hammer, a mug of cider in her hoof.

"I was wondering how much pay I earned with helping buck those trees," Hammer stated. Applejack put a hoof to her chin as numbers went through her head.

"Well, I reckon we were out there for a good hour. I usually give any helping hands five bits an hour. Since we finished it so quickly I'll give you ten." She grinned as she slammed ten bits on the table and slid them over to Hammer. He looked at them for a moment then looked back at Applejack.

"I don't have pockets..."

Glad that he finally had some money to his own name, Hammer and Tale said their goodbye's to Applejack. As they left the Apple family's home, Hammer opened his 'pockets' to look at the bits inside. "This place can get so weird sometimes," he muttered. Tale chuckled at his comment.

"I know what you mean, but I kind of like this place." Tale took a moment to breath in the clean air. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this place would be paradise."

"True, but I still miss Caelondia sometimes." They continued their way down the path leading out of the apple orchards. From the height of the sun Hammer could guess it was close to lunch time. While he would love to get something to eat, he needed to save it to pay for their rooms. He had enough to pay for the room himself and rucks shared, but he had to find another ten for Zia. Still need to visit Rarity to get payment for my other job.

They soon both found themselves in front of Ponyville's Library. The sign on the door was flipped open so they helped themselves inside. Spike had run by carrying several spiral notebooks and didn't notice them come in.

"Little guy sure is in a hurry." Tale watched the small dragon organize the books like he already knew where each book should go. Soon as he finished that job he turned around and spotted the two ponies who entered.

"Oh, hey Hammer. Didn't hear you come in." He ran by and collected several more books that were laying on a table. "Was there something you needed?" He added while collecting books.

"We actually came to see Twilight," Hammer admitted. "Is she here?"

"She went over to Sugercube corner with her friends." Spike responded as he placed several more books where they should be. Rucks sighed and sat down on the floor.

"You go on ahead, Kid. I think they put something in that cider of there's. Starting to get a mighty fine craving for another batch."

"Alright, see ya back at Applejack's once I get the others." Hammer replied, before quickly leaving the treehouse. He was glad this Sugarcube Corner building was so odd looking, else he probably wouldn't have noticed it in the distance. He wondered how, or more importantly why, these ponies created a abode that looked like dessert.

He reached for the front door when he heard some barely audible talking coming from inside. He would've ignored it and continued through he doorway if he didn't hear them talking about him. Backing away from the door, he circled around the side and found a window cracked open. Sitting below it, he could easily hear the conversation.

"- certainly knows his manners." Hammer knew that voice was Rarity, that prim and proper tone she had easily gave it away. "While we're on this topic," she continued. "Twilight, if he was this human creature before being here, why is he a pony?"

"I'm not entirely sure, Rarity. Equestria has always been full of magic. It's possible his body took in enough to turn into a pony when he got here. If the magic he soaked in was to leave his body, it would most likely bring him back to his normal form."

Hammer was stunned upon hearing this. The thought of being human again almost made him want to run inside and tackle Twilight so she could change him back. However what she said next shattered his dream.

"However, that spell is kept secret by Celestia herself. Letting anypony have such a powerful spell is too risky. Even I'm not allowed to know it."

"You should ask Celestia about it, maybe she could change him back." Rarity said, lifting Hammer's spirits.

"I should, but I haven't thought of a friendship report in what feels like forever. She's probably disappointed with me."

"Darling, I thought you already got over such silly thoughts. You do remember when you went, uh... how do I put it lightly..."

"Turned nuttier than a walnut?" Twilight suggested bluntly. "It doesn't matter. I still feel guilty not writing any letters to the Princess. If I'm going to send a request for the spell to be used, I want to create a friendship report with it."

"Maybe you could ask Hammer to help you," a timid voice piped up. Hammer had to strain his ears just to hear Fluttershy. "If he really is from another world, I'm sure he has something to teach about friendship." He heard a hoof slam on the table after she said that, causing an "eep" from the timid voice.

"You're right, Fluttershy. I should go see him and ask some more questions."

Hammer took this moment to stop eavesdropping and run back to the front door. Soon as he pushed it open, he saw Twilight had already left her seat. Her eyes brightened when she saw him.

"Hammer! what a surprise. I, uh, was just about to see you."

Hammer put on a fake smile. Just relax, its not like they knew you ever listening to their conversation.

"Funny. I actually came over to see you. Spike told me you were with some friends over here." Twilight's ears perked up upon hearing this.

"Really? What did you want to see me for?"

"Rainbow Dash told me you had something that could fly. Tale and myself we wondering if we could borrow it."

"Oh! you mean my hot air balloon? Sure, I don't see why not." She tilted her head in curiosity. "Though may I ask what for?"

"I need it to get to the Bastion," Hammer replied. His head moved back in uneasiness as Twilight's eyes grew wide.

Okay. I know this unicorn has a huge curiosity, but this is just creepy.

"Your Bastion is here in Equestria?" She said, doing her best to keep her excitement in check. "I'm coming with you, and I won't take no for an answer! I just need to get my notebooks from the library and we'll be on our way." Before Hammer could say another word, Twilight was already out the door and quickly disappearing from sight. He let out a sigh and looked back at the other ponies staring at him.

If what Rucks says is true that it's infested with gryphons, I will need all the help I can get. Then again, they might get hurt.

"Did you girls want to come with?"

Rarity's eyes brightened. "Of course, dear. I'd love to see what all the hype is about this Bastion." She said while levitating a cup of tea to her lips.

"I'll go if my friends go," Fluttershy mumbled.

Hammer smiled at the timid pegasus. "Well, Rainbow Dash can't come because she's busy fluffing the clouds or... something."

"Oh, she's very fast at doing her job," Fluttershy explained. "I've seen her clear the skies in ten seconds flat. Applejack even timed her."

"Look out!" A voice yelled behind Hammer. On instinct, he dove to the side just as a blue blur whizzed by and tumbled across the floor. It finally rested against the far wall along with several chairs that decided to cover her. It didn't take long for Hammer to realize who it was once he spotted a Rainbow Mane poking out of the pile of chairs. A muffled "oops" came from under the pile.

Hammer, Rarity, and Fluttershy ran over to help the crazy pegasus from her crash. Rarity and Hammer pulled away the chairs while Fluttershy helped Rainbow Dash to get back on her hooves. Hammer stared at Rainbow and noticed she had no major injuries, except a bruise or two.

She was going fast enough to break bones. How could she survive that kind of crash?

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, you okay?"

Rainbow moaned and put a hoof to her head. "Yeah I'm fine. Sorry about that. I finished today's weather and planned to get a quick bite, but a downdraft snuck up on me."

"Hey, what's going on out there?" The swing door behind the counter opened and Pinkie Pie poked her head out at the group huddled around Rainbow Dash. "Did Dashie go crashie washie again?" She put on a huge grin.

Rainbow got off the floor and walked over to Pinkie. "What? No! I was just, uh, resting. Yeah, just taking a nap."

"Okie Dokie Lokie! Just be sure to put the chairs back when you're done napping under them Dashie." Pinkie continued grinning like she already knew what happened, but enjoyed teasing Rainbow. She succeeded as Rainbow let out a annoyed groan.

Rainbow Dash, with the help of everypony else, fixed the mess she made. Even though Rainbow made it, Pinkie Pie pitched in anyway. As the last chair was put back in place, Rainbow sat down in one of them. "So what are you all doing here anyway?"

"They're going on a super duper exciting over-the-top adventure, Dashie. You should come along!" Saying this, she disappeared in a poof of smoke only to come back with a pair of satchels around her torso. Hammer asked how she did that and she responded with an innocent "Did what?"

"Right now my stomach is empty," Rainbow groaned. "Let me get something to eat then we can get going." Pinkie didn't miss a beat as she walked over and stuffed a cupcake in Rainbow's mouth.

"There you go, Dashie. Okay gang, let's go!" Without another word, she pulled everypony into a hug and zipped away, bringing them all with her.

Ms. Cake walked half-way down the stairs and looked around the empty room. "Now where did Pinkie Pie run off to." She sighed and walked behind the counter in case of any customers.

Ch. 9: The bastion

Chapter 9

The Bastion

Pinkie Pie burst through the door of Twilight Sparkle's library and deposited the group she brought with her on the floor. "Alright everypony, we're here!" she exclaimed while bouncing around the room.

A groan left Hammer's lips as he got up from the floor. "Please, Pinkie. Don't ever do that again." The other ponies who got caught in the disorienting way of travel stated their agreements.

"Aw, okay," Pinkie said with a frown. It instantly disappeared as she smiled brightly upon spotting Twilight. "Hey Twilight. We're all here, is the balloon ready? Huh, huh, huh?" Every 'huh' her head moved closer to Twilight. It resulted in her falling backwards from leaning away at the bundle of energy.

"Spike is outside behind the library preparing it, Pinkie. It should be ready in a couple of..." she was cut off as Pinkie booped her nose against hers. "Uh, Pinkie. Can you please back up. I need to pack my things."

Pinkie got off Twilight and sat on her rump. "Sorry Twilight, but I'm so excited!"

"I noticed," Twilight replied as she stood on her hooves again. She looked at the other ponies and frowned. "Nopony else packed?"

"We didn't really have a choice you know." Rainbow Dash stated while casting an annoyed glance at Pinkie. "Besides, its not like we're traveling through the Everfree forest. I doubt there's any danger where we're going."

Hammer smacked a hoof across his face. Ow! I forgot to warn everyone about the gryphons.

"Actually..." Hammer began, earning a glance at the ponies around the room. "Rucks told me gryphons stole the Bastion from him. I'd go and take it back myself, but I would rather not experience what happened after fighting that manticore. If I was human, this would be a different story as i could properly use my weapons." He noticed Twilight's ears flick up when he mentioned 'human', but ignored it for now. Rainbow Dash's wing flared in a mixture of surprise and anger.

"What! I'm gonna kick their flanks when we get there." She shadowboxed at the air with her forehooves.

"Calm down, Rainbow," Rarity said. "I'm sure there's a perfect explanation for their actions."

Rainbow crossed her forehooves and grumbled.

"Rucks said they forced them off, Rarity." Hammer walked around the room, casually looking at the books. "I don't think any explanation needs to be given. They intended to steal the Bastion, and they succeeded. I can't do this alone, that's what you're all here in the first place." He stopped looking at the books to focus on everypony. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. If you don't want to come along knowing you might be in danger, I understand."

"Please, it's nothing the Elements of Harmony can't handle. We already took on Nightmare Moon and Discord. What's a group of gryphons worth?"

Ugh, Rainbow. When are you going to learn to not underestimate an enemy, Hammer thought.

"Something was taken from you, dear. As a friend, it is my utmost pleasure to help you get it back. Even if it means, uh, getting my hooves dirty." She cringed a bit at the last part.

Fluttershy wasn't sharing any enthusiasm as she cowered on the floor. Rainbow quickly noticed and started to comfort her. After a minute of small talking between the two pegasai, Fluttershy was able to at least sit up.

"I-I don't want to be a part of the fight. I'll still come with you, but I'll hide inside the balloon until it's over... if that's alright with you."

Twilight didn't respond immediately as she seemed busy choosing either a blue notebook or a purple one. "We've always stuck together whenever we had trouble. This is no different. As long as we work together in our goal, I'm sure everything will come out fine." Her words lifted everyponies spirits as they nodded in agreement.

Wow, never thought I'd be impressed by a bunch of colorful ponies. They sure know when to show bravery when it's needed most. Maybe this fight will be easier than I thought.

"All done!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. She had just finished packing her bags and placed them on her back when the front door opened.

"Hey everypony," Spike greeted the group. Turning toward Twilight, he motioned with a thumb toward the door. "The balloon is all set."

"Excellent! and right on time too." Twilight took out a clipboard and wrote something in one swift motion. Her happy demeanor disappeared when Spike slumped. "I'm sorry Spike. I wish you could come along, but the balloon can only carry the weight of four ponies."

"It's alright Twilight. Besides, nopony else knows how to take care of the library like me." He boasted. Twilight caught him off guard with a small nuzzle.

"And that's why you're my number one assistant, Spike." She said with a loving smile. Spike blushed under his scales, turning them dark purple.

"Twilight, quit it," he whined quietly. "Not in front of everypony." Twilight giggled at his embarrassment and stopped.

Everypony said their goodbyes to spike, who waved back as they left the door. Twilight lead the way around the library toward the purple balloon. Hammer stared in a mix of disappointment and excitement. He was finally going to see the Bastion, but it was most likely going to be a slow journey.

"How far away is Trottingham? From what Rucks said, it is most likely floating above it."

"About an hour flight with my balloon," Twilight responded while fussing with small preparations for their transportation. "Go ahead and get in everypony."

Hammer and Pinkie Pie jumped into the basket, while Rarity carefully climbed inside. After everypony was settled in, Twilight joined them. With a purple glow of her horn, the ropes keeping the balloon on the ground lost tension and they began floating up. With Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy following close beside them.

Pinkie took little time to express her excitement.

"Whee! Bastion, here we come!"

There it is...

Hammer could hardly believe he would see it again. These past several days have been quite a strange journey and he always felt the doubt of never returning home in the back of his mind. Seeing the one thing that might return him home, brushed the feeling aside like how one would swat a fly.

The Bastion seemed in perfect shape. He could see the smaller islands surrounding it, meaning it still had the brewery. The thought of drinking several of his homelands alcoholic beverages made his mouth water. The thought disappeared instantaneously at the sound of yelling coming from the island. He looked closer as he saw several bird-like creatures dotting the island.

Huh, so that's what they look like. The avian half of their bodies immediately made his blood boil. He hated birds. Even the peckers in his homeland and their annoying squawking drove him insane, so these creatures had to be no different.

Right?

Since hiding a giant purple balloon in the middle of the sky isn't the easiest task, it didn't take long until they were spotted by the gryphons. Although Hammer admired the way Twilight landed it perfectly near the edge of the Bastion. He would have to hold off the compliment as they were starting to approach the balloon.

"Hammer and I will handle this. Rainbow and Pinkie, intervene if things start to get... messy." With that said, she hopped out of the Basket with Hammer following suit. Trotting forward with her head held high, to show she wasn't scared, she approached the gathering gryphons.

Hammer took this time to count out the potential enemies. The gryphons appeared to be in different feather tones ranging from yellow to red. The color range seemed smaller compared to the ponies who seemed to cover the entire color spectrum.

One, two, three... seven... nine... fifteen of them. Plus any that might be hiding. Best to not take any chances and prepare for the worst.

"Greetings," Twilight began as she looked at the group in front of her with a friendly smile. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and my friend here is Hammer Spin." A chuckle came from the group, but she ignored it. "I friend of mine told me you stole this, uh, island from him. While I would like you to return it, could you please tell me why you took it from him?"

The group was silent and only stared down at Twilight with annoyance in their eyes. Finally a gryphon was pushed from the group to likely talk. It glared at whoever pushed it out before turning toward the two ponies.

It was about a head taller than Hammer. White feathers covered its head and went down to the neck. The rest of its body was a dull-amber while the wings had a darker brown color. What stood out from the other gryphons was its bright gold eyes with purple that surrounded it like a natural eyeliner. The same color was on the tips of feathers that stuck out on the top of its head.

Twilight stared at the gryphon with a slight tilt of her head and squint of her eyes. She was either trying to remember who this gryphon was or she spotted a piece of broccoli in its beak. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Gilda? What the hay are you doing here!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she landed quite loudly next to Hammer. She glared daggers at the gryphon who shrugged it off like a brisk breeze.

"Glad to see you too, Dash."

Ch. 10: Two old friends

Chapter 10

Two old friends

"You know this gryphon?" Kid whispered to Rainbow Dash.

"Old friend, long story," Rainbow replied quickly.

"Oh." Kid looked at the group of gryphons ahead of him. Several seemed to be expecting a fight as they flexed their wings. It must've been a taunt of some sort as Rainbow Dash flexed her wings in response, earning glares from the gryphons.

"Yeah, we stole it." Gilda began, answering Twilight's question. "Two ponies with a big floating island to themselves? That didn't sit right with some of my friends here." She pointed a thumb back at the other gryphons. "So we decided to take it."

"But why?" Twilight asked with an eyebrow raise.

"I was getting to that," Gilda retorted with a glare. "I agreed because I currently don't have a home to call my own. Whatever reasons these guys have behind me, I have no clue. Maybe because of the booze located in the shack over there. I swear, whoever made this island sure had a strange taste in drinks."

Oh you are just asking for a buck to the face aren't you? Kid furrowed his brow in anger.

Twilight seemed to notice the tension building and planned to promptly finish this before things got ugly.

"Look, I'm sure there's somewhere else you can find housing and... alcohol." Twilight's face scrunched at the word. "Is there a trade we can make? I would prefer to not have anypony hurt."

"No deal, we're staying right here." A somewhat buff gryphon spoke up. He was a head taller than Gilda and had feathers with an orange-brown color. His eyes were a light-green, and they were focused on Twilight in a glare. "Go back wherever you came from. We're happy here."

"I'm sorry, mister..." Twilight trailed off.

"Talon."

"Mister, Talon. I'm sorry, but you stole from somepony and that's a crime here in Equestria. I'll gladly let you leave without charges if you truly don't know our laws."

"I can't take it anymore! No more talking!" Another gryphon with red feathers broke from the pack and took an aggressive stance. "Let's just get this over with and beat them to a pulp. They'll think twice before messing with us again."

Fear flashed on Twilight's face and she took a step back every time the red one took a step forward.

"N-now, let's not get hasty..." She trailed off as she watched Hammer and Rainbow stand protectively in front of Twilight, momentarily stopping their advance.

"If it's a fight you want, we'll gladly oblige," Kid spat. "I don't need wings to kick your flanks."

The red-feathered gryphon finally decided to using actions instead of words and lunged at Kid. He swiped downward, the same move someone would do to squash a bug.

Kid was ready for it and dodged to the right of the gryphon, landing beside him and facing away. Using his current position, he lifted his hind legs and gave a firm buck to the ribs. He was rewarded with a pained screech and the sound of snapping ribs. The gryphon struggled to stand for a moment before slumped on his good side and stayed there, taking in staggered breaths. Occasionally wincing when he breathed too deeply.

"Anypony else want to end up like him?" Kid yelled, pacing in front of his defeated enemy.

The other gryphons looked at each other as if to acknowledge something and started to advance upon him all at once.

Drat, and i was hoping they would come at me one at a time.

Kid took several steps backwards, his eyes looking to his left and right. He waited until they were several arm-length away before he made his move. Feinting a run to the left, he quickly switched directions when they pounced the ground where he would've been. The one's who didn't fall for his trick, chased after him around the island like they were playing a game of tag. Only being caught was hundreds of times worse.

Kid was about to make a full lap around the island when one of the buildings brought a sharp gleam to his eye. Running toward it, he fumbled with the knob a bit before finally getting it open. Running inside, he quickly shut it behind him and slammed down the twin locks located near the door. He was glad Rucks ahd decided to install every building with them, in the event they needed a safe house.

Heavy thudding hit the thick wood door as the gryphons tried to bust it down, but to no avail. Feeling safe that they couldn't get inside, he slid down the back wall with a sigh of relief.

The room he was stuck in had several smells that he was very fond of. The most prominent two was the gunpowder and gasoline. Having not smelled it for some long, his stomach felt the urge to show its displeasure soon. Grabbing a nearby piece of cloth, he held it over his face to somewhat mask the smells.

