Hammer and Harmony

Chapters

Arrival
Forging part 1
Forging part 2
Armor and Weapons
Training goodbyes
Epilogue
Link to the Sequel

Arrival

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I hope this letter finds you in good health. Recently it has come to the guard’s attention that with your recent ascension, one detail was overlooked. As it turns out, each and every ascended being in Equestria is allowed to have a full suit of battle armor and weapon of their choice in the case of martial altercations. Normally, a trip to Neighpon is required, for the expert needed for such armor lives there: however, in light of recent events, an expert has been banished from his country, and we have directed him to stay in Ponyville as part of his asylum. This pony will also be your teacher on how to use, and take care of, the gifts he will create for you. He will be arriving tomorrow. Please give him aid in finding a permanent place to stay.
Sincerely, Captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor

P.S. Sorry about the formal letter it’s a requirement for these things, also come visit us in the crystal kingdom when you get a chance.

Odd. I never thought the other Princesses even owned weapons and armor. Oh well, I guess it’s part of the job.

The next day came to Ponyville just like the last. Twilight Sparkle made her way from the Library to the train station around noon. For once, all seemed right in Ponyville, no Cutie Mark Crusaders nonsense, no world ending problems at all. Twilight sat in the train station content to wait for the stallion mentioned in the letter. The train was supposed to arrive in five minutes, plenty of time to reflect on the checklists of things she had to get done today.

The train arrived in town, and many ponies of different sizes and colors made their way out of the train. A casual observer would hardly notice the diminutive stallion with a brown coat and deep blue mane sporting a hammer and anvil cutie mark. The stallion made his way toward Twilight Sparkle carrying large gray saddlebags almost as large as he was.

“Hello. Princess Twilight Sparkle I presume?” asked the brown stallion.

“Ah yes, you’re the blacksmith I was told about? I’m sorry, but the letter I was given didn’t mention a name.”

“Names are strong things, Ms. Sparkle. You may call me Kajiya, for it is what I am. Excuse me a moment, I must get the rest of my things” The stallion proceeded to drop his saddlebags, causing a large dent in the ground, and turned around back towards the train. Soon, he returned dragging a crate the size of several ponies behind him. “Please lead the way, Ms. Sparkle, I need a place to rest my things before I can make your items.”

Shocked by the strength of a stallion smaller than her, Twilight merely nodded and headed towards the library, Kajiya following her.

Reaching the library, Twilight realized that Kajiya had not spoken another word since they had left. He kind of reminds me of Big Mac, just smaller.

“Here we are Kajiya, Ponyville Library. Right over there is the house the guard has procured for you.” Twilight pointed with a hoof towards a small, single-story house next to the library.

“Thanks, I need to set up. Give me three days, then come back.”

“But don’t you want to see the town?”

“I will, but the job is my passion, and I won’t rest until it is complete.”

“But Pinkie will want to throw you a big party!”

“I will attend, but the Kajiya comes first.”

“Thats kind of egotistical.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Kajiya means ummm… Metal worker? Blacksmith? Something along those lines.”

Confused now Twilight asked, “But why didn’t you give me your real name?”

“Because my real name is only needed by family and blood friends.”

“Blood friends?”

“It is a Neighpon tradition. Now excuse me, I must attend to my Kajiya.” The stallion walked off carrying his heavy load, leaving Twilight even more confused than ever.

For the first time in forever, a new pony in town did not receive the normal recognition from a Pinkie Party; instead, three days passed by quite normally in Ponyville. On the third day, Twilight Sparkle made her way across the very short journey towards the house that she had left the strange new pony at earlier that week. Three small hoof knocks on the door signaled her arrival to the occupant.

“Come in.”

“Well, I’m here Kajiya, you said to give you three days,” Twilight said as she entered the small house. Surprise overtook the alicorn as she noticed that the small fireplace had been turned into a full forge, and all the decor items had been shoved into a corner. The forge was lined with bricks that scaled to the ceiling and along the floor creating a heating space the size of several large stallions.

“Th-Thats quite an adjustment you have made to the place.”

“For Kajiya, you must have a forge. Now where are your friends?”

“My friends? I thought the armor was for myself only,” Twilight answered confused.

“No. Armor for all members of the Council of Friendship. I need measurements and die casts from all of you.”

“Die casts?”

“Yes. To foretell what weapon I need to make for you. The dice never lie. Now begone, and return with friends in tow.”
“Hmmph. Fine I will.” What an abrasive character he has. He won’t even tell me his name, but he’s giving orders like he was Celestia.

Twilight made her normal rounds to gather up her friends, which as per usual involved finding Pinkie Pie, telling her to get Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy while she went to get Rarity. A few minutes later all six along with Spike were assembled in front of the small house once again.

“So Twi, why exactly are we here again?” Applejack inquired.

“Apparently the laws of Equestria say that anyone with Princess level status has to be given a suit of armor and weapon, if only for ceremonial purposes.”

“So we get sweet looking armor for free? Awesome!” Rainbow Dash remarked as she casually hovered overhead.

“Well I suppose it will be fine. As long as I can make the armor look Fashionable that is” conceded Rarity.

With that, the six ponies and dragon walked into the small house, once again greeted by the drastically rearranged interior.

“Ah good, you’re all here.I need body measurements from each of you.”

“That’s a might forward, dontcha think fella?” Applejack seethed.

“For your armor of course. Also, you all must roll die on table” Kajiya answered, pointing a hoof towards the table where a very strange die was held. The die looked like a normal six sided dice, but none of the sides held any image.

“Hey, what’s the big idea!? This dice doesn’t have anything on it!” Rainbow interjected as she had already brushed past the small stallion to get a better look at it.

“Then roll it and find out. Now, who can assist in measurements?”

“I can darling. After all, I am the premiere dress maker in Ponyville,” Rarity answered

Rainbow Dash, still skeptical, rolled the small die, expecting nothing to happen. As it rolled, a small blue aura wrapped around it, and the sides of the die rapidly changed images. When the die came to rest, one image was on all six surfaces: wing blades, a weapon attached to the furthest primary of a pegasus, known for pure brutality and finality.

“Hey it shows a pair of wing blades now,” Dash remarked.

“Good, now somepony else roll die while we measure the pegasus.”

“Ya know partner, ya could at least ask our names, so ya don’t gotta call us names.”

“Names are strong, Applejack. I prefer to not use them, and I know all of your names. There, everyone is measured for armor. What did you roll, yellow pegasus?”

“Eep. Ummm . . .I uh . . . I rolled a star,” answered the sheepish pegasus as she hid behind her mane.

“Good, you next Twilight Sparkle.”

“Hey how come she gets a name and I don’t?” Dash questioned hotly.

“She is Princess, she deserves respect. Also, her brother told me to call her as such.”

“I got two things. A star and a sword,” Twilight said.

“Good, other unicorn now.”

“My name is Rarity, and I wish to be called as such, sir” Rarity responded as she walked over and used her magic to roll the die, revealing a small sword and crystal. “I also got two, a thin sword and crystal.”

“Good, Pink one you are next.”

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie,” a rather somber Pinkie replied. “I got a bugle and a hoof!”

“Orange one, you are last.”

“Call me Applejack, darnit. Ah, got somethin. Don’ know what it is, though.” The die depicted a strange weapon that oddly reminded Applejack of her lasso.

“Hmm. That is an interesting one. Now, I need 6 pounds of crushed gemstone, and aid of your young dragon, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Huh, me?” asked Spike, awakened from his slight stupor as he stared at the roaring fire in the forge.

“I need dragonfire for metal, and gemstone for finished product.”

“Well, I do have plenty of gems, Darling. Feel free to come over whenever you like and pick some up,” Rarity replied grudgingly.

“Good, now all of you except the young dragon leave me to work.”

“Can I watch?” Twilight asked. “I would be very interested in watching a true Neighponese blacksmith at work.”

“Me too!” Dash interjected. Seeing stares from the others, she added “Hey! Swords are cool.”

“You may watch. But from tomorrow onward. I must make steel today with young dragon. I cannot allow ponies to see making.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked irritated

“Because is dragonbound code to not reveal secrets to outsiders. Punishment is death and permanent imprisonment of the soul within a dragon horde for all eternity.”

Stunned into silence, the ponies left.

After a moment more of silence Spike perked up, “Is that true?”

“Yes. Now come, we has orichalum to make.”

“What is orichalum?” Spike inquired as they both made their way towards the white hot forge.

“It is what happens when dragonfire smelts mithril, coal and iron together. It is the strongest metal in the world.” The pony responded as he put scoop after scoop of blue and gray metal into a crucible larger than Big Mac, along with stupid amounts of coal. He proceeded to set the mold into the fire and went to grab yet another mold, this one was six simple bars.

“The metal will heat and melt together in hot flame. When I take it out you must use your hottest flame upon it while it is still liquid to turn it into orichalum.”

“Ummm… Okay” Spike responded as he fidgeted from side to side, obviously nervous.

When the time came, the earth pony withdrew large metal tongs from somewhere and used them to quickly withdraw the large crucible. Just as quickly Spike stepped in and blew his hottest fire upon the crucible turning the blue liquid into an emerald green. Satisfied, the earth pony poured the metal into the awaiting bar molds.

“Thank you young dragon. You may leave or watch.”

“I think I’m good. Twilight’s probably expecting me back soon.”

Forging part 1

Rainbow Dash normally didn’t make an effort to get up early. In fact, most ponies called her lazy, but today was different. Today, she would see a real blacksmith make armor, not any old armor either, but HER armor. It was a thrilling aspect to say the least. The normally sleep-heavy pegasus barely slept that night, and was knocking on the library’s window quite early.

“Twilight! Let’s go, we don’t wanna miss any of the awesomeness!”

“Rainbow, its like 6 A.M. There’s no way hes up and working already. Besides, I need coffee and food. Come in and join me.”

“Alright, but if we miss anything, it’s your fault,” Dash responded as her stomach growled.

Around an hour later, both ponies were well-fed and ready to go. Twilight sported a large notebook, ink, and quill to record her observations. Three knocks on the door once again signaled their arrival.

“Come in Twilight Sparkle and Pegasus, I was about to get started.”

The two ponies walked into a room very similar to the one they left yesterday, with the addition of six large green bars on the floor along with a Big Mac-sized anvil.

“Ka-Kajiya… is that what I think it is?” Twilight asked, shocked.

“Yes. It is Orichalum. Please sit where you like but away from the anvil, forge and water,” Kajiya responded pointing his hoof at various objects including a large steel bucket.

“Whats the big deal about Orichalum Twi?”

“Dash… Any one of those bars would sell for enough money to buy all of Ponyville.”

“Oh wow… Is he using those in our armor?”

“Yes, I am. I was hired by Princess Celestia. I will spare no expense in repaying her,” Kajiya stated grimly as he took a large hammer from the wall.

“Why?” Twilight asked

“That story is not mine to tell. Ask your Princess. Now be silent and leave questions for when I take rest.”

The earth pony proceeded to place all six bars into the furnace for around ten minutes. After he was satisfied with the now glowing color of the metal he retrieved his tongs and hammer setting the latter upon the anvil. He retrieved a single bar and hammered upon it flattening it until the glow receded.

Not satisfied with the thickness he shoved the bar into the furnace again. The glow slowly returned, then another session of hammering. This continued until the bar was twice its original size, then he folded the metal in half and hammered it again, merging the sides. He then placed the bar back into the furnace once more. The earth pony repeated this process for all six bars.

The two mares we mesmerized by the performance. A more sophisticated pony would comment on the pure fluidity that was shown in every step and action the stallion took. Some poets have even written upon the subject of the neighponese Kajiya and their motions.

The pony surprised the mares once more, he took a red hot poker from the fire and touched it to the side of his chest, remarking grimly “ONE”. Too entranced to protest the self mutilation Twilight continued to take notes and Dash continued to drink in every second of the performance.With practiced ease the stallion continued his work placing the bars back into the furnace once again.

“TWO”

“FIVE”

“TEN”

“TWENTY”

“FIFTY”

“ONE HUNDRED”

Panting, the stallion removed the poker from his chest. “That is all for today, so to not bore you I will be doing this for the next two weeks.”

“TWO WEEKS?” Twilight exclaimed as she arose from her trance. “You plan on torturing yourself with that poker for two weeks for a mere set of armor?”

“Umm… Twi you shouldn’t have said that” Dash responded looking at the shaking stallion. A feeling of dread crept over the mares. The house vibrated slightly and the mares felt as though they stood next to a large mountain about to collapse with no means of escape.

“How. Dare. You.” the stallion said cold anger suffusing his words, making the very air tremble.