Examining the room, he took in the array of weaponry hanging around the room and stored in several shelves nearby. He frowned at not seeing his hammer where its hook was. Though he wasn't surprised since it was already attached to his hooves. To further disappoint him, all of his ranged weaponry was out of the question since he didn't have hands anymore. He could try firing one of the Slinger pistols in his mouth, but that would make aiming mighty difficult.

"Although... " Kid spoke to himself, an idea coming to mind.

He saw some leftover supplies used for upgrading his weaponry on the wall opposite of the weapons. Grabbing a bundle of rope, two planks of wood, several length of leather, and a container of grease, he set to work.

A gryphons attempted, for the fifth time, to bust down the door Hammer had decided to hide behind. Almost an hour had passed when Hammer did so and the gryphons had decided to take their restlessness on the other ponies.

Rainbow Dash had managed to knock out two gryphons and deal a swift blow to Talon before they pinned her down. Twilight had been thrown into the balloon along with Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, and were being closely watched.

"Sorry everypony for getting you all in this mess." Twilight apologized.

"Its alright, dear. I'm sure we'll think of something." Rarity gave a small smile, but felt it wasn't helping reassure Twilight.

"These gryphons are a bunch of meanie pants. None of you are getting a party if you come to Ponyville! You hear me! None of you!" Pinkie exclaimed while holding a trembling Fluttershy.

"Quiet you!" A gryphon yelled back at Pinkie Pie.

"No, you be quiet!"

"Hey, I said it first!"

They argued like that several times before Talon finally had hi fill of annoyance.

"Knock it off both of you before I toss you both off this island! Don't worry Silverbeak, I'm sure I can find some rope to tie your wings together." Seeing that effectively shut them up, he rubbed his sore beak after the swift kick sent to him earlier. "Damn pegasus. That buck hurt," he mumbled.

"Really? You already forgot about the one hiding that broke Rake's ribs?" Another gryphon responded with a deadpanned look.

"He deserved it," Talon snapped. "Idiot always running ahead and getting himself hurt." His head snapped to look at the gryphon still ramming into the door. "For the love of... Will you knock it off! He's not going to come out. You'll just dislocate your shoulder."

"Just letting him know we're still here." The creme feathered gryphon replied with a sheepish smile.

The dull sound of a lock coming undone came from the door. If anyone was standing close by, they could hear Hammer muttering curses at some god neither pony or gryphon had ever heard of. After a grueling minute, the other lock came undone and the door slid open.

"Took you long enough to come out. What were you doing in there? Saying your prayers?" The other gryphons laughed at Talon's joke, but was cut short as a loud bang was heard from the pony. Soon after it, something flew past him so fast all everyone heard was a sharp whizzing sound.

Talon, who was acting as leader for now, felt a trickle down the side of his cheek and touched it with a talon. He saw it was covered with his blood. He raised his eyes towards the building again and saw the pony who caused it.

It was the same one, but he was now wearing several strips of leather and lengths of rope. In his mouth was a piece of wood that he had pulled on connected to the rope. Another piece of wood stuck out to his right for him to easily pull on if need be. On his sides, near where his forelegs connected with his body, were two metal devices. The two pulleys he had next to his head were connected to them below the barrel.

One of the metal objects was smoking as Kid took several steps out of the building. He spat out the piece of wood in his mouth with a grim look in his eyes. Looking at the group of gryphons ahead of him for a moment, he finally broke the uneasy silence.

"Draw."

Ch. 11: Intimidation and retrieval

Chapter 11

Intimidation and retrieval

Hammer glared at the gryphons ahead of him, waiting for their next move. He had had enough of these encroaching over-sized birds and silently hoped he could put his new weapons to good use.

"Uh, draw what?" A small gryphon asked with a perplexed expression, making Hammer mentally facehoof.

"It basically means make your move," Hammer explained, getting an 'oh' from the crowd. "That is, if you're stupid enough to attack again now that I'm properly armed." He glanced at the pistol to his right for a moment.

I only have six rounds in each pistol and I just used one in my right. I could either try to intimidate them by shooting the ground they're standing on or just kill them outright. While it would be considered self-defense in Caelondia, I'm not sure a place like this would take kindly to killing other sentient beings.

"There's still eleven of us and one of you, pony," Talon sneered. The bleeding on his cheek had stopped, but the stain still showed on his face. He took a step toward Hammer.

Pulling on the wood handle near the left side of his head, the corresponding pistol also let out a loud bang. The bullet hit right next to where Talon's talon stepped, embedding itself into the dirt.

Ten bullets left.

"Wrong choice, Talon." Hammer glanced at the other gryphons to make sure they were not advancing as well. "I'm giving you all a choice to back off now. I'm no stranger to violence and I will not think twice to put a bullet in any of your heads if you take another step." His aim tilted higher to emphasize he wasn't bluffing. It was a half-bluff actually. He wasn't going to shoot any of them unless they actually tried to strike him down.

Hammer hid a smile as several gryphons started to back off. Several spouted off reasons for their departure, to make it sound justified and hide their fear. His personal favorite was the creme feathered gryphon saying he left his pet parakeet in the oven. After each gryphon had made their decision to stay or leave, the only ones that remained were Talon, Gilda, and Rake. Unfortunately for Rake, he didn't have a choice since he was too busy playing the role of being unconscious.

"Bunch of cowards," Talon muttered while looking at the direction the other gryphons exited. He looked down at Hammer once more. "Fine. Keep your island then, but this isn't over." With that said, he walked toward the edge of the island and dove off the side.

Hammer noticed Gilda was standing in the same spot, looking at him like he had grown a an extra limb. He could only guess she saw him as an odd pony compared to the others. The fact he threatened to kill another while wielding such strange weaponry didn't help her perplexed situation.

His eye caught a Rainbow mane poke out of the air balloon's basket and scan around the surrounding area.

"I'm not sure what sort of problem you and Rainbow Dash have," Hammer spoke quickly while staring back at Gilda. "But unless you want to have a chat with her, now would be a good time to leave."

Following his gaze, Gilda's eyes widened and she ran toward the same edge talon dove off of. Taking another glance at him, she dove off the side before she was spotted. No sooner did she disappear from sight did Hammer have a pegasus right in his face.

"That was so cool!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, before being quickly pulled away by her tail with magic. "Hey, what gives?"

"Don't be so rude, darling. Don't you know anything about personal space?" Rarity chided the excited pegasus. setting her down beside Twilight. "I must say that was a brave thing you did facing all those gryphons. Who knows what those ruffians would've done to us!"

"I'm just happy nopony was, uhm, you know..." Fluttershy trailed off before returning to tend Rake's wounds. Though everypony knew what she was getting at.

"So what exactly are those things on the sides of your chest, Hammer?" Twilight asked. "They sure made quite a lot of noise."

Hammer fiddled with a clasp located near his chest to take off the holsters, but to no avail. Sighing heavily, he gave up and stood to the side so Twilight could get a clear look.

"The building I hid in contains all the weapons I collected during my adventures in Caelondia. The one's strapped to me are my trusty Slinger pistols."

Twilight got closer and examined the small device, her eyes giving off a tiny sparkle of excitement to learning about the weapons.

The tube was slightly longer then the width of her hoof. A loop of rope was tied around what must've been the trigger. There were six chambers filled with what looked like gold cylinder and the chamber itself seemed able to spin. The entire thing was snug with several straps of brown material that looked very durable.

"So, how does it work?"

"Maybe later, Twilight." Receiving an adorable pout from the unicorn, he kept his willpower intact. "Sorry, but right now we need to get Rucks back here and discuss what to do next."

"Oh, alright," Twilight dropped the look. "That always worked on Celestia," she added with a mutter.

"Rainbow Dash, think you can get Tale? He should be at Applejack's house."

"Sure thing! I'll be back in ten seconds... Oh, you know what i mean."

"And this picture here is Big Mac when he was a foal using his yoke for the first time." Granny Smith pointed with a hoof in the photo album she had out on the table. "He was so adorable at that age."

Big Mac was grateful his coat was red to hide his faint blush of embarrassment as he sat across from the two older ponies.

"That's uh, wonderful Miss Smith." Rucks glanced at the front door for the what felt like hundredth time. Kid had been away for quite awhile and he hoped they hadn't run into too much trouble with those gryphons. He reassured himself that he was fine. Kid was a resourceful lad when it came to fighting. Usually using the environment to his advantage.

More importantly, he wanted to get away from Granny Smith as soon as possible.

Now, he wasn't a stranger to a good talk or tale. He enjoyed his long talks with Kid, Zia, and sometimes Zulf, But sitting through two hours with a pony talking about her family made him want to jump off an edge. And they were only halfway through the photo album.

The thought made him wonder if Kid enjoyed their talks when they were still human.

"Oh, dearie, just call me Granny." She said with a smile. "Everypony else does."

"As you wish... Granny." He furrowed his brow in confusion when she began to flap her ear around with a hoof.

"Wha was that, dearie?"

"I said 'As you wish, Granny."

"Feed the fish, Granny? We ain't got no fish."

"No, I said... nevermind."

"No, you didn't say that."

Rucks only responded by resting the front of his face on the table in frustration. There were only a few instances in his lifetime where his patience would run out, and this was one of them. Thankfully several knocks, which may as well be angels singing, came from the front door.

"Ah'll get it." Big Mac walked the short distance to the door and opened it.

"Hey Big Mac! Is Tale here?" A female voice asked. Rucks couldn't see who it was because of Mac standing in the way.

"Eyup," he replied, standing out-of-the-way to show Rainbow Dash right outside the doorway.

"Hey, Tale." Rainbow Dash greeted as she walked inside the room. "Hammer needs you at the Bastion pronto."

"He managed to clear them out?" Rucks asked, his ears perking up. Before she could answer he was already past her and purposefully walking out the door. "Let's go then!" Rainbow Dash quickly followed behind him and was flapping her wings to stay in a hover.

"Alright, hang on!"

"Hang on to what?" Rucks yelled 'what' when Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around the front of his chest, behind his forelegs. Before he could say another word, she lifted off into the sky.

Ch. 12: A toast to bad news

Chapter 12

A toast to bad news

True to her word, Rainbow Dash reappeared faster than any pony could say 'Chimmy Cherry Changa' three times fast. Although one pony could probably pull it off easily. Rainbow lowered Tale next to Hammer then landed next to her friends who were standing across from them. Tale took a moment, after the uncomfortable flight, to rub behind his foreleg.

"Not exactly the most comfortable flight, but it got the job done," Tale said to himself. He turned his gaze toward Hammer and smiled. "Good to see ya still in one peace. I'm not surprised though. You've faced worse creatures in Caelondia. Heck, I remember once..." He trailed off as he realized something. "Ah, sorry. My storyteller is showing."

"Maybe another time, Tale." Hammer gave him a light pat on the back. "Right now can you see if this thing can send us back home? Or if it's even functional?" He noticed the monument in the middle of the island seemed covered in soot.

"Sure thing. Should take a couple minutes to look over the entire island for any problems. In the mean time, maybe you could show your new friends around." He motioned toward the five other ponies standing in front of him. Giving everypony a quick nod goodbye, he parted away.

"Yeah... of course," Hammer said, not too fond of suddenly being the tour guide of the Bastion. He motioned the others to follow him into a nearby building.

"What's in there?" Twilight asked as they approached the building. In front it had black cutouts of two bottles, one shorter than the other. The shorter one had what seemed to be a comma with two circles cut out to represent eyes.

"The distillery," Hammer responded simply.

"Distillery?" A hint of excited curiosity in Twilight's voice. "As in... chemistry?" Hammer let out a loud chortle as he found her word choice amusing.

"Also known as beer, booze, spirits, liquor... chemistry," Hammer listed off nonchalantly with another chuckle. "You sound like you've never heard of... alcohol..." He slowly realized she was serious when Twilight was still looking at him with a small smile, clearly interested in learning about it.

"Do you even know what Beer is?" He received a collection of head shakes from the five ponies.

"Liquor?" Still no luck.

"What about wine? By Roathus's great thirst, please say you at least know what that is."

"Oh! yes darling," Rarity stated. "I've been known to have a glass of wine every now and then."

There may be hope for this world yet. Hammer jerked his head toward the building behind him.

"Okay then. This place behind me is full of all sorts of...wine. Out of curiosity, is there any laws about drinking in Equestria?"

"Of course!" Rarity spoke up once again. "Nopony would be so uncouth as to give a foal wine. Don't worry dear, we're all old enough to enjoy a nice drink every now and then. To be honest, I am quite curious about your world's tastes."

"Alright, but some of these drinks might seem strange. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"And then I nosedived down and caught Rarity and the wonderbolts. Creating a sonic rainboom while doing it too!" Rainbow Dash yelled, clearly enjoying too much of the distilleries drinks. Hammer glanced at the current bottle she was holding and noticed the familiar blue with leaves and vines wrapped around it.

Bastion Bourbon. With the hints of citrus and berry, mixed with a slight buttery flavor, it was an easy favorite to new drinkers. Hammer would usually drink it hot, making it resemble tea. Very comforting, alcoholic tea. Only one more bottle left too, Hammer noticed with sadness.

He looked at his other friends and saw Rarity had helped herself to a heart shaped bottle, filled with a yellow liquid. The stopper and a single thick bronze curl of filigree went down the front of it.

Lifewine. Women always did love the simple hint of cream and nut it had.

Continuing to look, he saw Fluttershy with a bottle of hearty punch, which she quickly regretted as her tongue was held out from the spiciness. Pinkie Pie, to his amazement, mixed Lunkhead liquor with Bull brandy, making a potent drink that looked and had the consistency of paint thinner and smelled like leather.

"I hope you don't plan on drin-" It was too late. The crazy pony threw her head back and chugged the entire thing down like it was a glass of water. Slamming the mug she used to mix the drinks, she let out a heavy sigh.

"That was good!" She said as she started to smack her lips like she ate a spoonful of peanut butter. The thick drink seemed to at least have some affect.

"Darling, please be careful. You're supposed to enjoy it with small sips." She happily took a tiny sip of her own to demonstrate.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash was still yelling. "Last thing we need is somepony getting-whoa." Her body tilted backwards, risking to tumble off the chair. She pulled forward, but too strongly, and hit her head on the bar counter with a 'thud'. Quiet snoring could be heard coming from the pegasus shortly after.

"Rainbow Dash does have a point." Twilight pointed out, chuckling at the snoozing pegasus. She finished off her small hot cup of black rye. The smell resembling pineapple preserves served piping hot. "Though I have to say this drink is amazing. My mind seems... clearer now? It's difficult to describe. Are there special side-effects to these drinks?"

Hammer finished off his shot glass of Stabsinthe. He sucked on something in his mouth. Puckering his lips, he spat something sharp out of his mouth. A long green needle shot in the air and stuck itself against the dart board across the room.

"Nope," he joked. Just as he set the half-empty Stabsinthe bottle back on the counter, the bar doors swung in.

"Hey, Hammer," Tale spoke as he stepped through the doorway. He motioned with a hoof to come toward him. Hammer jumped off the stool and quickly stepped over with a slight buzz.

"Glad you could join us, Tale. I managed to keep the others from drinking the last bottle of Graver Gimlet." He spat out another needle, hitting a nearby wooden column. Tale looked at the needle for a moment and frowned.

"That's a bad habit you're starting to enjoy," Rucks pointed out with displeasure. "Anyway, I did a full check-up and managed to learn some new things. Before I say anything, do you want the good news or the bad news?"

"Good news first, then I can heavily drink if the bad news is really terrible." Hammer stated, half-joking.

"Very well." Tale cleared his throat. "I checked the entirety of the island from top to bottom, inside and out. The sails below us can still unfurl for travel, so I can safely say we have a form of travel. However..." He continued, wiping the grin off Hammer's face.

"The bad news?" Hammer asked tentatively. Noting the sad expression on his face.

Tale walked back outside and dragged a large, blackened piece of metal that scratched the floorboards. It was shaped like a large funnel on one end, while it had numerous holes on the other, like a muffler. It had the length of possibly his entire pony body. It was obviously nonfunctional since there were several large ruptures in the metal that didn't need to be there.

"This part distributes the energy from those cores and shards you collected. Without this piece, we can't fuel the bastion properly. If there are even cores and shards here, I don't think we have a way to repair this piece of junk." He kicked the piece of metal, making a sharp clang.

"So essentially. You're telling me we're stuck here?" Seeing Rucks nod his head sadly, Hammer didn't say another word as he trotted purposefully back to the half-bottle of stabinthe with a straight face . He stopped an inch from grabbing it.

Need something stronger, he grunted.

Going to the cabinet that held the rest of the booze, he grabbed a sphere-like, dark-purple bottle with a silver topper. Taking off the topper, he immediately began chugging the entire thing down. The last thing he remembered was the ground rapidly approaching, coming close to give him a hug.

Ch. 13: Talented stripes (Zia Side-story)

Chapter 13

Talented stripes

While Hammer and the others were busy at the Bastion, Zia enjoyed her time in Ponyville. Or at least whoever she managed to say hi to before they noticed she wasn't somepon named Zecroa.. They seemed to fear her after realizing that, which she found odd since she didn't look any different besides her white and black striped body. Maybe it was her choice of clothes? Or possibly the harp guitar wrapped to her back? She may never know.

As the day went by with little luck in conversation with the other residents, she stopped by Sugarcube corner. It was mid-afternoon when she passed by the delectable smell of baking pastries. It showed the way while her stomach took control of her hooves. She entered the doorway and found the place empty of customers. It would've been thought deserted if she didn't hear pleasant humming coming from the swing doors behind the counter.

The colorful confectioneries under the glass window at the counter caught her eye and she heard her stomach grumble that it wanted one. Unfortunately her mind beat her stomach with the fact she didn't have any money to buy the deliciousness hiding behind the glass.

As she turned around, something that sounded like a squeaking metal door came from the back room. The humming stopped and the sound of disappointed muttering came afterwards. Her curiosity took control and she peeked under the swing-doors.

"Oh dear, this is just awful!" A light blue pony with a mane that reminded Zia of red frosting said. She was busy examining a tray on a counter, but Zia couldn't get a good look at what was wrong with her head low to the ground. Bringing her head back up, she pushed lightly on the swinging door and it made a loud squeak.

"Is that you Pinkie?" The pony turned around and spotted Zia, a small smile forming on her face. "Oh! hello Zecora. What brings you here?" She eyed "Zecora's" mane and noticed it didn't have the Mohawk she usually styled. "I love your new-" She then noticed her cutie mark was what looked like a harp and the blue pony's expression changed from a smile to a hoof to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. I thought you- Your stripes made it hard to- I mean-" she stumbled out an apology completely embarrassed.

Zia found the pony in front of her amusing to watch, but she also felt sorry for the poor mare for disturbing her when she could've just left the store.

"It's alright, I actually came back here to find out what was the matter." Zia quickly explained to change the subject.

"It's not a problem, miss. I only ruined my third batch of lemon cakes." She said as if it wasn't a big deal. Three silver trays were behind her; the one on top was lightly smoking. "Now, we don't get many zebra's in Ponyville," she began happily, mostly to get her mind off her disaster. She placed a hoof to her chest in greeting. "I'm Mrs. Cake." She looked at Zia expectantly for her to give a name.

"Zia," she replied simply. She gave a small bend with her forehooves in what she guessed was the pony resemblance of a curtsy.

"Pleased to meet you Miss Zia. Now, was there something you wished to buy? I baked some cupcakes earlier so they should be still warm." Zia slumped her shoulders, which took away her smile.

"I would, but I forgot I don't have any money on me at the moment. I just came back here to see if you needed help, but everything seems under control. I'll just come by tomorrow." Zia turned to leave.

"You wish to help me?" Mrs. Cake said with slight surprise. "I suppose I could use help making a new batch of lemon cakes. If you help me make the next three batches, I'll give you half a dozen, free of charge." Seeing Zia nodded her head in agreement, she pointed toward a sink across the kitchen. "Go ahead and wash up. I'll gathering more ingredients for us."

After Zia washed up and took the harp off her back, they began to make the lemon cakes. Zia was an expert when it came to cooking and would usually create from scratch whatever she could find during her stay at the Bastion. Although most of her cooking on the Bastion was soups and stews, before the Calamity she would bake. Though she had to admit not being near an oven for so long had made her a bit rusty.

After receiving several burns and her mane mixed with cake batter, Zia finished baking the treats. Four large silver pans of yellow cake sat on the counter and the strong scent of lemons filled the air. She eyed the cake in earnest until she heard giggling coming from Ms. Cake.

"I'm sorry dear, but you look ridiculous. Why don't you go use the restroom upstairs and clean that batter out of your mane. I'll box up your share like I promised."

Zia focused on a strand of mane that hung limply in front of her face and she saw a yellow glob attached to it. Most likely from mixing the batter too roughly since it was difficult for Zia to do it with her mouth. She nodded her head and trotted upstairs to rid herself of the lemon-scented batter from her mane.

Zia came back down wither her mane kept as close as possible to the way it was before the baking. She began to wonder how these ponies even manage to get by using so many objects obviously meant for human hands. Zia found Ms. Cake behind the counter with a small pink box on top of it, wither her harp beside it. She nudged both objects forward with her nose as a sign to take them with her.

"Thank you so much for the help, Zia. I hope to see you tomorrow. I'll be making several chocolate bundt cakes for somepony and could use the help." Ms. Cake helped Zia keep the box on her back and waved her goodbye, wishing again for her to visit tomorrow.

Zia trotted down the street with the pink box on her back and her harp hanging against her chest, wrapped in the same cloth. The day had gone by fast from all the baking and she was surprised to find the sun had started to fall when she left. As she followed the street leading to her room, she noticed to her right flashing lights. Her eyes lit up as she saw the chalk stand-up sign next to the entryway of the building.

"Come for a one in a lifetime chance to sing/dance/play your heart out in a contest for the best performer in Ponyville." Zia quietly said out loud. "Only one rule: You can only sign up alone. No duets, triplets, etc. First place wins five-hundred bits."

Zia would've been excited if she knew what a pony could do with that much money. The thought of performing in front of a crowd intrigued her more than the reward though. She always loved to sing with her harp guitar in hand. or hoof in this case. Curious to find more information about the contest, she made he way toward the building.

Inside it was mostly empty except for several customers and the bartender on the other side of the room. Dozens of small circular tables meant for two lined the floor. On the far wall perpendicular to the bar was a small rise most likely to be used for today's contest.

The light clank of glass would come from the bar, breaking the silence as one of the customer took a swig of their poison. All of the curtains were closed and whatever lighting there was, it was mostly focused on the stage. A single dim light hung above the bar, letting him work without knocking over any of the bottles.

Soon as the door closed behind her the bartender glanced up from his work and raised an eyebrow upon noticing Zia. She walked passed the rows of small tables and stopped in front of the bar to greet the bartender, but he did it first.

"Evenin' Miss. What can I get'cha?" The bartender's voice reminded her of Rucks, only younger. He placed his hooves on the bar and waited for an answer.

"You can call me Zia, and I'm actually here for the contest." Zia replied quickly and quietly, to not disturb the others from their drinks. It didn't work as the other customers were giving gazes of their own and she wasn't sure if they were out of distrust or curiosity. The bartender seemed to notice this as he threw a rag at the nearest one.

"The hay is wrong with ya? Mother ever teach ya that it's rude ta stare?" Grumbling that he had to get another rag, he focused his attention back to Zia. "You wish to join the contest, hmm? Might I ask what you'll be doing?" Zia responded by nodding toward the instrument hanging around her chest.

"Nothing too fancy. Just some singing with my harp." The bartender stopped cleaning the glass mug in his hoof upon hear that.

"Hun, I don't mean to break your spirit, but we have ponies who will be doing just singin. I hear one earth pony will be torch juggling. You can understand how hard that can be with only your hooves."

Zia took a moment to think about that and had to agree that trying to toss multiple torches with hooves was impossible. However, she was determined to at least try.

"Where do I sign up? I'm going to at least do my best!" Zia said with growing enthusiasm. The bartender cracked a smile and pointed to a large sheet of paper to the right of the bar. She walked up to it and quickly noticed the long list of ponies already signed up. Fumbling with the pencil that hung on a small chain next to the roster, she scribbled down her name as legible as possible.

"The contest should start in an hour." The bartender said when she walked back toward him. His gaze shifted to the front door as more ponies were starting to come in and Zia looked as well. Several of them seemed to be contestants. "If you have any preperations to make, now's a good time. If you want, I can hold onto your package." He pointed at the pink parcel on Zia's back.

"Oh, why thank you. Go ahead and take one if you want." Zia reached back and grabbed it with her teeth to place it on the bar counter. The bartender peeked inside the box and grinned.

"That's mighty kind of ya. I'll sneak one while the contest is going on. It would be rude of me to eat something so delicious when I should be workin." He placed the package somewhere behind the counter and motioned a nod toward the red curtains behind the stage. "Good Luck, Miss Zia. You're gonna need it."

Zia tested her guitar harp several times, enjoying the soft twang it gave off. She was seated against a wall where chairs lined up, away from all the other ponies. Several of the other contestants had instruments of their own and she could spot one testing her violin. Another held a small pony doll in its lap with a hoof hiding behind its back. The array of different talents the group had was impressive.

"Careful with those!" The voice broke above the sea of other noises. Zia looked for the source and spotted a tan pony with fiery red mane yelling at another smaller pony who was picking up several large sticks. The red pony sighed in irritation and focused to look around the room. His gaze finally shifted to Zia's, who looked away out of losing interest at the commotion he started.

"Hello... what have we here?" The red pony said to himself before casually trotting over to Zia's sitting form. He held a friendly grin on his face. "Hello my dear. My name Flame Brand. May I be so bold as to say you look very stunning Miss..."

"Zia," she replied simply, too focused on tuning her instrument. Flame Brand repeated the name like it was some sort of captivating new idea. "Are you alright?' Finally looking up from her harp in mixed annoyance and confusion.

"Apologies, it's rare to meet a Zebra in Equestria. Especially in a small town such as Ponyville." His gaze took in her form and the odd, yet colorful sense of style the zebra had. "I've always found Zebras to be quite exotic." The look on his face made Zia cringe and lean back against the wall. She clearly didn't enjoy his company anymore, but he wasn't getting the clues.

Thankfully somepony announced that it was time to start the contest, causing Flame to turn toward the voice. Zia took this moment to sneak away before he noticed her joining the gathering crowd. Feeling safe amongst the other ponies, she kept here head low until it was her turn to play her piece.

As each contestant finished, they appeared back behind the curtains. Some had big smiles on their face while several were disappointed. One came back covered in what smelled like tomato juice. She was impressed with several of them. The pony with the doll on his lap got tons of laughs with his act. A pegasus with a xylophone used her wings to play a fast-paced tune. When she came backstage, Zia gave a quick compliment for her amazing performance.

Flame Brand was called up and she quickly found out he was the torch tossing pony the bartender mentioned about. He held one torch in his mouth which was lit on both sides, while he tossed three others over his head.

Zia was mesmerized, yet confused as to how he was holding the torches without risking one to fall. He continued this for another minute before catching all three in his right hoof and doing a quick bow. The crowd erupted in applause. They continued to even after he snuffed out the torches and left the stage. The entire scene didn't help her confidence at all.

Several more ponies continued their performances until it was Zia's turn. She took several nervous deep breaths before forcing herself to walk on stage. Several gasps came from the packed crowd as they saw her appear on stage and sit on the small stool presented to her. All eyes were upon her and she had thoughts of running backstage to get away from them, but held still. Looking toward the bar, he saw the bartender gave her a small smile and a nod of his head.

"H-hello everypony," Zia started quietly. She cleared her throat and sat up to prepare her song. "The song I will be singing is one I created myself. It's called 'Build that wall'.

The room turned quiet as they waited for the song to start. The sound of soft humming came from the zebra which reminded them of a mother humming to a child. She played her harp guitar along with the humming, but stopped momentarily when she spoke. The words came out slow and soft, but loud enough for everypony to hear.

I dig my hole you build a wall

One day that wall is gonna fall

Gon' build that city on a hill

Some day those tears are gonna spill

So build that wall and build it strong cause

We'll be there before too long

Gon' build that wall up to the sky

Some day your bird is gonna fly

Gon' build that wall until it's done

But now you've got nowhere to run

So build that wall and build it strong cause

We'll be there before too long

The last word seemed to echo through the room as she rested the harp on her lap. She had closed her eyes to focus on the task and found it helped her relax; to ignore the dozens of staring ponies. When she opened her eyes, she found the crowd with expressions of awe and for once, she enjoyed the staring.

It took a moment for everypony to notice the singing had stopped. The crowd erupted in cheering while several also applauded. Zia couldn't help herself in smiling at the reaction. Giving a small bow, she trotted happily backstage. The contestants had mixed reactions her amazing singing when she appeared through the curtains. Some gave their support while others were none too pleased.

"The crowd sure enjoyed your singing," Flame Brand pointed out. "I'd say you may even beat me." He leaned in close to whisper. "Tell you what. If either of us win, we split it fifty-fifty. I'll even treat you to a nice restaurant I know of. My treat of course. How about it?" Zia stepped back and glare at him.

"I'll pass," a disgusted look on her face. Thankfully he dropped the subject with a grim look on his face at being rejected. The last of the contestants finished their pieces before the announcer stood on stage to give the winner.

"We had some amazingly talented ponies, don't you agree!" The cheering from the crowd answered back. "Now, without further ado I have the scores from our judges in the back."

Zia grew nervous suddenly. She didn't remember seeing a judging table or anything of the sort. Maybe they're were hidden with the crowd. She hoped they were close enough to clearly hear her singing as she feared she didn't sing loud enough.

"And the prize for the best talented pony in Ponyville goes to..."

Her hammering heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. She always hated when they did this sort of thing to draw tension instead of just tell who the winner was.

"Zen?" When nopony came on stage to collect their prize, the announcer appeared, his head poking through the curtains. "Anypony named Zen here?" Zia felt her face blush as she walked up to the announcer.

"Excuse me. I think you got my name wrong. Are you sure it's not Zia? I wrote my name in cursive and my writing is a tad, uhm... rusty." The announcer, a light-orange pony with a microphone for a cutie mark, looked at her.

"Hm, I guess Bright was right. One of the judges and I tried to figure out what your name was, but could barely read it. Many apologies Miss Zia." He motioned for her to follow him on the stage to collect her prize. The crowd ad turned to confused murmurs at what was going on. When Zia and the announcer reappeared, they quickly noticed the mix-up and broke out into more cheering.

Tears of joy sprang from Zia's eyes as she clutched the small trophy in her hooves. The announcer told her that the bits would be given tomorrow at the bar, all she had to do was ask the bartender for them. She half paid attention as she gave small waved to the crowd. To her it was the best time she ever had ever since being in Ponyville.

Flame Brand snapped one of his juggling sticks in frustration. He was beyond mad at this point. A zebra comes out of nowhere and steals the show. A show he perfected to the point even Manehatten's theaters asked for him to return. How can singing and playing that flimsy looking instrument be better than his? Even worse was how she shrugged off hid advances like he was a nobody like every other pony there.

"How could she just brush me away like that? Was I too creepy? I admit she looked very beautiful. Maybe Zebra's find it off-putting to be called exotic. Maybe if... Silver, are you listening to me?"

"Of course, sir," Silver lining, his personal servant, said with mock interest. The smaller pony was busy putting his things away in the carriage. Flame sighed in frustration at his monotone uninterested voice.

"No matter. I will find a way to get the zebra Zia to love me!" He stood proudly in determination. "Or so help me my name isn't Flame Brand!"

'It isn't, sir. You changed your name for the sake of entertain-" Silver didn't finish as one of the broken sticks hit him on the head.

Ch. 14: Writing letters and misplacing tools

Chapter 14

Writing letters and misplacing tools

Celestia's sun began its rise across the horizon to greet Equestria once again. Ponies everywhere awoke to enjoy the new day their Princess brought them, happy to continue their lives with their friends. Up in the sky on a floating island, a single pony wished otherwise.

"Ugh," Hammer groaned intelligently as he heaved himself on the floor to rest on his side. His mind felt like an anklegator was digging into his skull after chugging down that entire bottle dreadrum last night. He didn't regret it at all either. After hearing that he would be stuck here, he wanted one more day to be ignorant about it.

That didn't mean he didn't enjoy his stay here. The inhabitants in Equestria were the friendliest creature's he's ever met. There were just some things back home he had to fix. People he wished to see one more time. Things he wanted to change out of regret... specifically what he did to Zulf.

A book had been found written by Zia's father. Apparently he had worked with the mancer's, Caelondia's greatest minds, to create the Calamity. When Zulf discovered that the Calamity was supposed to be used as a weapon to finish off his people, he sabotaged the Bastion and left.

His actions lead him to his demise when Kid found him facefirst in the snow, beaten by his own people. When he first found him, his anger was still fresh and only held malice for Zulf almost destroying Caelondia's only hope. But as he now looks back at his actions, he feels only regret. His anger clouded his judgement. His anger caused the death of a friend.

Wishing to not remember anymore of his past, Hammer focused on lifting himself from the floor. He looked around the room of the distillery to find everypony snoozing. Fluttershy and Rarity had found a pile of comfortable large pillows near a corner and were curled up on them. Rainbow Dash was laying on a table to his right, with Applejack under it. Pinkie Pie was on the bar counter laying on her back while Twilight had her face planted near her head on the counter as well. Rucks was nowhere to be seen.

Hammer slowly stepped outside and took in the sight of the bright sun peeking over the mountains to the east. The rays gave him a slight headache from the hangover, but he did his best to ignore it. With squinted eyes, he walked over to the center of the Bastion which held the Monument. The black monolithic structure was large enough to block the early morning sun, leaving Kid in the shade. It was his only hope to take him back to Caelondia, but now it was just useless scrap metal. Without the part Rucks showed him last night, his hope crumbled to dust.

I won't give up now. There has to be a way back. Surely this land has an equivalent to Burstone Steel.

Kid has seen Burstone Steel all over Caelondia. It was a common, but expensive ore located only in Burstone Quarry. Most of the reason it was expensive was the long distance needed to ship it back to town. It had strange properties where it could be forged like the softest clay, but when cooled afterwards it could rival diamond in hardness. This trait was also a curse. While it was resistant to heat, physical force could still pierce it. If it were to bend, break or warp, a entire new piece would be needed as you couldn't remold the leftovers.

"Hammer? You're up early." Hammer turned around to greet whoever woke as well.

"Hey Twilight. Yeah, I just came outside to get some fresh air. A bit cold since we're so high, but it feels nice." Twilight sat down and looked at him with slight concern.

"Is something bothering you? I've learned it's better to talk about it to friends that keep it to yourself," she counseled.

"I'm just a little worried if I'll get home or not. After Rucks brought in the broken piece, I wanted to give up," Hammer admitted. "I appreciate your concern though, but Rucks, Zia, and I have always managed to get through anything. I'm sure there's a way."

"I just can't imagine what it must be like." She looked at the lush grass around her hooves. "I don't know what I would do if-" A hoof on her shoulder stopped her mid-sentence.

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's to not worry about the if's and the past. Focus on the present, but remember your mistakes. Had to learn this lesson the hard way ever since the Calamity occurred." He suddenly remembered what Twilight said when he ran into her in Sugarcube Corner. "Speaking of lesson's, have you learned anything to report about friendship yet?"

"How do you know about my reports?" Twilight had a shocked expression on her face, then quickly changed to anger. "Were you snooping through my bedroom?"

"What? No, I wouldn't do something like that," Hammer defended himself. "I was just eavesdropping on you and your friends at Sugarcube Corner. Remember?"

"Oh... so you know about the spell?" She shuffled her hooves nervously.

"Yep. So tell me about these friendship reports."

"Everytime I learn something new about friendship I send a report to Princess Celestia, who's my mentor. Lately I haven't learned anything new about friendship." She hung her head in shame, but quickly lifted her head with a hopeful smile on her face. "Which is why I was hoping you would have something to share."

Hammer batted his red bandanna thoughtfully. He had an idea for a report, but it was a morbid thing to learn. He agreed it would be ideal to tell Twilight and ask for her opinion.

"Remember when I told you about Zulf? How I left him behind?" Twilight simply nodded her head. "Well I learned something while standing out here with my thoughts."

"Really?" Twilight's eyes brightened. Hammer finally noticed she had her saddlebags on as she pulled out a quill and scroll of parchment. "Go on..."

"I learned that-" He was interrupted by a small cough from Twilight.

"Would you mind starting with 'Dear Princess Celestia?'" Asking with a smile on her face.

"Uh... sure." Clearing his throat, he continued. "Dear Princess... Celestia." He glanced Twilight's way to make sure it was good enough. "Today I discovered that friendships can be broken through anger easily. Controlling one's emotions and thinking before you act can lead to weather or not you will lose a friend. If someone is angry or frustrated with you, it's best to stay calm and understand what they are going through. Not only will you still be friends, but the bond will be stronger than before."

Hammer watched Twilight furiously scribble on the parchment. After poking the end with a dot, she look at him expectantly.

"What? Did I miss something?" Twilight let out a sigh. She flipped the parchment so he could read his writing and poked the blank space below with the quill.

"Every letter needs a closing," she told like everypony knew it.

"Oh, uh... Yours truly, Hammer Whirl?" Twilight scribbled down the last part with a sigh. "Now what did I do wrong?"

"Sorry, but I'm sending this letter to the Princess. It's too... informal."

"Would it be better if I said 'Your royal subject'?" Hammer joked.

"Actually yes... yes it would." Hammer rubbed a hoof at the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"I'll be sure to remember that," he deadpanned. "So I suppose you're going to use magic to send it?"

"Of course! Usually I have Spike send my letters, but he's not here right now. I haven't used the spell in a while now so give me a moment."

Twilight pulled out a strip of red cloth and securely wrapped the scroll. She set it on the ground between both of them and pointed her horn at the scroll. Hammer watched as it started to glow a light purple. As seconds went by it grew steadily to a deeper color.

Twilight felt the spell was ready. All she had to do was release and...

"Good morning Twilight!" Pinkie Pie yelled from behind her.

Twilight instinctively jumped from the sudden noise just when she released the spell. Her aim got thrown slightly higher than she wanted and hit Hammer on the top of his hoof. The magic quickly surrounded his body and lifted him up a foot off the ground.