“How Dare you dishonor my craft. How dare you dishonor my entire existence. I live for the forge, and I will die by the forge. Since I could walk, all I knew was its warmth. I knew not the love of a mother, only the cruel mistress of the forge. You know why I torture myself on the forge? Because I pay the price. I pay the price of the sins that my creations will commit. I hurt myself so that the wielder may never feel guilt for the sins they commit in my craft. Leave now. Leave before I do something I regret. Leave and come back when you have accepted my craft, and not before.”

The mares galloped out the door. Pure fear, not the fear they faced in the everfree forest, not the fear they felt against Tirek, but Pure fear. The kind of fear that only occurs when you know it’s over, that your life is at an end, and there is no survival.

Still shivering, Twilight spoke first, “I say we take a day off then I’ll go apologize.” The first rays of sunset glimpsed the skies as the mares made their way home.

“Yeah,” Dash responded quickly, then flew off to her cloud home to avoid being seen with tears in her eyes.

True to her word, the next morning around the same time, Twilight approached the small house. Three knocks sounded her arrival but this time no response was heard. Considering her previous experience with the stallion Twilight knocked once more. Still no response came so Twilight opened the door slightly.

“Hello?” Twilight called into the house. Opening the door fully, the light revealed the small stallion sitting perfectly still above a bowl of oats and grass with his eyes closed.

“I hope you have come to apologize.”

“Yes. I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I’m afraid I’m not well versed in Neighpon traditions, so I had no idea what I said would be an insult. For that I am very sorry. Also, since you will be doing the same thing for the next two weeks I will leave you to your work.”

“Thank you. Apology accepted,” the stallion responded as he ate his grass and oats.

“I do have a few questions before you get started though.”

“Ask.”

“Why are you folding the orichalum?”

“Because folded metal stronger than normal metal. Folded 1500 times is best.”

“Why are you eating grass and oats?”

“Grass and oats sustain the body. I eat only because I need to, not because I want to. It is quite inconvenient having to eat.”
“How much metal goes into each armor set?”

“You are mares, and not war stallions. One bar is one set. Each bar weighs 25 pounds.”

“What are you going to make the weapons out of?”

“Mithril, orichalum is good for armor but it isn’t rigid enough for weapons.”

Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. “But mithril is almost as hard to get as orichalum!”

The stallion walked over to a medium sized crate and opened the top. Looking inside Twilight saw it was filled to the brim with mithril and iron. “I brought my supplies.”

“Well, thanks for answering my questions. I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Thank you,” replied the stallion as he moved towards his forge to begin.

Later that day

Six mares and a dragon sat around the library in various chairs and couches calmly sipping their tea. The sun was high in the sky and Twilight had called for a meeting in the library.

“Ah, still don’t like em’ ,” Applejack started off

“Me neither. He didn’t even let me throw him a party!” Pinkie pouted

“Not to mention how much of a ruffian he is,” Rarity added. “I mean, what kind of stallion loses his temper and shouts at two mares he hardly knows?” she asked, still slightly mortified of Twilight and Dash’s account of yesterday.

“He scares me,” Fluttershy said, and then continued to sip her tea.

“Well, hopefully he won’t have to stay too much longer girls. None of us like him, but he’s here until his work is done at the very least,” Twilight confirmed.

“Well, it’s not like he goes outside or anything, so nopony has to deal with him,” Applejack said.

“Well, I kinda like him,” Spike interjected. When the others looked at him oddly, he quickly added, “I mean, he wasn’t nice to Twilight and Rainbow, but otherwise he seems cool, maybe just a little misunderstood.”

“Spike, you’re quite right, its just that none of us really want to interact with him, that's all,” Rarity responded.

Spike thought a moment, before a lightbulb came on in his head, “Hey, I could talk with him for you girls, that way you can still get the armor made, but you don’t have to talk to him much.”

“I don’t know Spike, he seems awfully dangerous,” Twilight said, obviously concerned.

“Well I think it’s a splendid idea Twilight,” Rarity commented. “Spike could use more to do, especially since I don’t have any orders I need help with at the moment.”

“Alright,” Twilight agreed, “you can talk to him Spike. But if he ever tries to hurt you, tell me as fast as possible. As for me,” Twilight sighed heavily,”I’ll be glad when this is all over.”

That night Spike adhered to the apple family adage, “Early to bed, early to rise,” and was on his way to Kajiya’s shop early that morning around 7 A.M. Mimicking Twilight, Spike likewise knocked three times on the door.

“Come in.” As the door opened Kajiya spoke again, “Young dragon, does Twilight Sparkle know you are here?”

“Yes. None of her friends wanted to come watch or help, but I was intrigued by the time I helped you the other day, and wanted to see more. So . . . I was wondering if I could help?”

“Not today young dragon, unless you wish to go get gemstones for me.”

“Sure, I always like going to Miss Rarity’s place!”

“I need 6 pounds of the dullest gems she has, along with the largest purest white crystal she has.”

“Why dull gems?”

“Because gems can hold power just fine. However, to transmit that power they must have imperfections. If my guess is correct, Rarity does not have any ‘bad’ gems, so dull will have to do. And the crystal is for use in her weapon.”

“Okay I’m on my way!”

“Wait! It is early still. Wait until I have done twenty folds then go.”

“Aww. Okay.”

Around two hours later Spike found himself knocking on the door to arguably his favorite place in tower, Carousel Boutique. Spike was still slightly confused as to why Kajiya needed gemstones to make armor. The royal guard armor didn’t have any gems in it: he knew he checked Shining’s armor once.

The door opened to the normal phrase, “Welcome to- Oh, Spike, I wasn’t expecting you this morning. Is everything okay?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah everything’s fine, Kajiya sent me over to get gems, and a, uhh- crystal, yeah, a crystal for the armor.”

“Well, do come in. I would much rather deal with my Spikey Wikey than that ruffian.” Spike blushed slightly. “Now Darling did he tell you what kind of gems he wanted?”

“Umm he didn’t tell me what color but he said to get the dullest gems you have and one large white crystal.”

“That’s certainly odd. How much did he say he needed?”

“He needs 6 pounds.”

“Well, as a fashion designer, my guess is he needs one pound for each set of armor, and since he didn’t specify color, I guess I’ll choose.”

The dragon and pony continued inside towards the back room. Once there, Rarity opened a quite large chest, lighting up the room with every color of the rainbow when the light hit the large pile of gems inside.

“Hmmm. Well I suppose our coats won’t be too visible in armor, so maybe something having to do with our cutie marks or coat color would work best. AH! I have it!” Rarity exclaimed as inspiration took hold. She grabbed a pound of diamonds for herself and the same amount of amethyst, blue topaz,emerald, citrine and ruby.