"Twilight, shut off your horn or something!"

"I-I can't, once the spell is cast-" She couldn't finish as Hammer turned into a poof of sparkling smoke and was whisked away toward Canterlot. "Oh no, this is not good!" She turned toward Pinkie who was smiling, though it was now sheepish. "Pinkie! What did I tell you about sneaking up on me like that while I'm casting spells?"

"Uhm... not to do it?"

"Precisely! Now Hammer Whirl just got sent directly to..." Further realization of what might happen to him and what she had just done settled in her mind. "We need to get to Canterlot. Now!"

I only hope she's not doing something to make his arrival that much more awkward...

Ch. 15: An entertaining Intruder

Chapter 15

An entertaining Intruder

What does a pony do when they're put in a dangerous situation surrounded by hostile guards and no escape in sight? Anypony would obviously give up without a fight.

... right?

Celestia took a moment to nibble on a apple floating in front of her. Contentment filled her face in the form of a small smile as she enjoyed her breakfast. Around her were bowls filled with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and oats. Glass pitchers were filled with juices, water, and milk. All of it looked delicious, but Celestia focused on the box she grabbed with her magic. It had the familiar pony who was a teacher at the schoolhouse in Ponyville. The thought that Cheerilee had a cereal named after herself never ceased to bring a chuckle to her lips.

She tipped the box and the bowl below it was filled with small oat-flavored o's. She poured milk over it until it at least coated the cereal, but not enough so it was swimming in it. Admiring her "cooking", she placed the spoon in the bowl to enjoy the rest of her breakfast. That is, until she saw a wisp of purple smoke fly across the room toward her.

"A letter from Twilight. This early?" she mumbled. Preparing to grab the light object of parchment with her magic, she was surprised when it slipped from her grip so easily. "What is the meaning of this?" Celestia asked in a irritated tone as she found it to be anything but a letter. A tan pony with a pure white mane had appeared in front of her and landed in her bowl of Cheerilee'o's. The milk had splashed across the table, the ground, and herself.

Luna, who was enjoying her own breakfast across the long table, looked up from her own bowl. Her eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the pony as well, but quickly changed to anger. "Thou would dare interrupt us during our eating of favorite cereals?" She put down her spoon of Lunar Bits. "Guards!" Immediately, six guards each appeared through the two doorways perpendicular to the table. She then pointed a accusing hoof at Hammer. "Seize this intruder!"

Luna's yelling awoke Hammer and he took a moment to look at his surroundings. Above him was a tired, regal, and very confused unicorn, looking down at him with a mix of disdain and curiosity. Attempting to get out of the bowl, he tipped it over and spilled the contents, and himself, across the floor. Shaking off the bits of cereal and milk from himself, he turned his attention to the guards that had begun to approach him.

"Hang on now. I didn't come here on my own will. Twi-" He was interrupted by a yelling dark unicorn with wings across the table. Wait... wings? He glanced over at the white pony he thought was a unicorn and sure enough, she had wings as well. So does that make them Pegacorns? Uni... sai?

"You can make up your pitiful excuses in the dungeon, cur!" The guards continued their slow approach.

Hammer looked toward the other, which he could only guess to call pegacorn, for some form of help. Instead she had a hint of a smile on her face and glint in her eye, which confused him to no end. Is she finding this amusing? I'm about to be stuck in a cell for who knows how long! Letting a growl come from his throat, he faced the guards once more. "So the hard way it is then," Hammer muttered.

The first guard that got close to him thought he wouldn't put up a fight, that is until he headbutted him through his metal helmet. The action stunned both of them for a moment, but disappeared before the guard could retailate. Running around the stunned guard, he dodged a tackle from another pony and jumped on one standing in front of him. The action surprised the guard for a moment before his face was thrown forward as Hammer kicked off his head to sail through the air. He flew over more guards that had piled through the doorway to see what the disturbance was. They looked up dumbly as he flew over their heads and landed in the hallway, then quickly bolted down the hallway. No sooner did he touch the carpet did the guards follow in hot pursuit.

Celestia watched in silent awe as the intruding pony somehow managed to avoid more than fifteen of her trained royal guards. She was beginning to wonder if the captain of the guard had been slacking with training this month. As several servants began to clean the mess the strange pony created, she looked toward her sister who was still standing up in her chair. A part of her was happy that today wouldn't be another boring day in the castle

"Luna, please sit down. The guard will take care of him." She said in a soft calming tone to alleviate Luna's displeasure of recent events. Another bowl replaced the empty space in front of her by a servant which she nodded appreciatively.

"B-But sister! This is most worrying. How could one pony infiltrate our breakfast time so easily? We must raise security at once!"

"I would not worry about it, Sister. I think another pony is to blame for this pony's predicament." Celestia had clearly heard the pony say "Twi" before Luna cut him off. She would have to contact her student with haste before things went badly for the poor pony.

"After breakfast," she said with finality. She levitated a spoonful of delicious cereal to her mouth. "Mmm."

"Stop running or we will use force!" One of the guards chasing after Hammer yelled.

"You guards sure don't know when to give up, huh?" Hammer huffed as he burst through another set of doors. The noise alerted the guards next to them and they joined the group behind him. Don't they have something else they could be doing? He then remembered how boring this world seems to be, with barely any sort of danger ever appearing. Oh yeah. So I'm basically the entire royal guards entertainment for today. Fantastic A bolt of magic whizzed past his head and the smell of burnt hair filled his nostrils, which quickly woke him from his thoughts.

Hammer knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. Especially when they finally decided to bring magic into the chase. Not to mention his lungs were starting to sting from all of this running. When he turned another corner, which at this point he had lost count, a gold-inlaid hoof pulled him aside. The door shut when he was pulled inside and the rumble of all the royal guard chasing him went past, and eventually faded.

He found himself back inside the same room he had started in, but without the dark pony who had sicced the royal guard on his flank. Instead he found himself alone next to the familier presence of the white regal pony with a hoof wrapped around his neck in a head-lock. He looked up and met his gaze with her's which had the calm sense of a patient experienced ruler. Though the way she wouldn't let him out of her grip told him something else entirely.

"I believe the both of us need to have a small chat... My little pony."

"So it is true, Hammer Whirl. Twilight Sparkle is to blame for sending you to me?" Celestia asked rhetorically. She took a moment to enjoy a sip of after-breakfast tea. They had already introduced themselves. Hammer didn't take the fact Princess Celestia was a goddess of Equestria very lightly, and that they were actually called "Alicorns". He knew the gods and goddesses of his world were spontaneous at best. He wondered if Celestia and Luna were exactly the same.

It reminded him of his god, Jevel, the god of health and atrophy. Those who prayed to him were known to have long youthful lives, or, weak and brittle ones. No one was sure what caused him to changed his mind to each person who prayed. He seemed to give his gift and curse at will. Or the god of thirst and plenty, Roathus. When his people prayed for rain, it sometimes would come, or cause a serious drought. To understand what was going through the minds of his gods and godesses would be like trying to understand Pinkie Pie.

Hammer was busy looking at the small set of china before him more than drinking its contents. "More towards her friend Pinkie Pie," he admitted. "She was meant to send her friendship report, but Pinkie frightened and threw her aim off to hit me instead. Not intentionally of course."

"I see." That mischievous smile he saw before the guard chased him reappeared on his face. It unnerved Hammer every time she did it. "And here I thought the rumors of colts falling into a mare's lap was myth." She let out a laugh when hammer to blush profusely. "Ah, I needed that laugh." She chuckled once more before resting back in her chair. "Anyway. I suppose since you're a friend of Twilight's you may stay here for now. I'll send a letter to let her know you're staying-"

Another purple wisp of smoke appeared before her, cutting their chat short. She was curious, but prepared to catch what she thought would be either another colt, or possibly Spike. When a normal letter popping into existence, she chuckled at her own silliness for thinking Twilight would be that Foalish with her magic. She unrolling it and read the letter with a light smile, which turned into a worried frown as she continued. When she finished the letter, she looked at Hammer over the parchment.

"Did you and Twilight have a argument?" She levitated the letter over to Hammer, which he grasped in his hooves.

He remembered the friendship report he had Twilight write and the uncomfortable subject about anger, which justified Celestia's worry over the subject. "No, Princess. what happened that made me write this report happened a long time ago. If you don't mind, I'd like to not talk about it." Hammer set the letter next to his tea and decided he could really use something to soothe his dry throat after the long run.

"I understand if you don't wish to talk about something like that. I've witnessed it first-hoof after all," she said sadly.

The room was filled with uncomfortable silence, only the sound of Celestia or Hammer enjoying their tea seemed to break it. The sound of a door opening brought both ponies attention toward it. Standing in the doorway was one of the many servants. Next to him was Twilight Sparkle, her mane in a frizzy mess.

"Princess!" She rushed over to Celestia's side and put her forehooves on the arm of it so she was looking straight at her with a pleading look. "Please don't throw Hammer in a dungeon. Or banish him. Or throw him in the dungeon and banish it somewhere!" She begged.

"what are you going on about my faithful student?" Celestia asked with a smile, ignoring her disheveled state. "I'm not throwing him or banishing him anywhere."

Twilight blinked at her calm question as she tried to process what was happening. "Y-you're not angry at Hammer for suddenly appearing before you?"

Celestia let out a light chortle which didn't seem to calm Twilight's frightened eyes. Letting out a sigh, she lifted Twilight up with magic and set her down in the chair large enough for both of them. "Truthfully? I was quite surprised to see this... 'male' appear in my bowl of cereal this morning, but I didn't want to do any of those things because of it. Luna on the other hoof..." She was interrupted as the door on the other side of the room burst open. Luna, along with the rest of the royal guard were behind her.

"There! Thou shalt not avoid punishment any longer!" Luna pointed with a hoof toward Hammer.

"Uh, I better get goin-" Hammer was mid-way out of his chair when the entire royal guard barreled down on him, tipping over the chair in the process. "Ack!"

Princess Celestia put a hoof to her forehead and shook her head, a smile on her face. "Sometime's Twilight, I wonder if a normal day is too much to ask of you."

Ch. 16: It's good to be back

Chapter 16

It's good to be back

"Guards, release Hammer at once," Celestia commanded in a stern tone. Within several seconds, the group of guards piled off their victim and quickly stood at attention toward her. Hammer took this moment to stumble across the room and sit next to Twilight, away from the guards. "I would say I'm disappointed in all of you for not being able to capture a single pony, but I'm not." Several of the guards relaxed a bit upon hearing this. "In fact, I'm only disappointed in my unicorn guard who didn't have the brilliant idea to use holding magic to keep him in place. It Makes me wonder if you were only chasing him for the sport of it."

Her disappointed look brought an uneasiness to the unicorns in front of her. "Because of your actions, I will be having a word with Shining armor about it later. Until then all of you are to return to your posts." The guards quickly filed out of the room, the unicorns ahead of everypony else, until the room was empty. Celestia then turned to her sister with the same disappointed frown on her face. "Luna..."

"We were only doing what we thought was the best course of action," she explained herself quickly while prodding both hooves together nervously. "Who knows what his intentions may have been."

Celestia let a soft laugh escape her lips, which cause Luna to furrow her brow in confusion. "I'll admit, I could have stopped it as well, but I found it too entertaining. Although the entertaining part disappeared quickly after most of the on-duty guard joined the chase, but I suppose I am to blame as much as you are." Luna let a smile appear on her face, which brought one to Celestia's as well. "For now, let's not dwell upon it as we have guests." She turned to look toward Twilight. "I'm sorry you had to see that Twilight. I'm sure your brother will be quite busy this week."

Twilight took a moment to straighten her messy mane. "Oh, it's quite alright. I should be apologizing for coming like this." She pointed at the purple mess on her head. "It kinda got stuck like this after teleporting in front of Canterlot."

"Oh?" She giggled as her new mane style reminded her of a certain pink party pony. "May I ask how far you traveled?"

Twilight helped herself to a seat next to where Celestia soon sat down in her own. "Not too far," Twilight said calmly. "Only roughly the distance between Canterlot and Trottingham."

"Trottingham?" Shock obvious in Celestia voice. "Twilight, I know you're the element of magic, but you must be more careful. Long distance teleportation is dangerous, even for you," she scolded.

"I know," Twilight hung her head in shame. "But I had to get here A.S.A.P before Hammer got in trouble because of my mishap." She glanced at Hammer who was busy helping himself to the after-breakfast tea. "To which I'm grateful he's not in the dungeon at the moment. Speaking of... I hope you found Hammer's report satisfactory?"

"It was quite an... interesting subjecy. There's a story to it, but he prefers to keep it a secret from me."

"Actually, secrets is the reasons I came here to meet you, Princess. Before I say anything on the subject, could you make this conversation a bit more private?

Celestia simply nodded and with a pulse of her horn, a soundproof spell was cast on the entire room. "Better?" She smiled.

"Much better, thank you. Now I want both of you to trust me when I say this. It may sound far-fetched, but I truly believe what Hammer has told me is the truth." The two Princesses only nodded in understanding and Twilight took a deep breath before she 'spilled the beans'.

"Hammer isn't a pony."

The room seemed to grow uncomfortably quiet as the Princesses stared at Twilight and Hammer. After they had switched looking at the two ponies several times did Celestia speak up. "Care to explain, my student? Are you saying he's a changeling?"

"What? No! He's... something called a Hewman, but he's somehow a pony, but... Ugh!" Twilight looked ready to ruffle her already messy mane since she couldn't find the right words. "Maybe it would be better if you explain it to them Hammer."

"Alright." Hammer stood up in his chair and took a deep breath. "Like she said, I'm a human. Think of us as hairless intelligent monkeys who have lifestyles just like yours. Only we... wear clothes all the time." He scratched his mane as he found himself getting off track. "Back in my world, everyone would call me 'Kid'. After awhile I gave up on my real name and just stuck with it. The world I came from is called Caelondia. I could tell you everything about it, but we would be here throughout the rest of the day. Instead, I'll tell you how I ended up here.

"A day ago I brought Twilight and her friends to the Bastion. A floating island of paradise we brought with us just above Trottingham."

"Us? There are more of you... 'hewmans'?"

"Humans," Hammer corrected politely. "And yes, there are two others who are my close friends. Anyway, the Bastion was supposed to restore our world, but for some reason it sent us to your world instead. As for why I'm now a pony, that brings us to why we're here. We need a really big favor from you."

Celestia glanced at Twilight to confirm if she was in on this as well. "Very well. What is your 'really big favor'?"

"We need the magic-drain spell."

Immediately the friendliness from both Princess' disappeared. Celestia stared at Hammer as if he had just slapped her. "How do you know of that spell?" She asked in a hushed tone, even when there was a soundproof spell up.

"He may have heard me mention it while I was talking to some friends in Sugarcube Corner, Princess," Twilight explained nervously. "Rarity and I came to the conclusion that when Hammer entered our world, he soaked up enough magic that his body forcefully turned into a pony. Hammer told me that in his world, magic isn't as abundant as ours. So it might be possible his body adapted to this environment. Just like how our coats get thicker during the winter."

"All ponies do have some form of magic surrounding them," Luna added. "I am not surprised he is a Earth pony as they have the smallest aura of magic. Your guess is possibly the correct answer to his problem, Twilight."

Celestia nodded toward Luna in agreement for her deduction. "I can see where you're going with needing this spell then. However, I cannot give it to you. I trust you with all my heart, Twilight. But some things are best kept locked away from anypony." Twilight nodded her head in understanding. "Instead I will cast the spell myself. Butt are you certain you wish to do this? Draining somepony of their aura may have side effects even I don't know about."

"No offense, Princess," Hammer began. "But as much as I enjoy being a pony. I would take that risk just to be human again."

Celestia laughed. "No offense taken. I doubt I would enjoy being human either. Now let's begin" Her horn began to glow and she slowly pointed toward Hammer. "Please leave the chair and stand away from the table please."

"Right now? Uh... maybe we should do this somewhere else?" Hammer asked. He watched Celestia's horn nervously, but following her orders anyway. "Last time I checked, I'm not wearing any clothes as a pony. Well, besides my scarf, but that doesn't cover up-" Before Hammer could finish, Celestia fired a beam of white light that was hollow in the middle. It zipped toward him and stopped an inch from his torso, touching his aura. It then began to funnel through the spell like a giant straw and enter through Celestia's horn without any problems.

"Huh, well that felt tingly."

"Do you feel any different?" Twilight asked

"Nothing seems out-of-place, but I have this sudden feeling to start standing on my hind-legs." He gladly started doing that, which the others in the room looked at him funnily. He wasn't paying attention to them as his hooves began to turn transparent. Underneath were five familiar digits he hasn't seen in a long time. It looked like his entire pony body was a illusion slowly fading away. Starting at his four hooves and slowly going up his body. He was greatly relieved when his armor and all his clothes was under the "illusion", Making him wonder why his scarf wasn't hidden.

Because it's magic dummy, he thought sarcastically.

His head and tail was the last to go, revealing his still pure-white and messy hair. When he was back in his human form he immediately felt a familiar tug on his back. He swung a arm over his shoulder and pulled out his Cael Hammer. Feeling the weight in his hands again, he had the sudden urge to smash something, but held it in check for now.

Twilight's jaw hung open as he took in his new form. She always blieved he was telling the truth, but to see the real thing still shocked her. Realizing she was staring, she blushed and shook her head to clear the stunned effect she was feeling. "Wow. You weren't kidding when you said hairless ape." She slowly approched to further examined Hammer's new body. "I can see why you would wear so much clothing. You must be freezing during the winter!" She circled around to look some more, but stopped when she saw something unusual. "Why do you have a giant cog strapped to your back?"

Hammer turned his head back to look at it. "Oh, that's Caelondia's-"

"Twilight, I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to explain that later. Right now we have more important issues. Such as: How are we going to introduce you to the rest of Equestria?" Celestia asked.

Hammer tapped a finger to his lip thoughtfully. "I have an idea that might kill three birds with one stone."

"W-why would you want to kill three innocent birds?" Twilight said in exasperation.

"Whoa! calm down Twilight. It's a manner of speech. What I'm trying to say is we can do three tasks at once." He felt relieved when Twilight didn't look like she was going to spear him with her horn. "I'd like to prove myself to pony society. Secondly, I'd like to repay the Princess back for turning me human again. And thirdly, I want to put my hammer to good use." A smile formed on Kid's lips as he hefted his hammer. "So I gotta ask...

"Got any walls that need being built?"

Celestia, along with four royal guards, escorted Kid through Canterlot's halls. Twilight had to depart for a bit to fix her mane and send a letter to her friends so they knew where she was. 'Let's just hope the mail-pegasus doesn't find it odd I want a letter sent to an island above Trottingham.' She had said before leaving.

"The royal masons take their jobs very seriously, Hammer. Without them, there wouldn't be a Canterlot. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

Hammer had his hammer resting on his right shoulder as they walked passed two servants who were staring at him. "I worked for ten years as a mason in my homeland. Hard brutalizing work that left new members sore across their entire bodies. I'm sure anything they throw at me will be nothing." Celestia hummed with a smirk before turning her head back toward their destination. Soon they approached a pair of solid bronze doors. The windows next to them showed a garden on the other side.

"The royal masons are currently expanding the eastern wing to allow more guest rooms." Celestia explained as the escort opened the doors for them and they proceeded through the gardens. Arrays of flowers, bushes, and even vegetables were on display in neat rows. They continued through the garden, passing by several stone statues. To their left was a large hedge maze. "I hope what you said is true, Hammer. This isn't easy work. Even for them."

"We'll see," Hammer simply responded. They walked down the small cobblestone path and passed more statues until the sound of masonwork could be heard ahead of them. Further ahead, partially behind the hedge maze, were several ponies standing on stacks of large white stones. There didn't seem to be a preferred class of pony to do the work. Earth, pegasus, and unicorn ponies were working together to move the large shaped stones into place. It was already obvious they were creating one of the many long hallways the castle was notorious for having. Off to the side, a earth pony was behind a desk looking over blueprints.

"That's Chip Mason." Celestia motioned toward the pony who was looking over the project. "Or Chip Mason Jr. Though he prefers the 'Jr' left out." Chip must have heard her voice as his head raised from his table to look her way. As the group moved toward the work site, Chip moved toward them until they met in the middle of it.

"Good morning Princess," he said with a small bow. Chip's voice had a airy tone like a pony who didn't like getting their hooves dirty. Hammer was starting to think he was in the wrong business. "Progress is going smoothly and we should be done on schedule."

"That's good to hear, Mr. Mason, but I'm not here to inspect your progress. I have... somepony who would like to work with you."

"With all of my respect Princess, but I already have the best working on this. Anypony else would just slow us down. No. No. He will have to go away."

Okay, now I really hate this pony. He either has leverage or has some massive stones for saying no to the Princess like that.

"Just give him a chance. I'm sure you'll find him a great asset to your work. I assure you." Chip chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully before speaking again.

"Very well, where is he?" Celestia moved out-of-the-way so he could get a clear look at Hammer. He blinked several times as he examined him for a moment a shook his head. "No, he will not do. I won't risk my neck with the help of this... ape."

"I have a name you know," Hammer stated flatly.

"Ye gods! and it speaks too!"

"That's not the only thing I want to do right now," Hammer growled while gripping his mace tightly. A quick stare from Celestia made him lessen his grip and turn away in anger.

"Chip, you will accept his help. Unless of course you wish for your father to know you turned down help..." If Chip's eyes could get any bigger, they might have rolled out.

"N-no that's quite alright. He's most welcome to help us with our work!"

Celestia let a coy smile form on his lips. "Glad to hear it." She turned away to look at Hammer. "I'd love to stay, but my royal duties shall begin soon. When you're done, meet me in the throne room. It's just behind that door and down the hallway." She pointed toward a set of doors located near the stone statues. With the four guards following behind, she bid farewell and left Hammer and Chip alone.

Neither of them looked at each other as they made their way toward the work site. "So what do you need done?" Hammer asked, hoping to at least start a conversation on their common goal. Chip only grunted and returned to his blueprints. After watching him scribble several things down on a pencil did he start to get impatient. "Look, I get you don't like me, but I want to help anyway. So can you please-"

"Shh," Chip shushed.

"Can you-"

"Shh."

"B-"

"You really want to help?" Chip's voice sounding like he was serious. Hammer at this point was rubbing his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose.

"That would be wonderful, yes."

"Then you can go back to wherever you came from, and work there." Hammer's jar was slightly open as he registered what Chip just said.

"I... can't. It's not that easy"

"Well, why not?" Chip finally set the pencil down, since he hasn't written aything done while talking like this.

Hammer's anger was starting to get through as it was evident in his rising voice. "I don't want to talk about it. Nor would I even want to tell you. Just give me my damn job and I'll leave you alone."

"You just won't give up, will you? Listen you foal-" Their argument was cut off as a worker appeared to their side. The female pegasus pony stopped for a moment to eye Hammer uncertainly before reporting to Chip.

"S-sir, we have a problem."

"What is it this time?" Chip snapped. Most of his anger still from his argument with Hammer. The results were still effective to say the least when the worker flinched.

"Somepony fudged on the stone cutting by a half inch and one of the stones won't fit properly."

"Well take it out and cut the stone the extra half inch. Is it really that hard?" The look the worker was giving him said it all. He let out a sigh and buried his face in his hooves. "The block is stuck, isn't it?"

"Yes sir," the pegasus quietly said. All three of them didn't say a peep for a while. Over at the work site, yelling could be heard as they tried to figure out what to do themselves. Finally Chip snapped out of his daze and began trotting toward the site with Hammer followed shortly after him. They arrived at the site to find the wall in perfect shape. Every stone was in place and resting under three more rows, all except one. A stubborn block was barely even in its spot and hung on a small part of its edge.

"Alright. All of you!" chip yelled to get everypony's attention. "Because of your stupidity, we now have to take down the entire wall just to take this single stone out. I don't want to know how, what, why, when, or who. Just do it.

"Chip, I have an easier-"

"I don't want to hear it. I said what needs to be done and that's final."

"Mr. Mason-"

"Don't try to butter me up with the titles. Now move it or lose it." Hammer slowly breathed through his nose to calm his rising anger. The last thing he would want to do is hurt anypony. "Stop standing there like an idiot! I said- Urk!" Hammer grabbed Chip's face and brought it so it was level with his. About a heads worth.

"I've dealt with your kind before back home. They didn't care if I was a good worker because of the color of my hair. Years I had to deal with their condescending crap, and right now I'm tired of yours. If you don't want my help, fine. But I'm going to be a nice guy and do this for you just to show how stupidly short-sighted you are." He released Chip, and he fell on his side with a grunt.

Still feeling the burning anger toward Chip, Hammer purposefully strode toward the stubborn block with his hammer pointed low. It was around several strides long, about as tall as him, and roughly a Cael Hammer's length deep. Already the edges showed some feeble attempt to nudge it in or file it down. He could almost feel the curious eyes around him as they stopped following Chip's orders to watch him. Taking a quick stance with his feet spread far apart, he took several deep breaths. He focused on the center of the stone and never took his eyes off it while standing as still like the very wall ahead of him. The only sound that told you he was about to swing, was the sound of his hands tightening around the handle.

Like a top, he quickly spun in place to build momentum. With perfect precision through experience and countless times pulling it off, he widely swung his hammer; hitting the stone dead-center. The loud sound of stone sliding against stone filled the entire work area as the large block slid into place in a perfect fit. Everpony's jaw went slack when that happened. Even Chip was flabbergasted with what just occurred. Kid simply strode away, a clear smirk on his face for a job well done. As he passed by Chip, he stopped to look down at him.

"If it makes you feel any better. I imagined the center of the block was your face." With that said, Hammer made his way to the throne room while whistling a tune.

Ch. 18 [Part 2] The bigger picture

Chapter 18

Part 2: The bigger picture

Hammer ran down the hallway leading toward Celestia's throne. Bright Sunlight shone through the windows that lined it, momentarily causing him to squint his eyes every time he passed by one. After hearing the faint and disturbing disembodied laughter, Hammer wanted to be as far away as possible from that place. While he would've face whatever was laughing, at him, he had trouble doing so due to the lack of a physical form. He had never truly feared an enemy that he could see, and could feel the punishing blow of his Cael Hammer.

"Halt!" Hammer slowed his momentum to stop in front of the two guards beside the doorway leading to the throne room. The one to his left had yelled at him, while the other seemed to be rolling his eyes. Even stranger was being stopped in the first place. Didn't Celestia at least tell the royal guard who he was?

"Is something wrong?' Hammer asked, chest heaving as he took in deep breaths from his run. Persperation showed on his face clearly from the window he was stopped next to.

"No running in the hallways!" The guard yelled. After saying that, he returned his attention back to staring down the hallway.

I'll do more than run, you stupid... Hammer grumbled. Brushing away the guard's silly request, he opened the doors a bit more forcefully than he wanted to, causing them softly tap the walls beside them. The sound alerted the guards in the hallway, along with the ones in the throne room. Upon seeing him, the guards lowered their guard and returned at attention.

The room itself was certainly something to behold. Colored glass windows lined the room, along with several white pillars. The throne itself was made of gold. Water poured from a basin at the lower portion of it, while a red velvet carpet rolled up to the seat where Celestia was seated. She was currently surrounded by four royal guards and Twilight Sparkle.

"Hammer," Twilight began happily, but sense something was wrong. "Is everything alright? You seem... angry."

Hammer took notice of the slip in his composure. He had a small frown and furrow on his brow that had formed after meeting the friendly guard in the hallway. He rubbed his face as if to wipe it away. "Yeah I'm fine," he consoled. "A guard in the hallway was just being annoying. Nothing to worry about." Seeing Twilight smile with believing everything was fine, he smiled as well. "So any idea when we'll see the others?" He added.

Hearing the question, Twilight sighed. "I haven't received a return letter yet. The pegasus must be having trouble finding the island. How hard could it be to see a chunk of earth floating in the air? How?"

"Twilight, I'm sure the letter returning as we speak," Hammer spoke, doing his best to calm Twilight. "Until then, please keep yourself from pulling your mane out."

"Right... sorry."

Hammer looked up to see Celestia finding the whole thing amusing since she had a smile on her face. He took a step toward the throne and bowed. "Hello, Princess."

Celestia rose from her seat and took her time leaving the throne, walking toward Hammer and Twilight. "Hello again, Hammer. I hope you found your work with Chip to your liking?"

Hammer's smile faltered for a moment after hearing Chip's name. "Complete opposite actually." Hammer explained the same story he told her sister, Luna. Even adding that they chatted a bit as well. After saying his piece, he crossed his arms and awaited for the Princess' reaction.

Celestia gently sighed. "I wish I could say I'm disappointed in your reaction, but there was no way Chip knew about your past. I'm sorry he acted that way toward you, Hammer. I should have stopped when he refused at the start."

"No harm, no foul. I got my revenge by finishing a job that would've taken ten times as long. Maybe he'll think twice before judging a book by its cover." He let a smug smirk grow for a moment before continuing. "But let's not talk about it anymore. It's now part of the past. Besides, I have something very odd that I left out from my story. Are you aware that a ghost is haunting your garden?"

"A ghost?" Celestia rose a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't believe any parts of Canterlot are haunted. Did something happen to prove this?"

"Oh, something happened alright. I heard faint laughter behind me while I was about to leave the garden. But when I looked behind me... nothing was there." Hammer took a moment to shudder as a cold chill ran down his spine. "I was sure no one else was in the garden at the time."

Twilight prodded her bottom lip with a hoof, deep in thought. "Are you sure you weren't just hearing things? Maybe it was the wind," she suggested.

"No, I'm positive I heard something, and there was no wind at all. The weather is very calm and sunny outside."

A soft cough from Celestia caused both of them to look her way. "It seems the only way to resolve this problem is to go see for ourselves." Twilight asked about her duties as Princess, but she held up a hoof to stop her worries. "Today has been a tad slow. Nopony coming to ask for advice, or receive my blessing. No bills to sign, fights over land to settle, et cetera et cetera." She waved a hoof nonchalantly in the air.

"Very well," Hammer said. He simply began walking back to the garden with Celestia, Twilight following behind Two of the guards from the throne also followed, mostly to guard the Princess. Hammer slowed his fast pace so he was beside Twilight. "So how are you going to find out if there's a ghost or not?"

"Easy," twilight began, happy to explain how the spell works. "I read several books about ghosts and most of them overlap their facts. Ghosts are known to absorb any forms on energy in their presence. Magic, fire, even ponies can be susceptible of being drained. That's why if you start to feel cold, it means they're taking your energy. Which, to be honest, doesn't sound like a very pleasant experience. Anyway, all I need to do is bait the ghost with a high source of magic, and it will most likely appear before us. Does... any of that make sense?" She smiled sheepishly, not sure if Hammer was understanding her.

"I think so," Hammer rubbed his neck as he listened to her rant. Finally reaching the doors leading to the garden, Hammer opened it and held it open for the others to go through. Receiving a small nod from Twilight and Celestia, he shut it behind them when everypony was through.

"So it was this spot the 'ghost' started laughing?" Seeing Hammer nod, Twilight looked for anything out of the ordinary nearby. To her disappointment, she saw nothing. A slight wind tussled with her mane, but was clearly not enough to cause distress in the form of disembodied laughing. "Alright," Twilight started. She picked up a broken off branch with her magic and dropped in front of her. "I'll enchant this branch with a simple cloud-walking spell. It should be enough to lure the ghost and..." she shifted nervously. "Appear before us."

"Hang on, shouldn't we do this during the night?" Hammer furrowed his brow in confusion.

"No!" Twilight shouted on reflex, earning an eyebrow raise from everyone around her. She slapped her hooves across her mouth and a blush grew on her cheeks. "Uh... I mean, no. We should be fine if I put it in the shade." Twilight simply placed the branch below a large tree. "And now we wait."

Hammer rubbed the bridge of his nose in impatience. "Oh goody," he said sarcastically. With nothing else to do, he sat down in the grass. Celestia and Twilight following suit, but the guards kept standing at attention beside them.

Minutes seems to pass by rather quickly. Twilight would have small talk with Celestia, both of their eyes watching the branch with interest. Their excitement to discover a ghost was slowly turning into boredom as nothing was happening after twenty minutes of staring.

Hammer had enough. Standing up, he brushed off several blades of grass on his pants. "Well, I guess I'm just going crazy then! Sorry for wasting your-" He stopped suddenly, his eyes going wide, when he heard it again. Although it wasn't behind him this time, but somewhere down the trail. Without telling the others, he slowly walked down it, hoping to hear it again.

"Hammer?" Twilight spoke up. "Where're you go-" A quick hand-signal with his palm held toward her stopped her questioning.

"Shh, listen!" Hammer whispered. Once again he heard the laughing. To his surprise and shaking nerves, it was louder. He looked back toward the others, a pleading look in his eyes. "Please tell me you heard that one." They both shook their heads, making Hammer begin to wonder if he was going insane. His determination to find out the source, in his own mind or not, pushed him forward nonetheless. He followed the noise from the most recent laugh, leading him to the odd statue that he had asked Luna about. The statue of Discord.

Hahaha!

The sudden outburst of laughter in his mind shook him deeply. Was the ghost finally inside his mind? Was he being possessed? Steeling his mind for what might happen, he took a chance to try speaking to the phantom.

Hello?

The spirit took a moment to chuckle before responding. Ah, hello Hammer. Or may I call you Kid? I've been wondering when you'd find me.

You know who I am? Hammer was stunned to hear this spirit knew who he was. Was it following him ever since coming here?

Of course, the spirit stated matter-of-factly. I didn't sift through multiple realities and plan for several years just to forget the name of the human who would release me from my prison.

Everything clicked together like a picture puzzle. How could he have been so blind to not know this wasn't a spirit, but the very entity that resided inside its stone prison. The shock and confusion left Hammer staring with his mouth partly agape at the statue, as if it had come to life. Did this creature know about Caelondia and everything about him? Does he know about Rucks and Zia? Questions flowed through his mind and they needed to be answered, but he had to be calm. Spouting off questions rapidly never ended with getting answers.

How much do you know about me? Hammer asked slowly.

Everything, human.

Discord's answer sounded sketchy at best. There's no way he could know everything about him. He would've known sometime in his life that this creature was following him.

Discord sighed. I see you don't believe me. What if I told you how your mother died? Sad story really, Discord added.

You leave her out of this you bastard! Hammer glared at the statue, doing his best to hide the strong chills that ran down his spine, sending goose bumps across his entire body. Memories of his sick mother appeared in his mind, and he tried to desperately brush them away. It's in the past now.

Exactly! This is your past, Hammer, Discord said in a booming tone. It cannot simply disappear. It will haunt you forever. Like a ghost, he added softly. He then started making fake ghost noises and laughing.

Hammer was truly beginning to understand how random this... "creature" really was. I've learned to forget my past, and so far it's been working. Now begone!

Oh, I've forgotten my past so it doesn't affect me now, Discord mocked, sounding almost like Hammer. What about Zulf, hmm? You going to forget what you did to him? Leaving him in the snow like that. For shame, Kid. What happened to friendship and tolerance?

Hammer had enough. If there was one thing that sparked the simmer of anger that was growing in him, it was being mocked. He grabbed his hammer from behind his back and firmly gripped it until his knuckles were white. "I'll show you tolerance!" He suddenly outburst, swinging wide to smash the legs of the statue.

"Hammer, don't!" Twilight shouted to stop him, but it was too late. The hammer contacted with the statue, shattering its hoof and clawed foot. It tipped to the side and snapped in half at the torso, the upper half resting besides the stand while the bottom rolled behind it. Hammer didn't stop there as he pounced on the torso and proceeded to turn it into fine gravel. When he was about to finish off the other half, he was lifted by a yellow aura and pulled away. "Let me go!" He struggled fruitlessly as he floated toward Celestia.

"That's enough, Hammer." Celestia said in a firm, disappointing tone; her gaze clearly not amused by his actions. "Twilight," she continued while keeping her gaze on Hammer. "Gather your friends. They will be needed very soon." Her hoof lightly pushed Twilight away and she stuttered dumbly for a moment before running back to the throne room. Just as her head turned back forward, the dust that was settling around the statue gathered into a small vortex. When it was tall enough to be a large dust devil, it burst across the garden and a long snake-like familiar shot into the sky.

Discord flew until almost above the castle and let out a cackle that the entirety of Canterlot heard clearly. Throwing his arms in the sky, he reveled in being able to feel and move again. He twirled and spun in the air while whooping wildly. Canterlot realized their days were about to get worse.

"I AM FREE!" Discord shouted, laughing yet some more.

Much worse.

Ch. 19 [Part 3] The bigger picture

Chapter 19

Part 3: The bigger picture

It took several minutes before Discord felt he had celebrated his freedom long enough. He slowly floated down in a laying down position as, if he was on a sofa, directly in front of Celestia and Hammer. With a snap of his talon, he summoned a small glass of chocolate milk. He was about to help himself to a sip, but caught both of them staring at him.

"Oh, how rude of me." Another snap of his fingers and two more glasses appeared in front of Hammer and Celestia. Hammer managed to grab ahold of his with minor spillage, while Celestia simply let it fall to the ground; shattering against the paved trail.

Celestia took a step toward Discord. "Until the Elements are here, you will stay where you are and not cause any-" She was interrupted when Discord repeatedly flicked a finger against her lips, completely mumbling everything she was saying. He then stood back and took a large gulp of his glass, grinning with an amused expression.

"Oh Celestia. You say that every time I'm freed. Next I suppose you're going to explain how I'm going to be stopped and put back into my prison yadda yadda." He waved a lion paw in the air without care.

"Exactly." Celestia scowled at Discord's dismissive attitude. "Will you submit, or do I have to result to force?" Her horn began to glow to emphasize her point.

Discord laughed. "Don't fool yourself with those ridiculous threats. I've easily dodged your magic before and today is no different." He chucked the now solid block of chocolate milk over his shoulder and frowned when it didn't explode. "Odd... must have got caught on a bush," he muttered. "No matter! Now, before I go," he looked a Hammer with clasped hands. "Thanks for setting me free, and good luck talking to Celestia. She's sort of a cranky pants-" He couldn't finish as Celestia had enough of his antics and fired a yellow beam at his chest. However, he disappeared in the blink of an eye and the beam harmlessly dissipating several feet later.