“Okay Spike, the Diamond is for mine, Emerald for Fluttershy, amethyst for Twilight, Citrine for Applejack, Ruby for Rainbow Dash, and blue topaz for Pinkie Pie.”

“Alright, now we need a large white crystal,” Spike added as he struggled to pick up the massive amount of gems laid out.

“Oh darling, you don’t have to carry all of that. Here, here’s a wagon you can borrow.” Rarity used her magic to drag a small wagon from a corner of the room into which Spike placed the gems.

“I do happen to have a large crystal, I got it as a souvenir when we were at the Equestria Games. It should do quite nicely,” Rarity continued as she went into her room, opened a drawer and withdrew a saddlebag-sized white crystal and placed it in the wagon.

“That should be everything, Rarity. Thanks a bunch!”

“Of course and do come by and see me soon I always miss my little Spikey Wikey.”

Spike blushed as he quickly made his way out of the shop towards Kajiya’s house, salivating every step of the way. Reaching the house he opened the door and walked right in, seeing the blacksmith in the same position as when he left. Spike placed the gems in an empty corner of the room, now content to watch the magic happen.

Kajiya stopped briefly at lunchtime, more for Spike’s sake than his own, to have lunch and inspect the gems Rarity provided.

“Good, gems are good quality but not perfect . . . they will be perfect. But why are they all the same colors?”

“Rarity thought they might be visible, so she chose a color for each of her friends”

“Ah, I see. That is appropriate, I suppose. I don’t need any more help for quite some time, young dragon. You may go back to doing what you normally do. Come back on the last day of folding, 12 days from now.”

“Alright I’ll see you then, mister. I’m looking forward to it!”

Forging part 2

Twelve days is a very long time in the small town of Ponyville. Many interesting things occurred as Spike waited for the day he could return to Kajiya’s house. In the grand scheme of things, nothing happened that was noteworthy. All the small miracles of friendship and ‘worst thing possible’s happened without Kajiya ever knowing about them. The only thing he knew was his forge, and the folding of metal for twelve full days. Spike, once again, came calling early on the last day of folding.

“Ah, young dragon you return. Today is the last day of folding the orichalum,” Kajiya pointed a hoof at the forge, already glowing, but the metal inside had changed from green to midnight black. “I need you to crush the gemstones using the pestle and mortar in the corner,” Kajiya continued as he pointed his hoof at the far corner of the house which contained the gemstones, along with a small grey mortar and pestle and the decor from the rest of the house.

“Excuse me, mister,” Spike tentatively spoke up.

“Call me Kajiya.”

“Umm. Okay. Kajiya, why is the metal black? It was green last time I was here.”

“When orichalum is folded enough, it becomes black as luna’s darkest night. Now I must attend to the last foldings,” Kajiya finished as he got up from his grass and oats and took out the first bar from the furnace.

Crushing gemstones is hard business, even for a dragon. However, using the tools at hand, Spike quickly fell into a rhythm. An outsider would notice that each time the hammer fell on metal, a piece of gem fell under the abuse of the pestle. Six pounds’ worth of gems was a lot to crush, but with a rhythm established, the pony and dragon worked in a methodical harmony without knowledge of time. In the end, however, Spike succumbed to hunger around noon with half of the gems crushed.

“I can hear your stomach growling over the hammer falls, dragon. Take time and go in search of food, the gems will be there when you return,” Kajiya called out as he pulled the poker from the furnace labeling the fiftieth time he had folded that day.

Spike naturally went back to the library for a quick lunch, containing leftover hayfires and a small sapphire leftover from the last time he helped Rarity look for gems. Leaving the library once more, Spike found himself wandering around Ponyville taking a much longer path than the short walk would normally entail.

He pondered at why Twilight and all her friends didn’t like Kajiya. Sure, he knew ponies weren’t supposed to act the way he did, it wasn’t proper after all. But Spike also felt like there was something more to what was happening.

It was as if Kajiya stood for everything that was not friendship. As if this small, brown stallion stood for everything the girls disliked. It was surprising to Spike. He thought the girls could get along with anypony that wasn’t pure evil. But Kajiya proved that wrong.

Spike found himself back at Kajiya’s place when his train of thought ended. Opening the door, he found the stallion right where he’d been an hour ago.

Once again the pair of kindred souls fell back into a rhythm of crushing and forging. Five hours passed with no conversation, except the cracking of gems and hammering of metal.

“Young dragon,” spoke the pony, “our work is finished for today. Tomorrow, we shape the metal.”

“Aww. Can’t we do a bit more? I still have an hour before I should be back at the library”

“I suppose we could make the mithril for the weapons if you wish.”

“Yeah!”

“Then start adding coal to the fire. I will select the mithril to use,” Kajiya told Spike as he walked over to the crate of ore.

Spike walked near the forge, feeling the pleasant heat coming off the coals. Quickly, Spike started to shovel coal into the forge from a stash next to the brick as instructed. Kajiya came back with a load of mithril that weighed around 15 pounds, placing the metal into a medium sized crucible and using tongs to place it within the furnace at the hottest part.

“We have a few minutes. We must prepare the molds.”

“What molds do we need?” Spike asked

“Four bar molds, one for the longsword, the rapier and wing blades, the disk and shoes, and bugle. Also one thread mold for the Hydra.”

“What’s a thread mold?” Spike questioned. His question was quickly answered as Kajiya pulled a strange bucket. The bucket had a hole drilled in the bottom where a circular piece of metal was placed with water surrounding it. The piece of metal had a tiny needle like hole drilled all the way through it.

“This is a thread mold, it is used to make metal string which is needed for the hydra.”

After several more minutes of heating, the mithril was white hot and ready to pour. Kajiya took the tongs and used them to extract the crucible, and poured metal into the awaiting four bar molds before placing the crucible, which still contained some mithril, back into the furnace.

“Don’t we need to pour the rest into the thread mold?” Spike asked as he watched the stallion work.

“Yes, but crucible must partway in forge, because pouring thread takes a long time,” Kajiya took the thread mold full of water and tilted slightly on one side exposing the bottom hole of the mold. “As the thread comes out slowly pull it so it does not tangle.”

Spike replied with a single nod, placing himself ready to catch the incoming thread. Seeing Spike was ready, Kajiya started pouring the mithril from the crucible, keeping the bottom inside the forge. After a time, a small blue strand came out of the bottom of the mold, and Spike slowly pulled on the string. He felt heavy resistance, but kept pulling as Kajiya kept pouring. The strand was getting quite long now and Spike was running out of room to back up.