Fine, I know when my stay has been over, Discord's voice echoing in their minds. But know that we will be meeting again soon. Tata! With that said, he let out another chortle in their minds which slowly faded away.

Celestia brought a hoof to her forehead and slowly rubbed to ease the building headache that presented itself. For a second time the god of chaos was free again by an outside source. She would need to increase the guard and have the elements prepared at all times for his return. They wont be caught with their proverbial pants down.

Knowing that was the best she could do at the moment, she looked at Hammer. He didn't seem in the most comforting position after releasing Discord. He shifted his footing constantly and would give her an occasional glance. He released her worst enemy, but why? Discord was a master puppet-master when it came to controlling others. Was it possible he controlled Hammer into destroying his prison?

"Hammer," Celestia began, doing her best to keep her voice in its normal motherly tone. "I'm very displeased with what you have done, but can you explain to me why you did such a thing? Discord is surely causing chaos somewhere as we speak."

"I heard him speaking to me in my mind," Hammer explained. "He somehow knows about my past and where I'm from. I don't know how as I've never met him before in my life, but he managed to use it to his advantage." He hung his head in shame for knowing he hasn't learned a thing about his anger. "I let my anger control me yet again."

"He knows your past?" Confused interest showed in the form of an eyebrow raise. "If that's true, then I underestimated his power if he can travel to different dimensions." Celestia was no stranger to the endless realms that existed alongside hers, and she knew better than to tamper with such powers. However, Discord would be perfect with doing such a things. He was meticulous when it came to not raising suspicion; to stay back and observe until the time was right.

Celestia was at least happy to learn Hammer wasn't in league with Discord. "Anger is just as powerful as one of the elements, Hammer. I cannot say I'm happy you released Discord, but I'm content to know you weren't fully in control of your actions. I hope you will learn from this mistake and help us with capturing him?"

Hammer returned her look with a stern gaze. "I caused this mess, it's only right for me to fix it." He glanced at where Discord was last standing before looked back at Celestia. "So, what's the plan?"

Celestia motioned with her head for him to follow and they hurriedly traveled through the hallway. "Twilight is already gathering her friends and the guard will be on full alert for anything suspicious. With the help of Luna and myself I can only hope it's enough to stop him."

A distraught pegasus had shown up not too long ago with a letter of utmost urgency, creating a commotion amongst the four ponies. When Rucks asked out of curiosity, he was surprised to find out Kid had somehow turned human again. The thought of having his original form brought a rare giddiness to his chest. While being a pony was nice and all, having his hands greatly helped with his work.

Sadly they had to depart to the city of Canterlot for business of some sort, leaving Rucks to his own devices. While he would've gladly joined them, he couldn't bring himself to leaving the Bastion alone again. Instead he bid farewell at the edge of the island as they left on the blimp.

To kill time he decided to inspect his creation some more and delve further. He hummed a small tune while walking through the Bastions inner workings, his hooves echoing against the metal catwalk. Below the soil and grass above, black metal pipes ran along the walls and ceiling, once filled with world-forming energy. The cores and shards Kid had gathered held this fuel; each one containing the memory of the place Kid had taken it from.

Rucks tapped a nearby piped, hearing the not surprising sound of hollow pipes. It echoed down the hallways for several seconds before dying off. He was grateful nothing else seemed damaged, minus the pipe taken out he had shown to Kid. This was the entire reason why Rucks was confused. A broken pipe couldn't be the reason the Bastion reacted so strangely, leaving the same question running through his mind: Why did the Bastion send them to Equestria?

Taking a left, he stopped in front of a metal door. On the front it read 'Do not enter' in bold text. The pipes were more numerous since he in the center of the Bastion itself. For him, this is where the magic of his creation begins. Biting the metal wheel, he tugged clock-wise until the wheel spun freely.

The room was mostly barren of anything interesting. While the other rooms had been roughly put together to represent the feel of a warm home back in Caelondia, this room was surrounded by cold metal plates. Wires littered the floor in a variety of colors, all of them connected to the device in the middle of the room.

A black metal bubble sat close to the floor, carried by the multitude of pipes connected to it. The dozens of pipes from outside the door also continued along the ceiling and converged into a larger pipe above it. Small windows dotted the bubble to allow a peek at its contents. What Rucks saw inside left him stunned. A liquid that constantly changed colors sat undisturbed inside the bubble. The same shifting colors that took form of tendrils when Kid activated the Bastion.

What is this odd substance? The energy's natural hue after being extracted from a core were bright green. Yet the way it flowed and moved inside the bubble like a giant lava lamp was too similar; the only difference being the color.

Just then, a crazy thought hit Rucks. The Bastion wasn't made to transport to other worlds and universes. It was to restore their world back to its original form. With the help of the cores and shards to act as the blueprints. That being true, was it possible that someone changed the "blueprints" of their world to create Equestria instead?

A part of him knew it was possible, and it frightened him greatly. But the amount of work needed to craft a core like that would take years. Possibly even decades. There was no way someone could have come up with the 'blueprints' for Equestria several decades before the Bastion was even just a sketch on a piece of parchment.

"So who would go through all of this trouble just to re-create Caelondia into Equestria?" Rucks rubbed a hoof to his chin in deep thought. Without an answer, Rucks shook his head in defeat. He decided to finish his patrol through the Bastion and bring the topic up when Kid came back.

Ch. 20 [Part 4] The bigger picture

Chapter 20

Part 4: The bigger picture

Celestia and Hammer met up with Twilight and her friends in the throne room. The area bristled with twice as many guards the last time they were there. Even the hallways they had to go through to get here had doubled. The quick deployment of so many guards in such a short span of time was quite astounding to Hammer. He doubted Caelondia's defenders would've reacted so quickly.

"I'm glad you could all make it here," Celestia said in relief. She had feared Discord might have gone after them to prevent the Elements from joining once more. Her fears melted away when she spotted the other bearers safe within Canterlot's walls.

Rainbow Dash hovered a foot above the other five ponies around her. "Don't worry Princess, we wouldn't let you down. We'll kick his flank and send him back in the garden where he belongs."

While Celestia felt some comfort in Dash's words, there was still the matter of how and when he will return. Discord may act childish with his pranks at times, but he wasn't stupid. He was also true to his word and never backed down on a promise. Meaning he most definitely would be returning.

"Is Tale alright?" Hammer asked, making himself noticed by stepping past Celestia. "Why didn't he come with you?"

Rarity, after eyeing his odd human form, spoke up. "I'm sorry darling, but he decided to stay back with the Bastion. I can sympathize for him staying after all since he created it. I wouldn't want any ruffians destroying the dresses I worked so tirelessly on."

Rucks, you old fool.

"Is there any way you could send some guards to protect the Bastion, Princess? We ran into some trouble with gryphons and I fear they might come back while he's alone."

Celestia hummed thoughtfully before nodding her head. "I can send you some recent recruits, but nothing more."

A small smile tugged at Hammer's lips. "That would be wonderful. Thank you."

It took a moment for the guards to appear as they were in the barracks resting. They didn't seem any different compared to the other guards physically, but their lack of discipline was evident. Theirs eyes would wander toward sounds or sights and their attention was easy to catch.

With the help of directions from Hammer, Celestia explained where they were going and what their job was. It seemed simple, yet odd, to them. Guarding a floating island was an odd request, but they followed their order faithfully.

"Should we gather the Elements now, Princess? Unless Discord has already taken them..." Twilight trailed off. The others looked at Celesta as well, waiting for any words of action.

Celestia shook her head. "The elements are safe, my student. After Discords previous break-in I learned a great deal on how to improve its security." The simple act of walking toward one of the doors proved enough for the others to follow suit.

However, Hammer stayed put in the middle of the throne room. He didn't feel prepared for the coming fight ahead. Sure he had his hammer, but to him it wasn't enough. If he was going to fight this strange being called Discord, he will need some serious firepower. And he knew exactly where to go.

"Princess!" Hammer caught up with her and the others. Celestia raised a expectant brow and asked what was wrong. "I need to get back to the Bastion. There's something I need to grab, else I don't feel ready against Discord."

"Of course," she responded simply. Her horn glowed yellow for a moment before speaking again. "I've informed the guard to prepare the royal chariot for you. Go now and please be careful. Do not fight Discord alone if you see him."

After receiving a short instruction on how to reach the chariot's landing, Hammer thanks her with a small bow. "Of course, Princess. I'll be back shortly." He then ran toward his destination, following the Princess instructions. It didn't take long to reach it since it was located down a hallway after crossing the royal gardens. Already two royal guards were attached to the chariot and waited for him.

The room was quite large and held several types of vehicles ranging from small wood chariots most likely used for transporting goods, to a single gold chariot. That one was probably used by the Princesses for the extra shock and awe affect.

"Where to Hammer Whirl?" One of the guards asked when he turned his head to look at him. Hammer was thankful that the guards cared little of his appearance. Or at least didn't show it.

"The Bastion. It's a floating island just above Trottingham," Hammer said with urgency. He wished to get what he needed and return as soon as possible.

The guard furrowed his brow in disbelief, but said nothing of the sort. "Very well." without another word, both guards galloped forward, pulling the chariot with them as if it and Hammer weighed nothing. The sudden surge of movement caught Hammer off-guard and he quickly grabbed hold of the chariot before rolling off.

The flight was short thanks to how fast the chariot was traveling with the two guards pulling it. It was also, thankfully, uneventful with no sight of Discord. The sun was at its apex when the island came in sight after flying through a large cloud. Even though he knew it would still be there, Hammer sighed in relief to see it still intact. Who knows what might have happened while he was gone.

On second thought... where is he?

The chariot landed on the most open space available, which was near the southern edge of the island. Hammer stepped off and thanked the two guards for the lift. The two recruits that had been assigned were already looking around with curiosity, but Hammer didn't mind. So long as they stayed away from the bar for a drink.

"Can you pull the chariot over to that building over there." He pointed toward a brick building that clearly resembled a forge of some sort. No smoke was billowing out of the chimney since it hasn't been used in almost a week. A thin metal sign sat on top, taking the form of a humanoid bending metal on an anvil.

The two guards simply nodded and pulled the chariot away while Hammer checked the other buildings for Rucks. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the old man anywhere. Or old pony in this case, he corrected. That left the only place he could be was in the bowels of the Bastion.

Hammer wasn't too fond on how the Bastion worked. He was mostly out in the field collecting shards or cores anyway, leaving Rucks to handle such matters. This was a chance for him to sate a building curiosity as to what was really below the island.

Not wanting to pass up the chance, and find Rucks as well, Hammer followed the flight of stairs located on the outside rim of the island. They lead to the living spaces him and his compatriots would stay after a long day in Caelondia. There was a full kitchen, which to his dismay, had been long forgotten. Memories of Zia's superb cooking flashed in his mind and made his belly grumble.

Not now, stomach.

There was a small passage next to the front counter of the fully-stocked kitchen and dining area. It was a simple doorway dug through the earth with a catwalk. Metal beams and clumps of rebar could be seen sticking out to hold the dirt together.

A pipe down the winding dirt hallways would creak or the catwalk would groan from his weight, setting him on edge as he walked through the Bastion. Now that Hammer was down here, the insides of the Bastion scared him a bit. It wasn't the dim lighting from the sparsely spaced lamps or the sound, but the fact that his weapon was useless. He wouldn't be able to swing it in such tight confines.

"Maybe I should've grabbed my pike before going down here," Kid muttered.

Turning a corner, he found himself in front of a large metal door. Calm multi-colored lights came from the small circle of a window to peek through. Kid grabbed onto the small red wheel and turned it. He tugged the door and a loud groan echoed throughout the halls, obviously warning anything down here that he was there. Though he was relieved and shocked with who he saw on the ground inside the room.

"Rucks!" Hammer ran to the prone pony on the ground. He didn't respond when he shook him, but his chest clearly showed he was still breathing. He sighed in relief that he was still okay, but he looked around the room to see why he was like this. The room was covered in the calm glow of rainbow colors from the device in the middle of the room.

Hammer patted Tale's head for a moment as a calming gesture before leaving his kneeling position to investigate the odd looking lava lamp. The globs of rainbow substance seemed agitated. They distorted and stretched as if trying to force themselves to leave their natural sphere shape.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Hammer unslung his weapon and swung it at the direction the voice came from, only hitting and dislodging a metal pipe. A faint hissing came from it as steam spewed out. Discord laughed and materialized on the other side of the room, far away from his Hammer.

Discord crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall behind him."I swear, nopony ever just wants to talk anymore. It's always screaming and yelling, and trying-to-smack-me-with-a-hammer-ask-questions-later."

"Maybe if you stopped being evil, ponies wouldn't be frightened of you." Hammer retorted while clenching his weapon.

"Nah, too much work." Discord waved his paw to shoo away the idea. "I already have a a solution to the problem anyway." An unsettling grin formed on his face. "That reminds me, this is the cliche part where I fill you in on my plans and gloat that there's nothing you can do to stop me. Matter of fact there is nothing you can do to stop me, but I like to make it sound you have a chance."

"Right," Hammer rolled his eyes. "So go on with your plan before I swing my hammer at you again."

"Very well. Has it ever occurred to you that Equestria is actually Caelondia?"

"You're lying." He furrowed his brow in anger for saying such a thing. "The Bastion was meant to-"

"It was meant to create land," Discord finished. "Your land to be more specific, but I just so happened to have a way to change all that." He hovered over the dome in the middle of the room and stroked it lovingly. "You see, after watching you for so long, I figured out how your little cores worked. So I created my own, and when you traveled across Caelondia to claim one, I replaced every single one with mine."

Hammer rubbed his forehead for a moment as he tried to remember everything Discord was telling him. "I get that, but I don't understand why? Why would you go through all this trouble just to use the Bastion to create Equestria?"

For a moment, Hammer noticed Discord ball his fist in anger. It went away shortly after.

"Because of the Elements of Harmony and Celestia, that's why. I don't have enough time to change the world to my vision before they trap me again. Your Bastion solved this problem. It created Equestria at the pull of a lever. A lever that you pulled might I add," he pointed a talon at Hammer.

Even with the comment of involving him with creating Equestria, a smug smirk formed on Hammers mouth. "Well it's not like you can use it anyway. Did you not notice the missing distribution pipe? It won't work without it." A laugh from Discord quickly made his smirk fall.

"Sorry, I just find it funny I know more about the Bastion than you. It will still work alright, but it just wont be distributed evenly. Let's just call it 'adding more chaos' to the chaos I'm about to create."

Hammer's eyes widened. "Are you insane? If you do that... I don't know what would exactly happen, but that's the point. You have no idea-"

"That's the wonder of chaos, little human!" Discord shouted happily, spreading his arms wide. "You never know what might happen." He then clasped them together and rubbed them eagerly. "Now, I must be off. I have a lever to pull with my name on it." With that said, he disappeared in a flash.

"Damnit Discord!" Hammer threw his weapon at where he was standing, but it only smacked against the wall and buried itself about an inch inside the dirt. All this planning Celestia was doing would be for nothing. Equestria itself would be torn asunder and formed to whatever wretched vision Discord had planned for it.

And it was his fault too. How could he be so stupid to not notice Discords hand in all of this? All he wanted was to return to Caelondia and live his previous life. Instead he has to be thrust into a new world with colorful equines. But that didn't mean he didn't enjoy his time with them. In fact, he had more friends here than in Caelondia. They treated him with respect and didn't judge by the color of his hair or anything else about him.

Maybe I never want to go back to Caelondia...

A deep groan woke Hammer up from his thoughts and noticed Rucks was waking up. He looked at him with bleary eyes before speaking in a tired voice.

"Hammer? What are you doing here?"

"Came to visit and ask you to come to Canterlot, but now everything is ruined," Hammer explained with a defeated tone. He laid his back against the device and rested his arms against his knees. "Discord is about to use the Bastion to form Equestria into his own image, even with the distribution pipe missing."

"Now that's a problem," Rucks said with a grunt. The calmness in his voice agitated Hammer.

"Don't you get it? We lost! Who knows what will happen when he activates the Bastion." The chuckle from Rucks utterly confused him. This was hardly the point to start laughing.

"Isn't it obvious, Kid? Just flip the other lever before he does."

Hammer's mouth opened slightly in a mix of realization and how absolutely crazy the idea was "You want me to pull the evacuation lever? You do realize what that will do, right?"

Rucks nodded his head. "But it's worth it if it means saving Equestria from Discord."

The idea was absolutely crazy in Hammer's mind. Evacuation with the Bastion would shatter the pillar that released the world-changing energy. Doing that also shattered any hopes he had of returning to Caelondia. But if he didn't stop Discord, who knows what might happen. Would his memories be erased? Would he be back to being a pony?

A chill went down his spine at the next thought. Would he cease to exist completely?

"Kid..." Rucks breathed deeply. "Remember what I told you when we were back in Caelondia? When you had trouble decided which lever to pull?"

Hammer nodded like it was obvious. How could he forget?

"Then you know what to do." A small smile crept on Rucks lips. "Go on kid. Either way you choose, I hope we will see each other again."

"I... think I understand." He stood up and yanked free his hammer. Feeling the urgency that he had wasted enough time, he bolted down the hallway and towards the pillar above. No doubt it wouldn't be long before Discord activated the Bastion. Already the pipes were rattling and dirt was falling on his head as he ran through the tunnels. The very island itself shook from the unstable energies Discord put into it.

But should he take the chance of letting him rebuild Equestria? Doing so would save the Bastion and thus save his chance to return home, but who knows what the new world would look like. Or he could stop him and save Equestria, but be forced to live the rest of his days here?

Hammer found himself back above-ground. Already the chariot and two guards were missing. Several of the buildings around the Bastion looked ready to crumble at a moments notice from the tremors rocking the very foundations of the island. But he wasn't focused on any of those things.

Discord was tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the pillar to raise itself. Even with whatever knowledge he had with the Bastion, he clearly overlooked how long it took for the island to prepare itself. It wasn't a small feat to change the form of an entire world.

"Ah, glad you could join me," Discord grumbled. "Laugh it up, Kid. Yes, I didn't know this would take so long, but it only delays the inevitable. Just sit there and I'll get this thing started up in a jiffy.

With Discord's back turned, Hammer knew he could easily flip the other switch before Discord did. This was his chance.....

Ch. 21: To stop a god... [Retconned]

Chapter 21

To stop a god...

While the plan to flip the other lever before Discord did was an obvious solution. The idea for a more permanent solution ringed in his mind. Rather than flip the switch, why not destroy the source of the problem? That being Discord. It was a solution Kid had overlooked, simply due to the lack of violence needed in this world

However, Kid was all too fond of the powers gods and godesses had. He dealt with plenty back in his homeland. Pyth... Acobi... Jevel... They were feared, and rightfully so. To anger one would spell disaster to yourself and possibly your entire bloodline, And Caelondia help you if you somehow angered all ten of them.

Why were they feared? Easy. Because how can you retaliate against something that isn't there? Something you cannot shoot with a Slinger pistol or stab at with a Brusher pike, but can return the favor two-fold isn't something you mess with.

Discord's power was no doubt very powerful. Celestia herself was wary of him whenever he was around after all. However, unlike the gods of his land, he had a physical form. A fang repeater wouldn't have any trouble turning him into a living pincushion. Or his Cael Hammer showing him the real meaning of pain.