“Kajiya what do I do now?”

“Mithril bends when it is this thin, wrap the cool portions around one arm in even circles.”

Spike nodded, heeding Kajiya’s words he slowly wrapped the metal thread around an arm finding to his amazement that it behaved exactly like the thread in Rarity’s shop. After almost a half an hour, the pouring was finally done and Spike was left with hundreds of yards of mithril thread wrapped around his arm.

“Now, we must split this into 64 pieces, 12 feet each. But I will do that. Retire now, young dragon, and come tomorrow if you wish.”

Finally noticing his exhaustion, Spike sighed heavily, “I’ll see you tomorrow Kajiya.”

That night, Spike ate an early dinner and. To the disdain of Twilight, he went to bed early without doing any of the chores she had planned for him. But Twilight knew this was only temporary, and after all, he was a baby dragon and he needed his rest, especially after working as hard as he did that day.

Spike was very excited the next morning, because he knew that he was going to be watching or maybe even take part in the forging of a set of armor. He took a quill, ink, and notepad to appease Twilight. Spike once again found himself in front of a now familiar door at 7 A.M.

“You return. I have a long day of molding today, I could use your help.”

“I would love to help!” Spike exclaimed, looking around the room he saw a new addition; a mare mannequin near the furnace, with white lines covering the surface. “What’s that?” Spike inquired.

“That is what he shall mold the armor over, the lines indicate the sizes of the mares whom the armor will fit,” Kajiya said as he handed Spike a small hammer, “As I hammer the large portions you will smooth the armor.”

“Are you sure you trust me enough for that?”

“I trust everyone until they fail. You have not failed. I will flatten the bar to a quarter of an inch thick, your hammer will smooth imperfections. After that, we will hammer it using the mannequin as an anvil.”

“Okay,” Spike responded as the two began their work.

The red hot black metal bar was withdrawn from the furnace and placed on the anvil. The bar was flattened until it no longer yielded to the large hammer blows. The plate was now placed back into the heat until it glowed red once more.

This process continued six times. All the while, Spike used his small hammer on the small dents created by the large hammer blows. Neither the pony nor the dragon noticed the red sparks which occasionally landed on one of them. After six times, the plate was uniform, flat, and a quarter of an inch thick. The rhythm broke as Kajiya placed the plate into the furnace again.

“Now, we mold it as one piece onto the mannequin. The first sets will have pegasus wingholes, so we need to cut three holes in the hot metal,” Kajiya explained as he changed from using a normal hammer to a hammer that had a chisel for a head.

Kajiya withdrew the metal from the furnace, once more placing it on the anvil. Spike watching as he quickly hammered the chisel head into the middle of one side of the plate. From the end of the chisel mark on the inside of the plate he quickly cut a circle out of the metal. Kajiya then used a hammer to widen the separation the chisel had made in the middle creating a circle with a gap on one side of the metal. Working faster now near the center of the metal, Kajiya made two oval holes meant for wings. Throwing the cut-out pieces neatly into the awaiting water barrel, Kajiya placed the remainder of the plate back into the furnace.

“Now, we see if I made the head hole wide enough,” Kajiya told Spike as he withdrew the plate and used several heavy hammer strokes to bend the plate around the mannequin.

The mannequin was now covered in red hot metal, and the edges of the metal lined up exactly where the lines for Rainbow Dash were, even down to the size of the head and wingholes. Nodding his satisfaction, he continued to bend the metal around the mannequin to complete the final shape of the armor.

Kajiya once more placed the armor into the furnace, but after a very short time, withdrew the piece and placed it into the water barrel, emitting a large hissing sound and filling the house with steam.

“That, my young dragon, is how you shape armor for ponies,” Kajiya said, obviously satisfied with the progress he made.

“Wow, that was amazing. What happens now?” Spike asked excitedly.

“Now, we do the others.”

The pony and dragon quickly fell into another rhythm of hammer falls and chisel strikes. Time passed, but neither of the two seemed to notice; all they saw was the forge and the metal. After a long time, the sixth set was finished, and only then did Spike notice that he was awfully hungry and that the sun had already set.

“Oh No! Twilight’s gonna kill me, its already 9 P.M. I should be in bed by now, and I haven’t eaten dinner! I’ll see you tomorrow Kajiya, I have to get home now.”

“Why worry young dragon? I have food and rest here. Stay the night. If Twilight looks for you, she can find you here. You may have the bed, it is not to my liking anyways.”

“Are you sure?” Spike asked.

“Of course. Six sets would normally take two days, but your help made it only one long day. For that you deserve some kind of reward.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.”

The two sat in silence and ate a hearty eat of oats along with grass for Kajiya, and a single sapphire for Spike. Wordlessly, Spike took the bed, and Kajiya laid among his craft content to sleep with cool metal embracing him.

Armor and Weapons

Spike woke to three very insist knocks on the door.

“Spike! Spike! Are you in there?” Twilight asked desperately from outside.

Seeing Kajiya was already awake and working with the scrap orichalum, Spike ran over the door and opened it, revealing a very frazzled Twilight.

“Hi Twilight! Sorry about that, it was late when we finished last night, and Kajiya let me stay the night.”

“Oh goodness, Spike don’t do that to me! I was worried all night about you. You have chores to do today!”

“But I wanted to help Kajiya again!”

“You can help him tomorrow. You’re coming home right now and starting your chores.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Calling back to the forge Spike said, “Kajiya, I’ll be back tomorrow okay?”

“Return when you can, young dragon,” Kajiya said between hammer strikes, “Twilight Sparkle bring your friends here the after tomorrow for the final fitting.”

Twilight nodded, saying “Alright. Come on Spike, let’s head to the library.”

At the library, Spike slowly went through his chores. This was partly because of him being miffed slightly at Twilight for taking away his time at Kajiya’s, but mostly because of the soreness that had seeped into his muscles from yesterday. Determined to get to the forge early, Spike finished his chores shortly after dinner and went to bed.

The next morning came quickly and once again Spike found himself in the forge at the normal time.

“Young dragon, you return. Yesterday, I finished the helmets and horseshoes,” Kajiya said pointing to the helmets and regalia-like shoes by each set of armor.

Spike noticed that one set of armor was missing its set, and that white lines were traced over each set of armor, along with a painting of each of the mare’s cutie marks on the front armor disk. “Today we carve, young dragon,” Kajiya continued, handing a glowing blade knife, “This is an orichalum knife, made for engraving other orichalum. Just carve a slight indent on each white line.”