That realization settled in his mind and something clicked. Kid was tired of Discord's antics. It was his actions that released Discord, and by the great horns on Pyth's skull he was going to send him back to his prison. One way or another. Kid slinked back to avoid the attention of Discord as he made his way to the building where he kept his weapons. Upon shutting the door behind him, he spun on his heel to examine the selection with a practiced eye.

Discord is fast, so I'll need the rely on my quick draw. Good thing Slinger pistols fit the bill.

He pulled them off the shelf along with the holsters and attached them with a series of belts. The forge's light shone off the pistols as if he had just polished them. He noticed nearby the rigging he had made as a pony for the exact same weapons laying not far away, making him smile in remembrance for a moment.

Sorry old friend, Kid hung his Cael Hammer on a nearby rack and picked up a menacing looking red blade. He tested it against a nearby shelf not holding anything and split it cleanly... Lengthwise.

The blade was no bigger than his entire arm, yet felt like an extention of it. Allowing for rapid swings that made him look more like a living blender than anything else. He stuck it snugly between two stitched together pieces of thick leather located under the armor plate on his back.

Grabbing his bandanna, he pulled it forward over his nose and tightened it to keep it from falling. Feeling that he was prepared for the coming battle, he strode towards the front door. With a forceful kick from his boot, the door swung open with a crash; quickly earning the attention of a confused Discord.

The sun momentarily blinded him as he stepped outside. The monument was still far from being charged and was about a third done. Plenty of time to start his own chaos.

Discord simply crossed his arms and stared at the rediculous sight before him. "And just what in Equestria do you think you're-" A bullet zinged past his head, almost giving him a hole for an earring.

"Is it not obvious enough for you?" Kid growled as he holstered the pistol he had taken out, the barrel still smoking. Taking several small steps forward, he spreading his arms out as if to show his pistols. "I'm going to put you down."

Discord laughed, and it took quite some time for him to stop and understand that he wasn't joking. "Wait, you're serious aren't you? Have you forgotten what I can do to you with the simple snap of my fingers? Maybe I should turn you back into a pony? Or maybe a toad?"

A smirk snuck on Kids lips that Discord couldn't see thanks to his bandanna covering his mouth. "You can try, but is your snap as fast as my draw?" Upon saying this, Kid hovered his hand over one of the pistols on his hip.

"Oh, this is rich. I always wanted to be in a western!" He pulled a cowboy hat from behind his back and plopped it on his head. He then began mimicking Kid with his hand by his side, as if he had a pistol of his own.

If a pony didn't know any better, they would've mistaken the both of them for statues as they glared at each other from across the Bastion. The occasional flex of their fingers or clench of their jaw betrayed the illusion. The only sound came from the light wind ruffling the grass and the sliding of stone as the monument slowly rose from hiding.

The sudden twitch of Discord's hand caused Kid to respond in kind. With a firm grip on the pistol, Kid whipped out the weapon in a flash and fired off a single shot. Discord responded in kind as he fired his 'gun' and yelled "Bang!"

Smoke trailed from the pistol Kid held. After several tense seconds, Discord clutched his chest in pain. "Oh! Oh, you got me!" He spun in place for a moment before over-dramatically falling to the ground with a heavy thud.

Kid didn't buy his bluff and frowned that he wasn't taking this seriously. "Discord, stand up now or I'll fire at you while you're still down," Kid threatened, not being fooled by the obvious ruse of play dead. When no reply came, he took a single step forward. "Five seconds before I turn you into Swiss cheese!"

"Five!"

"Four!" He's really going to just lie there?

"Three! fine, have it your way." Kid took out his other pistol...

"Two!" ... took aim...

"One!"

The gunfire put thunderstorms to shame as a torrent of bullets zipped toward Discord's limp body. The rest of all eleven bullets found their mark, causing the fainting Discord to look like he was having a seizure from the amount of firepower going into him.

Quickly reloading his pistols, Kid holstered them and slowly walked up to the now surely dead Discord.

He shook his head at Discord's foolishness. Why didn't he get up? Even though he hated him, he wished he had at least stood back up to die honorably. Studying the bullet-ridden corpse, he tapped it with the tip of his boot. Without warning, the sound of tearing cloth filled the air as the 'corpse' burst open, revealing nothing more than cotton stuffing.

"Wha-" Kid felt a presence behind him and quickly rolled to the side just as Discord's talon cracked the stone where he was standing. Before he could recover, he was picked up by the neck by a lion's paw and brought up close to meet eye to eye. A peal of laughter, now tinted with a menacing tone, left Discord's throat.

Kid was beginning to wonder why Discord found everything funny.

"You actually thought I was dead! how quaint." Discord winced in pain for a moment and Kid took notice of the wound on Discords left shoulder. "Congratulations, you're the farthest anypony has ever gotten to ever hurt me." He flashed a toothy grin. "Let me return the favor."

Before Kid could object, Discord dug his talon into his shoulder, puncturing the armor and tearing into his skin. A pained shout left Kids throat as he struggled to get out of his grip.

"Give it up, Kid," Discord said with a tone that hinted boredom. He pulled him close to glare directly in the eyes. "Celestia couldn't defeat me. What makes you think you can?"

"Because," Kid began. He cringed in pain as Discord continued to dig into his shoulder and wiggled his talon. He managed to at least stare back at Discord. "You wish to harm my friends, and I'll do anything to protect them!" Kid tucked in his legs, pulled them upward, and kicked Discord straight in the jaw. He fell to the ground when Discord released his grip to hold his jaw..

Recovering quickly, Kid drew out his machete and dashed forward. With several quick slices across his torso, Discord stumbled back and disappeared in a flash. He reappeared several feet to the side, his chest now looking like he was rolling through razor blades.

"Why do you fight me?" Discord growled, holding his bleeding chest. "Why do you protect these ponies when they are nothing more than a creation from your Bastion?"

"I don't care where they came from!" Kid retorted. "They're still living beings with feelings, hopes, and dreams just like you and I. They are my friends and I would do anything to keep them the way they are. Including killing you." He whipped out a pistol with his free hand and fired without warning.

To his disappointment, Discord vanished before the bullet hit. He warily eyed his surroundings for him to reappear. "Come out coward and face your fate for terrorizing a world that can barely fight back, he yelled into the air, hoping Discord heard him. "This isn't a game where you can just play with other ponies lives!" Still no response came and he realized Discord had retreated from the battle for good.

"Damnit..." He sheathed his machete and holstered his pistol again, before pulling the bandanna off his nose to let the cool air waft across his face again. Taking it as a victory none-the-less, he strode back over the monument to find it operational. All it needed was for an outside source to activate it.

Kid began to realize how much of a threat Rucks' creation had become. Discord had turned it from a invention of creation, to one that only wished to cause disorder. He couldn't leave the Bastion alone in this state else risk Discords return, nor could he find the courage to pull the evacuation lever.

"You gonna stand there gawking at it or are you gonna pull that lever?"

Kid whirled around to find Rucks walking toward him. "You know what needs to be done, Kid. We can't let Discord activate the Bastion again." Finally standing beside him, he took a gander at the punctures and trickle of blood on his shoulder. "You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, it just sting a little." Kid rolled his shoulder for a moment and cringed, but dealt with it. He's been through worse anyway. "I don't know if I can do this, Rucks. I cant forget about Caelondia that easily. You know that."

Rucks' eyes softened. "I know ya do, Kid, but the Bastion wont change nothing after Discord tampered with it." He shook his head sadly. "Even if we did return to Caelondia, the calamity would still come and history will just repeat itself." He placed a comforting hoof on his arm. "It's a tough pill to swallow, but ya have to accept it."

Kid wasn't sure if he was telling the truth, but why would he lie about something like that? He didn't like the thought one bit. "Very well," Kid accepted with a heavy sigh. Rucks was wiser than him and always seemed to know what's best anyway. "So long as we never forget about them. That's what matters in the end, huh?" Kid forced a feeble smile. Rucks simply returned a nod in agreement. He grabbed the lever in a firm grip, his mind shouting out several reasons as to why he shouldn't do this. That there was still some hope left, but he didn't listen. The Bastion had to be stripped of its ability to create.

"Goodbye... Caelondia."

The lever fell with an audible clunk. Nearby, a screen between both switches started flashing a bright red. Which sudden turned off as if the power had been cut. This was an obvious problem because Rucks had his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Strange... the sails should've sprouted by now..." The Bastion suddenly shook as an explosion was felt from below. The land itself began to crack and clumps of dirt fell from the island itself. Kid and Rucks did their best to keep their footing, but the disorienting shakes from below was making it difficult.

"What was that?" Kid shouted over the rumbling.

Rucks growled distastefully and cursed. "Damnation. Seems Discord had an ace up his sleeve. We may have stopped him from using the Bastion, but it seems neither can we." He looked at Kid grimly. "Wish we could say our goodbyes, but we need to get off. Now!"

"Hate to burst your bubble, but," Kid threw both of his hands toward the expanse of sky below them to point out the obvious problem. "We don't exactly have a safe way off." Upon hearing this Rucks laughed.

"Falling Malt, Kid. Bring enough for both of us and we'll jump off." He pointed a hoof toward the distillery.

"Right..." Kid said with skepticism. He had his share of falls back home, with several by his own hand after rolling off edges accidently.

Since he didn't have any ideas to counter Rucks' crazy plan, he decided it was worth a shot. He pushed through the swing doors of the distillery and frantically search through the rows of shelves for it. He frowned at all the drinks that would be left behind and noticed several bottles of his favorite drink, Stabinthe, laying on the ground. Most likely tossed from the explosion.

He finally found the bottles of Falling malt hiding away above the sink in a small glass cabinet. It was full of the stuff as if it was recently stocked. The liquid was an orange-tan inside a bronze and black bottle. Two wings sprouted in back and stood above the black circle stopper. Grabbing one for each of them, he sprinted back outside next to Rucks.

"Here, let me help you with that." Kid pulled the stopper off of Rucks' bottle and handed it to him. He gave a quick nod before taking the lengthy process of chugging both in one sitting. He cringed at the taste of gravel and pepper. It never was a favorite drink in Caelondia.

Kid joined shortly after, making a funny face as well before throwing his bottle to the side. They went towards the edge and looked down and the both of them suddenly had second thoughts. Trottingham was nothing more than a large black speck in a vast color of green, covered by the occasional white cloud.

"Elderly first?" Kid suggested.

Back in Canterlot, in the royal gardens, Celestia's right ear flicked as she sensed something direly wrong. A large surge of energy had suddenly shown itself toward the direction of Trottingham; the same direction Hammer had gone. Her dismay wasn't left unnoticed when Twilight looked at her with a worried expression.

"Princess, is everything alright?"

Instinctively, she wanted to say everything is fine, but knew Twilight and Rarity had felt the pulse as well. "No, Twilight. I fear something is very wrong. Did you feel it as well?"

Twilight bit he bottom lip in worry. "I did... Do you think it was Discord?"

Celestia shook her head. "I don't know, but it would be folly for somepony to not investigate." She looked at the other bearers in the garden who were watching their conversation with a mix of confused and fearful looks. "Will you accompany me? If Discord is responsible, it may be our chance to stop him for good. The other ponies each gave a confirming nod, so her horn began to glow with magic. With a bright flash, Celestia and the Element bearers were whisked away; teleported toward the source of the disturbance.

On one of the grassy hills outside of Trottingham, a momentary flash of light scared off several rabbits who were resting. As everypony took in where they were, Celestia surveyed the area. The first thing she noticed were the clumps of dirt that was piled everywhere. It looked as if somepony was digging, but there were no holes in sight to match the small hills of dirt.

Next were the spires of metal that were either laying on the ground or stuck in it. The strength needed to force a metal beam into the ground like that seemed impossible.

"What happened here?" Twilight asked as she slowly circled around one of the beams of metal to inspected it. Her head tilted up to looking at the tip pointed towards the sky and gasped. "Oh my gosh! Who's that falling from the sky?"

The others gasped in shock as well when they saw two shapes plummeting toward the ground. One was a earth pony while the other had the distinct shape of a human. Rainbow Dash was the first to respond. With a powerful flap of her wings, she sped toward the earth pony first.

"Tale?" Rainbow grunted as she began slowing his descent. "Why the hay are you doing falling out of the sky?"

Tale chuckled and struggled a bit with the way Rainbow was holding him. "Long story. I'll gladly tell ya when my hooves are back on the ground."

Meanwhile, Kid was still falling toward an inevitable amount of pain in the form of a rocky outcropping below him.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me!

He braced for the impact with the rocks by throwing his arms around his head and curling into a ball. After several seconds of not feeling his entire body becoming squirt extract, he peeked through his arms to find a yellow ball of magic surrounding him. Looking down, he noticed Celestia's horn aglow. He lowered his arms and sighed with relief as she began to float him down to safety

"Oh my heavens!" Rarity gasped when Kid finally reached the ground. She finally noticed the wound on his shoulder.

Kid smiled at her worry for his health and shook his head. "I'm fine, it just stings a bit when I move my arm." He then recoiled when Fluttershy almost tackled him to inspect his wound. Meanwhile, Twilight trotted up to him with a stern look on her face.

"Mind telling us what's going on, mister?"

Kid winced as Fluttershy's 'inspection' involved unneeded prodding of his arm and shoulder. Right now all he wanted was a shower, some food, and possibly some heavy drinking afterwards. The third part he wasn't too sure about due to never actually seeing alcohol in Equestria.

"Discord visited the Bastion and attempted to use it to turn Bastion into his own chatoic playground. We managed to stop him, but... We lost the Bastion in the process. Discord had tainted, causing it to backfire on us." Kid kept out several parts of the story. He just couldn't bear the thought of explaining it to them what they truly were.

"Oh..." Twilight responded when her ears folded back. "I-I m sorry to hear that."

Kid simply waved away the worried comment. "I'd save it for Rucks." He looked towards Rainbow dash just in time to see her place him rather roughly on the ground. "He built the thing after all." Twilight nodded and backed away when Celstia began speaking. Asking about the whereabouts of Discord. "Hard to say, your Highness. After wounding him several times, he simply vanished. Most likely to recover."

"I see," Celestia said. Her tone tinged with disappointment that he had escaped. "I'll arrange for this mess to be cleaned up. In the mean time, we should return to Canterlot and further Discuss what has transpired. I'm sure you both are very tired." Seeing the approving nod from Kid, she motioned for the others to gather around her. Once again, with a glow of her horn, she began to teleport everypony, and human, back to Canterlot.

Before she did, Rucks placed a hoof against Kid's leg, causing him to look down at the pony. They shared a comforting smile in knowing that they still had each other, and would need to inform Zia about what has happened. They both stared towards the speck in the sky that was the Bastion. Broken and being torn apart by Discord's chaotic energies. It wouldn't take long before it was nothing more but a pile of useless debris scattered across the hills below.

Rucks spoke up.

"Welcome home, Kid."

Ch. 2: Distrust

Chapter 2

Distrust

Redheart walked down a short hallway leading to the main entrance of the small clinic. The front desk was located here and behind it stood a light-blue mare. She had tied a pink ribbon in her teal mane to form a bun, keeping it out of her face as she worked. Redheart couldn't see it from here, but she knew her cutie mark was a looping pink ribbon.

The clinic was usually busy this week. There would be colts and fillies in the waiting room, ready to get shots or disinfect a scrape or cut after a bout of roughhousing. To Redheart, the quiet atmosphere was a nice change of pace to relax to

Seeing the front desk free, she decided to drop off her report. It took a moment for the mare behind the desk to notice Redheart, a pencil still in her mouth.

“Mmph! Mmth-” she spat the pencil out. “Sorry, thank you nurse.” She perused through the pages, scanning over them with an experienced eye. "Seeing these forms, I presume this patient is ready to be released?"

Redheart huffed, ignoring her question. “We’ve known each other for years, Ribbon. You can say my name you know.” Ribbon stopped what she was doing and looked at the nurse.

“You should already know that I keep my personal life away from my work life, even when talking to friends.”

"Come on, Ribbon. Just this once," Redheart pleaded. "Not like there's anypony around to hear you anyway."

Rubbing a hoof against her forehead, Ribbon gave up. "All right, Redheart," she said, letting out a smile. "but don't let Rain Catcher know about this slip-up. I only keep this business-like facade to keep him away from me. He's weird enough without him staring at me from across the room."

"Of course!" Redheart exclaimed. “And yes, the patient is ready for release."

"Good, good," Ribbon mumbled, going back to looking through the papers. She flipped up the last form and raised an eyebrow. "So how is he going to pay for this, anyway?" she said nonchalantly.

Redheart knew she was looking at the form about family. It was left blank, which either meant a nurse forgot to fill it out, or the family had either passed away or abandoned the patient. She secretly wished it was the former while glaring at her friend for saying such things with an uncaring tone.

“If you must know, he lost both his parents when he was young. His mother disappeared suddenly and he never even met his father." Redheart's eyes softened as she gave out a sniffle. "It sounded so horrible, I burst into tears when he explained it.” She could feel her eyes getting misty, just thinking about it.

"Redheart, I understand that you get more... connected to your patients more than the other nurses, but we're not nonprofit." Ribbon let out a sigh when the nurse glared at her with tear streaked eyes. "Fine. fine. Okay, I'll cut the expenses in half." She proceeded to cross out several items on a list and write new numbers. She showed it to Redheart who nodded in approval, her smile returning.

"Thank you," Redheart said, wiping her face to clear the tears.

Ribbon returned the smile. "Only for you, hun. I’ll even let him see the price myself." Her eyes glanced at the clock hanging over several seats behind Redheart and let out a small gasp. "Oh my, time sure flies. Don't you get off in an hour?"

"Yes," Redheart replied simply.

“Well, I need to make a second copy, one for the patient and one for our clinic." She scanned the empty room before looking back at Redheart. "Why don't you get off an hour early, dear. I'm sure nothing is going to happen today."

Redheart's eyes brightened. "A-are you sure? Maybe there's a bed that needs to be tucked in or... or somepony needs-" Her rant was cut off by a hoof held up in front of her.

"We have plenty of others to take care of that. Go ahead and enjoy the sunlight while you can. I hear the pegasai plan a downpour this week." Redheart nodded and quickly trotted out of the front doors. She stood in front of the entrance for a moment, basking in the afternoon sun, before turning to the left and disappearing.

Ribbon let out a content sigh and picked up the release forms in her mouth. “I wonder if Photo is still trying to fix that tea maker in the break room," she thought with a giggle. "He never was a good mechanic."

Kid felt someone nudge his shoulder, which he begrudgingly responded by rolling away from whoever did it. Feeling it again, he tried to roll again, but only succeeded in falling out of the warm bed.

“Ah!”

“Oh! good you’re awake,” a friendly voice said from the other side of the bed. “I have the release forms all set for you.”

Getting up from the pristine, white floor, Kid looked at whoever was talking to him. It was a pony about the same height as him. Her mane in a bun with a pink ribbon. She introduced herself as Ribbon Dancer and ran the front desk in this small place called “Ponyville Emergency Clinic”.

Kid was half paying attention at the moment, busy thinking up more important things, like his new name. Now that he saw his cutie mark, maybe something would come to mind. Cog hammer? No. Spinning Hammer? Nah. Something that represents who I am, but what? Slowly a name started to form and he mouthed it several times to see if it sounded “right”. It reminded him of the one of two special moves he would do with his hammer.

“Hammer Whirl,” Kid mumbled.