“Alright!” Spike replied enthusiastically as he sat down beside a set of armor, Pinkie’s he presumed, as he noticed the missing shoes. Spike noticed quickly that the lines on the armor had a defined pattern: a long, thick white line appeared on both sides slightly below the spine, along with branching white lines away from the large line that reminded Spike of the roots of a tree. Spike also noticed that along the two large white lines, small symbols were drawn in white. Thanks to Twilight’s lectures, Spike recognized the words as ancient Equestrian words. A few of them seemed imprinted in his mind as he etched them out:

δύναμη. ελέγχου. αυξάνουν.

Curious, Spike asked, “Why are there ancient Equestrian words drawn in white?”

“It is one of the languages of power. When magic is added to those words, their meaning becomes reality, young dragon.”

Surprised, but accepting, of his newfound knowledge, Spike fell back into his rhythm tracing the small white lines. It was a tedious process, for the words written on the armor stretched from end to end along the main line. As Kajiya completed his fourth set, Spike completed his second and the pair was finished with their task.

“It is still early, young dragon. Shall we continue the next step?”

“Yeah! What’s next?

“Gems must be placed into the lines we carved.”

“So that’s what the gems were for!”

“Yes. Now, let us work.”

Spike proved quite adept at placing the small crushed gemstone within the small cracks provided, matching the pony’s practiced speed. Around 4 P.M. Spike finally realized he was very hungry. Luckily, the task was finished.

“One more thing,” Kajiya told Spike, “but it will not take long. We must place the armor into this box.” He pointed to a medium sized metal crate that seemed just the right size to hold the six sets of armor.

“Why do we need to put them into the crate?”

“The crate has enchantments on it, to make it distilled pure magic, and transfer that magic into whatever you place into it. The magic it imbues will power the runes we placed upon the armor,” Kajiya explained as he and Spike loaded the sets of armor into the crate which was lined with arcane runes on the inside.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Spike said as he opened to the door to leave.

Tomorrow came quickly for Spike, and slowly for Twilight and her friends, who were dreading having to deal with the abrasive Kajiya. As normal, the group of seven appeared at Kajiya’s door early that morning, announcing their arrival with three knocks.

“Come in,” Kajiya called from inside. When he saw who it was, he continued, “Good, you are here. I must make sure armor fits.”

The inside of the small house was similar to the other time the ponies had come by, except this time, six sets of armor greeted their eyes. The final product was something to behold indeed, even for Spike who had helped in the forging.

Each set of armor had changed from black in color into a silver, steely metal, and the crushed gemstone had reformed in the cracks as a pure shining gem. The helmets and horseshoes were in a similar condition. Needless to say, the jaws of five ponies and one dragon hit the floor. Rarity simply fainted.

“I have weapons to forge. Each of you must quickly try on your armor,” Kajiya stated.

Noticing the gems on the armor, Twilight quickly came to a conclusion that frightened her, “Um, Kajiya, are you sure these are safe? You put gems where the leylines of a pony are, and words of ancient Equestrian along the spinal leyline.”

“Yes. And I soaked them in a magic still for twelve hours. This is the proper way to make orichalum armor.”

Lifting her set up, Twilight realized it weighed a lot less than any steel of the same size. She also noticed the perfectly replicated version of her cutie mark on the front chest piece that appeared painted and then burned into the armor. Pulling the set over her head and securing the stomach strap it occurred to her that the armor fit perfectly.

Pinkie had already put her armor on, yelling, “Hey these don’t weigh anything!” She bounced around the room to prove her point.

“Hey yeah, you’re right Pinkie!” Dash commented

“Good, they all fit perfectly. Now, I must make weapons. Stay or leave as you wish.”

Twilight perked up slightly from her inspection of the armor. “How can we ever thank you enough? They’re wonderful.”

“I have recieved my thanks already. I need no more.”

“But there must be something we can do, darling. These works of art are simply divine,” Rarity complimented.

“If you want to thank me, then use your armor. Wear it for a day or two, and get used to how it affects your body.”

“What in tarnation are you talkin’ bout, how’ll this stuff affect us?”

“Applejack, Kajiya means that the enchantments he etched into the armor will increase our physical and magical abilities drastically.”

“Twilight Sparkle is correct. Pegasi will fly faster, unicorn magic will be stronger, and earth ponies will have the strength of mountains. Except for Fluttershy, for her armor is a unicorn’s armor.”

“Huh? Why is Fluttershy’s different?” Twilight asked.

“Because she rolled a star, meaning her power lies in magic. So I gave her mage armor, instead of pegasi armor.”

“Well girls, I guess that’s everything. We should probably get back now,” Twilight stated.

“Eeyup, I gotta buck apples.”

“And I have to bake cupcakes!” Pinkie shouted, quickly disappearing from the room.

“Oh man I gotta see if this stuff makes me faster!” Dash quickly . . . er, umm, dashed . . . out of the room.

The remaining ponies left, leaving Kajiya and Spike alone in the house.

“So what now Kajiya?” Spike asked.

“Now, we fold mithril.”

Spike groaned.

“But only two bars, and only 100 times. Mithril is already almost good enough for the weapons.”

“Can I help fold?” Spike asked, thinking the pony would say no.

“Yes. You shall do one bar, and I will do the other, and we shall be done by lunch.”

Spike’s jaw dropped at the amount of trust he was just given. He was going to make Neighponese mithril, despite the fact he had hardly knew this pony! Now determined not to mess anything up, Spike nodded.

The pair turned to the forge, which already contained four mithril bars, and began the tedious work of folding. At the beginning, Spike had trouble because his small body couldn’t bring the hammer down with as much force as Kajiya could. Spike rectified this problem with faster, smaller strikes, striking twice for each one of the pony next to him.

Kajiya was more than a bit surprised when the dragon proved able to match his speed. A slow smile crept over Kajiya’s face, the first smile Spike had seen from him.

After a long while, 100 folds were completed, and Spike was thoroughly exhausted. He plopped himself on the floor with a glass of water and bowl of oats for lunch.

“Good work, dragon. You have great talent for the forge,” Kajiya said as he sat down to his own meal.

“Thanks,” Spike said, blushing at the comment. He paused as he realized something. “Hey! You didn’t call me young!”

“Well, you proved yourself capable these last days. A capable dragon is not a young dragon, in my eyes.” Spike’s eyes widened slightly at Kajiya’s words.

“Next, we must forge weapons, now that metal is ready. You shall take one bar, split it, forge one piece into disk, and the other into horseshoes for Pinkie."

“Okay, Kajiya!” Spike said, jumping out of his seat.

“You are a friend of mine,” the pony said. He paused. “My name is Gizo Tamashi. Tell nopony else. You may call me Gizo.”

If Spike was Rarity, he’d have fainted right there. He’d been studying Neighpon traditions in his spare time, out of curiosity about the pony. To be trusted with their true name was the highest level of trust Neighponese could have between two ponies without marriage. Spike felted honored, but he merely nodded and headed towards the furnace.

From the furnace, Gizo withdrew one bar and quickly split it in twain with one strike from his chisel. Spike took the pieces, and placed them back into the heat for a moment while Gizo took another bar and started to shape it into a longsword for Twilight. Spike quickly withdrew a half-bar, and shaped it into a circle with quick hammer blows and reheating.

Unsure of what to do with the finished disk, and seeing Gizo entranced in his work, Spike shrugged and placed the finished piece back into the forge. Withdrawing the other half, Spike flattened the piece with hammer falls, then rolled the metal into a tube. He then placed the tube into the furnace for heating, then withdrew the tube and hammered it into a square form to re-meld the metal.

Heating the piece once more, Spike chiseled the piece into four smaller rods. Quickly heating the four rods, he walked over to the mannequin. Using the hoof as a guide, he bent the rods into the correct shape, one after another. As Spike finished the shoes, he saw Gizo nod his head towards the water barrel, so Spike threw the shoes in for quenching.

Around that time, Gizo finished the shaping on the longsword, and quickly plunged it into a barrel of oil. He then reheated the sword once more before quenching it in the water barrel.

“Good job on the shoes dragon. Let us finish the disk.”

“I thought it was finished?”

“No. It must be melded with the crystal you got from Rarity.”

“How’s that work?”

“Take the crystal, and place it in the forge on top of the disk.”

Spike did so, to no noticeable effect.

“Now take both, and quickly place them into the magic still. That will merge them together.”

Extremely skeptical, Spike did as he was told. As he placed the crystal, which had started to melt into the mithril, into the crate, a great hissing noise was produced. The heat started to evaporate the glowing-purple, condensed magic liquid. Magic sparks flew out of the crate, but to Spike’s amazement, the metal he held in the tongs quickly melted into the crystal, creating a solid blue crystalline disk.

“Th-Th-That was amazing,” Spike stuttered,

“It always is. Unfortunately, you don’t have experience to forge the wing blades or rapier, so watch and learn as I do. Actually… Do you know how to braid four strands, dragon?”

Remembering his lessons from Rarity, Spike nodded enthusiastically.

“Then take the mithril thread,” Gizo pointed to the couch on which the thread lay, “And braid strands of four together until you have no more strands.”

Rhythm once again overtook the pair. Spike braided the threads as he’d been taught to braid pony’s hair, and Gizo fell into the practiced hammer falls as he forged the last two bars into a rapier, and a blade of feather-like wing blades, along with a small bugle. As Gizo finished the final adjustments on the wing blades, Spike finished the final braid, leaving 16 small ropes of mithril.

“We are done for today,” the pony said. “Come tomorrow, and we shall finish the weapons with hilts and sharpening.”

“Alright. See you tomorrow, Gizo!”

Training goodbyes

The next morning, Spike did something on accident, something that he enjoyed immensely before: he slept in. Opening his eyes and realizing it was already almost noon, he panicked, and rushed out the door towards Gizo’s place. Opening the door, he found the stallion taking several objects out of the magic still.

“Ah, dragon, I am afraid I am already done decorating the weapons,” Gizo said as he pointed a hoof towards the finished, and now enchanted, weapons.

The rapier and longsword now had decorative hilts, studded in leftover gems and gold. The hydra had been finish-braided along a ten foot length, leaving the last two feet as four small ropes which were now studded with leftover orichalum. The disk looked the same as it did yesterday, while the bugle and shoes were lined with words of power, and were glowing slightly.

“Aww,” Spike pouted, wishing now that he hadn’t slept in.

“Go, and collect your friends. I shall teach them today and go back to Canterlot on tonight’s train.”

“Do you have to leave?”

“I have no place here, dragon. I belong to the forge, and this is the end of my forge in Ponyville.”

Saddened, Spike made his way out of the house and went to collect his friends for what he assumed was the last meeting with the small stallion that he’d come to know.

The midsummer sun shone brightly upon Sweet Apple acres, revealing a single orange mare enjoying the warm temperature. A slight breeze swept through the fields, rustling the bright green tree leaves.

Today was the day. Today was when Kajiya was supposed to train each pony on how to use their weapons that he’d made. Six other ponies and one small dragon made their way towards where the orange mare was sitting in the empty field.

“Howdy ya’ll, ya ready ta git started?”

“Yes,” the single stallion said as he dropped his saddlebags, carefully revealing blue-white metal inside them.

“Kajiya, you never actually told us what those images on the dice meant. What weapons are we using?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Longsword for Twilight, of normal length,” Kajiya said, pulling out a sword that looked similar to those used by the royal guard. “Rapier and crystalline metal for Rarity,” he continued, pulling out a smaller, thinner sword and small, blue crystalline disk. “Enchanted Bugle and horseshoes for Pinkie, and wing blades for Rainbow Dash.” He pulled out the named items, all three glittering blue in the bright sun. “Finally, a Hydra for Applejack. Fluttershy has no weapon.” the stallion finished pulling out a small, blue ropelike object.

“What in tarnation’s a ‘Hydra’? Ah mean, Ah know its a critter, but what’s the weapon?”

“Hydra is metal rope, with four ends studded in spikes. Used like a lasso or rope” Kajiya replied.

“So, why doesn’t Fluttershy have a weapon?” Dash asked as she had already attached her wing blades and was admiring them in the sunlight.

“Die rolled a Star. Star means magic. I made her armor enhance her magic, and that is her weapon. Now, all of you must practice. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle need to practice slashing motions, Rarity stabbing motions and Pinkie must practice bucking.”

“Ah can teach Pinkie ta buck, but what am ah supposed ta practice?” Applejack inquired

The stallion turned away from the mares, who all stared at his strange movements. In one swift motion, Kajiya reared up, and brought his forehooves down with a mighty THUMP!, shaking the ground around them. The impact was imbued with Earth pony magic, and caused a dozen or so large earthen pony mannequins to rise from the ground.