“What did you say?”

“My name is Hammer Whirl.”

Ribbon stared at him for a moment, then at the papers and chuckled. “Ah, Redheart. She’s a good worker, but sometimes forgets the important questions.” She finished up the forms and placed his copy on the bed with a smile.

“If there’s nothing else, am I allowed to leave?” Hammer Whirl asked anxiously, looking at the door leading out.

“Of course, but... there’s a slight catch.” She flipped a page on the form that sat on the bed and tapped a hoof at the expenses for staying at the clinic. Hammer looked over the numbers, mumbling as he read them.

“Check-in fee, five bits. Room and bedding, five bits. Oatmeal, three bits.” The list continued until finally the total came to 82 bits.” What does their currency even looked like? Was that many bits considered expensive? His thought was interrupted as Ribbon coughed lightly to get his attention.

“Don’t worry about it now. You have several days to pay it off, so until then I suggest you get a job in Ponyville, seeing as you don’t have any money.”

Hammer blinked at her, thinking over that last sentence. Of course I don’t have any of these “bits”. Not like I have a place to put them. Wait... where did they... Feeling somewhat disturbed and violated, he took the papers in his mouth and gave an uneasy goodbye.

It didn’t take long for him to reach the front doors and leave the clinic, but what did stop him was when he got outside. Every color imaginable entered his vision. The green grass, the tall, brown trees with lush green leaves, the small blue brook. everything seemed so alien to him.

It had been such a long time for him to see such peace and beauty, and he was enjoying every second of it.

His stomach decided to interrupt his enjoyment by loudly grumbling Its displeasure of being empty. While the papers in his mouth sounded delicious to eat at the moment, he could probably find something more edible in Ponyville. Without a second thought, he continued down the dirt path and over a stone bridge to the quaint little village.

This is just going swimmingly, Hammer Whirl thought sarcastically. Everypony he asked for a job was refusing. He would’ve thought it was simply no spots open, but the looks of suspicion he was given every time said something else. He remembered the same looks several people in Caelondia gave him just because of his hair color. They didn’t trust him, but was it because of his hair, or rather his mane? Or something else entirely?

Ignoring the stare from his latest turndown, Hammer walked through what seemed to be a marketplace. If there was anywhere he would be to torture himself, it would be here. Food was everywhere, mostly fruits and vegetables, but still was taunting his stomach. He forced himself to look away from a cart full of delicious oranges when he bumped into someone.

He heard a high-pitched yelp as the pony he bumped into fell back and to the ground. The top of his head felt several impacts as today decided to start raining books. One of them was still balancing on his head as he helped whoever he bumped into. “I’m so sorry, I really should watch where I’m going. Here, let me help with your books.”

The pony was a light purple with a dark violet mane that had one stripe of pink and purple. She appeared to be disoriented as her eyes rotated around in her skull. Shaking her head, they returned to normal and focused on Hammer. “Oh, it’s quite all right,” the unicorn said, levitating the book off of his head.

This place is getting stranger by the minute. Is she causing those books to float? Hammer stared at the levitating literature with a furrowed brow. Unfortunately, the unicorn caught him staring and let out a giggle.

“You okay? Those books must’ve hit you hard. You look like you’ve never seen magic before.”

“Actually this is the first time I’ve even heard of real magic. Before, all I’ve seen were simple card tricks and street magic,” he explained, still staring at the books in the air. Why am I opening myself up to her like this? Maybe she’s using her magic to make me act this way? Looking at the unicorn, she seemed to be harmless. Strangely her eyes showed interest in his small story.

“Interesting, usually everypony knows real magic exists. Where are you from? Were your parents earth ponies as well? What’s your name? Do-” She started blushing after realizing herself piling on questions. Before she could apologize, she spotted a pile of sheets of paper stapled together. Lifting it with her magic, she brought it close to her face. “What’s this?”

Hammer felt his body go numb as he watched her rapidly scan through the front page. He knew it was too late because she had already finished the first page within several seconds. By the gods, how fast can this pony read? He let out a defeated sigh and sat down, waiting for her to finish the report. At least it will answer her questions, maybe she’ll leave me alone now.

The more she read, the more disturbed her face became. Hammer didn’t know why she wouldn’t stop reading. Was she that interested to know about me? Finally she read the last bits of information at the last page and looked at him, her eyes full of sorrow. She floated the paper to the ground in front of him and mouthed “I’m so sorry”, before bolting away from sight.

Watching the mare leave, Hammer picked up the pile of paper in his mouth and tossed it in the nearest trash can. If my past is that frightening to a pony, maybe It’s best they don’t know at all. Now that the awkward moment had passed, he continued his search for a job. There were still plenty of places to look so he kept his hopes up as he walked away from the marketplace.

He had checked almost everywhere in Ponyville for a job and they turned him down every single time. The Bastion could’ve switched out the townsfolk in Caelondia and he wouldn't be able to tell the difference. They both, to some extent, didn’t trust him for their own different reasons. The thought reminded him of the Rippling Walls back home and how he worked there was five years. They didn’t care about if his hair was white or not. They needed people to repair the walls and that’s what he did. How he loved the look on their faces when he asked to work there for another five years. It was unheard of, but he didn’t have anything else to do and wanted to drown himself in work to forget about his parents.

Working the walls was also where he received the Cael Hammer, which was now part of the symbol on his flank. It, along with a special technique passed along by the Masons, would be used to slam the heaviest of blocks into place. He did miss the weight on his back. It was almost like a companion to him, being with him through his adventures after the Calamity. Even if he couldn’t wield it as a pony, he secretly wished it was with him.

The sun was soon to dip under the mountains and he could guess he had an hour to either get a job or find shelter. The weather didn’t seem chilly and the thought of hiding in a nearby alley to sleep crossed his mind. He’s slept in worse areas back home, although it was technically being knocked out from a gas in the bog. Nevertheless, the thought of not having to deal with these ponies until tomorrow was awfully tempting.

There were still two places he knew of that still needed to turn him down. One was a giant tree house and the other a building that looks like it as made of frosting. Seeing that the tree was closer, he went toward it first. The tree was large, maybe three stories high. The windows and door seemed to be a part of the tree itself, instead of a normal home where they added them during construction. Light showed through all the windows, hinting that someone was home.

Before he knocked, something caught his eye as it moved away from one of the upper windows. Whatever it was, surely they would know they were about to get a visitor. He knocked on the door three times and waited. He knocked again after counting in his mind to twenty and still no response. He was about to give up when the faint, steady thudding of walking could be heard. The door quickly swung open at its own accord, showing a small purple lizard staring at him. “This is a public library, you know,” he stated in an annoyed voice, at least Hammer guessed it was a he from the tone.

Hammer was about to retort that he didn’t see a sign, but the creature pointed at a sign to his left which clearly stated this building was the “Ponyville Public Library”. He looked at the lizard as if to say “you win this round”, but he only shrugged and disappeared to the left.

Entering the doorway, he wrinkled his muzzle from the heavy scent of paper. The room was well-lit, letting him see the tons of books that lined the shelves; the quiet atmosphere just begging for them to be read. He noticed the dragon was busy sorting one of the shelves to his left, climbing a ladder to get to the higher shelves. He admired how quick and efficient he worked, as if he knew where every book needed to be.

“Did you need something or are you always this creepy?” The lizard stared back, his claws full of several small paperbacks.

“Sorry, just admiring your work. It must take a lot to sort these books.” The lizard soaked in the complement like he just won an award and he started to grin.

“Yeah, well, when you do this for a couple of years it sort of grows on you,” he said nonchalantly while sorting the books.

“If you don’t mind me asking... what exactly are you?”

“I’m Spike, number one assistant to Twilight Sparkle,” he stated happily, but then realized Hammer said what, not who. “Uh, I’m a dragon. You can’t tell me you’ve never seen a dragon before.”

“Okay, I’ve never seen a dragon before,” Hammer said with a chuckle, making fun of Spike’s statement. Spike didn’t seem to find it funny as he spoke in a mono, clearly unamused, tone.

“Funny, I’m sure you have your own comedy club and everything.”

A voice came from upstairs, scolding the baby dragon. “Spike, stop patronizing whoever you’re talking to. You remember what happened last time with Lyra don’t you?”

"Sorry Twilight," Spike said begrudgingly while looking at his claws and giving a shudder.

Hammer remembered that voice. It was that pony he ran into in the marketplace. The voice came from upstairs so Hammer was thankful she couldn’t see him. However, Spike seemed to notice his anxiety and raised an eyebrow. “You all right?”

“Yeah, just trying to stay away from... her.” Hammer looked at the now grinning Spike who was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Great, I’m about to be blackmailed by a overgrown lizard.

“It would be a shame for her to just wander down here while you’re inside her library, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, it would,” Hammer stated sharply. “I rather like staying away from awkward situations, thank you very much.”

“Fine, but tell me at least why you’re so scared to see her.”

He rubbed a hoof between his eyes in frustration. “Ugh, fine, but don’t blame me if you think I’m crazy.”

Spike let out a chuckle. “When you live in Ponyville, you forget what is and isn’t crazy these days.”

Hammer gave a quick rundown on what had happened from now and before the Bastion malfunctioned on him. Spike took it in stride with mostly a confused expression, but listened intently nonetheless. He continued explaining that he wasn’t originally a pony, but a human who was turned into one. While he expected telling someone else his predicament, it only made him dread what the dragon was going to do next. “Happy now?”

“Yeah I got what I wanted.” Spike turned around to start re-shelving the books, which made Hammer sigh in relief.

Spike quickly spun and, with his claws to his mouth, starting yelling. “Hey Twilight, this pony w-mmffmf!” His mouth was immediately stuffed with a hoof to effectively silence the tiny dragon.

“What the hay, we had an agreement!” Hammer seethed between his teeth.

“Spike?” Twilight said from above. A sigh came from her and the sound of hooves could be heard heading for the stairs. “Spike, you better not be trying to eat one of the books... again...”

Removing his hoof from Spike’s mouth, who gasped for air afterwards, Hammer turned toward Twilight, an uneasy smile on his face. Twilight seemed to be in the same predicament as she had the same expression on her face. Quick, think of something to disarm the situation! Think!

“Uhm... hi?” Well done you smooth talker. Those words would've stopped the Uru in their tracks back home.

"W-what are you doing here? Were you following me?"

"What? No, I'm just trying to find a job, shelter, or something to eat at least." Another rumble from his stomach helped confirm this.

"Well, I do have some food. I haven't gone shopping in awhile so the selection may be slim..."

Hammer stared at Twilight as if trying to look through her. Something is wrong. Why is she suddenly allowing me to eat her food? Is she really that nice? No, everyone I met here is being a pain in the flank-ass, I mean ass! Why is my vocabulary keep being changed? He closed his eyes for a moment to recollect his thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at Twilight.

"I'll make a deal with you. You let me sleep for one day in here... and I'll tell you about everything you've read about me." It's a long shot, but something about her is different. For one she's not yelling at me to leave her home. Two, she seems to actually care about my hunger. And three, I'm tired as hell and just wants to go to bed, preferably indoors.

Twilight nodded her head in agreement. All right, you have a deal, but you'll have to sleep on the floor. I don't have a spare mattress or pillow, but i have a spare blanket."

"That will do just fine. It's better than sleeping outside at least." Twilight levitated over a spare blue blanket and placed it flat next to Hammer. The blanket was large and allowed him to make a small wad next to his head to form a pillow. After getting comfortable on the ground, he slowly drifted off the sleep, his stomach angrily waiting for him when he woke up.

"Good Night."

Ch. 17: [Part 1] The bigger picture

Chapter 17

Part 1: The bigger picture

Kid walked across the garden, still feeling the rush in his veins slowly recede. Truthfully, he wished he didn't have to intimidate the pony so much. The way he acted so negatively toward being a human struck him deeply; reminding him of the disdain Caelondia had for his white hair. It made him wonder if he went too far since his original plan was to prove his worth. Not frighten and threaten a supervisor.

"He deserved it," Kid's anger spoke while clenching the hilt of his hammer in his right hand, feeling it build up again. However, he quickly remembered that anger never helped him in the past, and it definitely wasn't going to help him now. He needed someplace to relax and let his mind calm down. Seeing a nearby bench, he walked toward it and rested his hammer on the side and took a seat. Letting out a long sigh, he rested his head on the back of the bench and looked up at the sky. Several white fluffy clouds sat above him without a care in the world, and for a moment, he wished his life was that easy. Instead he's stuck in another world. A world that has never heard or seen a human before.

Would Equestria even accept him as a human? Would the ponies?

The thought scared him a bit. This place was so calm and serene. His bout of anger might as well have been a pollution to the air. What would Celestia say when she found out he grabbed Chip and frightened the poor guy? More importantly, what would his friends say if they found out? What kind of punishments do they even give out here? Deciding to just wait for them to find out, he focused on what was far more important.

Rucks said he needed a metal tube... thing... remade, and needed to find a power source. While he promised himself he wouldn't give up finding a way back home, he felt like a water-drop of hope in an entire sea of doubt. Where would he begin? Sitting forward on the bench, he eyed the garden and hedge-maze for answers. His gaze wandered toward an odd statue that looked like several pieces of different animals were glued together. Its face recoiling in fear of something indiscernible that only the artist who chiseled the statue knew about.

Whoever made that statue must have a strange imagination, Kid mused. Even more odd than the statue was the sense of someone or something watching him. Even if he was alone. He pushed away his instincts as he found the entire idea silly. Even if someone was watching him, he doubted it was...

Hammer ruffled his hair in frustration. In less than several minutes he somehow went from worrying about his friends reactions to grabbing a pony by the throat, to studying a statue. He couldn't focus, and that was what he needed to do if he planned to fix the Bastion.

A sigh left Hammer's lips. Maybe all this weight on my shoulders is finally getting to me, he deducted. The peaceful garden did start to eased his nerves, so he decided to stay for several minutes. Dr. Hammer's orders. ten minutes of relaxation. He got more comfortable by weaves his fingers behind his head and closing his eyes.

"I'm sure she's busy anyway," he agreed with himself.

"Thou speakist of our sister, do you not?" An inquisitive voice spoke up behind him. Kid lowered his arms and tilted his head far back, only to see Princess Luna walking toward him, upside-down. He jumped off the bench and grabbed his hammer on instinct. Taking a wide defensive stance, he peered at her cautiously as if she were going to attack. Luna scruched her face in distaste at his reaction. "Please calm thyself, Hammer. We promise to not sic the guard on you again. In fact, we would like to apologize deeply for causing such distress." She helped herself to sit on the other end of the bench. "Not many ponies are able to teleport directly into the inner rooms of Canterlot Castle like you just did. I hope that helps you understand my worry as we believed you were wishing harm on our sister."

Seeing Luna's sorrowful expression, Hammer slowly left his defensive stance and set the hammer against the bench again. He sat back down on the bench and ran a hand along his face. "It's alright, Princess. I can't say I would do the same since I don't have any siblings, but I always look out for my friends. Just be sure to ask questions first before jumping to conclusions I suppose." He waved a hand in the air as if to shoo away her worry.

A small smile appeared on Luna's lips. "We are glad to hear this." She peered at something and Kid noticed for a moment her brow furrow in confusion. "I was told you would be assisting with construction with the eastern wing. Are you already finished?"

"Chip and I didn't see 'eye-to-eye'." Hammer began, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "He reminded me of some others I hated very much in my past and I guess I finally snapped. Ever since being sent here I've never met such a..." While Hammer would love to say some 'colorful' language, Luna probably wouldn't appreciate it. "... Stubborn and condescending pony. I was eager to help and prove myself, but he refused every single time."

He noticed his hand was clenching in anger and quickly relaxed it. "Long story short, He angered me enough that I grabbed him, then began to intimidate and humiliated him in front of his crew. After that I took my Cael Hammer and resolved the problem and walked away, leaving me to relax on this bench." A sigh left his lips for having to explain himself, but he was glad it wasn't Celestia first. Hammer waited for Luna to start berating him for doing such things to a pony, but was caught off guard with an entirely different reaction.

Luna was giggling. The usual short giggles you hear whenever a woman, or mare in this case, found something quite amusing. "It appears you were expecting us to be angered or disappointed in you?" Luna raised a sly eyebrow upon seeing his perplexed expression. "To be honest, he had it coming. Chip has always been a nuisance in Canterlot's side ever since he was hired. The only real reason he's still here is the lack of ponies who match him in skill." She tucked her hooves under herself for a more comfortable position." I always believed somepony showing him up would straighten him out."

"Well, we can only hope I straightening him out enough." Hammer said in a way to end the subject. He eyed the statue again and he found his curiosity take over. Now that Luna was here, maybe he could get some answers on the subject. "Do you know who created the odd statue?" Pointing a thumb at it.

Luna glanced at where his thumb was pointing and her face scrunched in disgust. "If only it were a 'normal' odd statue," Luna muttered loud enough for Hammer to hear. "What you see is the creature of pure chaos, Discord.

Hammer blinked several times with a blank face as he wrapped his mind around what Luna was telling him. "So... that thing used to be alive?"

"Oh he's still alive, but as you can see he's a bit... stuck. The statue is his prison, thanks to the Elements of Harmony."

"The... elements of Harmony?" Hammer raised a brow in mixed confusion and interest. Whatever it was, it must be very powerful to turn a living creature to stone.

Luna raised her own brows in disbelief. "Oh, twilight never told you? She's one of the bearers after all. The element of magic. The others being loyalty, honesty, laughter, kindness, and generosity."

Hammer nodded his head in understanding, propping up his right foot on his left knee. "So what does he do exactly? Being that he's stuck like a statue forever, it must be pretty bad."

"You have no idea," Luna put a hoof to her forehead. "He's as unpredictable as anypony can get. One day he might turn the entirety of Canterlot into a giant bowl of ice cream. Next he'll be busy drawing a smiley face on Celestia's sun with a sharpie."

For a moment, Hammer didn't think having a bowl of ice cream the size of a city that bad. Then again, waking up to find your house turned into a chocolate sundae would be quite the surprise. "I... see your point."

"Wonderful." Luna hopped off the bench and lightly flapped her wings to stretch. "It was nice chatting with you Hammer, but now I must depart. My sister should be expecting you any moment in the throne room." She fixed him with a focused stare that felt like she was reading his mind. A amused smile formed on his mouth as well. "And don't worry about Celestia punishing you about your incident. We both were looking forward to somepony teaching him a lesson, but she won't show it. She'll say something about 'treat other ponies as they treat unto you' or something blah blah blah." Luna explained in a very unprincess-like manner.

With her advice on how to deal with his impending confrontation with Celestia, she bad farewell. Hammer watched her do a single quick and powerful flap of her wings. It was enough since she shot into the air and had gained enough altitude to be high above the hedges. Soon after, she zipped away and departed into the blue sky. Disappearing behind one of the ivory towers.

With nothing left for him in the garden, Hammer stood up and grabbed his weapon. Securing it to his back, he walked toward the doorway a little ways down the small paved pathway. When he reached for the handle, he heard something faint behind him. Turning around, all he saw was the garden and its lush colors. There were several birds flying to a nearby tree, but nothing could've replicated what he just heard.

It was faint, like trying to listen to Fluttershy when she was being extra timid. It wasn't something natural like the wind tussling the leaves or chirp of birds. It had a voice and came directly behind him.

And it was laughing.