“You must practice on these, for your weapon is the hardest to use. However, the dragon once mentioned you can use a lasso. Lasso a target, but use the Hydra instead of your rope.”

Skeptical, Applejack followed Kajiya’s instructions, tying one end of the weapon into her tail and lifting the weapon above her head in circular motions. She found to her surprise that it wasn’t much heavier than her actual rope.

With one last circle over her head, Applejack swung the Hydra at the closest mannequin as she would a lasso. Instead of catching the statue in a single loop, each of the four heads of the weapon had encircled the statue.

“Now pull” Kajiya said simply.

Applejack pulled slightly on the weapon. To her surprise, the mannequin simply fell apart, large chunks falling to the ground.
“Well done. You have a good talent for the Hydra. But beware, for that is exactly what it would do to an actual pony,” Kajiya cautioned grimly. He walked over to the others, who were all practicing around a single mannequin.

Stunned, Applejack just stared at the remains of the mannequin. Full realization crept over the mare, turning her a sickly shade of green. She quickly faced away from her friends, and threw up when the visual image of doing that to another pony hit her.

“Applejack! Are you Okay?” Twilight shouted, running over from her training after seeing Applejack puke.

“How-How could ah deserve such a cruel weapon? Ah never asked for somethin’ ta kill ponies with! Ah never even wanted this!” Applejack ran from the clearing, tears streaming from her eyes.

“What did you do to Applejack, you ruffian!” Rarity asked in disgust.

“I need to fix this,” Kajiya replied. “The Hydra is a horrible weapon, and I must make her understand, before everything gets out of hand. You are all her friends, where will she go?”

“I’m going with you!” Dash replied, eyeing the stallion warily. “Follow me.” The two ponies quickly galloped off.

They found Applejack behind the apple family barn, crying her eyes out, Hydra still in her tail.

“Applejack, we must speak,” Kajiya said simply.

“Why? Why’d ya give me such a horrible weapon? What d’ya have against me?” Applejack asked, still crying.

“I gave you the weapon fate decide you needed. The Hydra is the most merciful weapon anypony can use.”

“What?”

“When a pony dies by sword or arrow, do you know how long it normally takes them to actually die from that mortal wound? Three minutes. Three minutes of pure agony, watching your life flash before your eyes, and knowing nothing can help you.

“However, with the Hydra, there is very little pain, and the pony dies, without realizing they were even struck. You were given the best weapon, Miss Applejack, not the worst. Rainbow Dash, please comfort her, she needs a friend now, which I am not,” Kajiya finished, and simply walked back to the others.

Rainbow Dash is not known for her kindness and ‘sappiness,’ but that day, two ponies laid together as Applejack sobbed all her tensions and worries away into the cyan mare’s fur.

Returning to the others, Kajiya remember he needed to show Rarity and Pinkie the methods of using their own weapons, now that the hardest part was over with Applejack.

“What did you do to our friend, you Ruffian?” Rarity seethed, obviously still angry at the stallion.

“Yeah, why’d you make Applejack cry!” Pinkie interjected, her hair straighter than normal

“She misunderstood the meaning of her weapon. Rainbow Dash is comforting her. Now, we have work to do. Rarity you must know the uses of the crystalline disk, and Pinkie, you must know the uses of the bugle.”

“Okie-Dokie-Loki.”

“Hmmph… Fine let’s get this over with. Umm, what can this disk do?” Rarity plopped down on the ground staring at the odd disk.

“Both of them do the same thing,” Kajiya responded.

“What?” the mares asked in unison.

“Both the disk and Bugle do whatever you ask of them. They take the shape of what you want to happen. For the disk, whenever you use magic on it, think of the shape and ability you want it to have. For the bugle, whenever you blow it, think of a feeling, and anypony or ponies you want to be affected by it, and it will happen.”

“So, I can make all my friends more happy? AWESOME!” Pinkie started bouncing around at the implications, while Rarity tested the statement by turning the disk into various seamstress objects, like spools and needles.

At this point, Applejack and Rainbow Dash started coming back to the field. Seeing this, Twilight and Fluttershy also joined the group of ponies. Pinkie continued bouncing around, testing her bugle by making Rarity laugh and giggle as she changed her disk into more exotic shapes.

“All of you are good here,” Kajiya said. “I am done. My job is complete. All of you have your armor and weapons now, and you know how to use them. If any of you need more training, ask the royal guard to help you. Goodbye.” the stallion finished his speech and grabbed his saddlebags preparing to head back to the house for the rest of his items.

“Wait. Just like that, you’re going?” Twilight questioned “You never visited anywhere in town, and you never had a party. You can’t just leave!”

“Yes I can. I have no need of friends, or worldly pursuits. The forge is my life, and I can no longer continue my forge here. But in Canterlot, I can, so that’s where I must go.” The pony paused. “I did forget one thing . . . dragon Spike, feel free to visit anytime you like. I will tell you stories of your people, and you can help me with my forge.

“Now again, I say goodbye.”

The six ponies and one dragon watched in awe as the small stallion left town just as he came. Not even the elements of friendship could reach the poor soul. Nopony quite knew what to make of the small stallion. Most who knew him would say he was the most devoted stallion they had ever met, but they would also say that nothing would ever change him. He was a rock, a mountain, never to be disturbed in his solemn suffering of the forge.

Epilogue

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle

Dark times have come to equestria. The Griffons have rejected our last avenue for peace, and have declared war upon Equestria. To make matters worse, a new Emperor of Saddle Arabia has been named, and he is joining forces with the Griffons to eradicate Equestria.

From this point forward, the Diarchy of Equestria is enforcing a draft of all able-bodied stallions and mares over the age of twenty. Henceforth, you, Twilight Sparkle, and each of the Council of Friendship have been chosen as four-star generals of the army. Report to Canterlot Processing within 48 hours. Ten pounds of personal items is allowed, along with personal weapons and armor.

-For Equestria, Five-Star General Shining Armor

Well I guess the armor was a good idea, even if Kajiya was a flankhole about it, Twilight thought to herself as she approached a large cabinet in her library. She opened the cabinet with a small golden key, revealing her armor and sword. Donning the armor and slinging a small saddlebag over her back, Twilight walked out her front door. For the first time, she was unsure if she would return.

Author's Note

Thanks for all the support. I hope I didn't disappoint too many of you with the short length of the story.

Link to the Sequel

For those of you who care the sequel is up now and here's a link:

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/193590/hammer-and-harmony-corruption